This post is not that type of post you often read about a thousand and one ways of making money from your blog. In today’s post, I want to tell you what you’ve never heard before so, read this post till the end because, you will thank me later. This is a post I’ve wanted to write ever since but, it was my exams which just ended that delayed it.
Many times, we’ve often read on the internet about different ways of making money from your blog and after reading such posts, we often comment, praising the author on his good job but, how many of us normally put what we learnt from those posts into practice?
Top Blogging Coach is one year and few months now and since I started blogging, I’ve been learning and trying to discover the exact reason why I’m here and now, it’s about time we all answer that question…..
Why are you here in the first place?
Are you here to make money or to spend money?
Are you blogging as a business or as a hobby?
This is the same questions I asked myself over and over again and I think I’ve gotten the answer. You know, I’m here to help other people with what i know but, on the other hand, i also want to make money on the process because if not, I might be helping people and one day, my hosting will expire and I might not have the money to renew it.
Now, what do you think those people I’m helping will think? They will say that I’ve also ran away like others and, they might be right you know because on a closer look, that’s exactly what I did. Therefore, I don’t know for you but, I’m no longer going to blog as a hobby, I’ve decided to blog as a business.
If things continue this way, I might fall to the blogging trap of writing for a lifetime with nothing else in return but praises in the comment thread. This will just be like a very educated man with P.H.D but, has no money to show for it.
The only thing he will be good at is in blowing grammar here and there and soon, people will nickname him… Mr. English. Now, is that the type of life you want to live?
Why Are You Not Making Money From Your Blog Yet?
I’ve come to realize something. I noticed this few weeks ago when I published the post where I asked you people your own opinion if the number of comments a blog gets equate to Traffic. Some of the comments I got on that post really got me thinking especially this one from Chadrack….
You see, one of the main reasons why you are not making money from your blog all these while is simply because you’re not driving the type of traffic that will make you that money, period.
Since I started blogging, my only source of traffic has been blog commenting until recently. This is where you come to my blog and comment and, I will now rush to your blog and comment too as a pay back at the end, you will be seeing lots of comments on my posts without clicks. And I’m sure; this has also been the same road most of us have been walking on. Now, can you see the reason why you’re not making money yet?
It’s because, majority of your visitors are also bloggers and you know what? They will not click on those adsense banners and links on your blog because, they are already familiar with it. They will not also click on your affiliate links because; most of them are also using that product too.
The most essential way to get such traffic that will make you money is via the Search Engines. Think about it, when someone comes to Google, he is certainly looking for something and, if he performed his search and landed on your blog then, chances are that he will surely click on those links because, he don’t know what they are and, he believes that it might be an answer to what he’s looking for.
Therefore, just like my friend said, my decision now is to rather drive the type of traffic that will come in looking for something worthwhile on the blog and when they come, they would take the time to click on an adsense link or an affiliate link than the type of traffic who comes because such a person is expecting me to pay back the visit to her blog. And, if you’re not ready yet to take your own decision then, please kindly stop reading further because, this post is not meant for you, it’s meant for the action takers who want to start making money from their blogs now.
Recommended Reading: Why I am Deleting my Whole Subscribers List
However, I don’t mean that I will stop commenting on your blogs, no. What I meant is this. I already know most of the blogs out there that always wow me with their contents and, most of you also writes interesting posts and, when I encounter such, I must read and comment but, I will no longer comment on your blog simply because you commented on mine. I will come and comment because, I love what you shared.
How do You Now Plan to Start Making Money From Your Blog?
Like you’ve read on many blogs out there, there are so many ways to making money from your blog, you just have to make your own plans and then, work seriously towards it.
The ones I listed below are my favorites…..
#1.Building Keyword Focused Niche Sites: This is the business model I’ve been eyeing for a long time now and, I’ve really learnt a lot about it from those that has done it before as listed below..
- Pat Flynn: SmartPassiveIncome.com
- Spencer Haw: SmartPassiveIncome.com
- Tung Tran: NichePursuits.com
#2.Selling my own Products: This has always been the best way to make money online and, nothing can be compared to it. Once you have your own products out there, and if the product is a top notch and you’ve already created that trust with your audience then, you are wonderfully made. People that has done it…..
- Steve Scott: CloudLivingJourney.com
- Corbett Barr: ThinkTraffic.com
#3. Affiliate Marketing: This is also another good way you can also be are making money from your blog as a lot of the people are doing. In this case, building trust with your audience is also of utmost importance just like when it comes to creating and selling your own products because, people no longer buy from those they don’t know and trust.
- John Chow:SteveScottsite.com
- Pat Flynn: johnchow.com
#4.Building a Bigger Authority Sites: This is also a very viable way of making money from your blog. In this case, you build a very big resourceful type of site whereby you will be seen as an authority on that niche. You will be seen as a go to person on anything related to that particular field. The only difference between this and the first one is that, the first one is usually smaller type of sites. Examples of those that are already doing it successfully are…..
- Jon Haver: smartpassiveincome.com
- Steve Scott: Authoritywebsiteincome.com
These are the 4 major ways I know of that you can be making money from your blog like others are doing. All you need to do is, simply pick one from among them and start gathering informations as much as you can about it in order to know if it’s something you can do.
The one I’ve decided to follow now is the first one (Building Keyword Focused Niche Sites). From my 2013 goals, I made mention of creating niche sites and having my own products in the market. I think it’s time I stop lazing about and start working hard so as to achieve those goals.
I don’t know about you but, that is my own decision. I can’t keep writing alone for ever, I need to start making a change for myself now and, the earlier you do same, the better for you. Unless you have another plan.
I also want to use this opportunity to tell you that Pat Flynn is launching another niche site project which he called SteveScottsite.com And, I’m joining him on this one so, anyone of you who is interested can also join the duel as its ongoing now.
In my next post, I will fully reveal to you everything you need to know about building niche sites and my plans. I will also be showing you people everything I’m doing. We can call it a Case Study. So, be sure to always visit my site or, subscribe to my email list or feed so that you will always be informed on what is going on.
I think this post is already longer than I expected so, I beg to stop here, let’s all get to work at once. If you really want to start making money from your blog now then, you need to stop what you are doing at the moment and start doing something else…. Remember…
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting to get a different result.
So, what is your own plan? How do you plan to achieve it? What have you learnt from this post? Please be sure to let us know on the comment thread and please, don’t forget to share this post with your friends.
Interesting Giveaways
I also want to let you know of some of the interesting giveaways that is going on now….
1. Click to win a whooping sum of $150
2. Click here to win the sum of $75
Photo Credit: Niche Site Duel (NSD 2.0)
Harleena Singh says
Hi Theodore,
I enjoyed today’s post, or perhaps it was written from your heart 🙂
I agree with you and your decision. Yes, most of us bloggers who visit each other’s sites and we are the wrong people who can really bring you money to your blog because we all know the tricks of the trade. This was exactly what I’d been discussing with my husband a few days back! Our target audience aren’t our friends or fellow bloggers, or the regular readers we get at our blog, but the traffic we get from the search engines, which for most of us isn’t all that much.
I’d seen Chardrack’s comment at that earlier post, and he did make a lot of sense in what he’d written (he always does!). Not to mention, that most of us do get tied up visiting each other’s blog and returning the favor by commenting. While some of it is needed to a certain extent and many of us do that too, but then if we carry on this ways, where do we find the time to really work on other things or progressing further. I too would like this to be an open option where anyone who comes to comment on your blog is welcomed, without you having to feel the pressure to visit their blogs to comment as a return favor – unless you like their content enough to comment and share it.
Honestly speaking, this is what I’ve been reconsidering too with the number of comments I’ve started getting that has lessened my time in concentrating on things that I need to work on. I know many bloggers ensure they visit each blog back and that’s commendable if they are managing that, something that I’ve also been doing. In-fact I visit their blogs before I comment on my own! However, for how long – I’d like to ask because with increasing comments, your visits only increase. Or perhaps visit other blogs once in a while and not completely stop going over to theirs is another good option. But it should be left open to everyone I feel.
I liked your 4 ways of making money – though as you already know, I really doubt I fit into any of these as yet, because I’ve not yet thought of earning money from my blog – not that much as of now. But things need to change, and change is always good too as they say!
So, here is wishing you all the very best in your new ventures. I know you already joined in with two fellow bloggers and have opened another blog, and now you mention another one – so that’s great news dear friend! I honor and respect your decision and would like to let you know that if you don’t visit my blog – there would be no hard feelings at all. I don’t think relationships and friendships are, nor should be limited to just comments and our blogs – isn’t it? 🙂
Thanks for sharing more of you and your plans with us. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Theodore Nwangene says
Hi Harleena,
To be frank with you, i don’t really know where to start from in response to this blog post (comment) 🙂 of yours. Yea, it can be really tedious sometimes when you try to comment on all the blogs whose owners commented on your blog except you don’t have any other thing to do.
Like you said, commenting should be a thing of choice whereby, if i read your post and enjoyed it, i will willingly comment and not commenting just because you commented on mine.
Like i said on the post, there are still those blogger out there that always wow me with their posts and, you happen to be one of them so, i will always visit your blog because you always has some top notch contents to share :).
I think you really have to start planning on ways to better monetize your blog because, you’ve gotten the audience already or, are you also blogging as a hobby :)? I know you’re not so, start getting rewards for your efforts now mate.
Yea, those guys are my friends and we agreed to create the blog together lets see how it goes, i hope it turns out well:).
Thanks a lot for this amazing comment of your as always Leena :), i always enjoy reading your looooooong comments :).
May your week be awesome too.
Sue Neal says
Harleena – I really wanted to thank you for your comment here, which echoes so many of my own thoughts. I’ve felt really pressured, recently, when it comes to blog commenting, and I think you’re so right to say that we shouldn’t feel under that kind of obligation to one another. We have to balance supporting each other, by visiting and commenting on other blogs, and looking after ourselves – and that will sometimes mean NOT visiting or commenting on someone else’s blog, simply because we don’t have time. Our time is precious and limited, and we have to use it wisely and well. As you say, friendships and relationships are so much more than the number of comments we leave on each other’s sites.
You always talk so much sense, Harleena – I’m so glad to have met you 🙂
Sue
Harleena Singh says
Thanks so much for your lovely feedback Sue, and am happy that I’m not alone – we sail in the same boat 🙂
I agree with you there – our time IS precious and so limited too, and there are so many thing we all need to take care of within those 24 hours. I guess if we know each other well enough, such small things shouldn’t really matter, nor come between friends – isn’t it?
I’m lucky to have met you too, and it’s always wonderful to read you anywhere as well. Take care, and have a nice weekend 🙂
Vivek Jain says
Thanks for taking your time to write this blog. This blog is awesome, no doubt at all. This kind of writing is a trademark for future bloggers. I would like to see more realistic content like this in future blogs. Hope you write soon..!! 🙂
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks and welcome to my blog Vivek,
I really appreciate your visit and, thanks for the kind words too. Yes, you will be seeing more of this for sure. Thanks 🙂
Oluwaseun Babajide says
Theodore,
Great plans. I have been reading Neil Patel’s posts lately and have learned a lot from him. He mentioned most of the things you have discussed here. Many bloggers believe in huge comments, you will be surprised that most of them haven’t made a PENNY. Unfortunately this is not my style. I am not a fan of commenting on other blogs simply because they left a comment on mine. I always leave a comment if the post makes sense or If I learned from it.
Do not forget amazon too. This is something I have been doing lately and it has been generating some decent income for me.
Good luck.
Seun
Theodore Nwangene says
You are right Seun,
Blog comments is not the main thing although, it shows that you are interacting with your readers but, that’s not where the money is.
And yes, i also know and enjoys Neil Petal’s post a lot too. Those are some of the guys that we should be learning from out there. Making that money is actually easy but, the problem lies in having an effective strategy.
Amazon is also among the niche site stuff because, i also plan to be monetizing with Amazon associates too.
Thanks a lot for pouring your candid opinion here my man.
My regards to your family.
Ashvini says
Hi Theodore,
First of all great article .
I have been experimenting with ways to make money. The adsense is always running on my site and few affiliate links are also present.
However I feel that the area the blog has been doing great is networking. It has enabled me to meet a number of people and increase my networking. Recently I was contracted by someone who knows me from a long time. I made some money out of that.
The important thing is to build relationships and trust first and then go in for making deals. It is also important not to pressurize people into buying the stuff that we are selling.
Having said that I agree with the niche keyword model though I frankly don’t write for keywords. It is a good way though to get some focused traffic.
Thanks for the awesome post. I loved it 🙂
Theodore Nwangene says
I really appreciate those kind words of your Ashvini,
Seriously, we all need to start making an effective plan if we really want to remain here for long because, if care is not taken, majority of us will soon abandon their blogs because of frustration.
No, its never good to force your readers to buy anything from you, its a decision they should make themselves and, if you’ve successfully build that trust and relationship with them then, they will always want to pay you back by buying the things you recommend.
Therefore, building those networks and relationship is also very crucial for success.
Thanks a lot for sharing your wonderful opinion with us my man. Have a great day :).
Martin says
Exactly, why not to earn from the blog? Great blog post! There is definitely no shortage of motivation when it pertains to successful bloggers yet often, a great deal of individuals that do not understand that there is equally as much chance of failing as there is prospering. The quantity of hard work needed may occasionally be astonishing and at that point, a great deal often be disappointed and never ever returned to try once more. Occasionally, you have to be prepared to make little to no money for months prior to things lastly begin to click.
Theodore Nwangene says
Hi Martin,
You’ve asked a great question, why not earn from the blog? That’s the one question many people always answers wrongly. We are all here to make money from our efforts so, what is stopping us then?
I truly appreciate this comment of yours man. Thanks a bunch for sharing your own view with us.
Shan Naqvi says
Hi Nwangene,
I’ve never ever read a post similar to this you have wrote truely- we must focus on your tricks
Keep Sharing- I am waiting for you new post 😀
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks a lot Shan,
I really appreciate your comment. Thanks for coming.
Okto says
Hi Theodore,
My plan is to make stable passive income from my blog. It looks great so far. How to achieve it? My short answer is to improve my networking around the net. This is what I have focused this year.
Theodore Nwangene says
Sounds really great Okto,
I’m sure you will achieve it if you follow on with your plans. Thanks for stopping by.
Sammie says
Nice article, i really learnt alot from it.
Check out my blog
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks Sammie,
I appreciate your comment. Please, we don’t allow links on comment except if the link is relevant to the topic of discussion, hope you understands. Thanks 🙂
Enstine Muki says
Hey bro,
You hit it on this. i totally agree with you here man. It’s not just about traffic. It’s about the visitor who has his/her credit card in the hand to spend.
While referral traffic (from friends’ sites or social media) is good to keep our sites busy and attract advertisers, it’s important to lay efforts on search engine traffic. That’s the traffic source with a higher rate of conversion.
You know I have had a couple of own products that are generating some earnings for me. I can fully say it’s one of the best ways to take.
Building niche sites and flipping them is on top of my list. Just have few things to put together. I’ll there fore like to learn from your experience as you are going ahead.
Waiting for your next post
Theodore Nwangene says
You’ve spoken well my man,
Its great to be getting those referral and social traffic in order to keep our blog busy but, where the main conversions lies is on search traffic.
Well, I’ve not created my own products yet so, i can’t vouch for sure but, i know its also a good model.
Sure thing my man, i will be sharing more of my experiences as times goes on.
Thanks for stooping over and, do enjoy your week 🙂
Babanature says
Hello Theodore,
What a splendid blog post you put out here. i can feel your heart in it 🙂
I was blogging just for the love of blog till this month that i have joined the affiliate world. I was actually drawn to the affiliate world by a friend because of the huge amount of traffic i am getting and now the affiliate is going to a positive path 🙂 .
I have never for once write or created my blog based on keywords but my blog get 5000+ visitors per day and i am making some serious money with my adsense and infolinks 😉 . Keywords do work but the main thing about blogging is what you put out there that matters.
Returning comment favors is not a bad thing, but you just got to do it as a time, like making 10 comments per day and doing other forms of traffic. remember this; it’s only those that trust you will buy your products. Thanks and do have a lovely week 🙂
Theodore Nwangene says
You’re pretty correct Baba,
Its only the people that trust you that will eventually buy from you. I’m not against commenting on other blogs and also, i’m not against those visits from our fellow bloggers but, what I’m saying is that we don’t have to rely on those visits alone if we really want to sell those affiliate stuffs, we need targeted visitors who are looking for those stuffs.
Yes, 10 comments/day is not a bad idea at all and its also doable. I’m happy to hear that you’re already making lots of $$$$$$ from your blog man now, just keep doing what you’re doing and it will certainly be flowing in more :).
Good luck my man.
Tim Bonner says
Hi Theodore
I think for me, the commenting aspect is not only about bringing traffic to my blog but also to create a broad network of like-minded bloggers who may want to partner with you at a later date.
I’ve increased the publish rate on my blog to three a week just recently and it means less comments on each post but that doesn’t bother me. I don’t visit every person’s blog that comments now, only those that interest me and I’m testing an RSS reader that’s helping with that.
The aim of increasingly the number of posts is to get more stuff indexed by the search engines and get more traffic that will convert into sales.
Once I’ve built up a decent amount of traffic then I’ll consider putting adverts back onto my site and the overall aim is to sell my own products from my blog.
Theodore Nwangene says
A very brilliant comment Tim,
Yea, its really a very thing to be commenting on other blogs with the main aim of building relationships as you stated and i like that. But, what I’m saying is that going back and commenting on the blog of all the people that commented on your posts can be a really tedious work and, i don’t know if i can continue doing that.
And yes, i will certainly be visiting my commenters blogs ones i see any interesting post and, i will also comment, not a bad idea at all.
I like the 3 posts/week stuff and, if you will really have time for it then, its a very good plan man :).
Thanks a lot for your added opinion and do have a great day 🙂
Sylviane Nuccio says
Hi Theodore,
I totally know what you mean, and I have to agree with you and Chadrack’s comment.
First off, no, comments do not equal traffic. I was shocked when I first started looking at my numbers for traffic, because it showed me that not even one percent of such traffic comments, but that’s OK with me.
Now, you’re also right that bloggers coming to your blog will be your worst customers when it comes to click on your offers. That’s true. However, on the other hand, as a freelance writer I’ve got some other bloggers hiring me for writing jobs, because they not only know I can do the job, but they know and trust me.
Now, I try to go visit bloggers who visited me, because it’s a give and take, but if someone stops going to my blog just because I didn’t make it to theirs, then so be it.
I’d also like to make more money with my blog themselves, but at the same time I don’t like ads around much. It’s a bit of a challenge to me.
Theodore Nwangene says
Hi Sylvianne,
I really understood what you’re saying. However, I’m never against the visits from our fellow bloggers because, that can also land you some freelance jobs like in your own case but, what I’m saying is that we should not just hope and focus on that type of traffic as the real traffic that will make us the money.
We need to also be trying our very best to get those target visitors of ours if we really wanna sell those affiliate products.
Yes, having affiliate banners is good but, it can also become very bad and distracting when you have too much of it like most guys does.
I really appreciate your candid opinion Sylvianne. Thanks for coming and, more strength to your elbows 🙂
Sue says
Hi Theodore, thanks for sharing.. I agree with this.. #1.Building Keyword Focused Niche Sites.. I used to earn from my blog way before blogging has become a fad. But nowadays, advertisers have become very particular and often prefer niche related blogs. I still have my personal blog where I post everything that I want to share. But I also started maintaining niche related blogs that perhaps I can make money from in the future. 🙂
Theodore Nwangene says
You will definitely make money from them Sue,
I really appreciate your visiting my blog and also sharing your honest view. Thanks a lot for the visit and, hope you will come again :).
Carlie Hamilton says
Hi!
I want to add one more possible income stream – offering services, such as coaching.
Anyway, if you want to make money from your blog (general “you”), then you need to really treat your blog as a business. Register it as a business, or what ever the procedure is where you are from. Once it is registered, create a business plan, and create a marketing plan. Plans aren’t set in stone, but they show you where potential holes are, and gives you a guide so you know what you are doing to make money.
I have earnt money from advertising and affiliate marketing (not SproutSpire, but I have just set it up for affiliate marketing). My plan for SproutSpire is to sell my own products. I am actively working on my first product which I am hoping to have finished by the end of the month (although, it probably wont, that is just my deadline for now).
So, if you want to make money, open you business, have a plan, and action that plan! 🙂
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks a lot Carlie,
I really appreciate your contribution and advice as well and, I’m definitely going to work seriously on that. Thanks a lot for sharing your honest opinion with me :).
BTW: I will like to read your book when its done 🙂
FERNANDO says
The value of this post is priceless. More and more people should read this posts and you need to get this shared with people to see the potential of starting a blog that matters.
the names you shared are all good examples and couple of them I didn’t even know. So thanks a for this all the hard work writing and sharing with others. Blogging is a community which goes up together.
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks a bunch Fernando :),
I’m very glad to hear that you enjoyed the post. Thanks for the kind words my man 🙂
Shameem says
Hey Bro,
I to have the mindset of earning money online but its not happen in the beginning itself which needs lot of efforts,smartwork and finally patience.I have done many research and read many ebooks from top bloggers use to surf here an there for more information but finally got some good route and earning some money through online.i enjoyed the way you have communicate the stuff for others and i too part of pat niche dual site 2 hope to learn some new things too
Theodore Nwangene says
I really appreciate your visit Shameem,
And, its also good to hear that you’ve started making money from your blog of which many people are still finding difficult. Wishing you more $$$$ man :).
And yes, I’m sure you will learn a lot for the Niche Site Duel.
Thanks for coming 🙂
Pawan says
Hi,
Making money out of blog needs lot of efforts and patience. Same goes with various other methods such as affiliate marketing and appropriate business model. However, lately I’ve observed many bloggers offering services which are relevant to their niches. For example, a blogger discussing WordPress tips can surely start service of providing on the go solutions to bugs or helping out with setting up WordPress blogs etc.
In my case, I’ve just started earning from my blog. The main source of income from my blog is affiliate marketing and advertisements.
Your views and experience about making money from blog would certainly help me in discovering more opportunities. Thanks.
Theodore Nwangene says
Hi Pawan,
You’ve really spoken well and i agree with you. Before you can make any money online, you really need to put down a lot of efforts and also apply some patience just as you outlined and that’s true.
I’m happy to hear that you’re already making money from your blog now, all you need to do is to repeat whatever you’re doing to get that money in order to start getting more and more.
Thanks a lot for sharing your awesome opinion here.
Jan Koch says
Hi Theodore,
I’ve got a question to you.
When you mean, that you want to increase the search engine traffic, to sell your own products, how will you do that?
Are you going to create more targeted and keyword optimized posts (and risk to loose your own voice) or will you continue with creating engaging content like this and hope that people help you spread the world?
Also when you start to create products, you’ll need to make sure, that you are still providing value to your audience and don’t just sell them stuff in your posts.
I’m experiencing with an eBook I wrote. I know, that it’s really helpful, since a lot of people told me their opinions. But I’m not selling quite well, since I’m quite new to internet business and people feel like I’m only trying to sell them products instead of providing real help and values.
I’d like to hear what you think on this point 🙂
Best regards,
Jan
Theodore Nwangene says
Welcome to my blog Jan,
Of cause, its my audience first before the search engines. I can’t trade anything with my readers man and i have to continue providing them with lots of valuable contents as always. What i meant is this.
When i talked about creating keyword optimized sites, I’m talking of the niche sites I’m about to start creating. When it comes to building niche sites, its main traffic strength is via the search engines and its all about carrying an effective keyword research in order to find the keywords you will be targeting based on the niche you’re interested on.
Lets assume you want to monetize your niche site with Amazon products as an affiliate and, the products you’re looking at is Walking Stick, all you meed to do is to find out the search terms people are using to search for that product on the search engine and once you’ve done that, you will need to start writing articles that will be targeting those keywords so that whenever someone perform a search on Google using those keywords you choosed, your site will show up and he will probably buy from you.
In as much as you want to be getting Search Traffic, you must make sure the keywords you’re optimizing for rhymes with what you’re writing and, don’t just be using the keywords carelessly else, you will be pissing your readers off.
Hope i answered your question Jan :).
If you have anymore questions regarding this, don’t hesitate to ask me please :).
Thanks for stopping. And don’t worry, i will be talking more about this on my future posts so, be sure to always visit us or better still, subscribe to my feed for updates.
Thanks.
Jan Koch says
Hi Theodore,
thank you for your detailed answer!
I’ll definitely subscribe to your updates.
I’m also about to start creating niche sites, yesterday I started my Micro Niche Site Challenge at mygreatonlinebusiness.com.
I want to know, if earning money with those is really as easy as everybody says. Also I’ve created a forum, where people can join the challenge and follow along. I think getting people to discuss on niche sites will bring a lot of value into the challenge.
I’ll definitely come back to your blog and follow your articles 🙂
Best regards,
Jan
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks Jan,
I’m happy you’ve also started your own challenge as well. Lets see where we get with it.
Thanks for your contribution.
wilfred imbukwa says
Thanks a lot for this valuable article. Majority of bloggers comment on other people blogs so that in turn, their blogs get commented on. This they believe is to bring traffic to their blog. Thanks a lot for proving to the bloggers that the system does not work.
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks and welcome to my blog Wilfred,
I think the main thing is to know what you want so, if getting comments from the people you commented on their blogs is what you want then, it might not be a waste of time. It really helps sometimes but, that should not be our main priority.
Thanks once again and please, do visit us again.
Chadrack says
Hi Theo,
Having read the post and some of the comments, I would have just loved to go away feeling really proud of you, FRANKLY! 🙂 But then I know the only way I can make you know that I see great things happening to you is say it in my comment. Yes, I can see this coming out from the depths of your heart. And for the fact that you also have a plan on what to do, gives more credence to my convictions. And so, I’m not going to make some long comment here but only to say, if you are here because you want to build a business, then do it with all your heart; if you just want to while away the time playing around the blogosphere then focus on that. You have made your choice, push on to achieve it!
Theodore Nwangene says
I should be thanking you Chadrack,
You’re the one that gave me the insight to write this post in the first place so, I’m grateful. Thanks for the visit.
Adrienne says
Hey Theodore,
I’m often asked how much money I make with my blog which we all know can’t really be answered because it’s always going to vary. But we all use our blogs for different reasons but you definitely have to have an end goal in mind.
As I had mention in my comment on your post about the comments to me that’s social proof and if that’s what you need then it’s important for that particular blog. If not then no problem. A lot of people start blogging though with no purpose. You always have to ask yourself what do I want my end result to be and if it’s promoting products then you have to be sure that’s what you’re doing. If people just want a comment and nothing else then that’s okay too.
I’m glad you’re taking Pat’s course and anything created by him I’m sure is great. I’ve followed Steve Scott as you know and he really shares some awesome stuff as well on how to become an authority affiliate marketer. I oftentimes recommend to people not to spread themselves in too many different directions. You need to stay focused on one area and make a profit from that first.
Good luck to you and I’m so excited for you. I can’t wait until you share with us how it’s going. I’ll be sure to learn from you because I have no doubt that I still have room to grow in this area as well.
Thanks Theodore!
~Adrienne
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks a lot Adrienne,
I agree with all you said, the first thing is to identify what you want and then, work towards achieving it. If you don’t know what you want, you will only be doing everything without getting any result and that’s why some people are called Jack of trades and master of none.
Yea, Pat is a go to man when it comes to Affiliate marketing and blogging in general and like him so well because, I’ve already learnt and is still learning a lot from him.
Thanks a lot for all your wonderful words Adrienne, i really appreciate it.
Have a great weekend :).
Siddhartha Sinha says
Hello Theodore,
As you already said the mention and foremost issue why the people are not able to generate traffic from the blog is primarly the Traffic and if the traffic comes it mightn’t be relevant. And I should thank to you for guiding lots of bloggers so that they could earn properly.
Regards
Siddhartha Sinha
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks for the kind words dear,
I’m very glad to hear that you enjoyed the post. Thanks for the visit and please, do visit us again.
Doc truyen ma, truyen ma hay nhat says
Thanks for another informative web site. The place else could I am getting that kind of info written in such an ideal manner? I have a venture that I’m just now operating on, and I’ve been at the look out for such information.
Sue Neal says
Well, well, Theodore – have you been reading my mind, or what?
As you probably know I’m not yet making any effort to monetize my blog, and I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching about how exactly I want to go about that. I completely understand what both you and Chadrack are saying about the blog commenting merry-go-round – I’ve recently started to feel it’s more like a treadmill and I’ve actually just hopped off for a bit of a breather. I was killing myself to get a high quality post out each week, and then spending literally hours responding to comments and making reciprocal visits to comment on other sites. At one point my site was flooded with genuine but poor quality comments from bloggers obviously just after a quick commentluv link – I felt duty-bound to respond to them, as per my personal policy, but felt ‘used’. Although I was building strong relationships with other bloggers, I became increasingly concerned that this time-consuming, frenetic activity was just draining me and absorbing all my time and energy – and for what?
I’ve explored all the money-making options you mention and I’ve concluded that I don’t want to make money from ‘blogging’, as such – partly because it’s just too labour intensive. For example, I don’t want to get on the guest-blogging bandwagon. I’m currently exploring the option of writing Kindle eBooks as a long-term money-making strategy – I enjoy writing, but I don’t want to spend all my time writing blog posts.
I intend to keep my blog going, but don’t think it will ever be a major source of income for me.
Thanks very much for such an honest, thought-provoking post, Theodore,
Sue
Theodore Nwangene says
Hi Sue,
To be honest with you, i don’t really know where to start from because, you’ve already said it all. I’m happy to see that most of us are really thinking the same way.
Man, that commenting stuff is really time consuming. I can’t just continue going from one commenters link to the another just to return the comments they left on my blog, its enough Sue.
Commenting is supposed to be a thing of will, if you like what i wrote and feel like commenting then, good and vice-versa. So, I’m glad I’m not the only one here.
Yea, Kindle publishing is very good also and it happened to be one of my 2013 goal, I hope i will still have one out there before the years runs out. I’m sure you can do it very well Sue because, you’re a good writer.
Thanks a lot for your wonderful opinion and, good luck on your decisions.
thugianviet says
Hi, i believe that i saw you visited my weblog thus i got here to return the desire?.I am trying to in finding things to enhance my website!I suppose its good enough to use a few of your ideas!!
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks
Manish says
Hi Theodore ,
I completely agree with that comment and also what you said why people dont make money out of their blog. The best way to make money is to get target traffic from search engine.
Second thing is the site should be niche oriented so in this way you can strongly earn with ads as well as affilates.
Cheers!
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks Manish,
I’m happy you agree with me. Those other traffic sources are really important too but, we still need search traffic if we must make sales. Thanks a lot for the visit Manish.
Please do visit again.
Esther Paul says
Hi Theodore,
I have been into blogging for couple of years now. I started my blog and just wrote about anything and everything but at some point i realised that what I am doing is not gonna work in a long run. Then I reviewed few blogs and then changed my blog to a Tech Blog. It is going really well but I would say its always good to have a niche specific blog. I am starting with a new one pretty soon and thats what am gonna focus on.
Esther
Theodore Nwangene says
I’m glad you were able to learn the best way to do it Esther,
We’re always on the learning process so, we learn as we move on. Having a focused niche blog is indeed very better than having a generic one and, I’m happy you also know that.
This is wishing you more success on your blogging journey mate. Don’t forget to always reach out to me for anything :).
A Thomas says
Such great words are to be remembered.
Pawan Kumar says
Hii Theodore, this is the second guide I’m reading today of your blog. I must say you’ve written each guide with full intention to help us (readers).
The point of getting targeted traffic is really good and I’ve noted it down. Now I’ll work hard to convert the traffic on one of my popular blog into money.
Thanks for sharing these impressive tips. 😀
Theodore Nwangene says
You’re welcomed Pawan,
I’m happy you found my post helpful, do let me know how the conversion goes.
Thanks for coming
Ashley Jones says
Well, how could I not respond to your post now that you have taught me how to do it. Finally. Thank you. I have wanted to comment before, and couldn’t figure out how to do it.
Now I am able to thank you for a much earlier post on using song lyrics and titles. I went back into my mystery novel, In the Shadow of Lies, and finessed the sections that referred to lyrics. Whether they were used correctly or not, my experience as an attorney has taught me that the costs of a lawsuit, financially and emotionally, mean that no one truly wins, even the person who prevails
Tim Martine says
A few days ago I just moved my blogspot blog on WordPress on Blue host hosting. Its nice to see that I have done all the steps right like this post. And the foot notes are very helpful for a newbie blogger.