Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Should You Pursue Problogging?

July 28, 2009 | Life & Mindset

It is a fair question. A lot of people read about the success of some bloggers (perhaps like myself) and want that for themselves. That is a noble endeavor, and a worthy one.

However, is blogging the right business for you?

There are a lot of different ways to make money on the Internet and blogging is one of them. All ways of making money essentially consist of the following basics:

  1. Attract people.
  2. Make an offer.

I don’t care what fancy “system” you read about, this is what it really is when you cut away all the jargon. In the blogging business, you are basically using the blog to get #1 done – attracting people.

There are a lot of ways to attract people. There’s paid advertising. There’s social media. There’s blogs. There’s affiliate marketing. There’s spamming (although that’s a bad way to go, obviously).

If you go the route of blogging as your primary traffic generation, then you need to be honest about the amount of work you want to put into it. Blogging is a high-maintenance business. It isn’t a method to set it up and forget about it and go to the beach. The content of the blog has to come from somewhere.

For your content, you could go one of 3 main options:

  1. Write it yourself.
  2. Be a publisher and have others do most of the writing while you just conduct business.
  3. Scrape content from elsewhere and import it into your blog.

Now, I do not endorse option #3. I know some people do it, but I think it is a crappy approach and borderline unethical depending on how it’s done. #2 is certainly viable but it requires potentially more investment because, after all, you need people to write and if you’re not going to do it, you’ll need to pay the people who do. #1 is the option most choose, and basically means you are the primary writer. That takes time.

If you are willing to approach online business from a realistic standpoint and realize that this is NOT a “get rich quick” approach to income generation, then problogging might be right for you. If you don’t have it in you to write as much as required, then you’ll need to decide whether you want to go another route or potentially get others to write for you.

Keep in mind that there are other creative ways to generate content. You can dictate it and have it transcribed. You can do interviews. You can do videos and have those transcribed. See what works for you and try it out.

Not everybody has what it takes to be a problogger. Many lack the patience. But, realize any method of online business takes time and work. There are no magic pill options where you can press an “Easy Button” and out pours money. Idiots will keep looking for such a thing, but it doesn’t exist.

Just keepin’ it real. :)

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  • I have only been blogging six months and I have really enjoyed it. I will probably keep blogging on a part time basis because I don't know if I could make a go of it full time.
  • I really like your honest and direct approach to what is necessary to be successful as a blogger. It is always better to begin any endeavor with an honest & realistic understanding of what is required of you.
  • #3 is borderline unethical? When people scrape content from my blog and "rewrite" it into incomprehensibility -- but not unrecognisability -- well, I consider that unethical, not borderline unethical.
    When people publish my eZine articles at their blogs, though, I'm happy they found the content useful. I don't get why anyone would choose to produce a blog in this way (as another commenter said, there's no communication of your character there), but it seems to me that it's quite a different process from scraping.
  • Rebecca,
    It is unethical. The reason I said borderline is because there are ways it could be done that I'm personally OK with. For example, excerpts only with a link to the original article. Either way, it is scraping. Not blogging. :)
  • I agree that blogging purely to make money directly is a hard, hard slog. And that blogging is best seen as a personal activity for fun, or as something that you do to support another business, not as a business in itself - the level of work required to produce content, get links, maximise conversions, is simply too much for most people, given the likely returns.
    I like the idea about recording blog posts and having them transcribed, but even better would be to use good dictation software and have your PC or Mac do teh transcribing for you.
  • there are no short cut to success. Must have good passion in blogging then only can be a rockstar problogger!.. Thanks for this inspiration..keep it real
  • No rush. But I know someday, I'll get there :)
  • I've found that when someone has what it takes to succeed in a business, they have what it takes to succeed in ANY business. Likewise, I wouldn't consider blogging as any more difficult than other internet marketing endeavors, or any business at all for that matter. The fact is, to excel at something you have to really work at it. There is NO option to just "set it and forget it" when it comes to long term business success. So the real question is, "do you WANT to blog for a living?" If so, then go do it!
  • I think before we blogging we have to know what kind of person we are going to be? Am i person like option #3 and if yes can i survive in long term. The same thing will goes to option #2. Is we analyze this maybe we can survive with option #1
  • I would agree option #1 to be the best route even though it's obviously the most labor intensive. Farming out content for someone else to deal (#2) with or harvesting it via. scraping technology (#3) may relieve you of some work but in the end you eliminate your personality and the character the YOU bring to each post. And that's what people tend to remember and respond to.
  • If you can find a niche that you're passionate about or at least willing to invest a bunch of time into, and there's not so much competition, I'd say you stand a pretty good chance of making it.

    But other than that, it's a tough world out there. Or in here. Depending on what side of the monitor you normally live :)

    Specially "internet marketers" and "how to blog" and "make money online" blogs are in thousands - and pretty much all of them are "experts" and wants to sell you their ebook :)
  • Thanks for always keepin it real, David. You're definitely right about there being no 'easy button' to get being a problogger. It does take a lot of time when you're doing all your own writing. I've thought about hiring someone to help with writing, but then I would feel like my true personality is not being represented and therefore I would not be creating my own brand for myself. (of course if I never have time to write, there is no brand either!)

    Thanks for the ideas about taping yourself & transcribing. That is something that had crossed my mind this week. Another thing I was thinking about was doing more Camtasia type video tutorials. I know YouTube is big, but I hate being on camera so thought this would be a way to go to create a presence there too.
  • Great post as usual David... I was going to write a long comment... but Dan Grossman said it better than I could have in the comments above. Good job!
  • Just like any other business, blogging has to be built from the ground up and that requires a strong commitment and dedication.

    Where many go off the rails is when they think that pushing buttons on a keyboard and throwing a few ad banners on a site will bring in riches. They then become disenchanted when they've made zilch and move on to something else, never realizing that the blog is your business card.

    Following a proven method and longevity is the path to success and that's not what everyone is willing to do. Nature has given many 2 bad traits, laziness and impatience.

    To answer the question at hand, yes I should pursue blogging because I realize that as the pretenders get out of the way, there will be a league of professionals who will enjoy the online lifestyle and it's rewards while helping others to do the same.
  • It's true that there is no magic pill, however, if someone feels that problogging is "hard work", maybe he or she needs to think carefully whether this is the right route or not.

    I feel that problogging should be fun and enjoyable.
  • I see only two reasons to blog, and neither of them lead to scraper sites or other blackhat tactics:

    1) A personal blog because you want to share what's happening in your world. The online equivalent of a journal or diary.

    2) A business blog in order to establish a reputation. The point of the business blog is to attract traffic and, through a long pattern of spreading useful and correct information, give weight to your recommendations, company and services. The blog itself is not about selling anything, but when you do mention your own products or services, lends enough weight to that mention that people check it out and go in with a sense of trust.
  • Just about in any career or niche, many are always called but very few are in fact chosen. Blogging is not a vested right, I mean, not all are given the skill and charisma to blog. A chosen few are deemed capable and qualified. That's a fact.
  • Shortcuts will actually hurt you. The generally don’t work and end up wasting your time and energy. I know I tried chasing down a couple schemes myself over the years. I guess I am an idiot. Now I am following your blueprint and seeing results thought hard work and consistent posting and action.

    Thanks for all your great stuff you have provide here.
  • As in any business endeavor, perseverance and hard work is the key. Sadly, not anyone can go with it. A simple truth many does not understand.
  • Eric
    Time, patience, and hard work are essential for ANY BUSINESS to succeed...maybe that is why most blogs and "real businesses" fail...If you don't put your sweat and blood into it, don't expect much.
  • Time = money. Slight variation on a theme but if you don't invest the times and break your back with hard work you won't get anywhere on the net. It's the ultimate globalized market
  • Enough said David, no short cuts to success even online the same applies.
  • Yes, blogging is a lot of work so it does help to have others write for you. Finding quality writers who do want to contribute to your blog can be a challenge though.
  • Great post David. I think problogging can be a viable route for a way to make money. It does take a lot of work.
  • There are never an easy solution to get money quickly. It does take time and hard work. Greg Ellison
  • Yes, it is a colossal amount of work, and those getting started face a tremendous amount of competition that only time will winnow out. I see it partly as a "last man standing" sort of venture.

    But it sure is fun!
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