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Blogging for profit is one of the most compelling reasons to operate a blog, and if you know how to make money from blogs, then it can be a very good source of income. Most bloggers monetize their blogs with Google AdSense: allowing Google to place adverts on their blog in return for a small payment every time somebody clicks on an advert.

Do you know the drawback to that? What happens when a visitor to YOUR blog clicks on ANOTHER's advert? Yes, you got it - they leave your blog and end up on the other person's website. Google do not allow their adverts to be opened in a new window, so your visitors have gone. Before we look at how to overcome that problem let's have a look at blogs, and what benefits they offer you and your visitors.

What is that most people use the internet for? No, it's not to play games or listen to music; it's actually to find information. The vast majority of internet users are seeking information: sports results, latest news, how clocks work, how to train dogs, cheapest prices for what they want to buy, how to run their own blogs and websites, how to make money from blogs and websites: all information.

Blogs are ideal for that. Blogs not only provide content, but they also provide fresh content. They are constantly being updated with new content, unlike regular websites that tend to remain unchanged for lengthy periods of time. That is why search engines love blogs, and tend to list them higher than web pages. However, the main benefit of a blog to you is not how the search engines view it, but how your visitors see it. They love blogs because:

1. Readers feel catered for rather than just being regarded as potential customers.

2. They have a more 'human' feel to them than regular websites.

3. They can contribute by making comments

4. If they want to keep up with your blog they can subscribe using an RSS feed: make sure you provide them with one on your blog. If you don't know how, your blog host will help you out. It is very easy. Your readers can also easily unsubscribe, which makes them feel less 'put upon' or committed.

Blogs tend to attract more regular visitors than websites. The vast majority of visitors to websites leave and never return, but blog visitors can return time and time again. There is a downside to that though: blog readers have less of an inclination to register with opt-in forms, likely because they know they are going to be visiting the blog in any case, so why fill in a form for information? You just have to make your promotions using your blog, and if you can get it right, then you will find that blogging for profit is easy. It is actually easier to learn how to make money from blogs than from a website.

Not only that, but a regular blog visitor is of significantly higher quality than a website visitor. They comment on your blog, and how you can improve it. They also suggest it to their favorite social bookmarking sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon and Del.icio.us, and talk about it on their social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. You therefore get a lot of links back to your blog plus a great deal of credibility and new traffic.

So, back to AdSense and losing your visitors. There are better ways than AdSense to make money from your blog. In using these, however, don't get too blatantly mercenary. You can lose your readership if your blog becomes too commercial, but there are ways to overcome that. Here are some suggestions:

a) Offer affiliate products that might interest your readers. The best way is to offer them a free product, and when they click to download it offer them an affiliate product as a back-end 'One Time Offer' before they download the free ebook or software. You can get loads of free products to offer if you join a Private Label Resale site - Google it and find a whole load of products that you can rebrand as your own, and Clickbank offers the biggest selection of affiliate products online.

b) Offer your own eBook, CD or DVD. Make a video about how to change a car tire, spark plugs and other simple car maintenance tasks and sell it to women as 'Essential Car Maintenance Tasks for Women'. If your blog covers a specific niche do something similar relating to your niche.

c) Carry out promotions for your products, or those of others (for a return of course!).

d) Sprinkle a few text links around your blog, leading to products, reports, recommendations and so on, all relating to the theme of your blog. Write your own report and sell it for $5 - keep it cheap and they will think you are offering them a bargain.

So that's how to make money from blogs. Blogging for profit is a pastime rather than an occupation, and if you have a website or two, you can promote it from your blog. That will not seem commercial to visitors - even those that dislike commercial blogs. Don't send them to your sales or squeeze page, but to a good content page, at the end of which you offer a product that relates to your article or review.

There are many ways to make money from blogs - all it takes is a bit of imagination and ingenuity, and you will find blogging for profit a breeze.

So, what are you waiting for? Go and blog your favorite stuff! :)

If you are interested in more information on blogging for profit, and making the best use of your blog, check out Carols' blog at http://www.nice-biz.com/blog where you will find some great ideas. Please feel free to distribute this article in any form as long as you include this resource box.