The Cat In My Lap

                    
Having a blog has many benefits. It’s a way to share your life experiences with others, to express yourself and, here at the WAHM blogs, you can now make money selling your goods and services. But there’s another way you can bring in revenue through your blog that you may or may not have heard of. Affiliate Programs.

Affiliate programs are programs you, the blog owner, join to advertise companies on your blogging site. There are many, many companies who will pay you a commission on every sale you generate. The way it works is simple. You sign up with a specific company. The company generates a unique code for you to put on your site and when a reader clicks on the ad and makes a purchase you receive a commission. Google goes a step further and pays you every time a reader clicks on an ad; no purchase is necessary.

Now, you could spend hours searching online for companies who offer affiliate programs or you could go to one of the major online marketing services. AffiliateBot, Linkshare and Commission Junction are three of the major marketing services available. Sign up is simple and once you’re signed up you may apply to as many companies as you like. Just remember when signing up for programs who your targeted audience is.

How much you make with affiliate programs is up to you. Many people make a sizable income, but they probably have many websites going at any one time. You might not get rich with affiliate programs, but once the ad is up on your blog there’s nothing more for you to do aside from occasionally changing your ads to include special sales and seasonal offers. Not a bad way to make a little extra income with your blog.

So, you love to express your thoughts and share your feelings through your blog? And, here at The Wahm Blogs, you have the unique and added bonus of selling your work online. But your blog will flourish and you’ll build a faithful following if you write on a consistent basis.

Since we’re all Moms here it should go without saying that time is a valuable commodity. It’s difficult to find time to go to the bathroom alone, let alone sit down and string together more than five sentences. But if you use the few free snippets of time you’re allowed throughout your day you’ll find that you’ll have the time to put your thoughts into your blog.

Keep a little notebook and pen nearby or in your pocket. When an idea hits you, you don’t have to write the entire story right then. Just one word will jog your memory later. Have a mini cassette recorder? Use it to record your ideas on the spur of the moment. It’s heart breaking when you come up with a clever subject or wish to write a funny slice of life story only to forget what the heck it was that you wanted to say later.

Whatever your method for recording your ideas for later use, I cannot stress enough the need to write, write, write. Your blog doesn’t have to be filled with earth shattering news all the time. You’d be surprised how much what you have to say is interesting to many readers. My top post of all time was a 5 part series on my adventures in nannyhood (http://www.mylovesleftovers.com/?p=30) I wanted to write my experience down while it was still fresh in my mind and apparently it was a story that other people were interested in reading.

Remember that you want to draw readers to your blog in order to have them view and purchase your products and services and that means coming up with fresh and new posts. And who better than Moms to have funny, serious and/or inspiring stories to share? Your posts don’t need to be long and detailed. Often one paragraph is often sufficient. Toss in a longer story when time allows. But write, write, write!

I’m a proud mom of three wonderful children and have been making primitive dolls, pillows, quilts, and other related items for over 15 years. I’ve sold many of my handicrafts on ebay and through the arts and crafts circuit along the East Coast (very tiring to say the least).

I also LOVE to write and express myself through my blogs, my main blog being www.mylovesleftovers.com. I write about a wide variety of topics and am always on the lookout for new ideas and guest bloggers. If you have an idea or would like to guest blog please email me at mylovesleftovers@yahoo.com.

Oh, and the reason why my blog name (and ebay name) is the cat in my lap is because I absolutely cannot do anything without my cat Missy sprawling across my lap. She loves to keep me company while I work!