When the internet started its rapid expansion, many people thought they could make money very easily. And in the early days, there was perhaps some truth in that. Since then though, making money has become much more difficult. For its part, blogging was also profitable. But that was the old days. Now bloggers find it very difficult to make a profit – mainly because they attempt to do so from advertising, which is notoriously hit-and-miss now. You have to ensure that your audience receives adverts that are very appropriate to their desires or needs.
Old fashioned business sense applies to the internet now. It’s ceased to be the get-rich-quick arena that people think it was. In truth, it probably never was that, although one or two great ideas have been monetised very well. Even when your blog does receive a great deal of traffic, it might not be possible to generate any advertising revenue from it. There was the famous example of the Fake Steve Jobs, who was a very popular blogger.
His identity was eventually revealed in a newspaper which had the effect of sending half a million people to his blog. How much did Fake Steve Jobs make? The entire month generated a grand total of $1,039.81, with those 500,000 visitors making just a hundred dollars in Adsense earnings on the day they visited. The problem was, arguably, that his content didn’t fit in with the adverts displayed, or perhaps more accurately that people just don’t click on those ads as much as Steve would have liked.
After their monthly internet bill is paid, most people think that the internet equals free entertainment. This means that the vast majority of people who read blogs are there to read blogs, and that’s it.
If you want to make money, there are only a few avenues left. Affiliate marketing is one, and if it is done well, can be lucrative. Another, more old-fashioned idea, is simply direct sales. Selling a product or service to someone who needs it is probably the best use you can make of your blog. But your blog needs to address a specific problem, and discuss that general theme every day. Your niche subject requires a niche audience; and then your niche products, services and even adverts might do something.
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