How Much Money Do You Make From Blogging?
I was talking to PPC Super Affiliate Amit Mehta about our Internet Marketing efforts yesterday and the topic of how much income my blogging generates came up.
On a conservative basis, I’d say that monetization from my blogging alone amounts to somewhere in the mid to higher 4 figure range per month.
Which is a pittance compared to some of the “Super Bloggers” out there.
There’s a lot of talk these days about how much the top bloggers make, especially in the light of Business Week’s “Bloggers Bring In The Big Bucks” story.
Although I know Darren Rowse and Jeremy “Shoemoney” Schoemaker and visit Mario Lavandeira’s PerezHilton and Pete Cashmore’s Mashable, the names on the list were alien to me.
It’s a testament that blogging is an open field and you pick your niche and can do well with it.
But if you’re clued in to the power of blogging, you’d realize that the payoff from blogging comes outside of blogging.
If you listened in to the episode of the Net Income radio show where Shoemoney had Matt Mullenweg, part of the team which developed the WordPress blogging platform, the real money comes as a result of having blogged, rather than because of blogging.
If you missed that episode of Net Income, you can check it out:
As an example, Darren Rowse is a founder of the B5Media blog network, which receive venture funding earlier this year and Shoemoney’s income also comes from promoting CPA offers and developing AuctionAds with partner-in-crime Dave Dellanave AKA Dillsmack. AuctionAds was recently acquired by Media Whiz for an undisclosed sum.
Personally, blogging is a platform to network and form joint ventures, it’s given me the opportunity to “meet up” with several influential super affiliates and information marketers and importantly, clients. Meeting up at events in a face-to-face context is just a way of cementing the relationship.
If you want to exploit blogging to its fullest potential, you need to look at it as more than just a website to pimp adsense or affiliate offers, it’s value as a branding platform is infinitely greater.
I’ve always enjoyed the impressionist paintings of Claude Monet, and his works are still enjoyed nearly a century later. It’s likely they’ll continue to be enjoyed for generations to come. All accomplished with a paintbrush and paint.
Similarly, a blog is just that, a tool, just like Monet’s humble paintbrush.
In the hands of an individual with extraordinary vision, you can do much more than what you thought was possible.
6 comments on How Much Money Do You Make From Blogging?
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[…] Or it could be something that puts you as an expert in the eyes of the readers (branding yourself). Andrew Wee is making a nice post about this branding through blogging. You might want to check out his post […]
Amit
August 2, 2007 at 8:59 pm (17 years ago)Hi Andrew,
Awesome Post! The purpose of my blog is two-folds: to brand myself, and to provide useful information.
I have no plans of directly monetizing my blog, in fact a HUGE mistake a lot of newbie bloggers make is to over monetize their blog with ads everywhere. As a result visitors just clicks on the ads and leave the site.
This makes it very difficult to build up a regular reader base.
The networking opportunities & business opportunities that result from blogging are priceless.
I hope newbie bloggers take your advice to heart!
Andrew Wee
August 2, 2007 at 11:18 pm (17 years ago)Hey Amit,
I’ve actually heard that loading your blog with adsense lowers your position in the SERPs.
Is that true? Who knows, looks like mostly conjecture.
Anyway, the last thing I want to do is to sell visitors out for a $0.50 click. [Which is what happens when they click on an adsense ad].
There are some programs which open up in a new window though.
I believe blog branding longevity will outlast any short term ad program, and it only makes sense to take a long view if you’re serious about building your business.
Harrison
August 5, 2007 at 5:12 pm (17 years ago)The time I started blogging, I keep my mind to make money through any ways that I can find. However, until lately, I found that if I want to make money in long run and passively, I must build up the brand for my blog and also myself and provide more value to my readers. I believe money will follow you once you can provide enough value to readers. Contribution is the most important thing before making any money.
Junping
August 5, 2007 at 6:47 pm (17 years ago)Definitely something for me to think about. I, like what Amit has said, may be guilty of placing Ads everywhere. May have to take a good look at my website and revamp a little.
However, to build good reader base, traffic is important too. Readers will not become readers if they are not led to your website in the first place. This is one area which I am faring badly at. Perhaps there’s still a lot for me to learn from you gurus.
Thanks for the great guidance provided!
Rasheed Ali
August 8, 2007 at 5:45 am (17 years ago)Great post Andrew!
I agree with Amit. It becomes more than monetization when the real money is made offline.
I’ve just jump-started my own blogs that were sitting dormant for far too long thanks to you Andrew.
Always a pleasure to read your posts!