Whether you're looking for a bit of money on the side or a full-time income from home, writing a blog could be the answer that you're looking for. Many people are indeed making money from their blogs. Unfortunately, many people are also NOT making money from their blogs, so it's important to do things right.

The first thing you want to do is choose a niche theme that interests you. This could be anything from knitting sweaters to auto mechanics. The topic should be broad enough that people are searching for it, but small enough that you don't have a whole lot of rivals.

Then, simply start your blog. There are a lot of different methods to do this. Blogger and Wordpress are two of the most well-known. Blogger is free and does allow advertisements. The free version of Wordpress does not allow advertisements, but the paid version does and is a bit more robust than Blogger. If you have a small amount of money to invest, Wordpress is the way to go, but if you don't, Blogger is more than acceptable.

Once you've got your blog up and running, you want to boost your traffic. This is perhaps the hardest part about blogging. The more traffic you have, the more money you can make from your blog. You can increase traffic using blog directories, writing articles, or participating in blog carnivals, among other things.

Then you can start adding your money-making methods. The most popular ways to monetize your blog are:

1. Adsense. Hands-down the most well-known method of monetization, simply sign up for adsense, copy and paste the code onto your site, and wait for the money to roll in. Each time a person clicks on an ad, you make a bit of money. The good thing is that it's easy. The bad thing is that you may only be getting a few cents per click and it may take a long time to reach the $100 minimum payout level.

2. Contextual Links. Contextual links are a more recent concept. These companies will analyze the text on your blog and insert advertising links directly into your text. This is also very easy to incorporate, however payments tend to be low and some readers find the links distracting.

3. Blog-ads. Companies will pay a certain amount of money to place ads on your site. This can be profitable, but it may require a lot of traffic. Companies want to know that they are getting their money's worth.

4. Affiliate programs. These run on the idea that if you recommend a particular product to your readers and they buy it, you can get a percentage of the sale. This can be the most profitable of all monetization methods, but it requires an audience willing to buy things.

5. Donations. Some people do quite well simply by asking for people to donate a small amount of money to the site. If many people are donating money, it can add up very fast.

It can take a lot of time to start seeing money coming in from your blog. Many people report that it took them up to a year to start seeing some money. However, with a bit of effort, and the right know-how, you will be able to succeed more quickly.