iMark Interactive

Over the years, I have come across many different people in the online world.  People that are dedicated to their cause, people that just want to make a buck, and others that just learned how to use email.  I tend to not really deal with too many people that have just learned the great wonders of the internet, but still come across them.  I know that they will catch up with technology at some point.  My main concern is with the people that are just online to make a buck through blogging.

There are so many different ways to make money online that it tends to lean toward ludicrous.  A good majority of people start blogging online just to get their feet wet and then find out that they enjoy it.  These are the people that I applaud.  If you are working on a project online that you enjoy, then go for it and keep doing what you are doing.  The reason why most people fail to make a name for themselves or make any money is because they are trying to make money doing something that they do not enjoy, or know nothing about.

There are thousands of sites out there that will show you the “secrets” of making money online, but most are just sites that are making money off of you.  Will you make money with their software or idea?  Most likely not.  The main reason this is true is because you are looking at this with pure dollar signs in mind, not if you actually enjoy it.  The thought of making money is on the forefront of minds these days with the massive US recession, but doing it online is very difficult.  There is so much competition to contend with that you will quit before you make any money.  Most people that I have spoken with spend more starting up the website or blog than they ever will make.  This is just not a good business practice.

Creating blogs based off the most popular keywords or highest margin adsense topics will only result in failure in the long run.  There are millions of sites that are already established and running for the same thing you are.  Starting in this type of environment is a leading cause of failure.  If you want to succeed online, the one thing I ask you to do is stay true to what you love.  Blogging was created in order for people to voice their opinions, concerns, and views about anything that they pleased.  After a while, people found out you could make money blogging.  Then everyone tried to cash in and the industry became over saturated.

If you want to make money online with blogging, then stick with a topic that you are knowledgeable in and you actually enjoy.  If you can do this, then blogging will become fairly easy.  Remember that it can take a year to start getting good traffic to your blog and then you can start monetizing it.  Once you build a solid reader base, then you can start showing them ads for things that are relevant.  People respond better to ads if they know the site well and understand the topics that are being discussed.  Knowing the topic that you are blogging about will keep you blogging for a long time because posts will be able to be created with ease.  If you try to make a blog just to make money, you will spend more time researching, then writing.  Keep true to passions and the money will come in later.

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This is a guest post by Kevin Ryan. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

Blogging is a great way to open up the world to your opinion.  Your blog is your voice with a blank slate to relay your thoughts and ideas.  Blogging can be fun, but it can also be tough.  If you have created a blog in order to make some extra cash, then you need to remember one thing that will help you out in the long run.  Just starting a blog will not get you traffic and only posting once in a while will not help either.  One large thing that you need to remember is to stay consistent.  It is important that you stay consistent with your blog topic and you post regularly.

Adding new content to your blog regularly is a good thing to attract new visitors, but as well keep the readers that have come to your blog before.  If you have RSS subscribers, then it is important to keep your blog updated as RSS readers need a reason to keep coming back.  Without updated content, it is too easy for subscribers to move on to another blog with consistent content.  If you are having trouble with keeping your blog updated, then try scheduling out your posts.  There are a lot of occasions when I write multiple posts at one time because the writing bug strikes.  In order to keep everything consistent and regular, I schedule my posts to go out at certain times to make sure my content is regularly updated.  This is an easy way to keep it updated without continually trying to find new posts.  You can also try and get guest bloggers to post on your site with their perspective and that can keep your content fresh.  Just remember, keep it up!

We blog in order to provide our perspective to others, but we have to remember to blog about something that we know.  If you are choosing to blog just in order to make money, then you might not succeed.  You have to know the topic you are writing about in order to keep the blog regularly updated.  Blog about ideas that you are passionate about and have a lot of feelings for.  This is the best way to keep your visitors interested and coming back.  Try not to start a blog about one topic and then change it later down the road because you have ran out of ideas.  If you start your blog, try to find a topic that has a wide range of topics to choose.  This will let you branch out down the road, but still staying under the umbrella of your original topic.

If you want to blog for a living or maybe just make some extra money on the side, then just stay consistent.  Make your posts regular and keep your topic in line.  This will help you out in the long run with creating a great blog that many will want to discover and read time and time again.  If you want traffic that is qualified to your site, then stay on a topic that you care about.  This is the only way to blog!

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With so many blogs being created each and every day, what makes your blog any different?  Are you blogging for personal reasons, or blogging in order to make some extra cash?  What is your understanding on the topic that you blog about?  These are just a few questions that you need to ask yourself as you continue to blog.

Most of us blog in order to provide a resource to others on the internet.  It might just be for personal reasons and you just want others to have information that they have gathered over the years.  Some blog in order to provide a resource, but to also make some money online while blogging.  Either way, there are a few things that need to be done in order to keep your blog active and growing.

The most important aspect of blogging is deciding which topic you want to blog about.  If you are blogging for personal reasons, then it becomes a little easier.  Most people that are blogging just to be blogging decide to pick their topic based on their experiences or which topic excites them or what they might be passionate about.  If you are blogging to make money online, make sure you are choosing a topic that you have experience in or that you are also passionate about.  There are many people out there that choose a blog topic based on how much money they could make or which topic is most popular among internet readers.  This is a large mistake because most people that choose these topics cannot keep up the blog without the proper information on the topic.

Another important aspect of blogging is that you continue to write quality posts throughout the life of your blog.  A lot of new bloggers that start a blog never continue after a month or two because they run out of topics to write or they just stop writing all together.  It is wise to come up with topics to write about, but schedule them to post at different intervals to keep your blog current.  This is easy to do when working with most blogging software.  If you come up with a few topics at once, then write them up and schedule them to post a day apart, so it looks like you are updating and refreshing your content.  Remember, Content is King and search engines love it.  Without new content, your blog will become stale and your readers will drop off.

If you continue updating your content, then you need to make sure that you continue to add new readers and visitors.  Without new readers and visitors, then your blog will become useless and no one will even know your opinion on your topic.  You should update your RSS feeds and make sure to have a way for your visitors to subscribe to your RSS feed via email.  You have to constantly market your blog for new visitors especially if your using your blog as a way to make money online.  Many bloggers use Feedburner as a way to publicize and monetize their RSS feeds for everyone to use and keep updated on your blog.  There are many blog directories where you can list your blog as well for visitors to find.  This will also help with SEO purposes.  Think about making an aboutus.org page for your website.  This is free and like a wiki format.  There are many ways to market your blog, but you have to continue doing it in order to succeed.

So if you are blogging for personal or commercial reasons, you have to remember that content is king and keeping it updated is a must.  There are many ways to add new content to your blog, but you have to just do it.  Leaving your blog updated is the most important way to keep it going.  You can also let guest bloggers write content for your with their ideas about the blog topic.  Choose a topic that is important to you, but that can make your some money if you choose to go this route, as well is a topic that has a lot of information available and is easily updated.  Good luck with your blog and keeping it going and hopefully it will become useful to readers and visitors.

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We bring up this topic because it is asked and talked about quite frequently, especially since the job market is floundering and slowly starting to rebound.  We want to clear up the main myth that most people do not hear or choose not to hear because it might sting a little:  Not everyone can make money online!

That’s right, we said it.  Not everyone out there can make money online.  Actually, very few people in the grand scheme of things actually make a decent living online.  The main reason for this is mainly dedication and misinformation.  There are many places out there that tell you that you can make money online with a few simple steps and they show you if you give them money for their e-book or pamphlet.  We take it from us, it is not that easy and no one will make money overnight online unless you do it illegally, which we do not condone or endorse by any means.  We want to clear up a few things for anyone looking to make money online as a full time or part time endeavor.

The main thing you need is a good idea.  There are so many websites out there and good ideas are hard to come by, but if you can put your idea to life online, then you might have a chance.  Once you get your idea, you will need to dedicate time to making it a reality.  Most people that are new to the online marketing world don’t realize that just because you make a website, people will come to it.  You need to dedicate time to marketing and SEO’ing your site properly in order to get traffic.  This can take months to a few years depending on your knowledge and dedication.  Most people we talk to have great ideas and start websites or blogs, but do not stick with them a few months down the road.  You will never have a chance to realize the potential of your website if you do not stick with it for at least 6 months to a year.  This can give you a little chance of seeing some income.

Most stories that you see online of people making 40k a month by blogging or 200k a month by using advertising programs might be true, but these people have worked hard to get where they are.  They understand that you have to dedicate your time and money wisely in order to succeed, and they know their web marketing as well.  Most of these people did not start a blog and start making money instantly.  It does not work like online, so if you are starting something with this notion, please turn back now so you are not disappointed when you do not succeed.  Dedication is the main ingredient in succeeding online and knowing how to get traffic to your site that will convert to whichever goal you wish, whether it be sales, signups, clicks out to other websites, or affiliate sales.  Once you understand this, you may have a chance to make money online, whether it be a small amount to subsidize your income or enough to live off of.  You hold your future for making money online in your own hands, so take the reins and dedicate your time to making it a reality.

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