Enlighten me please Warriors

If you spend enough time on this forum you will see every opinion from A thru Z. It cam be confusing indeed. Many ways of making money online will work including blogging of course.

The search feature on this forum will allow you to locate tons of information on any topic, bogging, eCommerce, etc

My choice is blogging.

But blogging takes little time and effort but it will be a long lasting income stream.

Quality of content over its quantity matters for sure !!

This is very subjective.
Blogging is generally NOT easy, in my opinion. Sure, targeted traffic + kick-ass content + networking + building a responsive list can equal success. But performing these things is generally the hard part.

At least you have the writing and the passion down, so this is a great start.

My suggestion is to pick a tight niche (hopefully one that you personally enjoy, but the money is hardly ever found in your passion). So find a *need or demand* and fill it to the best of your ability.

Easiest and Most Realistic can be the antithesis of each other.

I will tell what is realistic with blogging... It is a simple concept but in no way Easy, at all.

It takes a lot of creativeness with unique content and very useful content.

It takes lots of time and you really have to get down in the trenches for at least a little while before you see significant results.

Not sure who told you it was easy, but that is just inaccurate


- Robert Andrew

In my opinion and experience, ecommerce is the way to go. Create a unique or branded product that people want.

Content marketing is the hottest thing right now. I wouldn't say it's easy, but it's a non-douchey way to build a sustainable business.

If you want to set yourself apart from the rest of the clutter, one of the best ways is to publish, and position yourself as an authority. The most efficient way is through blogging.

Getting traffic is another story, half the battle is writing the content, you're going to have to spend a lot of time actually promoting your content.

Paid traffic is definitely the fastest way to get eyeballs on your content, but there's all the free ways that work really well too... Just takes more time and effort.

Chances are the same people whose posts you read are still here, so you'll get another mix of opinions and be just as confused at the end of this thread.

You might be better advised to extend your research out into the field and study a few successful blogs in the market you intend to enter. Then you can make your own mind up if it's something you're willing and able to try.

But remember that blogging in itself won't make you any money. Your earnings will come from your readers, your advertisers and your affiliate partners.

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Hi DigitalNinja,

You know, making money online is not that hard and it can be broken down into one formula...

Find a group of people that have a pressing need! Find or create a solution to fill that need! Become an expert on the solution! If you have a passion for writing then set up a blog and get after it!!!

Those are the basic steps. Where it gets hard is when you start looking at other stuff and jump from one thing to another. Most people know HOW to make money but it is the implementation where the train runs off the track. I would go so far as to say that most people lack the confidence in themselves it takes to become successful!

You are at the point of implementation where you are in danger of not making a decision. If you ask for suggestions you run the risk of information overload because you will get very different answers from many people. You won't be able to choose and you will become stuck!

Your website will NEVER be perfect so get it out there and then tweak it! Implementation! Implementation! Implementation!

Again...

1. Find a niche where the people have a problem!
2. Find a solution to that problem!
3. Become an expert on the solution!
4. Focus on this project only!
5. Implement your solution online and get it out there!
6. Tweak as necessary!

Keep one MAJOR point in mind... PEOPLE DON'T CARE WHETHER YOU MAKE MONEY OR NOT! PEOPLE ONLY WANT A SOLUTION TO THEIR PROBLEM!

Everything you do should be done keeping the customer in mind and not how you will make money. A satisfied customer will continue to buy from you while unhappy customers will ask for refunds and not come back!

I hope that helps and you have a great whatever it is wherever you are!

Blogging is the most common way to make money online and can be incredibly profitable, but it really depends on the niche market that you go into. Some niches are bigger than others, so there exist the opportunity to make more money. If I had to choose between having an e-commerce store, directory or blog, I would choose a blog. When it comes to making money online and choosing between various business models, you also have to consider what you're into. Whatever you're into is what you're most likely to stick with.

Joey

I'm a writer so I'm heavily biased in this conversation, but I'll offer a different viewpoint anyway.

You mentioned three ways to make money- a directory, an eCommerce store and blogging. The question shouldn't be which is the easiest or which is the most profitable....but which of the three will open you up to the most traffic. Because before you can make a sale, you need someone to find your site.

So let's start with blogging. Every time you write an article, Google indexes it and you gain a little visibility. Then you share it on social media and gain some more eyes on your site, and you may syndicate it out. You also might email your subscribers to keep their interests high or have giveaways from sponsors, all of which helps open new doors for traffic.

If you do an eCommerce store, your products will need original descriptions or they get marked as duplicate content...so you're writing there too. But the larger brands will naturally have an edge over you, so you'll have to work your user base to get new customers on a regular basis. What's the best way to do this? Blogging, building a list, blasting to social media and sending emails. Every major eCommerce store has a blog for a reason...so you may as well do both.

A directory, on the other hand, is a completely different traffic type. You want businesses to register there and customers to search your directory, so you actually need two different types of traffic streams. And what works best in the short term to help you rank and get more views? Blogging.

So I don't see this as an either/or type of situation. It comes down to what you want to blog about to keep your users engaged and coming back for more. Remember this though- if you go down the Fortune 500 list and look at every single brand represented there, you're going to find well over 2,000 blogs total. Some have three, others have five...but every single company has at least one for SEO and natural traffic purposes. Since it's also the best way to keep your users engaged, blogging wins by a longshot.

I hope that helps...but again, I'm heavily biased on the subject.

When considering blogging to make money online, it does take time, unless you are doing niche sites...even that will take time. I've been blogging a long time and found that if you are giving good information to others aka answering questions in your niche, you will get followers. You could be writing the best content in the world, but you need to get out and find blogging groups so that you can gain traffic to your blog. There are many of them on Facebook and G+ communities.
Reciprocity is the main thing. Go to other blog in your niche and leave a great comment, share it on social media.
Realize, that if it is not a niche blog, you will eventually gain followers to your blog that want the information you are giving. This will help you "brand" yourself as an "authority" in your niche.
But blogging is part of your business. Can't rely on those visiting your blog to immediately purchase something. The other parts are learning how to market, running solo ads, FB ads, etc.
It all comes together eventually. Keep in mind that building relationships with others go a long way. What you do for others, will come back to you.

It really depends upon your aptitude. If you like to write then blogging is something you'll enjoy doing. Monetizing the traffic that you receive is just a business plan. You can definitely make serious money while blogging.

Yes your passion for writing can make you good money by means of blogging. However, it is not that easy and lucrative as you are perceiving it currently. It requires a proper planning and operation strategy before you actually start blogging.

It depends upon the purpose of your blog and the efforts you put in to solve that purpose. For example, you may have an authority blog which you have to grow day by day with a unique and engaging content regularly posted. Or you may have a feeder blog which generally is a limited content blog and purpose of it is to just drive a traffic to one of your money making sites. Or you may also have a social blog to build and grow your following along with your other blogs. You can make money by guest blogging as well.

Also, mere having a blog/s will not make you money. You have to bring traffic to your blog network consistently to grow your blog's following and so the revenue it generates for you.

So it's all about your content marketing and networking strategy that makes the difference between a successful blog and just a blog.

Happy blogging.

Hi DN,

A few things I see some big generalities, and easiest, was one word used. No matter what what you hear, you're looking for a short cut. No matter what we say, you just want that one method. All methods work, quite well, when you choose a channel that inspires you and that you're choosing to help others, and that you're choosing to choose, because you're passionate about that niche. If I wasn't a blogger I'd say the same thing I'm saying as a blogger.

No method you choose will work if you're looking for easy money, because such a desire moves you to do silly stuff, such as spamming, or lying, or forcing things, or pushing yourself to do desperate stuff.

Believe me, I've tried it LOL. For years. I was punished, or, I punished myself before I blogged from paradise because it became really clear: I wanted easy money, and no way in hell was I prepared to work for anything. Now I publish 1 book weekly and I publish a mammoth-sized blog post weekly and I network like a boss and I also run a few other online businesses, and things are coming together. The channels didn't matter much to me although I do love blogging. My energy, and my intent, to help folks, shone through whether I was list building or blogging or affiliate marketing or using social media to make friends, to create value and to grow my business.

Tweeting from Bali!

Ryan

There are many great ways to make money online..

Personally I believe that affiliate marketing is the easiest way to make money online..
However, yes blogging is very lucrative if done right

My choice is delivering valuable content and products. Doesn't matter how you get people to find it but if they do then awesome! With that said, I prefer blogging, it's fun!