Blogs can be a great way to make money online, they are easy to set up and maintain, plus, they can be a lot of fun too! Blogs perform well in search engines, are easy to promote, and can offer very “sticky” and/or “viral” content. If you blog often, and if you’re good at it, you could develop a really large following of readers who subscribe to your RSS feed and read your content on a daily or consistent basis.
One of the biggest keys to success with blogs is posting to them regularly (something I’ve been pretty poor at lately). If you don’t post regularly, you probably won’t get much traffic, and eventually people won’t return. 
Posting frequently will keep your content new and fresh – and search engines looooove fresh content!
The more often you post, the more often the search engine spiders and bots will visit your site. And every time you post, you can ping your site automatically (depending on the platform or software) or manually at various ping locations to let these services know that something new has been added and “to come look.” This can also bring in more traffic.
Another major key to blog success is creating “sticky” or “viral” content. This means you have to write or create posts that people will actually be interested in reading (or watching) and hopefully, share!
Your readers probably won’t care what you had for dinner, that is, unless you’re someone famous, or you’re running a food/recipe blog. They want to read about stuff related to your particular niche. If you’re running a blog about gardening, at least 75% of your posts should be related to gardening. Preferably 100%. You might occasionally post about family matters, your pets, or your favorite movie or restaurant as a way to connect on a more personal level with your readers, but most of your posts should be on target with your niche.
Blogs are also great for people who sell services (like me). If you’re a web designer or writer, an illustrator or photographer, whatever, having a blog is a good way to keep in touch with your clients. You can offer updates on your schedule and availability, current prices and special offers, and even when you’ll be taking a vacation.
You can also post samples of your latest work or projects. Have a portfolio? Create a gallery or page for it. If you have a lot of clients subscribing to your RSS feed, you’ll be able to maintain contact and keep them informed with updates or new products/services and hopefully they’ll become repeat customers and clients, purchasing often.
Another thing worth noting, is that people also tend to follow blogs more carefully than websites. Because of the “personal” nature of blogs, establishing relationships online with your visitors is much easier. People will see you as open and accessible and not fear contacting you (be sure to provide easy contact information or forms).
Don’t start a blog with the intention of letting it sit dormant and hope it earns money. That’s just wishful thinking and probably won’t work. Forget the “get rich quick” blogging crap you see all over online — it’s NEVER that easy! If you’re going to start a blog, you need to be prepared to commit yourself to nurturing and feeding the blog, posting often, keeping it updated, interacting with your visitors and not giving up on it.
Blogs are capable of offering multiple selling opportunities – from discreet text links woven into the content to image ads like affiliate banners you strategically place on or in between blog posts. The sidebar can also be utilized as affiliate or direct sales ad revenue space. Offering ad space to related companies and services can be profitable especially if you have a very active blog and lots of traffic!
There are many free blogging services online such as wordpress.com and blogger.com, but make sure you take the time to transfer your blog over to your own domain instead of hosting it within a blogging community. It will appear much more professional and you won’t be subject to the provider’s Terms of Service and/or limitations. Having “full control” will make your site appear much more professional and bolster your credibility with those that stop by. Don’t take the free or cheap way out unless absolutely necessary or you’re just starting out. Get your own domain and host!
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