confused about making money from my site

Hi, there's nothing wrong with asking questions! It is possible to make money through selling advertising space and through adsense... but it does take some time to build up. I know that some warriors on here earn hundreds a month through adsense/ ppc but a lot of them have built up hundreds of sites, some of which may only earn a few dollars each month.

Have you considered putting affiliate links on your site? This is quite easy- sign up as an associate with Amazon (Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more) and they have a section on their site which takes you step by step through putting links to products on your site. If people click on your link and buy from Amazon then you get paid a commission- if they order more stuff at the same time you get commission on that too.

Clickbank is really easy to use too- register for a free affiliate account at Digital Products Retailer: Affiliate Program & Sell Online - ClickBank and find products which match your site, you can then obtain a link to put on your site. If anyone clicks on the link and buys the product then you get paid a commission. This is more generous than Amazon- Clickbank products typically pay 50%- 60%. Some sellers also allow you to download images and banners advertising their products to put on your site.

As long as you don't see it as a get rich quick opportunity and are prepared to spend some time on keyword research/ content creation then there's no reson why you can't start to make money- it will take time to build up though. Hope this helps and good luck!

My primary income streams are:
1. Product Sales (my own)
2. Advertising Sales
3. Services
4. Affiliate Sales (both as a vendor, and as an affiliate)

one, two, and four all take traffic to be profitable. 3 however is something you can do from day one and use to pay the bills while your blog/business takes off.

You say you don't have a product to sell, but it's really not hard to either create one or become an affiliate for one. It's really as simple as this:

1. Choose a target market

2. Survey them using free software like zoomerang and ask them what they want to buy.

3. Create a sales letter.

4. Create the product they said they wanted in a minimal amount of time. So many people get stuck here because they want to create a masterpiece and they don't even know if people want it yet. Instead, create the product in under a week. If people love it, you can always release an updated version (and probably charge more for it).

5. Drive traffic to your one-page sales letter site and give people only three options: They can either buy your product, opt in for your list, or leave the site.

6. Continue to build your list, survey, create products, and sell them until the end of time.

When I started i was thinking the same way you do so here is what i did and i am still doing.

1.I found a profitable niche

2.I found a product/service to promote

3. I created a squeeze page where I have some free gifts to give to those who sign up to my list.That way I built a list.

4.I give to my list information they need so they start to trust me.

5.I promote my product/service to my list.

This way i never had to learn html or other crazy computer skills.

Hope I helped you in a way.

Kiriakos

I think you'd find it easier to actually learn some skills and sell a service to start out with. The people who make a killing with Adsense and selling adspace have huge amounts of traffic. If you can do that, you're good to go. If not, you'll be very disappointed in the pennies that Adsense pays out and the fact that no one wants to buy an ad on your site.

Mr Questions -

Google Chris Rempel "the Lazy marketer" and Jimmy D Brown. They'll set you in the right direction. They are top notch marketers. Some of their stuff is free, some of their courses you'll pay for. But you won't get better, more honest, advice on the net.

Selling your own product will typically bring you the most profit. However if you don't have your own product, you can promote an affiliate link and make commissions based on sales generated from your link.

And yes if you can offer something of value in terms of information on your site, you can build a strong visitor base and then make money from adsense, etc. I suppose that's how some of these game designers make a ton of money from their free smartphone games. I see all the banner ads displayed so they must make a good buck from that.

If you have a good website you can also encourage people to sign up for newsletters, etc. Once you have a strong email list, you can follow up with them and promote offers for product, etc.

These are just a few ways to monetize and make money from your website. There are certainly many other ways to consider as well. Just proceed carefully and you'll do well over the long run. Good luck!

First, try to learn, then think to start making money. You can't earn money without knowledge..