10 Ideas For a Money-Making Blog
Developing an informative, useful blog can pay off big in certain niches.
Not only is it a place where people can go to get exactly what they are looking for, but if you do it right, it will be a place where people can come back.
Advantages of a Blog over a Regular Site There are several advantages of a blog over a static site or even a static page like HubPages or Squidoo.
The first advantage is that the content is changing and growing in size, making your blog an authority on a given subject.
The second advantage is that because more useful content is being weekly or even daily, it's a place for readers to come back to.
It's not a one-time deal.
How do they make money? There are a few different ways to make money.
You could sell ads in the sidebar.
You could display pay-per-click ads like Google's AdSense or Kontera.
You could sell your own products or sell affiliate products.
Or, you could seek out sponsorships and write paid reviews.
The opportunities for making money are endless.
10 Money-Making Blog Ideas Review Blogs Books: Think outside of the box a little.
Develop a niche book site, rather than a full-blown Amazon wannabe site.
If you like mystery novels, create a mystery novel review site.
Or if you like chick lit (novels written for women - usually single women - in their mid 20s to late 30s), create a blog for reviews just for those types of books.
Movies: Same thing as above.
Don't just create another movie review site.
Carve out a niche and specialize in it.
You will be a lot more useful and will develop a more devoted following that way.
Food Blogs Recipes: Recipes are a great way to get started, and food blogs can be heavily sponsored.
There are entire advertising networks just for food blogs.
Many people turn to the Internet these days to look for recipes.
Hint: Watch the most popular food television programs and develop recipes that they use, and then publish them on your blog.
Coupon/Discounts: People are also always searching for coupons at restaurants or grocery stores.
You could go one of two ways here.
You could develop a food-centered blog that gets lots of visitors every day, and then pitch your coupon/discount site idea to local restaurant owners, or, you could just publish coupons that already exist online (linking to them).
Many sites like that have affiliate programs.
Music Blogs Local Concert Reviews: Are you into the local music scene? Why not create a blog that reviews recent concerts in your area? At first, you could monetize the blog with pay-per-click ads, but as it grows, you could display an upcoming concert calendar, and charge bands to get listed there, or, you could become an affiliate of a ticket provider and sell concert tickets through your site.
Upcoming New Releases: Going with the same concept above, if you have a friend in radio or are just really ahead of the curve musically, you could create a site that lists and describes the upcoming new album releases.
Again, you can easily monetize this type of blog with pay-per-click ads or you could sell regular advertising in the sidebar.
Movie Blogs Best Of: Know a lot about a particular actor or actress? Fan sites can be very lucrative if done well.
Say you created a Best of John Malkovich blog.
Your blog could focus on his best films, and you could link to them on Amazon and make a commission.
Your best bet with this type of blog is to (1) keep up with the actor so it can also talk about recent news, and (2) use multiple forms of monetization, such as pay-per-click, commissions from sales, and traditional advertising.
Upcoming New Releases: Same concept as the one described under Music above, except that you will really need to develop a niche if you want to make money.
Money-making niche ideas for movies are Sci-Fi, Kids, and Documentaries.
Rare Finds: Nothing is worse than searching for a movie online and not being able to find it.
This kind of blog, a Rare Finds blog, could take off very well.
You could build it slowly, creating a separate post for each rare find you come across.
Hint: if you already have these rare finds you are willing to sell, fantastic, but if you don't, spend some time every day searching for them.
If they are inexpensive, buy them, because you can resell them on your own blog for much more, because they are rare.
Reality TV Blogs Reality TV blogs get a section of their own, because there are so many things you can do with them.
Ultimately, your monetization should come from traditional ads in your sidebar or pay-per-click ads.
But what will make your blog interesting is what you do with the content.
You could create a spoiler blog, if you have access to information before hand, or create a re-cap blog, which will narrate the episode with as much detail as you can provide.
Title your posts carefully, try to think of how people would search for information about the show, the participants, or the results.
Not only is it a place where people can go to get exactly what they are looking for, but if you do it right, it will be a place where people can come back.
Advantages of a Blog over a Regular Site There are several advantages of a blog over a static site or even a static page like HubPages or Squidoo.
The first advantage is that the content is changing and growing in size, making your blog an authority on a given subject.
The second advantage is that because more useful content is being weekly or even daily, it's a place for readers to come back to.
It's not a one-time deal.
How do they make money? There are a few different ways to make money.
You could sell ads in the sidebar.
You could display pay-per-click ads like Google's AdSense or Kontera.
You could sell your own products or sell affiliate products.
Or, you could seek out sponsorships and write paid reviews.
The opportunities for making money are endless.
10 Money-Making Blog Ideas Review Blogs Books: Think outside of the box a little.
Develop a niche book site, rather than a full-blown Amazon wannabe site.
If you like mystery novels, create a mystery novel review site.
Or if you like chick lit (novels written for women - usually single women - in their mid 20s to late 30s), create a blog for reviews just for those types of books.
Movies: Same thing as above.
Don't just create another movie review site.
Carve out a niche and specialize in it.
You will be a lot more useful and will develop a more devoted following that way.
Food Blogs Recipes: Recipes are a great way to get started, and food blogs can be heavily sponsored.
There are entire advertising networks just for food blogs.
Many people turn to the Internet these days to look for recipes.
Hint: Watch the most popular food television programs and develop recipes that they use, and then publish them on your blog.
Coupon/Discounts: People are also always searching for coupons at restaurants or grocery stores.
You could go one of two ways here.
You could develop a food-centered blog that gets lots of visitors every day, and then pitch your coupon/discount site idea to local restaurant owners, or, you could just publish coupons that already exist online (linking to them).
Many sites like that have affiliate programs.
Music Blogs Local Concert Reviews: Are you into the local music scene? Why not create a blog that reviews recent concerts in your area? At first, you could monetize the blog with pay-per-click ads, but as it grows, you could display an upcoming concert calendar, and charge bands to get listed there, or, you could become an affiliate of a ticket provider and sell concert tickets through your site.
Upcoming New Releases: Going with the same concept above, if you have a friend in radio or are just really ahead of the curve musically, you could create a site that lists and describes the upcoming new album releases.
Again, you can easily monetize this type of blog with pay-per-click ads or you could sell regular advertising in the sidebar.
Movie Blogs Best Of: Know a lot about a particular actor or actress? Fan sites can be very lucrative if done well.
Say you created a Best of John Malkovich blog.
Your blog could focus on his best films, and you could link to them on Amazon and make a commission.
Your best bet with this type of blog is to (1) keep up with the actor so it can also talk about recent news, and (2) use multiple forms of monetization, such as pay-per-click, commissions from sales, and traditional advertising.
Upcoming New Releases: Same concept as the one described under Music above, except that you will really need to develop a niche if you want to make money.
Money-making niche ideas for movies are Sci-Fi, Kids, and Documentaries.
Rare Finds: Nothing is worse than searching for a movie online and not being able to find it.
This kind of blog, a Rare Finds blog, could take off very well.
You could build it slowly, creating a separate post for each rare find you come across.
Hint: if you already have these rare finds you are willing to sell, fantastic, but if you don't, spend some time every day searching for them.
If they are inexpensive, buy them, because you can resell them on your own blog for much more, because they are rare.
Reality TV Blogs Reality TV blogs get a section of their own, because there are so many things you can do with them.
Ultimately, your monetization should come from traditional ads in your sidebar or pay-per-click ads.
But what will make your blog interesting is what you do with the content.
You could create a spoiler blog, if you have access to information before hand, or create a re-cap blog, which will narrate the episode with as much detail as you can provide.
Title your posts carefully, try to think of how people would search for information about the show, the participants, or the results.