Is it truly possible to make money online without working too hard? What exactly do we mean by "the easy way"? Here's a mini-case study of a web site or blog that earns money online even if the site owner does not have a mailing list, does not engage in any of the Web 2.0 social media or social marketing tactics, does not have a following in Twitter, does not have anything in Hubpages, and does not even have a Squidoo lens. How is this possible? Well, you're about to find out...

First of all, the blog that I'm referring to has less than 150 blog posts. Yes, it is possible to make money by blogging only once a week (on average). The key lies in choosing a profitable niche topic. Among the typical hot topics are: Love/Relationships, Health, and Money. In this case study, the chosen topic is Money.

Second, the blog does not have a beautiful web design. In other words, no lovely photos (just basic screenshots). No gradient or fade-in/fade-out backgrounds. It's just a basic, straight to the point, text-filled site which contains long-ish blog posts (i.e., 1000 words or more per post).

And though it is text-heavy, please note that it does contain photos (mostly screenshots). To top it off, the images do not even have an ALT text (I can almost hear the SEO enthusiasts scream in frustration).

While the content does tend to contain a LOT of words, it is far from rambling. Every other paragraph provides some key learning that the blog's avid readers find useful. The main benefit of having a lot of text in the site, however, becomes evident in its ability to attract a lot of visitors. Specifically, people coming in from the search engines.

How much traffic are we talking about? 4,100+ unique visitors a day.

I don't know his actual AdSense figures, but I estimate his earnings at $1,900 ~ $2,400 every month.

So, how can a 150-page blog earn that much? The site owner has practically written everything he can possibly write on the focused topic of his blog. Well, not exactly everything. But he made a list of certain keywords to target, and has written lengthy posts about each of those keywords (and their different variations). These are human-readable posts that were written from the heart, and therefore do not look like automated content.

He has also structured his links in such a way that gives the maximum SEO benefit to his homepage. Although he does not use a WordPress blog, his search engine optimization approach can easily be duplicated by people hosting their own WordPress blogs. And no, he is not using the silo structure approach that a lot of SEO gurus are espousing. What he has, however, are 150 useful and informative posts.

What about you? Can you do this? Can you write 150,000 words? If you look at a pile of 150k words, you might balk or get discouraged. You might tell yourself: "No, I can never write that much."

Yet if you begin your journey of writing down things that can help people searching for a solution, if you can share online tips that reassure or provide relief to people looking for some way to ease their pain, and if you enjoy the written word to the point of almost sounding the way you do in real life, then... 150 posts is definitely do-able.

True, you can whip out 150 articles in just 5 months, but the blogger I'm referring to produced one blog post a week. This "law of the farm" approach to blogging means that his blog is at least 2 years old. Are you willing to invest about 1 hour of your time each week, for two years?

(Actually, you don't need to wait for two years. I've seen several cases where bloggers start earning $300 to $500 per month after 10 to 12 months of blogging. It truly depends on the topic or topics that your blog covers.)

Are you a beginner? Do you want to save yourself the trouble of being distracted by the latest SEO loophole, or the most recently featured ebook that will "take you to the next level", or the social marketing flavor of the month tactic? Do you simply want to make money online the easy beginner's way, without worrying about too many technical details?

Here's how: Write useful things and help people online.

There's no such thing as an overnight success. That's why you will be saved by your enthusiasm. Most of the successful pro-bloggers I've come across do not even use the word "perseverance." There is no room for drudgery; all of this is being done out of sheer enjoyment, the love for writing, and the thrill that comes with the knowledge that you are helping people.

Are you struggling with your finances? Do you need to earn $300 by the end of the month? Blogging will not help you, because this takes more than just 30 days. So keep your day job, find ways of marketing your other skills and services to people, and write when you can (because you like it, and not because you have to).

If you do this, you will eventually have a nice source of semi-passive income. And if you're like the blogger in this case study, you will be amazed that blogging as little as just once a week can bring you additional income while giving you the time to actually go out and enjoy life.

So please focus on writing helpful content first, before going after higher web traffic.

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"Make Money Online The Easy Way?"
First Posted: December 9, 2008 | Filed in: Make Money Online

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