IS THERE MONEY IN INTERNET BLOGGING?

One word. Yes. If there wasn't, most of the people that blog would not do it. The interesting part though is that most of those people are blogging just like buying a lottery ticket. Hoping that it will pay off but probably have not made the "internet millions" that everyone dreams of. But its that dream that keeps people going. But to be one of the few that actually make money. And I am not talking about making a spending money, but to actually make a living while blogging, you have to have the drive to keep pushing, learning, and reinventing. Even in today's economy it is possible to make a living off blogging.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT WRITERS BLOCK

It happens to everyone, even bloggers. But with a blog that you want to update regularly, having writers block can feel like the worse thing to happen. One way to prepare is to have one or more posts in reserve for the occasion. Another option is to troll the news for the subject you blog on and give a review of an article you either agree with or even disagree with. Don't forget to link to the article. Being prepared can mean the difference between having a blog that seems to be moving smooth or looking like you are not really committed.

IF MICROSOFT BUYS YAHOO...

This could have a major impact on bloggers both who use googles blogspot and others. The major impact will be a bigger player in advertising posibilities. The way I see it, both Google and Microsoft/Yahoo will probably come up with wordage that states you cant have both advertising on the same page. But at the same time it runs the possibility that us bloggers may get a slightly larger share of the revenue to keep us from switching companies. Either way it will make for an interesting spring as this thing moves forward.

CONTESTS BUILD READERS

You know the old saying. It takes money to make money. Having a contest on a blog with a small reward can help build up readership. A simple idea at Boredom Relief (another blogger blog) is to give away a $25 gift certificate to the winner of a contest. Be creative with the contest and the prize and watch how fast it can increase readers in no time.

BLOGBURST

If you have a blog with newsworthy content I strongly recommend looking into blogburst.com once you have your blog established. They want blogs with good content that are well written and get at posted to at least a couple of times a week. So what is blogburst right? Its a syndication system. Blogs that make the cut and get accepted have the possibility to have posts show up on sites such as Fox News and Reuters. This gets you free publicity and click throughs to your blog. Again, this is not for the personal blog. Also I would not recommend even submitting until after you have been blogging for at least 3 months for 2 reasons. 1) They want to see a track record or blogging on a regular basis. and 2) If you are still blogging after 3 months you know yourself how serious you are.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

You will find a lot of people like to use the 3 month 6 month and 1 year rules when deciding on the true seriousness of a blogger. Anyone can start a blog. I did. But is the blog still up and running after 3 months? How about after a year? Is the blog being updated regularly and is the information pertinent? Of course this is for blogs that are set up for niche markets and meant to draw readers and generate income. If your blog is a personal blog, this probably does not pertain to you. Begining Blogging is not a serious blog by any means. I started it to give a couple of friends a look at how easy it was to start a blog about blogging. I post when there is something I want to say but not much more. I have other blogs and they have been around for 6 and 5 months respectively. Both are updated at least 3 times a week. One has stayed true to topic since day one while the other has evolved. Each has a small loyal following of people that enjoy the topics and even have decent page ranks for the size and age of them. So here it is six months later and I am still having fun blogging and I am serious.

DON'T FORGET TO BURN YOUR FEED

A great help in getting and maintaining subscribers to your blog is to sign up for an account with Feed burner. Feed burner is owned by Google (what isn't right?) and is a way of letting people sign up to receive updates when you add to your blog. This brings people back when you have something to say and helps in building a following. So if you want to gain readers, sign up for feed burner.