Jacob is a seriously cool young blogger, just 21 years old is making several thousand dollars a month offering his designe services on his blog. Check out this cool interview where he offers some tips to making more money online blogging.

Could you describe what you do and how you earn your living Jacob?

I am a logo, graphic and web designer and blogger and I earn my living by running three websites & by doing design work.

Just Creative Design – A design related blog / my portfolio.

Logo Of The Day – A logo design inspiration gallery & award scheme.

Logo Designer Blog – A blog on branding, identity & logo design.

On my website Just Creative Design, I write articles on the subject of design which brings in visitors from all over the word. This then leads them onto my portfolio of work which then convinces them to hire me as a designer. I also run advertising on this site.

Logo Of The Day is a website that promotes, inspires and rewards other designers for their work in logo design however it also markets me as a professional logo designer. By positioning myself as a logo design expert (I am the judge there) I then get an authorative figure in this field which in turn, also brings in work. The best bit however is that it really does help out other designers in the field.

Logo Designer Blog is a place for others to learn and discuss logo & identity design however it also has links to my designer portfolio and bio, which in turn also promotes my services.

What’s your number one income stream from your blog and why do you think its been so successful?

Getting logo design work through my blog’s is my #1 income stream. It’s not successful for any just reason, but a huge combination of things – marketing, business skills, communication skills, etc. It’s hard to put it in writing because so much contributes to it but having 2 niche websites on the topic does help.

What advice would you offer a blogger trying to sell services from their blog?

Market & position yourself as a professional. Write about what you do to prove yourself.

What advice would you give other blogger’s when looking to get a professional design for their blog? Any suggestions on who they should use? What they should incorporate?

There is no exact formula for any one blogger’s website. Each blogger and niche have their own needs so for this reason I suggest one to go to a professional for advice on what will best suit their needs.

You are known as the authority website in the niche, Logo Design. What advice would you give a new blogger to dominating their niche?

As I said earlier, market yourself as a professional. Find your area of expertise, passion or what you are in demand for and go for it!

What shouldn’t blogger’s be doing when monetizing their blog? Which monetization technique do you dislike the most and why?

I don’t really monetize my blog as much as I could… I am not one for too much in your face advertising and for this reason I try to descretly fit my advertising to my website, without making it too prominent, and hey, it still works. I use private advertising and Adsense (in RSS feeds and on the site) which both work for me.

What advice would you give to people just starting out with an online business?

Don’t give up. The first 3-4 months are the hardest but stick with it, it does pay off in the end. Remember the snowball effect (1 tells another, that person tells another, etc).

If you could go back in a time machine to the time when you were just getting started, what advice would you give yourself regarding making money online?

Do your research, learn more before going straight in, it will save you a lot of time. I recommend Problogger for blogging tips.

Thanks very much for the interview, Have you any plans (personal or business) that you can share with us about your future plans / goals / lifetime goals?

I still have one more year of University but after that I will be traveling for a while, while hopefully working on the laptop doing design work to pay my way… that’s the great thing about being a designer / blogger, you can work from anywhere as long as you have a laptop and there is a internet connection. I also have plans for a book but that isn’t entirely confirmed yet.

Thanks for the interview Michael, I hope your readers will learn a bit from my experience and I wish them all the best.