Typepad 101: Three Simple Ways to Make Money with your Blog
January 14, 2014
Not everyone can turn blogging into a full time gig but there are ways that you can make a little dough from your blog, with just a bit of effort. We're going to discuss three very easy ways to monetize your content. If you have your own tried and true tips, leave them in the comments!
First up: Amazon Associates
If you ever share links to books or other content from Amazon, you can sign up for Amazon Associates and start making money from purchases made through your links. The links don't have to be just books or music - you can link to anything on Amazon.
First, sign up with Amazon here. Then go to Account > Other Accounts in Typepad and add your Associate ID. Lastly, create a book or music TypeList and start adding in products. Make sure to display that list on your blog. That's really it! If you'd like to learn more, we have a full overview of using Amazon with Typepad in our Knowledge Base.
Or try Google AdSense
Google's AdSense program is hugely popular in part because it's so user-friendly. You can learn more about signing up here. It will take about a week for Google to review your site and send you confirmation of acceptance into the program. It's a good idea to go through their AdSense Academy tutorial while you wait.
Once you have your ad code, you can place it on your blog by going to Blogs > Design > Content and choosing the Embed your own HTML module. Then just paste in the code, place the ad where you want it in your sidebar, and save. Voila!
We have even more information about including ads on your blog in the Knowledge Base.
Finally, you could ask for donations
If you have a strong community around your blog - folks who read and comment on every post and really rally around what you're doing - then you might be in for a lovely surprise. Loyal readers sometimes want to support what you're doing by way of small donations.
This can be tricky - readers will sometimes want a general idea of what their money is going toward so transparency is key. If you plan to use the donations to supplement your Typepad subscription, it's a good idea to mention that. Or if you write about a particular type of product, you could mention using the donations to fund that. No matter what, it's important to be gracious.
An easy way to take donations is with PayPal's donate button. They'll provide you with code that you can add in your sidebar with the Embed your own HTML module mentioned above or you can add the code in a post or page and then link your readers to that.
We hope you found these tips helpful! If you have ideas for easy ways to make a little cash from blogging, please share!
The first 2 were a total bust for me when I tried them in years past....
No huge traffic or audience so they were a waste of time.
The Donation buttons have been a Godsend, several times, the past 3 years.
Posted by: Kiril Kundurazieff | January 14, 2014 at 12:09 PM
Interesting post. Something most of us consider from time to time.
I am wondering; how much traffic is needed before it's worth the effort?
What are your experiences?
Posted by: John Hansen | January 14, 2014 at 02:39 PM
Why not try writing E-books based on the articles you've
written. For instance, write a paragraph or two and then tell
your readers about the E-book (with more valuable info) you have on a site like Scribd.com or Amazon.com/the kindle store.
This is something we're trying, and it's slow going, but we'll
keep trying.
Thanks,
J Gib!
SupermarketRxs.typepad.com.
Posted by: jgib | January 14, 2014 at 08:35 PM
What has impacted my ability to monetize my blogs more than any other thing is the continuous ad-blocking abilities of add-ons for browsers.
I use them myself so I cannot very well complain but they are highly effective at having your audience never even see your adverts. My click through ad revenue on what would be considered a small blog (less than 15-20K unique pageviews per month) garnered $1500 in 2011, $730 in 2012 and $71 in 2013.
Posted by: Account Deleted | January 15, 2014 at 03:59 AM