For Those With Their Own Sites

[kristine4545454]

Originally Posted by al_mama

No, it was actually pretty snarky. Especially from a brand new poster.

It was rude.

No Job For Mom is a blog I read sometimes. I second the Passive Income suggestion. It's great.

Much of what I learned was from trial and error. You really have two routes. You can build a site that's entertaining and build up following through social media. One of my sites gets well over 12,000 page views PER DAY and it's all social traffic. It isn't easy. It takes time. You have to have a killer topic.

Another way is to build sites for the search engines. Learn about keywords and changes post Panda (a change in the Google algorithm).

Either way, your content has to be great these days.

Good luck!

[element94]

There are tons of ways to make money with website : It can be a blog, it can be a reviews site , it can be an ecommerce site or even a combination of them all. You need to use the social element ( Share and like buttons , linkedin,facebook, etc ) to drive traffic and also build your backlinks.Take in consideration JVs with others who have traffic and can send some to you.

[karmicwindows]

I'm a big believer in trial and error. Years ago I use to set up websites for others but then I was out of it for several years. I got back into websites this past year for myself and it's a whole new ball game. I read just about everything I come across regarding marketing and establishment. I practice a lot too. I maintain a low key website that I use to experiment on; this site is not about traffic but new techniques, software, and tweaks. I find it very helpful in fine tuning an idea before making it part of one of my money sites (6 of them).

As much as I dislike the hours involved in social sites I do it because that's where most of the marketing is. It is a lot of work. I put in a lot of hours so that down the road I'll have a nice passive income to rely on. I do this on top of my everyday client commitments.

My way may not be the greatest but it works for me. I learn better through experimentation than simply reading. We can all point you in a direction but ultimately you will have to find what fits your learning curve best.

Wishing you the best in your venture.

[Jflats]

It is possible to make money from a blog or website, but you have to be willing to put in the work. Before you even think of monetizing you need to come up with a clear plan. That plan should focus on what you are selling to your audience. Do you have a product? If not, do you plan on selling someone else's product? Do you have a service to offer? Do you just want to focus on providing useful information on a particular topic. You need to answer those questions to develop your niche. Once you do that your sole focus is to create content. And it's going to take a lot of content. Being active is a way to capture new visitors and keep them coming back. To do this initially you will probably have to add at least 2 or 3 articles to your website or blog each week. These articles need to be informative and provide some type of value. Your article's also need to be optimized with low competition keywords that focus on your niche and the products or services you plan to promote. You can find low competition keywords using the Google Keyword Tool. Generating traffic is tough, but it's not impossible. Too many people focus on search engine traffic. It's great traffic to get, but it takes time to rank and you don't want to start making money because you rank high on a search engine and then lose that ranking if the search algorithm changes. You can generate traffic by posting on forums like WAHM and using your signature to promote your website. You can gain traffic though article marketing. That's basically creating articles about your niche and posting them on sites like EzineArticles, Hubpages and Squidoo. There are many more, but those 3 rank highly on search engines. You can use offline methods like word of mouth, fliers and business cards. You can use lists that you build by offering something for free to people in hopes they will opt in to your emails. Your goal is to get traffic from multiple sources so all your eggs are not in one basket. While you are working on content you can add your website to free article directories to start building one way backlinks which are beneficial to build up your websites ranking. Focus on submitting to high pr directories like dmoz.org or abc-directory.com. Once you start getting traffic and you are ready to monetize your site you can start with contextual ads like Adsense or Chitika, but ultimately you want to move to affiliate programs or direct advertising because you will make more money. Also if you are selling a product you don't want them to click an ad and leave your site. You want them on your site so you can pitch your product or service to them. You will learn that most contextual ads are just promoting a product anyway so it makes more sense to promote that product yourself and make 50% on the sale instead of .05 to .10 on an ad click. Good luck.

[al_mama]

Originally Posted by CJWrite

Heh...Snarky...

You know a thing or two about that, don't cha, homie?

[CJWrite]

Originally Posted by al_mama

You know a thing or two about that, don't cha, homie?

Me?? Noooooo... It's not like I'm the Queen of Snark who reigns over her Snarkdom...all the time.

[angienewton]

Originally Posted by mlacombe

Did you use any tools/books/sites to learn how to set them up to generate a profit? If so, which ones?

It is possible to make a decent monthly income from having your own sites/blogs?

It IS absolutely possible to make a real good income from your own sites/blogs.

The top place for help I have found is the elite group over at the Internet marketing forum, Clicknewz. I have been a member there since the beginning and attribute it to my online success. The main forum over there is pretty specific to Internet and affiliate marketing though so that's another reason why I like it.

I'm also a member of a few other mastermind groups (Solo Masterminds, Affiliate Blogger Pro, etc.) and I personally found just digging in and taking action has helped me the most.