Money in Blogging

How long have you been blogging? A month? A year? What have you gained so far? Friends? Readership? Experience? Freedom? Self-expression? PR? Everything else but money.

How much does a writer earn for a column, a story or a book? For Filipinos, not much, unless he or she happens to write something that gets the attention of Hollywood. And that opportunity seldom happens.

You see, the wonders of the internet make it possible to get paid with the thing you love. That means getting paid thru blogging. Well, you might say that it’s a sacrilege to blog for money, and that yours is an unadulterated personal blog. But it really depends.

The following are just some ways to monetize your blog:

GoogleAdsense. Do you see the ads on the left side of this blog? These are from googleadsense. (Duh, as if you don’t know) If you write in blogger, the invitations are somewhat built in. All you have to do is click away the link then start the registration. You have to insert some codes into your template. After approval, which normally takes a week, you start earning on per click or per thousand impressions. If you write in wordpress without paying a fee, somewhere in their terms prohibits you from monetizing. As for i.ph, I can see that they’re already allowing it.

The cashing in may be very slow. Mine is still under 50 cents after more than a month. But the internet is rich with articles (and even videos) on how to maximize Adsense. I guess I have to reread and apply them thoroughly.

Sponsored Posts. Some internet companies hire bloggers to write a review for their advertisers. The basic requirement for approval is a 90-day old blog, written in English and with at least 20 posts. (As of today, Nifty Universe is not qualified). They evaluate your blog (usually the PR and Alexa Rank) and then give you posting opportunities. These opportunities maybe as low as $2, or as high as over $1000, and that is dependent on your PR or some other rankings which, in the end, probably goes back to PR. This is where the PR is important to the problogger.

So what are these writing opportunities? You simply write a positive review, minimum of 150 words (though some require only 50), and put the link in the required anchor text in your post. You publish the entry in your blog, and then submit the link for approval. If approved, you get paid.

Balancing your posts is also important. The blogger should maintain 3:1 ratio between non-sponsored and sponsored post. The blogger may be suspended if he fails to maintain this ratio.

Sometimes, in a haste to earn more, quality of the individual posts (sponsored or not) is sacrificed. But nobody cares anymore about quality when everyone else in your blogging circle is doing the paid thing. Or it is like saying that, “If they get paid for a crappy entry, why can’t I do the same?” But we are not the judge here. It’s ultimately the sponsor of your post, who approves or rejects them.

Banners and Widgets. There are others that pay you by just placing a widget or banner in a visible area in your site.

Referrals. You refer someone to their program, and then you get paid. I saw someone posting something about $25 for each approved referral.

The above are just samples of making money out from your blog. There could be new opportunities that may come out tomorrow or in the next week. The internet world is just so full of surprises these days. If you don’t have a blog yet, better start now, develop your content, and join all the blogging networks available just to be seen and noticed.

But in the end, you know what’s best for you and your blog. You can always pass on these opportunities.