Hope Writes

Get Paid To Blog With Smorty

Posted by Hope

Last November I wrote a post delving into the topic of whether or not you can get paid for blogging. I know several people who signed up to participate in the ever-popular Pay Per Post paid blogging network. Like them, I signed up for that in hopes that I’d be able to pull in some extra money here and there with my blog.

The first major drawback I saw to PPP was that if you had a fairly new blog, the opportunities were extremely limited. After making a few paid posts for them, I decided that program was not for me. It took more effort on my part to find equitable offers that I could write about on my blog.

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Popularity: 37% [?]

Can You Really Make Money Blogging?

Posted by Hope

I read a lot of blogs in a week’s time. Lately I’ve noticed more talk about blogging to make money. More specifically, there’s an interesting up-and-down trend of “yes, you can” and “no, you can’t.”

The “yes, you can” bloggers say that it is possible to make money blogging. But then there is a wide varying of opinion as to how to make money blogging. Some say Adsense is the way to go. But even more bloggers are saying to stay away from Adsense and try other things, like Widget Bucks, Kontera and Amazon context.

The “no, you can’t” bloggers say that it’s impossible to expect to earn a decent income solely from a blog. They suggest rather, to hire yourself out as a freelancer, or do something else to earn a living while you blog for a hobby.

And then there are the bloggers who say that it is possible to make money with a blog, but you have to be willing to put in lots of hard work and you can’t expect it to happen overnight.

I have found that the bloggers who say it is possible are most often those who began blogging solely as a hobby. They birthed an audience, who grew with them over an extended period of time (in most cases, years). They didn’t start out with hopes of making money, but just did it for fun. Because they carved out a name for themselves in a community of people who were also interested in the same things, they became popular and widely known across the Net. Slowly, they began to test and try new things–just to make a few bucks to pay for the regular upkeep of the blog–and discovered that they could monetize their passion after all.

Lessons we can learn from this…

Are You Passionate About The Topic?

If you’re thinking about blogging just to make money, forget about it. It’s definitely not a get-rich-quick scheme. If you aren’t passionate about the topic, you’ll run out of things to say–and fast!

If you’re going to start a blog, be confident that you can talk about the topic extensively and often. Most blogs update daily; three times per week minimum. To build a readership, you have to be able to post content regularly, or else nobody will want to come back. If you aren’t very interested in the topic, it’s going to be difficult to keep producing content as often as you need to.

Can You Devote Time To It?

Blogging requires more time and effort than you think. Professional bloggers don’t just whip out articles and post them on a whim, then leave until it’s time to blog again.

Blogging requires things like research, networking, and traffic building. Not only are you the author, but you have to manage comments, respond to your readers, and generate an overall interest in your blog. If you can’t devote the time required to build an audience, it’s pointless to blog (unless you just enjoy reading your own thoughts ).

Are You Willing To Test And Tweak To Discover What Works Best?

When your blog grows to the point that you are ready to monetize it, how will you go about doing this? You can’t just slap a few blocks of Adsense on your blog and walk away. You have to ask yourself questions like:

• What are my readers interested in?
• What products can I recommend to my readers that will provide them with quality, helpful information they need?
• Is paid advertising more conducive than placing Adsense on my website?
• Do I want my readers to stay on my website, or is it okay for them to click away (Adsense)?

Those are just a few things you have to consider.

Can You Build A “Sticky” Blog?

Believe it or not, blogging requires more thought than just throwing together a few paragraphs and posting it for people to read. You have to consider your audience, and what they want or expect to read when they return.

A sticky blog is one that keeps the reader there for a long period of time. How do you know if your blog is sticky? Take a look at your site stats. If it shows that the majority of your readers click away after being on your blog for less than a minute or two, it’s pretty safe to say your blog isn’t sticky.

A few examples of my favorite sticky blogs are:

• ProBlogger.net
• LifeHack.org
• SelfMadeChick.com
• Copy Blogger
• DoshDosh
• StevePavlina’s Blog

Go check them out and see if you can figure out the “stickiness” of each blog.

Can you make money blogging?

Some say you can; some say you can’t. I say…it’s all up to YOU. Can you make money blogging? You tell me….can you?

I Recommend:

Popularity: 100% [?]

Flying By The Seat Of Your Pants

Posted by Hope

This blog post at Performancing.com got my wheels to turning. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about doing more in-depth planning for a couple of my sites in particular.

I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of gal. But that’s not always a good thing. I also tend to get lots of ideas. I’ve long since learned to keep a notebook handy to jot down these ideas. I’ve always had a tendancy to jump on every idea I had. Problem with that was they almost always flopped because rather than plan and think things through to the end, I just jumped on the idea and ran with it.

This post talks about doing things like researching up-and-coming trends. If you are a niche marketer, this is an excellent tip because you can get a leg up on the competition. It also recommends weaving in holiday-related stuff and writing ahead.

There’s one thing on this list that I’ve been doing for some time now, which is research your stats. This is by and far a terrific way to get into the minds of your readers. You can learn how they found you (search phrases) and where they come from (site referrals).

Something that recently caught my attention one day as I checked my stats was a graph that shows what day(s) of the week are best for traffic. This is something you should pay attention to. You can write more “meaty” posts on those day(s) of the week and do some linkbaiting in those posts as well, to attract even more traffic.

The key then, whether you’re a writer, blogger, or business-person, is to plan ahead. Don’t let unexpected surprises knock you off you’re feet. Believe it or not, these things do happen, and almost always at a time when you feel like you’re finally beginning to get somewhere.

Do you fly by the seat of your pants, or plan ahead? What are some of your tips?

Popularity: 37% [?]

Do You Leave Comments On Blogs?

Posted by Hope

If you use blogs for networking purposes, you probably leave quite a few comments in a week’s time, right? Have you given much thought to your comments, or do you just leave them on a whim after reading a nice post?

Darren, at ProBlogger.net, wrote a terrific post, offering great tips on how to get your comments noticed on a popular blog. I must admit that I am guilty of leaving hasty comments without thinking my process through good enough. I read something I like and leave a quick comment.

You might think that just by dropping a few random comments on several blogs will get your business (or name) noticed. You’re right about that, but you could become recognized as the serial blog commenter who has no etiquette, morals, or brains.

Darren’s post really woke me up to the realization that I need to be more thorough when commenting on other blogs. His suggestions cover everything from commenting etiquette to formatting. This one is truly a must-read: 11 Tips for Getting Your Comments Noticed on a Popular Blog

Popularity: 65% [?]