We now turn our attention to ways of making money from blogging that are more more ‘indirect’ in nature – or how to earn money because of your blog rather than from it.
Many of the following methods are the result of the profile and perceived expertise of the blogger themselves (whereas many of the direct methods mentioned previously are less reliant upon this).
Building a profile as a blogger doesn’t happen quickly and starting a blog with some of these hopes should be seen as a long term thing. My own experience in this area is that now after 18 months of blogging here at ProBlogger that it’s only been in the last few months that I’ve had opportunities open in most of these areas.
- Consulting – when you are perceived as an expert on a topic you will find that people naturally come to you for advice – some of them willing to pay for it. Some niches are probably better positioned than others for their bloggers to get into paid consultancy work of course. I spoke with one blogger recently (blogging in a business/technology field) who was able to charge himself out at $600 per hour to give advice to a large company. Interestingly I’ve heard of a number of companies in the last 6 months who are developing VOIP services that bloggers will be able to add to their sidebars to enable them to be called by readers for consulting. The systems would have per minute rate on them to automate this consulting process.
- Employment Opportunities – Just this last week PR blogger Steve Rubel announced that he’d been hired by a bigger PR firm. While he didn’t say it explicitly in his post I suspect that one of the reasons for him landing the job was the profile he’d built over the last year and a half from blogging. Steve’s case is not the only one – bloggers are increasingly being targeted by companies because of their demonstrated abilities in their field of expertise.
- Business Blogging – Similarly there are some businesses who employ people to blog for them either as their main role or part of their role. One example of a company who employed a couple of bloggers was Vespa who now have two blogs. BloggerJobs is one site worth following if you’re looking for these types of jobs. Most of the jobs there are from blog networks but occasionally they include businesses looking for bloggers also.
- Book Deals – Some days as I read through the RSS feeds that I follow it seems that every blogger I read has a book either in progress or coming out. Once again it’s about being seen as an expert in your field – if you can achieve this you will find publishers are more receptive to having an idea pitched to them and at times will even seek you out. This is becoming more and more common with publishers as they are seeing not only some great writers but that many of them already have large amounts of content on their blogs ready to be pulled together into a book!
- Offline Writing Gigs – Manolo from Shooeblogs recently landed a writing gig in the Washington Post Express after he was discovered via his blog. These types of opportunities can be in the form of newspapers, magazines, trade publications etc.
- Online Writing Gigs – Similarly some bloggers also land jobs writing for other forms of websites as a result of being discovered from their blogs.
- Selling e-resources – I wasn’t sure whether to classify this as direct or indirect (and depending upon how you do it you could probably go either way) but some bloggers are leveraging the expertise they have in an area by putting together their own ‘e-products’ such as e-books, tele-seminars, courses etc and selling them to their readers.
- Business Partnerships – One of the benefits of blogging about a niche topic that interests you is that you will begin to connect with others who have similar interests and expertise. As you interact with them it’s amazing to see the opportunities for working together that arise.
- Speaking Opportunities – Once again this is dependent upon the topic you’re writing about but some lucky bloggers end up with all kinds of opportunities to speak at conferences, workshops and seminars on their topic of choice. Sometimes they are freebies, other times the conference will cover costs and on other occasions there are speakers fees.
If you’re planning to use some of these indirect ways of making money because of your blog it’s important that you think seriously about building your own profile and credibility as a blogger. Think about the types of people that you respect and look to as experts an consider what they offer in their fields.
These people are generally original thinkers that not only report what others are doing, but who provide answers and vision for their industry. They are also often well networked and have the ability to draw others along with them.
What does this mean for your blog? Here’s where I’d start:
- provide useful content that shows an understanding of your niche.
- network within your niche. Work on being connected with other key players (big and small).
- use your blog not only to report and rehash news but to also show initiative in proposing solutions. Be proactive in your blogging and lead the conversation rather than just react to it.
About Darren Rowse
My name is Darren Rowse and I’m a full time Blogger making a living from blogs like 
This is essentially where I fall in as part of the dating/seduction blogging phenomenom.
Instead of putting out one of those brochure sites, I blog daily about being a pick up artist. The advertising and affiliate income are simply distant secondary souces of revenue.
The primary vocation of the blog is offering my services as a pick up instructor and dating coach. Clients contact me because they become familiar with my blog, my style, and feel a certain amount of camraderie with me.
It’s a tight rope because I’m writing about my own experiences, but also trying to keep a certain level of anonymity. And while one wants to convey expertise, I also try and stay modest (which is difficult at the same time because you are still in essence trying to trump your own horn)… punctuated by the occasional grandiose outburst, of course.
Nice post man, interesting to see the indirect methods. I really relished it! If you post everything about blogging at this rate, you’ll exhaust in 1 year! :)
My favorite part .. use your blog not only to report and rehash news but to also show initiative in proposing solutions. Be proactive in your blogging and lead the conversation rather than just react to it. That’s why you make the big bucks :D
They have blog consulting in sidebars by the minute now? NEAT!
that was one of my favorite lines too HART – if I do say so.
I’m yet to see a finished product of the sidebar consulting via voip but i”m looking forward to seeing it.
I think you can make WAY more money from these indirect methods, and a lot more easily, unless you’re a blogger with a network of sites and blogging 8+ hours a day.
I only post a few times a day and it takes perhaps 15 minutes of my time, but I’ve got quite a few clients through my blog.. I worked it out a few weeks ago and about 80% of my income for this year has come via people or opportunities my blog raised. AdSense works well for me, but compared to the other work it has gotten me it’s peanuts.
Over two years ago I attended BloggerCon and passed out flyers offering consulting by the minute or the word:
http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/000791.html
Yes, I did drive from L.A. to Maine and back, but the rest of the flyer was a joke. Fortunately or unfortunately, none of the others at the confab seemed to get it.
Wow, I think the most fascinating thing about the “blog scene”, being that I am new to it all, being busy with studies, is that the “scene” is not just something that is a temporary fad like Chia Pets, rather it is the beginning to a broader end. People that would never have been known have become celebrities, not because of “luck”, but because of qualities deep inside that were looking for a way out. Writers, geniuses, thinkers that would normally have died leaving a diary that few would benefit from, or a memoirs that few would be interested in.
To add to the beautiful picture that I have painted, is a select few of those people that use this gift of theirs to ignite sparks of inginuity within other “smaller players” that may one day lead to amazing success stories like those of the founders of Google whom many of us have become dependant upon in some sort of way…
Very Interesting site you have Darren, I hope to use your Insights to increase my own writings and thoughts.
Abu Miftah
Madinah, Saudi Arabia
Most people leave out the Indirect Methods (including me) :-)
Thanks for tips Darren.
I tried wordpress and hated it. So I switched to serendipity blog software. It loads on my host, backs up automatically, and has really good templates.
great tips. I wish more folks would focus on the indirect methods. Not only would they be more effective….it will free up more real estate on the actual blog for people to read posts ad-free!
A good post to identify other sources of income and you explained the possibilities well.
Even bulk deals of selling blogs all together for big money is also happening.
The future for bloggers looks rosy and let us cheer up.
I am a realtor and the real estate business has been slow lately. I work a lot with condos and am trying to find a way to build my realty market. greg moser
I think that it is a good thorough post about making money and I think there are many possibilities with indirect ways of making money – I am thinking about setting up my own blog it is just how much time do I dedicate to it.
Nice indirect methods. I really want to get featured in some newspapers (hehehe… ). Even this ambition is not reachable in just a year. I think i am capable now of telling my users how to improve the blogs they own. I am now part of the experts in terms of blogging.
http://www.resourcesandmoney.blogspot.com
Great post Darren
There certainly are a plethora of avenues to explore when it comes to generating income from blogging.
One successful method which you adopted here seems to be a great method; re-visit your old posts (this post was written in 2006), simply tweak the post, update it and then include it in new blog post.
A great way of keeping old content up-to-date.
SolReka
Brighter Energy Solutions
PS Bloggerjobs.biz is a great site. Many thanks
This is indeed a money making opportunity. i am looking for highly innovative methods. I know i shouldn’t aim sky high but for me sky is not just the limit. Wish i could soon video conference with users of my blog
I helped my dad start his own blog and internet market his blog, since he’s retired and don’t have many things for his past time. He sometimes enjoys the work but most of time he feels like a burden since he does not know much about IT.
I enjoyed your blog. Well done mate, this is a very useful topic for many people / businesses.
I agree that in our blog it is important we lead the conversation instead of merely reacting to it. As a blogger who wants to earn money from his/her blog, either directly or indirectly — one must make his blog stand out above the rest. The point is — Content really is king! Give your readers something worthwhile to read…
Thanks so much for the ideas of how to make money. As usual, you provide us with worthwhile content!
follow me on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/iamkrissy
I like the bit about getting employed by a bigger company that would be a fairly good goal for anyone out here that’s starting off with blogging, to become good enough to get hired by a company for doing it.
In fact something I’d like.