Can Monetization Be Accomplished?
My blog has been up for almost a year now and so far it has generated . . . drum roll please . . . exactly NO money. I know that there is money to be made out there. I’ve read the post at www.stevepavlina.com several times and it’s always an inspiration for working at my blog. He is blunt about the fact that not every one will grow rich from their blogs. In answer to the question “can most people do it?” the response is humorous but true:
“No, they canΓ’β¬β’t. I hope it doesnΓ’β¬β’t shock you to see a personal development web site use the dreaded C-word. But I happen to agree with those who say that 99% of people who try to generate serious income from their blogs will fail. The tagline for this site is Γ’β¬ΕPersonal Development for Smart People.Γ’β¬Β And unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your outlook), smart people are a minority on this planet. So while most people canΓ’β¬β’t make a living this way, I would say that most smart people can. How do you know whether or not you qualify as smart? HereΓ’β¬β’s a good rule of thumb: If you have to ask the question, you arenΓ’β¬β’t.”
Apparently, I’m just not there yet. In my mind it is because I’m missing something and NOT because I’m “unqualified.” π
Granted, I haven’t exploited all the possibilities out there. I have heard how Adsense is king of the monetization game, but I haven’t tried to implement it on my site. Instead, I have been focused on driving traffic to the site in the hope that the advertisers would come knocking at my door.
It seems to me that there are sites that are making money (or claiming to make money) as if by magic. I’ve written for a couple of them. They don’t have a great amount of traffic. They don’t have loads of backlinks. The only thing these sites have in common is that they are “specific.”
My site is about many different things. In the last couple of months, I have tried to hone in on just three or four, but that’s still more than the “experts” say is reasonable. To compensate, I’ve been trying to post to each subject on every day (at least it means there are a large number of posts at my site).
In the mean time, I have started a subject specific site (one on politics – because I couldn’t think of anything that would be much more “controversial”) and so far I can’t even get all the browsers to come by for a visit.
My passion is for writing and if for no other reason than that, I will continue my blogs. I just hope that I can find the key sooner than later.
I’ve made a little bit off of my blog–mostly from Pay Per Post, but I’ve slacked off of writing for them since I changed to my own URL. I think we may be a lot alike. I blog more for the joy of writing–and to improve my writing rather than to make money. If I make money, that’s an extra bonus.
I think making money through blogs has been presented in an over simplified manner.
blog + traffic= income.
However, what these gurus fail to mention is that you have to have the right STRUCTURE set up in the beginning.
For example, I have a client whose blog on Typepad was doing NOTHING, yet when we set up a word press blog (with the proper permalink structure and plug ins) we began seeing increased traffic to her blog almost immediately.
Traffic is essential for creating income with a blog.
The choice of topic is also essential. Tightly targeting a niche is essential to blogging success.
Best of luck to you in finding your “groove” with your blog!