Although blogging for money may seem like something you can do while sitting at home in your underwear and eating bon-bons, it really isn’t. OK, technically you can, but it takes a lot of work and effort as well. In order to blog for money, whether it is your weekend beer money or the money to pay your bills the fundamental steps are the same.

Define your niche - blogging will be much easier for you if you define which topic you are interested in. The more specific you can make your niche the easier it will be to make your blog a success and the more fun you will have doing it.

Consistency is key - When you pick a niche, stick with it. Even if it means infrequent posting if you only have a little quality content you will be better off then a blog full of meaningless content. In order to make the most of this minimal content, make sure you set a schedule to post and that your readers know it. If you plan on posting once a week, make sure its the same time and day of the week. This keeps your readers from not getting disappointed by returning to your blog and not finding any new content. They will appreciate the consistency of your posting

Be Unique - Be your own blog. Just because there are other blogs in your niche doesn’t mean you can’t be successful and it definitely doesn’t mean you should follow there lead. In fact if you differentiate yourself and sometimes challenge what the lead dog has to say then it may also help you get noticed.

Share a bit of yourself - blogs are meant to be personal, I’ve found that in my writings if I relate to a topic or give my opinion on a subject reader response is better. You get more comments, more people interested and it builds loyalty. These loyal readers are the ones who will click your ads or buy products from your affiliate links. If your blog postings are impersonal they are harder for people to relate to. The classic technique that Hollywood uses in TV shows and movies, by introducing a flaw or trait in the main character that we can relate to. If Hollywood didn’t allow the viewer to relate to a character, even in the most remote way, then we wouldn’t get emotional attached to the movie and then we wouldn’t buy the DVD or video game.

Promote yourself - You have to care about you - you have to go out and tell the world how great you are - if you aren’t tooting your own horn, who will? Sell yourself - let others know that YOU are a quality brand and that you deserve all the good things that life bestows on you.

The same goes for blogging. You need to get out there and promote your blog a little. Find relevant forums or newsgroups and suggestion you link, use a blog search to find relevant blogs to your niche and take part in conversations on others blogs. I’m not just talking about comment spamming blogs, but get out there and get involved in your niche.

I’ll go into more details onto each one of these fundamental steps to blogging in future posts as well as a post dedicated to the technical aspect of blogging.

Of course these don’t apply if you are just maintaining a personal blog for fun, (ie my friends who read my blog), they apply to the person who is trying to make some income from blogging. While blogging can be a lot of work, it can also be a lot of fun and like everything else….. You get out what you put in.

Currently Listening to Remind Me by Royksopp from the album Melody A.M. (from the Geico commercial)