If you are looking to start a home based business or perhaps for another angle to branch out your own existing small business then you should really consider blogging. Blogging is a great business idea. Before you dismiss the idea consider these five ways that you can profit from a blog.

The simplest method you can profit from a blog is simply to add some pay-per-click or pay-per-lead program advertising on your blog. This way you can blog to your heart's content about the topic or topics that interest you and earn money from your visitors without any extra work.

If you have products from your existing business or have plans to create your own products--anything from traditional goods and services to ebooks and other electronic products--then a blog is a great way to promote your product and yourself by establishing your expertise in this area.

Even if you do not have your own product, you can easily use a blog to promote affiliate products to and programs that are related to the topic or topics you blog about.

You can also use a blog to capture leads for an affiliate program or for your own programs, ezines, newsletters, or other information products.

Finally, you can also sell advertising space in the form of banners, textual advertising, or text links on your blog. The higher your readership then the more money you can charge.

This is not a new or unique method for internet entrepreneurs to make money on the web. It has been around almost as long as blogging, but that does not mean you cannot start your own internet blog business and quickly begin making money. Remember, if you can write (not professionally but rather comfortably) then you can still acquire articles and blog entries in a number of free or paid formats so you can get started very quickly and very cheaply.

Blogging is a great business idea for a home based business or a small business. You can use any of these five suggestions, in any combination, to profit from your blog.