You’ll recall that last week I gave some pointers on how to make a profit during hard times (like when you have no disposable income to buy those fabulous pair of Stacy Adams Pimpim Pumps :(. MSNBC recommended niche industries to pursue offline, but I thought these could easily translate to online business opportunities for anyone interested in pursuing affiliate marketing. One of the most important and popular platforms that new affiliates use to venture into profiting from the web is blogging.

You can create a blog in literally minutes. Free blog providers such as Bravenet, Blogger.com and WordPress (my personal favourite :)) make it a cinch for anyone to set up a blog and write just about anything they want, any time they want, and any place they want. The cool thing about these providers is that over the years they’ve grown savvier and have helped bloggers to become so as well. Today, providers offer cool features like customizable tools, widgets and spam filters to help blogs look more sophisticated.

Everyone knows that blogs have been all the rage especially since 2004 when they became more mainstream. But what’s more interesting is that where bloggers once hesitated and even apologized to their readers for adding advertising to their blogs, advertising has become the norm. Bloggers are working diligently to get a financial return on the time they spend investing in their blog. They’re up all hours of the morning or night keeping you entertained with their witty thoughts of the day. And more advanced bloggers are adding cool layouts, tools and designs to keep their blogs attractive. If you’re looking for proof on just how popular blogs are, all you have to do is consult the ultimate blog source Technorati. Their 2008 report they conducted on blogging proves how bloggers are becoming more business savvy.

Technorati’s report gives us some interesting information about bloggers. See if you fit into any of these categories:

Two-thirds are male
50% are 18-34
More affluent and educated than the general population
70% have college degrees
Four in ten have an annual household income of $75K+
One in four have an annual household income of $100K+
44% are parents

Now while this information represents the US population, let’s not forget about non-US traffic coming from places like Canada and the UK.

More importantly, State of the Blogosphere tells us that one-third of “bloggers have affiliate advertising on their blog.” This means they are relying on networks like Share Results and merchants to facilitate the performance marketing process. Ads don’t necessarily have to be cluttered all over a site. They can be strategically placed at the top, bottom and sidebars of a web page are ideal locations to promote a particular brand. And while some newcomers to the blogosphere think it’s as simple as slapping on a banner on their site, obviously there are reasons why some bloggers are selective about the advertising they incorporate into their blogs. They look at what products and services can service their target audience. Not sure who your audience is? Well take a look at what you’re publishing. Use tools like Alexa and Quancast to determine what sort of demographic visiting your site on a daily basis.

Tundra GearFurthermore, it’s about quality. Readers enjoy posts that are entertaining and casual, but still well-written. Even some of our merchants like eLearners and Tundra Gear have their own company blogs and engage their audiences with great content.

The reason why some of the more successful blogs draw a high number of readers is due to the fact that they update their sites with posts daily or weekly. The content plays an important element, because of three words: Search Engine Marketing (SEO). Optimized content allows search engines like Google to rank your site based on keywords and links you incorporate into your content. Share Results’ own in-house SEO expert CT Moore has written about this in-depth and is probably your best source for how to monetize your blog.

Not only has he written extensively on blogging, but he also offers some additional opportunities you might want to pursue during these tough times.

This topic is quite intense and obviously you’ll need to consult some more online sources for guidance on monetizing your blog. Remember that you can always email the Share Results team if you have any questions about how to make the jump from just plain old blogging to blogging with profit!

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Getting a Financial Return from your Blog

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