Is blogging a bad way to make money?

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by moneytech, Nov 6, 2009.

  1. #1
    Is blogging a bad way to make money?
    I'm starting to think, after 18 months, that blogging is a horrible way to make money. My ROI in terms of time and money spent is almost nil. I make pennies on adsense and that's it.

    So the problem. I'm at a crossroads. I have about 200 subscribers, PR 3, and about 200 visitors per day and I'm thinking about scaling up the blog. Adding a forum, writing an ebook in exchange for email and name, using aweber to build an email list, affiliate marketing, etc, go nuts basically. But this niche does not allow me to show myself, pics, videos because it could hurt me in the 'real world'. So I feel limited.

    So I have a choice start all over with a new blog project in a different niche were it is ok (i.e. socially acceptable) to show myself and not worry about hiring/job problems or something later and have the ability to brand myself, and I'd like to select a bigger niche with more potential.

    OR

    Say screw it and go in a completely opposite direction and go to ebay and amazon and try retail (although given the economic state who knows). I tried ebay before but I had to rely on dropshippers which was a nightmare. I think if I go back into that mode I'd try to stock my own inventory.

    Man I am frustrated. Your detailed thoughts please.

    By the way in case you were wondering I have a full time job I'm just looking for supplemental income no get rich quick ideation here.
     
    moneytech, Nov 6, 2009 IP
  2. Hobbit2

    Hobbit2 Active Member

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    #2
    It isn't a bad way to make money. PM me your url and I may give you some ideas on how to monetize your blog.

    ps. I'm sort of retired on making websites so don't worry about sharing your url or anything. I just want to help.
     
    Hobbit2, Nov 6, 2009 IP
  3. Hanz1980

    Hanz1980 Peon

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    #3
    What's your niche? I guess you need to have visitors who are intent on buying something when they visit your blog. What do you sell on your blog?
     
    Hanz1980, Nov 6, 2009 IP
  4. dukeofism

    dukeofism Peon

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    #4
    If you can find ways to monetize your blog, it is a great way to earn money. SImply writing content though will not allow you to earn an income.
     
    dukeofism, Nov 6, 2009 IP
  5. elitesystem

    elitesystem Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Blogging is a passion. If you like it, you do it! But doing it for money will not make you money.

    Now the answer is within your question. I dont know which niche you are working on because a lot of bloggers do it underground when they choose certain niches (porn, gambling etc). But as you said, you wanted to move out then go for it if that is what you really want. Blogging is powerful; its a way to reach your readers. "dding a forum, writing an ebook in exchange for email and name, using aweber to build an email list, affiliate marketing, etc, go nuts"-- this is what you need to do but if you want to change your niche, you can still apply the same. Good luck
     
    elitesystem, Nov 6, 2009 IP
  6. vishal96

    vishal96 Peon

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    #6
    Blogging is one of the best ways to make money online. I'm still 13 and i'm already earning $700 a month. You have got a good page rank and traffic, but i think you'll need to use different ways to monetize your site start using affiliate networks and if your conversions are still low start using cpm ads. Just keep on trying until you find a perfect match.
     
    vishal96, Nov 6, 2009 IP
  7. areza1

    areza1 Peon

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    #7
    How long have you been running your site until you got to $700 per month or are you just bluffing?
     
    areza1, Nov 7, 2009 IP
  8. eyashwant

    eyashwant Active Member

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    #8
    I have blogs. I monitized well. But I dont know how to get traffic? I am also struck
     
    eyashwant, Nov 7, 2009 IP
  9. giancarlo

    giancarlo Active Member

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    #9
    Focus on video marketing (YouTube) and PPC. Of course, you'd want to optimize your "landing page", so read some articles about that, too.
     
    giancarlo, Nov 7, 2009 IP
  10. yugam

    yugam Active Member

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    #10
    I don't think so that blogging is the bad way for makimg money. In my opinion, blogging is one of the best way for making money. I think you are doing something wrong. I would suggest you, study online because there you will get lost of information about how to promote blogs.
     
    yugam, Nov 7, 2009 IP
  11. Steve Powers

    Steve Powers Peon

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    #11
    Of course not.But I think it depends on the business idea you think out.Whether
    you use a blog or website to promote your business is not that important.
     
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2009
    Steve Powers, Nov 7, 2009 IP
  12. sebastin514

    sebastin514 Peon

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    #12
    i feel blogging is good for business as well as for sharing thoughts........
     
    sebastin514, Nov 7, 2009 IP
  13. adi14

    adi14 Peon

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    #13
    i think its not. blog is free to all. and it depends how you handle your blog to increase traffic.
     
    adi14, Nov 7, 2009 IP
  14. dlerror

    dlerror Peon

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    #14
    you can put advertisement on your blog and make money
     
    dlerror, Nov 7, 2009 IP
  15. keen4kash

    keen4kash Well-Known Member

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    #15
    tough choice - maybe ask yourself am i happy with what i have achieved?

    1) do i want to make the site better and stick at it longer to try make it more successful and learn new skills
    2) cant be bothered and will cut my losses like sell it
    3) want to move on and try something different
    4) will i be disapointed if i walk away from site if i fell it could be better

    Its not the easiest way to earn online but it still one of the old and true ways to make some income

    Somewhat dependent on the traffic you get and your ability to make money from them so the choice of niche, content, seo, promotion, page rank, google search result rank for keywords are all complex variables which will determine your success.

    But in saying that despite the claims and hype there is not really any easy way to make money online- everything takes time, effort, learning, trial and error and more effort ongoing.........
     
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2009
    keen4kash, Nov 7, 2009 IP
  16. Webwaster

    Webwaster Peon

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    #16
    Well Steve Pavlina. com is a blog that makes quite a lot of money. So, is it a bad way to make money using blogs? Of course not, but you need to do more. (better content, authorative information, simple layout and external links to your site posted by others who liked reading your stuff!)

    200 visitors a day is a pretty good start.

    I suggest learning to increasing the value of your content.

    Most people leave the page after about 8 seconds of being there. (this has been statistically proven)

    a) What do you offer to your visitors?

    b) Why should they stay on your site?

    c) The value of your website is determined by how many authentic links point to your website (posted by other site owners or on forums and other blogs!)... so what are you doing to have people link to you? Do you have great content (if not, write it or improve it), do you have a section on your blog showing the different ways how they can link to your blog? (if not you better add it), do you have additional ways people can subscribe to your blog? (some visitors dont know how to use RSS, offer email updates...also available with FeedBurner for free... I assume thats what you're currently using for your RSS feeds)

    Basically, you've got to move, You've got to do things. Add Google Adsense to your blog if you haven't already.

    And think about it for a second... the reason you are asking us all here whether blogging is a good or bad way of making money is that you want to either confirm that it's ok youre not seeing desired results, because hell, everyone else is not making money either... or... you are looking to be motivated.

    One important thing I learned is that the more you get into web development and optimizing content and developing a productive work ethic... you start to realize that making websites and running a business online is a lot about Personal Development. I always thought that was one of the reasons Steve Pavlina (stevepavlina.com; I'm not affiliated with him in any way) chose to base his blog on personal development. Some of his articles point out important things about what it takes to make money online. I think it's legitimate information.
     
    Webwaster, Nov 7, 2009 IP
  17. loenex

    loenex Peon

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    #17
    No, blogging is not a bad way to make money. I have a friend who is a blogger and he had a nice income from his blogs.
     
    loenex, Nov 10, 2009 IP
  18. rconejr

    rconejr Peon

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    #18
    I think Adsense doesn't make too much money as long as you have TONS of traffic. Otherwise there are better ways to monetize, like information products. I would suggest that if you are afraid to be yourself because of the affect "in the real world" you might want to think about changing subjects of your blog. It just makes life so much easier if you can be who you are both online and off. That's just my two cents.
     
    rconejr, Nov 10, 2009 IP
  19. mc_bristol

    mc_bristol Peon

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    #19
    Having a well developed strategy is essential to avoid costly profit for your blogging. But You are not going to get rich doing it.:)
     
    mc_bristol, Nov 10, 2009 IP
  20. Parka

    Parka Well-Known Member

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    #20
    I'm getting $1000 per month after 1 years plus of work.

    Blogging? Blogging is just a platform.
    What is it that you're actually selling is more important.
     
    Parka, Nov 10, 2009 IP