It’s that time of the year again and I’m sure all of you are busy trying to get your last-minute holiday shopping done so that you can sit back and actually try to enjoy the season. It’s hard not to get caught up in the commercialization of the season as you are being bombarded with the myriad of holiday sales on television, radio, and, of course, the internet.
If I were a betting man I would imagine that if you are reading this post, on this extremely popular blog, that you are a blogger. Maybe you are a newbie just getting into it or you could be a seasoned blogger who has already gone through the trials and tribulations of starting up and running a blog. I know that a lot of bloggers get into this avocation in the hopes of making online money. There’s always that allure of making it rich sitting at home in your pajamas working in front of your computer. Believe me, it’s not as easy as it is portrayed by some to make any money on the internet. It’s possible but not without a lot of hard work and, of course, trial and error. I know. I’m working on an online venture myself.
But that’s not what this post is about. Just the opposite. It’s not about adding to your own coffers but it is about adding to your sense of satisfaction, your peace of mind, and hopefully your gratitude. We, as bloggers, possess something that others do not. We have specialized skills and knowledge that we can use in a positive manner. We’ve worked hard to put together an online presence through our blogs. When we started our blogs maybe we knew squat about blogging platforms, plugins, or widgets. But we learned out of necessity. We learned because we wanted our blogs to be someplace where others wanted to visit regularly. We now have a wealth of knowledge that we didn’t have before we started blogging.
Being armed with these technical blogging skills we all have a chance to make a difference. The holiday season is a time for giving and with your blogging skills you now have a chance to give back. How, you might ask?
Donate your blogging services to a charity
Back in the summer, I agreed to help out my daughter with a charity that she was setting up with some high school friends of hers to raise money for a local homeless shelter and food pantry. The girls didn’t have any knowledge of how to set up a website to advertise their mission. That’s where I came in. I set up a WordPress site for them that includes a blog, their mission statement, an events page, an “In the News” page, and a donation page. Believe me, it was nothing elaborate and I even used one of the default header images that came with the theme. What is great about this effort is that they could reference the website in all of their documentation. It also allowed them to have a place to keep online documentation like pledge sheets that people could download. And the girls had a chance to write blog posts about their mission which they really enjoyed. Since this is a year-long project, to date they have raised almost $3,000 and counting, which they will present to the homeless shelter at the end of the year. What I feel most proud about is that any time a donation is received online, I feel like I had something to do with getting that donation. It has been quite an experience.
Donate a percentage of your online earnings
If you have an online business, that actually makes money, you could donate a percentage of your earnings to your favorite charity. You could even state that on your website which could, possibly, increase your sales. You could even add a Donate Button on your blog that could go directly to a specific charity. This is a great way to give back with your blogging skills.
Promote community service on your blog
As you all know, blogging is an extremely popular communication platform. Utilizing your blog forum to promote community service is a great way to get your philanthropic message out there. If you have a local or regional blog, you could tout any charitable projects or events in your area. Maybe you could create a post asking for help building a new playground, volunteering at elderly housing, or helping out at a local library. The field is wide open on how you can promote community awareness on your blog.
Promote what is good
I wrote a blog post on the benefits of giving blood and I was heartened by the fact that it actually inspired others to do the same. I wrote that I had never given blood before the age of 50 and my daughter inspired me to do so, even at that ripe old age. Based on the comments on that blog post, it actually prompted others to give blood. Just talking about the benefits of the experience was enough to light a fire under others to make a donation.
And when Veterans Day rolls around each year, write a post about the importance of military service. Thank the brave men and women who have given of themselves so that we can remain free to be able to express our views in our blogs.
You will be amazed at the power that we all have as bloggers to do some good with our blogging skills. I challenge all of you to help out a charity, write a blog post promoting community service, donate a portion of your online earnings, and promote what is good in life. You can make a difference and, by doing so, I’ll bet that your holiday season will be that much more joyful.
About the Author: Bob Bessette writes a blog called TotallyUniqueLife which is geared toward practical solutions, tips, and advice for your life.
Once again, the power and exposure of having a blog pays off big time! Last week I was in New York City doing an interview with ABC Studios on how to make money blogging and how to help others get started. The interview went live on ABC NEWS Now and 
We hear it all the time, do something you are passionate about and the money will follow. While this may be true in some situations, it doesn’t apply to everything. However, if you are just starting a blog and have no idea where it could go, or how long you will stay interested, you might as well write something you are passionate about. This will not only provide quality content that you really know about, but you will want to stay active with your blog and it won’t die out for lack of interest. Depending on how many other people share your interest, and the success of your blog, the potential in this area can swing either way.
This one can easily fall into the “blogging for passion” category. It isn’t enough to simply watch our favorite players and teams on TV, but we also want to have our own thoughts and opinions and meet with other fans of our teams. Having a sports blog about your favorite team or player, is a great way to start a blog that makes you want to keep writing more and more content. If your sports blog gets enough attention, you may even be able to score some free game tickets, press passes or interview a few sports players. Revenue wise, sports blogs are tough because there are so many, but many sites offer affiliate programs where you can earn commissions on any referred sales for sports tickets, memorabilia, apparel and sporting goods.
A different, but very effective methods for making money with blogs, is through niche marketing, or mini sites. The concept of niche blogging is to create a blog on a small specific topic, then being one of the best blogs in that niche (mainly to rank high in search results). If you wanted to make a niche blog about “red widgets”, you would want to get an exact match domain name such as “redwidgets.com”, write specifically about red widgets, link to Amazon red widgets products you could buy, adding Google Adsense to your site and so on… Having a tight niche blog is a great way to teach yourself how to blog, while giving you the best chance for making some money in the process.
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