I once heard someone say that there is a place in this world for everyone. I guess we could also say that there is a niche for every blogger. It is a matter of finding the right one. So how do you go about picking your niche?

I have been reading a bit on what other bloggers with experience have to say about this step. In the course of my reading, I found two somewhat different ideas. On the one hand, some bloggers think that if your main goal is to make money, then your main consideration when picking a niche should be to find a niche that is most profitable. That is, people all over the world should be searching for keywords relating to that topic everyday.

On the other hand, some bloggers think that your main consideration should be finding a topic that you are passionate about. The rationale behind this is that you should be able to sustain your writing. More so, your passion will be reflected in your writing if you pick a topic that you truly care about. Of course, it goes without saying that you should be knowledgeable in the niche that you pick.

So which is which? I suggest that you create a balance between the two considerations. It is understandable that you would want to choose a niche that has potential money making opportunities. Then again, if you could choose a subject matter that has both money making potential and is of interest to you, wouldn’t that be a much sweeter deal?

In the previous post, we discussed what kind of blog you should start – a niche blog (a blog focused on a particular topic) or a composite blog (much like a personal journal which covers a wide range of topics). Let us focus on the niche blog for the moment. I mentioned that a lot of blogging experts tend to lean towards the niche blog. Why is this so?

I came across a post on this at Tzuvelli, a blog focused on strategic blogging and monetization. The blogger lists 12 reasons to start a niche blog, I’d like to share some of the most important points (at least from my point of view).

1. Creating a local niche blog creates the opportunity for you to get from behind the computer and go out into the community.
2. Blogging is no longer simply an ethereal prospect but you can truly connect with your readers.
3. If done right, you could leverage your blog to become well known in your community.
4. With a local niche blog, you can leverage those high cost AdWords in a meaningful way. It is easier to write content related to keywords like car insurance, mortgages, lawyers because you can relate it to what is going on in your community It is easier to write about these things because you know what is happening in your community.
5. It will become easier to build a group of local contributing writers to where you could eventually move into an editorial position. Manage and expand.
6. A local niche blog with strong ties to the community would probably be easier to sell. And likely more profitable, since you can get higher add revenue.
7. Depending on your location there may not be very much competition.

What do you think, convincing enough?

All successful blogs started from something small – much like many businesses. If you are just starting your blog and you want to eventually monetize it, you should probably start with one basic question: what is your blog going to be about?

Way back when it all started, a blog functioned much like a diary did. Much like people wrote down their thoughts in their paper journals, bloggers started to write down their thoughts online and shared them with the rest of the world who were connected to the Internet. Today, blogs have come a long way. Many blogs are not like personal journals anymore (though there is still a proliferation of these blogs). In fact, many blogs today focus on specific topics. These blogs are called niche blogs. As the name implies, niche blogs target a specific niche and stay focused on it.

So if you are going to start a blog, what sort of blog is best for monetization purposes? I suppose it really depends on what your ultimate aim is. For example, you just want to make a little extra money on the side. Perhaps for this purpose, you can make your own personal blog which does not really focus on one particular topic. This kind of blog can still make money through pay per post web sites. (We’ll talk about this more later on.)

Many experts suggest, however, that you figure out a specific niche that you want to focus on. They agree that niche blogs are the way to go if you want to really monetize your blog seriously.

In the next post, let us take a look at how to start a niche blog.

For the longest time, we have been focusing on topics with regard to businesses and corporations using blogs to help increase their visibility. It is in fact a very rich subject which we can expound on more. However, a conversation that I had with a colleague the other day gave me ideas.

She is a working mother who is in dire need of an extra source of income. She earns quite well but the burden of her family’s finances and bad financial decisions in the past is catching up with her and really stressing her out. Knowing that I have been involved in blogging for quite some time, she approached me to find out more about it.

Don’t get me wrong – I was happy to help her out. What really struck me, though, was her question: Can I make money off blogging?

Indeed, can one make money off blogging? The answer is a resounding yes! Yet what bothered me – and still does, actually – is the fact that there are people who are new to the concept of blogging and that their primary consideration is to make money.

I can foresee some smiles forming as my words are being read…idealistic, idealism, and rose-tinted glasses are some words that are probably entering your minds right now. What is wrong with that kind of thinking? After all, this is a blog focusing on everything about business, right? So making money as a primary consideration should not bother me.

Then again, I would like to think of blogging as more than making money. I would like to think of this activity as providing content to those who are looking for it. With this perspective, monetization seems secondary.

(Disclaimer: I am planning to focus on blog monetization for the next few weeks so don’t take this post as a rant against it! Just voicing some thoughts out loud.)

Photo courtesy of groovehouse

I never really thought that I would be thinking of business models when it comes to blogging. As such, I found this particular post detailing the different blog business models quite interesting – even thought provoking. Bryan, on OneMansGoal outlines three different types of business models which can help you make money through your blog (or blogs for that matter).

The Superblogger
He calls this group “super” because the people behind these kinds of blogs run a big operation. They may focus on only one or two blogs but their idea is to operate in the long run and haul in income while they are at it. The majority of their time is spent on constantly improving their blogs, marketing them, and establishing brand awareness.

The Niche Blogger
This blogger type is a bit different from the previous one in that the focus is on more blogs. As such, the effort and activity are not centered on one or two main blogs but more spread out on a network of blogs. The main concept behind niche blogging is to set up the blogs in such a way that they can attract a lot of readers and then not spend too much time in maintaining them.

The Blog Broker
The blog broker works behind the scenes – he sets up blogs or even purchases them. He then develops them in such a way that they can earn money. Here’s the money making point – he then sells the blogs for more than what he paid for them or more than what he spent on them.

So which business model do you fall under?

Merchandising, or as I like to call it – good old sales, is another way you can earn a few extra dollars. The funny thing is that while many blogs arise to promote their businesses having a really popular blog can lead to a new business. Yes, here’s where the fun begins now we talk about not just business blogs but blogging businesses.

If you are thinking of selling items on your blog though be warned that this money making method will only work if your blog is: 1) already popular and 2) you can come up with a product worth buying.

If you do already have a business and came up with your business blog but it seems that your blog is more popular than your website then you can open up a “store branch” on your blog and sell the best or latest items there. The two sites (your business site and your business blog) need not always have two entirely separate functions but hand in hand could really help boost your sales.

Quick Update on Filling Up the Donation Jar

A great example of a blog that does rake in money through donation is I Can Has Cheezburger(ICHC). If you haven’t heard of it then go visit to see why. Starting from April, if I counted all those frylets and nuggetlets right (and I doubt I did), ICHC should have made at least $1900 in donations. Not bad considering they also have lots of sponsors. See? If you really do have a fun blog people will shell out money to help make sure your creative juices keep on flowing!

Here’s the link to their donation page.

Donations & Pixlet Support from Our Awsum Lolfrenz

Oh. And of course they’re also a perfect example for this day’s post on merchandising. As you can see above they sell shirts that show people love for ICHC. The ICHC store sell shirts and collectible buttons.

Hmmm. I wonder if I can get a frylet for this post? Nah. It’s $5 and not link love that will get you a frylet!

Blog Networks have become popular for a good reason. By collaborating with other bloggers, either as independent bloggers or as company bloggers, blog syndication becomes a lot easier giving you a wider readership as well as more incoming links.

Joining blog networks is not always easy though since many of the bigger and more established networks do not just let anyone join with new bloggers’ only able to jump in on the band wagon after being invited by a member blogger. There are even blog networks that do not allow new bloggers to join at all and simply encourage participation from non-member bloggers in the comment section. Although networks like this won’t give you much exposure in terms of writing by commenting regularly on such blog networks you can hope to gain much too since other readers will probably check your blog out. Despite the difficulty in joining the more established blog networks there is really no dearth of networks to join since there are plenty of newer ones that are looking for new bloggers to join them. However, when signing up to join newer blog networks make sure that they satisfy the following criteria:

1. They are composed of reputable bloggers – You do not want to be associated to spammy, low quality bloggers.
2. The network generates a healthy amount of traffic – Otherwise the network (hence you) won’t really make any money.
3. The payment model used makes sense – The network might make money but will you be properly compensated for it?
4. Their reputation regarding payouts is good – Will the money reflected on your account actually reach you?

Blogs that have a loyal following can offer “premium services” to people who are willing to become members or subscribers. A perfect example of a blog that makes money through memberships is the Daring Fireball. One of the ways the blog makes a profit is by offering members a little extra including access to the:

• full-content RSS feed;
• feed for the Linked List; and
• John Gruber’s daily list of links and blurbs related to Mac, web, and design nerdery.

If you notice the perks are not that extraordinary. However, readers that really do enjoy your blog will be willing to fork out a little extra dough to be able to access this feeds and lists. If you feel that you haven’t developed such a loyal fan-base as John Gruber has (which realistically speaking is probably the truth) then you can offer other added features for members such as adding them in the blogroll, giving access to members-only articles, occasional newsletters, etc.

The point is that if you do maintain a worthy blog people will not feel ripped off at all for shelling out money and in fact will be more than willing to help you make sure that finances don’t get in the way so that you can devote ample time for your blog.

Asking for donations is one way that your blog can generate income for you. This method is often not taken that seriously, which is a mistake many bloggers make.

Bloggers often make the assumption that donations will not earn you any real money since no one will really bother giving anything more than a couple of bucks. While it is true that donations will not earn you a really hefty profit the few dollars that each impressed reader shells out still does add to your overall revenue. A business savvy person will realize that revenue from donations should not be disregarded and that every penny counts.

More than the several dollars it will add to your pocket though a major bonus of donations is that it can also serve as a measure of how much people value your blog and your writing. If you really do write that well and your subject matter is deemed relevant and worthy by your readers then more people will be inclined to give you donations so as to encourage you to keep churning out pieces for them to read.

Note though that this type of income stream is something that works best in conjunction with other ways of generating income. Do put a donation button on your blog but do not forget to use other methods if you plan to make lots of money.

Aside from the reputation, commission, costumer base, and statistics other factors that you should consider when joining affiliate programs include:

• Availability of New Products – Some affiliate programs offer a limited number of products. It is more desirable to join a program with a good product line and that updates its product line frequently enough. If the affiliate program you belong to does not offer new products your regular visitors will not have anything new to buy. Looking at the big picture it just won’t work. You might make hefty profit at the outset but your income will peter out towards the end. What you want to join is something that will prove to be sustainable in the long run. Make sure though that they also have very good quality control and that the new products they offer continue to be of good quality.
• Program Reward Schemes – Find out the other ways you can increase you income when you joining that affiliate program. More often than not the good affiliate programs pay you not just the flat commission but added commission for traffic sent by your referrals. Find out how good their referral program is as well.
• Payout Details – Before signing up learn about their payment scheme. How often will they send you money? What are the withdrawal options? How much are the fees associated with these options? How long does it take to process withdrawals?

And last but not the least when it comes to anything about money make sure you always read the fine print. If you miss something important you won’t have anyone to blame but yourself.