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There are a number of different ways to make money from your blog, but be prepared to weigh the advantages against the disadvantages.
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So let's talk about some ways that you can directly monetize your blog.
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I would assume that most of your business, most of your income is not going
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to come directly from the content you put on your blog
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but there are some options here.
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I want to give a disclaimer that what works for you, works for me,
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what works for some of your friends to be completely different.
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There is no magic formula on how to monetize your blog
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but I want to give you just a couple of different options
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so you know that they're out there so you can investigate what works for you.
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First is advertising.
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It's the most obvious and easiest one to do.
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This could be something as simple as a Google ads placement, blog ads,
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or an advertiser actually are coming to you and say--
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Hey, can I buy banner space on your website?
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You're not going to make a lot of money in doing this
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until you've got a large audience.
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These are usually done based on the number of viewers you have
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but it is an option that something to get going n the beginning.
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You may only get a few dollars or a few hundred dollars
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but it's a direct easy way to get some money for what you're creating.
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Another option is sponsored post.
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This is when an advertiser will come directly to you and say--
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Hey, I'd like you to write a blog post about this.
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Here's a certain amount of money. Here's the certain links we want.
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I'll give you specification for it. So also known as an advertorial.
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This, some people don't want to do.
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Some people say, I don't want this and that's okay.
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My advice is if you're comfortable with it and you think it's something
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that you're audience is going to enjoy and be okay with, then go for it.
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If it's off topic, if it's something your audience wouldn't expect,
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then it's probably not a good idea.
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Finally though, no matter how you do this, you have to make sure
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to disclose if you're being paid for something.
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The FTC recently passed laws where they can sue you.
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You will be fined thousands of dollars if they decide to come after you.
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When in doubt, just be over honest.
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Say, listen, I'm being paid for this or I was given this product to review
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or the software company gave me the software for free to try.
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My philosophy is to over disclose. You cannot disclose too much. It's okay.
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But if you suddenly decide--hey, you know what, I'm not going to disclose this.
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It can come back to bite you.
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Put it on the top of your post, your bottom your post.
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There's great sites out there like CMPLY
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which allow you to easily with the short link.
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put it in Twitter, Facebook, or a blog post.
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Never ever ever skip the disclosure. It's very very important.
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The last thing you want is to get paid for something
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then have the lawyers come after you because nobody likes that.
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