Om’s post remind me that since very long time I did not publish any post to my blog. I was on a holiday. Well, frankly speaking, for a problogger almost everyday is a holiday if you are well organized. I consciously stopped and thought about the evolution of Search For Blogging for a while. Finally I decided to focus more on blog monetization, problogging issues and SEO during the post-summer season.

Due to economic crisis many people are trying to make money online, and hopefully, become a problogger. There are several blog coaching programs that claim to teach people how to become a problogger.  I also joined one of these programs (Blog Mastermind by Yaro Starak) in 2007. I really learnt a lot from his program. I succeeded because I had a very big motivation: Escape from my boring daily job!

If you don’t have a big desire or motivation to become a problogger, these programs will never help you become a problogger. First of all you need to find a big motivation to become a problogger.

In the new season of Search For Blogging I want to inspire and motivate people to find their own motivation to become a problogger. My posts will mainly focus on this.

What is a Problogger?

It is a critical question you need to find an answer before you start this journey. A problogger is someone who gets his/her economic freedom by doing blogging related internet business. No boss, no managers. Only you, your audience and your business. You still depend on your sales and sponsors, but needless to say that you are in a much more comfortable mood than before.

However, if you are someone who is not well organized, freelance working (that is what probloggers do!) is not suitable for you. I have never heard of any blog coaching that is accepting students according to their organization skills. Have you heard?

So just be careful before you jump on any of these programs. Start developing skills needed to become a problogger. Think about how you are going to spend your days when you become a problogger. Think about building your own blog monetization methods. You will have to learn how to control your own budget as well.

No worries, I will be right here to tell you about the real facts of problogging. First and the most important fact: it is not so easy to become a problogger, and also, continue as a problogger.

We will talk more about problogging related issues in this new season…

Blog Monetization Outlook – 2nd Qtr 2009

ClickBank

ClickBank is one of my favorite forms of blog monetization. I make a sales with Clickbank almost every single day. Once you do your homework well,  your Clickbank income increases through the time.  I have been paid every month for the past two years.

ClickBank recently launched a new option of having AdSense-style ads on your blog which are called “hopads”. Basically they are simple text links to ClickBank products. I have received very positive feedback from the bloggers who have tried them. They could be a nice addition to your blogging income in this quarter.

How To Make Money With ClickBank:

• Find a ClickBank product that could be attractive for your audience. Write a good review about it, and place your hoplink ( term used to describe your ClickBank referral link for a specific product)
• Send an email to your email list, and invite them to read your review
• Find a niche product in ClickBank, buy a domain that contains the most popular search keywords related to that product. Add content, place your hoplink, and build traffic.

Try this out in this quarter:

• Create a new ClickBank account
• Go to Marketplace, and find a blogging related products for your audience.
• Review articles for each product, and place your hoplinks.
• Check your weekly score, and identify which products are better  for your audience.

Sell Your Own Product

In the first quarter of 2009  almost 16,000 new WordPress blogs are launched every single day. The competition is getting tougher in the blogosphere. It is not so easy to make substantial income from your blog unless you sell your own product.

Read Why Should You Launch Your Own Blogging Product In 2009? and start building your own blogging related product this quarter. It is not rocket science, all you need is to find out what is missing today. If you can not build a product, sell a PLR product. Me? Already started building one. Stay tuned.

Build An Email List

If you regularly deliver great content to people through your email list, when you send an email telling them about a product with your list, majority of those people will be interested, because they already trust your expertise. Having an email list is something you can not deny anymore.

I use AWeber as my email list service provider since early 2008 and strongly recommend  you use them. It is the problogger’s standard, and you won’t be disappointed. You may read my review here: Aweber Review – Email Autoresponder – Part 1

Launch Your Own Membership Site

Have you ever dreamed of building your own membership site? I believe that a  membership site is the most stable and profitable business model you can use to make money online during this quarter.

Yaro Starak, my Blog Mastermind mentor, has recently released a free 72-page report all about membership sites called the Membership Site Masterplan. Download and read it asap. Start thinking about your own membership site. You can not merely rely on your blog’s income anymore.

If you already have an email list, you can look alternative ways to monetize it. Locate a special section for sponsors on your email newsletter template, and mention its pricing on your blog’s Advertising page.

Showcase Your Blog

Don’t wait for advertisers and sponsors to discover your blog. Join these programs, and showcase your blog:

• BuySellAds
• Smowtion

Discover Profit Streams

Who can say no to some extra income? I use “profit streams” term here in order to describe the monetization methods that are not directly related with your blog. I listed some of the most profitable ones so that you can make some extra income each month in addition to your blogging income. At least you can pay your monthly hosting, and purchase a few new domains.

• Shareapic – Get Paid To Share Your Pictures
• Make Money Online From Your Photography
• HubPages

Conclusion:

There are literally hundreds of ways to monetize your blog. The ones I mentioned above are just a few good ones I have been using. Try to avoid testing too many types of monetization to your blog; less is usually more in this business. You should constantly try out new blog monetization methods to see which ones work best for your blog. Good luck!

I spent the whole weekend reading a great book titled WordPress for Business Bloggers. The book provides advanced strategies and techniques to improve your WordPress business blog. Whether you already have a blog, or are still in the planning stages, this book can show you how to use WordPress to create a highly successful blog for your business.

Who is This Book For?

I must warn you that the book is not an introduction to WordPress basics. It is not covering the basics such as how to post or WP installation. The author, Paul Thewlis , assumed that most readers will already have an established WordPress blog or will at least be in the advanced stages of planning one. Therefore you need to have at least some basic WordPress knowledge in order to follow the book.

The book is for anybody starting or running a business blog with WordPress. The lessons in the book are based on WordPress 2.6 version.

What This Book Covers

The book starts with the examination of many different types of business blogs. A selection of great business blogs are introduced to the readers. Best practices from these great blogs are clearly defined.

Throughout the book, the author is using a case study  based on a fictitious blog, namely ChilliGuru, to demonstrate the concepts the readers will be learning. It is the basis for most of the tutorials in the rest of the book. The purpose of the lessons is to transform ChilliGuru from a mediocre blog into an all-singing all-dancing traffic magnet.

Conclusion

The book is 356 pages, and providing very detailed and useful  information about blog promotion, SEO for blogs, blog monetization, content creation, advanced image and video handling techniques, advertising and affiliate programs, and more. If you are serious about blogging, WordPress for Business Bloggers must be in your library.