How to Make Money Online
- 24 Comment
The first step many people take towards building an online business is creating a blog. You are looking at my blog right now, the word originates from a shortening of ‘web log’, essentially an online diary of thoughts and events.
There are several different platforms for building blogs, but the two most popular by number of users at the time of writing this post are WordPress and Blogger. Both of these systems may be used in one of two ways: either service-provider hosted or self-hosted. This blog is self-hosted on the domain iainherrington.com and is powered by WordPress. If I had chosen to use the service-provider hosted service the URL would have been something like iainherrington.wordpress.com (assuming that it was not already in use). Similarly, if I had decided to use Blogger as the blog platform, the service-provider hosted URL would have been iainherrington.blogspot.com, obviously the self-hosted domain would have been the same, but the appearance and functionality of the website would have been different to what you see now.
The reason these platforms are so popular is because they are so easy to use, certainly compared to the methods for website building that preceded them. They allow the user to focus on what is really of interest to them – the content and/or message, rather than the technical details that many people find so trying.
However, once you have created your blog and started filling it with all that scintillating content you were just bursting to impart, you immediately hit a second question/problem – how do I make money from this? I have lost count of the number of times I have seen this question raised in Internet forums, or asked on teleconferences/webinars, it is an issue people really struggle with.
Well John Chow has put together a very comprehensive list of the various ways you can monetize your blog and it represents an excellent starting point for answering that question. His blog also demonstrates what is possible if you choose to apply yourself to becoming a professional blogger.
Update 16 Feb 2010
I see that this post has been listed on the affiliate promotion page of Philip Mansour’s & Saj P’s Banner Ad Blueprint product and thought that it would be a good idea to issue some specific commenting guidelines.
Anyone who wants to leave an intelligent comment relating to this post is more than welcome to do so. Only links to domains other than BannerAdBlueprint.com will be allowed – NO direct linking. Spam comments or linking to spammy destinations will not be tolerated.
These guidelines may be added to if any other naughtiness ensues.
24 Comments on this post
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make money online fast said:
Well, there are many ways to make money online fast blogging is one of the platforms that can be set up quickly and index quickly, you then add adsense or other things to monetize it.
December 29th, 2008 at 11:26 am -
Steve from car leasing said:
There has been an explosion of posts like this one – all appear to make the process of making money online from blogging really simple. I now have close on 100 blogs and I’m losing more than I am making. am I doing something wrong? I must be. But I have followed all of the online advice to the letter. Maybe my content is lousy?
January 20th, 2009 at 4:25 pm -
Iain from Iain Herrington said:
@Steve As I mentioned in the post, this is an area with which many people struggle. Without seeing the specifics of your websites it is difficult to pinpoint your exact problem(s). However, as a general observation you may be better served by focusing on either a single site, or a small number of sites, until you get some concrete results. Once you have determined what works for you, it’s time to apply that classic IM phrase: wash, rinse, repeat.
Bear in mind also, that some niches just do not work no matter how good your content is. Chalk it up to experience and move on. Anyone who is struggling with making niche blogging work should also check out the 30 Day Challenge which is completely free, or if you can afford a small monthly subscription Amy Bass‘s training program called The Niche Blogger.
February 9th, 2009 at 1:44 am -
Albert Perrie said:
thanks for the great information in this post
April 21st, 2009 at 7:10 am -
car hire said:
Thanks for all of the hints and tips.
I will be blogging very soon!June 12th, 2009 at 4:12 pm -
vijendra from Top 10 games said:
Hi,
I am new to the internet marketing and really want to build money as soon as possible.
The information provided is really helpful for me.
Great post.Keep the good work.
Thanks for sharing.June 18th, 2009 at 12:02 pm -
Rasim said:
Thank you For keeping your blog dofollow. I hope more blogs follow you. Thank you for using keywordluv so people can still comment and get a keyword backlink out of it too.
@Rasim I am less inclined to continue to do so if Webmasters fail to redirect old links when they delete a page. Your URL was 404ing so it has been removed. – IainH 18 Feb 2010
July 6th, 2009 at 4:20 am -
Triplett said:
Great advice and very true. One of the most important things bloggers, or any business, can do is try not to give up. Even when times are tough it’s important to be there for your readers and customers because they will remember you in a positive light once things get better and you will be rewarded for your efforts.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:29 am -
Mel from Aqualane Shores real estate said:
Thanks buddy for providing this link, anyways WordPress service provider hosted blogs don’t allow monetizing but Blogger being owned by Google and Adsense being a part of it, does allow monetizing your blog even it’s hosted on their server however it’s recommended to get a self-hosted blog to stay independent.
September 21st, 2009 at 2:49 am -
Monika How to make money in Philadelphia said:
Marketing like crazy is a brilliant suggestion – but money does run out quickly – especially in the beginning when every cent counts. What makes it more difficult is that you do not know what medium works for you. Its a balance. I suggest talking to as many people that have been successful in business and copy their strategies. You’ll eventually get your groove happening and find what works. I agree with marketing continuity once you’ve found what works for you.
November 27th, 2009 at 9:58 am -
Jinnie from web promotion uk said:
The need for effective online marketing continues to increase at a rapid rate. Once a marketing strategy is in place, monitoring the number of visitors is also important. Adding fresh text, evaluating new keywords and incorporating additional links may also be required. By creating, updating and maintaining an effective website that utilizes search engine optimization marketing, a business improves their chance for success.
December 23rd, 2009 at 10:48 am -
monika from gist said:
I really enjoyed reading this article. It struck home because most of the money I make from my blogs comes from affiliate products sales from reviews.. it seems very logical that you don’t go for the hard sale but rather convince your visitors about the benefits and let them decide… I also find that it helps if I believe and actually use the product or service myself…
December 24th, 2009 at 6:53 am -
jinnie from mot said:
It’s difficult to run a business with this crisis, but we cannot give up, otherwise the crisis will win the struggle I think it’s worth to keep working and try the run the business normally and hope we will get over this situation soon.
December 29th, 2009 at 4:36 am -
Oliviya said:
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
January 15th, 2010 at 7:31 am -
seo manchester from Blog Comment Spammer said:
I’ve wanted exactly what you’re looking for many times. But I’ve learned that it’s not going to come. Other than rare occasions, money doesn’t just fall into your lap, and when it does, it’s not from any “get rich quick” schemes – it’s pure chance and you cannot expect it or make it happen. If it does, great, but it probably won’t.
January 27th, 2010 at 5:10 am -
IainH from Iain Herrington said:
I am very happy to give genuine commenters a link back to their Web site in return for their time and trouble. I am also pleased to hear from people for whom English is not their native tongue.
However, I am NOT going to sit idly by while certain outsourcing/service companies spam my blog with comments to meet their client quotas. That’s right I have been watching my log activity and I know how the industry operates. For the last several months I have just been deleting the offending comments, but they are reaching epidemic proportions. This means that the tiny fraction of a percent that slip past the automatic spam defences I run is starting to become a nuisance.
So, spammers pay attention to what I did to the comment above this one. If you continue to spam my blog comments, I will link back to your client’s Web site with a suboptimal anchor text. Good luck explaining that away when they see it.
I was hoping it would be unnecessary to resort to this sort of thing as it discourages genuine commenters. Once again the few are spoiling it for the many.
January 27th, 2010 at 8:19 am -
jinnie from auto loan calculator said:
Thanks for the great tips. the time of economical downturn could be not so easy, but it is still possible. I have got it few weeks ago. What is my secret? I have done everything in a similar way, which is described in this article, and I succeeded. So don’t think that there are only empty words, just try and try.
January 28th, 2010 at 7:57 am -
liviya from Ofatcow hosting reviews said:
Great article. Although you are correct it is difficult to break into this market, I believe the biggest problem is that most people don’t know enough of the fundamentals to make an impact anyway. We need to find those untapped niches or focus on the long tail to carve out our little slice of a certain market.
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:03 am -
Monika said:
Great article! Affiliate marketing is a great way to generate income, but it’s important for marketers to realize that they will need an effective way to promote the products they’re selling. Blogging is by far the best way to attract an audience. When we create useful information and provide value, entertainment, or inspiration to others, they will come!
February 16th, 2010 at 5:52 am -
Jinnie said:
Resources like the one you mentioned here will be very useful to me! I will post a link to this page on my blog. I am sure my visitors will find that very useful.
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:48 am -
kalsoom from geld verdienen im internet said:
There are many ways to earn online,I agree with your post.Its a good thing to lessen the rate of unemployment and earn to fulfill the expenditure of life.
August 6th, 2010 at 12:47 pm -
Tamara from caterpillar costumes said:
I totally agree your propositions here that online can be a potential source of living. It’s up for the people to discover the ways necessary on how to gain money in online marketing. Thanks for sharing this valuable information about online business.
August 9th, 2010 at 2:52 am -
Anne from Shih Tzu Puppy Training said:
I appreciate your post a lot. Because you taught me how to make money online. I am excited to apply it in my business. Thank you for paying attention to simple little things that most men neglect makes a few men rich. More power in this post!
September 23rd, 2010 at 1:56 am -
waqas from flights to australia said:
I Have read many article related to how to make money online,but this article is really look like awesome.i am quite inspired with your effort.thanks for sharing such a nice and informative stuff dude..
January 22nd, 2011 at 9:39 am
