Want to sell ebooks, wordpress themes, wordpress plugins or other digital content on your blog?

If so. Have a look at the fantastic new video from Hungry Dog Media and WordPress.TV, in which a step-by-step is provided on how to set up shop on your blog in under 5 minutes. Yes five minutes!

It’s quite simple really with the aid of the wp e-commerce plugin, a brilliant add-on that extends the functionality of a basic blog. With this plugin you can run a dedicated shop which resides on several pages on the blog and all is handled, including payment, download, etc.

Have an ebook you want to sell directly from your blog? Give this video a quick look and try out the wp e-commerce plugin.

Need help?

No problem, shoot me an email and let me know what you’re trying to do and how i can help you.

Maybe you waited till you had a certain number of articles, or reached a certain number of subscribers before you decided to monetize. Regardless of the reason, you NOW want to know how to make money with your beloved blog.

Let’s take a look at the various ways to generate some cash NOW.

1.) Private Ads

These are direct ads you get from readers or subscribers to your blog. Usually these ads are in the form of 125 x 125 ad blocks found on the sidebar. But this needent be the case. You can rent out space on your blog anywhere. A 486x 60 on the homepage should fetch a pretty penny.

TIP: Try different formats and rates, to see which works best for your niche and your blog.

2.) Google Adsense

If you’re a new blogger try this money maker first. Why? Because it is dirt easy. It is easy to install, easy to manage, easy to make money with. My favorite thing about Google Adsense is that the ads served to your readers are RELEVANT. The ads are matched to the content on the page. This is wht it is called ad sense. Because the ads make sense.

TIP: Use the 336×380 ad format, and place (above and below) each post. It may not look ideal, but it makes money. If you are blogging for money (and who isn’t) you need to do this. Need help? Shoot me an email, i run an Adsense install and configuration service. Each ad block runs $3. Just let me know.

3.) Performancing Ads

This is a new ad network created by the guys from the performancing blog. This is similar to private ads, the big difference is that you benefit from the traffic built by the network. They also charge a small commission per each ad booked.

TIP: Try pricing your ad spots low, and place above the fold.

4.) ShareaSale

If you write about products, then take a look at ad network Shareasale. In a nutshell you sign up and browse the advertisers available, then choose a few that relate to your niche. For example, if you write a finance blog, look for credit report products, etc. Once you have found something relevant, place the Shareasale link on an article.

TIP: Write an awesome article, stumble it, digg it, email it to your friends, build backlinks to it, etc. Point is that after you write a groovy piece, don’t forget to promote it. Example: On my vegetarian blog, i recently wrote a top 10 list 10 Reasons You Should Subscribe To Ideal Bite, i slapped my affiliate link on the article, and so far i’ve raked in OVER $96. Need any more proof? Let me know.

5.) Amazon Store

Amazon makes it (easy breezy) to create and add a basic store to your blog. The super cool thing about Amazon is that because it is so massively huge, they carry everything. So it doesn’t matter what type of blog niche you’re in, Amazon (most likely) will have something for you. My fave type of store to create with Amazon is a bookstore. Run an automotive blog? Hello, create a book store full of the hottest and awesomest books out there. The only drawback about Amazon if you can call it that, is that their commission is pretty low. They pay 4% on whatever you sell. But like Adsense, those pennies do add up.

TIP: Make your Amazon bookstore stand out, maybe have someone design a sweet logo, or have a contest wherein people promote the bookstore for you. It’s all about promotion. (blogger style, you know social media)

In Conclusion

The 5 methods discussed above will net you blog cash right away. Remember the important thing is 1.) relevancy 2.) promotion 3.) and foundation (the foundation is your blogs content) Your blog CAN be a money maker if you like what you write about. People will pick up on that.

If you’re a geek, start a gadget blog. Your knowledge is money. Your personality is money. Your uniqueness is money. How much you make (of course) is up to you.

Stay tuned for Part II of 10 Ways To Generate Blog Income. I will discuss 5 more money makers which you can use NOW to make money with your blog. Subscribe to my RSS feed via email or your fave feed reader, so you don’t miss part deux.

READER QUESTION

Of the 5 money makers discussed above, which are YOU NOT using and WHY? Share below.

Joe of Im With Joe says:

Yep, it’s here..many of you may remember about a month back when Bryan Clark pulled a crackhead move and tried to flip 5 sites in 24 hours. Well, he did it, to the tune of $1600. Anyway, that same guy has just launched a membership site…but, unlike most memberships, there’s no monthly fee.

Neal of Nota Bene Consulting says:

Many of you out there have been looking forward to this for sometime, but for those of you that are not aware of this monumental release, please read on.

A great deal of my monthly online income comes from site flipping and it has been much talked about recently too. The ‘Blog Flipping Blueprint’ is designed for all levels and aimed to take your online earnings way and above the few dollars you are currently making with Adsense.

Ian of Random Forest says:

Bryan had definitely reached what some would consider Guru status in the site flipping world. He recently demonstrated that it was possible to make 1k in 24 hours creating and selling 5 blogs from scratch and reports that he earned $160k last year with site flipping…… And from many of our chats I know he spent a lot of that time on holiday!

I’m not greedy but I certainly want some of this . My ideal is to make $2k a month from selling a few websites and doing a little design work…… so this blog flipping blueprint will be something I make great use of.

The blog flipping blueprint is a membership site that allows you to get hold of all the resources you need to set up and sell websites. Even if you have never done it before. Many more things are going to be added as time moves on but as it stands it is worth way more than the sign up price of $167.

Jay of SuiteJ says:

Don’t Buy Bryan Clarks Blog Flipping Blueprint Today

So, to make sure you don’t get excited and get in over your head with an impulse buy, please do me (and yourself!) a big favor and wait until my post on Friday before you decide whether or not to purchase Bryan Clark’s Blog Flipping Blueprint membership.

I will have information to offer that you NEED to have before you make this purchase.

That is the latest and greatest on the Blog Flipping Blueprint by Bryan Clark. I will have my own personal assessment of BFB in the coming days, if not next week.

Stay tuned!

Why Is Graham Selling Entrecard? (read his own words below)

I am selling because I have come to a stalemate. Entrecard is growing fast, but I do not have the resources to put behind it. I recently met extensively with Venture Capitalists who were going to make a 700k seed investment and a 2-5m follow on Series A investment in 6 months. The deal fell through in the 11th hour, right before the terms sheet, because they lost faith in my ability to execute the plan after a series of tests in which I did not know I was being tested. The valuation we were discussing was 8 million. We were going to open a headquarters, hire 10 people, and go straight to the top. Then it fell apart, and after getting my hopes up, I just haven’t been able to get back on my feet. I’m a wreck and feeling like a failure to come so close only to drop it due to my idiocy.

Sitepoint Listing Snapshot

Around since November 2007, Entrecard is quite popular with many bloggers. It has lost some steam in the last few months, but it is still a formidable property.

It averages over 3 million page views monthly, no small feat. This will be an interesting sale for sure. You can go to the Sitepoint listing, subscribe to updates, and follow along. I’m as curious as you, to see what it will fetch.

Online Shopping Portals Popular, Plus ExplorZ Review

I want to review shopping portals, and one in particular ExplorZ. This is an SEO optimized site that allows small shop owners to feature their products on the web. This creates excellent search visibility of your products.

How Does It Work?

Essentially the way it works is you register up an account, set up your store details through their interface, and then list your products via easy to submit RSS feeds.

Store Directory

I browsed through the store directory, and randomly picked a store. I found one called Blue Dragons Gifts. This store sells collectibles and hard to find gift items, such as glassware, 45 RPMs, vhs tapes, books, postcards, 33 RPMs, dvds, and figurines.

SEO Friendly Pages

If you take a look at the products featured in this store through Explorz, you will notice that each item get its own page, and carries an SEO friendly title on each page. What does this mean? It means that with proper marketing and promo, each page (and hence the products) will be found by web searchers. This is good.

How Much Is It?

There is no cost to list your store, or your products. According to the About Us page on the site, the service is 100% free. I can tell they make their money based off of banners on the site. There is no cost to sellers or buyers.

Final Note

My final comment on this site, is on the design. It could use a different sized width, as i quite dislike scrolling side to side to see what is on a page. This can easily be remedied, with some minor site modifications.

Let me also mention, that the site is web 2.0 enabled, as it features store reviews and ratings, tell a friend buttons, and has social networking built-in, via its community forum.

To wrap up, if you have an online store and are wanting another venue in which to showcase your products that is search engine friendly, give ExplorZ a try. If you do use it, let me know your thoughts and experiences with it.

my avatar on digital point – (can you spot me?) 

I am a member, you can find me there regularly creating and or joining in on different discussions. My favorite spots are the Marketplace, Programming, and Design spots.

What is DP good for? Here 8 Reasons to Join Up:

1. design work: such as banners, wordpress themes, or programming stuff
2. freebies: they have a freebie section, where you can ask for stumbles, digg votes, technorati site exchanges, and lots more
3. networking: meet other net marketers, writers, programmers, designers, etc
4. selling: you can sell your site, themes, scripts, ebooks, a variety of things
5. content: you can recruit bloggers and writers, or you can list yourself as a content provider
6. knowledge: ask questions about SEO, PPC, Blogging, Making Money Online
7. community: make friends, share, learn, participate
8. money: i have made money through DP, and you can too. How? by selling advertising space on your site or blog, writing for others, placing an affiliate ad on your signature, by selling your sig space, it goes on and on. (lol)

Why am i telling YOU about Digital Point Forums?

Because it’s a valuable place, plain and simple. There is no cost to be a member (or post) actually it is completely free. So head on over to DP, and join.

Till the next update,

Missy.