Comments on: Giving Up on Making Money

By: Syd

Syd — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 05:05:22 +0000

A very interesting article. Definitely if we change our focus to helping people, it should give our web business solid foundation and not a shaky ground like just trying to earn some quick bucks.

By: JennDZ - the leftover queen

JennDZ - the leftover queen — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 19:29:52 +0000

I completely agree with what you are saying! I am always getting flack from some people around me telling me that I need to give myself a break – watch some TV, go for a walk, etc etc. I do love living a balanced life, but I also LOVE what I do – so it is not like work for me. I am more motivated and work harder at my own projects than anything else I have ever done for someone else – even if I sincerely enjoyed that work.

By: Andrea >> Become a Consultant

Andrea >> Become a Consultant — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 05:41:38 +0000

If I didn’t make money from my blog, I’d go back to just writing for magazines and newspapers. I write because I like to write, but I have to weigh up other options.

By: Bowrag

Bowrag — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 05:24:49 +0000

Money will come and that happens usually when your not looking for it. This has been said over and over here…

Do what you love and you may be rewarded.

By: Gloria

Gloria — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 03:38:35 +0000

yes Darren you are speaking idealistically. however, not everyone else is Darren Rowse who can build a blog and earn six-figures from it later on (i mean this positively!). Then, with the rise of blog networks paying bloggers to blog about topics they are passionate about, thus giving birth to network bloggers…admittedly, money becomes a big part of the motivation. The ride maybe long but i cannot say that it is fruitless. In fact in my case, it has turned out to be really very fruitful. ;-)

By: Brian Purkiss

Brian Purkiss — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:32:08 +0000

Hm…
That’s an interesting concept. It makes sense! I’ll have to keep that in mind.

At this point in time I do not have any ads on my blog – but I do hope to be adding them at the end of the summer. So, I shall have to keep that in mind when I enter into the money making world of blogging.

Thanks for the post!

By: Psycho Dude

Psycho Dude — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:35:16 +0000

I agree, although I include paid posts on my blog the factor of making money through my blog is not the main importance. My main importance is to blog about what I’m interested in myself, have been going for that for nearly a year already and will probably keep on doing so for many years. I don’t see making some money with my blog as something bad though, since it does help in covering the costs of hosting the blog and on top of that extra money is never unwelcome for a student ;).

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:51:00 +0000

I think this type of thing is something we all have to realize at one point or another. I’ve found that the topic really is important. One of my blogs I have no time coming up with what to write about, while the other one I have a harder time. Time to rediscover the passion!

By: Ruby @Advice and Rants

Ruby @Advice and Rants — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:52:21 +0000

Personally, I think that when it comes to blogs, a blog of low quality would not be very profitable.
And I completely agree with Mike: a new blogger should focus first on getting traffic (that’s what I’m doing!)
Without readers, the rest (monetization, becoming an authority figure, whatever) doesn’t have any chance whatsoever of occurring.

By: OknooRap

OknooRap — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:44:32 +0000

Yes, i agree with jon. I just started blogging view days ago. And my money grow up.

By: The Financial Philosopher

The Financial Philosopher — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:04:40 +0000

Great financial philosophy! Here’s more:

“Life is not about making money — Money is about making a life.” (Mitch Anthony)

“It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly.” (Samuel Butler)

“I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man…” (Socrates)

Thanks for the post…

Kent (aka The Financial Philosopher)

By: Allan

Allan — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:57:26 +0000

I totally agree. Do what you love and the money will come. If are writing about digital voice records because they are the hottest, money-making thing but don’t really “enjoy” them, either you won’t make money or you won’t enjoy it.

By: sriram

sriram — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:13:19 +0000

yes, just like starting a company, if you’re doing it out of love and interest, you’re bound to succeed and apparently almost always, ppl fail if they’re doing it for the money…

By: Jared Schwager

Jared Schwager — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:10:32 +0000

Just started a blog and found myself wondering how to monetize it the best. Thanks for this great post. It made me realize I should be focusing on my passion instead.

By: Martin Edic

Martin Edic — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:48:01 +0000

I have multiple blogs, some make money; the one I commonly include a link to (as in here) doesn’t. The subject matter (climate change) simply isn’t associated with commerce. I have some monetization on there but it really doesn’t generate much. So why do I do it? Because it is important to me.
Sometimes you have a passion that is also profitable, sometimes you don’t. You should still pursue your passion- just find another one that pays and do both. Profitable or not, if you don’t have the passion you’re not successful, IMHO.

By: Mommy Zabs

Mommy Zabs — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:38:30 +0000

I completely agree.
I started blogging as more of a journal after my now 3-year-old was born. After a couple formats- and now on my own domain, I now consider some affiliate advertising- but cautiously because I really value my readership/ internet friends and don’t want to compromise that. I have been meeting so may lately that are just starting blogging almost like a “get rich quick” scheme. Substantial things normally don’t come quickly or easily and if the only thought is making money and not content what is the point? One reason I love this blog so much is that you consistantly encourage bloggers to strive for excellence in their content and help arm us with the ability/knowledge of how to do so. You seem to emphasize that trying to make money without providing content is superficial. I appreciate that.

By: AskaX

AskaX — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:38:20 +0000

I agree with jon… as long as people read and comment on my blog I would be happy…

as the wise man said ” The more you give the more You get”

By: A Tentative Personal Finance Blog

A Tentative Personal Finance Blog — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:42:58 +0000

I wouldn’t care if I didn’t make a single cent on my persona finance blog. It’s something I love and something that I will write passionately about. I think I will, however, create a new blog that is more monetized.

By: nika

nika — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:27:05 +0000

I am one of your daily readers (rss is a goodness) and I have no intention of making money on my blog ( http://nikas-culinaria.com ).

I do learn a lot here, one thing is to value my content more and another is to work hard on keeping my blogs positive. My current http://nikas-culinaria.com post is not as positive as I usually am, its one that is processing a difficult issue.

You will see that there is ZERO advertising on my blog, period. I prefer it this way because it was way too much of a downer to watch my ads earn ZERO bux. This is not for a lack of trying, many times.

I have been blogging since 2005 and I have almost 300 posts, I create high quality interesting food content and delicious food photography .. all for the love of doing it.

I am at peace with the fact that my blog is not a money making scheme (I did not start out to make money off of it, back in 2005 blogging was MUCH more about the social thing, money making was an amusing concept .. ok, it still is but lots of people recently seem to think that blog monetization is a strategy instead of what it usually is, serendipity)

I appreciate the message of this post but I would like to suggest, coming from a passionate and non-profit blogger who has tried many times to monetize, doing what you love and doing it well is NOT necessarily the route to monetization. Its the route to a happy blogger but that is not linked to making money in any meaningful way.

When I tell people what I do (especially business people who are hearing all sorts of hype about blogging because they want to boost their site SEO in the face of an overwhelming ocean of blog and splog SEO superiority) and they see my blog(s) (I have several others, two of which are – http://progressive-homeschool.blogspot.com and http://www.humblegarden.com) and they assume that I must be making quite a lot of money. Not in the least. I am making behind the scene derivative gains on my developing food photography work but that is totally from my own hard work, not serendipity.

I LOVE blogging on what I blog on, its my life. Writing and shooting are two ways of distilling one’s every day existence into an artform that can be transformative. To poison that with the massive stress and disappointment that comes from failed attempts to monetize is a shame (because so much of that is not about me and is out of my hands – so much of the $$ is about serendipity and luck in getting more eyes on the page).

To never get a chance to love blogging (it can take a while to get into the swing of things) because you are all caught up in making and chasing the money, is a shame and a waste of time.

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:16:06 +0000

So very true!

I have been trying to get going on the internet for two years now. This and that and when I think now I might be on my way, I fall flat on my nose… Luckily I have the support from friends, family and some inner idiot (not really) that just do not want to stay down.

Personally I really do believe you will live a happy and fulfilled life if you do the “work” you enjoy doing. Focus on bringing real value to people with real questions and a business will follow. It helps to know a few things though, and it is these “few things” I am and have been figuring out.

Intense ride indeed, but every moment is to be savored, time here is way too fleeting.

Lovely life to all.
Nicholas