Making money online

Blogging for a living part II

In order to make a living online with blogging.  The first thing to do would be to pick a niche.  A topic that you can get into.  Perhaps a subject or a hobby that you’re interested in.   Don’t worry about how you will make a living off the topic for now, just pick something that you are interested in and can imagine yourself talking and writing about on a very regular basis.

A good example is this:

My 12 year old son, Josh (he’s 15 now), is really into biology.  He loves bugs, snakes, frogs, and generally anything that crawls.  He asked me to teach him how to make a website.  I suggested a blog and helped him to start a simple blog on rhino beetles.  It was no coincidence that he had found a rhino beetle early that day and had taken a few pictures of it.

So, we started with something that’s simple, free, and very powerful (Google loves it).  We made a Squidoo page about Rhino Beetles. Actually, I gave him a few instructions and researched the subject and made a pretty good lens (Squidoo talk for a page).

Now, if you search “rhino beetles” in Google, his lens comes up 3rd in Google (out of millions) and is visited quite frequently by people from around the world.

Of course later, we developed an actual blog and tied the Squidoo page to it, and even ignoring it for the most part (not recommended), it’s doing quite well.  He makes money on a consistent basis.

The point is.  Pick a topic that you like.  I disagree with the gurus that insist that you “backward engineer” a subject that can make money, then create a blog around it.  Trust me, you’ll loose interest and it will quickly become a burden to you.  Your readers will probably realize your hearts not into it.

The best way to make a living online is blog consistently and passionately about the things you love.  The topic should be focused and fairly narrow, but should be something you really love.

If the blog is interesting, informative, and keeps the readers attention, they will tend to come back.  Additionally, the search engines will notice that your writing is consistent, unique, and has value to the Internet community.

As you gain readership and popularity with the search engines, you will begin to realize the potential that blogging has for making a living online.