Content, content, content. Content makes the web go round.
From the moment you begin researching ways to make money online, you hear WRITING, WRITING, and MORE WRITING, over and over again. There’s a reason for that and we’re going to discuss how the written word can make you money, but YOU don’t have to be the one doing all that writing. Save your paper and your wrists!
One of the hottest ways to make money online is through the power of blogging. But, what does blogging require? What do you think? What ONE thing must you do above all else in order to blog?
If you’re like the majority of people, your answer probably included…you guessed it…WRITING! After all, that’s what a blog is all about right? On your blog you are sharing your thoughts with others in the form of blog posts that you’ve written - constant writing.
Before you run for the hills, let me let you in on a little secret.
While those blog posts are necessary in order for you to be a successful blogger, they do NOT all have to be written by you.
You need content to make your blog successful, but it does not have to be written by you. Let me explain by giving you some ways to make money and keep your blog fresh without wearing yourself out or giving yourself Carpal Tunnel Syndrome before you even get started bringing in the dough.
But, first, you need to know why content so important on the Internet and especially your blog.
Why is Content Crucial?
Here are a few reasons...
First of all, people come to the web for one thing and one thing only – information. Whether they're shopping for products to buy or looking for a natural remedy for their acne, they're hitting the web for information, advice, and help.
If your readers find quality information from you they're very likely to:
• Stick Around
• Sign Up for Your ezine or newsletter
• Twitter about your site
• Recommend your posts at places like StumbleUpon.com
• Sign up for your RSS feed
• Come back in the future
• Refer others to your site
Second, search engines LOVE content. The more pages you have on your website or blog filled with quality content, the better. Whether you offer product reviews, funny stories, or meaty training, quality content is rewarded by Google, MSN, and Yahoo, as well as the many other smaller search engines online.
Third, adding value to the Internet begins to establish you as an expert on your topic. By writing great information, your readers will begin to look at you as THE go-to person for information. You'll begin attracting interview and JV requests as well.
As you can see content really is important if you want to build a successful blog or website on the Internet. Without it, your site is just another in the World Wide Web. How can people find you if they don’t know you exist? By establishing yourself and providing your readers with quality posts and other valuable information they need and want, you will see that you can easily become one of the big fish in the pond.
But, what if you don’t have time to write constantly? Or, what if you don’t like writing? You’re in luck, there are many ways to add quality information to your blog without having to write it all yourself.
Before we get to that, let me tell you that while you can create a blog purely made up of content that you don’t write yourself, I wouldn’t advise it. If you want to really resonate with your readers, you have to let them get to know you as well. Don’t shy away from writing some posts yourself, but instead use these content creation methods along with your own writing to create even more quality information for your visitors.
Where to Find Content for Your Blog?
Now that you know you need great content for your blog and why, it’s time to move on to the meat of this report. I promised I’d tell you how to get that content without wearing your fingers to the bone. So, here we go! Hang on it’s gonna be a fun ride!
1. Hire a Writer
There are freelance writers who make it their business to write articles, blog posts and more for website owners as well as bloggers. Most of these writers, also known as ghostwriters, charge per written piece and base their charges on the word count of the content you need. For instance, you can have a 300 word blog post written for X amount of dollars on the desired topic of your choice.
Normally, you will send the writer either a broad topic or even an actual title and they will in turn write the content for you following your specifications. Finding a ghostwriter is not hard, especially with the field growing by leaps and bounds every single day. The hard part is finding a writer you can communicate well with, afford, and who can write in a way that captures your voice.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when hiring a ghostwriter.
Finding a Writer
Ask for Recommendations - Ask around and see who comes recommended. You can easily get references from other bloggers, website owners, Internet marketers, and even on social media sites such as Twitter.
Search Engines - While this is an option, I would definitely ask people you know and trust for their suggestions for a writer first. Just because a person’s website makes it to the top of the search engine results and they “claim� to be an experienced writer, doesn’t mean they are.
Recommendation: Shelancers.com offers a variety of writers to choose from.
It Might Take More than One to Find THE One
Just as every blog is different, so are writers. Don’t get discouraged if you try one (or sometimes more) writer and he or she is not what you had in mind. Some writers can take any blog owner’s writing style and implement it in their articles and blog posts with no problem what-so-ever. Others don’t find it as easy.
If you hire a writer and find you don’t like their writing style or approach to a topic, move to another. I can tell you from experience; sometimes it takes going through a few writers to find the one that “gets it� and will whip out superb content that fits your personality as if you wrote it yourself.
Feedback is Crucial
When you hire a writer make sure you give them feedback once they’ve completed a writing project for you. If there was something you didn’t like about the article – the way they worded things wasn’t how you would have done it, etc. – let them know. A professional writer will be open to all types of feedback and offer to correct the issue with a re-write. By providing feedback, you are not only letting the writer know what you like and dislike about the content, but you are also building a relationship that will become very beneficial for both of you.
For instance, I know I can start writing something that’s in my head and when I get stuck, it’s nothing for me to whip it over to my writer and say “Help!� I have developed a relationship with her that allows me to feel comfortable throwing something her way without a second thought for improvement, additions, etc. I know that once she returns it to me I will not only be pleased, but it will read as if I’ve written it all myself because she and I have communicated and discussed my likes and dislikes so much that she could pass as me almost any day!
Review & Edit
I know I just said that I can send something to my writer and it would be like I’ve written it myself, but that doesn’t mean I can get away with not looking at the finished product. Even the best of writers have their off days, mine included.
Therefore, it is critical that any piece of writing you have someone else put together for you, should be reviewed and edited as necessary. Whether you’re making changes to put more of your own thoughts and opinions to it or simply adding monetization items, you must, must, must review each and every piece of content you have created for you.
2. Seek Guest Experts
You may have seen these on other blogs you, yourself frequent. Also commonly referred to as guest bloggers, guest experts are people who can provide relevant information to your readers in the form of guest posts. These are people who somehow tie in with your blog’s topic. For instance, if you own an Internet marketing blog you might consider approaching people from the following areas about submitting guest posts or becoming a regular guest expert on your blog.
• Social Media Experts
• Outsourcing Experts
• Web Design Experts
• Technical Experts
• Working from Home Experts
• Press Release Experts
• Affiliate Marketing Experts
The list could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.
You invite them to be a guest blogger on your blog, set them up with their own login information or have them submit their posts directly to you so you can post them yourself.
Give them something in return for their efforts because most guest bloggers are not paid for their posts. Many times a link back to the guest experts’ site and possibly allowing them to promote their own products or affiliates products within their post is all that’s needed. But, with the growth in popularity of guest bloggers, it’s getting a bit harder to find people who will commit. If they’re good at what they do, they will be blogging on other sites as well as yours. Try to sweeten the pot a little to get them to stick around and continue posting.
Of course, you can pay them to submit information if you’d like. As a matter of fact, I myself have one site where I pay for submissions. I monitor the submissions and if we decide it is site worthy, we pay the author for the article once it’s been published. I’ve found this helps when it comes to having a steady flow of content.
One more thing about guest bloggers you may find helpful. If you know people who are just starting out they are more open to jumping on as a guest blogger than established bloggers or business owners. However, if you aren’t ranking extremely high in the search engines, your traffic numbers aren’t all that great or your blog isn’t quite as popular as you’d like it to be yet, don’t worry. It takes some time to get there, but with the help of adding all this great content and a few other essentials, you’ll be there before you know.
3. Hit the Article Directories
Article directories are databases full of articles that authors have submitted in hopes that others will pick them up and publish them on their websites and blogs. You can find articles on just about every topic of the sun at these directories.
The catch is that you must include the author’s resource box, which normally contains information about the author and a link to their website, when you publish it on your own site. They are great sources of information, but read the articles very carefully to be sure you are getting the content you want for your website. You wouldn’t want to place incorrect information on your blog and mislead your readers after all.
Here are some of my most favorite article directories:
Ezine Articles
Free Affiliate Articles (get articles that you can monetize with affiliate links in the resource bio)
LadyPens.com
4. Create Video & Audio
Audio and video are growing ever popular online, especially on blogs. You can publish your own audios and videos or you can link to ones that others have created.
Here are some ideas for creating your own audios and videos that you can publish on your blog:
• Interviews with experts in your field
• How-to videos
• Talk radio shows and podcasts
• Training
• And more
Don’t have audio or video creation software? No sweat – you can easily create short videos on your digital camera and upload them to sites like these:
YouTube
Flickr
Blip TV
12 Seconds TV
If you’re looking for audio help, have a glance at these sites:
AudioAcrobat
Blog Talk Radio
5. Add RSS News Feeds
As you probably already know, most blogs have what is known as an RSS feed. This is where, when set up by the blog owner, readers can subscribe to the feed and be notified of new posts to the blog via email or feed readers. If your blog doesn’t have one, I highly suggest you create one. It’s really easy with the help of a site like FeedBurner.com.
Just as blogs have feeds, so do news websites such as CNN, MSNBC, etc. You can have your blog set up to receive feeds from other blogs or websites automatically. When you do this, your blog will show the posts from the other sites. Your blog is updated automatically every time a post is added to that site.
What a great way to have constant content pertaining to your topic appear on your blog. Great for indexing in the search engines too.
6. Ask Your Readers
Another great way to get content is to ask your readers to submit questions, suggestions, etc.
Their information can be turned into content for your blog in many ways:
Q & A Posts – Ask your readers to submit their questions and then answer them right on your blog.
Create a FAQ Page – As you receive questions, add them to a frequently asked questions page on your site. Each time you update the page, let your readers know.
Product Reviews – If you sell products or provide a service, ask your customers for their opinions about these things. Sometimes, they will submit full fledged reviews and you can publish those on your blog.
Testimonials – While these may not be full posts on their own, you can combine some of them and post on your blog.
7. Newsletters & Emails to Subscribers
Do you have an email list? When you send emails to your subscribers or send out your regular newsletter, do you stop at that? Start posting the updates you send to your subscribers and your newsletters or ezines to your blog as well.
Some of your subscribers may not get a chance to read your emails before they are shuffled down their inbox screen or worse yet, they may have filters that are blocking your emails altogether. This will allow them to still receive the valuable information you have to share AND give you more quality content for your blog.
Of course, if you have a list that has sensitive information that you don’t want the whole world to see, skip on posting those specific messages. One example of this would be a membership site where you send members a download link each month so they can access their member’s only information. You wouldn’t want just anybody to have the ability to get that information.
But, if you’re adding a new product to your business for instance, go ahead and post the email you send to your past customers on your blog. You’ll get more exposure for your product and added content for your blog. It’s a win-win.
8. Load Up with Private Label Rights (PLR) Content
One of my favorite ways to add quality, topic related content to a blog is with PLR. If you don’t know what PLR is, let me fill you in on this wonderful little thing.
PLR content is created specifically for those who don’t have the time, skills or desire to create their own content on a consistent basis. You can find articles, blog posts, reports, recipes, marketing materials, and even web design PLR on the Internet. Someone else writes it and sells it. You buy it and have the ability to use as you see fit - for the most part. Most PLR sites do have rules to what you can and can’t do with the PLR once you purchase it, so be sure you review those before buying.
Recommended PLR Sites:
www.EasyPLR.com
www.YummyPLR.com
www.plr.me/easyplr (special offer on that page)
www.PLRSO.com (Internet marketing content)
Now, let’s see what some of the benefits of PLR include:
Inexpensive – PLR is normally cheaper than hiring a ghostwriter. You can normally buy a pack of PLR or sign up for a membership for very little. For instance, a ballpark average cost for a freelancer to write a 500 word article might run you around 10-15 dollars. With some PLR sites, you can buy 10-15 articles for that same price.
Variety – No matter what your topic, you can probably find PLR content for sale about it. The popularity of PLR has helped make it’s availability in a wide variety of markets bigger and broader than ever before.
Limited (some not all) availability – Although PLR is not exclusively yours like ghostwritten material, in most instances the number of times a particular package will be sold is limited. At least with a good PLR seller it is. This will limit the amount of times your content will be found on someone else’s site. (But, I’m going to tell you in a minute how to avoid that, even if the PLR you purchase isn’t limited to a certain amount of buyers.)
Time-Saving – As with the other ways to find content without writing it yourself, PLR saves you a TON of time. It’s already written for you, you just have to make it your own and it’s good to go.
Recyclable – One PLR article can be used over and over again. You can repurpose the same piece of content in numerous ways:
• Post it to your blog.
• Send it to your list.
• Create your own products with it.
• Use it in your affiliate program.
• Use it in your membership program.
• And so much more.
The possibilities really are endless when it comes to using PLR. The more you use it, the more valuable that one piece of content becomes to you.
One bit of advice if you’re using PLR content:
If you decide to use PLR on your blog (or anywhere else for that matter) rework it before posting it. You want to make the content your own in some way. There will be other people on the Internet that are using this same content and unfortunately some won’t see the need to make the content their own and put it up as is. You don’t want to be offering the EXACT same information as everyone else.
Make the PLR cater to your audience and target market. Add your own thoughts to it. Put a different spin on it, whatever you need to do to make it work for your needs without simply throwing it up on your blog in the same condition you received it in. This is what will set you apart from another blogger in your market. This is what will show your readers that you can be trusted and know your stuff.
I’ve now given you 8 ways to get content for your blog without having to write it all yourself. There are other ways, but these are some of my personal favorites and most popular ways. Pick one you really like or choose a combination of them.
Up next I’ll give you some ideas for making money with all this content!
Monetizing Your Content for Passive Blogging Profits
Once you start compiling your content and adding it to your blog, it’s time to start thinking about how you can make money with your new found information. I’ve got a few ideas to help you get started, so let’s get to it – I know this is what you were waiting on wasn’t it?
1. Promote Affiliate Programs
Finding products you can promote within your content is a great way to make money with your blog. One way to do this is to sign up for an affiliate program for the items you would like to promote. Once you’ve found them and signed up you’ll receive a link (your affiliate link) that you can use to send your blog readers to the product. When they make a purchase using your link, you’ll be rewarded with commissions.
When posting your content, think of items that will compliment the content and search for affiliate programs for those types of products. For instance, if you’re posting an article that discusses using video online, you could promote the software you use to create your own videos. Do you have a product or service you love and couldn’t live without? Put together a product review and use your affiliate link to send your reader to the company’s website. A word of caution with reviews – a reader can tell if you’re just pushing a product to make a sale so be honest. If there is something you don’t like about it, tell them.
You can find affiliate programs in many places, but here are a few I recommend:
The Company’s Website – More and more business owners are realizing just how much creating an affiliate program for their products and services can increase business. Check right on the company’s website for information on how to sign up for their affiliate program.
Affiliate Networks – You can find tons of products in every market you could dream of here. Just sign up for a free publisher account, locate products you’d like to promote. That’s all there is to it. www.ClickBank.com
Free Affiliate Articles – If you're looking for content that is ready for affiliate links visit www.FreeAffiliateArticles.com and you'll find a bunch.
Mom Affiliate Network – If you cater to the mom market, I highly recommend checking this site out for family friendly products. You’ll also find programs to help Internet marketers and those who want to work from home here. www.MomAffiliateNetwork.com
Search Engines – Many times you can put the type of product you’re looking to promote plus the words “affiliate program� into your browser’s search feature and you’ll find lots of options.
2. Adsense
Do you see those blocks of ads on blogs and websites throughout the web that “Ads by Google� at the bottom? Those are ads published via Google’s Adsense program.
Google sends targeted ads based on the content that appears on your blog. You can sign up for an account with Google’s Adsense program for free. Once you sign up you’ll be able to set up the type of ads you’d like fed to your blog (text ads, block ads, banner ads, and more). As the content on your blog changes, Google changes the ads and you’re paid whenever someone clicks on the ads.
When done correctly, you can make very good money with Adsense, but it does take a bit of testing and tweaking to find the combination of ads that will work best for your individual blog. People are used to seeing these ads and although many people do ignore them, there are many more who will click the links and you’ll be compensated when they do.
3. Resale Rights Content
Resale rights content is content you purchase similar to PLR with one exception. You usually don’t have the right to alter the content in anyway. You purchase the content for your use and are given the rights to resell it, which allows you to then turn around sell the product yourself.
Normally, you’ll receive not only the product, but also the sales page and other web copy to add to your own website. You simply change the payment link to have it paid to you and whenever someone buys the product you get all the profits.
Master Resale Rights Content
If resale rights content isn’t good enough, there is also content you can purchase that comes with what’s known as Master Resale Rights. The difference between master resale rights and regular resale rights is:
Resale Rights – You can sell the product but you can NOT pass those same rights on to your customers.
Master Resale Rights – You can not only sell the product and keep the profits, but you also have the ability to pass resale rights onto your customers. They can in turn sell the product as their own.
Each product has specific rules on how you can and cannot use the content no matter which type you are given. Due to this make certain you take the time to read the rules before just throwing the product up for sale or offering rights to others.
Here are some examples of products that offer resale rights you might want to try for your blog:
• Small Reports Zone - Jimmy D. Brown
• Beginner Coach - Another Jimmy D. Brown product (this one has Master Resale Rights)
• Sweetie Reports - Alice Seba’s Monthly Report Club where members receive a new report each month and each one comes with Resale Rights
• FullTimeWahm - Comes with Resale Rights, although it isn't mentioned on the sales page.
4. Create & Sell Your Own Info Products
Ok, I know you’re probably shaking your head after reading number 4. You’re probably wondering how in the world you have the time to write your own information products when you’re trying to save time and energy by NOT writing all your own blog posts. Hear me out, I promise it’ll be worth it. ?
Just like your blog posts, you can create information products that you can sell to your readers without writing all of the content yourself. The absolute best (and easiest) way to do this is by purchasing PLR content that centers around the topic of the info product you’d like to create and rework it a bit and compile it to create an eBook or guide you can then put up for sale. Here’s an example of what I mean:
Let’s say you have a blog about Green Living. One thing your readers would love to know is how to live a greener life without paying tons of money on things like solar panels, costly home additions, etc. You’ve decided you’d like to create an eBook to help them go green by making small changes to their everyday lifestyles without breaking the bank. You’d also like to show them ways they can not only live a greener life, but even save money in the process. We’ll call the product: “Go Green without Breaking the Bank: Small Changes You Can Make to Live an Eco-Friendly Life while Saving Money.�
The first thing you’d do is start searching for private label rights content that fits your subject. Next, you’ll want to compile all the PLR you’ve purchased into a logical, valuable document. Now, it’s time to add your own advice, tips, knowledge, etc. on the subject and form your finished product.
You’ve now created an entire eBook without having to write the majority of it yourself. Save your brain power for marketing your newly created product. Just remember, make any PLR you purchase your own by reworking it to fit your needs and add to or take away information as necessary.
Go to EasyPLR.com/bestplr.htm for the best PLR on a huge variety of topics.
Bonus Tip: To add value to your information product, record an audio version of your eBook and package it with the written version. You can also interview others in your field and add that too.
5. ECourses & Newsletters
Another great way to monetize your blog content is by adding free eCourses to your arsenal. You can put together eCourses that will give your readers further information about the topic of your blog.
For instance, if you run a blog about Labrador Retrievers, why not create a short 5 day eCourse that tells owners of Lab puppies the best tips and tricks for house training the newest member of their family. Or, create an eCourse that gives important information on raising Labs specifically.
You can use PLR content or take content you’ve previously posted on your blog to create your eCourses.
Grab pre-written PLR eCourses on Internet marketing topics at MostlySanePLR.com
Simply load the eCourse into your email management system (I use Aweber) and sprinkle promotions for affiliate products throughout the course. Once you have the course set up, copy and paste the HTML or JavaScript for the sign up box into your blog. Then market the course via your blog posts, on Twitter, and other places.
This brings me to the next step in making money with your blog – bringing in visitors.
6. Ad networks.
Ad networks are programs that serve ads onto your blog. Normally they pay per thousand impressions. (Usually described as CPM.) So, an ad network that pays $3 CPM would pay $3 for every 1000 times the ad was viewed.
There are many sites like this online and you can find them by searching google.
Click here to view some of them: http://www.easyplr.com/sell-ads.htm
Then, Drive Traffic!
I’ll be straight and to the point - without readers your blog will never make money. You need new readers and faithful ones that will keep coming back and spread the word. How do you get people to come to your blog in the first place? And, once you get them there how do you keep them?
Getting Traffic to Your Blog
Search Engine Traffic – Pay attention to keywords and phrases when you publish your blog posts and other pages. These will help your blog rank higher in the search engines and bring targeted visitors (those really interested in what you have to say) to you.
Word of Mouth – Give some incentive for your readers to tell others about your blog. You can offer contests and giveaways where the winner has to link to the contest or post a Tweet on Twitter about the contest, etc. We’ll talk more about these things in a bit.
Comment on Other Blogs - Find blogs that fit with yours and visit them, read what the author posts and make comments on their posts. When you make comments on other blogs you are normally given the opportunity to link to your site – use it!
Article Marketing – We talked about article directories earlier, but this time you’ll be the one submitting the articles for others to pick up and post on their websites and blogs. Be sure you link to your blog in the resource box so people who read the article can visit your site to learn more.
Learn how to implement article marketing in a way that effectively drives tons of targeted visitors to your blog with this – Easy Article Marketing
Hold Contests & Giveaway Freebies – Contests and free items are hot! Everybody loves a good freebie and the chance to win something. There are tons of things you can giveaway on your blog – from reports to physical products. Some people have found success with using a weekly freebie (Freebie Friday) post. Don’t be afraid to create your own free content and give your readers the opportunity to pass those things on to others. Just don’t forget to include a link to your blog within the content so they’ll know where to find more of your great information.
Here's a free report about holding a contest on your blog:
http://www.webtrafficbasics.com/BoostTrafficwithaBlogContest.pdf
Add a Product Review Section – Create a section on your blog just for recommending products that your readers would be interested in. For instance, if your blog is for those wanting to work from home, include reviews of work at home job sites, products that help make the work at home office more efficient and things of that nature.
Everybody looks to others before making a purchase to get advice and opinions. They don’t want to spend their hard earned money on something they’ll never use or that doesn’t give them what they were hoping for. Be the one to share your opinions about products and services (don’t forget to add your affiliate links within the reviews) with your readers.
Add a Recipe Section – If it fits your market another item that is hot on the Internet is recipes. Add a recipe section to your blog and watch your visitor numbers rise. Recipes are a cinch to add to your blog and you don’t have to write them yourself. Check out YummyPLR.com to get your hands on PLR recipes you can add to your website each and every month.
WebTrafficBasics.com – Sign up for this free course where
you’ll learn how to drive traffic to your blog.
Keeping Your Visitors Around
The best way to keep your readers coming back is to offer them quality, valuable content on a consistent basis. That’s what they come for so give them what they want.
Another great way to keep your visitors coming back is to give them the opportunity to sign up to receive reminders about your blog. You can do this with an RSS feed and a newsletter or ezine. Keeping in touch with them on a regular basis, whether weekly, twice a month or monthly, will keep your blog and you fresh in their minds.
The Time is Now!
You are now equipped with more than enough information to create your own blog, or take your current blog to the next level, without typing the letters of your keyboard or spending hours of your precious time at the computer. The only thing left to do now is apply what you’ve learned.
You’ll find a list of resources I personally recommend below. You can check out the ones you think will help you and leave the ones you don’t need. Whatever you do, never, from this point on think you have to spend the rest of your life writing your own blog content. Heck no, life is too short for that, right? ;)
Best of Luck! I hope to see your blog making you profits and hitting the top of the best blogs lists soon!
Recommended Resources
www.Shelancers.com - Find Writers who can make you look and sound even better than you already are!
www.OutsourceWeekly.com - Learn how to automate & outsource every area of your business that is keeping you from making the kind of money that you'd like to with your blog.
www.ReliableWebs.com – You’ll need a host for your blog, if you don’t already have one set up. Find affordable hosting, whether you’re a mom or not, with excellent customer support here.
www.WordPress.org - This is where it’s at when it comes to blogging platforms. WordPress makes setting up a blog and managing all your content super-easy.
www.EasyPLR.com/bestplr.htm - Affordable, quality PLR article packs, special reports & more on lots of topics.
www.WebTrafficBasics.com – Get targeted traffic to your website with this free course.
AudioAcrobat - record audio for your blog. Turn it into a podcast with this tool.
www.BrandableStuff.com – Videos, reports, and audios that you can post on your blog (all with affiliate programs that you can join to monetize the posts).
http://www.easyplr.com/dc/free-plr.htm - Free product reviews.
FREE Pdf Reports
Enjoy these free reports to learn more about blogging:
12 Buzz Topics You Should Blog About Right Now
18 Traffic Generating Blog Ideas You Can Do Right Away
Blogging Calendar
31 Quick Blogging Ideas
7 Ways to Get Web Traffic
Moses Isaac
