Affiliate Marketing: Up's and Down's

Here's something I've learned about doing affiliate marketing with your blog:  you have to be patient. 

You may go days with low sales (or in my case, no sales), then suddenly have a big day that makes up for all the slow ones.  Sometimes I get a little restless after a few slow days and start thinking about starting a new advertising campaign, etc. 

But I've learned to let the process work.  I'll keep getting traffic if I keep writing good content.  As long as I'm consistent, the money will eventually come. 

Using Forums: Bypassing Search Engines

Here's another benefit to using forums:

People often look to forums to find information on products.  Most forums have some type of feature that allows users to search threads.  You can use these factors to your advantage.

It's pretty simple--you just post a link to one of your posts in a related thread in the forum (assuming the forum allows links). 

Your best bet is probably going to be posting in an existing thread (even lenient moderators tend to frown on a new thread with nothing more than a link to your blog).  Users search the forum for specific terms and find your link.  You are sort of bypassing the search engines, giving people another way to find your blog.

Blogging Blogs: Blah, Blah, Blah

A few posts ago I mentioned the importance of learning from the blog gurus.  I still stand by that . . . but I have to admit something--sometimes they all start to sound the same.  Anyone else notice this?

I know part of the reason: there are basic principles that work, and there's only so many different ways you can explain these before-mentioned principles.

And before you accuse me of being too critical, I'm not--some of these sites have given me some incredibly good tips.

Here's my approach:  I follow about 12 different "blogging blogs" via feed on my google page.  If a title grabs my attention I'll check it out.  Maybe I learn something I can apply, maybe not.  Then every once in a while I'll come across a really good post that makes up for all the "blah, blah, blah" stuff I've read.

Earning Money at Home

2010 has started off well for me--January was my most profitable month ever in terms of blogging.  We're not talking huge money here, but every little bit helps.  

It takes a lot of work to make a profitable blog, and I'm far from an expert on this.  I'll probably never be an expert because other aspects of my life are far more important to me.

But I will say this--the whole idea of making money through a blog is just super-cool to me.  Maybe I'm just easily amused.