It took me until about the dozenth time starting (and running) a blog before I saw any significant financial earnings. The money I earned for a “high traffic” day was laughable – just shy of a dollar – when I look back on it. Google AdSense was effective, though, and I was proud.

Fast forward to today and AdSense would be the lowest on the list of ways to make money online (right there with online surveys). There are superior ways to earn a few coins. Ones that have real potential for the newbies and great opportunities for the established.

Want to up your blogging game and make more money doing it? I know you do.

Money Making Game Changers

It all changed when I got out of the “advertising mindset.” I challenged myself to find money making opportunities that were part of the experience or one based on delivering an offer once I said no to ads.

This lead to the following, smart decisions:

·  Taking a free affiliate marketing course helped me understand how to promote and earn on other people’s products I was already using in my niche. This allowed me to go back through previous efforts, update with affiliate links, and immediately have money-making leads.

·  Setting up a page for Web-related services (blog setup, content, social) since I was already doing these as part of my projects. This went over well because people were interacting with my projects and knew I understood what I was doing.

·  Bringing these services (and product suggestions) to local businesses. The local businesses rarely had web presences which made for easy lead conversion and recurring income once they had a taste of what’s possible through online business.

From that point, I knew I could create a platform (blog) to attract an audience, promote an offer/recommendation, and earn a kickback while delivering excellent info. It was a win/win for the community and I thus resulting in earning a healthy side income from the effort.

Three Money Making Strategies (to start Today)

It’s one thing to hear about what can make money… it’s another to have the 1, 2, and 3 to do it. Follow these direct, blunt steps (for each) and you’ll be light years ahead on making money from your efforts versus hoping to earn a few coins from whatever you’re doing now.

Strategy #1: Ebook

1.  Pick a topic you know well

2.  Check competitors and outline the work

3.  Write the content or have it transcribed from audio

4.  Bundle it and begin selling it through your site and the Kindle store

Strategy #2: Niche sites

1.  Create an outline of the site building process

2.  Research and collect data about a niche

3.  Develop the site and populate with content

4.  Build links and allow it to rank

5.  Sell it on marketplaces like Flippa

Strategy #3: Rank & Rent

1.  Follow the same (above) but for local types of businesses (ex. Dry cleaning)

2.  Contact local businesses for featured sponsorship

3.  Add new features and keep them on a monthly retainer for the site

These are obviously a basic overview so do your research if you need to expand on each of the steps and topics but the strategies are sound and solid. Don’t believe me? Try them and report back once you see money start trickling in.

Conclusion

I was a big skeptic of the whole “make money online” thing until I began doing it.

The tasks (Jobs) are the same yet done through a different platform (Net). Remove the glamor of the phrase and what you’re doing is managing a freelance business. You’re producing a great product, delivering a great service, or providing stellar information – the same as you would in a job or startup – and finding people willing to pay. That’s it.

There are extra steps to get there but if you can get the basics down pat then every project you launch will have the potential to become a money maker.