Blog Money

Blog Money: a reader asks…

Tell me the truth, can I make money blogging?

Truth – there’s a faint possibility. The internet is huge, and there’s plenty of room for voices. But I’ll tell you that it’s extremely hard to make money blogging. Here’s what you need:

1. Something to say. With so many people online, there’s always an audience for any sort of information that you want to blog about. My advice here would be to choose a subject about which you are passionate, and stay focused on that subject. Try not to stray too far into other subject areas. A focused blog can become a good source for specific information. I think it’s a truism that good content is way more important than anything else, so your focus should be on creating the best blog articles you can.
2. A large audience. Blogs generally make their money by allowing 3rd parties to place advertising on their pages. I can tell you that it is almost impossible for a blogger to get people to pay directly for your information and opinions. So your revenue source is going to be advertising. Typical ad rates are horribly miniscule, at least until your blog is being viewed daily by many hundreds of thousands of readers. For example, many bloggers use Google AdSense, and dedicate certain areas on their website & pages for ad space. Google gets advertisers to post ads in those spaces, and you get a teeny bit of revenue anytime someone looks at that page – we’re talking a small fraction of a cent. If someone clicks on that ad, you get more money, but we’re stil talking cents to dollars here.
3. A blog platform. Your platform is made up of three parts: the domain name (which you ‘rent’), the webhosting space (which you also ‘rent’), and the website design. In most cases you can get the first two from the same source, such as GoDaddy.com or Bluehost.com. That third piece can sound daunting, but can be pretty easy. Most bloggers choose to power their website with WordPress – the engine that runs the website and lets you focus on creating that good content. WordPress is like the frame and drivetrain of your car, and on top of that you add a stylish body – a theme. Fortunately there are tons of themes out there, both free themes and premium themes for which you pay a one-time fee. Check out my article on WordPress here.

Blogging isn’t really hard, you should take a look at my article Is Blogging Hard? for more specifics on how to get started blogging. But back to your question about making money. It really comes down to how interesting your subject (and how well you write about it), and how long you’re willing to wait for the money to come rolling in. There are tons of marketers about who will offer you opinions on how to best publicize your blog, but building an audience can take years, possibly more than a decade. There are the occasional success-stories where someone started blogging and within a year or two started earning six figures from their blog, but that’s really a millions-to-one chance. Gaining a great audience need not cost you a penny (despite all those claims from SEO vendors), you can build your audience quite simply. Here’s a few methods (do them all):

• Ask everyone you know: Ask every single person you know to read your blog, and ask them to tell their friends about it.
• Post on social media: When you blog, tell your social media audience about it. You can do this yourself, or semi-automate the process with a WordPress plugin like SNAP Social Networks Auto-poster. You can use your personal social media accounts, or create social media accounts specifically for your blog and build them up separately from your own.
• Expand your world: Join groups (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ online, and any related RL organizations you can find) and talk about your blog. Participate in the group (don’t just ‘lurk’) and be explicit in asking folks to take a look at your blog.

Above all, you need to have patience. If you’re looking for a quick money making pursuit, blogging isn’t the answer. But if you’re patient, persistent and dedicated to creating the best content, your efforts will pay off – eventually.