Travel Writer's Secret to Making Money From an Ad-Free Blog

By Rebecca Ann

Travel writer David's first blog was an ad free blog. Some people thought he was crazy for not monetizing his blog. As a travel writer, he knew he could make money from his writing. Through his research he found great blogs on the internet that did not run ads. He found out that some ads can actually make you lose money! The most important discovery was finding out that he could make a decent income without running ads on his blog.

Would you like to know the travel writer's secret to making money from an ad-free travel writing blog? Keep reading to find out how it's done!

According to an article on the blog Lost Art of Blogging: "I've waited about 6 months for my first adsense check a few years back, when I first started blogging. Yeah, 6 months for a meager 100$. Don't forget it's a lot harder now, as opposed to, let's say, 2-3 years back. I've heard a lot of people saying they've waited as much as 12 months for their adsense to cash in. Let's look at the CPM model, too. At a normal CPM rate of 1$ per thousand impression, a blogger would need about 100k hits per month to make 100$, which, let's face it, is both not much at all and hard to achieve. A normal mid-trafficked blog has a few thousand impressions per day, working pass that requires a heck of a lot of work. Yeah, you can add multiple banners (leaderboards, skyscrapers, blocks etc.), but in the process you may risk over-flooding your blog with commercial ads."

First, sign up with WordPress.com or Blogger for a FREE blog. Once you start blogging you will develop credibility for your niche travel market. If your blog is loaded with advertising, readers may question who you are writing for. Are you writing to educate and provide useful travel information to your readers? They may get the "feeling that you're writing for the advertisers that are on your blog.

A blog is a great way to market your travel writing ability. You can make a page, call it Portfolio, and showcase your work. All you have to do is "pdf" your work or the alternative is to create a page for ebooks, travel guides, or magazine travel articles.

If you have a website dedicated to budget travel and your website receives a ton of traffic, consider writing an eBook. After all, you're expert on the subject and your readers know it. When you are finished writing and proofing your eBook, sell it on your website.

Another ad-free technique is to ask for donations. Some travel writers may think this is "crazy talk," but many people ask for donations to keep their blogs up and running. Appeal to your readers senses and if they appreciate your work they'll be happy to help you out financially so you can keep your blog online. Check out Paypal, sign up today, and earn money tomorrow!

In conclusion, an ad-free blog can make you money. Your blog will be clean and fresh with pertinent travel information that your readers want to read. A focused reader is a happy reader who will be back for more!

Our website is dedicated to aspiring and experienced travel writers. You'll discover motivation, inspiration, and education on travel writing. Join our forum and converse with other travel writers. You'll find information on getting started in travel writing to affiliate marketing. Sign up for our weekly blog recap just in case you'll be traveling; the blog will be delivered to your inbox. URL: http://www.Travel-Writers-Exchange.com

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Blog Success - Your Blog Goals

By Ted Demopoulos

In order to have a successful blog, it's important to have blogging goals.

What are your goals with blogging? If you don't have any goals, how can you know if you're succeeding, if your blog is working?

Ask yourself where do you want to end up with blogging? You are never going to get there if there isn't any "there." How do you know you've achieved your goals if you don't have them?

I suggest going beyond merely listing goals and choosing a primary goal. Your primary goal may certainly shift over time, as may all your goals.

Goals for a business blog might include establishing thought leadership, engaging customers in dialogue -- Microsoft has been extremely effective in that with their 4,000 plus bloggers, increasing awareness of your company and its offerings, or perhaps just becoming a better writer -- writing is a critical business skill.

For example, my primary goal with my first blog was simply to experiment and become familiar with blogs and blogging. Once that was accomplished, my primary goal became to reposition myself as a consultant. Traditionally, I was a technical guy and many of my older clients used me for my technical acumen only. However I'd been in business for myself for a good 15 years including a number of startups and a lot of consulting, and I learned quite a bit about business. Some of my newer clients used me for my business acumen. I used my blog to help position myself as a consultant with a lot of business experience and a strong technical background.

I strongly suggest you write down your blogging goals, preferably on paper! Schedule a review date on your calendar a few months out and revisit your blog goals then.

Have you made progress towards achieving them? Has your primary goal shifted?

Just the simple practice of documenting your blogging goals and periodically reviewing them can have an enormous impact on the success of your blog.

And for over 100 more tips on successful blogging, I invite you to grab your free copy of my ebook Secrets of Successful Blogging at http://www.secretsofsuccessfulblogging.com By Ted Demopoulos, author of "Blogging for Business" and "What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting"

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