Business Blog Advice

Working at home has become one of the hottest topics online. There are hundreds of websites and forums created for people who want to work from home full time.

The latest manifestation of this trend is the so-called “work at home blogs” and the bloggers who operate them. In truth, the concept of blogging for a living is not that new. Some bloggers have been making a living from their blogs through various advertising programs for several years now. But what has exploded recently is the popularity of this concept.

That’s why I call work-from-home blogging the “New American Dream” … a lot of people want it.

Now, I don’t make my living from blogging. Not entirely, anyway. My blogs contribute to my overall revenues, but I also have several other revenue streams in place that, when combined, help me earn a living while working from home.

With that said, I know enough about bloggin’ for a livin’ to be able to offer some advice on the subject. Here are some ways you can run a home-based business from your blogging efforts.

• Affiliate programs — Regardless of your blog’s topic, I’m willing to bet you could find an affiliate program that’s related to that topic. Affiliate programs are perfectly suited for bloggers, and they can be a good way to work from home via the blog. The premise is simple. You send traffic to the affiliate’s website, and you earn a commission from the people who go on to purchase the marketer’s products / services.
• Business blogger for hire – I know several people who make a living by blogging for companies who don’t have time to do it themselves. This is sometimes referred to as “ghost blogging” — the same thing as ghostwriting, only it’s done through a blog.
• Advertising revenue — This is probably the most popular way to earn money from a blog. There are endless advertising opportunities for bloggers. You can use Google AdSense. You can create your own ad space program. Et cetera. Of course, success with this approach is directly proportionate to the popularity of your blog (an obscure blog won’t make much money from advertising programs).
• Blogging for product sales – If you sell software, e-books, or other things that can be purchases from the Internet, you can use your blog to promote these items. I have created an e-book in the past, and it still sells well to this day … mainly because of the blog that’s associated with that e-book.