Do I Make Money With My Blog?

I get this question a LOT. And the answer is always the same, a resounding and honest… NOPE, I don’t make money with my blog. I didn’t start this blog with the intention of making any money, and until lately I never even thought about it.

If you want to know why I started this blog, you can read all about it on the about me page. I also blog because I love to write and this is a major creative outlet for me. I like playing with graphics, playing with word press themes and meeting new people online and blogging affords me all of those luxuries. But blogging doesn’t pay my light bill.

I think the reason so many people have asked me lately if I make money with this blog might be a result of the advice for someone who wants to start doing some online work posting where I answered some questions I’d gotten in an email. In that post I talked about blogging. I said:

• If you blog – begin by working your blog more seriously and looking for specific job openings that are related to your blog content.
• If you don’t blog – determine a topic that interests you, sign up for a free blog account and start learning your way around.

I talked about blogging because it’s a great way to get your feet wet online and acquire a new skill. And because you never know what connections and activities will ultimately lead you to finding that perfect opportunity you’ve been looking for. What I didn’t mean to insinuate is that you can start up a blog today and then just quit your day job tomorrow because blogging is such an easy way to make money. It’s not. It’s hard work. Even if you manage to start a blog and keep it updated often with fresh ideas and handy information, there’s still the matter of figuring out just how you’re going to make money with it.

So now that I’ve answered that question officially and settled that score, let me also tell you that it wouldn’t exactly hurt my feelings if this blog could pay my light bill or treat me to a manicure. Over the past few months I’ve added a few things and explored some ideas in an attempt to help make my blog at least pay for itself. It is, after all, a time consuming endeavor that actually costs me money every month.

I suppose for some folks, who have the major time to devote, blogging can be a way to make that extra income, to pay the lightbill or to live the extravagant life of the rich and famous. But I’ll guarantee it’s not the norm and you should consider yourself quite a success if you can pay all of your bills and afford to quit your day job all by running a blog (or two or three or seven).

That’s called pro blogging, and if you want to become a pro blogger you have a hard row to hoe. So here’s one tip from me and some resources that might help get you moving in the right direction if you think you’ve got what it takes to write for a living (and you’re not afraid of hard work and rolling the dice for a few years to see if you can make it work).

My One Tip
If you’re going to start blogging, pick a topic that you’re passionate about and already know a lot about. Blogging is actually hard work and sometimes tedious work. If you’re going to do it for a living, you’re going to be writing and reading about your topic day and night. Your topic had better be something that you’re more than just interested in. It better be something you’re in love with.

Resources
There are a lot of sites out there that promise you’ll make a stack of cash just by blogging. Those types of sites make it sound simple. I’m sure those types of sites do make a slew of money — they make money by duping you into believing that by buying into their program you’ll be able to have a better life and drive a Lamborghini, just like they do.

That said, let me tell you that there are also some good, solid resources out there for the pro blogger wanna-be. I know because, I’ve been exploring options and looking for ideas that might help me make my own blog self-sufficient. I’ve also joined a few new networks to meet more bloggers and have some fun.

So here are two resources, found and lately followed, via my new entrecard community involvement:

• Make Money Blogging
  The title of the blog kind of says it all, but this blog is also about ways of getting traffic to your blog (and then how to try to profit from that traffic).
• TysBlog.com
  This guy’s got lots of experience and his blog covers, in his words, “what it takes to successfully design, market, promote, and monetize” a blog.

So if you’re into pro blogging, start with these two for a pretty well-rounded picture of what it might be like and what kinds of things you’ll need to consider.