How to make money from blogging by dave brannon

I hope you find it useful to seethe mix and variety of ways that I earn a living fromblogging.
1. AdSense
Despite not using it here at ProBlogger any more (here’s why) I continueto use AdSense with amazing effecton my other blogs. I have them all setto show image and textbased ads and find that 250×300 pixel ads work best(usually with a blended design). I don’t have much luck with their ‘referrals’ program but their normal ads work a treatand continue to bethe biggestearner for me.
2. Affiliate Programs
I run a variety of affiliate programs on my blogs – most of which bring in smaller amounts of moneythat don’t really justify a categoryof theirown (but which certainly add up).
Theseinclude recommending quality products like thesehere on ProBlogger:
Thesis WordPress theme , Yaro’s Blog MastermindCoaching Program and How toLaunch the F*** out of your E-Book (and others) as well as some great products on my photography blog including 123 of Digital Imaging, David DuChemin’s amazing Photography E-Booksand Mitchell Kanashkevich’s great ebooks.
The greatthing about many of these programs is that they are of such high quality that theysell themselvesand I am being emailed fromreaders who sign up tothem thanking me for the recommendation!
3. E-Book Sales
Last time I did a wrap up of how I make money blogging this category did not existfor me– I didn’t really have any of myown products to sell at all. However in the last year or soI’ve released3 E-books – 31 Days to Build a BetterBlog,
The Essential Guide to Portrait Photography and Photo Nuts and Bolts: Know Your Camera and Take Better Photos . While theseproducts all only sell for under$20 theycertainly add up and some months this has been my biggestcategory of income.The reason theywere only ranking at #3 in the last monthwas that I didn’t do a product launch (I wroteabout one launch which broughtin $72,000 in a weekhere). This is an incomestream I see growing as I add moreE-books to my range (expect 3 in the coming few months).
4. ContinuityPrograms
This is another newer category for me but one that continues to grow.
A continuity program is a sitewhere you earn a recurring incomefrom peoplewho subscribeto a service you offer.
For me this includes two sites –
ProBlogger.com and Third Tribe Marketing . Both programs are membershipsites and generate monthly incomefrom thethousands of members that they have as a part of them.
5. Private Ad Sales/Sponsorships
Private ad sales directly to advertisers have fallen for mein the last year (they previously ranked #3 on this list). This is partly due toa changein my own focus but also partly due to the economyas it is. I should note that this area does vary a little frommonth to month depending upon the campaigns we’re asked to run – we’ve had a coupleof monthswhere it actually ranked #2 in the last year.
This includes ad sales of the 125 x125 ads here at ProBlogger as well as a campaign or two at Digital Photography School.
6. Chitika
Chitka continues to be a great performer for me on my blogs. They traditionally have worked beston product related blogs although theirPremium ad units now convertwell on a larger range of blogs.
While I’ve focuseda little less on Chitika in the last 6 months (mainly as I’ve releasedmy own products and moveda little away from advertising) they do continueto performwell where I use them and over thetime I’ve been using Chitika they’ve now earnedme over a quarter of a million dollars – as a result I can’t recommendthem enough!
7. Amazon Associates
Amazon’s affiliate program has been one ofmy big movers in the last 12 months. I used to make a few odd dollars from it – howeverin recent times it has becomea significant earner for me (in fact it’s now earned me over $100,000 since I startedusing it). Christmastime (and the lead up to it) is a particularly good time for Amazon – last Decemberit would have ranked #2 on this list.
8. ProBlogger JobBoards
The job boards here at ProBlogger continue to grow each month in thenumber of advertisementsthat are being bought. This enabled me to invest most of the moneythat they’d earneda while back into getting a new back end for the boards and to redesign them. Thesejob boards now bring in over $1000 a monthin revenuewhich is prettynice considering that they are so low maintenanceto run. They also offer a service toreaders and add value to the overall blog.
The only problem that I face with the job boards is that there are so many bloggers looking for work that the demand for jobs far exceedsthe supply. On the good side of thingsis that advertisers are reporting gettingamazing quality of applications.
9. SpeakingFees
I get asked to do a lot of speaking and increasingly they are paid opportunities. I’m not able to do as many as I would like (mainly because I live in Australia and most of what I’m asked to do is overseasand I only travel 2-3 times a year) – howeverin April I did a couple ofeventsand theincome was enoughto include in this list.
Other Income
In addition to all ofthe above there are many smaller incomes.Many of these are fromsmaller advertising programs that I testbut none are big enough to really rate a mention here.
The otherincomestream that there was no actual moneyfrom in April was book royalties from the ProBlogger Book. Theseare only paid every 6 or so months(not in April). It’s probably also worth mentioning that authors don’t tend tomake a whole lot ofmoney on book royalties – you don’t write books to get rich (unless you sell a lot of them).