The Downside of Starting a Blog for Money
April 1, 2008 by
Steven
Filed under
Making Money
There is plenty of talk online about blogging being an excellent opportunity for the average person to make money online, and I know many Blogtrepreneur readers are bloggers themselves. In general, I agree that there is money to be made for the blogger that is willing to put in the effort and have the patience for real results. However, I also feel that there is a downside to this approach that doesn’t get enough attention.
Of course, most of us as bloggers enjoy talking about the upside and the potential, but I think it’s only fair to present a balanced look at the topic. If you are a new blogger or an aspiring online entrepreneur, I hope you will look at both sides of the issue before deciding if blogging is the right path to pursue in your entrepreneurial efforts. Obviously, what’s right for one of us is not always right for everyone else.
The Dirty Aspects of Blogging to Make Money:
Constant Work - I enjoy blogging, at least as of today. At some point I expect this will change, whether that’s six months from now or six years from now. Making money as a blogger requires constant effort, constant writing, constant idea generation, and constant maintenance. Stop posting and most likely your blogging income will dry up pretty fast.
There are other ways to make money online without this type of constant effort (for a great series of articles see Courtney Tuttle’s keyword sniping). Adnan has also written a few times about pay-per-click marketing, which is a method many affiliate marketers use. Blogging on the other hand, forces constant effort to get on-going results.
Susceptible To Trends - If you build a popular blog on a particular topic that is hot today, it could just as easily be gone tomorrow. Blogging trends, like any other type of trends, come and go. In order to capitalize on a current trend you may spend a lot of time and effort on something that can be unappreciated in a matter of time. This can also be an issue with other methods of making money online, but building a successful, money-making blog takes far more time than many other online efforts, so it’s harder to drop a blog and move on to another project.
Blogs are Generally Not Good for Ad-Clicking Revenue - Any type of pay-per-click program that you use on your blog (such as AdSense) will generally perform below average on blogs. Of course, this varies greatly and it partially depends on the niche you’re in, but generally other types of sites are better for ad-clicking. Blog visitors come to the blog to read content, so they typically will look right past the ads.
Monetization Can Be Somewhat Limited - Selling banner ad space or text link ads is clearly a leading method of monetization for many blogs. Readers and visitors tend to accept these advertisements as necessary and they don’t get too put off by them. On the other hand, some specific monetization methods are shunned by a percentage of blog readers, including affiliate links, paid reviews, and contextual ads. Again, this depends on your audience, but blog visitors can be a bit fickle at times. If this is the case with your blog, you may find monetization to be more difficult than you had anticipated.
Burnout - As I mentioned earlier, I doubt I’ll blog forever. But even blogging for about a year I have already outlasted most of those who started at the same time I did. Every one of us will face at least temporary burnout from time-to-time. A more serious and longer-lasting burnout will make it difficult or impossible to maximize the money-making potential of your blog.
Vacation? - Have you ever tried to go on a vacation from your blog? It’s not very easy. In fact, I think I’ve managed only one weekend away from blogging in the past 9 months. Sure, you can prepare posts ahead of time, but there is always the maintenance of the blog and the constant flow of comments and emails. Run a static website on the other hand, and vacations should be a non-issue.
Competition - With literally thousands and thousands of new blogs being launched each day, blogging is probably one of the most competitive ways to make money online. If you’re confident about your abilities and willing to put in the work the competition may not bother you, but it eventually gets the best of most bloggers. Yes, there will be competition with any worthwhile online venture, but I feel that blogging may be at the top of the list.
Something For Nothing Mentality - Because of the nature of blogs that involves constant publication of new posts, many blog readers and subscribers have developed a mentality that nothing online is worth paying for. If you are hoping to build up a blog in order to promote a specific product, a subscription-based service, or anything else along those lines, it may be more difficult than you are expecting. The best bloggers and marketers can do this successfully, but not every good blogger is able to.
What Are Your Thoughts?
As I said at the start of the post, I do believe that blogging presents a great opportunity to make money online, however I think all of these issues should be communicated as well. Where do you stand on the issue? Do you blog? If so, do you blog in effort to make money? Please share your opinions and lessons that you have learned from personal experiences.
This post was written by Steven Snell.
I do have a blog to make money but it’s different for me. I run a virtual office so my blog brings me money in the form of clients. I think you are very right about the downsides. There are just too many junk blogs out there now with more coming online everyday. It is info and ad overload.
This is an excellent post that points out the “other side” that is hardly mentioned in brightly colored e-books! As a newcomer, your eyes get a little glazed over - easy, easy money. But once you start, you find it is not easy at all. I am seeing a lot of what you wrote about and can only say Amen! Blogging is not easy, but I am very excited and grateful to be a new blogger. My eyes have to be on the future - building takes time - and patience is a must.
I think that many bloggers get it wrong when it comes to blogging. They think that blogging is synonym with blogging about blogging, and they expect to make money out of that. Moreover, as they read a lot but understand maybe half, they try to put AdSense all over, and then they proudly announce their $5 monthly income from that.
A blog which is started for money needs to be based on thorough keyword research, otherwise it has a little probability of success (unless the author is a good writer and manages to sell it after 1-2 years)
I think blogging as a sole source of income is almost impossible, unless you are blogging about tech or about how to make money online. Although one big plus about blogging is that you can take a vacation, as long as you set your posts to automatically post while you are away. Commenting would be hard though… and being out of the loop often has it’s consenquences.
I read somewhere that someone got $1000/day(maybe just one day I’m not sure)
just keep trying if you don’t get any cash at the start
I disagree, Terra. I managed to teach my mother to become a successful niche blogger in about 3 months. She currently makes a modest but livable income from three blogs, none of which are related to tech stuff or blogging.
I’ve also been running my own blogs for about 3 years now. I don’t keep all of them updated, but they all make money (and a pretty good salary once you add them all up). I still love my day job, but don’t let anyone tell you there’s no money in blogging.
Sure, there’s no money for mega-earning super affiliates who make $500k/month in their sleep, but for the averatge person, blogging can be great.
Jacqueline,
I like your approach. I think it is healthy and realistic and will allow you the best chance for long-term success.
Simonne,
I agree that niche blogging is usually the way to go.
Terra,
Yes, the post timestamp option can work, but if your blog is big enough to earn a full-time income you probably have a lot more going on than just posting. Comments and emails pile up, and many people in this situation like to pay someone to temporarily run the blog in their absence.
I also thought ads suck on a blog and removed them before 2 months but nothing ever changed. Even worst, I lost a lot of subscribers. I don’t think it is related to advertisement but it did happen.
Maybe blogs - ads = Unprofessional blog.
I think blogging for money is no different than doing anything for money. The problem lies with the marketers and shysters making it sound like you can make 30k a month in 2 hours a day.
Isn’t going to happen.
Blogging is just like any other job. The only advantage being, you are your own boss.
As with all things, I think a healthy dose of common sense goes a long way when it comes to blogging. Picking a subject you know nothing about in a highly competitive niche is bound to sort the men from the boys.
The burnout issue is interesting: with so many sites telling you that you should REGULARlY UPDATE YOUR BLOG OR FAIL, it’s important to realise the effort involved in that can take its toll. I guess the follow on from that is ‘blog addiction’: I know I have had evenings when I have stayed up waaaaay too late tweaking my templates or writing articles. Does anyone else ’suffer’ from this?!
I think the biggest problem with starting a blog for the money, is once you realize it’s going to take several months before a blog really starts getting you money, they give up.
I can’t say I am a regular blogger anymore but I do enjoy writing and offering my own ideas, thoughts and opinions when appropriate.
These are really good points though and well worth illustrating - particularly for the beginner who perhaps has not really researched the particular niche or theme they want to succeed with.
One tip for the vacation issue and possibly even burnout is to save a few posts in draft mode that are less “time relevant” - i.e. - they’re not necessarily subject to a hot topic or current event.
That way, you can have them ready to go ahead of time if you intend to be away or just need a fresh idea.
Yes you’re right there are some down sides to blogging but there are down sides to everything.
If you look at blogging as easy money for not much effort then it is not for you.
If you look at blogging as a great opportunity and a good marketing technique for your online endeavors, that with work and time can bring in a nice income then you should give it a go.
I agree with your works.
Vacation…lol…thats what I am doing at the moment. Make sure the place you are vacationing has a good Internet connection prior to booking…working vacations are so sweet…
I agree with everyone that’s pointed out that blogging is like anything else in life. I guess my observation is that many new bloggers fail to realize this, and I just wanted to lay out some facts (or I guess more accurately opinions) about what really is involved in blogging.
I have been blogging for fun for the past three years and for the past two years, I have been accepting advertising on my blog and while the upside is you do make a little extra money, the downsides are that I not only handle everything my self with flat-rate advertising, but since my advertisers purchase one year contracts, I have to continue blogging until the contracts are up and not when I decide to even if I’m Burnout or on vacation.
Keep in mind, you don’t have to blog daily, weekly is fine, personally I blog when I have something to say.
One day I do hope to blog on a team blog as its all about blogging and not about anything else.
So what is considered a “good” income for a blog? Stephanie you mentioned that you make a fairly decent income, so how would you quantify it? If you don’t mind.
I like your views, but it is very difficult to give so much of your time and energy to something if somewhere rewards are not involved.
I agree with you about blogging. But as with anything that you want to make money with, it will require some time and/or resources if you want to actually earn money. As far as post go, I like your posts on here - glad it doesn’t seem like work to you - so far!
So please keep it up - I enjoy reading yout thoughts.
Cheers,
Jon
I agree, blogs do have good income potential, but they do have several drawbacks.
I’ve made a bit of money so far off my blogs, mostly from affiliate links. But really, I write them for the fun of it and as a way of honing my writing style. I have a longer term aim which is to use them to accumulate heaps of material that I can eventually rewrite and ultimately put into book form.
I was actually thinking that the best way of making money online, is through automated online systems where you don’t have to work a lot on a daily basis.
Read more on this here: http://www.jameskennedy.ie/2007/11/04/what-were-you-doing-at-7am-on-saturday-morning/
I’ve heard that people start blogs because they love what they do.
Nice article there.
But yes, blogging is not always money. Its a sideway business and your personal diary.
I do believe you can make money from your blog, maybe should not be the only way you make money in your business.
Like anything worth doing, it does require some time and effort, but it can be very informative and fun also.
Pugsley
but in most cases people blog not for money.
the money thing I do believe just happens, say a follow through for constant blogging.
which a blog entrepreneur happens to grab.
Eric
I would never start a blog just for making money. Up if you can use a blog to generate legitimate content and natural links to a site that is (apart from the blog) loaded with ads rather heavily and make money with the rest of the site (and not the blog itself) I can stand having to blog about a topic I do not like.
Eva,
I agree, that’s why I wanted to write this post to point out some things that aren’t mentioned that often.
Graham,
People start blogs for all different reasons. I don’t think everyone’s motivation is the same.
Eric,
I think if a blogger is ever going to make significant money there needs to be more effort, rather than it just happening as a result of posting the content. This post is aimed at entrepreneurial bloggers who have that in mind when they start a blog.
Malte,
I totally agree that blogs are great as supplements to other parts of a website.
read this article on ny times…it is abt bloggers who blog til they die due to stress and exhaustion…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06sweat.html?ei=5088&en=b9031b1ab51405e4&ex=1365134400&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
Excellent post, blogging takes time and effort to succeed. But remember you will get there in the end.
I do remember a few years back when I was just starting to blog. I had never thought the potentials of earning money through blogging.
Now, that I knew, I think it has become one of my blog goals.
Eric
There is nothing saying that to be successful running a blog you have to update your blog every day. I guess it depends on your definition of blogging. I run several wordpress blogs, that stand static “most of the time” that rank for extremely long tail search phrases making a few dollars a day. Build 100 of them even with a single “good quality” post or two that actually helps people solve a problem of some kind and you have yourself an income.
You bring up a lot of good points about blogging… one thing I do know is that a lot of people would rather make money by blogging instead of sitting in an office crunching numbers… writing a blog is something you do because you love it, not because you think it will make you rich .
Passion is the key to blogging, I believe. I’m quite certain (as you all are) that people who blog just for the money sake will burn out quite fast.
The blogging aspect should come from those who have the knowledge of a particular niche and some advice to give to the reading community. Do you guys think so?
It is no surprise that burn-out and lack of patience is prevalent in the blogosphere. But those who are blogging simply for money…it’s a free, capitalistic world, right? Why stop ‘em?
Blogging about the topic needs passion in himself as to get good topics and unique posts for the readers of our blog …
if u fail to get the above things then wont b able to maintain the blog much longer.
i haven’t tried making money via blogging or affiliate but i try to make some from few of my sites with selected niches.
Have vacations by preparing your blog posts in advance and then asking a trusted friend blogger to post for you at a certain date you require! You can do the same in return when he is away. Share your blogging chores with your blogging comrades and you will all benefit!
Zowoco,
That’s definitely one approach. You can also use the timestamp to publish at a specific time in the future. The problem for me is that I write for 6 or 7 blogs, so writing in advance isn’t very practical since it takes so much time. That’s what I’m trying to do at the moment though.
You are absolutely right…that blogging can lead to burnout. Unfortunately, everyone keeps saying, “you can make money from blogging!!”, so everyone tries it. People need to realize that you need to write well…ALL THE TIME. Why not start a static website, and focus your attention to driving traffic to it?
Its a common misconception that non-bloggers make about making money online - they really don’t realize the amount of time you have to put in to make some money. And yes vacations, they’re another biggie - I went away at the start of this year for a month and when I returned my earnings had dropped by 80%
Blogs are pretty tough, but can be extremely profitable if you make it right. You also have to make sure to get into a market that doesn’t have many blogs or at least many good blogs. I do agree that it can be easy to get burnt out, especially if blogging is not your full-time job.
Very good post, this is the hard reality!
Everything is work, so the way I look at it, just determine which work you like the best and run with it. Blogging is a lot of fun, I ran and sold several very popular tech blogs in the past, made great money from them. It can be done and anyone can do it, just need the determination and the willingness to work for it.
I love blogging but it can be frustrating at times
You have really made a very practical list of the downsides of blogging for money. In fact your list can serve as a checklist for those who wants to start blogging to determine before they start that if at all blogging suits them. But given all the odds it must also be mentioned that blogging is worth every bit of effort that is required because once a blog gets established it returns many times the worth of effort put in.
well, there are positive and negative both side. and as well as i know the positive side is that the blogging business do pays. though, thanks for sharing the information
Stomach Exercises
Nice to see that you are having the same problems as us! You hit the nail on the head with how hard this it. If people don’t put the work in then they won’t get anywhere.