Another question bloggers and online publishers ask me on a regular base is probably as widespread as the interest in earning money. How can you monetize content in the web? I know there are thousands of articles written about this topic, but since this is the official blog of Web 3.0 – user-generated media business, let me give at least a quick answer.  

The monetization of content is actually nothing less than the monetization of your mindware. You are an expert with distinct knowledge, or an entertainer with distinct entertaining skills. That’s the source of value. It’s important to understand this fact, since my take on monetization is slightly broader than usual. Let’s assume you are a marketing specialist who has a new system to make brands big in the web. You can monetize this knowledge on 5 dimensions:  

1. Sell your content
2. Create lots of traffic and sell advertising
3. Place products or services of others on your site to monetize traffic through sales or affiliate programs
4. Attract clients on your blog or website and make them hire you for consulting or training services
5. License your content to publishers, educators etc.  

Maybe there are even more options. It doesn’t matter. Because behind all the obvious, in-your-face tips on how to monetize your content, there are four underlying dimensions that predict your bottom line success:

1. You need a strong, distinct expertise that is of value to people.
2. You need to transform this expertise into published items (videos, blog posts, or even better larger works like a DVD, course system, book etc.) and publish them constantly.
3. You need to market your online destination by giving people who matter in your field the opportunity to talk about you.
4. You need to offer a straightforward portfolio of products and services that people can purchase.  

This is my take on a strategic blueprint of online content monetization. Of course, for each point, there are many things to consider, but these overarching principles provide you with the most powerful profitability framework I found so far.

Once you get the second four points straight, you can apply all the operative wisdom you find everywhere in the web and in money-blogging, including the first five points I listed here. 

Don’t forget to join the discussion at my Web 3.0 group!

This article is part of Web 3.0 – the book by Johannes Bhakdi, available on sophotec.com