As of for me, I blog not because I like to write – I’m not a good writer and writing a 400-word article always a tough one for me.
I blog because I want to share what I know about online entrepreneurship, website building, website promotion and make money online. My principle in business and personal life: Knowledge is useless if not shared.
I own some blogs, and I never put any premium posts that can only accessed by registered (and paying) members. Doing so would make me against my own principle. Instead, tips and information should be freely available.
That being said, I do make money from my blogs. I INSIST that my blogs MUST make money. Why I’m so materialistic, you might ask?
Why my blogs MUST make me money
Well, I have these reasons:
1. I need fund to grow the blogs and invest in new ones
Many times, we need money to make money. Other than offering quality blog posts, my blogs need to be well-promoted and well-SEO’d.
There are free methods available, but sometimes you need to speed things up and/or do things better by hiring freelancers and/or staffs to do things for you.
If you are into online entrepreneurship, you also need fund to invest in other “web properties” or other blogs.
2. I need money to support myself and the one I love – so my blog and web sites HAVE TO make me money.
Blogs CAN earn you a living – and more. Today, I support myself, my wife and 2 kids from 100% online income. I work at home managing and running my websites.
That being said, my websites are my businesses. Businesses are “in the business” to make money delivering something that are beneficial to others. It’s only a fair trade off – information, products and services in exchange for money (and other perks, such as better online reputation and personal branding.)
So, there you go – I have my reasons explained. How about you? Are you – or are you not – blogging to make money online? Please share your thoughts by leaving your comments on this blog post.
Hi Ivan,
I agree with you about liking to share the knowledge. Even though I like to write, the fun part is sharing what I know with others.
I don’t think you are materialistic for wanting to earn money from your blog. Most of us don’t have the luxury of having spare time to blog as a hobby – we need and want to make money from our online endeavors.
Thanks,
Peggy
Ivan,
You certainly have the spirit of the basic trade off all blogs need to make. You supply your unique knowledge, give what is hopefully quality information for free. IN the process hopefully some money is made and things go on.
I have a couple of blogs too. Most entriely revolve around making money. IN this niche I am building slow though. It is more of creating something that lasts and ‘eventually” making money of of it.
Of course I have the advantage of makeing a living wage off of my other niches.
Blogging is a tough racket and it is hard to make a ton off of it early. It takes a while to see significant profits of off it from what I have seen.
Steve,
Well said – blogs are notoriously difficult to monetize. However, when the words are out there, we will start seeing results. And like you said, it takes a while 🙂
Hi. No question at all. I totally agree with your principle of sharing knowledge and within the process making money out of it. Don’t get me wrong as my “business model” has always been tailored towards advertisers and not making money out of my audience, although I will once in a while, suggest a product that I believe can be put to good use and add value. Nonetheless, I think that with the exception of a few, most of us are directly or indirectly blogging for money. Thanks for sharing your thoughts
DiTesco,
Actually, I am doing the same thing 🙂 My income has always been from advertising, mainly CPC (click-based,) CPM (impression-based) and banner/text ads. Affiliate marketing is not really my forte, so I will only promote affiliate program occasionally to my readers.
“I think that with the exception of a few, most of us are directly or indirectly blogging for money.” – Well said, I couldn’t agree more!
Thanks 🙂