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$10,000 in $100 bills

About a month after I got my first connection to the internet I decided I wanted to build a website. I had no burning ambition to share information, I just wanted to see if I could do it. Bearing in mind I have the technical capabilities of your average goldfish and things weren’t so easy back in 1998, I found it difficult but eventually I did it.

Of course, being somebody who can turn shopping into an Olympic sport, I wanted to make some money from the website. Now, that was really difficult! In those dim and distant days, there were very few opportunities, the main one was Amazon and then it was only Amazon.com.

Now the picture is completely different. There are thousands of affiliate opportunities with all kinds of companies so, today, there is no reason why anybody who has a reasonably popular website, getting a couple of thousand visitors a week, shouldn’t make at least enough from their site to go shopping. Some people are so good at monetising their site or sites, they have made a career from it and have been able to give up the day job.

So how can you make money from your website?

You could try one of the get rich quick schemes advertised all over the web but, remember, if it sounds too good to be true, you can usually bet your life it is. There aren’t that many people making big money from these products and those that do are probably the ones who came up with the original idea. If you want instant wealth, try entering a lottery – your chances are probably better!

More sensibly, you could build a site or write a blog about something that genuinely interests you. If you keep it updated and build up good traffic, then you could find you can earn money from it.

Choosing Your Subject With Money in Mind
One factor is that some subjects are more commercial than others. For example, Ancient Russian Pottery is obviously not a hugely commercial subject whereas a site on popular subject like football or Lord of the Rings or some aspect of travel probably would be more profitable. A popular subject might get more visitors and there are a huge number of specific items and services for sale on these topics. The downside is that you will come up against stiff competition from an enormous number of sites on the same subjects varying from those belonging to big corporations to those of fans.

Amazon.co.uk Warehouse, Glenrothes, Scotland

If you want to earn money from your website, this is something you need to consider.

Think Laterally
With less mainstream subjects, you have to think laterally. OK, Ancient Russian Pottery won’t attract a lot of visitors because it is so specialised but you would need to make the best of those who do come. Books on pottery of all kinds could be offered, travel to Russia is another possibility, perhaps even a language course might be available. So just because your site might not have obvious opportunities for monetising, try thinking outside the box and you might be surprised at what you can find.

Position Ads to Get a Sale
When you put ads on your website, think about how YOU use the internet. Don’t assume that you are the only person that won’t scroll down to look at ads – most people won’t. You need to put your advertisements high up on the page so that people see them (sometimes called ‘above the fold’) even if they don’t read the whole article.

If you mention a book, a DVD or video, or any other product, in an article, put an affiliate text link to it and use the relevant words in the article as the link. You’ll be surprised at how many you can sell and, don’t forget, this will go on working for you long after you wrote the article. This isn’t an invitation to drag the names of all kinds of products into articles because that will be a turn-off to many visitors, but rather to capitalise on natural opportunities.

Book, Movie and Other Reviews
These are interesting for visitors and a natural way for you to put in links to products. Put a link to the item reviewed right at the top of the article and then again at the bottom. Don’t forget to link to Amazon in any countries where the product is available.

Once your site is well established, you can email the marketing department of publishers and ask for review copies. It is best if you do a few reviews first (use your own books or those from the library) so that you can include a link or two to them in your email to show you are serious.

These methods can bring in anything from small, occasional amounts of money up to a good, regular income.