Laurie - here's a link to more information on that:
http://www.clicknewz.com/403/paid-to-bl ... rtunities/
As for monetizing a blog, there are lots of ways - and I use quite a few of them!
You can get paid for reviews, as already mentioned. And also:
Text link advertising (sell ad space)
Contextual Advertising (Auction Ads, Google Adsense, etc)
Promote Affiliate Programs (through reviews, recommendations, etc)
Create & Sell your own products (reports are great, esp if you already have a loyal readership)
Just a few off the top of my head. I also earn money using Text Link Ads to monetize archived blog posts that are 6+ months old. See
http://www.clicknewz.com/725/monetize-y ... -archives/ for the details on that.
Keep the ideas rolling!