CASHING IN ON BLOGS How Entrepreneurs Are Profiting From The Online Craze

What was once a hobby for troubled teens and political pundits looking for an audience has since become one of the most lucrative strategies for small businesses. No longer are weblogs, or blogs, considered to be a thorn in the side of mainstream media. Instead, blogs have become the new norm; if you want to build a presence on the Internet, you had better start blogging.

Blogs are online journals filled with commentary and related links on everything from the latest technology to election issues to foods. Their popularity has grown steadily in recent years. A new study by the Pew Internet and America Life Project found that 27 percent of adults in America who use the Internet read blogs. ComScore data reveals a 56 percent increase in the number of people who visited blogs in the past year, while the top blog network, Blogger.com, received over 20 million visitors in May 2006 alone.

Entrepreneurship expert Evan Carmichael believes that small businesses are quickly beginning to recognize the commercial potential of blogs and seizing the opportunity. “Blogs are a cheap and easy way to get your product or your message out there,” he says. “For hardly any money at all, entrepreneurs can generate a buzz about their company and communicate directly with their customers – or prospective customers.”

With the likes of Blogger, Typepad, and WordPress allowing for the chance to create a blog at the single click of a mouse, there is little to stand in the way of a would-be blogger. In addition to being relatively simple for entrepreneurs to set up and operate, blogs are also beginning to draw in big money from advertisers. Since 2002, when Google released its revolutionary AdSense program, bloggers have been able to make a profit off of their content, even if it consisted of nothing more than personal rants.

Blog ad spending has more than doubled in the past year. Retail giants like Banana Republic and Coca-Cola have recently begun running ads on various blogs. Intel also now runs all of its ads on blogs as well as through traditional media. “The people who read blogs are 11 percent more likely than the average Internet user to be earning over $75,000,” says Carmichael. “For advertisers, they’re the cream of the crop.”

But, blogging is not to be taken lightly, Carmichael warns. “Blogs may be easy enough to create, but in order to make them valuable and profitable, they need regular attention,” he says. “Material must be kept up-to-date and worthwhile to both your readers and your advertisers. Especially as the number of blogs continues to increase exponentially, they both need a reason to keep coming back to yours.”

Still, says Carmichael, blogs present an excellent opportunity to not only turn a profit but also to carve out a name and a niche for oneself in the over-saturated maze that is the Internet today. “It’s still in its early stages, but the potential of blogs remains huge,” he says, “for entrepreneurs and advertisers alike.”

Evan Carmichael is available for an interview. Please contact him at evan@evancarmichael.com.

Evan is an entrepreneur and international speaker. At the age of 19, he became an owner and Chief Operating Officer in Redasoft, a biotechnology software company. The company quickly grew to over 300 organizations as clients, including NASA and Johnson & Johnson, in 30 countries. He started Evan Carmichael & Associates with the goal to give entrepreneurs the Inspiration to follow their passion and the strategies they need to succeed. Evan has delivered over 100 keynote presentations to entrepreneurs in North America, Europe, and Asia. He has been interviewed by newspapers, radio stations, and television stations including The Globe and Mail, CHUM FM, CityTV, Global TV, OMNI TV, Enterprise, and the Toronto Sun. Evan's website, http://www.evancarmichael.com/ is the world's #1 website for small business motivation and strategies.