Making a living by blogging is immensely appealing: you make your living by writing about a topic on which you are an expert, you get to revisit your passion every time you create a blog entry, and with a laptop and access to the internet, you can do it just about anywhere.
While there is the occasional case of a blog "going viral" and developing huge reader numbers overnight, this is the exception and not the rule.
For most people, commitment, hard work, and not giving up are the ways to make a blog pay off.
There are numerous techniques that together add up to a blog that makes money.
Some of them you are familiar with, and some of them may be new to you.
The most fundamental rule for successful blogging is providing high quality content that is well written, interesting, and frequently updated.
Without this, you won't get repeat visitors and will not build your blog's reputation enough to profit from running ads or joining affiliate programs.
The first thing most people think of when they think of "monetizing" a blog is including advertisements in hopes that people will click on the ads and earn you money when they do.
This works well if your blog receives a lot of traffic.
There are numerous ad networks you can join where the network sends you code for their ads, you put it into your blog design, and the ads then show up on your site, hopefully enticing people to click through.
When using ads on your blog, it is important to keep the placement of the ads so that the overall "look and feel" of your blog is preserved.
Nothing ruins a site quicker than an overload of flashing ads that do little but distract visitors.
In fact, if a blog is mostly ads, then it will have little or no credibility and won't attract repeat visitors.
A well-respected blog can earn money through affiliate programs as well.
With these programs, you become an affiliate of an e-business, place ads they develop on your site, and when they make sales that come through your blog first, you get a commission.
Done well, this can be a great way to earn money from your blog.
But it works well only if the affiliate program fits in with the subject and style of your blog.
Making a blog pay begins with top quality content that attracts visitors.
From there, earning money through ads, affiliate programs or other monetizing techniques becomes a real possibility.