Blogging for profit has increased in popularity since its inception. The irony is that the original blogs were not at all designed with profit in mind. They were meant to be primarily informational and hopefully entertaining, well some of them wanted to be entertaining. The original blogs were essentially logs of articles that could be found about particular subjects or interests online. The real beauty of the original blogs is that they were excellent resources to some quite obscure information that might have otherwise been overlooked or missed in the research process (not all good information has been optimized for Google or other search engines).



The idea of blogging for profit, while not entirely new has taken on new meaning in the last couple of years. Gone are the days when Google ruled the roost. There are other monetizing options for today's blogs and today's bloggers. Many blogs are turning towards information marketing, affiliate programs, and other Google alternatives such as Chitika eMiniMalls, Amazon, and yahoo for starters. Each of these options offers something attractive to those who have either been spurned by Google or find themselves dismayed by their slow progress.

Google is probably the most popular service for monetizing blogs. It is also a stickler for strict adherence, which is not necessarily a bad thing if you've managed to understand all the rules. You really need to take your time and read and understand everything fully about Google before signing up. I will say that while I have had some degree of success with Google, I am not really making enough money by Google alone to make it worthwhile, particularly with the rather high minimum payout rate. To each his or her own however, and I'm sure that many of you will find Google more than adequate for your blog monetizing needs.

Of the many, I've heard mixed reviews on Chitika eMiniMalls. This is one that really does need to reach a targeted market. I have a gadget blog that I have found some degree of success with these particular adds on while these ads did not fare as well in some of my other blogs. The general opinion about Chitika is that it works well if the ads are targeted to your audience. If you are dealing with techies and have articles about iPods and PDAs you will do better than if you are targeting tired housewives. However, Chitika isn't limited to gadgets, they have other ads as well. See if any of their ads fit into your niche before writing them off. I also recommend a few weeks of trying and playing around with ad placement before deciding against them as well. You only need to have earned $10 in order to receive a payout from them unlike Google and you can use these (provided you follow the rules set forth-check the website for details) along with Google ads on your site.

The important thing to remember when monetizing your blog is that you are not limited to one or two options, you have many. Check them all out, play around with them and see which options can be used in conjunction with other similar options. You just might be surprised at how much more money you can earn by choosing the underdog.