# Can someone talk to me about blogging?



## Shayanna (Aug 1, 2012)

I have a blog. The link to it is in my signature. But my question is, I read about people making money by blogging. By typing how-to articles. How do you get into that? Even if its not much... I like blogging, and teaching people things, and would like to think I know how to do alot of stuff. So how do you find it?


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

Shayanna said:


> I have a blog. The link to it is in my signature. But my question is, I read about people making money by blogging. By typing how-to articles. How do you get into that? Even if its not much... I like blogging, and teaching people things, and would like to think I know how to do alot of stuff. So how do you find it?


I will talk to you about blogging. It's my favorite subject! :dance:

I get paid by Blogsvetise to write posts. 

I also have affiliate links on my blogs and when someone clicks it and goes to somewhere, like Amazon or Netrition, for instance, I make a little bit of money. Don't fill your blog up with those links though. People don't want it to look like a magazine or a newspaper. 

Social Spark is another place I write posts for and get paid. 

Another way I get paid, not with money, but with gift cards at a local restaurant supply store for writing posts. Those posts I write recipes, saving money at the store, canning, buying bulk to stock up. They contacted me after I wrote a blog post and had taken pictures in their store of buying meat to can. They asked me to write a post every month. $25. gift card for food really helps! 

There are a lot of opportunities out there for bloggers. Reviews and giveaways on blogs are pretty common too. Some companies will give you products to write a review.


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## SundanceSurv (Feb 10, 2013)

If you want to make money blogging, the first thing you need to do is get your blog on your own domain name. The way you're set up right now, if wordpress decides you've violated a policy, they can delete everything without warning.

I do LOVE working with wordpress though, if you install the software on your own site. Then you can set up Google ads, and sign up for a variety of paid posting sites that will connect you with companies that want reviews, etc. Check meetup for a local blogger meetup if you need tech help, etc. 

Remember that Google and your readers want content updated regularly. If you do that, and incorporate ads and affiliate links to products you like, money will start trickling in!


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

SundanceSurv said:


> If you want to make money blogging, the first thing you need to do is get your blog on your own domain name. The way you're set up right now, if wordpress decides you've violated a policy, they can delete everything without warning.
> 
> I do LOVE working with wordpress though, if you install the software on your own site. Then you can set up Google ads, and sign up for a variety of paid posting sites that will connect you with companies that want reviews, etc. Check meetup for a local blogger meetup if you need tech help, etc.
> 
> Remember that Google and your readers want content updated regularly. If you do that, and incorporate ads and affiliate links to products you like, money will start trickling in!



That is not necessarily true. I have made more money on my Blogger blog than on my own sites. They use WP software, but I self-host them. WordPress hosted sites, that is true. They don't like you to make money off them. 

You are correct about updating content regular, not just for Google, but for your readers. It is a bummer to find a blog you really like and every time you go there they have not added anymore new posts. 

The main problem with the free blogs like Blogger is that at anytime they can just disappear. I have been fortunate that mine has been there since 2005 and never had a problem, but I know of many that have.

Another thing to promote your blog is to go to some of the blogging forums, like BlogFrog or Bloggers. Get to know the people on there and leave quality comments on their blogs. Not a link to your blog. Don't even mention your blog. Take an interest in other bloggers who write about what you write about then their readers will find you. 

It takes time to make the money, but if you don't keep working on it, you won't make anything.


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## Shayanna (Aug 1, 2012)

Is this better?
mcnuttvalley.webs.com
I read terms and conditions and we can advertise and open a webstore if we want. I need to work with some content, but I think it looks pretty decent. The title of the page is our registered herdname with the American Dairy Goat Association/name of our farm.


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## Shayanna (Aug 1, 2012)

Katlupe, can you please help me? I can't figure out the ad posting to save my life...


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## Halfway (Nov 22, 2010)

Blog on Shayann!

Lock onto Katlupe like a hound dog on a soup bone! Good info there!!

Blog on!


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

Shayanna said:


> Katlupe, can you please help me? I can't figure out the ad posting to save my life...


Sorry I wasn't back here. Going through some bad personal stuff (my dog died last Monday). What exactly do need? I will help you in anyway I can. I am checking out your blog right this very minute.


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

Halfway said:


> Blog on Shayann!
> 
> Lock onto Katlupe like a hound dog on a soup bone! Good info there!!
> 
> Blog on!


Thanks Halfway, for the vote of confidence. I hope I can prove worthy of it.:dance:


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## Shayanna (Aug 1, 2012)

I couldn't figure out HTML to save my life. But after some strategic googling and hovering my mouse over some icons to find out what they meant, I managed to post an ad. (the coffee one.) Can anyone tell me if it works? The link on the picture?


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

Shayanna said:


> I couldn't figure out HTML to save my life. But after some strategic googling and hovering my mouse over some icons to find out what they meant, I managed to post an ad. (the coffee one.) Can anyone tell me if it works? The link on the picture?


Yes, the coffee ad is showing. Sometimes when you first put them up there, they don't show. Takes a few minutes for them to take effect.

Now the signature line you have on your post here, where it says "check out our website," does not work. The link puts this forum in front of your site's url and that does not work. Put the name of your blog or site up instead of check out our website. It will be more interesting to the person who is reading your post. Then check it yourself to make sure it works.

Go sign up for an Amazon Affiliate account. I make most of money from them. I include their links right in my text. The best part is that I buy most of my stuff there and can write really good reviews about what I buy there.


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## Shayanna (Aug 1, 2012)

Finally got the link to my site to work. After about 5 tries. Something about using the hyper link button. I guess I just needed to copy and paste the URL. :doh:

I think I need to contact Amazon. I tried to sign up, but it doesn't believe my town is real...


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## porcupine73 (Jan 31, 2013)

There's many possible levels to do it. These days it seems to make it profitable at least long term you need absolutely top notch original content on your subjects, the kind that people want to send links to their friends about, and post links to your site because your content is that good.

It's possible to do it with junky content if you do various schemes like link building to get traffic to your site. In some cases junky content can make more money than good content because people are more likely to click an ad on the page. But it is not sustainable; Google's ranking algorithm changes are always looking to punish sites like that.

In the end it really comes down to traffic. In general terms, the more visitors you can get to the site to more money you stand to make. Quality backlinks to your site from relevant related sites have always counted highly in ranking high in search engines, and Google would can be your best friend if it likes and trusts your site. Many backlinks you can acquire just by having excellent content so that others link to you, post your links on Facebook, etc. Some you can get by doing 'guest posts' on other sites.

Short, good youtube videos on your topic with some graphics showing your site URL can work too.

The next level is developing say a mailing list, where you can send out something each week to your readers with a summary of new articles on your site that they can come check out. It's another source of traffic and can be a valuable one.

With traffic, then there's lots of ways to monetize it. Some ways work better than others depending on the site. Affiliate programs like Amazon can work very well. Adsense can work to a degree, but for a high quality site, usually good affiliate programs will earn more than Adsense.

I would not invest a lot of time in developing a site on something like webs.com. You want a domain name you own and have hosted yourself. Neither of those is difficult or expensive.


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## Shayanna (Aug 1, 2012)

I guess my goal, and I don't know how to achieve it, is to review products that I will actually use. Like a disbudding iron that I use on my goats. Castrating tools. Or a certain feed brand, vaccines, brand of vegetable seeds. Dog harness that I use on my pitbull. I don't mind reviewing books. Maybe I can do this through amazon, or maybe even through the companies themselves?
So far I like webs.com It is ALOT more user friendly than wordpress. and I think even blogspot. Adding a new page is a 1 minute job. (Like the for sale page I added.) I can even add a webstore for free as well, and the only thing I really have to put up with is their ONE ad. And once I get the hang of it, get some traffic, and maybe my own internet at my house, I will upgrade to my own domain, which I can do through webs. But to start off, this works.

Sorry about all the questions and cluelessness.


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

The main thing I have done to develop my blog, Homesteading On The Internet, which is on blogger, is to write almost daily. In the early years, I did not do this. Back then I was only writing for my self anyway. Now my blog always comes up on Google the day I post it. My topics most times are on top of the first page, without any marketing or promoting on my part at all. It is just the subjects I write about. And I did it all without my own url or self-hosted site. Blogger was the easiest to work. I still think that, but now have other blogs I self-host. Sometimes, we need to go cheaper to get started.

I am signed up as an affiliate with various companies, including shareasale and Performance-Based . They had more companies that fit my blogs, like solar, gardening, livestock, etc. 

I don't want a mailing list, since most of my readers are not the kind that really like to get email newsletters in the inbox. I know I don't. I will sign up for them every now and then but after seeing it in my inbox, and knowing I don't have time to read it, I always unsubscribe. If I want to read their blog, I go to their blog.

If you do sign up as an affiliate and start doing some review posts, don't do every post as a review. Put some space between them. _Writing good content is the key!_ A blog takes time to develop. Just write and then worry about adding the streams of income to it. Believe me, nothing turns a reader off more, than those blogs full of ads! Even though other bloggers will tell you to do that. 

Amazon sells almost every product you can think of. They are trusted by the buyers. Check out these goat supplies


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