The Real Secret to Making Good Money From Your Blog

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This is the third post in a roughly 10-part series I'm calling The Most Haunting and Profound Blogging Advice Series. I'm sharing blogging advice I've picked up from more established bloggers, different bits of advice which have haunted me profoundly since I came upon them. Read the introduction to this series here.

Many people are starting blogs these days in the hopes that they'll become wealthy through selling ads. Others are hoping that they can at least make enough money to quit their current job and make a living as a full-time blogger. Then there are those who just want to make some extra cash on the side.

If the business model is selling ads, then in most cases, only the last group (part-timers looking for extra money) will really be satisfied, as it certainly is possible to earn some additional income each month from the ads you sell on your blog.

Not necessarily so for those looking to get rich or make full-time livings from their blogs.

The Wealthy

Yes, there are some bloggers who make a lot of money--John Chow makes $300,000 a year and Darren Rowse made roughly $250,000 last year primarily from selling ads on their blogs.

But, those two guys were at the forefront of the making money from blogs scene and are now seen as authorities by bloggers all over looking to learn from them so that they too can become wealthy bloggers. Thus, Rowse and Chow have the internet traffic to generate lots of money from their ads.

Listen to these words of caution from Rowse, though:

"I've often used the analogy of Professional sports people to highlight that in any 'game' there are many who play it - less who make a little money from the game, even less who are able to earn a living from it (just) and just a small group who make big money from it. The same is true for bloggers. I've run many polls here at ProBlogger on how much people are earning from the medium (eg) and on every single occasion they reveal that the vast majority of bloggers are making very little per month. While it is possible to make amazing money from blogging the sad reality is that most don't make more than pocket money. Even some blogs who 'deserve' to make money blogging don't." [Emphasis mine]

Full-Time Incomes

There are also bloggers who aren't wealthy, but make full-time livings, primarily from ad revenue.

J.D. Roth runs Get Rich Slowly, a blog about personal finance, and as of last November, he was earning $5000 a month, which looks like it comes primarily from ads.

Get Rich Slowly currently has about 55,000 feed subscribers and J.D. recently became a full-time blogger.

But, listen to his words of caution, as well:

"Unless you're John Chow, blogging is no way to get rich quickly. It's no way to generate immediate cash for bills. Income is uncertain and variable....

I believe Get Rich Slowly is an atypical example. More normal, I think, are the results at my other blogs. My six-year-old personal site gets about 1100 visitors each day. It earns me an average of $120/month. I also run several minor blogs. They earn me about $20/month combined....

Do not start a blog expecting it to pay your bills. Blogging can be an excellent way to make money from a hobby, a way to earn supplementary income. But blogging will not make you rich." [Emphasis in original]

So, while it's possible to publish a popular blog with quality content that attracts lots of traffic and permits you to earn either lots of money (Chow and Rowse) or solid middle-class money (J.D.) from selling ads on your blog, the odds are really against you.

The Real Secret

So what's the secret to making good money from your blog?

That secret is the third bit of the most haunting and profound blogging advice I've discovered, thanks to Harrison McLeod of Men with Pens, a blog that offers "Web Business Tips for Writers, Freelancers, and Online Entrepreneurs," according to the blog's tagline.

McLeod and his business partner James Chartrand run their blog primarily as an advertisement vehicle for their web writing and design services.

McLeod explains:

"Blogging won't make you rich. What people fail to realize is that blogging is a way to be noticed. It brings opportunities that will make you rich - or at least able to earn a comfortable living.

James and I don't make much money from our blog, despite our monetization strategies. Our advertising, Amazon and ebook revenues barely bring in enough to buy a dinner for four once a month.

But through our blog, we achieve clients. People often contact us because they become familiar with us through our content. They see that we have integrity, that we're trustworthy and that we offer quality – even in free posts.

A blog should never be a sole source of income. It's simply a resource and a tool that helps achieve other revenues." [Emphasis mine]

I suppose you could make a full-time living by running a dozen blogs, putting up ads on each of them, and posting quality, interesting content on each of them every day--but, what kind of life is that? Besides, you still probably won't make that much, as you just won't be able to infuse any kind of real passion into any of the blogs, the type of passion that motivates readers to come back for more.

The real money in blogging is in establishing yourself as an authority or expert at some type of service and using your posts to demonstrate that, thus potentially bringing you new customers for your service (copywriting, web design, SEO consultation, gourmet food catering, lawn care, real estate, etc.).

Brian Clark says:

"Blogging is a great way to grow a business, promote a cause, or spread new ideas, because when you take an educational approach to marketing, you gain the attention and trust of people who might otherwise simply ignore old-fashioned advertising. Not only can those people become your customers or converts, they can also become your advocates." [Emphasis mine]

Perhaps your blog isn't currently constructed to effectively sell anything--while you figure out how to do that, there's still a very simple thing you can do to potentially earn far more money than you probably ever will from your ads.

Put Up a 'Hire Me' Page

It's really quite obvious, but this advice never really occurred to me until I read it from Skellie, a popular blogger who blogs about blogging.

She says:

"If you sell your skills and you run a blog or website, you must have a hire me page.

An About page which mentions you're available for hire isn't enough. The information will always be too broad: it has to cater to new visitors, people who want information about the blog/site, people who want general information about you, as well as clients. It also doesn’t indicate from the main page that you're looking for work. A page called 'Hire Me', 'My Services' or 'Consulting' is much more likely to attract the interest of prospective clients — though it doesn't hurt to link to it from your About page, either.

If a 'Hire Me' page sends you just one client every few months, it pays for your time (a basic page will probably take half-an-hour to write). In my experience, a Hire Me page can do a lot more than that."

By simply putting up a brief bit about yourself and what services you offer, along with contact information, you can increase the odds that people will get in touch to hire you for something.

If you position yourself as knowledgeable and skilled about something, and your blog posts are well written, reflecting your knowledge and skills, you may get more clients and you may even get some full-time job offers.

Bottom Line

Run ads on your blog if you want (if you have good traffic, you should earn at least extra side cash), but realize that the real money in having a blog comes from demonstrating your knowledge and skills through well-written, interesting, and informative blog posts.

Combine that with a good 'hire me' page and some products or services to sell, and you stand a much better chance of making good money from your blog, much more than most bloggers will ever get from their Adsense impressions.

Jesse Hines is a freelance writer. He has written company profiles, press releases, marketing copy, and investigative articles. If you have any writing needs, contact him at jessehines@hotmail.com

Related Posts

Speak TO Your Readers, Not AT Them: Good Bloggers Persuade Rather Than Simply Assert and Command
The First Rule of Blogging
The Most Haunting and Profound Blogging Advice Series: An Introduction