Monetize Your Blog

Many people will tell you to follow their formula and you will make money from your blog but I do not think there is a one size fits all approach. There are just so many variables such as what topic you are blogging about and how many readers you have and if those readers are buyers and if you are well-liked and if your product is what they are looking for...

I think it is a matter of trying an idea to see what works for you and if it does not work then try something else. In my experience AdSense only really works if you get huge amounts of traffic to your blog so I have not even included it in the list of ways to monetize your blog.

It is probably the same for advertising banners - they may bring you some small income but is it enough for the fact that you are bombarding your audience with ads. Most people ignore ads, (They even have a name for it - Banner Blindness) and these ads take them off your site?  Is it worth it?
What are you blogging for is a big question for me. It boils down to helping people and connecting with people and I don't think banner ads do either of those things.

So here are some monetization strategies to explore:

1. Coaching
2. Create an online course
3. Write a book
4. Create an online summit
5. Create a membership site
6. Create a Resource page on your blog
7. Get sponsors
8. Crowd Funding
9. A PayPal Donate Button
10. Become a ghostwriter or a freelance writer.
11. Be an affiliate.
12. Pay for a course and follow the advice.

1. Coaching: Yaro Starak is one of my mentors and he believes that the quickest way that everyone can make money is to be a coach. You can coach through emails, skype or phone. His attitude is that you always know something more than other people if you choose your area of expertise well. Those people are the clients that you should then gear your posts to. Be an authority in your chosen area and write posts to attract those people that you can help.

RESOURCES: Clarity is a site that allows you to become an expert, talk to your clients online, have a promo on their website, and get a widget for your blog.

2. Create an online course: Finding out what your readers want is crucial to be able to sell an online course. One thing I have found extremely useful is to survey your current readers. You can do this in an informal way, in your comments, in your emails, on your social media or in a more formal way using a tool like SurveyMonkey. I recommend them as I love free tools and I also love the way they analyze your surveys with graphs and it is very clear to see your results and then get ideas. If you want to create a course or book and you are not sure the topic, do a survey, see that 50 people want the course on teaching your child to be potty trained (if you are in the parenting niche) and only 10 wanted the course on fussy eaters then you know which course to create.

RESOURCES: Teachable helps you create and sell online courses.

3. Write a book.
The easiest book to create is an ebook because you have everything you need already to do so - a computer that allows you to turn a document into a PDF.

RESOURCES: Self Publishing on Amazon made easy by Christopher Fielden

4. Create an online summit. These can be podcasts or videos from experts in a field around a specific topic. They are usually a series that starts out for free and then turns into an optin payment to get access to all the videos.

To truly succeed at a virtual summit launch, you need to make it a win/win for the experts who will share their knowledge.Choose a topic that will inspire people to action, and make sure you have a product to sell at the backend. NEIL PATEL

5. Create a membership site. This relies on having a lot of information and resources that your readers want from you. The key is having something that people will not be able to find easily elsewhere for free or that they want to hear from you and how you do things.

6. Create a Resource page on your blog. A page where you recommend things that you love and that you have affiliate links to. This should relate to your niche. Here is an example.

7. Get sponsors. In the past sponsors have approached me and they all seemed to want the same thing - my unique visitors, where my visitors are, my social media numbers and my email list numbers. (they obviously do their research) So if you are thinking of looking for sponsors I would suggest getting your numbers up in these areas. This can be hard work.

8. Crowd Funding: Go Fund Me or a similar site. This works for some people if they have a project in mind and explain it well people may give you money. The site takes a small percentage of the funds you raise. Seth Godin, Marketing writer,  has funded some of his books this way, very quickly.

9. A PayPal Donate Button. This relies on the generosity of your readers. But if you don't try, you won't know. By offering them something they may donate eg a checklist. You need a PayPal Business account and PayPal show you here how to add the button and customize it.

10. Become a ghostwriter or a freelance writer. This is not really making money from your blog but using your blog, as part of your bio, to display your writing skills. There are many blogs and websites looking for writers. One place you can get work is Up work or Fiverr both of which are very reliable and have been around for ages. You can also see jobs at Pro Bloggers Job Board. Be sure to read their Tips For Applying Safely Online.

11. Be an affiliate. This in its most basic form is recommending products. Hopefully, products that you like and really want to recommend. If someone clicks your link to the product and buys, you earn a commission. You could start with Amazon, which pays a very small percentage, or look on sites like ShareASale or ClickBank for specific products in your niche, that offer higher reimbursements. You need to find a product you like then drive traffic to it. The good thing about affiliate marketing is that you do not have to fulfill the orders or deal with the returns.

12. Pay for a course and follow the advice. Choose an expert that suits you and follow their advice to the letter. Following is a small list of people who I recommend because I've followed them for years, read their posts and income reports and done some of their courses. Also, they are all in the top 50 bloggers earning money online so they don't just talk about making money - they do it.

David Risley's Academy Lab Membership is $39.00 a month. David teaches how to make a business around your blog, and has been blogging for around 19 years. I have done many of his courses, years ago when he didn't have The Lab (Which is what I would do if I was starting out now), and he is extremely thorough in explaining everything. One thing though he may expect you to change the niche you are in

Yaro Starak can help you set up a profitable blog. He has a few courses and you can get to know him on his free webinar here How To Launch Your Online Platform, Grow Your Email List Without Buying Ads, And Turn Your Knowledge Into A Real Business.

Melyssa Griffin, teaches how to create courses and use an email funnel to sell them, as well as using Pinterest to get traffic. (In 2022, I'm not sure if she is still doing this but you may be able to find her courses from previous years)

Of course whatever route you choose to make money with your blog you must then promote, promote promote what you are doing.

I hope this list has got you thinking of what you can do on your blog to make some money.

Please remember that the biggest thing you can do to make money is to start trying something today.

Good Luck and I would love to hear what works for you or what you are thinking of trying to make money with your blog.

Check out the other posts to help bloggers:

• What should I send in my emails?
• How to promote your blog post.
• An easy to follow guide on How Often To Share On Social Media
• What is a pillar post?
• Using Pinterest to get traffic to your blog
• Your Pre Publish checklist (or what to do before you hit the Publish button)
• How to revamp your old blog posts (with step by step instructions)
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Your Pre Publish checklist (or what to do before you hit the Publish button)

When I get to the end of writing a post I am really excited and want to just get the post out into the blog- a-sphere...
BUT
over all the years of blogging, I have learnt to curb my impatient nature and double check a few things before I publish my post.

I've actually created a Pre Publish Checklist and thought that you too may find it useful too.

1. TITLE : Is the Title catchy?

2. KEYWORD: Have you included a keyword or keyword phrase in the title or in the beginning of your article?

3. IMAGE: Have you included one (or more) relevant images? Have you added it's ALT Text.

4. PROOFREAD: Double check the spelling and grammar.

5. INTERNAL LINKING: Is it possible to link another one of your relevant posts to this post?

6. CALL TO ACTION: Can you include a call to action at the end?

7. REFERENCES: Can you include quality references?

8. LINKS: Check all the links.

If you have any questions about my checklist, that I can help you with, I'd love you to leave a comment.

How to revamp your old posts

Instead of sharing the same information over and over (I mean how many times can you write about Fibro Fatigue) I suggest breathing some new life into your ancient posts, if like me you have been blogging for a while. This will get readers into your valuable articles that they may not have seen that are still relevant to them today.

Firstly I look through my blog's archives and decide which ones I will revamp. There is no correct way to do this, it is completely up to the individual. Some people choose their most popular post and some people choose their most unpopular articles with the least visits.

I choose content that can be considered timeless or evergreen and by this I mean that the topic is relevant, was relevant and will continue to be relevant to a group of people e.g. What is Fibromyalgia? 

Timeless content is not the latest news or the latest trends, it can be How To do something e.g. How To Fight a Fibro Flare; Tips such as 10 Tips to using Aromatherapy to Reduce Pain.

Here's a How To List that I use when reworking my old posts:

1. READ IT: Spend some time re-reading your old post. Look at it like a first time visitor to your site. Imagine this is the very first post of yours they have ever read. Is it clear? Does it provide valuable information to the reader. Is it simple and specific or does it wander all over the place (like some of my earlier posts). Does it stay on topic or could it be divided up into two posts? 

2. UPDATE INFO: Is there anything you can update to make it more current - such as current information, more recent statistics, dates? 

3. SPELLING: Are there spelling or grammar errors? Check now. Maybe you missed them originally.

4. VALUE: Is there anything you can add to make it more useful to your readers? e.g. an infographic or graph; links to other relevant sites; is it too short and requires more content? 

5. IMAGES: Can you add or change an image to make it more appealing or more shareable? or more PINNABLE? 

a) Consider where you would usually share your posts or like your posts to be shared e.g. PINTEREST, facebook, twitter, Instagram etc and size your image to suit that social medium. 

Different sizes have been shown to perform better on each of the different social media platforms e.g long verticals with words in them work best on PINTEREST. Here is a list of the best sizes for sharing images on social media from buffer that may help:

PINTEREST is now preferring even longer PINS and they suggest 1,000 by 1,5000 for maximum affect. (See how I did that! I updated the information. it would be even better if I redid the graphic with the updated info, don't you think?)

b) Have you thought of branding your photos? By that I mean putting your logo on each photo so that when it is copied and shared it is easily recognisable as yours and continues to promote you and your blog. 

c) Don't forget to add the keyword, alt tag and file name behind the scenes to make the image more searchable. This is how I get many views to my blog as having these done properly, behind the scenes, means my images come up in a google image search. I have built a blog up to thousands of viewers very quickly by using images.

6. LINKS: Check all your links to make sure they are not dead. Remove/change dead links. 
Link the article, you are revamping, to a relevant other article of yours to keep the reader delving into your posts. One or two of these internal links in each post is enough... and only if relevant.

7. READABILITY: Make it easier to read. Does it need a larger font? Most people find 16 an easily readable font size but it does depend on the font you are using as some are naturally larger.                                          

Does it need smaller paragraphs and more white space? People find it easier to read sort paragraphs rather than long blocks of text.

8. TITLE: Does the title need changing? Can you make it a better one so that it has a keyword or phrase that might be used by someone searching for information OR can you make it more intriguing a title to be shared on social media to get people's interest and make them click over?

9. Include ONE call to action at the end of your post, examples could be:

• invite a comment about your post: Be very pointed about asking for comments - ask for peoples opinion ask for an example of things.
• ask readers to share your post.
• ask readers to sign up to your email list.
• ask readers to visit and join one of your social media sites. 

10. COMMENTS: Check out your comments section. Are there some you need to respond to? Are there some spammy ones you can delete? 

11. SHARE: Share your revamped post on all your social media now. Schedule it to re-run on your social media.

12. YOU CAN SHARE THIS OLD POST AT FIBRO FRIDAY(if it is about fibromyalgia). This is a great way to get more visitors to your valuable and often hidden posts.

13. EMAIL: Send an email to your subscribers and let them know about your post.

Have I forgotten anything? Have you been revamping any of your old posts? i would love to hear about it.

How to link facebook to instagram and share stories

FOR THOSE OF YOU ON INSTAGRAM - did you know you can share Instagram stories automatically on your facebook profile or facebook page as stories?

WHAT ARE STORIES? On Instagram Stories and Facebook Stories you can share fleeting, everyday moments of your life that last in your feed for 24 hours then disappear - similar to Snapchat.
You can share both short photo and video collections. Video's are being talked about a lot lately as a way of engaging with others and Instagram and Facebook both provide ways to share live video content on their platform.

IN INSTAGRAM
To view a story, you simply tap on a person's profile photo, and their story will appear full-screen, showing you what they’ve posted in the last 24 hours.

This is a feature of Instagram that took me a while to discover. With this feature, you will not have to manually post on facebook any more and once you apply Instagram story sharing settings, everything will be automated for the future. This will increase the number of people who see your visual content with less work for you.

First you will need to link your Instagram account to Facebook:

1. Go to your Instagram profile on your phone and tap ... (iPhone) or (on Android) in the top right. 
2. Scroll down and tap Linked Accounts. 
3. Tap Facebook and enter your Facebook login info.

To share your story to Facebook:

1. Start creating a story, then tap Next
2. Tap Your Facebook Story
3. Tap Share

You can also adjust your settings to allow all future stories to be shared to Facebook automatically:

1. Go to your profile and tap  (iOS) or  (Android) in the top-right corner
2. Tap Story Settings
3. Next to Share Your Story to Facebook, tap  to allow sharing

Note: When you share your Instagram story to Facebook, it will appear as a story at the top of News Feed. Keep in mind that anything you share to Facebook, including your Instagram story, works with whatever your existing Facebook privacy settings are.

RESOURCE: Instagram 

How to Start an Email List Today

You have all heard how important an email list is. (I am presuming, but if not scroll to the bottom of this post, please.)

Don't wait any longer, start building your email list today, right now... it will only take around 30 minutes.

I'll show you how in 3 easy steps. Are you with me?

1. Sign up for an account with Aweber  (This is who I recommend after 20 years of blogging and using 4 different email marketing service providers).
2. Create a sign-up form for your email list. Use the instructions from Aweber.
3. Put your sign-up form on your blog, in the sidebar and the about page.

It's that easy. 

The sooner you start your list, the faster it will grow. 

And don't worry about WHAT TO WRITE? cause if you sign up with Aweber and let me know I'll send you a link to free pdf on what to write in your emails. You can let me know with this special Contact Form. 

This very thorough pdf includes everything from email writing basics to creating automated emails to selling a service and developing loyal customers/readers and it's free to you.

Also I have a post here, that you can read now, about what to write in your emails.

WHY AN EMAIL LIST IS IMPORTANT:

1. You OWN your email list. You do not own Facebook or Twitter and these platforms can change their policies. You do own your email list, and it is only run by you and by your decisions.

2. It's the most used way of keeping in touch with others. Everyone has email.

3. You can build a good relationship with your list.

4. Email beats social media in getting click-throughs to your blog. This is statistically proven.

WHO IS WRITING THIS?

Hi, I am Lee Good and I have been blogging online for over 20 years now, writing articles and researching. 
My approach, as you can see in this post, on starting an email list, is to keep things simple. 

There is plenty of information out there about blogging and marketing but it can all become a bit overwhelming, so I like to simplify things down to the basics. (the rest is all just padding and fluff really!)
If YOU have any questions relating to this topic please ask them in the comments below and I can give you a more detailed answer.

YES I am an affiliate for Aweber, but that's because I use their product and love it.

Sidebar design ideas for your blog

Before we get started let me confess that in most instances I believe that Less is More and I go for an uncluttered look. This is unless you have a magazine style blog.

What you post in your sidebar is important. It should do two things:

• It should relate directly to the goals of your blog. 
• It should help your readers.

It should lead your visitors through your pages and help them with what you want them to do.

Blogs have different purposes and different designs. So there is no 1 size fits all approach but read on and you will find my must haves for your sidebar.

First of all decide what your blog's ultimate goal is at the moment: get more readers, get readers to subscribe to a newsletter, sell a product, get more pageviews.

Secondly decide what your visitor is looking for.

MUST HAVES FOR A GOOD VISITOR EXPERIENCE:
1. Search bar
2. A short profile with your credentials. Credentials could be where you have blogged or books you have written that relate to your niche.
3. Further reading - this could be called 'Popular Posts' "Latest Posts'  "Recent Posts' etc and will take the visitor to other posts in your site.
4. If you have many readers from other countries they may appreciate a translate button.

WHAT YOU WANT IS DIFFERENT THAN YOUR VISITOR.
If you want visitors to subscribe to your course or email them you should have an Call to Action i.e an email capture e.g.

Sign Up for my Latest Posts

Get my Newsletter each week

Get my pdf on ....

Sign up for my course on ... 

If you want visitors to connect with you on social media you could add your icons (if they are not somewhere else on your site)

If you are trying to make money with your blog - your product could be in the sidebar. If you are trying to make money with adsense/ another network or affiliate marketing place 1 or 2 of these in the sidebar. Personally I find more than this becomes a little overwhelming. remember these all take readers off your blog and away from you and they may never return.

WHAT TO REMOVE FROM YOUR SIDEBAR
1. Mega Data - if you are on wordpress this is automatically on your site and must be removed as it
can affect how search engines see your site, as it creates a link to your log in page from every page of your blog. This may be why you have not been getting much organic search traffic.

2. Archives - that are just a list of date. Who is using this? No one! When I come to your site I cannot use it to search by as it does not give me a list of topics, just a list of dates. The only thing it tells me is how long you have been blogging. If this is important to you put it in your profile i.e "blogging since 2011".

EXAMPLES OF SIDEBARS from the experts. ( I figure they have researched and tested what works over many years and are up to date with current trends). So check these out:

copyblogger - currently has a call to action, affiliate add link, search bar, social media icons and Popular articles. (They do not have a profile as they are a business)

microsoft - has only 2 things - More News and Stay Connected (They do not have a profile as they are a business)

Maria Forleo - Call to Action, followed by a luverly profile pic with Oprah (giving her massive credibility) and then Top Picks (of her blog). That's it.

Chris Brogan - cleverly combines his picture in his Call to Action right at the top of his sidebar, then Most Recent blog posts, then his Supporters (really his affiliate links).

Retro Housewife Goes Green - Lisa has her profile, social media icons, 1 add and her top posts.

The Great Fitness Experiment - Charlotte has her book and 1 other credential and that's all.

A Cup of Jo - Joanna has her pic and Call To action, social media icons, an add, This Month Most Popular, and 1 other add.

Did you find this article helpful? I would love to hear your thoughts on what should be in a sidebar in the comments.

How do you cope? Blogging Prompt

Do you have a post about how you cope with your chronic pain? If so add it to our Fibro Friday link up to help others. If not why not create a post about this topic now as there are a lot of people looking for answers to this question.

WHAT IS A BLOGGING PROMPT? It is a suggestion for you to blog about if you are looking for ideas. It may give you an idea to get you started on 

a blog post. They may spark ideas to get you past a block.