There are plenty of blogs that focus on the “make money blogging” space. Some are better than others, and generally a good way to detect quality is to look for those that preach that it's hard work to make money blogging, that it usually takes a long time, and the foundation almost always comes from high quality content churned out and then properly promoted over a long period of time.
Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger has long been one of my favorites, and that’s because of the supportive and friendly spirit of its content and community, as well as Darren’s overall take on blogging as a professional business. A few recent ProBlogger articles have particularly drawn my attention.
How to Make $30,000 a year Blogging is a good illustration of the it’s hard/takes time/quality content/quality promotion dynamic. It also delivers a fabulous primer on different kinds of online advertising strategies, such as CPC, CPM, commission, and sponsorships. And Rowse points out that using multiple advertising networks and types is a good way to maximize revenue. Of course, you need to drive a lot of traffic before you can expect to make anything close to $30k per year!
And here’s helpful news for money-seeking blogs who use the popular Blogger platform: Google and Amazon Partner Up to Integrate Amazon Associates Program into Blogger Blogs. One of the more interesting things about this news is that Google-owned Blogger is now openly promoting a non-Google advertising product. And since many bloggers use both Google Adsense and the Amazon Affiliate program as a bedrock of their money-making strategy, the move makes a lot of sense.
There are also a number of “indirect” ways to make money from blogging, including professional networking opportunities, promotion for consulting and online services, direct product sales, and more. Some of the most prolific and ambitious bloggers are writing books (both e-books as well as the dead wood variety) and promoting them to their readers. The latter – old fashioned books distributed via old school real world distribution – gets the spotlight on Mashable: From Blog to Book Deal: How 6 Authors Did It. Profiles include how Ben Huh of the I Can Has Cheezburger empire, Pamela Slim of Escape From Cubicle Nation, and Walker Lamond of Rules of My Unborn Son converted Internet celebrity into book deals.
Even though the blogging game is highly competitive, it’s also fun and challenging and changing all the time. Bloggers are forging new business models out of online publishing, with the result that the best of the best online writers and self-promoters are able to live la vida blogger full time.
For a lot more information about professional blogging in 2009, check out Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere report.
(this post originally appeared on Technorati)