Reality check: You’re not going to make money from your blog
Almost everyone should forget about making money directly from blogging. It’s so unlikely that it’s a total waste of your time trying. I am actually shocked at how ubiquitous the idea is that blogging is a get-rich-quick scheme. Or even a get-rich-slowly scheme. It’s not. Blogging is a great career tool for creating opportunities for yourself. But here are eight reasons you should stop thinking about money from blogging:
1. Big bloggers come from big media.
Usually I’m the first person to rip on print media as outdated and a dead-end career. But here’s something that maybe you don’t realize: Most big bloggers today have a strong background writing for print. For example: Erik Schoenfeld (TechCrunch), Owen Thomas (Valleywag), and I all wrote for Business 2.0 magazine at the same time. Ten years ago. Which means we had a ton of national media experience before we started blogging. Anya Kamenetz (Yahoo Finance) wrote for the Village Voice and had a very serious book published—before she started blogging.
2. Sure, there are exceptions. But you’re probably not one of them.
Let’s look at some people who have big blogs who didn’t come from big media. Heather Armstrong at Dooce. She’s a good one. Here’s what she has that you don’t: She’s a talented writer and a talented designer. She’s married to a developer who does all her tech stuff for free. And she has an amazing story to tell. She has the ability to translate her genius across many media—photography, memoir, twitter, and so on. She is a marvel. And you are not. None of us is. That’s why she is making so much money from her blog.
3. Even if you can do it, supporting yourself with a blog is crazy hard.
Most people had to do their day job and experiment with their blog and figure out what works and then do two, pretty much full-time jobs, and then quit their day job when their blog earned enough money. JD Roth did this at Get Rich Slowly. I did this with my blog (and nearly fell apart). Most people who do this do not have kids. Because if you have kids and a job you already have two full-time jobs, so you cannot add another. Blogging to support yourself is a complete full-time job. Read Gina Trapani’s post about how she is taking a break from blogging because it’s so life-consuming.
4. You probably have to be controversial to make money blogging.
Yes, there are some topics that do not require controversy: Productivity tools, for example. I think it’s safe to say, though, that that market is pretty saturated. You will have to find a good niche for yourself in order to stand out from the crowd. So you will have to be different, and the bloggers who are different have surprising things to say. And if you have surprising opinions, you’ll have people who tell you you’re an idiot. And if you are making good money from your blog, you’ll have hundreds of people telling you how you’re an idiot. Do you want that? Really? Will you be able to write another controversial opinion the next day or will you be too nervous?
5. You can make more money flipping burgers.
If you want to get your opinions out into the world, or you want to write a diary about your life, whatever—do that. But why do you have to make money at it? Most of you would probably like to write a bit, to get new opportunities, and then leverage the blog to do something fun. Most of you do not want to write blog posts optimized for advertisers. Really.
6. Please shut up about your book deal.
Books are not cash cows. They are time sinks. And they are marketing tools for something else. Like a consulting business or a speaking career or a blog. And people who are great speakers are seldom great writers, and vice versa. So don’t tell me you are doing a blog to get a book deal: Dead end. And don’t tell me it’s not a dead end because you’ll turn that into a speaking career. Show me someone that has worked for. Don’t tell me about Seth Godin. He had huge books before he started blogging. Not the other way around.
7. Blog for better reasons than money.
There are a lot of reasons to blog, but for the most part, money is not one of them. In the book, Blog Blazers: 40 Top Bloggers Share Their Secrets, Stephane Grenier asked forty bloggers what their definition of blogging success is. He talked with people like Seth Godin, Neil Patel, Ramit Sethi, and me. We all make a living online, and we all have big blogs, but almost no one in the book said money was the definition of success.
Bloggers defined success as things that mattered in their life: influence, connections, friendships, the ability to lead a conversation that matters to people. Some talked about a blog leading to other business opportunities.
8. Banner advertising is the mafia.
I have not had banner advertising on my site because I am so adamant that people should not blog to earn money—I don’t want to encourage anyone. I did take one ad. For Career Bags. I’m going to tell you something: The amount they paid for that ad was insignificant to me. But they let me do a lot of shopping on the site for free. Which was a huge treat. Shopping was fun. And I think about how much I love my blog every time I put my laptop into my Casauri bag.
I would never say that about a banner ad. But I am about to capitulate and sign a contract with Federated Media, the by-far-biggest company for online ad sales. Federated is sort of doing me a favor. I mean, I have about 400,000 page views a month, which I think is less traffic than any of their other clients. I’m grateful to be part of Federated because I do, in fact, need to make money from my blog. But what I have done to get here—work two jobs at once while raising kids, sell equity in my blog and then almost go out of business, and spend about four hours on each post—you probably wouldn’t want to go through all that just to make money on banner ads. You probably have a way more efficient mechanism for earning money and you can blog on the side.
This seems like a good time to tell you the advice my writing teacher gave our who class in graduate school: Writing for a living is a very, very hard life. If you can do anything else for a living, you should.
So the idea that blogging will help you get rich: Forget it. Your chances of that are so slim, while your chances of gaining the other benefits of blogging are very high. So blog, yes, and do it to reach real goals, just not financial goals.
nice post..to help information to get money online..
Since I am posting from an Itouch I will keep this short. This article stinks. I went from reading your farmer story; which was eye opening and inspiring, to this self destructive and misconcepted article. I am only 15 years old, and I haven’t worked on my website in years. You are soley the reason I will start again.
Even with school, testing, and learning how to program, I
will take time to prove you wrong. You don’t need any talent, any outstanding skill, or background knowledge to reap the rewards of blogging. All the people you have listed did not become great bloggers because of their previous acclaimed accomplishments. They did it because they wanted to, and because they believed they could. And most of them wished to be succesful to have a better lifestyle (which is fueled by money), have better friends, which you meet through connections. Overall money fuels your lifestyle and if you don’t understand that it’s the firststep to your other goals you are quite confused.
To tie in back to you being wrong; I will prove it in the course of a few year just because I want to and because I believe it. If anything your article succeded in fueling my own devotion to succeding. Whether you wrote for this purpose or not it is quite impressing.
That was amaizing
check this out:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xit03r_constant-income-with-gdi-global-domains-ws-go-to-www-incomeevolve-ws_lifestyle
creating a blog is important to be known is true that many people fail because they are clear about what they want to convey, to create a blog for a business what is important is page optimization and be known by visiting forums, and leaving your firm would be a link to your page, you can also become a Clickbank affiliate that is promoting third party products and receive your comicion by selling the product via the link
Or “coincidental”
Disappointingly cynical and ironically – controversial.
Le sigh.
Whoahh…talk about a way NOT to start the day! I’m sorry dear, but you should never tell someone they can’t do something. That’s just not polite. I would hope that a woman of your age would have a decent understanding of manners, but apparently not. Uhm, and just who are you to judge anyone? You literally could have just crushed tons of people’s dreams with the negative things flying out of your mouth. What I want to know is WHO IN THE WORLS gave you the title of “GUIDANCE COUNSELOR” is what I want to know! 0_0 LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.
*WORLD
A lot of people have a notion that if they blog about their life, rant a little, post photos of what they’ve eaten or where they’ve been lately, they can get rich and not have o work all their life. This article provides readers with a reality check, that not all bloggers can make money and those who do work really hard at it. Blogging for money is just like any other business, it entails careful planning and time must be invested to make it grow.
Bob
diploma of management
Excellent use of commas and articles. One of the few people to actually use good English….or use English well.
Thanks.. It was refreshing after having read so many pidgin English posts from others. You’re a star.
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awww, somebody didn’t make it blogging, lol!
Wooow, you are soooo negative, my goodness…
Negative? More like condescending. I have no idea if money can be made blogging but I certainly see why you wouldn’t be making any because I will take note of your name and NEVER read anything by you again. And to all you want-to-be money dreaming bloggers; Nothing beats a fail but a try !!!! Go for it!
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This article is ticking me off. Of course, it has to tick people off if you want people to comment on it and read it, so you can make money. Sure, people shouldn’t blog just to make money, but if you blog from your heart, it’s not impossible to make money.
I started blogging at the age of 15, before I got caught by my evil dictatorial parents who have opposite religious and political views. I could have made money…but I didn’t have a bank account. I had tons of supporters, constant emails, and hoards of enemies. Yes, you do have to be controversial, but it’s FUN! There’s nothing better than being told you’re an idiot and telling them they’re an idiot back and then having a war of words. You get supporters who are just as adamant as your critics, which is great. They get kind of crazy sometimes and start saying, “I’ll give my life for you!” and you have to tell them off (That happened to me twice). The point is, when you’re a blogger, you always have compatible and loyal friends. Though, according to Che Guevara, It’s sad not to have friends but sadder not to have enemies. Also, you have to either be a really knowledgeable writer on a certain topic or…have a life that’s not typical in the slightest. Those are attainable goals for anyone, depending on how much they want to sacrifice. I sounded kind of knowledgeable, but being 15, I think my atypical life was the main feature. Being tormented by my parents, believing the world was going to end, seeing spirits, being a radical libertarian revolutionary and setting down protocols for insurgency…The trick is not to blog to make money, but to make money to blog. If you love your blog so much that you are comfortable working as, say, a custodian until you get enough advertisers, then you have potential. I’m 17 now. I can’t link to my blog (which is now inactive), give you keywords, or give my name or my parents will catch me again. When I am 18, I am going to leave my parents, leave the country, and blog my life away. I don’t care that much if I make money off of it, but I would prefer to make money off of it because then I don’t have to get a job and I’ll have more time to blog. See, that’s the kind of attitude you need if you want to make money. One last word of advice: tell people everything! Don’t be conventional. Don’t listen to conventional blogging advice. BELIEVE YOU CAN BE THE EXCEPTION. If you’re the kind of person who is capable of believing something irrational like that, you’re the kind of person that’s interesting enough to listen to. Do not leave out your true thoughts and feelings. That way, you seem more controversial, more interesting, and more sincere. People liked me because I had no secrets. It’s like, “Seriously? You’re telling us that?” YES! Why not? I love all humanity!
If you REALLY want to be a famous blogger and live off it, you can.
This article is ticking me off. Of course, it has to tick people off if you want people to comment on it and read it, so you can make money. Sure, people shouldn’t blog just to make money, but if you blog from your heart, it’s not impossible to make money.
I started blogging at the age of 15, before I got caught by my evil dictatorial parents who have opposite religious and political views. I could have made money…but I didn’t have a bank account. I had tons of supporters, constant emails, and hoards of enemies. Yes, you do have to be controversial, but it’s FUN! There’s nothing better than being told you’re an idiot and telling them they’re an idiot back and then having a war of words. You get supporters who are just as adamant as your critics, which is great. They get kind of crazy sometimes and start saying, “I’ll give my life for you!” and you have to tell them off (That happened to me twice). The point is, when you’re a blogger, you always have compatible and loyal friends. Though, according to Che Guevara, It’s sad not to have friends but sadder not to have enemies. Also, you have to either be a really knowledgeable writer on a certain topic or…have a life that’s not typical in the slightest. Those are attainable goals for anyone, depending on how much they want to sacrifice. I sounded kind of knowledgeable, but being 15, I think my atypical life was the main feature. Being tormented by my parents, believing the world was going to end, seeing spirits, being a radical libertarian revolutionary and setting down protocols for insurgency…The trick is not to blog to make money, but to make money to blog. If you love your blog so much that you are comfortable working as, say, a custodian until you get enough advertisers, then you have potential. I’m 17 now. I can’t link to my blog (which is now inactive), give you keywords, or give my name or my parents will catch me again. When I am 18, I am going to leave my parents, leave the country, and blog my life away. I don’t care that much if I make money off of it, but I would prefer to make money off of it because then I don’t have to get a job and I’ll have more time to blog. See, that’s the kind of attitude you need if you want to make money. One last word of advice: tell people everything! Don’t be conventional. Don’t listen to conventional blogging advice. BELIEVE YOU CAN BE THE EXCEPTION. If you’re the kind of person who is capable of believing something irrational like that, you’re the kind of person that’s interesting enough to listen to. Do not leave out your true thoughts and feelings. That way, you seem more controversial, more interesting, and more sincere. People liked me because I had no secrets. It’s like, “Seriously? You’re telling us that?” YES! Why not? I love all humanity!
If you REALLY want to be a famous blogger and live off it, you can.
What a horrible, negative post. This was the second story I clicked on. I won’t be reading anything further. Imagine if Steve Jobs had listened when people told him “don’t bother, you’ll never make any money”.
Not at all impressed.
Since when did Steve Jobs make money blogging?
Wow,
powerful post. How bizarre is it I stumbled onto this post and after having
just read one earlier today, where this mob claim they deliver an unmatched
rate of success in this type of stuff about making money from blogs and
websites. They are even putting $50k up for grabs if you can prove them
wrong. Wackos. I'm just wondering if
they can really front up with the cash when they get found to be wrong eh.
Sounds nuts
but I'm not joking, take a look http://bit.ly/qjzEt2
It's the “$50,000 Challenge” tab on the left. Surely there has to be
something not right about it. It can't possibly be that hard to prove them wrong
with google at your finger tips.
My blog looms large in its niche category and it sits high in Technorati and Google pages. But I don’t run ads and probably never will. I blog for personal satisfaction and to communicate with a specific group of people. As for a blog taking over your life – you betcha. If you are moderately successful, publisher start sending books your way to be reviewed. Next thing you know you have a second full time job and deadline obligations.
Unless you blog for the love of it, your lack of enthusiasm or creativity will drag your enterprise down and turn off readers. Persistence counts. A blog is like an exotic garden – it needs a lot of tending and attention to flower.
PS. It is obvious from the comments that are allowed to stay on your blog that you do not “tend” your own blog garden carefully. One thing that I zealously oversee are the comments. Spam is immediately removed and trolls are heavily discouraged. I delete nasty comments and stop verbal fights dead in their tracks. The result is that my readers are willing to participate in a largely civilized discourse. Many have said that they enjoy the comments almost as much as the posts.
But i is dah best wrtier in dah world!!! AND I LIKE TO SCREAM AND YEALL WHEN I RIGHT. I LIKE them thar sex. I be writtin bout that.
great post. reality strikes me since I have been trying to make blogging as my full time job since June.
It has to be taken in to context that this article was written over 2 years ago. A lot of things have changed and many people are now, in fact, making money from blogging. Still, only a handful of people make a killing at it. A few more make a full time income, and many others are making some extra money.
I make anywhere between $100 – $800 a month depending on the time of year and how much extra time I have to spend on my website.
This post was written when making some extra money while doing a hobby you love was just brand new. It is still new even now, near the end of 2011. I would love to know if the author still feels this is the case, or is this article just being left here to rot without any updates.
I use my blog and website to document the things I do to build capital. Maybe it will help others, but it will certainly help me. Later, perhaps I may make a few pennies from my website. It doesn’t matter as long as others learn to make money for themselves
What is so wrong with having ads on your blog and making money from them?
” gave our who class in graduate school:”
I didn’t need to go to graduate school to spot a typo on a blog about how someone else can blog, but not me. What a pompous ass. Your blog sucks. Thanks CNN, for bringing into Grouchland. Signed, Elmo.
Sounds a lot like a “ME”, “ME, “ME”, situation but Penelope HAS a point.
The mere fact that many of these A-Bloggers are so successful is that they used to write a lot of years ago and did it PROFESSIONALLY.
The more I write blog posts, the more I think of myself: “what the hell am I doing writing stuff, I’m not even a writer!”.
So she does have a point, exposed a bit harsh, maybe but it’s also the truth.
One more thing though, the fact that these guys used to write before and did it professionally and yadda, yadda, yadda, doesn’t means that a regular JANE or JOE can’t do it.
It IS doable because I have seen it and I have seen a lot of people without ANY expertise whatsoever, become huge.
So just keep doing whatever feels right to you and don’t let others turn you off just because they think different.
Sergio
I just would like to know who is the person who told you, you know anything, and why you feel your the last word or even the first word in what someone can do? I think your pretty arrogant to say the least, and do not have the slightest idea what the heck your talking about unless of course your referring to your own lack of ability. In that case I accept your analyst. Dreams are made of hope’s, visions, aspirations, insights, imagination, and no one inclusive of you can predict their evolution. For a so called blogger, your pretty stupid. Discouraging someone from doing something by calling it a waste of time, it appears you you have a lot of time to waste by what you write.
Sounds like the author doesn’t want any new competition! We get it. Making a living from blogging is neither easy nor likely, but obviously SOME people do. Sounds like the author doesn’t want any new competition!
Like many other readers who commented, I was a bit put off by the negativity in this post however curiosity lead me to look over other articles you had written to see if this was a common theme. Then I came across the section on Asperger’s Syndrome and your condition, now I get it. Autism can be a complicated condition that the average person will not understand unless they’ve experienced it themselves. My 9yr old son is autistic (PDD-NOS) and has a difficult time interpreting social cues and/or connecting with others appropriately. I’m not a professional writer nor an expert in autistic disorders but what I’d advise is that there be someone to proof or offer feedback on your posts before publishing content for all the world to see.
There was a comment below about dreams being crushed by your comments. I understand their point as well, being that you are a notable figure. As a guidance counselor, people will look to you for direction and advice..so to tell a person that they will not be successful at something is unrealistic. Maybe you meant to say the odds are not in their favor, rather than to state that making money from blogging is virtually impossible.
Best of luck to you in the future. I do realize this post is a few years old. My hopes are that your views on the subject have changed in a more positive light.
-Regina S.
Blogging is a stepping stone not always to more blogging.
Get Paid to Learn How to Make Money Blogging….www.makemoneywithMistya.com
Blogging has the same 99/1 percent fail/success rule that other markets have. The 1% who succeed have the versatile assets and drive necessary to succeed which include writing ability, charisma, persistence, thick skin…AND tech/web smarts, as well as marketing and SEO knowledge (if not, they must have the connections or cash).
Good information, telling it how it is – no sugar coating.
Alan Wilensky…FUNNY comment. It’s always a joy to see new subscribers. I appreciate each and every one. As we all do. Strangers connected via the internets.
Hey guys, check out this blog. It’s called The Free Internet Challenge. It’s an experiment to see if it’s possible to actually make money online without money or experience. And don’t worry, there aren’t any ads or anything on the website. It’s http://freeinternetchallenge.blogspot.com/
That’s pretty pessimistic,) I don’t want to make ‘ big bucks’ from blogging but if I put in 3hrs day I wouldn’t mind getting at least minimum wage back. Do think this a realistic long term plan?
Love the title, very catchy. The content on making money from blogging was just as great.
My favorite part was when you speak of, Heather Armstrong. It’s always great when you have extra talents and a loved ones help.
Thanks, Penelope!
That’s just not polite. I would hope that a woman of your age would have a decent understanding of manners, but apparently not. Uhm, and just who are you to judge anyone? You literally could have just crushed tons of people’s dreams with the negative things flying out of your mouth. What I want to know is WHO IN THE WORLS gave you the title of “GUIDANCE COUNSELOR” is what I want to know!
Penelope, you are not hundred percent correct. Sure, the general population can’t make money from blogs, but the persistent bloggers do it all the time. Think about the big guys who are not affiliated in any way with the big media. I found your post just a little discouraging. That being said, are you affiliated with the big media?
There’s a big difference between “you’re not going to make money from your blog” and “you’re not going to get rich” from your blog. I agree that getting rich from blogging is unlikely (and it definitely wouldn’t be quick or without a ton of work) — but you certainly can make money from blogging.
I am making a fair bit of money from my blog at the moment but I have been blogging for many years and have worked hard on it/ It has always more than paid for itself with regards to hosting and domain name costs but it certainly does not give me as high an income as I would get working 9-5. However, as I need to work from home, because I have children, it works very well for me.
Its such as you learn my mind! You seem to know a lot approximately this, like you wrote the ebook in it or something. I believe that you just can do with some % to pressure the message home a little bit, however other than that, this is wonderful blog. A great read. I will definitely be back.
All i can read is Me, me ,me ,i ,i,i ,you cant but i can, sorry ,truthful and honest answer .
Good point. Is Google using our hard earned efforts as user stats for advertisers. Are advertisers paying for the statistics we provide.
Whether you think you can, or can’t, you’re probably right. whoever said that. There are ways for you to make money with your blog, but you just have to be creative, or market a network opportunity on the side,,, but it does come down to having something of value to say, and generating traffic.
I haven’t made much with my four blogs, unless you have a side business you are not going to make much money. If you want to make money you need to be selling ebooks or goods. Advertising money is quite low unless you are very popular. I even run some corporate promotions and all I got was a gift voucher from the company. I ran affiliate schemes and I made around £26 in two years or so. Unless you really commercialise your blog, you are not making much, if you are happy to get free goods to review and a bit of pocket money fine… If you are in for the money, you better devise a good strategy and be real commercial, but then you might lose readers if you plug too much. Yes, I know people who make money, but the blog is part of their business.
I initially read this thinking that it was just naysaying, but after reading through the comments and thinking it over, I realized it isn’t. It’s harsh, but really it’s a lesson in realistic goal setting. It seems there are a lot of people who want to set up a blog for the sole purpose of earning a significant residual income. I agree that this is an unrealistic expectation. The point made about how successful people don’t take high risks is generally true; actually highly successful people take small risks at higher frequency than the rest of us. Often a risk they take that seems high to us (because from where we are standing, it would be high) is actually low because of other actions they’ve taken to hedge themselves against failure.
In any case, before I start rambling, I realized this article does not discourage from people from blogging per se, but rather in assuming that their blogging efforts are going to magically turn into a substitute for a career or job. I don’t think it is against having dreams, but rather a reminder to focus on reality: if you’re going to blog, do it for more realistic, more achievable reasons, like gaining exposure or creating opportunities. If you happen to make money along the way, bonus. If not, at least there are things you can gain from them.
So reading this was disheartening at first, but it all depends on how you look at it. In the end I feel it helped me get back on track. Thanks.
Hmmm …
Apparently they were out of copies of “The Little Engine That Could” when you were a child. I’m so glad you weren’t around to consult the Wright Brothers. I can just hear you saying to them, “Do you know how many people have tried to fly and failed. Some even died. Is that really what you want? To die? Face it, your chances of getting off the ground are so miniscule, you should really consider just taking a cab because you’ll never make it.”
It’s one thing to advise someone on the pitfalls, and potential hardships, but I don’t think I would ever tell someone to give up on an idea. I’ve learned that lesson a few times by telling my daughter something was impossible only to have her prove me wrong.
Somewhere out there is someone who is going to change the way blogging is done. And it’ll happen because they started out with a vision of maybe money with a traditional blog. They’ll fail, fall, trip, cry, throw a milk dud at the computer screen out of frustration and then, have that epiphany that will forever change the way we communicate.
I only hope they don’t read your blog first.
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