How Blogs Make Money

Print magazines make money by selling advertising. The larger their circulation,
the more influence they exert over people, and the demographics of their readers
dictate how much money they make.
Blogs are essentially the same. The more traffic (circulation) you have, the type
and quality of that traffic (reader demographics) and the influence you have over
your audience, determines your profitability.
This is why bloggers are obsessed with building
traffic. It really doesn’t matter how you make money
– it might be a contextual ad program like Google
AdSense, affiliate marketing or direct ad sales – the
more raw readers you have, generally, the more
money you can make.
Quality of traffic plays an important part too. If you
have a strong influence over your readers, when you
ask them to do something, such as recommending
they buy a product you promote as an affiliate, more
of them will do so.
If you break down the process of blog monetization, the following events occur:

1. A person (blogger) creates a web destination point (blog) that people want
to visit, possibly on a repeat basis, because of the value it offers. Initially
they find the blog by following a link from another blog or website, through
a referral from friends or colleagues, or they come across the blog when it
appears in the results of a search-engine query.

2. A proportion of that audience is funneled on to other sites that “pay” to buy
the traffic. Payment might be in the form of a per-click fee, a monthly rate,
an affiliate commission, or profit on a product or service sale.
The blogger works to attract attention and then sells that attention to advertisers
for a fee or uses the attention to profit from their own product and/or service
sales.
The key variable here is “attention”. Attention is traffic, influence and the
potential to make money from blogging.
So how does a blogger attract attention?
The Two Key Ingredients For Attracting Attention
The first part of creating attention (traffic) to a blog, is the age-old advice you will
have read over and over again if you study successful blogging:
“Write good content”
So yes, the foundation of a great blog is good content. Where people go wrong
is deciding what good content is, given their goals (usually the error is made
when determining exactly what the goals are and what strategies will be used to
meet the goals) and assuming that just good content is enough.
The other key ingredient is marketing.
Did I mention that all professional bloggers need to have business skills? Yep,
that’s right, marketing – the fine art of attracting attention and THE key
component for successful business – is a paramount ingredient for successful
blogging. It’s through marketing that people find your good content.
I’ll discuss how to market a blog in a moment, but first we have to make sure you
avoid the first error I mentioned – not having a strategy in place for producing the
right type of good content given your goals.
© 2008 Blog Mastermind

What Is A Blog And Why Are They So Popular?

Everyone has a different opinion of how to explain what a blog is. I like to explain
what a blog is by contrasting it to a “normal” website, since essentially a blog is a
website (so there you go, that’s all a blog really is – a website).
Blogs are websites with a few very key differences, namely:

1. Articles are listed in chronological order with the newest article at the top
This is a very consistent element of every blog I have ever come across. Articles
are listed with a title followed by the body content, starting at the top of the page
with the most recently published article followed by the next most recent, and so
on.
This format is a legacy of the “journaling” aspect of blogging. The term blog is
derived from “weblog” which essentially means online diary or journal. Diaries
have entries made by date and that is how blog posts work too.
An important point to make, despite the journalistic style history, is that blogs
today are not all diaries and are not only about the personal lives of the authors.
Some blogs still are the thoughts of one author – my blog is, but I don’t talk about
my cat or what I had for breakfast. I stay on my chosen topics, Internet business
and blogging, and people who are interested in those two topics come to read my
blog.
Blogs today can be about any subject, written by one or many authors and
certainly are not all personal diaries. Personal reflection, opinion and tone all
have a place in blogs, but that doesn’t affect the breadth or scope of topics
covered.

2. It’s easy to add new content
Normal websites have one chronic problem that kept everyday people from
creating one – they are just too technical. Even with sophisticated content
management systems, website creation was out of the reach of your average
web surfer.
Blogs changed things. They provide a content publishing system so easy to
use that the average net surfer, with some practice, can become a blogger and
publish content to the World Wide Web. When content publishing became as
easy as writing email, the barriers to entry were lowered enough for it to go
mainstream and we now have a world filled with millions of blogs.

3. Content is updated frequently
Another major problem that plagues traditional websites is their static nature.
Most websites never change and you always come back to the same pages with
the same content. The reason for this is point two above – it is too hard for the
average person to add content to a website.
Sure, many popular sites were updated frequently before blogs came along, but
they have the backing of large organizations with technical staff and writers, or
are managed by people who understand things like HTML, FTP and web servers.
Most people do not speak this language and until blogs became available it was
hard for the average person to publish their ideas online.
Blogs lower the barriers to publishing enough so the average person can do it.
As a result the Web is inundated with content producers (bloggers) writing and
publishing articles on a regular basis, sometimes multiple articles per day.
Websites have never been as dynamic as today’s blogs.
A spin-off effect has been the rise of blogs in search engines. Search engines like
Google reward sites that publish valuable content on a consistent basis. Blogs,
by their nature, do this (assuming motivated bloggers are running them) and so
rise high in search engine rankings.
As a result of blogs “stealing” top search engine rankings, they receive even
more attention, capturing the focus of Internet marketers and business owners as
they look to blogs as potential marketing tools for their products and services.

4. Blogs allow people to leave comments
A significant evolution when comparing a traditional website to a blog is the
addition of the comments function. Each article published to a blog has an input
box to allow any person from the public to leave a comment on that article.
This enhancement turned websites from one-way broadcasting devices, to twoway
communication tools. Readers can directly communicate with the author of
the content, carry on the conversation started by the article and essentially turn a
blog into a community.
This last point is more powerful than you think, and here’s why…

5. People “trust” blogs more than normal websites because blogging is a
conversation
If you combine all the elements above – the personal journal style of writing, the
ease of adding content leading to frequent updates, and the ability to interact with
your readers - you have a formula for a very natural communication tool.
Blogs, by their nature, are considered trusted sources of information. They
foster a more human relationship and, as evidenced in countless blogs today,
some bloggers are perceived as respected experts, whether they are or not,
purely on the back of their successful blogs.
This final point is the most significant, yet subtle element that distinguishes blogs
from normal websites. If people trust the words written on a blog, if people come
to like and identify with the person writing the blog, you have all the elements
necessary to create a popular community focused on the creative output of just
one person.
This is why any person with a passion, a hobby, or a skill, and enough motivation
to produce content on a particular topic, can build an audience, keep people
coming back and ultimately, monetize that traffic, establishing the potential for
professional blogging.
Much of what I just explained won’t be new to some people, but it lays the
groundwork for the rest of this report. If the concept of “blog” is still a bit blurry for
you, head online, find some blogs and seek examples of the five points I listed
above so you understand the opportunity that exists.

taked from: Blog Mastermind

Jika Tuhan Membawa Engkau Kepada Cinta...

Ce : Mengapa kamu menyukai saya?
Co : Saya tidak dapat menjelaskan alasannya.
Tetapi saya sungguh menyukai engkau
Ce : Kamu bahkan tidak dapat memberikan alasan kepada saya
Bagaimana kamu dapat berkata menyukai saya?
Bagaimana kamu dapat berkata kamu mencintai saya?
Co : Saya sungguh tidak tahu alasannya,
tetapi saya dapat membuktikan bahwa saya mencintai kamu.
Ce : Bukti? Tidak!
Saya mau kamu menjelaskan alasannya.
Pacar kawan saya dapat berkata kepada kawan saya
bahwa dia mencintai kawan saya, tetapi kamu tidak dapat!
Co : Ok ok!!!
Hmm karena kamu cantik,
karena suaramu enak didengar,
karena kamu penuh perhatian,
karena kamu mengasihi,
karena kamu bijaksana,
karena senyummu,
karena setiap gerakanmu
Sayangnya, beberapa hari kemudian,
sang cewek mengalami kecelakaan dan mengalami koma.
Sang cowok kemudian menaruh surat di sisinya,
dan isinya sebagai berikut:
Kekasihku,
Karena suaramu yang merdu saya mencintaimu.
Sekarang dapatkah kamu berbicara?
Tidak!
Oleh karena itu saya tak dapat mencintaimu.
Karena kamu penuh perhatian dan peduli
maka saya menyukaimu.
Sekarang kamu tidak dapat menunjukkannya,
oleh karena itu saya tak dapat mencintaimu
Karena senyummu, karena setiap gerakanmu
maka saya mencintaimu
Sekarang dapatkah kamu tersenyum?
Dapatkah kamu bergerak?
Tidak!
Karena itu saya tak dapat mencintaimu..
Jika cinta memerlukan alasan,
seperti sekarang,
maka tidak ada alasan lagi bagi saya untuk mencintai engkau lagi.
Apakah cinta memerlukan alasan?
TIDAK!
Oleh karena itu, saya masih tetap mencintaimu
dan cinta tidak memerlukan alasan
Ketika mencintai seseorang
jangan pernah menyesal dengan apa yang pernah kamu lakukan
menyesallah terhadap apa yang tidak pernah kamu tidak lakukan.
Jika Tuhan membawa engkau kepada cinta..
Dia akan memampukan engkau untuk bisa mengatasinya.

Tambahkan Cinta Dan Kurangi Benci

Seorang pria bertemu dengan seorang gadis di sebuah pesta, si gadis tampil luar biasa cantiknya, banyak lelaki yang mencoba mengejar si gadis. Si pria sebetulnya tampil biasa saja dan tak ada yang begitu memperhatikan dia, tapi pada saat pesta selesai dia memberanikan diri mengajak si gadis untuk sekedar mencari minuman hangat. Si gadis agak terkejut, tapi karena kesopanan si pria itu, si gadis mengiyakan ajakannya. 

Mereka berdua akhirnya duduk di sebuah coffee shop, tapi si pria sangat gugup untuk berkata apa-apa dan si gadis mulai merasa tidak nyaman dan berkata, "Kita pulang saja?". Namun tiba-tiba si pria meminta sesuatu pada sang pramusaji, "Bisa minta garam buat kopi saya?" Semua orang yang mendengar memandang dengan ke arah si pria, aneh sekali! Wajahnya berubah merah, tapi tetap saja dia memasukkan garam tersebut ke dalam kopinya dan meminumnya. 

Si gadis dengan penasaran bertanya, "Kenapa kamu bisa punya kebiasaan seperti ini?" Si pria menjawab, "Ketika saya kecil, saya tinggal di daerah pantai dekat laut, saya suka bermain di laut, saya dapat merasakan rasanya laut, asin dan sedikit menggigit, sama seperti kopi asin ini. Dan setiap saya minum kopi asin, saya selalu ingat masa kanak-kanak saya, ingat kampung halaman, saya sangat rindu kampung halaman saya, saya kangen orang tua saya yang masih tinggal di sana." Begitu berkata kalimat terakhir, mata si pria mulai berkaca-kaca, dan si gadis sangat tersentuh akan perasaan tulus dari ucapan pria di hadapannya itu. 

Si gadis berpikir bila seorang pria dapat bercerita bahwa ia rindu kampung halamannya, pasti pria itu mencintai rumahnya, peduli akan rumahnya dan mempunyai tanggung jawab terhadap rumahnya. Kemudian si gadis juga mulai berbicara, bercerita juga tentang kampung halamannya nun jauh di sana , masa kecilnya dan keluarganya. Suasana kaku langsung berubah menjadi sebuah perbincangan yang hangat juga akhirnya menjadi sebuah awal yang indah dalam cerita mereka berdua. Mereka akhirnya berpacaran. 

Si gadis akhirnya menemukan bahwa si pria itu adalah seorang lelaki yang dapat memenuhi segala permintaannya, dia sangat perhatian, berhati baik, hangat, sangat perduli... betul-betul seseorang yang sangat baik tapi si gadis hampir saja kehilangan seorang lelaki seperti itu! Kopi asin yang ada gunanya... Kemudian cerita berlanjut seperti layaknya setiap cerita cinta yang indah, sang putri menikah dengan sang pangeran dan mereka hidup bahagia selamanya, dan setiap saat sang putri membuat kopi untuk sang pangeran, ia membubuhkan garam di dalamnya, karena ia tahu bahwa itulah yang disukai oleh pangerannya. 

Setelah 40 tahun, si pria meninggal dunia, dan meninggalkan sebuah surat yang berkata, "Sayangku yang tercinta, mohon maafkan saya, maafkan kalau seumur hidupku adalah dusta belaka. Hanya sebuah kebohongan yang aku katakan padamu ... tentang kopi asin." Ingat sewaktu kita pertama kali jalan bersama? Saya sangat gugup waktu itu, sebenarnya saya ingin minta gula tapi malah berkata garam. Sulit sekali bagi saya untuk mengubahnya karena kamu pasti akan tambah merasa tidak nyaman, jadi saya maju terus. 

Saya tak pernah terpikir bahwa hal itu ternyata menjadi awal komunikasi kita! Saya mencoba untuk berkata sejujurnya selama ini, tapi saya terlalu takut melakukannya, karena saya telah berjanji untuk tidak membohongimu untuk suatu apa pun. Sekarang saya sekarat, saya tidak takut apa-apa lagi jadi saya katakan padamu yang sejujurnya, saya tidak suka kopi asin, betul-betul aneh dan rasanya tidak enak. Tapi saya selalu dapat kopi asin seumur hidupku sejak bertemu denganmu, dan saya tidak pernah sekalipun menyesal untuk segala sesuatu yang saya lakukan untukmu. Memilikimu adalah kebahagiaan terbesar dalam seluruh hidupku. 

Bila saya dapat hidup untuk kedua kalinya, saya tetap ingin bertemu kamu lagi dan memilikimu seumur hidupku, meskipun saya harus meminum kopi asin itu lagi. Air mata si gadis betul-betul membuat surat itu menjadi basah. Kemudian hari bila ada seseorang yang bertanya padanya, apa rasanya minum kopi pakai garam? Si gadis pasti menjawab, "Rasanya manis." Kadang Anda merasa Anda mengenal seseorang lebih baik dari orang lain, tapi hanya untuk menyadari bahwa pendapat Anda tentang seseorang itu bukan seperti yang Anda gambarkan. Sama seperti kejadian kopi asin tadi. Tambahkan Cinta dan Kurangi Benci karena terkadang garam terasa lebih manis..