How can I make money with my blog? Many people ask that question once they get over the initial thrill of starting a new blog. Whether your blog is the start of an internet empire or something much more modest, it would be nice if it brought in some pocket change from time to time. Here are five ways to make money with your blog.

1. Google Adsense

Google Adsense is contextual advertising. That means that the ads match the content on the page. If my blog is about travel, my Adsense code will show travel ads. If yours is about parenting, then yours will show ads related to that topic. All you need to do is sign up for an Adsense account and you will be able to create ads for various parts of your blog. The header, sidebar, footer and at the start of posts are popular locations, but check out Google’s own heat maps for the best places to put your ads.

The amount you will make depends on how often your content is viewed and how many times people click, as well as the amount available for each click. This varies from ad to ad. On my own blog, there have been months where I’ve earned enough for a Starbucks coffee and others where I earned enough to buy tickets to a Broadway show. Earnings fluctuate, but once your code is up you can pretty much forget about it till you hit the $100 payout threshold.

2. Text Links

Another way to make money is to sell links within your existing blog posts. There are several companies you can sign up with, including Kontera and Text Link Ads. The idea is that the links are unobtrusive (not necessarily true for Kontera). With some companies you can limit the number of ad spots, exclude certain posts from displaying ads and take control of managing ads. However, many of them do it automatically once the code is installed. The earnings from these ads compare well with those from Adsense, but your page rank may drop if you use them.

3. Paid Reviews

Exactly what it says on the tin - you get paid to write a review on your blog. What you can earn depends on the company you choose, but earnings can range from $5 to $100 or more. Check out our list of paid to blog sites to get started. And many of the sites mentioned in our post on advertising and promotion also work well for monetizing your blog.

4. Blog Ads

BlogAds, Performancing Ads and Entrecard are just three of the networks you can join to display ads on your blog. In general, you have to set up a profile, decide what ads you will accept and how to get paid, and wait for the ad deals to come in.

Of course, it helps if you actively promote the advertising space too. If you have a new blog, then you may find it difficult to earn a lot with blog ads, but if you have a popular blog or a blog in a popular niche, this could be a money spinner.

5. Private Ad Sales

You can also manage your own advertising. To do this you need to have a handle on your blog stats, so you know where your main audience is and how many people are visiting your blog. You can then use this information to set the right price for your ads. (A short cut to this is to look at what sites like ReviewMe and SocialSpark suggest you charge for ads.)

You also need an easy way to manage ads. Two tools that work well for Wordpress (there are many others) are WP-125 (free) and OIO Publisher (not free - $47). You can also enter ad code in your template manually.

Private ad sales are a great way to maintain complete control over what’s shown on your blog. They make a good complement to other methods of advertising.

Sharon Hurley Hall
Get Paid To Write Online.com

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