Monetizing Your Blog: Part I

This is the first in a series of posts on different ways to monetize your blog or website.  Check back for more articles on making money with your blog or website.

Blogging has exploded in recent years.  As websites make publishing content more and more simple, everyday web-surfers with limited knowledge of building a website (like myself) are able to blog.  Blogging is a good way to get your opinion out there, but if you have good readership the potential for generating from revenue is there.  

One of the giants in the world of monetization is Google's Adsense, however I'd like to introduce a few other companies that you should consider.

Chitika

One of the top alternatives to adsense is Chitika.  Chikita once offered multiple ad formats, but they have recently combined their formats into what they call Chitika Premium.  It still offers you the option of customizing you ad box to match the color scheme on your blog or website and they also have various sizes from which to choose.  This is a great place to start earning money with your blog.

AdBrite

AdBrite is another ad compnay that follows the same ad format that Google setup with Adsense.  They are fairly simliar to Chitika.  I use them more for advertising than for monetizing, but I've used them on a few of my blogs and generated some money.  AdBrite is another good place to start.  

Just remember not to over monetize your blog because a lot of ad clutter could turn some viewers off, however, under monetizing your blog could result in under performance when it comes to bringing in revenue.