Blog for Cash-How to Make Money Online

I remember when blogs first came about in my world, I was attending my first night of a Public Relations Class, and the assignment was to find out what the heck a Blog was. I truly did NOT know, some of my team members thought it was like an interactive website where readers can leave comments. Of course everyone ran home and researched, only to find out that a blog was and still is defined as the evolution of an online diary. But what does this really mean? This was the summer of 2001, in San Jose - the heart of Silicon valley and there were, without a doubt, ambiguous reactions to the term "Blog" and exactly how this new trend would impact the Internet.

The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly introduced the term weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May 1999. By 2001, the importance of blogging began to take hold, everyone wanted to understand this new phenomena and what part it would play in their life. Since 2002, blogs have rapidly gained notice and coverage for their role in breaking, shaping, and even spinning stories. Acceptance by the mass media, both as a news source and opinion has become a part of life, with blogging at the top of online business tactics.

So how does this weblog affect you today? To say that blogging has come a long way is a gross understatement! Most companies, big and small, have one or more blogs, in addition to their obligatory website. If you are looking for a way to make a living as a blogger, there are indeed many resources out there for you. The first thing that you want to do is to create a blog for yourself, just to get a feel for how it works and because it is obviously a must-have for most of the "blogging for cash" options. I suggest centering it around a common theme, whether it is a business blog or a personal blog, it is extremely important to write about something that you know and something that interests you, your expertise and your passion. Remember that you are going to have to post new and exciting content to this blog on a regular basis if you really want to attract and keep a steady stream of traffic. At the very least, commit to publish 3 or 4 interesting new posts each week. Get in the habit of writing down topic ideas when they pop in your head and snapping random pictures as they present themselves. They can be developed into posts later - or not, but you will always have a supply of original material to work with.

The next step is to choose a blogging platform, so you will want to shop around for a blog platform that fits your needs. A few very popular and free choices are Google's Blogger and Wordpress platforms. They are both easy to set up and once you choose which one is right for you, you can be blogging in no time.

Blogger- Straightforward, easy to use

Wordpress - Best for those who plan on hosting their own blogs (see hosting options below)

Once you have decided on your platform, and have some great topic buzz that will capture your target audience's attention, select an alluring template design and most importantly a permanent blog title and url. Choose this with the utmost care and stick with it! Confusing your readers by changing the url, so they can not find you is never good for business and irritating google after your url has been indexed can cause numerous problems, none of which will improve your ranking or your popularity.

With some of the sponsored blogging for cash methods below, your page rank will not matter as much but for some of the others where you are getting paid for the number of clicks the ad receives, you obviously want your blog to be rated high, which will take time and effort -of course. The higher your page rank, the more money you will receive for your post because it will likely get more traffic-clicks-sales for the advertiser. Checking your rank with Google is free and easy:

Google Page Rank Checks page rank value

Google Search Engine Genie Is your site among the first 100 results on the SERP

Another thing to consider is selecting a web host for your blog. This is not mandatory however many look at this like investing in web real estate or buying your url to give you more ownership and more creative freedom. For example, if your company is named Sharon's Shoes, you will probably want your website to be www.sharonsshoes.com not www.sharonsshoes.blogger.com, which is what the url will be if you create via Blogger. There are many web hosting providers and many options as most offer a smorgasbord of services so read that tiny font and be realistic about your budget and what you really need:

Bluehost.com - The default host for WordPress sites

GoDaddy.com - Well known and inexpensive

Hostgator.com - Another multi-service well known web host

There are numerous sites now that will pay you to write blog posts. I have listed a few of the ones that I have either used or know of below. It is a relatively quick way to earn money, especially once you get the hang of it. If you enjoy writing, blogging and the world wide web, this just might be a new career, or at the very least, a way to make some extra cash.

If you are really serious about making money, be aware that there are no get rich quick schemes that have happy endings. Writing online takes extreme patience and a love of writing because it will not happen overnight. If you look at blogging and writing online as a job and are willing and able to devote a good portion of your day to being in front of a computer then you are off to a good start. Set up a schedule for yourself and stick to it. Visit other's blogs, hubs and sites, providing feedback, commenting, following, etc. so you establish an online presence. I have found that most writers appreciate the interest and are willing to reciprocate when it is your turn to publish.

So now that you have your blog set up, remember to post quality content on a regular basis to keep your readers interested and to attract new traffic. Once you have established a series of engaging posts, comprising the most incredibly interesting new blog on the block, you will want to share all of this hard work with the world. This is where social networking comes in. Use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and any other social networking sites that will undoubtedly spread your blogging blab. Be prepared to spend some time researching, reading, sharing, posting on other sites to potentially harvest some quality back-links and learning everything you can about new technologies that will improve the functionality of your blog. The more traffic you are getting the more that you can make blogging for cash.

Paid Blogger

There are now many ways to make money using your blogging and writing skills. Because so many businesses now have a blog, they typically outsource the blog maintenance to bloggers and freelance writers. ProBlogger and EHow are a few good ones, but you can also search for blogger jobs on most job boards and find results. They will typically want to see samples of your writing skills so be prepared to submit. For those of you who always wanted to be a news reporter check out Examiner.com. From what I hear, they pay well if you are willing to get out there and get the goods before anyone else. Being nosy and aggressive pays best!

Blogging Networks

As some Hubbers may know, it is not easy to get the volume of traffic you need at first to make money from your own blog. That's where blogging networks come in, like HubPages, BlogParty and Blogit to name a few. They have much more traffic because of their notoriety, PR and because there is always fresh content being added which search engines crave. The networks are monetized by agencies like AdSense, Amazon, Kontera and Ebay. Even though you can usually use these same advertisers to monetize your own blog, you will not get the traffic and clicks that a blogging network does, so many prefer to post their content to a network. In addition, when writing for a blog network, you can use the support and guidance of the staff and other writers to boost confidence and share stories of success as a writer or blogger.

Another money making site that seems to be making quite a name for itself recently is RedGage. It is a first-of-its-kind web site that pays people for their online content and monetizes their social activity. You can actually import your existing online content from your Blogs and Social Media Accounts with the click of a mouse. Sign up now: RedGage.com. Refer your friends, increase your earnings!

Affiliate Marketing

Another way to make money blogging is Affiliate Marketing. Once you have had your blog for awhile or you have a blog with a high volume of traffic then Affiliate Marketing may be a good option for you. Advertisors pay you to post a banner or link advertising their product or service and then you are paid a commision for each click through or other action as specified in the agreement. One thing to remember with Affiliate Marketing is that you will want to stick with products that fit well into the theme of your blog. If your blog is about natural products then you would probably do well placing a banner for organic bedding or natural products on your blog's home page.

Sponsored Posts

Finally, Sponsored Posts are possibly the most widespread way to make money blogging these days. After you set up your account and enter your blog's title, url address and the main topic of the blog for approval, the site will typically email you with an advertisers requested action, for example: "Use 3 of the following keywords with these corresponding links to write a 2-3 paragraph post". You have the option of accepting or rejecting the task, you can even request a higher pay-out amount if you feel that it is warranted. Many of these sites pay you with PayPal so if you don't already have a PayPal account, it might be a good idea to set one up.