Many of us self-employed parents who blog dream of earning money from our blogs.  There are many stories of bloggers earning the “big bucks” and we would like to be one of those ‘stories’.  You can earn money by blogging, if you are dedicated to doing so.
According to Technorati, the average American blogger earns $6,000 per year.  The top 1% earn $200,000 or more.
Blogging requires long hours and a lot of work.  Make sure you pick a subject you are passionate about.  For me, it’s all about helping parents work from home so they can be home with their children.  Find a subject that ‘ignites your fire within’.  You are less likely to get burned out and more likely to stick with it if you do.
If you pick a topic like celebrity gossip, politics, photography or gadgets, the competition is fierce and it will be difficult to get yourself established.  Select something else and remember…make sure you are passionate about it.
If you want to earn money from your blog there are several ‘musts’:

• your blog must be well-written
• your blog must not contain any spelling error
• your blog must not contain any grammatical errors

Here are some of the best ways to earn money from your blog.

• Advertising.  The most obvious way to make money from your blog is with advertising.  Advertisers pay a few cents when an ad is clicked.  They may pay a certain rate per 1,000 page views.  The most popular advertising program is Google AdSense.  It places ads within context of your blog on your site.  Regardless of the traffic level on your site, you can register for Google AdSense.  There are other advertising methods, such as BidVertiser, AdBrite and AdGenta.  If you are well know and have a large readership, you can contact advertisers on your own.  To make money from ads on your site, you need thousands of visitors each month.
• Affiliate programs.  Affiliate programs are similar to advertising.  You can place a button/banner ad or text ad on your site.  You can also place hyperlinks within your posts.  For affiliate links to pay, the person who clicks on them usually has to make a purchase…you then get a percentage of that purchase. 
• Pay-per-post.  Some companies will pay you to write about their products or services.  You will need some blogging time under your belt before you can get involved in pay-per-post programs.  Be cautious, though.  Your readers are reading your blog because they are interested in what you have to say.  If you are getting paid to write about a product, be sure you tell your readers that.  Full disclosure is important and your readers will respect that.
• Sponsorship.  You may be able to get a corporate sponsor.  However, your site will then carry only the sponsor’s branding and there will be less of your own ‘personality’ coming through.
• Employment.  Many businesses have their own blogs.  They use the blogs to stay in touch with their customers.  You may find work by being a paid blogger for a company.  This takes a lot of dedication.  You have to show companies that you are worth hiring.  This means you have to be well established and have posts with no errors.  If you are really well known, businesses may come looking for you.  More than likely, you will have to seek them out.  Remember to treat this like any other job interview.

There are many ways you can earn money by blogging.  It does take considerable time and dedication.  Most bloggers earn a little bit to supplement their main source of income.  If make a lot of money by blogging is your goal, dedicate yourself to the process and you will reap the rewards.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.

Author: Our Milk Money