Making money to blog requires a vast array of knowledge. Of course you need a blog to get started, and then you’ll integrate some ad services like AdSense and WidgetBucks. These ad services will help us generate money with our blogs, but without the readers there is no money. RSS plays a big role in building our fan base. Ok great, so what exactly does RSS stand for and why should I care?RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. When you create a new post with Blogger it publishes a new RSS “feed”, which is simply a stripped down version of your website. It contains the basic text and any images you display.I don’t get it. What’s so good about a stripped down version of my site?In today’s ADD, news-hungry society, RSS has exploded in popularity. People want as much information as they can get their hands on, with as little effort as possible.With RSS comes “Feed readers” like Google Reader. These applications allow readers to “consume” or subscribe to your sites feed. When you post a new article, the user is alerted. The great thing about these feed readers or RSS readers is that they provide a quick list of your article subjects. So instead of being overwhelmed with a page load of content, they can simply scan for subjects that interest them and then drill down further if they wish.I’m starting to get this RSS thing… but maybe you can create some analogy for me to make it clearer?Boy you sure do ask for a lot. Ok – here goes: Let’s say you go to the store and purchase a magazine on computer software. Chances are good that you will flip open a page and have a subscription card fall on to your lap. For this example, let’s pretend it’s a subscription to the latest Microsoft news. Well, if you like Microsoft and you care about their news you’ll fill out their card, write a check and send it off in the mail. Now the first of every month – you’ll get a brand new magazine from Microsoft and learn about their many failed attempts to beat Apples’ iPod with their Zune (sorry, I just had to throw that in there). And of course if you get tired or the same ol’ same ol’, you can cancel at any time.RSS is the same way. If you run across a site that you find interesting, you can simply subscribe to that sites feed and you’ll be alerted to anything new coming from there. And of course, you can cancel the site feed at any time.This was an introduction to RSS. In future articles I will discuss ways we can present an RSS feed for our users to consume. In the meantime, digest this information, because RSS is something you need to know about if you’re going to be a serious blogger.
Burn your Feed with FeedBurnerFeedBuner is a FREE service that allows you to put your feed in front of more viewers. You can read all about Feedburner here.First-things-first - head over to FeedBurner and create your account, it only takes a couple of minutes. Once your account is setup, simply “burn your feed” by typing the URL of your blog on the home page of FeedBurner. FeedBurner will then provide you with the direct link to your blogs feed - go ahead and copy that now.Log into your Blogger account and click on Settings in your dashboard. At your Settings page, click on the Site Feed menu.I would suggest setting the “Allow Blog Feed” to full. This means that anyone who subscribes to your sites feed will see the entire article in their newsreader. This is just common courtesy in my opinion - don't make your readers do more work than they have to. Most people happen to be turned off by a shortened article feed anyhow… our purpose is to pull in more readers, not lose them. Next, paste your FeedBurner feed into the “Post Feed Redirect URL” option. This is the link to your sites feed that you burned just a short while ago. Once you're done with that, save your settings.Your Blogger blog has been setup with a full RSS feed, and you are helping your cause out by using the FeedBurner service to get your articles in front of more viewers. We are moneymaking machines after all… aren't we?Now head over to your blog template.Your blogs feed is ready to be consumed by the hungry vultures that are your readers. But in order to give them what they want, you have to expose it to the world. You should be looking at your blogs layout now - click on Add a Page Element and choose the Feed option.Simply paste your FeedBurner link here and save your changes. I recommend moving your RSS link to a highly visible area of your page - near the top. Ok, you're done!In just a matter of minutes you have created a nice shinny RSS feed for all of your loyal readers. By doing this, you're conforming to the rest of the blogging world (which is a good thing) and making your site more accessible to potential fans. Just another step in blogging for money.
Create a RSS link for your blog
Create an RSS Link for your Blog Readers
In What is RSS? We learned how important it is to connect with your readers by exposing an RSS feed. This will ultimately lead to a bigger fan base and in time, more money for your blog. But now that you know what RSS is, how exactly do you provide this feed on your Blogger blog? You'll be happy to know that this is a very simple process.
Burn your Feed with FeedBurner
FeedBuner is a FREE service that allows you to put your feed in front of more viewers. You can read all about Feedburner here.
First-things-first - head over to FeedBurner and create your account, it only takes a couple of minutes. Once your account is setup, simply “burn your feed” by typing the URL of your blog on the home page of FeedBurner. FeedBurner will then provide you with the direct link to your blogs feed - go ahead and copy that now.
Log into your Blogger account and click on Settings in your dashboard. At your Settings page, click on the Site Feed menu.
I would suggest setting the “Allow Blog Feed” to full. This means that anyone who subscribes to your sites feed will see the entire article in their newsreader. This is just common courtesy in my opinion - don't make your readers do more work than they have to. Most people happen to be turned off by a shortened article feed anyhow… our purpose is to pull in more readers, not lose them.
Next, paste your FeedBurner feed into the “Post Feed Redirect URL” option. This is the link to your sites feed that you burned just a short while ago. Once you're done with that, save your settings.
Your Blogger blog has been setup with a full RSS feed, and you are helping your cause out by using the FeedBurner service to get your articles in front of more viewers. We are moneymaking machines after all… aren't we?
Now head over to your blog template.
Your blogs feed is ready to be consumed by the hungry vultures that are your readers. But in order to give them what they want, you have to expose it to the world. You should be looking at your blogs layout now - click on Add a Page Element and choose the Feed option.
Simply paste your FeedBurner link here and save your changes. I recommend moving your RSS link to a highly visible area of your page - near the top. Ok, you're done!
In just a matter of minutes you have created a nice shinny RSS feed for all of your loyal readers. By doing this, you're conforming to the rest of the blogging world (which is a good thing) and making your site more accessible to potential fans. Just another step in blogging for money.
In the Getting Started series of articles (links on the right side of this page, if you missed them - shame on you), we learned a little bit about AdSense. We learned that Google AdSense could help us earn money from blogging. You probably saw the words money and blogging and feverishly read on to other articles, but hold on cowboy (or cowgirl)! This isn't a get rich quick scheme. We need to educate ourselves and today we're going to do just that.
AdSense is a free Google program that allows site owners to earn money from ads. What's great about these ads is that they're targeted to your content. The AdSense actually "crawls" your text and from there determines what ads are best suited for your website. How cool is that? So if you have a blog about cars, well you're going to get ads targeting car subjects.
Well that's fine and dandy but how do we generate money off of these ads?
I'm glad you asked. The answer is both simple and complex. I'll keep this article simple and save the complex for the future. But in a nutshell - you make money from people who click on your AdSense ads. That's it! Really!
But users have to purchase something on the advertising site before we make money, right?
No! That's what makes this program wonderful. Google's business model is brilliant - they help people make money, while making more money in the process. In layman terms: the advertisers pay Google to promote; when a user from your site clicks their ad the advertiser wins (they get additional traffic, possibly more business), Google wins (they get a big piece of the advertisers money they used to promote), and we win (we get a small piece but it's a piece that will add up over time... more on that in future articles).
There's a reason why Google is the Internet giant and AdSense is a perfect example. It's a snowball effect that helps all participants involved: Google, the advertiser, and most importantly… You!
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