Niche Blogging For Profit

There are many different ways to market your home business whether online or off. Most important to remember is not to limit yourself to marketing Internet businesses to online marketing and “real world” business to “real world” advertising.

While many brick and mortar businesses know enough to have websites and possibly online shopping carts, few online businesses expand their marketing plan to include offline advertising.

 Business cards are easy and inexpensive to create. VistaPrints offers cards free of cost – you pay only for shipping. Pass these cards out to people you meet at parties, gatherings, work related events and to people you meet throughout your regularly scheduled day.

Brochures (services) or Catalogs (products) – Depending on what your blogs/sites sell you can display brochures or catalogs in local stores.

Flyers – Similar to brochures except flyers are usually one sheet and contain less information than brochures. You can pass out flyers or leave them in doorways to get people to visit your sites/blogs.

Magnetic Signs – Several business supply stores offer custom signs and letters that are magnetized and can be stuck right to the sides or back of your vehicle. You should keep the wording simple and short but that takes advantage of the most space for your money.

As an Internet Marketer you have to take advantage of every traffic source available. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your customer base ends at your desktop.

This post assumes that not only do you work from home but that you are also responsible for household tasks and errands and possibly a family.

Working from home is a lot harder than most people assume. When you work outside the home your work time and your home time are clearly defined. However when you work from home sometimes it is hard to know if your next post or the dirty dishes should come first. And sometimes, no matter how many times you tell them not to, children can be distracting and demanding.

So how can you schedule work, home, and play in one day and still get everything done? Beats me, but I have come up with a method that works pretty well.

First I got smart and didn’t even try to schedule work when I knew my kids would be creating chaos. So I clean up, cook, play with the kids and do laundry while the kids are at their most active. This allows me to work on my computer one and off most of the morning while I work on brainstorming and non-computer tasks during the evening when my older children are on the computer and my younger child is in bed.

I also try to simplify my life by assigning certain tasks to certain days. For example I go grocery shopping on Fridays, I do my best to schedule doctor and other appointments on Mondays, and I call my mom every Saturday, etc.

Finally, don’t allow yourself to be too hard on you. Everything isn’t always going to get done, things will be forgotten, deadlines broken.

And the world (and you) will go on just fine.

While setting up a home office depends in part on how much space you have there are certain features that any niche blogger working from home is going to need in order to make their company a success.

First of all you will need a computer with Internet access. You probably already have one or you wouldn’t be considering an online career. If you don’t, however, focus on getting the fastest one you can afford. It would also be helpful if it came with Microsoft Word but you can always buy it extra if not.

Next you should get a computer desk. Look for one that will hold your computer, keyboard, mouse, monitor and printer while leaving room for writing and research materials as well as random office supplies you will need.

If space is limited you should consider getting a 4 in 1 printer/copier/scanner/fax to suit all your needs in the smallest area. In the last couple of years the price of these machines has come down considerably.

The office chair you choose should be comfortable and mobile. If there is anywhere you should spend a little extra money it is on your desk chair. Since you will likely be spending hours sitting in this chair, you want to be sure to get maximum support for your back and legs.

A calender may be helpful for keeping track of your schedule. A cork or dry erase board is helpful for keeping tidbits of information as well as your to-dos.

You will probably want to get a four drawer file cabinet. You will be printing out research material, receipts for web services and other papers related to your niche. Additionally you will collect books and files and all sorts of scraps of ideas and information.

If space allows you may also consider purchasing a bookshelf. Over time as an niche marketer and blogger you will likely find yourself collecting many more than a few books and having them on a bookshelf eliminates the need to dig around in drawers or piles.

Lastly, although no necessary, you may want to have some personal mementos and inspiration do-dads. Being able to draw from something to motivate you forward when you feel like giving up is a good addition to a home office.

More and more people are deciding to stay at home and work online. The reasons people decide to work online. The reasons people decide to work from home are as varied as the types of jobs you can choose. With the New Year starting over, this month’s posts are going to go back to he beginning and talk about making the decisions to work at home online and the first steps necessary once you’ve made the decision.

I started working from home in order to remain home with my kids. Other people I know work from home because the job market in their areas are so bad they are unable to find a regular job. Some just like the freedom to work in their pajamas if they want to.

While it is nice not to have a boss looking over your shoulder, it can be also be limiting. No one to tell you what and when to do things. No one to make sure all the correct paperwork is filled out. And no one to tell you when it is okay to take some time off either. Also working in your pajamas tends to encourage procrastination and laziness. In fact it encourages an addition to television!

But if you have the desire, dedication, and discipline to make a living from it, it may be the best thing you’ll ever do – I know it was for me.

Luckily there are so many ways to work from home – online or off – that no matter where your interests lie you should be able to  find something that will make a great career for you. I chose niche marketing because I get bored easily and like the ever-changing world of Internet information.

Once you narrow down your choices to one or two your should research what you need to start this business for home.

I’ve started many profit and nonprofit companies for scratch and have helped others start up their home-based businesses. I also research “opportunities” for validity to protect then from scams. If you would like some info or advice feel free to throw me an email.

Oh yeah, Happy New Year.

Anyone who works from home knows it isn’t all lounging around in our pajamas and talking to friends all day. In fact there is precious little chance for relaxing or socializing during the “work day”

If you are planning on starting an at-home Internet Marketing business (niche blogging is a form of Internet marketing) so you can work when you want and have more time for yourself – forget it. Internet marketing is a more-than-full time job.  For example here is a sample of my daily routine.

6:30 am – Get up and get the kids fed and ready for school

7:45 am – Take my daughter to preschool

8:00 am – Run to the store for some things

8:30 am – Run to the supermarket for groceries

9:15 am – Unload groceries and put food away

9:45 am – Pick up daughter from Preschool

10:00 – 11:30 am – Answer emails, check traffic stats, research niches and write posts

11:30 – 12:00 pm - Make lunch for daughter and myself and eat.

12:00 – 2:00 pm – Daily housework

2:00 – 4:00 pm – Work on articles, posts and special projects

4:00 – 6:00 pm – Make dinner and dinnertime

6:00 – 6:30 pm – Clean up after dinner, put dishes to wash

6:30 – 7:30 pm – Me Time!

7:30 – 8:00 pm – Put daughter to bed

8:00 – 11:00 pm - More work, networking, plan for tomorrow, writing

11:00 pm – Bedtime

As you can see, it is nearly constant all day and night. It take a lot of organization and discipline and determination to make it successful in this business, especially if you also have a family to take care of. Working at home is not the lazy way out for sure.

Writing is a huge part of being a niche blogger so it is always a good idea to be polishing your skill. Writing blog posts can be a bit less formal than articles written for directory submission and traffic generation although even posts should be well thought out, clear and error-free.

Articles should be all that while providing quality information to your readers. Remember the main purpose of every article you write is to get people to click the link to your blog. Here are five tips to help your articles better achieve that goal.

1. Write directly to your reader – The best articles read as if they were written for just one person, the reader. If you want your writing to seem natural, write as if you were telling the information to your best friend (within reason of course).
2. Don’t forget your spell check – Misspellings and typos make an article seem unprofessional and rushed. Use your spell check function but don’t stop there. Be sure to proofread your articles carefully as well.
3. Keep sentences and paragraphs brief – When reading online it is much easier on the reader’s eyes if the groups of words and lines are small. Long sentences are hard to process from a computer screen and end up seeming jumbled and confusing.Paragraphs should be no more than five or six sentences long.
4. Use lists when possible – Internet readers love lists. Lists are easy to scan for interesting information and make it simple for your reader to quickly see what you’re writing about.
5. Inform first, promote last – Never write an article for the sole reason of getting your readers to buy something. Sure you are hoping that they will find your articles so informative and well written that they will want to click over to your blog but your first priority should always be to provide helpful valuable information to your reader.

If you make certain that your articles stick to these five rules you will have n problem attracting traffic to your site. People will want to be there and they will be glad to keep coming back and that’s your real goal.

While some people blog for pleasure, the rest of us is interest in making money. Luckily there are more than a few different ways to make money with a niche blog. In fact, the secret to earning a living as an Internet Marketer is multiple streams of potential income. Here are some of the most popular ways to make money with a niche blog.

1. Contextual Advertising – This is advertisements that is placed on your blog with the content of the ads based on the niche topic or target keywords of the blog. Google’s Adsense is the most popular contextual advertiser and the only one I’ve had any luck making money with but there are others out there. While Adsense won’t make you rich (unless you have hundreds of well-performing blogs), it’s a free way to make a small income and should be included in most niche blogging strategies.
2. Selling Affiliate Products – When other people offer to give you a percentage of the sales price of a product if your market and sell that product it is called an affiliate partnership. Whole websites are set up to connect affiliates with products. My favorite is Commission Junction because they are way to use and have a wide variety of products. Clickbank is also very popular. Clickbank specializes more in digital products that are available for immediate download. Clickbank is also popular because they offer high commissions averaging 40-50% rather than the 5% or 10% you get from most other places.
3. Selling Self-Created Products – If you think getting 50% of a product’s price is great, imagine how great it is to receive 100% of the sales prices. Eventually you will want to consider creating your own niche-related products whether ebooks, reports, podcasts, or tutorials. Selling your own products is the first step in really creating a lucrative Internet Marketing business
4. Selling Advertising Space – Serious bloggers always set aside a specific amount of space for advertisements. As your niche blog gains popularity, other bloggers and companies will pay you to show their banners or buttons on your site. Don’t expect much money at first but over time this could end up being the main source of income from your blogs.
5. Selling Completed Niche Blogs – Lastly, you can make money selling blogs that you have finished, marketed  and built up a reputation (and traffic) for. Some Internet Marketers do nothing but “fix and flip” websites and blogs for quick profit. If this is something that interests you, you can learn more about Virtual Real Estate. Even if flipping isn’t your thing, you may find yourself in a position where you are no longer interested in keeping a blog updated or you want to make a quick buck in a pitch.

When I tell people I work from home, most of them envision sleeping late, working in pajamas and taking long lunches. While I will admit that I have worked in sweats from time to time, I’m usually hard at work by eight am and just finishing up by nine or ten at night. Also I frequently eat lunch at my desk.

In short, working from home is hard. There are a million distractions, people don’t take your “career” seriously and most of the time you’re doing everything yourself. One thing that you can do to both help keep yourself on track and show others that your work is “real” work is to treat your home-based Internet Marketing business just like you would if your were starting a brick and mortar business offline.

Start by writing a basic business plan. Remember that this is for your eyes only and should simply state your objectives, goals and business strategy. Name your “company” even if it’s just you behind a computer. Print up some business cards and keep track of your expenses and income. All this planning and paperwork will do more than just make your business more legitimate to friends, family and any lending institutes you may need a loan from, will make tax time easier, keep organization and expansion a priority and finally allow you to separate work from home more easily.