First Milestone Reached!

Well after 13 posts over the course of three months I am proud to say that I have reached my goal of making $100.00! I am actually surprised at the quickness with which I achieved this if you count the fact that I took March and most of April off in regards to this project.

The biggest boost in my income so far has been encouraging my friends and family to start their own blogs. It has been fun seeing the variety of ideas that they come up with and it gives me more ideas to use on my own site. My blog is oriented directly on figuring out how to make cash on this.

The majority of sites will promise you riches and that all you need is their neat little program or theme design and you will be rolling in the riches with little effort. They are lying. There is a lot of hard work involved in trying to get established but it pays off in the end. It is incredibly difficult to find sites that are not over hyped but they are out there. Hopefully I can save you the time by lining them all up for you. My resources section keeps growing and for every one site that I add to it there are at least twenty five that I have skipped over.

So get onto blogger and get your blog going. If anything you'll enjoy the process and there is plenty of money to be made telling the world how to excel at your favorite video game or show off your photography masterpieces. Draw attention to the things that define you and you just might learn a little about yourself along the way.

Affiliate Marketing & Blogs?

In the age of social-networking the concept of affiliates is sound, but is the term over used? An affiliate group is a portion of like-minded people or those with subject oriented material. They link up (literally) on their sites and promote their own service, business or practice while referring an affiliate if supplemental needs arise.

There are affiliate groups for many professions such as lawyers, doctors, CPA's or contractors. In those industries it is vital to research and understand the business or men/women you are inducting into your affiliate circle so that you are not unwittingly promoting an awful doctor or a shady lawyer. In blogging however it may be simpler based on your intentions. If you are attempting to set up a social blog and are just looking for mass clicks and referrals then the due diligence will not need to be that extensive.

A great site and resource for all things affiliate related and how it applies to marketing is AM Navigator which is a very professional and informative blog admin'd by Geno Prussakov. I loved reading his articles because he sifts through the hype and presents clear options and tips on how to make some cash with affiliate marketing.

The blogging scene is more about word of mouth and how-to type information so encourage your friends to start a blog and speak their mind. Teach them how to insert ads onto their site and educate them about the way PPC (Payment Per Click) works. The majority of them are already performing a dumbed down version of blogging by means of their Facebook account so why not get them to take one extra step and turn it into some cash. Show them the design options available by means of WordPress or Tumblr and entice them with the almighty Page View Tracker.

Warning: Low page views may adversely affect your self-esteem.

Add them to your affiliate group and now every time your buddy posts his latest recipe creation the plethora of readers they have attracted may see your blog and venture on over. Or if everyone has worked up an appetite while reading about how to make loads of money blogging they may head over to his site to quell their hunger. It's circular and benefits everyone so the concept of adding more affiliates to the group should exponentially increase traffic.

Conclusion: Jump on the affiliate train to increase your online presence and if you dare dive into affiliate marketing. For more on the marketing aspect I suggest checking out the AM Navigator blog mentioned above or sifting through the vast multitudes of written material on the subject. The first one that caught my eye in the Amazon Associates program I have tied to this blog is the book by Joel Comm. Affiliate Programs: How to Make Money Online with Other People's Products. (Kindle Edition)