Today’s guest post is from Chris Garrett from chrisg.com.
For many bloggers their income focus is based on direct methods. Most bloggers have at least tried some advertising, particularly Adsense. There is a massive potential though for earning money indirectly from blogging.
Direct methods would include
- Advertising – Adsense, Banners, Chitika
- Affiliates – Visitor buys through your link, you get a commission
- Links – Paid for having their link on your blog
- Paid Reviews – You pay me to review your site/product through PPP or ReviewMe
- Sponsorships – Tends to work like a longer term advertising but can include the sponsor providing products and services rather than a purely financial arrangement.
- Gifts – Visitors like your stuff so much they reward you with tips, or perhaps you have a donation drive to attract a certain figure for a particular purpose
These methods will involve your blog as the central driver of the transaction. In indirect methods the driver is usually you and in most cases the blog is absent from the transaction. The critical factor in indirect methods is your reputation. A reputation built completely or in part using blogs.
Let’s take a look at some ways bloggers have used their blogging reputation to earn money because of their blog but not necessarily using their blog.
- Gina Trapani – Through having a successful blog with a large audience, lifehacker attracted a book deal. As well as being an income in itself, a blog deal further builds public awareness, reputation and credibility.
- Aaron Wall – Aaron Wall funnels visitors to his ebook. While again his ebook is a great money-spinner, the advice it contains helps build trust in his expertise which leads to consulting gigs.
- Joel Spolsky – Joel demonstrates his expertise through his blog but unlike those above earns his money from software. His techie audience, attracted by his software development tips and wisdom, are converted into customers of his FogCreek products.
- David Krug – As well as being a means to earn money, blogs also have value as assets which can be sold. I think the best known person who makes money by buying and selling blogs has to be David. You can earn money by building up your own blog and selling it, or you can buy up under-valued blogs and selling them after giving them a little TLC.
- David Hobby – While he is still a working Photo Journalist, through his “strobist” blog, David has become the web “Flash Photography” expert. He now runs successful workshops teaching all of his tricks of the trade. Even though it is possible to learn a great deal from his blog his customers know there is nothing that compares to being guided through the topic in person.
Take a good hard look at your blog and the audience it attracts. With a bit of creativity you could be sitting on a potential goldmine … Do you have any more examples of bloggers earning money through indirect methods? Add your thoughts in the comments.
Read more from Chris Garret at his blog chrisg.com.
