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Mar 26, 2011

Bloggers: How Do You Monetize Your Blog?


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monetize your blog

Well...not exactly!

I have been doing this crazy thing called blogging now for 7 months now. I started monetizing my blog from very early on. Blogging took up so much of my time, when I realized that I could monetize many of the links I would be posting anyways I started applying to different affiliate sites.

Some have been total duds for me. Others have generated a great little income as my readership has risen. I think the main thing that has made monetizing my blog a success is that I think about the deal/coupon/product FIRST and then see if there’s a way that I can monetize it. I never post something just for the sake of making money. If I did, I doubt I’d still be blogging. Or at least I doubt anyone would still be reading!

Affiliate Companies

There is a lot of junk (a LOT of junk) out there to pitch and earn money from. So if you do decide to monetize your site, make the decision from early on that you won’t ever promote anything just for the sake of money making. This doesn’t have to mean that you purchase everything or sign up for every single thing that you  promote (I do sign up for the majority of freebies on my site mainly because I enjoy freebies but also because I want to make sure they work first!), but you need to believe in it!

Here are some sites that I work with to monetize my site:

I have received payment (or am very close) from each one of these affiliate programs and I can attest to their legitimacy. I am signed up for several other affiliate programs that don’t fare as well for me (I’ve had not fantastic success with Commission Junction), they definitely are not all created equal. It also depends on your niche which ones will do well for you. The first 3 up there are very coupon/freebie heavy. So if you run a site where you don’t post many coupons or freebies, those may not be for you.

Referral Credits

I also always use my referral links when I promote My Favorite Daily Deals Sites. It’s not money in my pocket, but I’ve been able to buy some fun things with the referral credits!

Selling Ad Space

My newest attempt to monetize my site is by selling ad space on the sidebar of my blog. Right now my blog gets around 40,000 pageviews a month, so I’ve decided to start selling ad space at a reduced rate (contact me if you are interested!). I don’t recommend doing this until you have a decent amount of traffic headed your way, but once you do, it’s a very legitimate way to monetize your site.
By selling the ad space myself, I can control who gets promoted via my site. I’d love to fill that space with other frugal bloggers and great quality products, so that both my readers and my advertisers really benefit from the space!

 

How do you monetize your site?

Btw, those are all definitely my referral links above. It’s a post about monetizing! ;)

Related posts:

  1. Monetizing Your Blog: Fantastic Affiliate Program For Bloggers!
  2. Works For Me Wednesday: Monetizing My Blog
  3. Referral Friday: Blog Tyrant, Money Saving Mom and You?

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Comments

  1. frugal mommy says:
    March 26, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    I loved this post. I have been blogging off and on for a few years, and have just recently begun to monetize my blog. I will definitely look at some of your links a bit closer.

    Reply
  2. Angela Russell says:
    March 26, 2011 at 11:48 pm

    Commission Junction paid off a loan for me over the holidays! It was VERY exciting. Don’t give up on them. They have some great affiliates under them. Link Share, too. I also earn money from Red Plum and SmartSource.

    I’ve also earned money by highlighting my writing business (in fact, got a new client just last week that way). On occasion I’ll write sponsored posts (only if it’s a fit). I’m also dabbling with the idea of offering consulting services. I’m also exploring other ideas I’ve not yet seen in my niche. Here’s hoping to carve out some new paths to monetizing. And that’s just it – branch out. Take risks.

    Good post!

    Reply
    • Corrie says:
      March 27, 2011 at 2:08 pm

      I agree…don’t give up on Commission Junction. I actually do better with them than Linkshare and Google Affiliates.

      Reply
      • Heather says:
        March 27, 2011 at 2:18 pm

        Do y’all mind sharing which advertisers work well for you through CJ? You can email me if you like. I’m at about $25 with them and it doesn’t seem I’ll ever meet threshold!

        Reply
  3. Christy M. says:
    April 1, 2011 at 6:54 pm

    Thank you for blogging about this. I really needed some extra information and always put it off for another day.

    Christy

    Reply
  4. Deal Hunting Diva says:
    April 6, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    I am just getting started with my blog… brand new to the world of blogging and I don’t know anyone else who blogs. This was great info. Thank for sharing! I’d love any tips you may have for me.

    Reply
  5. joseph n mascarenhas says:
    April 27, 2011 at 11:31 am

    Your blog has inspired me to try “blogging” to add to my subsistence level income and I thank you for it.

    I just “perchance” came upon it when looking for “monetizing” my time on the internet.

    Thanks again,

    joseph

    Reply

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