How to Earn Money from Blogging

6) Don't rely purely on Google AdSense. While Google ads are usually new bloggers' first foray into advertising because they are so easy to use, they often provide only a fraction of successful bloggers' income. More lucrative deals can come from advertisers who pay directly to have a banner ad or link placed on the blog. McCoy and others say advertisers started contacting them as soon as their blogs started coming up as one of the top links in popular Web searches.

7) Multistream your income. Pavlina says his blog landed him a lucrative book deal as well as talking gigs. Silicon Valley Blogger sells T-shirts and other products. Sites such as cafepress.com make it easy for bloggers to personalize products with their own logo and then earn revenue off the sales.

8) Learn from others. Several successful bloggers have built up a following simply by blogging about how to make money from blogging, such as Rowse, who calls himself a Blog Evangelist, and John Chow, who offers a free E-book on earning money and gives reports on how much he earns each month. (In June, he says he made over $40,000.)

But don't let such wild success intimidate you. The Lazy Man & Money blogger says the first priority should be on having fun. He considers writing about money an enjoyable hobby—one that he now spends about 14 hours a day doing. For his efforts, he earns around $30,000 a year.