The question of the century is answered right here on Apollo Media’s blog: how does a blog make money?

First, there are a few check points you have to arrive at before you start monetizing.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do I have a blog?
2. Do I have a substantial amount of valuable content for readers?
3. Have I promoted my blog?
4. Have I built a readership, i.e. do I have people subscribing to my blog?

If you’ve said yes to all of these questions, then you’re ready for the following 12 ways to monetize your blog:

1. Sell Advertising This is the most common way to leverage your blog for bucks. For a newbie blog, try the relevant ads from Google’s AdSense or BlogAds. Once your blog is more established, you can sell ad space on your own (and make more money).
2. Sell your Services/Products Your blog will help position you as an industry expert and allow your potential customers get to know you on a more personal level. If they trust you, they will buy from you.
   
   
3. Affiliate Programs Help sell the services and products of others. Amazon.com is the most popular so if you mention a book on your blog, it links to the book on Amazon’s site. If the user decides to purchase it, then you get a cut. Also, don’t forget that there’s a salesperson in every one of us. Get out there and sell promo opportunities to businesses that you think may be of value to your readers.
   
   
4. Sponsorships Check it out: say you have a wellness blog that promotes meditation and relaxation. Try approaching different spas and convince them it would be in their best interest to sponsor your blog with 4 spa packages. Suggest that you use 1 to post about, to give an honest review of your experience. The other 3 you can use as prizes in a contest for your readers.
5. Digital Assets If you have a following, use your creativity to manufacture different ways to communicate the message you already know is popular. Think like an entrepreneur and repurpose your blog posts into an ebook, tele-seminar, webinar, in-person workshops…the list goes on. What can you dream up?
6. Blog Consulting Blogs are still a new medium but have quickly become mainstream. This means that if you were an early adopter, you’ve probably made a bunch of mistakes and learned from them already. You’re an expert now! And since blogs can be used as successful marketing tools, you can pitch your services as a blog expert to anyone interested in starting a company blog.
7. Blog Guest Writing The more successful a blogger you are, the more valuable you become because you have faithful readers who will check out your posts no matter where they are. Start-up blogs (for company’s who have budgets) may decide it worth the $500 investment to purchase a guest blog post from a pro-blogger. This strategy will drive traffic to the new blog and lend a certain amount of authority to it, as well.
8. Non-Blog Writing Again, think like an entrepreneur. Pitch article ideas, based on your blog posts, to major magazines that pay, on average, a dollar a word. If you have a readership already, it would be easy to convince the magazine that you’re the right author for this article.
9. Donations Ah, the age-old activity of simply asking for money. JohnChowdotcom used PayPal and asked readers at the end of posts to contribute $1 to buy him a beer if they liked what they read.
10. Merchandising If you’ve already built a brand around your name and blog, then you are well on your way to offering some merchandise to your avid fans. If you haven’t already, think about hiring a designer and create a logo that speaks to your fans and says, `you’. Print that blog brand on some hats, t-shirts, coffee mugs and other promo items and watch ‘em fly off your virtual shelves!
    
    
11. Speaking Engagements A pro-blogger only becomes pro when they’ve built an online reputation and are known as authorities in their subjects. Isn’t that what every organization is trying to do in their respective fields? Trial and error has made you into a professional blogger and those looking to capitalize on the power of blogs will pay good money to hear how you did it. Some examples of interested parties may include: corporations, associations, non-profit organizations, media, marketing professionals, etc.
12. Flip your Blog When you’ve built your blog up to the point that it’s generating mucho moula and the subject is starting to tire on you, why not sell it? Earlier this year, AOL bought a blog network (Weblogs, Inc.) for $25 million. Check to see what your blog is worth at Dane Carlson’s Business Opportunities Weblog.

There you have it, just a few ideas in how to make money from your blog. But we encourage you to think up new and different ways…and then share it with us!

And if you haven’t started a blog yet and would like to, subscribe to the Apollo blog or if you want a more hands-on help, contact our social media coach and get started!