5 Ways to Monetize Your Blog or Website

Photo © Chance Agrella
There are various ways to earn a little extra money from your writing. One such method is to monetize your blog or website. You can do this in a number of ways.

1. Google Adsense

One of the most commonly used and popular methods, Google Adsense allows you to place advertising on your blog or website. You get paid every time someone clicks on the ads. Please note they take ‘cheating’ seriously – do not click on your own ads and do not recruit others to give you multiple clicks.

In addition to the traditional ads, Google Adsense also offers videos and search bars for revenue.

2. Affiliate Links

There are multiple sources of affiliate linkage. If you are adding an affiliate link to your blog or website, the most honorable way to do so (which will elicit reader trust and confidence in you – and perhaps garner more clicks for you) is to be honest about the affiliation and to actually have familiarity with the product.

For example, if the affiliate link is for a publisher or book, be sure you know the publisher and have faith in them, or have read the book and find it to be worth the money. Add your own review of the product, book, publisher, etc to add credibility and draw in more viewership.

3. Sell Advertising

There are ways to sell advertising spots on your blog or website. You can directly solicit advertisers, advertise that you have space for sale on your site or blog, and you can use a feature such as Scratchback.

4. Tip Jar/Take Donations

It can be a lot of work to write, maintain, and market a blog or website. Many set up a ‘tip jar’ or ‘donation button’ in order to draw in funding. One easy way to set up a tip jar or donation button is through PayPal. Remember: unless you are a specific type of registered charity, ‘donations’ to your site or blog will not be tax deductible for the donor.

5. Sell Your Blog or Website

With the right topic, name or popularity, your blog or website could sell for big bucks. Though you will no longer own it once sold, this is another way to earn money via your blog or website.

Some great information about how to sell or ‘flip’ blogs and websites is available at businessblogs.us.

Additional ideas (not written by me) may be found at DoshDosh.com

Bear in mind that too much advertising can be a turn off, and some people have an ‘ad-block’ feature that will block your ads from their view of your blog or website.

Perpetual Firefox and Helpful Firefox Add-ons for Writers List

The following is a listing of Firefox and Firefox add-ons that can be very helpful to writers. This list will be updated from time to time. A link to this list is available in the sidebar for easy access and future reference.

* Free Firefox Browser
* Dictionary and Language Packs (Addons)
* Feeds, News, and Blogging (Addons)
* Photos, Music, and Videos
* Search Tools (Addons)
* Toolbars (Addons)
* Webpage Translation Tool (Addon)

If you know of any other great Firefox add-ons for writers, please submit them to me for addition to this list.

Perpetual Reference and Research Resources List

The following is a listing of various free online reference and research resources. This list will be updated from time to time. A link to this list is available in the sidebar for easy access and future reference.

* Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Thesaurus, Spanish - English, Medical
* Dictionary.Com Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia
* Word Reference.Com Free Translation Dictionary (multiple languages)

If you know of any other free online reference and research resources, please submit them to me for addition to this list.

Perpetual Style Guides List

The following is a list of free Style Guides (in part or in full). Please note that generally a fee will need to be paid to buy the book or to subscribe to the online version of the complete guide. Partial free sources address the most common questions in relation to the various style guides.

This list will be updated from time to time. A link to this list is available in the sidebar for easy access and future reference.

* AP Style Book (order print or online version)
* Utah State University Guide to AP Style
* Free AP Style Editing Course (Open Enrollment - 2 Hours)

* Chicago Manual of Style (CMS)
* University of Georgia Libraries CMS Style Guide
* Ohio State University Libraries CMS Citation Guide

* MLA Style Website (Official)
* Purdue OWL MLA Style Guide
* Lonestar College - Kingwood Library MLA Style Guide

* APA Style Guide Website (Official)
* Purdue OWL APA Style Guide
* University of Southern Mississippi Libraries APA Style Guide

* The Gregg Reference Manual (Style guide - buy online or in print)

If you know of any other sources of free style guides, please submit them to me for addition to this list.

NaNoWriMo – Annual November Writing Challenge

National Novel Writing Month is an annual challenge designed to motivate fiction writers to get a book written. The challenge begins on November 1 and ends on November 30. The rules are simple: the book must be written during that time – not before and not after. In thirty days, each participant is challenged to come up with a 50,000 word rough draft of a fictional novel from scratch.

Awards are given to all those who complete the challenge, and some NaNoWriMo novels have actually been published later on. The biggest benefit of the challenge is getting the motivation to just write. The challenge is not about writing a perfect novel or even to upload perfect copy at the end. The point is to write.

There is no fee to participate, though donations to the cause are always appreciated. To find out more, check out the home page for NaNoWriMo, the What is NaNoWriMo page, the How it Works page, and the FAQs page. Please note that in the official word count process, your work is not retained in any way. You just have to temporarily input it in order to register your word count with the site. Instructions for how to ‘scramble’ your temporary input will be forthcoming (from the site – to those who register to participate).

I participated last year, but did not get much done as I found about it after it had begun. This year I have been waiting for the start and will be scheduling in time for the challenge each day. I have a lot of fictional novel ideas floating around in my head, and its high time I put some of them to paper.

For those involved with Michy’s Accentuate Services (free writer site with job leads, tips, and more), Accentuate has begun a fund-raising drive for NaNoWriMo. If you would like to donate via Accentuate’s drive, or if you would like to help spread the word, please check out the information page at Accentuate.

By the way, if 50,000 words sounds overwhelming think of it in these terms:

A typical web writing assignment is 500 words. 100 such articles (a little over 3 a day) equals 50,000 words. When writing your own story with your own words and knowledge, 1,500 – 2,000 words a day flies by.

Earlier this year I was hired to write one chapter of a book. The word count the publisher gave me for one chapter: 10,000 words. 50,000 words is approximately 175 pages or 5 chapters. That is not very long. If you feel overwhelmed, remind yourself that you are not writing War and Peace or one of the Harry Potter books. *grin*

Tips:
If you use Microsoft Word to write, be sure to turn on the ‘Spell check’ and ‘Grammar Check’ features in order to quickly proofread your work.

To check your own word count more easily in Microsoft Word, check out my How-to for adding a word count button on your MS Word toolbar.

Life happens. For some, setting aside the same amount of time every day, at the same time of day is the way to be most committed and effective for completing the challenge. For others, the most effective and least discouraging way is to just write as much as they can whenever they can. Do what works for you. It is not a competition against anyone but yourself. Undertaking this challenge – whatever the results – will be a rewarding experience in many ways for anyone who dreams of writing a fictional book.

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New Google Chrome Browser and Your Rights to Your Work

Screenshot by DaniellaNicole under Fair Use


Some reports and comments have been published regarding the fine print associated with the new Google Chrome Browser. These reports may be troubling to writers, photographers, artists, and other freelancers who use the internet for the submission of their work.

Fox News – September 4, 2008

(which led me to:)

CNET news – September 2, 2008

The wording being reported is, “By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any content which you submit, post or display on or through, the services.”

This wording certainly does imply Google Chrome usage while submitting or creating your written works, photographs, music, art, and more gives Google a right to such works.

HOWEVER, when I checked the Google Chrome Privacy Policy and Terms of Service (on September 11, 2008), I did not find such wording, but did find clear wording that your rights to your work are yours and in no way belong to or are claimed by Google/Google Chrome.

Google Chrome Terms of Service (see sections 9 and 11) – not dated

Google Chrome Privacy Policy – Dated September 3, 2008

In all fairness, Google may have changed the wording (terms of use) for Chrome since the reports came out. I am assuming they did. Regardless, this is clear evidence as to the importance of verifying facts before reporting or putting information into print. Had I relied upon those two reports (which were probably correct at the time of print) rather than checking and reading the current version of the fine print for myself, I would have been reporting and printing false information.

The second lesson to be learned from this is the importance of reading all of the fine print before you sign or agree to anything. I have been involved in contract negotiations in which the other side slipped in last minute changes that were discovered on the day of signing, and I have refused to sign other contracts which were completely one-sided - giving me no rights or protection.

There are many honest employers and contractors out there, and there are others who will only protect their interests. Reading the fine print will help you discern between the two.

Back to the theme of this post, if you are interested in checking out or downloading Google Chrome, you may do so here:

Google Chrome

Book Review Templates

Photo © Sarah Sturtevant Whether by assignment or choice, writing book reviews can be a fun way to earn some income as a freelance writer. The site or company you are writing for may have their own template or format for your review. If so, their template trumps any other you may be using.

If there is no template, or if you are writing a book review you will try to sell, there are places that offer free book review template advice.

It is important to note that a book review is very different from a book report. Though I have read some reviews of books and other media that contain spoilers and give away endings, unless requested or noted in the beginning of the review, it is best to avoid giving away the ending or revealing the entire plot line in a book review.

Below I have linked to a few places with templates and advice for writing book reviews. Please review them and use the one you like best, or create your own from the information you find:

Writing with Writers offers a step-by-step approach from an experienced book reviewer.
Tips for writing a book review - From Los Angeles Valley College Library
Book review structure guide from University of Washington at Tacoma
The OWL at Purdue guide for writing a book review
Quick Tips from Writing-world.com for how to write a book review
Suggested elements to be included in a book review
10 Step Process for Writing a Book Review
About.com Classic Literature Guide's steps for writing a literary review
Writing a book review with SEO in mind

For more information and ideas, read some book reviews online and in print. Use the ones you like best as your template for how to format a review and what to cover.

Online book reviews from Bookreporter.com
New York Times Book Reviews

Finally, I cannot remember or locate where I got the information or from what sources I compiled it, but the template I personally use is shown below.

Book Review Template Used by Daniella Nicole

Title:
Author:
Place Published:
Publisher:
Publication Date:
Edition:
Pages:
Special Features:
Price:
ISBN:

Introduction

Body of the Review

Rating/impression and why

Author background

Conclusion/summary

Have a template you prefer or would like to share? Please tell us about it in the comment section.