There were days when blogging was popular among journal enthusiasts. These personal blogs were never monetized; rather, they were just to share information with friends and family. In recent years the blogging community has constantly evolved into a money-making storm. The question is: how do you get a piece of the pie without driving readers away?



Buy Me A Beer: Which would you rather give someone: a little over a dollar in money, or a cold beer? Even if you aren't a beer drinker, the Buy Me a Beer plugin for Wordpress bloggers is a good alternative for cash flow. If you can personify the shiny PayPal donation button, you'll get more donations as a result. After all- there is more sentimental value in a beer than a few numbers in a PayPal account.

The plugin inputs a Buy Me a Beer link at the bottom or top of blog posts, with the hope that users will make small donations to the writer. Does it work? From what the fans are saying, it has increased donations by as much as 200%!

Inline Ads: Productive or Counter-productive: No one likes a blog full of ads. But most bloggers try and infuse every bit of blog space with ads regardless- which is a great way to lose readers. So how can a blogger continue to make money, yet keep the reader base?

Inline ads are ads that are hidden within the content. You might place ads at random, float them near wrapped text, or put them somewhere near the bottom. While the most user-friendly ads are at the bottom, the biggest cash flow comes from putting them at the very top.

It's generally accepted to put one inline ad at the top, while putting a few more at the bottom and in sidebars. You can do this with Google Adsense, Yahoo's alternative, or a slew of other new alternatives like WidgetBucks. (Just don't overdo it- and be sure to read the guidelines of ad networks; some won't let you put ads next to competitor ads!)

Monetizing a Blog via Sales: Stores like Amazonmake an unimaginable amount of money each year. They run a program that allows website owners to take a piece of the cash flow, by allowing webmasters to link to specific products that users might be interested in. With every sale comes a new wad of cash- all without even having to stock, ship, or deal with the order by one's self!

Another popular venue of profit is via t-shirts. Many online t-shirt companies allow websites to brand their own t-shirts for sale. Of course, they pay commission based on each t-shirt sold. If you have a popular blog with a lot of loyal users, this is a great way to cash in on their loyalty. Releasing new t-shirt designs each month will ensure that they keep their wallets open for your cause.

Last Thoughts on Making Money via Blogs: Making money through blogs is easier than you'd think. There are some blogs that make excesses of $50,000 a month. (As much as a lot of people make in a year!) A good way to duplicate the success of other blogs is to see what they are doing right- and mimicking their style.

Keep an eye out for the money makers. They won't tell you their secrets, or what works best, but you may usually guess both of these facts by doing research on what they offer users.