Blogging for Money: Where did we go wrong?
Although blogging for money isn't my intention with this blog, I make money with it. I don't know about you, but I won't argue with a couple of hundred dollars per month I wouldn't otherwise get. Regardless, this blog exists for the sole purpose of keeping me busy.
When I ask "Where did we go wrong?", I'm speaking collectively because there's a whole lot us bloggers trying to make money in the wrong ways. There is only one way to make money online: Getting the right kind of traffic to your website. It doesn't matter if that traffic is social traffic, search traffic or referral traffic as long as it's the kind of traffic that meets the demands of your monetization methods.
False Assumptions
Due to all of the misinformation being written and parroted across a wide range of blogs, many people assume they can make money online as soon as they put a blog (or any kind of website) online. Even the patient people expect results within 6 months to a year. What happens when it doesn't work out for them? They either quit or they find a different way to make money. They try and try again to find out how to make quick money instead of working on it for the long haul.
This is what happened to Costa Fong, who recently sent me a message about Blog Gigs, whether he admits to it or not. He started his blog with the intention of making money and when the going got tough, he tried to sell it. After taking advice from the same people that I get my advice from, he didn't sell it and is instead concentrating on making money from other sources.
I don't know if Ellie, the Ultimate Geek Girl, started her blog with the intention of making money. She's been attempting to narrow the focus of her blog and has been watching her traffic decrease. The problem she's having is another false assumption: You can profit by competing in a niche that's already too competitive.
The Facts
There are several niches that are way too competitive for newcomers to get into unless you're very, very good at what you do. The make money online niche is one of them. Niches that cater to Internet geeks and nerds are others.
I'm not the only one that's made some valid conclusions from observation. Bloggers don't click on advertisements and neither do other web-savvy people. When you start a niche site of any kind, you do NOT want to target these kinds of people.
You have to face the reality of it all. New Internet users and people who aren't trying to make money online themselves are the people you need to target. Contrary to popular belief, the percentage of people using online services of any kind is a very small percentage of the global population. When new users come online for the first time and do the information search routine, it's the perfect time to capitalize on their ignorance. It sounds harsh, but it's the truth.
Advice for the Weary
If you're trying to compete in a specific niche and getting nowhere fast, redirect your attention to something else. You can use your existing site as a kind of launch pad for other endeavors. In my opinion, only the worst blogs can't be used this way.
You say you have a PageRank of 0 because you got slapped by Google for paid links? It's incredibly easy to get it restored. All you have to do is to make sure the paid links are given the "nofollow" attribute and then request reconsideration by Google. Google almost always restores the PageRank to what it was before the slap and sometimes makes it higher.
Have you been banned by Google for AdSense? You can reapply and in most cases get the ban lifted unless you were actually doing something wrong. The easiest way to prevent AdSense banning is to limit the display to searchers only. I won't get into how to do that right now, but several plugins can be used for WordPress.
If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding.
Making money online is hard work. Choosing the right way to do it is even harder, but the rewards can be amazing when you figure it all out. I've had some amazing rewards from this blog and I'm not even talking about money. The learning experience has been much more valuable than you can imagine.
As long as you learn from your mistakes and use it to your advantage, you can be successful and make money online. Blogging for money can work, but only if you know what you're doing in the first place.
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hi RT, More great insights from you (in my opinion), especially "Bloggers don't click on advertisements and neither do other web-savvy people". Your points apply to all forms of marketing – you've got to know WHO to target, and its always better to compete in a target rich environment with LITTLE competion as opposed to a target poor environment with LOTS of competition. Unfortunately, sometimes environments change, and to put food on the table, you've got to soldier on. Steve
PS- Love the Floyd reference!
Yeah, I'm an old fart.
Great post with some sound marketing advice. But the point you make about the learning experience that a blog can provide is priceless.
Well done.
I just hope the point makes it to enough people to matter.
I've just never wanted to work that hard, so I've not done anything to make money online. I wish you well, as all the other folks that need or want the extra revenue. Have a great day RT.
Comedy Plus’s last blog post… My Resimay
Online money making has never appealed to me as a serious career.
There are far too many interesting things to do in life than spending it editing your blog and making it "monetizable".
I think this dream of making money online is for a very few dedicated bloggers like you, RT, because you know exactly what you want and how to go about it. And you stick to it over a long period of time.
For others, I suggest you just ditch your blog if the first thing you see are the dollar signs. Writing is about passion and even in blogging, it's about maintaining it over a period of time.
There are easier ways to make money – ever heard of the stock market or horse racing
hari’s last blog post… Papa Hari School of the Obvious
I had a response to this, but my brain froze and I forgot what it was.
I agree 100 %, Hari. Making money online is only a good goal for a select few people. Some of us are very interested in the process and the way it al goes together. I enjoy many aspects of building sites, and get a feeling of accomplishment from it. It would be hard to justify all this work just for some cash. Without the right focus and maybe a bit of natural inclination, it would be a boring waste of time.
On the other hand, some of us are aiming at financial independence from a traditional job. I for one work in the construction industry. Canada has some unforgiving weather to make me appreciate time in front of a computer, looking out the window at the rain, or sleet, or snow. And that's just the summer weather.
Tim’s last blog post… Year Round Good Sam Campground at the Westerner Park, Red Deer
I would add some words of wisdom but you have said it as well as it can be said. Nicely done RT and "The Wall" brings back memories…
That's an extreme compliment, Griz, and I have absolutely no idea why the Pink Floyd reference even came to mind.
I have to say that I'm somewhat paranoid about the whole deindexing for MFA sites. I've been holding off on installing the who sees ads plugin as I'm waiting for Vic's tutorials on OpenX but I think I'm going to have to use the plugin. For my best performing sites anyway.
This is probably the major problem with MFA sites over social blogging. Other than that, I would never recommend anyone new to start a social blog.
April’s last blog post… Norcent DCS 1050 Review
I've been using the plugin for some time. It keeps the sabotage clicks away.
I have to agree with you. The "make money online" niche is beyond over-crowded. You are much better off picking a niche that the non-computer savy people are interested in.
I have a friend who makes a good piece of change with a website about knitting. Another does it with a site about photography. My killer site is geared towards one series of video games.
If you want to find a killer niche talk to your computer illiterate friends and ask them what they go online for.
I asked my sister last night because she's completely in the dark. She wasn't any help at all. I have to find another source.
HMTKSteve, great insight! We can learn a lot from our "computer illiterate friends"!
But knitting? Really???
You striked the nail squarely RT.
After the realization it was a big relief for me and now I blog with no pressure but only pleasure. There is no urgency to post something every day and I will only write when I have something of quality to say. I have the contention of knowing that I do not have to depend on my blog for the income and that is a beautiful feeling.
Thanks for the mention mate.
Costa’s last blog post… The Brain Is Like A Body Of Running Water
I would never dare try to make money from a blog, at least, not make it my main priority with one. The blog market is so competitive you have to really work hard for a long time to see any results. I've seen a lot of people get let down in this industry.
Yes, knitting.
Knitting is becoming very popular among the younger set these days. The blog in question covers her current projects and links to online stores that sell yarn and needles. People go to her to see what she is making, download patterns and possibly buy needles and yarn through her aff links.
Again, RT, you are completely correct. It's hard work to build a decent blog. It's easier to write crap for PPP/Izea and cover your page in MLM get-rich-quick schemes than to put in the time to create quality content.
Stevo’s last blog post… working girls
You should never set out with the intention of blogging for money. However if you find your blog is successful I dont think there is anything wrong with enjoying the fruits of your labor.
RT,
I agree with everything you've said here.
Of course making money online is nice, but if that's you're main focus, you're in for a lot of hard work and probably a lot of disappointment.
If you just set out to have fun, you'll probably have a great time and pick up a little extra cash along the way.
Stephen Cronin’s last blog post… BullGuard – What A Load Of Bull!
I think a lot of it comes down to just being real. So many try to be something they are not, or they try to be an expert, when in fact they are not. This is often the problem.