Blogging for a second income - does anyone else here do this?

ThinkingOfLinking

I finally got my blog started; it's a free one from Blogger set up under the same username as I have on here, so am going to make a go of AdSense and Amazon Associates; I have been approved for all of them.

Edited to add: The link to my blog is now in my profile. :0)

Marteebies

Some really great tips here! Thanks! I have been blogging for a while, but I never really thought I could make money from it... From reading these tips, I might invest some time into it! Ill let you know how it goes! Making money on something you already spend time doing anyway! Makes sense, and sounds kinda fun!

Debs102

I blog about knitting which I really like doing - I've been at it for about a year now, and although I'm not making a profit out of it, I really enjoying writing it. Thank you for the tips guys - it's great seeing how people with more experience go about it!

Sixer

I would recommend anyone blogging for cash via AdSense or affiliate commissions be aware of the current movements in search engine attitude to certain sites. The links below refer to content farms, but equally apply to blogs:

http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/7112-blekko-bans-content-farms-but-should-google-follow-suit

http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2011/02/how-to-avoid-being-labelled-as-a-content-farm.html

If your blog is written around getting income (cf someone above who said they 'write around' Amazon items) rather than around a subject you have genuine interest in and for which you are able to gain organic approval (via links) from elsewhere on the web, the likelihood is that your blog will be more and more heavily penalised by search engines over the next year - so much so that it will be barely visible at all.

skintkid

Gracie_1827 wrote: »

Does anyone use money4banners and can they show me their blogs where they use them so I can see what they look like?

I used to have a static website and had money4banners adds but last year I started to change the site to a blog and money4banners contacted me to say that my site no longer met their criteria so I'm not sure if they allow blogs?

littleowl

Hi - I have just started a blog using Google blogspot. Can anyone help me with a little advice? First of all is there any advantage in getting a domain name - the same one I am using on Google - and if so where can I do this cheaply? Secondly I assume I can use product names - for example when writing about antique textiles I want to post on cleaning them (quite tricky) ? Finally I have written a couple of (fictional) stories relating to my subject and wondered whether they would be good as e-books which I can reference on the blog.
Sorry if these are stupid questions, this is all very new to me!

daz501

I think there is an advantage in getting a domain yes. .com or .co.uk according to the message you want to convey in what your blog stands for. If your blogging niche is quite competitive, maybe positioning yourself as a UK blogger would benefit you. Then again, Google's treatment of domain suffixes can be quite random.

I have a .com for a public figure fansite, but a .co.uk for my own graphic design portfolio. The suffix communicates something specific about each type of site.

I've recently gone over to wordpress to experiment. You have more control this way as you can use your own server space with an FTP client - Blogger no longer supports this although you can still buy a (rather expensive) domain through them. Hosting with Blogger is still free though.

littleowl

daz501 wrote: »

I think there is an advantage in getting a domain yes. .com or .co.uk according to the message you want to convey in what your blog stands for. If your blogging niche is quite competitive, maybe positioning yourself as a UK blogger would benefit you. Then again, Google's treatment of domain suffixes can be quite random.

I have a .com for a public figure fansite, but a .co.uk for my own graphic design portfolio. The suffix communicates something specific about each type of site.

I've recently gone over to wordpress to experiment. You have more control this way as you can use your own server space with an FTP client - Blogger no longer supports this although you can still buy a (rather expensive) domain through them. Hosting with Blogger is still free though.

Thanks - that's useful.

Bigbase

Gracie_1827 wrote: »

Thanks for replying Daz but your homepage on your profile doesn't show any banners. Quite a few people on here say they make money from blogging but don't put their pages on their profile, I wonder why, surly they want to promote themselves.

People will often steal ideas, your niche etc. Alot of folks keep their affiliate sites secret

gatita

I have a friend who is working for a web based company. After a few months they asked if she would write a weekly blog on the website. (this in addition to the job she normally does.) She was a little reluctant, mainly lack of confidence! However she has been doing it for quite some time now, and the company seem pleased with what she has done so far.
Her question is, what would be a fair amount to be paid for this extra work?
If anyone could give us even a very vague idea, it would be much appreciated.