Why you won’t get rich blogging
Feb4Written by:
2010/02/04 07:37 AM 
It is very seldom that you spend time on the internet, whether by surfing, IM, Social Networks or email, and you do not get bombarded by tons of “Get Rich Quick” schemes. In this economic downturn, where everyone is looking for ways to make extra cash, “Get Rich” schemes might seem like good news to many.
The blogging world is no different. There are so many blogs that promise you big money. So many blogs out there are full of posts on how you can make big money blogging. More and more stories are appearing on blogs and news sites about “professional” bloggers earning six figure incomes. One has to ask the question. Can anyone with a blog virtually print money?
Image by DavidDMuir via Flickr
Few and Far Between
The truth of the matter is that blogs might be able to achieve many things, making huge amounts of money is not the norm. Six or even five figure bloggers are few and far between. There was a time when this seemed to be a lot. But that was when there were only a few thousand blogger. Now there are millions. The competition has gotten tougher and the money has been spread very thin.
For each of the handful of bloggers that do earn upwards of 100k, there are a 1000 good professional bloggers who do not earn a dime from their excellent blogs. Blogging still has a long way to go before it becomes an established and recognised profession.
Hard Work.
Most people who start out blogging soon hit the hard wall of reality and realise that this is not as easy as everyone makes it out to be. Blogging, and being successful takes blood, sweat and tears.
Most ultra successful bloggers, those who measure success by the amount of money they earn, worked very hard at it. I would dare to say that the majority of them are more marketers than bloggers.
How do you make money?
Most of the successful money making blogs do not earn their money from their blog posts alone, but by marketing and selling either a bunch of their products, or someone else's products, as in an affiliate or a combination of the two.
To earn raw money from advertising is a very tough job. Your blog has to have thousands and thousands of page views a day. A quick calculation can prove this.
Lets say that you can secure an average of R50/$7 CPM (cost per thousand impressions). You want to earn R12000/$1500 per moth. How many page view or ad impressions do you need.
240,000 impressions per month
8000 page views per day.
But in reality CPM can be between $0.25 -$20, depending on sector. Averaging at about $8.
Might sound simple, but getting an advertiser to come on board and for a generous period of time is a lot harder than you think. Especially if your not a marketer.
“Last year the total spent on blog advertising in the United States was a mere $411 million, according to researcher eMarketer. That represents only a sliver of the $23.7 billion spent on U.S. Internet ads last year, which is itself only a fraction of the $276.8 billion spent on all forms of advertising in the U.S.” – Daniel Lyons
If you want to make serious money you have to tie your blog to a product. An e-Book, DVD, some gadget. But then it also has to be quality, and sell well.
Fun Money
While you might not be one of the fortunate few to get rich blogging, there are ways to make some pocket money. It’s much easier to make money from blogging today than it was in the past. While you might not be able to buy your dream island in the sun. You could earn some money for that nice dinner out, or a monthly payment on your new laptop, or some cash for you movie addiction once a week.
While it may be difficult make a full time salary blogging, it’s a lot easier than it was in the past to turn blogging into an enjoyable, profitable part-time job.
Don’t be discouraged.
This does not mean that you cannot make it as a full time professional blogger. You certainly can. But it does take a special breed of blogger and a special quality kind of blog. It takes hard work and lots of time and patience.
But for the time being, getting rich quick is not the norm or rule of thumb for 99% of bloggers out there.
Your chance to respond.
Do you think your blog will last the journey, and generate a decent income for you?
Would you like to become a problogger / Professional Blogger or full time blogger?
What is giving you the most satisfaction through your blog? The money? The comments? Other?
Related Reading:
So you want to monetise your blog do you?
How much advertising should you have on your blog?
Are Internet Ads Effective?
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