Blogging for Profit - Part 5

There are a variety of methods to making money blogging and I'd advise you to try a number of them and figure out which works best for your market and audience.

Do try a number of methods and do constantly be looking for new ideas, but don't try everything at once. Slowly experiment with a few at a time to see what your best results come from and always be tweaking things as you go along.

One of the easiest way to make money blogging is through affiliate programs. Affiliate programs are when you sign up to promote a product, get a special affiliate code or link to use when promoting that product, and then use that code to promote it. When someone clicks on a link or graphic on your blog with your special code on it and they place an order, you get a percentage of the sales.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of affiliate programs out there to choose from. Start with things you already have, love, and use. Add affiliate links in your sidebar to helpful books you've read which are along the lines of what you blog about. Consider an occasional product or book review. If you are going to link to a product or resource in a blog post, check first to see if the manufacturer's of that product have an affiliate program so you can earn a little kickback for the free advertising you are giving them.

One thing to take note of though is that most affiliate programs have a pay-out level you need to reach before you actually get paid. For instance, many programs require you to $10 in affiliate sales before you'll receive a check or Paypal payment. Having a payout level saves the affiliate program manager from spending lots of time sending out $0.50 checks. It also serves as an incentive for you, the affiliate, to produce more sales. This creates a win-win situation. To read more about affiliate programs and how to earn money with them, I check out The Affiliate Master's Course which you can download here for free!

There are thousands of affiliate programs out there to sign up for. You can start with a place like Commission Junction which has hundreds of affiliate programs for all sorts of markets to choose from. Since all of the programs are through one main site, you don't have to wait to be paid for each individual program; instead, you'll be paid when you reach payout collectively.

Another of my favorites is to be an affiliate for Clickbank products. We sell our ebooks through Clickbank so if you have purchased any of them and would like to tell your friends about them, you can earn 66% by doing so! Clickbank has a payout level of $10, and requires you to have a few sales from two different types of payment options in the beginning to start getting paid (this is to reduce fraudulent orders). Read more about their payment rules here.

After you receive your initial payment, they send you a check faithfully every two weeks if you reach the payout level. I've used Clickbank for a few years as both an affiliate and selling my products through them and have received thousands of dollars worth of checks from them and been more than pleased with their program.

My best advice for making the most through them is to pick a few ebooks or downloadables that you really like and promote each of them at least once per month. Also, consider putting together your own ebook to promote through them (we'll talk more about this later) and your earnings will really skyrocket.

A few other affiliate programs I have received checks from include: Logical Media, CashCrate, Cash4Books, Vision Forum, Refund Cents, and Ebates (earn $5 whenever anyone signs up under you--works well for blogs with larger readerships).

There are literally thousands of other affiliate programs. My best advice is to think of some of your favorite products which you'd like to promote on your blog and check their websites to see if they have an affiliate program. If they do have an affiliate program, when you recommend them on your blog, use an affiliate link and if anyone orders on your recommendation, you'll receive a percentage of the order (usually somewhere between 5-20%).

Let me be quick to say that I think one of the best ways to actually see a good profit earned from affiliate links is to not overdo. A few strategically placed affiliate links (in posts every now and then) and a few on your sidebar (which you can rotate around and change every once in a while to keep things fresh) are much more effective than just throwing up 150 affiliate links all over the place on your blog page. Too many ads just clutter the page and could cause you to lose readers.

In addition, use discernment and discretion when promoting an affiliate link. If you wouldn't feel comfortable promoting something without an affiliate link, you likely shouldn't promote something with an affiliate link. Developing a trust and loyalty from your readers is much more important than making a quick buck.

Those are just a few of my thoughts on affiliate programs. I'd love to hear from those of you who have used them in the past or currently use them. Which programs have worked well for you? Which ones have not worked? Tell us about it in the comments section.

Comments

[Heidi]

Great tips. I have not had any luck whatsoever with the amazon.com affiliate program, even though their widget is really cool.

Also, I was very disappointed in Smorty, which was highly recommended to me by another blogger. I felt the "pay per post" type of posting was misleading and I was really upset that many of their opportunities were for online gambling sites that are not legal in the United States.

So that's my two cents.

[Melissa]

Hi :)

I was going to try the baked oatmeal tomorrow - at what temp should the oven be, and bake for how long?

Thanks!

melissaannbrowning@yahoo.com

[Michele Helms]

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!! I am new to blogging and your tips are so helpful! Michele

[Mary Kavanaugh]

I just signed up for your blog & was very interested in your articles on "Blogging for Profit" I managed to find all the parts except Part 2. I found it on the search engine but when I brought it up I got Part 5. I would love to read Part 2. Can you help? Thank You.

[Melissa L]

I love your blog and want to thank you so much for all of your tips!! I've started implementing some of your tips from your ebooks in my life and feel so empowered already! Thank you so much!!!

I don't have any idea about affiliate programs, but am interested to hear what others have to say.

[Trixie]

Hello,

Great tips on the affiliate programs. I'm really interested in working with clickbank! They have a great program for ebooks. And it is really easy to set up your own ebook for sale, too.

My first affiliate program was Commission Junction the longest and have to say, I have not had a good experience with them. But I would encourage people to give it a try it they want. Personally, I found CPA storm to be much easier to work with.

I've used Logical Media, http://lm.logicalmedia.com/z/2616/CD3115 with very good success. They have a lot fewer companies to choose from but their advertising offers go over like gangbusters.

Take Care,

Trixie

[Lorrie]

Thank you for the information on affiliates. I have considered adding them to my blog, but still have yet to do it. I tried to download the master affiliate course without any luck. I will have to try again. I have a series started on my blog right now about the steps to take to leave work and become a SAHM. I think your link added would be helpful for mothers to see and give them more advice.
I have a question about adding links to your blog. Often you have the word click "here" and it is in bold. When you click on it you are directed to another site. How do I do that? I know it is bad blog etiquette to just put in someones website. Thanks for the help.

[Michelle]

Mary -

Click on the title to the blog and you will be redirected to the entire blog. Then you can scroll down to read previous posts and you will find the other parts to Crystal's series. If you need to, click on older posts at the bottom of the blog to see older posts.

[cheapsk8mom]

Melissa, I love her blog too!!! Inspirational and informative, more than just a "coupon" blog. Anyhow, to see the entire series, just click the category (on the right) Income Earning Ideas. It will list all 5 (so far) parts, in descending order. I hope this helps.

[Frugal Freebies and Deals]

Mary-

click "Income-Earning Ideas" at the bottom of the post. You will see the whole series.

[Crystal]

Your tips are so helpful. I only have one issue. I am mainly blogging because I just love it, and I want to help people. Honestly I personally feel really weird having advertisements and sponsors on my site. I just don't want people thinking I am in it to just make money KWIM? I guess I'm just gonna have to build a bridge and get over this one, continue to blog honestly and not feel bad over having ads on my site.
http://natucare.blogspot.com

[Heeya]

Thank you very much I am learning from your blog a lot. I'm still learning and will keep read your post.

[Jenna]

I am really loving this series and learning so much. I aspire to maybe one day blogging for profit, but for now I do it for fun. I love it. Thanks for all the info and tips. I love your blog.

http://newlyweds.wordpress.com/

[rachel]

I LOVE this series that you are doing!! THANKS!!!!

[A Classic Tale]

I have used several affiliate programs like clickbanks and inboxdollars (paying you to read emails). I didn't get paid with either because I wasn't patient enough to wait to reach the payout level. Maybe I'll try the ones mentioned in your post. Thanks for the info. I've enjoyed this topic too.

[katherine]

Thank you for writing this series. I have never thought about earning money through blogging before b/c I thought it was way out of my league but you make it sound do-able.

I looked into one of the affiliate programs but it required 5000 hits a month. Are all programs like this? It seems like it would take a really long time to build up a readership like that. I would appreciate any help. Thanks again!

[Sher]

Thanks for sharing this info. I blog for fun, maybe one day I will blog for profit. This series has been helpful.

[Joy]

Thank you so much for these, I just started blogging and you have helped so much.