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

Katra

I just wanted to thank the OP and the many contributors on this thread. Earlier this year I started to read it and I slowly gained the confidence to set up my own blog. I'll happily admit that I'm not making any money out of it but I do get sent the odd product to review which I'm more than happy with. For me it's become a fantastic hobby and I've "met" some lovely people through it.

shmeeko69

Katra wrote: »

I just wanted to thank the OP and the many contributors on this thread. Earlier this year I started to read it and I slowly gained the confidence to set up my own blog. I'll happily admit that I'm not making any money out of it but I do get sent the odd product to review which I'm more than happy with. For me it's become a fantastic hobby and I've "met" some lovely people through it.

Most of the people who have review blogs (including myself) don't actually buy the products, but articulate the information in an honest and friendly way. I find it's a good way to make a decent income for the time spent in writing up accurate reviews about each product.

Ewaf

shmeeko69 wrote: »

Most of the people who have review blogs (including myself) don't actually buy the products, but articulate the information in an honest and friendly way. I find it's a good way to make a decent income for the time spent in writing up accurate reviews about each product.

I'm intrigued to know how well the website in your profile works for you? It's pretty much everything that's wrong with the internet all on one page.

walkonnow

Hi, not sure if this has already come up - but does anyone use skimlinks in their blog? I was wondering if there were any success stories.

Thanks

Anton123

Blogging/running sites is now my main income. I left my job some while back.

Don't delude yourself into thinking all you need is to put a site up and you will get traffic. Its takes a lot of work in the initial years and then when they are firmly established you can take things easier but still need to work at it sparingly at least. I am lucky in the sense that I started my sites some 6 years back now. The sites have aged which in itself brings with it some authority if the sites are pretty good. I had actually taken it very easy for a couple of years but have really got stuck in again in the last couple of months (putting in around 8 to 10 hours a day again). And already finding my revenues are increasing in line with the extra work I am putting in.

Its not easy but can be done. You need quality content, good SEO/marketing, and most importantly, perseverance.

daz501

Anton123 wrote: »

Blogging/running sites is now my main income. I left my job some while back.

I expect you're diversifying the income you make from blogging? I'm hearing everyday about publishers getting banned by Adsense - and Google's new algorithm changes are seeing decent sites get slapped and experience a drop in revenue

newmee

http://newsonlineweekly.com/uk/finance/

Is this a scam?

Anton123

daz501 wrote: »

I expect you're diversifying the income you make from blogging? I'm hearing everyday about publishers getting banned by Adsense - and Google's new algorithm changes are seeing decent sites get slapped and experience a drop in revenue

I know. I have been with Adsense now for 6 years and make few thousand each month through them. They have to have a damn good reason to drop me as I have never cheated them in all that time so why would I begin now, especially given that I make significant amount? It would be crazy and completely irrational on my part to start cheating them now.

As for rankings, my sites are now well established and whilst there have been some small ups and downs, I have manged to steadily increase traffic over time. Also, with age, sites gain trust with Google as long as you play fair.

However, youa re absolutely right about diversifying. I started doing that gradually over time and my non-Adsense income is around 25% of my overall income. It varies moneth to month, but its in the 20% to 30% range. I am doing my absolute best to get that to 50% over the next year which I feel would reduce my reliance on Adsense, not to mention for many affiliate marketers, Adsense, in fact, often represents a very small share of their overall income. I have have had mild success with affiliate products that I promote through my sites, but I really want to get the hang of CPA marketing because that's probably the best source of income for internet marketers.

I have also been putting lot of emphasis on marketing on social media in the last two months as I am not where I should be in this regard. It can be a really powerful traffic source.

daz501

Anton123 wrote: »

I know. I have been with Adsense now for 6 years and make few thousand each month through them. They have to have a damn good reason to drop me as I have never cheated them in all that time so why would I begin now, especially given that I make significant amount? It would be crazy and completely irrational on my part to start cheating them now.

As for rankings, my sites are now well established and whilst there have been some small ups and downs, I have manged to steadily increase traffic over time. Also, with age, sites gain trust with Google as long as you play fair.

However, youa re absolutely right about diversifying. I started doing that gradually over time and my non-Adsense income is around 25% of my overall income. It varies moneth to month, but its in the 20% to 30% range. I am doing my absolute best to get that to 50% over the next year which I feel would reduce my reliance on Adsense, not to mention for many affiliate marketers, Adsense, in fact, often represents a very small share of their overall income. I have have had mild success with affiliate products that I promote through my sites, but I really want to get the hang of CPA marketing because that's probably the best source of income for internet marketers.

I have also been putting lot of emphasis on marketing on social media in the last two months as I am not where I should be in this regard. It can be a really powerful traffic source.

I don't think I made myself clear - Adsense have banned innocent members in error. It DOES happen.

sequence

It does definitely happen! The adsense system is almost entirely automatic, including the banning process. Any innocent publisher can fall on the wrong side of this process.