5 Ways To Monetize Your Blog (Without Being Annoying)

While no one would argue about your need to monetize your blog, there’s a fine line between establishing revenue streams and driving your readership B.A.N.A.N.A.S.

To ensure your blog remains on the right side of annoying, we have put together five top tips on monetizing, at least one of which is sure to put some coins in your pocket almost immediately.

1. Flog Blog-Related Merchandise

If you have a loyal readership who just can’t get enough of you, then offer them more! Think t-shirts, mugs or coasters bearing your logo, or a coffee table book of past posts.

CafePress.com is a blogger fave when it comes to top tees, while Lulu.com   allows you to self-publish and pocket some profits.

2. Paid Content

Think ebooks, mini-guides, white papers, tutorials, podcasts and videos—the only real limit to paid online content is your imagination. Remember to be very clear on the value of the content, however. You readership will abandon ship in droves if they feel they’ve parted with hard-earned cash under false pretenses.

3. Donations Please

Your readership may appreciate a bit of old-school candor. If this is the case, we recommend begging for cash—politely, of course.

Online payment channels such as PayPal enable you to accept cash donations, while the Amazon Wish List could see you accept payment in paperbacks.

4. Will Blog for Cash

If you’re considered something of an expert in your field, you may find there are folks on the interwebs willing to pay you to write for their sites, too. Submit your resume to a blog network and wait for the offers to start rolling in.

5. Sponsored Posts

Provided they don’t read like blatant cash-grabs and are clearly signposted, sponsored blogs can be an excellent source of a little extra cash.

As luck would have it, there are even networks that specialize in hooking up bloggers with sponsors. Check out ReviewMe or PerPerPost Inc .... for starters. Another fine site is Payu2Blog , where the name says it all.