Starting a Blog In Order To Make Money - Lost Cause?
I am seeing a lot of people thinking of blogging for a living. Perhaps with the economy perceived to be not doing so good, people are scoping out possibilities. When I go to the local Tampa blogger meetup, there are usually at least a few looking to start up their blog in order to make money. On a more personal note, my wife has been thinking about blogging for money, too. She sees me do it. She is a full time mom right now and, like a lot of mothers out there, would like to do something more while at home.
But, is it feasible? The answer is yes, but with a big “but” on the end. Yes, it is feasible, but you have to be passionate about what you’re talking about.
There are a lot of ways to make money with a blog. Most people think of banner advertising, but that is about the worse way to make money with your site if you’re just starting out. Your traffic is going to be low and you’ll be lucky to make a few cents per day, if that. Other ways to make money include:
- Offering products as an affiliate and making a commission
- Selling your own information product which pertains to what your blog is about.
- Promoting your own offline business.
- Promoting yourself in an effort to get hired, perhaps as a consultant.
- Offering a continuity (membership) program offering premium information to your readers
But underneath all of that, you have to really CARE about what your subject is. A blogger with no passion is obvious. It also isn’t going to lend itself well to success.
I am a professional blogger who pulls in six figures a year blogging. I can tell you from personal experience that this is a lot of work. I work more than the 9-5, 40 hour week. Now, there are other ways to do it besides what I’m doing now that would mean less time. The beauty of this business is that it is very flexible. But, it is demanding. And if you’re going to put in that kind of time, you have to really enjoy it. If you’re going into this business just to make money, I think you have a high likelihood of failure.
So, if you’re serious about blogging for cash, you need to choose a topic you are genuinely passionate about and then spend the time necessary to provide real value in your content. And if you can keep that up and take the time to build up your traffic, then you have a platform from which to actually make some money in this way.
It isn’t a lost cause at all. But it is more work than a lot of people realize.
You Might Also Like:
- Does Making Money With Your Blog Make It Not a Blog Anymore?
- Making Money with Blogs
- Starting an Online Business Despite Information Overload
- The Dirty Little Secret of Pro Blogging
- Should Bloggers Feel Guilty For Making Money?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
I do agree that bloggers need to have a passion for their subject. Sustaining a flow of conversation is a challenge.
Affiliate marketing is a form of advertising. You receive payment/commission based on results (CPA). Blogs do establish your credibility on a subject, leading to consulting, job, or clients. It’s still advertising where the CPA is limited by your manhours.
Most blogs and websites depend on advertising. The problem is that current, embedded methods like Google AdSense or Yahoo banners pay low eCPM (i.e. cost per thousand). Undifferentiated news content leads to oversupply that further erodes eCPM.
The solution is full page, exitmercials that have high value to advertisers. Segmentation into thousands of microchannels produce differentiated audiences, which further increases eCPM.
Join tEarn, the target-Earn Exitmercial network. Learn more at http://tEarn.com.
Good points David. The market is starting to heat with bloggers being recognized by companies as a required resources for ongoing marketing, public relations and customer relation campaigns. So this is a different angle of making money with blogs, that i have been quite successful accomplishing. I will be looking to subcontract work to fellow bloggers, as companies are contacting me more often to blog for them.
If anyone is interested, I created the professional Blogger Job Description, which has helped me acquire more blogging clients. I present it to them to educate them on the quality blogging services provided. Feel free to use it for creating your own opportunities.
According to Debbie Weil the Gartner Group acknowledges Corporate Blogs Are Within 2 Years of Mainstream Adoption.
Thank for hitting on these key points.
I appreciate knowing that it is possible to be a pro blogger and Im willing to put in the work to accomplish that.
Great post.. I have several blogs which feed other parts of my business. While it would be nice to earn revenue from ads while I sleep, i am much more concerned with the revenue I can drive from consulting, and marketing gigs as a result of what I post