Have you ever wondered how to make money blogging? Yes, it is possible, but it takes time and passion.
A "blog" (short from "web log") is a kind if online diary. You can keep a journal in order to record your thoughts and feelings, or to keep your relatives updated about your life and your kids, when you live far away, or to talk about a subject that you're passionate about, or your hobby. Do you see where we're going? The last two reasons for blogging also offer you the possibility to monetize your content.
But, first of all, you must have a lot of content and a lot of traffic. Don't expect money to "appear" before 6 months. And don't expect to get rich quickly! You should try to blog every day in order to attract a large audience. Consistency is the key. If people see that you update frequently your blog, and if they like what they read, they'll come back often and some of them will start to interact with you.
In order to get traffic, you should begin to follow other blogs and leave well-thought and useful comments (not just "Nice post, loved it!"). This way, you'll become part of a network of blogs and you'll get more traffic. When you create a name in your circle of like-minded people, you could also publish guest posts on other people's blogs. This way, you'll have backlinks to your blog, which means more traffic.
Now, that you have visitors and traffic, let's finally see how to make money blogging!
When you start blogging, it's important to choose a topic you're passionate about or you're knowledgeable about. You could write about books, movies, TV series, sports, recipes, knitting, celebrities, gardening, diets etc. When you create a lot of quality content, you could start adding advertising on your blog (such as Adsense or Chitika). You could also sell advertising for products related to your topic or you could join an affiliate marketing network and add affiliate links to their products (Amazon and Clickbank are some of the giants, but there are lots of affiliate programs you can join).
The methods mentioned above rely on other people's products. But why shouldn't you sell your own products or services? Of course it's easier when you sell digital products, such as e-books, software, photos, graphics. But you could also sell your handmade products. You could even show your audience how to make a certain item - and all the process will become content for your blog. Some of them might want to do it themselves, but others will want to buy it from you!
And this brings us to teaching others how to do various things or how to attain goals: you could use the content of your blog to offer training, consulting or coaching or other types of services: freelancing, speaking, design. Make sure to establish yourself as an expert and use your blog as a tool to promote your services.
I have also created a Pinboard with infographics about ways to make money blogging - click here to visit it!