Monetize a Blog or Website

A nice way to get some extra cash flow is by monetizing your blog or website, first of all we need to understand what monetization  is.  Monetization is the process of converting or establishing something into legal tender, aka, money.  There are a bunch of ways of doing this, from advertising to promoting, to referrals to selling a product.  The best way to maximize profits is to do all of them.

*Before we continue I would like to say that there isn't any easy way to make a ton of money online but it is possible.


Ads


  Say you love dogs, and you have a blog about dogs.  Why not sign up for google adsense or any other advertising company and put some ads in-between posts?  If you have pictures why not host them on a site that pays per click such as ImageTwist as well. Now you are making money from ads and pictures.  One last way to use ads is use a URL shortner that pays such as adf.ly.  You put the shortened link in your posts and when someone clicks it they see an ad before going to the destination.  Now you are making money from ads in your blog, pictures in your blog and links in your blog.  


Referrals


Another great way to monetize is to refer users to a site or company that sells a product.  Every time they make a sale you get a commission.  Just partner up with a site that caters to you niche.  Take the example from before of the dog blog.  Partner up with say a company that sells dog toys and write about the company in your blog but at the end include a link to the site or link to a specific product and anytime that product or products get sold you get a commission for referring people there. A good site to look at is clickbank because they partner you up with other company's that you choose.


Promoting


Promoting is similar to referring in that you get a commission from a company that sells a product or service.  This usually requires that your site gets a good number of visits and you have a community built up already.  Once that is in place ask companies if they are willing to let you promote or review a product of theirs.  If they say yes all you do is write about it and, well, just promote it!


Selling a product


This last way might be the hardest or easiest.  Essentially what you want to do is create a product or service that people pay for.  Then advertise it on a blog or website.  Say you just invented this new brush that grooms dogs and doesn't leave a mess.  Why not set up a site or blog and advertise it on the internet.  Instead of making money on the blog or website you make your money of selling your product or service.  


In the end this still takes hard work and dedication if you want it to be your sole source for income.  If you just want some extra cash this is definitely a good start.


Here are the links to some sites mentioned in the post:


Google Adsense 
ImageTwist
Adfly
Clickbank