Blogging Series Vol. 12 - My Story of Blog Monetization!

So, two days back I get a mail from Roshni asking me how did I go about monetizing the blog. Ohk, so a long story short, content is the king whenever it comes to anything with blogging!! Now, let me start with my story.

Adsense and Infolinks

I had applied for adsense (January 2010) right when I had started blogging (December 2009). Yes, I was ignorant that the blog needed to be 6 months old and few other restrictions when it came to adsense approval of blogs from India. So, obviously, they refused.

Then, infolinks came my way and it was easy to get accepted so there it was. I had started earning money right from the start of blogging. But, don't be buoyed, it was a measly 1$ per month or something like that and it took almost a year and half (June 2011 to be precise and I had integrated it in January 2010) to reach the threshold of 50$. But, fortunately, all time I did not falter and was very regular with blogging and slowly the traffic got better.

Adsense and Chitika

In the mean time, I had again tried for adsense after making sure that all the clauses were fulfilled. My blog was 6 months old and I had almost 400-500 posts up and had a decent traffic. Again I was rejected :(

So, I signed up with chitika. It wasn't really a great earner so I removed it quite soon. 

Finally Adsense!

And, suddenly in the start of January 2012, adsense accepted me just like that. The year had started on a good note. And, adsense is quite a good source for earning money according to me except the getting accepted business.

I have to mention that first year has been quite up and down in terms of money but it was decent.  

Private Advertising Networks

And, in this year, I have been contacted by private advertising networks which are also turning out profitable. In fact, they quite compliment the adsense income. I would not mention them because I am not really sure how their application and acceptance standards are.

Final Thoughts...

After so much struggle, I have understood one thing. Ultimately, it is the content which drives traffic which drives advertisers which brings money. Also, another thing I have learned is more content you publish is directly proportional to money you earn. 

This post is just about how I tried to monetize my blog. I shall in some weeks write about how to monetize your blog, some of its basic principles and other networks and ways to monetize but one thing you already know - content is the king!! And, patience the key. 

What other advertising networks do you think are great to earn money? Do you know of any which are better than the ones I have mentioned, not that I have mentioned many?

Related Posts:

Blogging Series Vol. 11 - Setting goals for the blog!

Blogging Series Vol. 10 - How to overcome Blogger's Block?

Blogging Series Vol. 9 - Reviving Old Posts!

Blogging Series Vol. 11 - Setting goals for the blog!

So, I was just looking around in my draft for some unfinished post which I might be interested to get over with and of course some inspiration! And, I came across a set of notes in which I had set some goals for my blog.

Well, as you can imagine, I had very conveniently forgotten about it! But, when I just looked through some of the things I had set for myself, I quickly summarized that some of those goals have been realized long back which obviously is making me a lot happy and that is also why I am sitting in my office and typing away this post!

For any endeavor to succeed, you need to set realistic and just-beyond-the-reach goals. Aim for the moon by all means but the path to success is always defined by the smaller steps you take, right? So, same goes with blogging!

Reach of the Blog

May be you would like to see some new set of people gracing your blog so set such goals. Check out what is the current readership and increase a 30-50% margin and keep it as a next milestone to be reached with in the next 3-6 months depending on how much time you spend on the blog.

Money Earned

For many, motivation for blogging can quickly change to the bucks they see. Well, that is perfectly fine as long as you are true to your readers and catering to them! So, you might decide that since you have been consistently earning X amount, the next milestone should be Y within a T amount of time!

These are the two areas where I can think I would like to set goals but if you have some others, by all means go ahead. Also, always remember that the first and probably the only priority should be readers and you. Money and all the fame would automatically follow! Yeah, there is one milestone which you can probably set!

Amount of posts you would be doing every week.

Most of the bloggers are part-time and then one goes on vacations and sometimes life is just a roller-coaster ride because of which you hardly have time to tend to your blog. So, may be, leaving all exceptional circumstances, setting a minimum number of posts per week would be a great idea so that you at least have a set routine and your readers know what to expect when!

Also, a few other goals which you might like to set if you are too interested are to write a few guest posts or articles on hubpages or wikihow or ehow or any other such reliable forums and communities which might give visibility to your blog and improve your exposure.

These are my tips! What do you think? Should goals be set for blogging or it destroys the pleasure of the task and makes it more mundane and competitive?

Related Posts:

Blogging Series Vol. 10 - How to overcome Blogger's Block?

Blogging Series Vol. 9 - Reviving Old Posts!

Blogging Series Vol. 8 - Read and Reread the Posts!

Blogging Series Vol. 17 - Where do you compose your posts from?

I have to say that my hubby has given this blog a new lease of life. I had been just so tired of thinking of what to post everyday and nothing would turn up in my mind. And, then, he went ahead and announced to my in-laws that my blog had won the indiblogger awards and they were happy! And, when finally my mom unpacked the award which reached home yesterday, my mom was so angry with me for not telling her about it all. I do not know what to say!!

And coming back to today's post, there is nothing better than your own comfort zone. I love typing my posts from the coziness of my bed and blanket. Where do you love to blog from? Do you love to use your study table or the sofa or have you created a workspace in the house? Or, may be sitting in a park where ideas come to you in a jiffy? I do not also mind taking my laptop to a wifi connected bistro and sipping coffee and eating all junk all day long and composing the posts but I have not done that YET. 

These many days I have so missed blogging but I never understood that what I was missing more was actually sitting comfortably on the bed and typing away! It feels like heaven as I get back to my older routine of coming back home and fueling my growling tummy and having a bath and sitting with lappy in my lap. 

I have finally got almost everything in order. The wifi is set up, the laptop is up and working and I get to spend sometime alone in which I can finish this work. He is gonna kill me if he reads this :D 

Anyways, I have seen or rather read that most of the work from home bloggers or full time bloggers actually create workspace in their house to use for blogging. Do you do that?

I do not think that I can stick to it even if I become a full-time blogger. It is just so cumbersome to sit on a chair and type. I even hate sitting in my office which is why most of the time I roam around and you would ask when do I even get my work done :D

I do know that many people do find a workspace set up more inspirational to work. It increases your own seriousness towards the work and especially when you work full time, you need to be a lot serious to blogging. The habit also helps in keeping the personal life separate or be worried about posts all day long.

Did you know Jeffrey Archer is such a meticulous writer that he writes from 6-8 AM, 10-12 AM, 2-4 PM and again 6-8 PM. He also advises that it is always good to set your schedule as to when you will write (the tip is for writers but also applies to bloggers) and do nothing else in the time but write even if you do not want to. Also, it is good to take regular fresh air to give a break to your brain. (Source)

So, what do you do? Type away the comments from your comfort zone :)

Related Posts:

Blogging Series Vol. 16 - Are you setting up goals for 2014?
Blogger Series Vol. 15 - Continuing with Monetization Methods!
Blogging Series Vol. 14 - Why do you love blogging?

Blogging Series Vol. 19 - Blogging Goals for #2015!!

Well, I have to say that since I have taken full time blogging, it has been feeling overwhelming! Being a professional blogger increases the commercial interests and that has made me lose focus on what made me start blogging in the first place! It was like reading all about blogging except writing - you know do this, do that and do what not and avoid this and this would not work out and the list is endless. Whew!

So, I thought it would be good to realign myself with what and why of the blog before proceeding to do anything! This past week has been a silent one - first with the festival frenzy and then with all of this thinking. And, finally, I have decided to start with a clean slate. So, let us check what all we have in store for #2015.

#1. Realigning the purpose and goals of the Blog

I remember why I had started this blog. It was to share my knowledge on how to take care of skin and hair using simple home remedies which were easy on the pocket and equally effective. So, budget was one of the mantras at that time. I was studying and I really did not intend to spend much.

While writing about skin and hair, delving into healthy lifestyle was inevitable. So, there were and are a lot of articles about simpler lifestyle and healthy habits which if integrated with daily habits would be one step closer to leading a healthy life. 

Then, we delved into product reviews and I discovered and worked with a lot of brands - good and bad - and recommended some of them to you. And, then, we stopped evolving!

Worse still, I had almost abandoned the blog for one year during my wedding and I am sure it must have upset you to not find any new content on the blog for weeks and months together!

And, let me tell you getting back to blogging is really not easy! In these past few months, I had so much trouble churning out new articles. It was almost like I was forcing myself to write and that is what I want to avoid!! So, writing better content without forcing myself is a goal this time. And, as you might have known, I have reduced the frequency of posting as well to help me in this goal. So, you would find articles every alternate day!

#2. Weekly Chats!

I have already had two weekly chat sessions this year and now I am planning the third this weekend sometime. But, the problem is that this weekend and the next one are the birthday times for us. So, it might be a leetle-bit difficult to accommodate it these two weeks.

Actually, the problem with these sort of chats is that I am putting them on facebook and not everyone wants to be publicly involved in it. And, then, both the chats were in the noon time on a working day so that also made impossible for some people to attend it. So, I have to think of a way around it!! Let us see what I come up with.

#3. #OneMonthtoHealthyHair Event

Now, this is a real experiment I am doing. Well, this is a one month event starting on 1st March, 2015 to 31st March, 2015. March is the starting of summer and as you already know hair grows better in the warmer months. So, I am holding this event for all the beauties with dry, rough and damaged hair who want a better hair.

In this one month, we all will follow a defined hair care regime which I shall obviously post about and at the end of each week, we shall compare the progress. Also, included are discussions on various hair issues and problems everyday of the month. So, yes, it is a packed month!! And, there would be giveaways and other fun contests included as well. So, do join in! Check out the event facebook page.

I am also planning to release and ebook after the event. So, fingers crossed!!

#4. #DidYouKnow Series on facebook

I have started a new branded graphics #DidYouKnow. Including one of them here.

#5.Change in the flow of posts - More Topics

If you have ever noticed, my blog has always been aligned to my life's flow so more of new topics specially on baby planning and pregnancy and all those things will be coming up. Yes, parenting would be a part of the blog once we become one! No, there is no good news on the cards right now. Hope you would like the new topics as well!

So, these are the top things on my mind right now! And, yup, I want to share a secret - I am working on a project right now and I am extremely excited about it. Okay, I am building up the suspense here so keep it going till I announce about it! Hopefully, it should be soon enough.

Related Posts:

Blogging Series Vol. 18 - Why is it so wrong to make money from a blog?

Blogging Series Vol. 17 - Where do you compose your posts from?

Blogging Series Vol. 16 - Are you setting up goals for 2014?

Blogging Series Vol. 16 - Are you setting up goals for 2014?

I do not remember if I did a round up of the blogging goals achieved in January, 2013 but I do know that I did not do it yet. The reason being the second half of the last year fared badly for my blog as you all are already aware! I guess I was taking blogging too seriously and it became really monotonous because of which I felt like being burnt out all the time.

Anyways, leaving all that aside, I would say that the blog was doing quite well in first half of 2013 and I would like to take the blog from there!! So, for all you bloggers over there, are you creating strategies for your blog this year or just keeping simple.

Aim High but keep lesser goals as well

I had decided last year that by the end of 2013, I would like to earn some x amount from the blog. It is a good goal but there was no plan as to how I was going to achieve it so I would say this time I am gonna breakup the entire schedule into short term of 3 months or a quarter so even my blog would have a quarterly appraisals now on :)

Keeping the Goals flexible
I had last year not accounted for the changes in my life which would take a lot of priority over the blog. Needless to say, I was unsuccessful in achieving the goals!! So, I am gonna adjust my goals this time over a range so that at least the lesser range would be feasible in any case!!

Taking out Time

Yeah, this is like a huge issue right now for me. So, my major goal has become this that I should have enough to post at least a meaningful paragraph everyday. Of course, I have not done it consistently in the new year either!! But, I am trying.

Enjoying the Blog

Lately, I have realized it has more of become an obsession to post instead of just enjoying the posts!! I am always brain-storming as to what to write today. That is something I want to stop and really sit and enjoy the blog while I write it.

And, treat yourself for every goal you achieve

There is a huge advantage of keeping small goals. I would not have to work my ass off obviously and when they are reached, I can always treat myself and get motivated to reach out for more!! Nothing is more motivating than success itself.

So, what goals you are setting for your blog this year?

Related Posts:

Blogger Series Vol. 15 - Continuing with Monetization Methods!

Blogging Series Vol. 14 - Why do you love blogging?

Blogging Series Vol. 13 - How to improve traffic on the blog?