So maybe $500 a month isn’t going to let you retire this year but with the economy going down the tubes and our fearless political leaders still assuming that Wall Street will fix itself, it’s time to share a little secret with you … the web really does work.

Using the method below, I easily make $500 each month from my own web blogs and it’s really pretty easy. I spend about 10 hours a month working on my sites, you can do the math.

First, you need to cover a few basics in order to get your website up and running.

1) Select a blogging package

This is pretty simple really, there are a few out there but WordPress is my personal favorite, it’s super easy to use and even comes with some great looking themes. You can also use something like

A web host is a dedicated place on the web that you can put your website. Personally I love hosting at BlueHost. They’re wonderful, friendly, helpful and have WordPress preinstalled. They can also take care of your domain name registration.

4) Analytics

You’ll want to signup for Google Analytics and insert the code into the footer of your website. Analytics are web statistics, it will tell you who’s reading your blog and where they’re coming from. Remember, without data your decisions are nothing more than guesses … Google takes the guessing away.

Now that you have the basic pieces of the puzzle, we need to put it all together.

5) Building your first blog

First, we need to activate our BlueHost account and log into our account manager. Towards the bottom of the control panel you’ll find a link called Fantastico, which we’ll need to click to install WordPress.

Fantastico will ask you some questions about what you want to call your blog etc. and when you’re done, it will redirect you to your WordPress blog. It’s really that simple.

6) Inserting your Google Analytics code

Now that your blog is running, you’ll need to do some technical stuff for a few minutes. Log into Your Google Analytics account and add your new website. Once done, select Get Code and copy the JavaScript.

Return to BlueHost and select Design > Edit Theme from your WordPress installation. On the right hand side you’ll see an option for your site Footer. This is the file that appears on the bottom of all your pages, you’ll want to open that file and paste the JavaScript just before the tag in your footer.

What this has done is installed the tracking scripts on every page your site generates, remember how to do it because later when we change your theme you’ll have to do it again.

7) Sign up for ad programs

There are a few great ad programs out there, the most popular of course is Google AdSense but there are plenty to choose from. Once you’ve signed up for some ad programs it’s time to start thinking about where (and how) to place ads on your website. There are aslo some great sites like Commission Junction and wonderful affiliate programs for you to use.

8) Designing a better website

There are plenty of great themes out there for WordPress, even the default one is pretty great but if you’re looking to make money from your sites you’ll want to find a good WordPress theme, ideally free. Once you’ve done that simply upload it to your website using an FTP program and activate it.

Remember, you’ll need to update your Google Analytics code (step 6) in the new template and you should take the Google Adsense code from the previous step and place it in your template.

9) Start blogging

Everything before this is pretty simple really, if you can’t do it yourself send me an email and I’ll take care of it for you but the hard part about making money on a blog is … writing the blog.

There’s a few things to keep in mind when you’re writing.

First, make sure that you’re writing about something people care about. It doesn’t have to be popular, and niche blogging is great but it has to be something that people really want to read otherwise you’re wasting your time.

Second, try to make it original. Search engines (and readers) are not looking for copy-and-paste posts from other sites, so write something original if you’re looking to get traffic.

Finally, write often. Try to write as often as you can but ensure it’s good, clean and useful writing. If you can do that, you’ll build a reputation as a reliable source quickly.

10) Promotion

The best way to get people to read your website is to post reliable comments in forums, on other blogs and sites with links back to your own online blog. Before you know it, if you’re a good net citizen other blog owners and readers will start visiting your site to see what else you have to say. Remember to always have a hyperlink to your blogs in your signatures to increase traffic to your site.

BlueHost also gives you $75 worth of advertising on Google and Yahoo, use it to build an online marketing campaign to draw even more traffic to your website.

I hope my suggestions helped, feel free to comment and share your own thoughts with me.