I have no idea what I'm doing, but it's working

So you are surprised that a legitimate blog can make money?

Did you notice that the FTC crackdown was about forced continuity and flogs (fake blogs)?

Tons of smart (albeit evil) marketers figured out that people trust blogs more than sales letters so they started selling from fake blogs.

Real blogs make even more money. Did you ever follow the ventures of "problogger.com"? He really had no idea about anything when he started. He just started writing because he loved writing.

He was surprised himself when he was earning six figures before he even had a product of his own.

Leave the "fake" stuff behind and follow your passion. Blogs make money. Blog platforms designed to make money (like my own) make even more money that Wordpress and the other blog platforms that were designed for hobbiest.

And you never have to write a hyped up sales letter either. You can just write naturally and let your own real passion show through. No $50,000 sales letters. No huge red fonts. No "in your face" guarantees or fake testimonials. Just your story from your heart. That's selling from a blog and that works.

It's great you are getting paid to be yourself.

Sounds like you know what to do. Keyword research is a great place to start.

Dani, good job...

I think part of your answer lies in the fact that you were simply writing about a subject you had passion for, even if it was a 'rave and rant' outlet. By being yourself and communicating naturally about the subject, you naturally optimized without even realizing it.

I think people can sense when others are being honest and when they're trying to put one over. I, for one, love a good rant and get really bored with the same old formulaic 'review' blogs where the only thing the ratings tell you is which product has the highest commission and/or the best conversion.

If you can duplicate that - honest communication about a subject that other people care enough to read about - you have a pretty fair chance of finding another winner...

This isn't always true, but is usually true...

More passion will beat more passions any day.

Remember the importance of focus in any success formula.

It is easier to be more passionate about something you are already passionate about than it is to become passionate about more things and stay just as passionate as you have been about the things you are currently passionate about.

I've just recently splashed out a ton to brand myself via blog.

I've been following a lot of successful people, and a blog really helps to promote you and create credibility when you get it going.

So basically you have found a niche worth being in, I would say maybe build more backlinks and try finding some high search volume keywords

Hi Dani:
Well done its like finding money in the street aint it cool !

Now I agree with most everything in this thread that writing about your passion will produce a nice earning blog such as yours.

I had a blog about a one of my passions and I wrote articles for ezine for it I updated it regularly and I didn't make a dime from it not a penny ..how can this be.. you ask?.

Simple really....., the topic of my passion that I love to write about and that writing came easy for me had absolutely no interest apparently to any one else on the planet except for me...lol imagine that.

I'm not bitter I'm just saying being passionate about what your writing is great but if the topic is of no interest to anyone else it wont matter how much passion you have...

So Lets recap a successful blog

A controversial blog about a hot button topic
Organic Traffic
Good paying clicks from adsense
This is a cant miss scenario .

Again congrats on your blog now milk that puppy for all shes worth

Scott

My blog is like my house. It's where all the magic happens

Congrats Dani
As I read all the threads, I have to agree, writing articles for blogging is one of the best ways to make money. Keep writing and best of luck to you.

In any case, congratulations!
Perhaps consider charging a bit of money for someone to post articles on your website....

Dani , congratulations!! Another famous blogger did the same as you. He simply started writing about something he enjoyed and had no desire to make money from it. Now he generates a nice six figure income.. Pretty Amazing. Keep your hands on the keyboard and continue to write what is on your mind and you also will be making a nice income for years to come.. Congrats on your found success..

Take care ,
Jason

Why would you want to replicate the same thing if it means you have to work more and write about something that you are probably not interested in?

Do some research into adsense positioning to make some more money with what you already have.

Then throw in some keyword research and marketing techniques (traffic and seo) to bring in extra google and other traffic method traffic to increase your adsense earnings which will eventually just be automatic.

It could also be that alot of people are coming back over and over again and are really not tech savy and so click on the ads when they read an article they like and want more information on them!

Well that's what i would do and then look at replicating it once you have fully maximized this ones earnings first.

Mark Blaze

Really Danielle,

how about analyzing your analytics? You should at least know where the traffic is coming from, what keywords drive people to your site.

Dani check these guys out...

problogger.net (This guy even had a post that went viral through different Social Medias and achieve 250,000 visitors to his site in 24 hours, unfortunately he did not see it coming and probably could have monetized it better)

Then:

tylercruz.com
johnchow.com
johncow.com
zacjohnson.com

and loads more...

Alot of them have guides for making money with your blog, as it's what they have achieved and done themselves.... Alot of it seems to boil down to the content you provide, how original, genuine and valuable it is, and then how you market it and participate within your niche community.

Jay.

maybe you should guest post some of the top blogs in your niche?...one really good (I mean your very best and most interesting) post on their blog will drive huge traffic to yours!

Hi. I am new to this also... You all seem so advanced compared to me I started writing articles, but still waiting on my first sale. It's a very exciting thing to be a part of though. You all have some great ideas!

OMG Do you know how many times I was going to post the same thing about the website that went from 10,600,000 to whatever it is now (a lot lower) for unknown reasons?

The Page Rank was a nothing when I started so I deleted the stupid rank thing. Then about a year later I ran into it again so I put the code in and this time is came back PR3. You can see it right at the bottom of the page here: Production Car Care Products for Car Care Detailing Professionals

Like you, I did nothing except what you're not supposed to do. Car wax and cleaners are not all that interesting unless you're 16 with a hot rod - so what was I supposed to do?

I added categories from all over the board. Mostly Internet Marketing and electronics, gadgets, whatever you see. I had Twitter widgets, send ecards, comments, quote of the day, js-kit.com I think...whatever.

My favorite was The Hammer Dance - and the lady sitting there so focused she doesn't even look up when the boy is dancing right in front of her. That was so funny, I just left it there and then added PleasureEllis IgotGigs - still there too. Pleasure Ellis I got Gigs and The Hammerdance

No articles or anything. Keywords were never put on all the pages and I didn't know you weren't supposed to keep changing them, Oh well.

We've moved the shopping cart section because the newer ones do more
things. As far as Sales go, that was never the problem. Remember back in 1999 when you put up a website and people just came to buy? There was no traffic - just customers.

It didn't even matter if the web address was: Automobile Detailing car care products back then. They still came to shop..then we moved into our own domain about 2 years ago. I was going to "do it right" but the repetition and all those rules were too much.

I heard that if you do the exact opposite of what the gurus and SEO experts say, you will be doing more right than wrong. I think that's true. The new, more relevant search results are different now and pretty soon, nothing will be the same as today.

The latest is "Google Social Search" Google Experimental Search

Sure you have your Idea to do what to do. And it's working like you said. Congrat mate :-)