First forays into making money from a blog

One of the most common questions I'm asked is "How do I start to make money online?" I discussed before how many bloggers see phase one as building traffic, and phase two as starting to make money, and this post is all about the initial steps - those first forays into what can be a murky world.

Image: djcodrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The best place to start is with someone else's product. You don't have to worry about setting up sales pages, delivery systems, guarantees, design or product development. By becoming an affiliate for something, you only have to worry about the front end - getting people to their site.

Choose something that you already use, know and like - something you are happy to recommend to your friends and readers. For our travel blog, we recommended a VPN service that allows people to watch their home TV stations while abroad - a service we use everyday. For this blog, I recommended Aweber (aff), which is an email service I totally believe in.

What product or service do you use, that would really benefit your readers? Do they offer an affiliate scheme?

Once you've established something you'd like to promote, sign up for their affiliate program and get to work:

The initial post(s)

Write a post, or even a series of posts, on the topic, covering the reasons you recommend the product. An ideal approach is to talk about a problem you may face everyday - one which can be solved by the product or service.

My original Aweber post was in a series discussing why you need an email list and how to go about setting one up.

The autoresponder

Set up an autoresponder to let your new subscribers know about it. Make sure you insert it with general, helpful stuff either side of that email, so readers don't feel they are constantly being sold to.

In my case readers get the AR about Aweber a month after they've joined the subscriber list, after an email with a free book and before one which gives them lots of helpful tips about using Twitter.

The advertising

If you run adverts on your blog, or have a "shop" then use a graphic advert to link to the product.

You'll see my single rotating ad in the sidebar will occasionally throw up an Aweber ad as "recommended." And if you check the Mike's Life shop, you'll find it's on the shelves there.

The on-going work

Now all you need to do is regularly remind people that the product or service is available, and that you believe in it and are an affiliate. This post is a good example - it's not about email lists, but as I've mentioned Aweber as an example, I've made sure to link it.

Selling other people's products as an affiliate isn't a way to get rich, but it is a way to break into selling something online. It tells your readers that you are here to make money, and let's you start to explore the processes behind selling, the mechanics of getting people to a sales page, and all without using up too much of your own time in the back end process. It's an ideal stepping stone.

Are you already offering products as an affiliate? Are you about to?

Also have a look at:

1/ Eight tips for bloggers struggling to come up with post ideas

2/ How to write a post rich in keywords

2/ Overcoming negativity