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5 Real Ways to Actually Make Money Online

Moneyby Kalen Bruce

How many articles are there about making money online? Thousands?  Millions? Enough? Probably. But there’s a problem. Too many of them are just sales pitches to convince you to sign up for some seminar, webinar, training session or some other way to become an online millionaire.
They really give online money making a bad name. But it is possible to make money online. I mean, the people selling all of those millionaire pitches are making money, right?
There are legitimate ways to make money online. The problem is that the real ways to make money aren’t “get rich quick” schemes.
Most of them require a lot of work and sometimes a lot of dedication before seeing a return on your time.  But if you really want to make money online, work from home or turn an idea into a business, you can do it. You can even earn money with apps if you don’t want to venture all the way to the computer.
I’m going to tell you about all kinds of legitimate ways to make money online.  Since we are talking about legitimate jobs, you’ve got to be…well, legitimate. Many of these options are real jobs that require you to put in hours if you want to get paid. They also require real work. Here are some tips for actually getting the job:

• Take it seriously. Yes, you’re applying for an online job. Yes, you can do the work in your underwear, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a “real job”. You must treat it as such or they aren’t going to treat you as a serious candidate. You aren’t the only one who wants to work in their underwear. In fact, the competition online is likely higher than it is in your local area.
• Be professional. When you submit a résumé, don’t type it in ALL CAPS and please don’t avoid the caps lock like the plague. Know how to use it without looking incompetent. Write in complete sentences with proper grammar. Of course, there will be exceptions, but even with the exceptions, you must keep it professional. You’re building their view of you.
• Give some, but not all.  Whether you’re providing writing samples, a photography portfolio or links to your work, give them enough examples to get the idea, but not so many that they don’t even know where to start. And while we’re on the topic, give them some of your background information, but don’t tell them your life story.
• Double check yourself, before you double wreck yourself. Make sure everything you send to a company, whether a résumé, an email or a portfolio, is good to go. Double check your grammar and wording, and for God’s sake use spell check! This is especially important when it comes to the company’s name. Don’t spell their name wrong and be sure to type it how they type it (e.g. Problogger, not Pro Blogger).

1. Websites That Pay

Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way. There are all kinds of websites that will pay you for various things, such as shopping, taking surveys or testing products. No, I’m not getting paid to promote any of these and no, these websites won’t make you a millionaire, but they are great for earning some extra cash. I’ll leave out the scams.
Here are some legitimate websites that pay:

1. Swagbucks – Swagbucks is great for earning some extra cash. You can do a variety of things to make money, from taking surveys to using their search engine. You won’t get rich, but you will earn a few bucks. If you have the time to kill, you can spend it earning some extra cash, instead of surfing the web.
2. InboxDollars – InboxDollars is similar to Swagbucks, since you’re going to be taking surveys, shopping, etc., so if you want to maximize your return, sign up with both websites. They also offer a search engine that pays you (like Swagbucks) and you get $5 just for signing up.  I won’t continue to list survey sites one after another down the list, but if you want to get paid to take surveys, also check out GlobalTestMarket, E-Poll Surveys and Survey Club.
3. Project Payday – Project Payday is one of those sites that has testimonials of people who have earned thousands of dollars by getting paid to get trial offers. I’m not saying you’ll earn thousands, but it is legit and you can earn some extra cash. They assume that by paying you to do a free trial, you’ll either like the product and purchase it, or forget to cancel the trial and get charged for it. If you can keep track and cancel before you get charged (if you don’t want the product), then this is a great site for making some money.
4. User Testing – User Testing pays $10 a pop for testing websites. A test usually takes about 15-20 minutes. The purpose is for a website owner to watch someone, who is new to their site, try to navigate it. The value that the site owner gets by watching an actual user experience is worth a ton, but $10 isn’t a bad pay-out.
5. Fiverr – Fiverr is a great place to make a few bucks or spend a few bucks if you need some of the services people offer. Basically, everything is $5. You either pay $5 or charge $5. They call them “gigs.” You can offer your services however you choose. If you sell art and you’re fine selling pieces for $5 each, that’s a gig. If you’re a graphic designer and you want to offer your services for $10/hour, simply offer a 30 minute gig. If they need two hours of graphic design, they pay you $20, or $10/hour by buying four gigs.
6. IZEA – IZEA works in addition to a blog or on its own. You get paid to blog, tweet, take photos and take videos. The pay is mostly based on your following, so if you want to make money with your tweets, you’ll need to grow you Twitter following.  Likewise, if you want to make money with blogs, you’ll need substantial blog traffic (more on blogging below).

2. Freelance Writing

Freelance writing is one of the most popular ways to earn money online. Many successful freelancers can earn an average of 50 cents to a dollar per word. Some are earning twice that!
Of course, it doesn’t start out like that. You’ve got to build your portfolio and your résumé, blah blah blah. If you’re interested in writing, I’m sure you know this. If you’re not interested in writing, I wouldn’t recommend traveling down this road just for the money.
It takes dedication and time, though it can be highly profitable if it’s what you love. Assuming it is what you love, let’s talk about making money with it.
Before you decide to start reaching out to all of these freelance writing companies, you need to have a web presence. You need a blog (in my humble blogger opinion, of course).
Or you could just have an online portfolio. Even a LinkedIn profile works to get started. When you’re ready to start, here are 150 resources to help you write better, faster and more persuasively.
If that’s intimidating, just start with these 50 resources.
Now for what you’ve all been waiting for; once you’re ready to actually start making money, here are 10 websites you can start with:

1. Listverse – Listverse pays $100 for each accepted post. The article must be a list, it must be at least 1,500 words and you must include at least 10 things. Other than that, you can get pretty creative with it.
2. TopTenz – TopTenz pays $50 for each accepted post. Again, the article has to be in a list format and it must be at least 1,500 words, with few exceptions. They post often so your chances of getting accepted are fairly high.
3. A List Apart – A List Apart pays $200 for each accepted post. They’re not first on the list, because they tend to publish less articles, which means you have a smaller chance of getting accepted. Same guidelines as above, 1,500 word minimum.
4. International Living – International Living pays $75 for each accepted post. They are mostly looking for travel experiences from countries you have visited. For this site, it’s more about your experience than your writing ability.
5. FundsforWriters – FundsforWriters pays $50 for each accepted post. They are looking for articles about writing and making money with it. They only accept articles between 500-600 words, but they want you to make each word count.
6. Uxbooth – Uxbooth pays $100 for each accepted post. They do tend to take four to eight weeks to accept and post articles, so don’t count on this being a quick money maker. They take so long, because they pair with editors to only publish amazing content.
7. iWriter – iWriter pays up to $15 for each accepted post. That may seem small, but they aren’t as strict as many of the others above and they also allow you to pick exactly what you write. You can write as many or as few articles as you want.
8. Textbroker – Textbroker pays up to five cents per word, if you’re a 5-star writer. You’ll start by submitting a short sample article and you will most likely start as a 3-star writer, but you can work your way up by writing more and writing great content.
9. Matador Network – Matador Network pays up to $60 for each accepted post, but standard pay is around $20-$25. They don’t really focus on a minimum word count, but they have a maximum count of 1,500 words.
10. The Penny Hoarder – The Penny Hoarder pays up to $800 (rarely), depending upon the number of page views you receive. The pay starts at $100 for 50,000 page views, so this isn’t a guaranteed paid article, but it can potentially be highly rewarding.

There’s no doubt that you can make money with freelance writing, but it’s a process. Once you start building your portfolio and your writing skills, you can start making some serious money. If you’re not an experienced writer, expect to put some time in before you really start to see some dough.

3. Sell Your Stuff

Ever since the idea of online auctions came into existence, the online selling market has been on the rise. Many are interested, but don’t know how to get started. There are still all kinds of ways to make money by selling online, whether you’re selling what you already have or buying and selling like a store. Before we get started, here are a few general tips when selling anything online:

• Get a PayPal account. If you don’t have a PayPal account, you’ll want to get one if you’re doing business online. It’s the standard in online business for receiving payment and paying others.
• Take good pictures. Some of the options below don’t require you to actually take the picture and sell the product, but for the ones that do, make sure you take a clear picture that makes your product stand out from the others.  If you’re going to be taking a lot of pictures, set up a small “studio-like” area in your home with a backdrop and proper lighting to really make your pictures come across as professional. And of course, you’ll want a good camera too.
• Be honest.  If you’re selling used items, be honest about every dent, scratch, blemish, etc.. This will reduce many issues you could run into and keep your reviews positive.
• Do good business. Plain and simple. Whether you’re selling on a small site or opening an online store, your customer service matters. You’ll want to get those positive reviews and make a good name for yourself. Respond to questions, concerns and complaints. Offer a guarantee if available.

Follow those guidelines and you will do well in online sales. When you’re ready to start selling, here’s where you go:

1. Amazon – Have you heard of FBA? It stands for “Fulfilled by Amazon” and it’s getting pretty popular. Basically, you buy products (in bulk is best) and ship them to Amazon for them to store. When your products sell, Amazon packs them up, ships them out and sends you the money (after taking their cut). There are people making a full-time living from FBA, while others just do it for some extra money.
2. CraigsList – Some things don’t ship very well. Other things may make you feel uncomfortable to sell to someone across the country. Anytime you’re selling a large item or something you just don’t want to ship, Craigslist is a great place to go. It’s simple to list your item (again, take good pictures!). If you don’t like the idea of putting your phone number out there, the interested individual can send you a message to your inbox without even getting your email address.
3. eBay – Of course you can’t read an article about making money online that doesn’t mention eBay. You can start an eBay store and get serious about it or you can just sell some stuff to declutter your home. Either way, I’ve made my fair share from selling on eBay and it’s still a popular way to earn money. If you decide to start an actual eBay store, you’ll want to find a drop-ship business like Doba that will store and ship items straight to your customers so you don’t have to deal with an inventory.
4. Etsy – If you like to create arts and crafts, you can sell them on Etsy.It’s completely free to open an Etsy store. You simply sign up, post pictures of your creations and starting selling. You can choose your payment option, but PayPal is generally the easiest. Etsy makes it easy to sell and keep track of your inventory. There is a small listing fee and they take 3.5% of every sale you make.
5. Facebook – Facebook swap shops are great for selling things locally. It’s like CraigsList, but a little easier. You simply search for swap shops in your area and ask to join the group. Once you’re in, take a picture of the item, write a quick description with the price and post it. It doesn’t get much easier than that. You can generally expect to get about what you would get at a yard sale, maybe a little more.

4. Blogging

Hey look, an article about making money online that doesn’t mention blogging. . . oh wait, here it is.
First off, I’m a blogger so it seems wrong not to mention it, but more importantly, it’s a legitimate way to make money. It’s quite possibly the least straight-forward way on this list, but it’s very doable and it’s also quite possibly the funnest way on this list. I love blogging and I know hundreds of bloggers who feel the same. So let’s talk about making money blogging and what it really means.
Blogging is something that requires patience, persistence and discipline. It may mean writing everyday for over a year before you really start to see any money from it. There are exceptions to the rule, but from my dealings with other bloggers, it seems to be pretty common to spend one or even two years building your blog, your brand and your authority, before making any serious amount of money.
Some people argue that you can make money without a lot of traffic and while that is true in some circumstances, you will generally need a lot of website traffic to start earning from a blog and that takes a while. Once you’ve reached that point, here are the primary ways to monetize your blog and start earning:

1. Advertising – This is definitely the most old-school way of earning money with a blog. It’s also starting to become the least common way. You can sell advertising spots directly on your site or you can sign up with a company like Google AdSense or Media.net. Either way, you won’t see a whole lot of money from ads until your views are well into the thousands each day.
2. Affiliates – There are many affiliate networks, such as FlexOffers and CJ Affiliate that allow you to promote other people’s products and services. You simply put a link or a banner on your page and then you get a percentage if someone clicks through and buys the product/service. You’ll want to select products that are specifically within your blog’s category.This is an effective way to earn money once you have the traffic coming to your blog.
3. Membership – Many people have created a paid membership area on their blog. This is typically for exclusive content that you can only access in the “member’s area.” If you have a really great idea on what to include, this can be a great idea.  You’ll have to create something that can’t easily be accessed around the web.
4. Products – You can create your own product, such as an ebook or computer software. You would then use your blog as a promotion tool to get people to buy your product. As long as you create a legitimate product with a whole lot of value, you should be able to get some buyers, but like everything else with a blog, you’ll need the traffic to get the sells.
5. Services – You can offer a paid service, such as life coaching, blog coaching, goal setting or financial planning. Just be sure to investigate all the legal implications and make sure you’re not claiming to be a professional if you’re not one. With a service like this, you’re basically using your blog to sell yourself. You’ll need to convince people that you’re worth buying and then be able to back up your claims once they purchase your service.
6. Sponsored/paid posts – Many blogs publish sponsored and paid posts. Sponsored posts are basically just posts about a specific brand, product or service. A company will pay you to publish an article about it. It’s similar with other paid posts as well. Your basically selling the spot for the article on your site. If you decide to take this route, you’ll want to build your traffic before you will get many offers.
7. Subscription – If you think of something valuable (newsletter, online magazine, etc.) that you can consistently offer on a certain basis (weekly, monthly, etc.), you may want to offer a subscription service. This could be a fee charged each time your product is sent out or on a monthly basis. Either way, this has to be something that your customers can only get by subscribing to your website.
8. Videos – This could be an entire section on it’s own. Many people have made money by creating YouTube videos. Evan of EvanTube is a kid and he has made millions by creating reviews of products that other kids his age would use. It’s not easy to get views into the millions, but once you do, you’ll start seeing some cash come in. Many bloggers have completely turned to videos to get their point across by starting a video blog.

If you’re truly interested in becoming a blogger, start by looking through the archives of ProBlogger, Copyblogger and Boost Blog Traffic. Then go read through all the free guides over at Quick Sprout. It may take you a year to complete those tasks alone, but it will be worth it. You’ll practically have a MBA in blogging.

5. Work-at-Home Companies

Finally, there are some companies that will hire you to work from the comfort of your own home. If you’re interested in working for someone else, while still making your own schedule and deciding where to work from, here are a few companies that will let you do just that:

1. CrowdSource – CrowdSource offers many types of jobs from “microtask” jobs to larger writing and editing jobs. You decide how much you work and you can do most of it right at your computer.
2. Demand Studios – Demand Studios is hiring all kinds of creative professionals, from writer to filmmakers. The pay isn’t amazing, but it’s competitive for a work-at-home job.
3. Fast Chart – Fast Chart allows you to work from home as a medical transcriptionist. There are some requirments and qualifications listed on the page, but if you meet them, you’ll make competitive pay for the industry. You’ll also be able to set your own schedule since you’ll be working from home.
4. Leap Force – Leap Force is one way that Google rates websites for search engine ranking. If you’re hired, you make decent money (usually over $11/hour), you set your own schedule and it can be pretty fun to view and rank websites.
5. Liveops – Liveops is a call center that allows you to work from home. Once your set up to take the calls, you can begin making a weekly schedule and working from home. The pay is generally close to $10/hour, but you can earn more with commissions.
6. SpeakWrite – SpeakWrite will pay you up to $15/hour to transcribe information. You set your own schedule and work from home.

Now you’ve got many different options to start earning online. If you saw something that really interests you, try it out and learn more about it. If you’re really wanting to make a full-time income online, you need to be dedicated to learning how to do what you want to do. There are tons of free resources out there. You just have to search for them!

“I don’t mind being a second wife” – Actress Nkiru Sylvanus, Her Reasons Would Shock you

The dream of every woman is to find a man to spend her entire life with. Even the Holy religious books have enjoined men and women, to seek each other out and cohabit as man and wife.

But as beautiful and simple as this may sound, marriage has long gone from being a simple item on a menu, it has become a task, as finding a true life partner has become as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

 

It is particularly more difficult for the womenfolks as they have to be proposed to.

Talented Nollywood actress, Nkiru Sylvanus is still single though not getting younger. The former aide to the Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has declared that she wouldn’t mind being a second wife if the need arises.

While speaking on a TV programme, she said: “If the situation and the person is good, I’ll go for it. I’ve said it before that if ladies don’t stop this nonsense they call ‘one-man-one-wife’, many of them will get to 40 and still remain single. There are more women than men. Go to churches, the number of single ladies in most cases is three times the number of single guys”.

 

D'Banj Marries His New Girlfriend Privately?

In a recent chat, the Kokomaster reiterated that he's not one of those who will do an elaborate marriage with party and all that. He said when he's getting married, "Nobody would hear about it", and added: "Besides, who says I am not married?"

Sources had alleged that D'banj paid traditional rights for his "lady", privately. No confirmation yet.

LOL! What Kind of Love Is This One?

Is she trying to hang him...or letting him know she could hang him if the wedding doesn't hold? Lol!

Finally, Mourinho Signs Manchester United Deal!

Finally, Mourinho Signs Manchester United Deal!

Jose Mourinho has signed a contract with Manchester United to become their next manager with an announcement expected before the end of the season. The former Chelsea manager has been linked with replacing Louis van Gaal for months and he is widely expected to take over at Old Trafford. The odds of him doing so have become incredibly small. However a potential complication arose when it emerged recently that Paris St Germain were also willing to offer the Portuguese coach a return to management. It’s understood that development has focused minds at Manchester United on securing the services of the serial winner.

The Express claim that Mourinho penned a contract at Old Trafford at the end of last week. They also claim that an announcement could be made in the next two weeks. That would mean acknowledging a change before the season finishes on 15 May. It would also mean, following Manchester United’s win over Everton, that the FA Cup final on 21 May would be Van Gaal’s final game in charge. Finally, the story that leads the back of Express newspaper claims that Mourinho will have full control over the club’s transfer policy.

Who Is To Blame For This?;

Who Is To Blame For This?; Doctors Use Mobile Phones To Perform Surgery. (Shameful Photo)

This distasteful photo of doctors using light from mobile phones to perform surgery -has been seriously criticized. Who is to blame for the embarrassing act, the doctors who are trying to save lives or the government who is meant to provide light? . Some have speculated that this happened in Nigeria.

Make Money Blogging

In 2002 I began to blog one day on impulse after seeing another blog and being fascinated by the medium. I had no idea at the time that what I was doing would ultimately lead to a complete change in my career path and end up being something I’d make a full time income from in several years later.
I had no experience or profile in the online space, no technical ability and while I had done some public speaking had done very little in the way of communicating through the written word.
I did not make any money from my first blogs for almost 18 months (I didn’t even know you could so did not try) and when I did start to try to make money from them the first income was just a few dollars a week – but gradually in time my income grew from a part time income to a full time income and then beyond.

How to make money Blogging?

I’m often asked how to make money blogging so want in this article to lay out some basic steps that I see most bloggers who make a living from blogging go through.

1. Set up your blog
2. Start creating useful content
3. Get off your blog and start finding readers
4. Build engagement with the readers that come
5. Start making money from the readership you have through one or more of a variety of income streams

Sounds easy doesn’t it! On some levels the process is simple – but you need to know up front that there’s a lot to each step and below I’m going to give you some pointers on each including some further reading.

1. Start a Blog

In order to make money blogging you’re going to need to have a blog. While this is pretty obvious it is also a stumbling block for many PreBloggers who come to the idea of blogging with little or no technical background.
If that’s you – don’t worry! It was my story too and most bloggers start out feeling a little overwhelmed by the process of starting their blog.
If you need a little help I would highly recommend you check out my article How to Start a Blog in which I run through the steps you need to take to get up and running. It’s really not as hard as you might think!
Further Reading on starting a blog:
How to Start a Blog

2. Start Creating Useful Content

A blog is not a blog without content so once you’ve set your blog up you need to focus your attention upon creating useful content. What you choose to create will depend a little on the topic that you choose to write about (on that note, most successful bloggers have some focus to their blogging whether that be a niche or a demographic that they write for).
The key with creating content is to make it as useful as possible. Focus upon creating content that changes people’s lives in some way will be the type of content that people will value the most and it will help people to feel like they know, like and trust you – which is really important if you later want to make money from your blog.
Further Reading on creating content:
There are thousands of articles and podcast episodes on ProBlogger about how to create content. See our latest stuff in the content category on our blog and on the podcast. Also check out some of these popular articles on different aspects of creating content.

• How to Craft a Blog Post – 10 Crucial Points to Pause
• How to Create Blog Posts that People Remember
• The 4 Pillars of Writing Exceptional Blogs
• How to Come Up With Fresh Ideas to Write About On Your Blog
• 11 Quick Tips for Writing Compelling Blog Posts
• How Often Should You Blog? (Hint: The Answer Might Surprise You)
• 21 Ways to Write Posts that Are Guaranteed to Grow Your Blog
• 10 Ways to Switch Your Brain to Writing Mode When Working From Home

3. Get off your blog and start finding readers

As you create the most useful content that you possibly can it is easy to get very insular with your focus and spend most of your time looking at building your blog. Many bloggers have a ‘build it and they will come mentality’ with their blogging but this is a bit of a trap.
If you want to make money from your blog you need to not only focus upon building a great blog but it is also necessary to get off your blog and to start promoting it.
There are many ways to experiment with growing your blog’s audience that I’ve written in previous blog posts and talked about in podcasts (I’ll share some further reading and listening below) but it is important to enter into all these strategies remembering that you should not just be looking for ‘traffic’ but ‘readers’.
Start by thinking carefully about the type of reader you’d like to have read your blog. You might like to create an avatar of that reader (sometimes called a reader persona or profile) to help you work out who you’re trying to attract.
Once you know who you’re hoping to have read your blog ask yourself where that type of person might already be gathering online. Begin to list where they might be gathering:

• Are they reading certain blogs? List the top 3
• Are they participating in certain forums? List the top 3
• Are they listening to podcasts? List the top 3
• Are they engaging on certain social networks? List the top 3
• Which accounts are they following on each of these social networks? List the top 3

Each of these places that you reader might already be gathering has opportunities to develop a presence whether that be by leaving good comments, offering to create guest posts or simply by being helpful and answering questions.
With this list of blogs, focus, podcasts, social media accounts in hand you will have some good spots to begin to hang out and create value.
The key is to build a presence, to add value, to foster relationships – not to engage in spammy practices.
Further Reading/Listening on the topic of Finding Readers for your Blog:
See our latest posts and podcasts on finding readers in the finding readers section of the podcast and here on the blog. Here are a few other links to check out on the topic:

• 5 Mistakes Bloggers Make with SEO and What To Do About Them
• Here’s How My 2 Blogs Grew
• How to Socialize Your Posts for Maximum Effect
  
• How to Promote Yourself Without Coming Across as a Jerk
• 11 Ways I Diversified Traffic Sources for My Blogs to Become Less Reliant Upon Google [With a Surprising Twist]
  
• Grow Traffic to Your Blog Through Guest Posting and Creating Content for Other Blogs, Forums, Media and Events
• 2 Types of Content that Help You to Find Readers for Your Blog

4. Build engagement with the readers that come

With sustained focus upon creating great content and finding readers for your blog you’ll begin to notice people visiting your blog and engaging with your content.
At this point you need to switch your focus to engaging with those readers and building community.
Respond to comments, reach out to those readers personally and do everything that you can to keep them coming back again and again by building a ‘sticky blog’.
Look after the readers you already have well and you’ll find they spread the word of your blog for you and help make your blog even more widely read.
Having an engaged reader is also much easier to make money from.
Further Reading on deepening reader engagement on your blog:

• 7 Strategies for Growing Community on Your Blog
  
• 11 Quick Tips to Get More Comments on Your Blog
• Why You Should Make Building Community a Priority in Your Blogging

5. Start making money from the readership you have through one or more of a variety of income streams

OK – the first four steps of starting a blog, creating content, finding readers and building engagement with those readers are important foundations that you really do need to get in place before you’ll be able to build long term income for your blog.
There’s no avoiding that what we’ve covered is a lot of work but if you do it well you’ll be setting yourself up well and giving yourself every chance of being able to make money from your blog.
With these foundations in place you’re now ready to start attempting to make money from your blog but you do need to be aware that just because you have set up your blog, have content and have engaged readers that the money won’t just automatically flow.
It takes continued work and experimentation to make money from your blog.
I’ve written many articles here on ProBlogger on the topic of making money blogging and will link to some suggested further reading on the topic below but let me share a few introductory words on the topic first.

There are Many Ways to Make Money Blogging

One of the biggest misconceptions that I see bloggers having about monetising blogs is that they have to do it in one of a handful of ways. The reality is that there are many ways to make money from blogs.
A few years ago I decided to sit down and list all the ways that I saw bloggers making money from their blogs and created this ‘money map’ (click to enlarge).

As you’ll see there are quite a few options that bloggers have to derive income from their blogs.
Don’t worry though – while this map is quite overwhelming at a first glance there are a few main ‘clusters’ of income streams that you might want to focus upon rather than all the specific ones.

1. Advertising Income

This is where many bloggers start. In many ways this model of making money from blogs is not dissimilar to how a magazine or newspaper sells ads. As your traffic and brand grows you’ll find advertisers will be willing to pay to get exposure to your audience.
While you need decent traffic to do a direct deal with an advertisers there are ad networks (like Google AdSense) that act as a middleman and enable smaller publishers to run ads on their blogs. This is where many bloggers start (I did too).

2. Affiliate Income

A recent survey of ProBlogger readers found that affiliate promotions was the most common type of income that our readers have.
To put it most simply – affiliate income is when you link to a product that is for sale on another site (take Amazon for example) and if someone follows your link and ends up buying that product you earn a commission on that sale.
There’s more to it than that but this is another great place to start with monetising your blog as affiliate programs are easy to sign up for and if you have an engaged audience you will find they follow the recommendations that you make on products.
Further reading on affiliate income:

• The Ultimate Guide to Making Money with the Amazon Affiliate Program
• 10 Popular Affiliate Programs for Small and Medium Sized Blogs

3. Products

While I started out making money from my blogs through advertising and affiliate promotions today my #1 source of income is through selling eBooks and courses on my blogs. These ‘virtual products’ take work to create but have been lucrative for me and many other bloggers.
Products can of course take many forms and income virtual information products like eBooks or courses but also other virtual products like software, reports etc.
The other type of product some bloggers sell is physical products. This is most common when the blogger has a business but sometimes bloggers also create merchandise (T-shirts etc) or other physical products to sell.

4. Continuity Programs

A continuity program is when you set up some kind of subscription for readers to buy that gets them access to something exclusive. A reader pays you a monthly or annual fee for access to some combination of:

• exclusive content
• community area/forum
• coaching/mentoring/mastermind group
• other benefits like access to products, services, software

5. Services

The last main way that I see bloggers making money from their blogs today is through selling their own services in some way.
The first time this happened to me was here on ProBlogger where many years ago a reader asked if I would do a coaching call with them. While I no longer offer this service it opened my eyes to new ways of making money from my blog.
I know of many bloggers who offer coaching, consulting and mentoring services but others who offer a wide variety of freelance services from web design, to social media management, to book keeping, to speaking, to event management etc.
The key is to use your blog to highlight your expertise to the point that people want to hire you as a result of what they see that you know and can do.

Multiple Income Streams

Most full time bloggers make money more than one way and end up with multiple income streams.
Diversifying your income in this way not only is smart and helps you spread the risk from having all your eggs in one basket but it also speeds up the journey to going full time.
I learned this lesson the hard way after having most of my income coming from one source in the early days but after a bit of a bad experience began to diversify my income streams (read about that here) – it was one of the best things I ever did!
Today I make money from around 12 different streams.

This didn’t just happen overnight though – read about how I added them one at a time here.

Direct or Indirect Income?

One last little distinction in terms of income streams…. Some bloggers make money directly ‘from’ their blog while others make money indirectly ‘because’ of their blog.
Direct Income – when I started making money from my blogs it was through ‘direct’ income streams. I put AdSense ads on my blog and promoted some products on Amazon as an affiliate and the more readers I had the more income began to trickle in (it really was a trickle at first). In time as my traffic grew this income grew and I was also able to experiment with other direct forms of income such as selling advertising directly to advertisers.
Indirect Income – later on in my blogging journey opportunity has come for ‘indirect’ income streams. As my blogs and profile grew as a result of my blogging I was able to sell my services as a speaker and consultant and was offered the opportunity to author a book with the publisher Wiley. Later I was able to start an event for bloggers which also made money. None of this income came directly from the blog – but rather it came ‘because’ of my blog.
While the way that I make money blogging is a combination of direct and indirect income many bloggers focus upon one or the other.

Let’s Share the Journey to Make Money from Your Blog

I hope that this article has helped you on your journey to make money from a blog.
I’m constantly publishing new tutorials on this topic of monetizing blogs so please subscribe to our ProBloggerPLUS newsletter for all our latest information (it’s completely free).
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7 bodies found in a pit in Rivers state

By Victor Azubuike on March 28, 2016@dailypostngr

 

At least seven dead bodies have been found inside a pit at Obibi community in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State.

A close source to the community told DAILY POST that the unidentified bodies were discovered following fresh violence in the area.

The source said, “There is a pit along Obibi where we saw the dead bodies. They are all male and we have reported to the community leaders. There have been heavy gun shooting since last weekend. We don’t know if it was the recent shooting that caused the death of the men. We want the police to come and see things for themselves.”

Investigations by DAILY POST indicate that the victims may have been killed during a shootout in Obibi in the community last week.

The killings are linked to cult related-violence, which is also believed to be driven by the bitter political rivalry in Rivers State.

Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Ahmad Muhammad, said it had not been brought to his attention.