Niche Blogging For Profit

Okay, you’ve got a beautifully themed and customized blog all ready to become a massive money-maker.

So now what?

Now you add high-quality content and advertisements that will (hopefully) help you earn money. Content first…always. Never try to put advertising on a niche blog before adding at least a few bits of content. Your advertising will see no use in paying money to be put on a site that had no chance of drawing traffic.

So now you know why Content Is King but how do you write good content? The cheapest and, in my opinion best, way is to write your own articles based on your knowledge of the subject and your own research. I have written plenty of articles on subjects I knew nothing about simply by researching online but it is faster and easier to write about something you know about which is why I suggest you pick a niche you have some basic knowledge of. Use your niche keywords and phrases and come up with at least 5 to 10 articles that will go on your blog. The best articles are usually between 300 and 600 words long and be sure not to keyword stuff (using your keywords more than once per hundred words). The search engines and your advertisers don’t like keyword stuffing because consumers don’t like keyword stuffing. Writing articles isn’t as hard as you might think so at least give it a try.

If writing isn’t your thing, you can always pay someone else to write for you if you have the money in your start-up budget. Type in freelance writers in Google and you’ll find loads of good sites to find writers. If you go this route, ask for a sample of writing first. Dont’ pay before you know that you will be getting quality writing. Also, have anyone who writes for you agree to a contract stating that you will possess full rights to the finished articles. Be very clear about what you want in an article and when you expect the work to be done. Don’t pay until you proofread the finished work.

Probably the worse way to get content for your niche blog is through free content articles. While this can be an acceptable way to fluff out your site, any free content you use has most likely been use on other sites too. Some advertisers and Google especially does not like “duplicate” material. Occasionally you will find an article that provides good information that you can use for your own article but stay away from copying.

Ironically the worst way to get content for your blog is also one of the best ways to get traffic for your blog. Writing articles (different from the ones that you put on your niche site), adding a resource box with your bio and link and submitting them to article directories to be picked up by other niche marketers is a terrific way to get readers to your site. In fact I recommend article writing as the best free way to get traffic.

Once your site has some well written and informative articles about your niche it is time to find affiliate programs and advertising for your blog. I’ve had good and bad luck with some and I find it is mostly an individual preference but here’s a list of the affiliate and content advertisers that I use on my sites:

1. Google Adsense – the best known and probably the most used content advertisers. It free to join and easy to use. The variety of ads that they can bring to your niche blog is the best thing about them. The $100 payout that you have to reach before getting a check is the worst.
2. Commission Junction- this a directory for finding affiliate products. They have so many products that you are almost guaranteed to find something for your niche. You will have to sign up for the merchants affiliate program through CJ but this is usually quick and easy enough to do. Because you are dealing with many different affiliate programs (all managed by Commission Junction) the terms of each products is different. The ease and variety make this site a must have while I haven’t personally found anything I don’t like about them.
3. Clickbank- similar to Commission Junction, clickbank deals more with products that are available for immediate download upon purchase. They are also known for working more with publishers who are just starting out in affiliate programs since it is easy to start an program with Clickbank’s help.
4. Kontera- this site provides advertising linked to keywords in your site’s content. When a reader mouses over the keyword link, they are met with a discreet advertisement based on the word. It can be difficult to get accepted to Kontera so read the requirements carefully and if at first you don’t get accepted…reapply in a few months when your site is bigger and better known.

These are just a few sites to get you started. Search Google for “your niche” + affiliate and you will likely find many more programs you can sign up for. Look for ones who pay a high percentage of the sale price and offer plenty of advertising resources for you in the shape of buttons, banners, and prewritten ad copy for email marketing.

This post turned out to be longer than I expected. Next time we’ll talk about driving traffic to your site and making your niche blog worth revisiting.

Today I’m going to talk about what to do after  you’ve decided on the perfect niche idea.

1. Buying a domain name. In order to be looked upon as a professional, it is best to buy a domain and hosting. The price of a domain can vary quite a bit so shop around for a price that works for you. For domain names only I have found 1&1.com to be reasonably priced ($6.99 for one year of a .com domain) and easy to work with. Since you will most likely be transferring your domain to another web host (I strongly advise against hosting with 1&1.com) you want to find a company that makes it easy to change your name servers (DNS).

The most important thing is to include your niche keyword or phrase in your domain. Next you should focus on trying to get a .com but, like with dating, most of the good ones are taken. If you cannot get a .com domain, you should get a .net. Only as a absolute last resort you should try any other type of domain. While .info and .org are generally assumed to be okay, I have found that they do not provide the same effect to customers and search engines as .com and .net.

Use this domain search to see if the domain name you want is available!

2. Find a good hosting company. Just about everyone is offering hosting nowadays. While there is some debate within the niche marketing world, I still find Hostgator to be the best hosting company around. For one, they are reasonably priced at only $7.95 a month for unlimited domains hosted. Their Cpanel makes it easy to install WordPress (which I highly recommend using for your blogs) as well as other applications that are useful in maintaining a website or blog. Second, on the few occasions that I have to contact customer service, they have responded quickly  within a day or two and explained things clearly and thoroughly. When working online, customer service should trump price every time. This is your business and livelihood so it is important to deal with people who take it as seriously as you do.

3. Install and Set up WordPress.Once you have your domain name pointed to your web hosting account, you can install WordPress from the Fantastico De Luxe option on your Cpanel. You will have to set up a WordPress account with a separate username and password. As of right now you have to do this for every blog you set up with WordPress. Although it’s a bit inconvenient, you can use the same information for each blog if you want to make it easier to remember. At first it all may seem a bit confusing and overwhelming but WordPress also has many options available to you if you need help with something. Browse their extensive FAQ menu or post a question in their helpful community forum to get quick answers to any of your questions. Alternatively, you can email me at admin(at)nichebloggingforprofit.com and I will try my best to answer any of your questions.

4. Customize your WordPress Blog. At WordPress.org you can find tons of free themes, plugins, and widgits for your blog. Plan on spending some time browsing around to find items to best suit your needs. Personally I like three-column themes. I have my favorite list of plug-ins including Adman, All-in-one SEO, Gospress, and Inline Javascript which I upload to every one of my blogs. I still find widgits a bit iffy to work with but you may have a better experience with them so go ahead and give them a try. You will need a FTP program to upload your plugins and themes to your hosting. This is probably the most difficult thing to learn when dealing with WordPress but once you have it figured out it will be clean sailing. I use Smart FTP which is a free program and fairly easy to learn. If you have any problems figuring out your FTP address (you can find them under the FTP Manager option of your Cpanel) you can email Hostgator and they should be able to tell you what you are doing incorrectly.

Now your WordPress niche blog is set up and ready to start adding content to! Next time I will talk about writing for your niche blog, finding advertising that will help you earn money from your blog, driving and tracking the traffic to your blog.

Happy Blogging!