The title for this post has real meaning to me in a couple of ways.

Not sure why but it seems that for my entire life I have always chosen to learn lessons the hardest way possible.

Now the first lesson I learned about NOT carrying all your eggs in one basket is kind funny and you would think it would have taught me a life lesson, you would think.

1. As a kid growing up on a farm it was one of my chores to collect the eggs from the chicken coup.

I guess I was a bit lazy, to say the least, so I tried to always fit all the eggs into one six quart basket. The kind we used to get peaches and cherries in.

So I collected the eggs and headed back to the house. There was a fence that separated the barn from the house so the cows wouldn’t get into the garden and our yard area or for that matter out onto the road.

If my hands were full I would use the gate but most of the time I would just climb the rail fence.

Now I could have just opened the gate and won’t be telling you this story but oh no, not me.

Instead of using the gate I decided to climb the fence. I had done it hundreds of times, just not with a basket of eggs.

I got to the top of the fence and put my leg over and then I was on the ground, on my back, with the wind knocked out of me.

I don’t even think I broke or cracked a single egg as all I was thinking in that split second before hitting the ground was the beating I was going to be getting. Well I didn’t get a beating because I didn’t break any eggs.

If I had used two baskets I would not have even thought about climbing the fence. From that point on I always put half the eggs in one basket and the other half in a second basket.

I didn’t tell that story to my dad or mom for many years.

2. Next I started an online business and joined the first affiliate program that caught my eye. I didn’t even really research it.

I paid $7.00 to join and it was multi-level. The business grew like wildfire and before long I had a nice income, enough that I didn’t even bother looking for more streams of income. Big mistake.

I am sure you have guessed it already but after a year or so the checks stopped. I couldn’t get a hold of the program owner and never heard from him again.

The only thing I could think of was the fact that he made his fortune and retired or something and didn’t want to be bothered explaining it to us. What ever the reason my income came to an abrupt halt.

Lesson learned, now I have a dozen or so income streams and am always on the look for more.

These days I like to promote ebooks with resell rights. I use article marketing through a number of article directories. Just create a blog and start writing articles that focus on the keyword phrases that will attract your target visitors and you can start making money.

I do run out of things to say at times, I just seem to draw a blank or I am talking about stuff I am not familiar with. When that happens I don’t stop writing I just turn to private label rights articles or PLR articles and rewrite them to meet my needs.

I have multiple web sites where I promote the same products, just making sure I rewrite the articles I use so that the search engines see them as unique.

Today I am looking at a new affiliate marketing web site that looks promising so I will study it over the next week and then start promoting it over my blogs and article directories.

I have been blogging and making money online for a few years now but for many they are only just looking to start blogging now and it’s now they should be looking at why they should monetize their blogs.

First blogging has become a global pastime and a lot of blogs are for keeping friends and family up to-date on event in their lives and those around them. Today however it is a great opportunity for many as monetizing their blogs, even just a little can help them deal with recession by bringing in another stream of income.

Individually my blogs don’t earn me a ton of money but how I over came that was to have multiple blogs about my hobbies and interests.

Your first step is to create a blog that is keyword focused on one particular niche. Note, the niche has to be a niche that has money in it or you may just find you are spinning your wheels.

Blogs started a online journals and it’s how I got started blogging. I was blogging about my hobbies and interests but not all from one blog. I broke my blogs into niches and just started sharing what I know and what I was learning that would interest my readers. The first blog I started was about fly fishing.

The Dilemma. Should I Monetize My Blog Or Not?

When I first started blogging I wasn’t even thinking about monetizing it. I had web sites dedicated to earning money and my blogs were just for sharing hobbies and interest, so you can see how it might seem a little conflicting to go from not even trying to earn to putting ads on my blogs. It can be a struggle making that decision, will people still read my blog?

For me it wasn’t until I actually quit my day job that I took monetizing my blogs seriously. And today it’s great because of the recession we are living in. It’s nice to have multiple streams of income.

Do Things Right And Readers Will Learn To Trust You

Monetizing your blog doesn’t mean you have to turn it into a billboard for ads. If you are building a following, your readers may resent you turning your good thing into a billboard. You need to understand that there are ways to make money from your blog without changing the basic feel of your blog. And as far as I am concerned that’s where I make a difference over so many others.

Keep it clean in appearance and your readers won’t mind at all, although there are always going to be complainers you just have to learn to live without them.

When your readers see something that is on track for the niche and something they need they won’t mind reaching for their plastic. See after you build a readship that learns to trust you they won’t mind seeing things and even paying for things from you because they trust you.

Making the Decision

Learn what you need to know about blogging and making money before you start and the decision is much easier and your results will most likely be much more productive.

If you plan on seeing a five-figure income you will have to work hard and stay committed. Most people are never going to reach that as they are looking for get rich methods of marketing and don’t stick to topics they know enough about.

You don’t have to quit your job but you will have to put in a lot of time which means you will have little time for other things. Just working and sleeping but eventually you will reach the point where you are earning more online than offline and thats the time you can start thinking about going full time blogger.

The Time For Monetizing Is At Hand

Monetizing your blog is not a sin or a hypocritical move. It makes perfect sense if you spend a lot of time blogging and have gained a following.