A lot of people want to make money through blogging. If you’re one of them, then I’m sure you’ve read a lot of make money online blogs and tried to learn the things that these probloggers are teaching.

This is also what I did at the start when I first came into the blogosphere.

After more than a year, I’ve learned that there are certain things that these probloggers are usually not telling their readers about making money online.

And that was my topic when I talked at the 5th Philippine Blogging Summit last May 9 at the Malcolm Theatre, UP Diliman.

Going up the stage, I felt like Richard St. John during his TED Talk. I had so many things I’d like to share and discuss but only a few minutes to do it.

So for those who missed my talk, let me share with you now the pointers I gave the audience that afternoon – the top 5 tips the probloggers will usually not tell you about making money online.

Speaking at iBlog 5

Blog about your passion that has commercial value
It’s important that you blog about your passion because it will motivate you to write. However, if you want to make money out of your blog, you should remember to choose a niche that has great commercial value.

During my talk, I shared that I am an avid fan of logic puzzles like Sudoku and also loved playing badminton. Between these two passions, I said that if I were to start a blog, I’d choose to write about badminton because potentially, I’ll get more advertisers with that niche.

Get a domain name and webhosting if you want more technical control of your blog, but blogs in free sites can earn as much as self-hosted blogs
Having a domain name is important for personal branding. It also helps people to remember your URL easier. Meanwhile, subscribing to a webhosting service will give you more technical control over your blog design and functions.

However, one should realize that blogs in free sites such as Blogger can also earn as much as self-hosted blogs. It may take longer but eventually, your blogspot blog can be a high income earner. (Apologies to Aileen for saying “blogspot lang” I didn’t mean it that way. )

Write quality content about topics that people search for
Everyone says that you should write quality content. This means you should write articles that are unique, informative, entertaining and/or thought-provoking. However, many probloggers don’t mention that you should write quality content about things that netizens usually search for.

I gave an example for travel blogs and how they usually just write about their experience and nothing more. If you want search engine visitors, incorporate in your entry or make a series of posts that would also answer common searches like the best places to visit, fun things to do, cheap hotels they can stay in and other information for the places they visit. This is what I did for my Ilocos Vacation Tour article, which now gets a lot of search engine visitors everyday.

Learn Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Optimization
Traffic is one of the prime factors that lead to high income in blogs. Most probloggers put great emphasis on SEO because it is search engine visitors that usually converts to ad clicks. But the main problem with SEO is that, it’s a bit technical and it takes time.

For immediate traffic, specially for new blogs, one should invest in SMO. Social Media Optimization focuses on getting referral traffic from other blogs and websites. This means commenting in other blogs, promoting your articles in social networking communities and microblogging sites, participating in online forums and many others. Referral visitors are the ones that convert to subscribers and regular readers, that’s why it’s essential.

Be patient, making good money through blogging takes time because it’s not easy to write for and maintain multiply blogs
Blogging is not a get rich quick scheme. It is a long term investment of your time and effort. With enough focus and persistence, you’ll eventually make good money online. However, one of the reasons why making money through blogging takes time is because it’s also not easy to set up and maintain several blogs. Ask any problogger how many blogs they have and they’ll answer they have 3 or 4, some even more.

The principle lies in multiple sources of income. Focus on one blog and make it earn. Document your efforts and duplicate it for another niche. With every blog you create, you’ll earn faster because the months of experience has already taught you valuable lessons. And with proper time management, you’ll be able to maintain several blogs and earning a total of four digits in US dollars.

With friends in iBlog 5

Towards the end of my talk, I mentioned that problogging is not just about making money online. It is about creating value, building a community and sharing a piece of yourself to the world. I ended with a quote from Ria Jose, a problogger friend from Davao. She says,

I believe I am a problogger, not because of the amount of money I earn from blogging, but because of the level of commitment & dedication I put into blogging; and the accountability & responsibility I have to my readers, to blogging as a media, and to the niches I blog about.

Thank you to everyone who listened to my talk during iBlog 5. It was also nice meeting old and new friends that day.

Special thanks to Ms. Janette Toral for giving me the opportunity to speak during the event. You can read more of what happened during iBlog 5 here.

Lastly, if you want to read more articles about blogging as well as other income opportunities, then please subscribe to Ready To Be Rich.

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Photos courtesy of Ada