Making money from blogging
Generally, when people talk about making money from blogging, they think about it only in terms of securing advertising and sponsors online. However, as is common knowledge, you can also make money from blogging offline. Some bloggers, in addition to having ads on their blogs, make presentations, are hired by companies to advise them on social media projects or whatever area of expertise they have, or use their site to market their goods and services.
For example, in December 2007 I discovered a new blog, David Airey, while searching on Google for information on logo design briefs. David is a graphic designer and blogs about design and related topics. Not only did I find a great article on writing a brief for a graphic artist, I found a great resource for information about graphic design and blogging. Now, I’m a regular reader and subscriber, and I continue to tell people about it, including my graphic designer friends. Like many self-employed people in the blogosphere, David has realised the power of blogging to enhance his business. In a July 30, 2007 post, he says:
“When I launched my first website about two years ago, I wanted my portfolio to be its primary purpose, and the blog a secondary aspect. Then last year I found out about blogging. It didn’t take long for me to realise the number of clients I could attract through my blog content first and foremost, and then directing them to my portfolio. It’s the content I publish that attracts visitors before the work in my graphic design portfolio.”
It’s up to you to decide why you’re blogging in the first place, the value you want to share, and the benefits you want to gain; when you know why you’re blogging in the first place, it will give you the drive and patience to wait to achieve the results you want. In my case, blogging has given me opportunities to speak at workshops, help businesses with new media projects, and write for magazines and companies. You can make money from blogging online and offline. Blogging allows me to do what I love, not just for myself, but also for others.
There’s a perception that to bring in business from blogging, you’ve got to have gigantic statistics. Not necessarily. Quality still has higher rating over quantity, and people are interested in the knowledge and value that you have to offer. Advertisers want to be associated with a strong blog, and content. After all, people make associations between the brand and where the brand is advertised. So, if you have decent traffic, you still have a selling point.
Depending on what the product or service is and the relevant audience, if your primary goal is to attract advertisers to place ads on your site or to sponsor it, then you will definitely need large numbers of subscribers/ readers to convince them that they will receive a return on their investment, for example increased awareness of their product by reaching desired or new target audiences. Now, remember the thing about online advertising is that it’s not only about the number of people who view your ad. Demographics and psychographics matter, so that a site with a decent number of visitors may not have an enormous readership, but they may well have a following of exactly the type of people a company wants to reach. Use this to in your pitch to advertisers.
If trying to secure advertising on your blog doesn’t work for you, then look at how blogging can help you to gain business offline. Perhaps you don’t even want to place advertisements on your blog. Maybe you’re like David who uses his blog to share knowledge, and by extension market his portfolio to win projects in the “real world”. There will always be new and innovative ways to make money from blogging. All you have to figure out is what works for you.
What are your thoughts on making money from blogging?
Sphere: Related ContentDid you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
I think the blogging for income can be precarious if you have properly done your homework in terms of articles, online viewership, blog rankings and passive income strategies.
We specialise and run courses in WEB 2.0 to help those better leverage the power of the web for marketing and networking.
Well Karel, I am a newbie at this “blogging thing” but I can say off the bat as a business woman the terminology does not really appeal to me “blogging”, “blogger”, “blog” as opposed to journal or diary. Considering your level of professionalism and outstanding contribution I would suggest paid subscriptions for more indepth research material, perhaps a monthly/quarterly newsletter or private members area that is password protected. Not everyone appreciates having their every comment splashed all over the internet. And I assume your target market would be business people and professionals. Perhaps, you could explore the possibility of forming an association or NGO, one of the suggestions given to me.
I’m all for making money from blogging. If you can I say go for it. Me? I’ve made all of 13 cents blogging but hey that is 13 cents I didnt have before I started blogging lol