1. You Don’t Have a Reliable Traffic Funnel
Email is a great tool for setting up a traffic funnel.
Not only can you use a list to notify your subscribers of new content (I use AWeber’s Blog Broadcast feature for that), but you can also setup traffic funnels to other products, affiliate links, etc.
You may have already noticed that I have an email opt-in form here on this blog.
Here are ways this email list creates income & traffic for me…
- When people sign up, AWeber let’s me use a custom thank you page. This page has a coupon to my affiliate marketing course.
- There’s also an autoresponder message that is sent where I often include coupons, affiliate links, etc.
- Since my email list is setup to auto notify subscribers of new posts, I can continually drive traffic back to my new content here without relying on Google
This post I wrote on Visual Composer instantly generated affiliate sales the day the post launched because of my traffic funnel that was all setup with my email list.
If you aren’t collecting email addresses, it’s a big mistake.
With all the changes to SEO, social media (algorithm filters that limit your post visibility, etc.), you need reliable traffic sources.
Ways to Use Your Email List
- Use the broadcast feature to auto notify of new posts
- Send occasional promotional emails (affiliate links, products, etc.)
- Inform your subscribers of big news and updates
- Stay in touch with your biggest fans
Sign up with AWeber here. All you do is copy and paste to insert a sign-up form into your site.
NOTE: I am an affiliate for AWeber. That means I earn a commission if you sign up.
2. Not Enough Targeted Traffic
Not all traffic is created equal.
So while you might think announcing your site to your Facebook friends will instantly catapult your business to the next level…
Think again.
Targeted traffic means people are genuinely interested in the topic and are actively seeking info.
Your Facebook friends will give you a few courtesy visits at best.
And unfortunately, courtesy visits don’t earn a lot of money, but targeted traffic — the kind you get from Google certainly can.
There’s one problem though…
If you’ve started a website in the last few years, you have probably realized by now (if not, you will soon) that you won’t be able to rely on Google traffic if you want to make serious money.
What’s interesting is SEO (search engine optimization) works the complete opposite of how it used to work.
Back in the day, you had more control over what keywords you ranked for by…
- using those phrases on your pages
- registering a domain with the targeted keywords
- creating backlinks to your site manually
Today, Google makes you PROVE your site is worthy of a ranking for those desired keywords by generating external signals such as organic links back to your site and social media shares.
What Does That Mean?
Let’s say you have a blog targeted to people who want to learn how to play tennis.
Under the old “system”, you would register a domain name like “HowToPlayTennis.com” and put out as much keyword-focused content on playing tennis that you could.
It really was more about quantity over quality.
As a result of that, your site would eventually rank for various tennis-related keywords and you’d drive free, targeted search traffic to your site day after day after day.
Today, you have to use other methods of getting exposure such as YouTube and social media. Establish a presence on these platforms first, and then use them to direct traffic to your site.
As a result of your unique and awesome content, different site owners will share your content on social media or even link to your content.
Stand out. Be unique! Approach your niche with a fresh perspective that no one else is using.
Best way to stand out is to study what everyone is doing, and do something different.
— Luke Guy (@imlukeguy) March 17, 2016
Now, you have to EARN your rank. Yes, that makes it more challenging, but it’s one way Google can gauge how authentically popular a website is.
I say “authentic popularity” because under the old system, people would create artificial popularity by generating links to their sites through blog comments and other linking schemes (link exchanges, blog farms, etc.)
Many times websites would rank on top only because the owner knew how to play the Google game. Today, websites on tops typically have a lot of links and social media shares.
That’s why you see so many well-known brands up top when you search. They naturally have more links across the web.
So if a relevant, popular blog links to your website, Google views it as an “authentic vote” because a high-profile website is not just going to dole out links to other sites for no reason.
Content still matters, but external shares and linking matter more. And the more popular the site is, the more power that link/share has in terms of impacting where you could rank.
These links and shares are signals that Google looks for to gauge the authentic popularity of a website.
For example, if I contact a blogger and ask for a link exchange, Google may ignore the “link juice” each blog is bringing to the other — especially if the blogs do not have a lot of popularity themselves.
This tactic was often used to artificially inflate the popularity of a website, and it helped with rankings for a long time.
Not anymore!
Why Did Google Do This?
Two main reasons…
- Google realizes they can make more money by making it difficult to rank so people will buy ads (AdWords is how Google makes most of its money.)
- It also prevents low quality sites from being able to “game” the system by just putting out a bunch of low-quality, keyword-rich content.
Before 2013, the search results were flooded with low-quality sites because rankings depended more on on-page factors that site owners could control.
What Are Other Ways to Drive Targeted Traffic?
- Start a YouTube channel
- Begin broadcasting live on Periscope weekly
- Create a podcast
- Use social media
Start out by keeping your content centered around a specific topic/niche so you attract a more targeted following.
The next one is huge…
Always make sure you drive people back to your own site where you can collect their email addresses!!
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Periscope, you name it — they may be hot today but gone tomorrow. At least when you collect email addresses, you can always reach out to your biggest fans and not rely on traffic sources that can be temporary.
This blog gets 85% of its traffic from social media and my email list (most from my list). It doesn’t rank for many worthwhile keywords on Google. So if social media and Google died today, I’d still have an audience because of my list.
This is what you should strive for.
Sign up for my email list here!
3. You Have No Trust
One of the best ways to earn trust with a website is to appear authentic.
Do this is by showing proof.
In other words, if you want to sell a book about “how to build traffic”, show exactly how you are building traffic and display your numbers.
If you have a website about how to get more YouTube subscribers, you should have a channel with a growing number of subscribers as proof that you are walking the walk.
This tip may sound like a no-brainer to you, but you would be surprised at how many people have sites about “how to start an online business” when they aren’t earning a dime!
Then they wonder why no one is signing up for their “Get Rich Program” they are marketing.
Just because you WANT to make money online doesn’t mean you should be blogging about that…
Yet!
Most people who are successful in the “make money online” or “online business” space are successful because they made money FIRST and then teach on their experience.
4. You Won’t Invest In Your Site’s Future
I’m going to go there.
If you won’t invest $5-$10/month in your website (yes, that’s all they cost today on average), then I seriously question how serious this venture is for you.
Compare the cost of starting a website with the cost of starting a brick and mortar business.
The cost difference is so extreme, it’s almost laughable.
You will never, ever find a more affordable way to start a business than online, and there are ALWAYS limitations with free hosts. Not to mention, you don’t even own your site.
In March 2016, Weebly announced that you have to upgrade in order to get any search engine visibility for your site.
So does that mean anyone who is on the free plan will have their site de-indexed and lose any traffic they earned? Their website is not clear on this, but that is something that would never happen if you buy hosting for your site.
Not to mention, I can’t tell you the last time I Googled something and saw a website hosted on a free platform ranking for any worthwhile keywords.
Let me take that one step further…
Have you ever read a success story and the owner had a Blogger or Weebly website?
That’s not a coincidence!
It’s not that search engines don’t rank sites hosted on a free platform. It’s just that the owners usually abandon them quickly and/or they never generate enough authority (links) to rank for anything worthwhile.
Often times the site owner and the rest of the web don’t take free-hosted sites seriously.
It’s easier to abandon something you haven’t invested money into. I believe people work harder at projects when there is a financial investment.
That means always buy a domain name and use paid hosting. Your site needs a home that you own. Here’s a tutorial here.
What About Starting Free and Moving to Paid Later?
I’m still not a fan. Moving a site can be a royal pain. I’ve been there when I moved this site from Blogger to WordPress back in 2007. Ugh!
Not to mention, the links on your site may change with the upgrade, so that means you’d have to setup redirects to the new content.
And not all free hosting platforms allow you to do this.
If you need to wait and save money, then do that instead.
It’s better than starting with free and going through the hassle of moving your site later.
Paula Mooney says
I made over $50k in 2010 from writing online from examiner, adsense, amazon, cj and more. see my link
John @ Ezine Traffic Formula says
I agree with Jimmy about building a relationship and a list. Having a list is key to building that relationship with your readers.
Once you have a releationship built and the trust is there then you can start to earn money from your list.
Benson Rivera says
I’m writing some article for my boss, he just pays me on weekly basis. That’s how I earn money. By the way, nice video.
Rachael Macgregor says
For me it’s list building and then network marketing and affiliate marketing. I always look for the most leverage in my business. This way I have a whole team making themselves and me money. I don’t get a huge amount of traffic to my site, yet I make more than a full time income (for two working adults) for my family because I focused on building a relationship with my list, NOT just my daily traffic amount.
ravi says
i think it takes time to make earning from a new blog.Hard work is a key to get good earning from your blog
jubilee debt says
very inspiring, thanju. List building is something i need to put a lot more attention too, this feels like the way foreward for me in 2012
Dr Vikram Singh Yadav says
Through this video I want to tell you how you can get exponential growth in your earnings every month. This video has been made by me in reply to the article written by Lisa Irby here You can watch this video below http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZqrolwHjE
Samantha L says
Its hard to earn money but its a matter of content. When you have content that is of quality then you can notch your customer audience.
Rochelle says
This is of course assuming that you are getting decent traffic to your website. Once you have that, make changes every few days or so and watch the changes come in.
hampton bay says
Its not that easy to make money from any site. But my favourite way is using adsense on my blog sites. I wait till i get a reasonable amount of traffci to the site before putting up the adsense code. I can make between $5 and $10 a day per site doing this. Not much but it all adds up.
Pete Goumas says
Wow a lot of good feedback on here! Please everyone, do tell! 🙂
Thanks for posting Lisa
Anthony says
Hey Lisa, nice to stumble upon your blog. I remember your YouTube Channel being one of the first I stumbled upon when I was just learning about blogging and making money online!
Anyway, one thing I’ve done that helps is to keep making changes. This is of course assuming that you are getting decent traffic to your website. Once you have that, make changes every few days or so and watch the changes come in.
With all the tracking tools and software out there, this is very easy to do!
BeatingTheIndex says
If you love what you’re writing about, the money will come as you build your traffic. It’s your passion that will payout in the end so don’t focus on monetizing right off the bat, take your time in building your site.
Bill says
For now, I just use Google Adsense and a few affiliate products to earn money from my blogs. I don’t make a lot of money yet, but I hope that in a few months I will, since my income is increasing every month by 20-30%.
Jim Calaman says
Hi,
My blog has adsense and amazon. I’ve made some decent money with adsense but nothing with Amazon. I may try some clickbank products in the future or maybe CPA.
Thanks,
Jim
Adeline@Life and Leisure says
I’m pretty still trying to get the hang of monetizing my blog. As of now, it’s helped me earn money by serving as a sort-of portfolio to get offers to do some writing jobs with some companies.
The Short Guy says
For starters, it is not easy making money from your blog without hard effort. I learnt it this month and I believe that it had served a great lesson.
Fawn says
I’ve not yet monetized my blog. I have good traffic and ranking but still don’t think it’s the right time. But I’m looking at all your wonderful advice so I know the best way to do it, if I decide to monetize it. Thanks!
skumar says
google adsense is very excellent opportunity for make money from our blog or our website. For making money our blog must have quality content and also blog must have good traffic. after that you should try for the adsense . when you will have adsense ID then you can insert code into your blog or sites.
Dean Saliba says
Every month I disclose on my blog how much I make online (I find it helps inspire people and it attracts a lot of people to my blog from Google) and I have listed the money section, from November’s report, below:
Adbrite = $0.38
Clicksor = $0.36
ContextWeb (AdsDaq) = $1.26
Fidelity Media (AdJuggler) = $0.45
Passive Income = $12.42
Private Writing = $410.00
Reviews = $208.37
Smowtion = $0.24
Traffic Revenue = $0.18
UnderDog = $0.28
Total = $633.94
I don’t put in as much effort as I should to be honest, I get distracted very easily and my bipolar means some days I don’t want to work. 🙂
Felicia says
Lisa, this is an interesting post. I not only enjoyed the post but the reader comments also. You have a great blog here and offer sound advice and information.
My results mirror those of Sunil. I’ve been at this for a couple of years and I’ve transitioned from a content writer to a full-time blogger/author. The author title is rather new. I’ve always written free books in the past and recently wrote my first non-free book. Did I just use the word non-free?? J
Anyway, I guess I could consider my income full-time since I’m earning 4 times the amount I used to earn at my part-time job (no longer work the part-time job). The majority of my income comes from my blogs, and of that income, AdSense is the largest portion.
I do monetize using affiliates, paid ads and am creating more of my own products. My goal is to rely more on my products and less on AdSense (isn’t that everyone’s goal).
As far as earning money using WordPress, all but one of my sites use WordPress. The one site that’s not on WordPress is in the process of being converted from Joomla to WordPress. Once that’s done, I can honestly say that I make a full-time income exclusively using WordPress.
Using Sunil’s example, my full-time income isn’t quite as high as the average household income in the US, but it’s more than adequate for a young, single entrepreneur. Let me add, I’m not a young, single entrepreneur. J
I think as long as we stick with it, the money will follow.
Greg@signage says
We are setting up our blog as part of our marketing effort. We figure we will make money off of our blog in the form of leads. It hasn’t happened yet but we are working on it.
Gabriel Gutierrez says
Great post it help me specially now that I’m planning to create a blog….thanks
Michael Belk says
I am setup for adsense, but I am looking more into affiliate marketing.
Online Banking says
I would imagine it’s like anything else, with a few people making a lot and a huge number of people making a little. But supplemental income is great too, isn’t it?
Nirmal Kumar says
I’m not a pro blogger. I make some pennies from contextual and intext advertisings.
Elllie says
I am a complete newcomer to internet marketing so I cannot say how I will make money at it. I’ve heard a little about adsense and also Amazon selling. I intend to order your WP Starter Guide after the holidays.
cheap wedding dresses says
I’m quite new to blogging and my first way to generate some income is through Google Adsense. I adapt this idea when a friend introduce me and help me try the said approach. Now all I need is to get traffic for my blogs.
Sergio Felix says
Hey Lisa,
Well this is a bit embarrassing since I’m not making much but considering the blog is barely going to be 2 months old, I have been making some sales on Amazon!
As for the affiliate offers I have in place, I’m still waiting for someone to jump in but I think I may have to start writing a few reviews on them just to get some juices flowing.
I still have a long way to go but oh well, I’m positive I’ll get somewhere even if I have to be taking baby steps! 😉
Sergio
Exercise Physiologist says
Right now it’s only Adsense but that actually isn’t bad at all 🙂
John says
@mskatrina Project Wonderful? I might have to try that out. Thanks for the info.
MsKatrina says
After several years and many blogs, I am finally starting to see a small amount of income from my blogs. The key is definitely in the traffic and in the list.
Right now, I am concentrating on Adsense, Amazon, and ProjectWonderful.
ProjectWonderful is like Adsense in reverse. The advertiser’s bid and pay to have their ad on your blog so there is no waiting for the “click”. On a recent search of places to bid, I saw that the top bid was $197/day. I think I could manage to survive on a that much per day. Lol.
devain richard says
Its my first comment and m newcommers in this field when i read your blog such i very glad about ur views for blogging. bt if i wanna earn money some other way as a affilates. so waht kind of steps good for my blog health and when i start a affilates marketing
Calgary Landscaping says
Not much yet but i am working on it.
watesh says
this is inspiring
Tram Tran says
It seems Adsense is the most popular method here. Im no exception, I just started and Adsense has been able to bring in some form of money,which is really encouraging;). I’m trying to earn trust and establish a close relationship with my readers first,before trying to earn money. Awesome question /post by the way
John says
Paid Blog Posts, Advertising for people, and Affiliate sales.
Neymar says
it is a good topic Lisa, most of the money I have being making online are from CJ, Adsense and from some insurance websites, I think there are some many ways to make money online that sometimes we get lost lol
Dave Lucas says
Without disclosing specific amounts, I’ve done quite well with
1)AdSense – hands down!
2)Paid Guest Posts
3)Amazon sales
Sunil from The Extra Money Blog says
This is a great post and one that every newcomer should read.
Like Lisa, I generate most of my income from a portfolio of niche sites that are monetized several different ways: adsense, private ads, affiliate sales, my own digital product sales and lead generation.
Here is the irony. I spend more time on my blog than I do on all the other sites combined, yet my blog is my least profitable “business”. I started blogging to document and share my experiences, not so much from a profit motive perspective as my time is spent more effectively elsewhere (i.e. cranking out more profitable niche sites which are passive and residual in nature). But something about blogging / the interaction that keeps me glued to it.
That said, my blog has well over 5,000 subscribers now and generates most of its income from affiliate commissions and private advertisement (in form of links and paid posts). I am working on a training class which I plan on releasing next year. My blog income is not what I would consider “full time income”.
A final note on what truly is “full time income”. Many marketers/bloggers use that term loosely. Well the average HOUSEHOLD income in the USA is $45k, so does that mean making $45k from a blog is full time income? Many young, single internet-preneurs can survive on $20k a year, so does that mean $20k is full time? When folks boast about that phrase, it doesn’t mean much to me and really doesn’t hold any value.
The problem is that there is no clarity whatsoever, and several conflicting pieces of information that can easily confuse a newcomer, particularly if they are constantly comparing, bench marking or evaluating “possibilities”.
lisa says
Hi Sunil,
I was hoping you’d chime in. Great points. We share a lot of the same kinds of results (blog vs. static site). I couldn’t live on my blog income alone either.
Sunil from The Extra Money Blog says
True – continuing to build those income streams while diversifying is the name of the game. Like we often say, a blog in itself is not a business – rather a CONDUIT to a business, whatever that business may be….
Sotiris says
Mainly Adsense and affiliate programs. I think that per lead affiliate programs are doing well with my blog rather per sale.
Ana Hoffman says
I think JeffG was definitely right, Lisa – many bloggers talk the talk, but have nothing to show for it in their bank accounts.
Even many what we would consider “power bloggers” earn very little from their seemingly popular blogs.
Now it’s time for me to blow my own trumpet (talk about my own blog that is), but I think my blog is the perfect example of what is really possible with blogging.
Traffic Generation Cafe is just over a year old. It gets a great amount of traffic; my Alexa is currently under 9K.
Most of my traffic is highly engaged and interested.
However, making money off that traffic is a slow process. I’d say it took me about a year to start covering my expenses with what I was bringing in.
Only about 3 months ago I truly got out of the red and my income has been growing steadily each month.
It’s still not anywhere close to full-time income, but I know I’ll get there.
My main income streams come from:
1. Consulting and writing for other blogs.
2. Affiliate sales.
I am also working on my own product to release next year (thanks for the idea, Lisa!!!) and hope it’ll bring in a more steady and independent income stream.
lisa says
You definitely have a very engaged audience. I’ve noticed that by following your blog so I’m sure whatever you do it will be a success!
Ileane says
Lisa, if I based my blogging success on how much I each I would be in tears right now – quite frankly I suck at monetization. LOL! I’ll stick with the day job. Most of what I earn I’ve donated or I use it to buy tech gadgets, premium plugins or sponsor contests. With that being said, here are my top earners for 2011:
Blogging contests prize money
CommentLuv Premium
Thesis Awesome Blogskin
AdSense
Blog Engage RSS service
ClickBank (didn’t get the payout yet though)
If there’s anything else – I can’t think of it right now. Entering “the right” blogging contest can be a huge amount of work but if the prize money is right – it can turn out to be worth while in the long run.
lisa says
Ileane, I had no idea you were donating some of your blog income. That’s awesome! Well whatever you’re doing with Basic Blog Tips it seems to be working well! And yes, it is true… not everyone measures success of their site by the amount of income.
Frances says
Excellent post and since I’m still new to blogging, I’m looking forward to seeing other responses and learning from them. I have Adsense on my blog and I just keep tugging away as I learn at the same time. My saving grace is that I like creating info that will help others and whenever money comes, well, it comes. I keep a look out though for pointers and headed towards Amazon in the process.
Thanks again!
Frantastically yours,
Frances
http://todaystechdevices.net/ says
Thanks Lisa for sharing this information and tips. For me adsense is my source of earning..and I think most of the blogger earn from adsense.Great Post
Tuan says
Adsense was my only revenue source since the first day of my blog and it is still the best network for my blog at the moment. Now I’m diversifying the revenue sources and earning more from Amazon and selling WordPress Themes.
Paul Salmon says
AdSense is by far my biggest earner, and has been since I started by blog. I have been moving more towards using Amazon, and it has now become my second highest earner. I have written a few reviews, which brings in some earnings, just not on a consistent basis. In addition, private banner advertising seems to be picking up as well.
My goal going forward is to expand my earnings beyond AdSense, by, hopefully, continuing to increase my Amazon earnings. I will re-evaluate other opportunities in the new year.
lisa says
That’s great, Paul. A lot of people ignore Amazon because of the low commissions, but they can add up. Not to mention you end up getting commissions for weird products simply because of how well Amazon upsells!
tom buck@loans to payday, loan to payday says
I definitely think Amazon and similar affiliate deals are the way forward. With a blog and adsense the tie in between what people are looking at (your post) and what an ad is putting in front of them is small, plus they’re reading your post, you’re asking them to stop what they’re doing and click on an ad to go do something else, something connected hopefully but still something else.
With dedicated affiliate sites people come to the site because they want that thing, whether it’s dating or bingo or some product from Amazon or whatever, once they’re there there’s nothing else for them to do but buy it or sign up or bounce. So, so long as your site isn’t horrible so they just leave you’ve got the sale. Obviously the hard bit is getting them there in the first place, if commissions are any good the competition for that 1st SERP is probably fierce but if you know how to do good SEO you can make good money.
kapitan says
well, im using adsense on my blogspot blog. and talking about enhancing lifestyle. im currently earning $1K /mo and thats a big bucks here in Philippines. it’s really a life changing. im even planning to resign from my day job because im already having three times of my salary.
Tram Tran says
Wow, It really is awesome what you do;)
Willie Prevolt Jr. says
Kapitan,
I am not really sure it’s the size of the traffic anyone more that determine the size of your check if your not depending on Adsense. I think its about the quality of the traffic your able to drive to your site.
P.S
I have a blog that I put up that is 2 1/2 months old and I just broke 1300 visitors last month. I had many others blogs but they didn’t get traffic this one I used SEO and other marketing tools to market it) I don’t have any Adsense on my site because I my site was design to build my list thus making it easier for me to market to them overtime.
Raymund says
A Filipino here.. Nice to know that you are also earning money from blogging. Unlike you, my earnings are dropping due to algorithm changes. I’m sad but I am moving forward.
Jimmy says
My various sites all make money from affiliate marketing. I did get into Adsense site flipping for a while but it just wasn’t for me. Now I concentrate on building the list and the relationship. Plus I also co-own a membership site in the forex niche.
Thankfully I have managed to quit my job to earn a full time living online. 🙂
lisa says
Hi Jimmy, Smart move. List building is something most of us don’t pay enough attention too. This is definitely more of my focus for 2012 and going forward.
Marian says
The more I look into making cash out of my blog the more I see people talking about list building and email marketing, however, as far as my own email use goes if I see anything in my inbox that is not from someone I know I just delete it. I wonder how effective it really is? Am I missing a trick?
lisa says
Hi Marian,
Email marketing is truly a science. Some marketers act as if all you have to do is collect emails and send out messages. It’s not that easy. You have to find the right rhythm, send EXCLUSIVE mailings and know what your audience wants. I started segmenting my list. Read this post…
https://blog.2createawebsite.com/2011/11/14/aweber-email-marketing-strategy/
Willie Prevolt Jr. says
Lisa,
Since your website is a static do you just focus on driving traffic to it and do you have to do updates from time to time? Also is it better to have a static website so you can push more traffic to it vs. writing content all the time?
I know my biggest problem with my blog is I do a lot of writing due to me using SEO and a few other tools I have plus I have to keep keep ping the RSS Feeds with new content to keep me on the google reader until I have a big enough following then I can step back from SEO because Google is always changing something. WOW, guess I had a lot to say.
P.S
What do you do to ensure your hands don’t start hurting from so much writing?
Career Advice says
hi lisa, I make money from many different sources, but my favorite has to be private advertising where you can get others to pay you month after month after month without having to worry about page views or adsense.
hiren says
google adsense is very excellent opportunity for make money from our blog or our website. For making money our blog must have quality content and also blog must have good traffic. after that you should try for the adsense . when you will have adsense ID then you can insert code into your blog or sites.
paul says
i`m making money with selling some good, quality products, which i`ve bought them with resale rights. it`s working great for me, because the products that i`m selling are very valuable, and i used them to make other online income streams.
it`s working really well for me so far.
Aviation Blogger says
This is always an interesting topic to discuss. I’ve decked out my site with a few AdSense ad positions, but that was never intended to be a great money-earner. My target market is very small and hence the traffic to the site would match the target. In my experience, heavy traffic to the site corresponds with the revenue earned, so it would be a good starting point to write great posts consistently to build up traffic, then start playing around with the ad positions, colours, etc., to see what works best.