Blogging for Success: Christmas!

For a fairly new blogger like myself, it can be quite frustrating trying to earn money online. However, in order to succeed, you must continue to strive and work hard to make things work. Darren Rowse over at Problogger (a daily read for me) recently highlighted the importance of making sure that you set a goal to continually trend up in blogging, and not worry so much about the money that is coming in. But how do you trend up all the time? Here are some important things to try and remember:

Christmas Season is coming up: With Christmas comes enormous potential for bloggers to make money online. Advertisers will be looking for a way to get the word out on their products, and many affiliate programs will begin designing customized Christmas themed ads for their publishers to present. Gift buyers will be looking online for ideas on what to get, and blogs are a great way to present that information.

How does this help you? Well, you’ve always had to buy gifts right? And you definitely know what you want to get for Christmas. So start up a product information/review blog, like I have. You don’t have to set up a new blog to do this, you can do it on your own blog. Offer up great reviews on products that you’d like to have, and products that others may be interested in. Amazon Associates is a great way to offer up affiliate links and help you earn money this way. People can purchase products thru Amazon on your website, and you can earn commissions off of their sales. By providing a great review, you increase their chances of purchasing, and thus increase your chance of making money.

It Takes Time to Build Your Brand: I have been blogging for about three months now, and my blogs are just starting to consistently make money every day. Yes, it may be a bit quicker than some other people, but also I’m not making huge amounts yet. What I am trying to do now is build my brand. If you can make yourself noticeable in a certain way, people will be likely to come back. People recognize John Chow from the cars on his blog, and Shoemoney from his signature “S’. I am attempting to do the same with a little character I have created from WeeWorld. You can see him in the upper right corner of this blog, and he is found on other blogs that I am running. Check him out:

• Intermission at Work
• Joe Likes It!
  

He is quickly recognizable on any of my blogs, and if people can link him with the image of great blogging that I hope I am creating, they will be more likely to come back and perhaps visit other blogs he is located on. Plus he’s uber cute. That one was for the ladies. A great write up on branding can be found here at Search For Blogging. Work hard to create your brand ant it will bring success.

Gifts and Investing: Being able to give something away is a great way of building success in your blogs. It’s tough when you’re a smaller blogger like myself, so you have to be more creative about it. For example, I am giving away money for people who use my Chip-In, and I’m also giving back profits of my Spreadshirt designs. Check those out and maybe think about contributing. You may get lucky and get back more than you invested!

If you’re looking for prizes to give away, try entering a few contests! You might get something that you don’t want, but someone else might think is cool. Or give a gift to a fellow blogger and have them write about you. John Cow did this for John Chow, and got a write up about it on John Chow’s extremely popular site.

Don’t be afraid to invest in your venture. This does not necessarily mean money, but could also be time. Make sure you take the time to keep track of everything you do, and be vigilant. If you don’t blog, people will not read. Invest time in marketing your feed, and build up your subscribers.

Phew! That’s a lot to digest. I’m not saying I’m an expert, but this is what I’m trying to do and hopefully it will help you in your blogging adventure. Please feel free to comment and leave your own tips on how to become more successful.

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