Do You Really Make Money Blogging?
Why I’m asking you about something like that?
Let’s start with short introduction…
I plan to write about something else, but last week something happened which changed my plans. Last week there was 1st anniversary of CommentLuv – great WP plugin from Andy Bailey (I mention this plugin some weeks ago here: How to Stop Spam in Comments – AntiSpam Tips for Bloggers). To celebrate it Andy “squeeze” prize of it (developer’s license costs between 20-30$ instead of 97$!). And a lot of bloggers start to promote it – recently I found a lot of blog posts about it and I also received a lot of emails about this promotion.
I totally understand it – a lot of bloggers want to get money via it. But what do you think – how many of them (of us) will earn “real” money from this promotion, let’s say more than 100 dollars? Few of them (us)? Maybe a dozen 😉
What I want to say is that it’s very difficult to make money promoting other things, especially when almost everybody in your niche is doing it. And blogging niche is one of the most crowded niches. But bloggers in this niche are trying to make big money. In most cases without success…
I know only few bloggers which make a lot of passive money blogging (Pat Flynn, Daren Rowse, John Chow, Jeremy Shoemaker – if you are interested you can read 5 Most Powerful Blogs About Blogging And Making Money Online), and other bloggers make money via other niches (or blogging isn’t their most important source of income).
Do you want some examples – okay, here you are:
Steve Scott – he earns money not from his great blog, but from niche site(s) (see his income report). On his blog he writes not only about blogging and making money online but also about authorities’ sites. But he didn’t reveal what his niche is 😉
Justin Cooke and Joe Magnotti – owners of Adsense Flippers.com – they earn money mostly from niche sites. They earn money via selling niche sites and via Google AdSense ads.
Josh Escusa and Trevor Welsh from WSOtesters.com – they also make most money via site sales and Google Adsense (placed on niche sites).
Dean Saliba, Michael Chibuzor, Mitt Ray, Bamidele Onibalusi and thousands of other bloggers – they make money via writing for others. They are content creators for others – you can find their posts on other blogs, on popular websites and even on some big portals. They run blogs (and sometimes write guest posts) for promoting their writing services.
There are also some bloggers which promote their own services – not only writing but also website design, SEO or marketing services – and they earn money on it, not on blogging about it…
What’s more – I also make some nice money on my niche sites, but from this blog I earn maybe 100$… And I spent lots more…
So please think about it – is your time and effort invested in blogging (about blogging) worth it? Or maybe it’s a huge waste of your time? There are a lot of possible ways of making money online, for some of them you even don’t need a blog! If you don’t have ideas about it please read some of my posts listed below:
Online Passive Income – 5 Money Making Ideas for Bloggers
How To Make Money Online – 10 best ways for doing it!
How to Earn Money Online with Niche Sites
What is Your Business Model – Authority Site, Niche Sites or Something Else?
Do you still think you can make money blogging? Of course, it’s possible… But do you really make passive income via your blog? I don’t. And I suppose you also don’t do it (but maybe I’m wrong).
Please share your own point of view and ways how you earn money online in comments below this post.
Hey Chris,
Yes, I do think the same that many bloggers do blogging in order to earn while many bloggers take blogging as the source of relaxation. This is definitely important. Well, I take blogging just for relaxation and not as the source of income. Well, it all depends on the bloggers. Thanks for the share!!
Hi Aditi, thanks for your comment. I also don’t blog for money, but for my online presentation and to build my audience (it’s also my first site in English ;))
Chris
well i blog to share knowledge on one platform and earn some bucks also
Hi mahfooz,
sharing knowldege with others is also one point why I started this blog! Thanks for your comment.
Chris
Hi Chris,
This is indeed a very honest post about the myths about making money through blogging. Most of the bloggers makes no money at all through blogging and have no clue on how to monetize a blog. And for majority it, blogging is not about money but building the online presence.
I really don’t think that you spending over $100 a month a bad idea and not getting the returns immediately. It is not a quick money making process and most people get disappointed and quit blogging when they find out that hard truth. I would say, consistency is the key! Most people you have mentioned in the post didn’t start making money from the first week they started blogging. They build it over the time. I am sure with the great content and right tools you are using, it is going to pay off.
Hi Annetta,
thanks for stopping by. I always try to be honest and write what’s working for me and what’s not working. As you wrote, return from investment isn’t fast (and easy), especially when you want to make your blog “authority site”. We should only set our goals, follow them and don’t give up 😉
Chris
However blogging gives money but there should not be the first priority to get money from blogging. you can get success only when you don’t blog for money only. Its all about passion and interest.
Hi Atish,
thanks for your comment. I agree with you that making money from blog shouldn’t be the first priority. I also know some professionals with blogs who don’t earn anything from their blog directly – their promote themselves.
Chris
Hi Chris,
thanks for sharing your insights and speaking the truth. Most people won’t make money with their blogs directly. Especially the very promotion of CommentLuv amazes me – how can people expect to make money from that ?
Blogging for money is a job, and probably one of the hardest ones.
Take care
Oliver
Hi Oliver,
As I wrote – only few people will earn some money from it (and of course product creator ;). What I want to say in this post is that if we are new in the niche we can earn only with own product or service…
Chris
Ahh Another well researched post from my bro and fellow blogger Chris.
To earn some passive income from your blog you need to have a solid business plan otherwise you just end up with nothing more than couple of dollars per month.
You have done a great research before writing this post as you have mentioned some name with their specific income source.
Great Job bro.
Hi Sandeep, thanks for your support. I agree with you that proper business plan is very important. Without it some dollars per month will be impossible ;(
Chris
Hey Chris,
The drive to make money blogging is driving some bloggers crazy. Most really don’t .They depend on sidebar banners and adsense. With this, they may be making some drops of dollars but that’s not all. Most don’t write MONEY MAKING ARTICLES. I also think SEO traffic is the best traffic to make money. Poor SEO means little money therefore.
Hi Enstine, I agree with you that SEO trafic is very important in making money, especially with CPC ads. Thanks for your comment,
Chris
If you’re going right track, then you can certainly make money from it.
There are so many ways to earn money online, but for bloggers I think the following are the best ways to produce money..
Sell your products (own)
Sell others stuff
Sell your writing services
Accept product reviews (but be concise!)
There should always be a better plan to make money from blogging, without having a clear vision one can end up earning peanuts!
hi Rahul,
thanks for stopping by. I agree with you about yuor proposition, but accepting product reviews is very “dodgy”. I only put here revies of product(s) or service(s) which I use and I’m realy happy with 🙂
If you can blog, but also have a business mind then you can make money from blogging.
Most bloggers only have 1/2 of the puzzle.
Hi Simmeon, thanks for your comment.
Hey Chris, thanks for the shout out. Making money from blogging really is no easy task. You really have to drive traffic and sustain a highly engaged community. I took a slight break from blogging just to work on our niche sites and do a little research and our blog traffic took an immediate drop.
If you enjoy doing it though, and you’re determined and self motivated, there’s definitely money to be made.
You are welcome Josh! I totally agree with you – short break from blogging may be huge break from traffic… From this point of view niche sites are easier 😉
Great post Chris, anyone who thinks that making money with blog is worth their time is wrong. You will loose a lots of your time, you will need to write post after post after post.
And still profit will not come, and when it comes, like Chris mentioned, you will spend a lot more than you earn.
I personally make a lot of money with my blog, but it didn’t happened over night, but almost year and a half later.
It’s possible to make money, of course, but not over night sorry, that’s the harsh truth.
James, you are totally right. Even making money from niche sites isn’t “fast money”, and blogging is even longer investition 🙂
Making money from blogging is something which needs I a lot of time, hard work and effort. As I’ve said many times before that blogging isn’t get rich quick scheme.
I’ve been blogging and putting hard work on my blog from a year and now I’m able to make some money from my blog.
These are some ways of making money from my blog:
1. Affiliate marketing.
2. Google Adsense,
3. Product reviews
4 Banner advertising.
Hi Ehsan, affiliate marketing and PPC ads are also my favorites 😉
I make most of my money in the hypnotherapy niche, selling mp3 downloads. I have now started a blog about affiliate marketing, giving help and advice to affiliate marketers. I’m hoping this will prove just as popular in the future!
Hi Jon, thanks for stopping by. Own product (or service) is the most lucrative way of making money online, but unfortunately not everyone has time for it…
I promoted the CommentLuv Premium plug-in as well Chris and definitely made over $100 promoting it. Like you though, I don’t actually make money from my blog.
I use my blog mostly to build relationships which leads to getting people to join me in other things. It works like a charm so although the site itself isn’t bringing in any money, it’s definitely worth the time I put into it.
Blogging can be used to generate income, leads or a marketing strategy but should never be discounted unless you’re just here for pure pleasure.
~Adrienne 🙂
Hi Adrienne, you are right – a lot of bloggers use blogging for promoting other things or for building relationships with others 🙂
And if they make some money from it – it’s additional bonus from blogging.
Blogging is the most difficult way for earning and making money for your own. But, still it is an individual job where no one is your boss and you work for your own website not for others. Overall I only want to say that blogging is a selfish business whoever understand this will grow up very fast and others will be still strugglers
Hi Nilesh, thanks for your comment. Blogging only for money can be very difficult – so we should set another goals for our blogs,
Chris
Hi Chris,
Good post – I think many of us use our blog as a platform to other products that we monetize.
In the end, it’s difficult to make money if you are not ‘transacting’ in some way. I know I prefer to keep affiliate links to a minimum on my blog, but it also means that when I do promote something, it doesn’t get dismissed by ‘ad banner blindness’/
Great blog!
Dee
Hi Dee, thanks for your support. You mention very good point – for many of us blog is (or will be) a platform for another products, services or websites.
Chris
Hello Chris,
I’m big fan of commentluv. 🙂
My belief is we can make good amount of money from blogging if we put our efforts in right direction consistently. 🙂
But don’t only blog for money because blogging is not any money making system. Blog for legit reason, blog to help, blog to change, and you’ll receive rewards in terms of money.
Hi Romy, thanks for your comment. Nice to hear that you also like commentluv plugin 🙂
I am glad that you commented on my blog, and I am also glad to be here.
Now my real comment :
I think making money online is not so hard, but then its not too easy also. What you just need is your dedication, focus and commitment ( all of these qualities are absent in me ).
You also need to be social, since today without knowing your fellow members and bloggers you can’t learn anything ( this is what I am doing right now )..
And finally thank youuuuuuu… I wish you won’t have any problem if I visit to your blog again.
Blogging is hard work but its possible to make money. It does seem easier to make money from a regular job. There are no guarantees that anyone will make money from blogging but there are people who are making money. Good thing is that anyone can make money but some hard work is required. But its true, most of them don’t make any money at all.
Hi Shalu, I agree with you that blogging is hard work. In most cases it’s also not “make money fast”, but a log term activity, with results in years, not months 😉
Chris
Agree with most of what you said. Let’s say for a blog/site that is purely dependent upon organic traffic, what’s the best way monetizing that? 7-8K pageviews a month is a very small number indeed, but do you suggest any alternatives there? As it’s still a considerable amount of traffic though.
The best way to monetize your blog isn’t just determined based on whether the traffic is organic search engine traffic or not. It depends on what keywords those people are finding your site with and what type of audience is performing those searches. In order to find the best monetization method for a blog you have to understand your audience somewhat first.
Hi Chris,
Like you said the blogging niche is extremely crowded and most of us are promoting the same things. New blogs in the niche are started every day, but few realise how difficult it actually is to make decent money from it.
The problem is that almost everybody in the niche copies each other and writes about the same boring topics, that are covered in hundreds of other places. Not much of the content written is particularly useful either.
In order to stand out I believe people need to stop competing and start coming up with fresh ideas that have not been thought about before. I realise that it is easier said than done, but it almost the only way to get noticed.
I know you are wanting to make money blogging, but you don’t have the correct blogging platform. Over 90% of the people who use this system to blog are making over $10,000 a month. Literally. That’s on the low end. Serious information and a video that explains the whole thing for free. go to http://admasters.ws and get your video to watch how to do your blogging right.
Thanks for the article … I know I was able to really start making money after I started a niche website.
Nice post for sharing. The points you have given are quite much important. It’s helping a lot with my work. Thanks.
The aim of nearly every blog is to make money money but if you set out to do this straight away then you’re doomed to fail as people need to feel the value of what you have first before you try and make money out of them.
I do agree, it is possible & one of the easiest way to be a million bucks rich. Requires great research, though. I would like to be one of the best, someday. Offcourse, today’s best bloggers are rightly mentioned by you – Darren Rowse & Shoemaker.
Blogging for money alone is hard and nearly impossible. As someone else said, blog with a purpose and a drive about a topic that you are passionate about and in time you will make money if you monetize properly. I haven’t seen anyone mention an email list. I’ve done pretty well not putting a ton of ads up but collecting email addresses and sending out newsletters and such. As long as you are respectful and don’t over email, you can build their trust and recommend products or info related to your niche. A good list can bring in the money. I love what I talk about in my blog, but it took nearly 2 years before I made any significant money at it.
I recently started my blog about blogging lol. However, I launched mine for multiple reasons with the biggest being, I wanted a place to track my ideas, things that worked, and what doesn’t work and also help others at the same time. So far I have really enjoyed doing it. I also love the fact that I can talk about something I truly love doing. So for me it has really been a great experience just to share ideas with others.
I always wonder how people can constantly blog about blogging for years and years. It is like a poet writing a poem about poetry, doesn’t happen.
Making Money by Blogging by is a very nice way to earn passive money. But not so much bloggers are successful in this niche because of their own tricks and tips. Basically blogging is something which not depend on small tricks, it is concept or you can say practice which are performed smartly and with methods. Well, its all depends on your mental ability also that how much you click something at perfect time. in short, perfection is the key to do blogging. What you say about this??
When you are online, there are many ways to make money….I find Blogging to be perfect, because it’s more sustainable when you are doing it right…and chances of earning huge is high… More over, with Blogging you improve your skills and it’s always a learning experience…
Hey. I think make money blogging is all about learning and practising. If you are looking for the best monetization techniques. you are definitely at the wrong place. There are many more methods which involves blog monetization and thus, the first step is to always, become a better blogger.
I am trying it but not getting a good result till now.
Thanks Bro…
I will try to follow these steps
Oh,yes! I make money through blogging. But there are so many things needed to be learned and discovered. Affiliate marketing is one key. Networking with the other bloggers is yet another key!
Definitely! Blogging is a great source of money. But, it is important that we should broaden our network with the other bloggers, have ads in our blog sites and know how to improve our traffic to earn even more!
Yes, making money blogging is very possible. However, a huge amount of work should come with it.
I have 1 year and 2 months working with digital marketing and I’m having great results working only with affiliate programs! Excellent article and thanks for showing other options!
Great tips and post Chris, anyone who thinks that making money with blog is worth their time is wrong. You will loose a lots of your time, you will need to write post after post after post.
I loved your article. Today there are many ways to make money. thank you for the informations. I want to follow your site.
Thanks for sharing a complete detail information about blogging and benefits.
Awesome article.
Thanks for the valuable insights.
I started blogging last year and I’m loving it but just trying to get some traction with organic traffic.
Keep those tips coming…..they are greatly appreciated!
Wow ! Great tips for making money with blog definitely saved a lot of time for me. Thanks for sharing such a amazing post.
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There are many online tools that can help you earn money fast. You need to know how to use those tools and how to earn money online. It is not as difficult as you think. You just need to be patient and have a good money making plan.
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