O.k, you’ve had your blog running for a few months, you update daily and you have a few readers. So, where’s the freaking money? Starting a blog looks like an easy way to make a heap load of cash. Lots of us have seen the top dogs with their $10k monthly incomes and thought, ”I want some of that”. But is constantly dreaming of a mega bucks monthly income, going to ruin your chances of actually making any money? To a certain extent, I think it is.
The reason I started this blog was because I too wanted to make money online. I spotted bloggernoob.com and instantly wanted to do what he was doing. Make money online by experimenting. So, I got myself a blog and set off. My quest for money started with adsense because I’d seen other peoples adsense checks. I thought I was going to make $1000’s. I didn’t make even make 1 cent. I was gutted. Next I tried a little affiliate marketing convinced this was definitely going to make me rich. I just about broke even.
When you’ve put so much effort in to your blog and you’re not doing what you set out to do, make money, it gets very very frustrating. It seems pointless in carrying on. I think the biggest problem a lot of bloggers have, is that they assume readership and a few subscribers is they key to getting rich. I feel in order to start making money, you need to start changing around the order of what is motivating you to blog, change the way you think.
I no longer have $$ constantly running through my mind, thinking of getting rich all the time was ruining the whole blogging experience for me. All I would do is read the big blogs and wonder what the hell I was doing wrong. If you’re unhappy blogging, you’re not going to get very far. My main focus now is growing my blog, providing quality and then worry about monetization. I’m glad I’ve noticed my problem so early on in my blogging life, if I’d have carried on the way I was going I wouldn’t have lasted much longer.
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March 15th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I think the famous phrase from Field of Dreams is very appropriate in blogging and building and online business “If you build it, they will come”.
Of course, you still need to find ways to get people to your blog, but if the content is there, people will come back.
March 15th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Yeah, I hear what you’re saying. I’ve been so caught up in the make money buzz, I’ve started neglecting the most important part of my blog. Content.
I’m putting money on hold for a while, I’m going to concentrate on the important things.
March 15th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I’m glad you had this epiphany
A blog truly is all about the content, the readers, and your enthusiasm.
March 15th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Hey Funked. Good words. I made the same realization myself no long after I started. It has really helped me to stay more passionate about my blog. It is exciting when your blog grows and gets regular readers. Thats gotta be the top priority. If you stick with is, the money will come. There are too many blogs out there that are blatantly just trying to make a buck. Who would follow that?
March 15th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
D F R - Me too.
Jeff - I feel much more motivated now that I couldn’t give a toss about making money. I will still try things out, but I think it will be more for the purpose of showing the people who happen to read this blog what’s possible.
I remember when you posted about the change in direction for your blog, I wish I had done the same back then.
March 16th, 2008 at 4:31 am
Very good article. I agree 100 %. I have also decided to spend more time on content.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Many new bloggers start up with the idea of making a lot of money with their blog. What they don’t realize is that it does take a lot of time and effort - no get rich quick with blogging.
I have experienced what you went through with the the money part - where the money part was ruining my blogging experience. Once I started focusing more on the content I began to enjoy blogging. I have had people thank me for the help my content has given them - which makes it worth more than the money.
It’s okay to want to make money with a blog, but don’t put that goal ahead of writing good content.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:30 am
Totally agree. I have only been blogging for 2 months but have not done any monetizing. Just working on quality posts. My success in the “other” business world was based on the old adage, “You will get everything in life that you want…if you just help enough other people get what they want!” So, if you want money…give value and quality in your posts. Good luck, Rick
Feel free to stop by anytime and sit by my campfire and chat. Rick
March 17th, 2008 at 7:27 am
thanks for the mention. i didn’t know that my humble blog could make people want to start a blog.
great post. i think make money blogging dreams are like rap dreams. or hoop dreams. only a few will make it big, and rich. most bloggers should be happy that a hobby will make them a few hundred a month. BloggerNoob is a hobby of mine. What i like most blogging is that i get to interact with like minded individual…like you funked. It’s also cool…cause it’s a hobby that pays. Now if you want to make your income solely online…then you have to get into other stuff. like site development, ecommerce, multiple blogs, etc. Can’t make sufficient income to support cost of living with just a blog. very hard. And if you look around, only a few can do it.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Thanks for putting things in perspective. Will keep that in mind.
Cheers!
March 17th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Your writing is good, which gives you a leg up over much of your competition. I think you’re right — build yourself a readership and track record first.
March 23rd, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Blogging = socializing = teaching = getting attention = traffic = money
Gotta keep working on your blog & experimenting what works and what doesn’t. If you think about the money 100% of the time… it’s gonna be a tough job :o)