Written on December 16th, 2009 at 12:12 am by Darren Rowse

How to Make $30,000 a year Blogging

Blogging for Dollars, Featured Posts 444 comments

Last night I was chatting with a blogger who was feeling completely overwhelmed with their goal of making a living from blogging.

I asked them how much they wanted to make from blogging.

They responded that they wanted to be a full time blogger.

I pushed them for a figure – what does ‘full time’ mean for you?

They thought for a moment and said that they could live off $30,000 USD a year (note: they wouldn’t have minded earning more but would be able to quit their current job at this kind of rate).

$30,000 a year sounds like a lot to make from a blog – especially when you’re starting out and are yet to make a dollar. To this blogger it seemed so overwhelming that she had almost convinced herself that it was not possible.

Advice for Becoming a Full Time Blogger

My response was threefold:

1. Don’t Give Up Your Day Job…. Yet

It is possible to make $30,000 a year blogging, but it’s unlikely to happen over night. Keep your feet on the ground and your expectations reasonable. IF it happens (and there are no guarantees) it is almost certainly going to take some time.

2. Be Specific

Saying that you want to be full time as a blogger is a great goal – but it’s not really specific enough. This is why I wanted the blogger I was chatting with to name a figure. For her full time was $30,000 – for others it could be more or less – the amount is not the point, the point is that you need something more concrete to work towards so that you’re able to measure where you’re at.

For me when I decided I want to go full time as a blogger I decided that I wanted to aim for $50,000 (Aussie Dollars) in a year as the bench mark (at that time $50,000 was around 36,000 USD). That’s around what I would have been earning in my current main job if I had been doing that full time (I was actually working a number of part time jobs at the time as well as studying part time).

Knowing what I was aiming for helped me in a number of ways when it came to getting to that goal.

3. Break it down into something more Achievable

$30,000 USD still sounds big when you’re a new blogger – and in some ways it is. However there are different ways of thinking about that figure. Lets break it down in the way that I used to look at my target.

  • $30,000 a year = $576.92 per week
  • $30,000 a year = $82.19 a day
  • $30,000 a year = $3.42 an hour

We could break it down on a monthly or on a minute by minute basis if we wanted to (in fact I did do it by minute from time to time for fun) – but the exercise is really about helping you to see that perhaps your big goal is a little more achievable if you are to break it down. Making $82.19 somehow seems a little bit easier to me than making $30,000 (or is that just me?).

OK – the other way that I used to break down my goal that I found really helpful to me was to do it based upon what I need to achieve to meet that target. For me I would usually look at the daily figure – in this case $82.19.

What do I need to do to make $82.19 a day ($30,000 a year)?

Well there’s a number of ways that much. Lets look at a few:

  • CPC Ads – lets say we’re running mainly AdSense on our blog and that the average click is paying 5 cents. That equates to 1643 clicks on AdSense ads (note: AdSense also runs CPM ads so it’s not quite as simple as saying you need 1643 clicks… but to keep this simple lets just go with that).
  • CPM Ads – lets say that we’re running CPM ads on our blog and we’re being paid $2 CPM per ad unit and we had 3 ads on each page (which is effectively $6 CPM per page). This would mean we’d need 13,000 page impressions.
  • Monthly Sponsorships – one way to sell ads directly to advertisers is to sell ads on a month by month basis as a sponsorship. To make $30k in a year you need to sell $2500 a month in ads. You might have 6 ad spots on your blog so this is 6 advertisers at $416.66 per advertiser per month.
  • Low Commission Affiliate Products – Lets say we were promoting affiliate products from a site like Amazon and your commissions were on average about 40 cents per sale. To earn $82.19 you’d need to sell 205 products.
  • High Commission Affiliate Products – In this case you might be promoting ebooks and earning $8 a copy (that’s what you’d earn selling my 31DBBB ebook per commission). The math is simple on this one – you’d had to sell around 10 e-books a day.
  • Really Big Commission Affiliate Products – of course e-books are not the biggest product out there to promote – there are products like training courses where you can earn hundreds per sale. Lets take one that might pay out $300 for a yearly membership on a bigger product. In this case you need to sell 8 of these per month.
  • Selling Your Own E-book – got your own product, perhaps an e-book, to sell from your blog? At $19.95 a sale you need to sell just over 4 of these a day. You can do the sums on cheaper or more expensive products.

Of course there are many many other ways to make money from blogs. Subscriptions, donations, paid reviews, selling yourself as a consultant….. etc. You can do the sums for yourself on your own model.

I know that some of the above figures still sound out of reach for bloggers – 1643 clicks on your AdSense ads sounds massive to a new blogger…. and it is – but do keep in mind that you can combine some of the above (in fact I’d recommend you diversify your income).

You might run 2 ad networks on your site, promote Amazon affiliates, sell your own e-book and promote someone’s membership course.

Looking back on my own figures for around the time when I hit my $50,000 AUD (around $100 USD a day) goal and for me at that time my income mix looked a like this (going from memory here):

  • AdSense: $35
  • Chitika: $20
  • Private Ad Sales: $20
  • Amazon: $15
  • Other Affiliate Commissions: $10

Note: I didn’t achieve this milestone until I’d been blogging for over 2 years (I blogged for the first year without trying to make money).

This didn’t happen over night (let me emphasize this – blogging for money is neither quick nor is it easy money) but I really found that breaking things down into more bite sized pieces helped me to stay motivated but also helped me to identify what I needed to work on in order to reach my goals (and for me to quite my day job).

Again – don’t quit your day job yet (in fact you may not want to quit it even when you reach your goal – it can be good to have a back up plan) but do work hard at being specific about your blogging goals and attempt to break it down in a way that helps you move towards them.

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444 Responses to “How to Make $30,000 a year Blogging” - Add Yours

  • Andrew @ webuildyourblog.com

    December 16th, 2009 12:59 am

    Darren

    I like the ‘break it down’ approach. It took me just over two years of being on-line (part-time) before I could give up my corporate role and become a full-time blogger. Two years of working evenings and weekends but I enjoyed it so much and the money is almost a knock-on effect.

    Obviously, money is important to live but it’s the freedom and being my own boss that really makes the difference.

    In fact I was asked the other day to do 3 months corporate work for $1500 a day! $1500 a day! I turned it down. Going back working in a stressful corporate world is not for me.

    Andrew

  • Sudeep

    December 16th, 2009 1:06 am

    I have been a very new blogger since your 31 days challenge. I really liked the way you put and describe the amount and ways it comes to a blogger. Thanks for all that

  • Todd - Home Construction Improvement

    December 16th, 2009 1:06 am

    Great advice Darren. This year I’ve finally hit that $30K mark and haven’t even considered quiting my day job. It definitely takes some diversification I’ve found and perseverance. This is my third year blogging and things have finally begun to click.

  • Rajat Jain

    December 16th, 2009 1:13 am

    nice break down of the resources of income..
    hearing 1643 clicks in a day any man can slip out of the idea to start a blog.. Bt u make it easy to understand..
    thts the experience speaking in ur words.. ..

    gr8..

    Rajat jain
    http://rajatresponsible.googlepages.com
    http://twitter.com/GlassyRajat

  • Lucifer@Blog Contests

    December 16th, 2009 1:18 am

    I agree with You That We Should have a back up plan why quiet a job when you are still earning that amount by job…
    If you think you can make $30000 a year by blogging then first earn that amount then think of leaving the job…until then never think of leaving the job :) it is not right…

    Splitting that $30000 into per min can be really really fun… :))

  • Frances Archer

    December 16th, 2009 1:20 am

    I like all your suggestions but what stands out is that you didn’t try to make money for the first year. To me that says you did this for the love of it, and that kind of passion and devotion for what you do makes for a good blog. Maybe it’s not necessary to wait quite so long to monetize but there’s something to be said for doing this because you like it as opposed to just for the money.

  • Liane

    December 16th, 2009 1:25 am

    Me too! The breakdown approach really made the goal more realistic. I have to come up with my own plan too. And seems like it’s already in the making. Btw, I can’t follow your advice of not quitting yet. In the first place, I’m still studying. Haha

    Thanks Darren. Wonderful post that made me plan all the more.

    All the best,

    Liane

  • Qatar Visitor

    December 16th, 2009 1:27 am

    Don’t forget to calculate costs! We pay money out for freelance writers, prizes, newsletters, programming, aweber, survey monkey e.t.c., so even though our revenue hit 2 thousands pounds a month (which is three thousand dollars something) our profits lag some way behind.

  • Gordon

    December 16th, 2009 1:28 am

    This is all nice in theory but it takes a lot of time and effort to set it up, gain credibility and readership. It turns into a real job very soon, but if you like doing it, then it’s great. Not many people today have such fortune to earn money doing what they like. Thanks for sharing Darren!

  • Avinash

    December 16th, 2009 1:29 am

    Obviosuly, you need to put lot of hard work before you can even think of that $30,000 figure as blogging is like a business which you need to setup. And like any other new business, blogging too needs initial investment without any return in short time. That invest in case of blogging is your hardwork for a long time atleast a year or so before you can start thinking of leaving your full time job.

  • Eat Smart Age Smart

    December 16th, 2009 1:31 am

    I would have to agree with you Darren and say that 2 years is what it takes to start making a full time income online. Some make it sooner, but there is quite a lot to learn and master.

    I wish I had sat down and break things down like you’ve done above.

    That said, I’ll use that formula for future projects.

    Krizia

  • Eat Smart Age Smart

    December 16th, 2009 1:33 am

    Andrew @ webuildyourblog.com – I really understand where you are coming from and could not agree with you more.

    The money is important, but the freedom is PRICELESS!!!

    Krizia

  • Ivan Walsh

    December 16th, 2009 1:34 am

    Hi Darren,

    Here’s another way of looking at it.
    1. I ran several blogs (all hit and miss) for about 5 years. Then it began to click financially.
    2. Next, I moved into contract work so I could balance the office/online work.
    3. I then phased out 9-5 work when I got some nice contracts that let me work at home. Not technically pro-blogger, but we’re getting there.
    From then on it’s been a mix of winning business online (e.g. tech writing, white papers, biz proposals etc) and increasing knowledge of aff products, Adsense, and so on. Baby steps!

    Now, after 8 years, I do less contract work and almost all web work.

    So, start to finish it’s been 100 months work approx.

    PS – The move to fulltime blogger was really a move to working from home and then using the web to generate leads, business, and finally products.

    PPS – Amazon has been the biggest disappointment for me when I consider the effort I put in.

    Ivan

  • Henri

    December 16th, 2009 1:37 am

    That’s a good coincidence. I just wrote about this yesterday, how you shouldn’t quit your job just yet. Making a living blogging is certainly achievable but it takes a lot of work. It helps if you’re doing something you love as well ;)

  • Robby G

    December 16th, 2009 1:38 am

    I agree with Gordon completely. People really need to push it. I’ve been blogging for a year and still not making anywhere close to that. I like that you mention that it took over 2 years for you, but I still feel like it’s going to take more than that for me. Then again, my self-discipline level to keep marketing the blog isn’t as high as Darren’s. Nice break-down post none the less. Cheers!

  • Sunil Jain

    December 16th, 2009 1:40 am

    This is very much interesting Darren :) :)
    We must have patience to earn and as you told it cannot be achieved just through a nightmare ;)
    Work harder and harder and never miss any opportunities , because who knows this way you will lead your life to a new goals and achieve them :) :)

  • delaorden

    December 16th, 2009 1:46 am

    Well, this is an encouraging article, but I have some remarks to add. Blogging today is something for those who really really LOVE sit before the screen and spend hours and hours thinking about posting cool stuff . Microblogging indeed is here to stay and this is something that really compete against of what we really know about blogging. Making money blogging has become, for many, sort of obsession. I have been blogging fo one year now.No ads, no sponsors, nothing at all. Just blogging because I like it.Still have a long road to go, but there’s something I made a point …. just post and blog what you really like. Never think about the audience. Just follow an editing line and keep it on. If you really do it with pleasure the results will take a little bit longer but they will show up.

  • Nate

    December 16th, 2009 1:58 am

    I love the advice on breaking the overall, larger goal down into smaller, more manageable chunks. I think that’s why so many people quit. Put money aside for a minute. Some people might not even know where to begin.

    How do I build a web page? I know nothing about that.

    What should I write about?

    How do I even go about making money blogging? So many people don’t even now what the hell adsense is (shocking, but true).

    Start small. Set some manageable goals for yourself and you’ll be much more likely to achieve success and stick with it in the long term.

  • Dustin | Engaged Marriage

    December 16th, 2009 2:04 am

    I really enjoyed this post. I think it demonstrates both the value in diversifying the income streams from your blog and, especially, the impact that creating your own product can have on your bottom.

  • George

    December 16th, 2009 2:06 am

    Great info. Clear, useful and actionable. There are so many people who are looking for jobs, and I think that making $30K per year from a blog is better than any job.

    Love your ProBlogger book!

  • Sebastian Sjöberg

    December 16th, 2009 2:07 am

    I agree with what has been said above – this post is very helpful in breaking down the giant mystery of making money of our blogs into more bite-sized portions. Myself I’m currently experimenting with selling low commission affiliate products (t-shirts) and trying to land some monthly sponsorships – which is anything but easy. It’s good to be reminded of the fact that a full time living as a blogger do consist of several smaller sums of money a day.

    Thanks Darren!

  • bloggerspeed

    December 16th, 2009 2:07 am

    Alright! This is what I have been looking for. Just changing our point of view in seeing our goal and break the figure down does sound really make sense to me. Nice!

  • Michael Holmes

    December 16th, 2009 2:09 am

    When I was in sales our manager used to ask us this same question every year: “How much do you want to make this year?” We’d give our figure and then he’d break it down over a 50-week period. So I definitely can relate to the breakdown.

    Thanks for the breakdown but also for the “how to.” :)

  • One People Search

    December 16th, 2009 2:10 am

    Break down the BIG target into small parts is realistic thing that will easy to do, I think. Of course, new blogger can achieve that BIG target if they have willingness to hard work and realize their target as quick as possible.

    Everything is possible when we have willingness.

    Thanks for sharing your ideas, Darren. :)

  • Vishal Sanjay

    December 16th, 2009 2:13 am

    I would definitely love to make 30K per year, i think the only thing we’ll need is a good startup money. I have found out that $300 is more than enough to get your blog successfully running, that is if you invest in the right place.

    I wrote an article recently which advises on ways to spend your $300 on blogging. http://dumblittleblogger.blogspot.com/2009/11/promoting-your-blog-with-300.html

  • Nugroho Adi Pratama

    December 16th, 2009 2:13 am

    Great Post !!!
    I believe that i am still way out of your league
    currently i only make $10 per month from TLA, adsense gave me only $1-2 per month (total $40 from approx. 3 years of blogging) ) and sadly adsense payout keeping me from getting my money,
    it still a long way to go for me, so i am not giving away my
    day job, but i am really touch by your calcullation
    living out of blog seems much more reachable now….

  • Heather Allard

    December 16th, 2009 2:14 am

    Darren,

    Love this post – I’m setting some goals for myself for 2010 and I like the idea of naming a specific dollar amount in that goal and then breaking it down into smaller, doable goals/steps.

    Have been a bit absent from your blog & forum and this post made me realize I need to come back full swing. :D

    Have a terrific day.
    Heather

  • Pastorkayte

    December 16th, 2009 2:17 am

    I hadnt thought of breaking it down, now all of a sudden it does not look like it is that hard. I need to make approximately 45,000 a year which came to 123.28 a day or 5.13 cents an hour, so I think I can do that. It sounds fairly easy to do on a daily basis I am going to work at it. Thank you for the advise.

  • Anne Wayman

    December 16th, 2009 2:27 am

    Excellent as usual Darren. And your suggestions for breaking it down like that work for any type of freelance writing. It’s so tempting to ignore the steps, often baby steps, to success.

    Thanks!

  • Guillermo

    December 16th, 2009 2:35 am

    What an amazing blogger this guy is… You put the things so simple and you are so humble… Actually you make me think I can do as well as you do!

    That’s why I read you and not John Chow.

  • Jeffrey Tang

    December 16th, 2009 2:36 am

    Seeing it broken down into smaller numbers and component parts is really helpful. You’re right – $80 a day is much more manageable than aiming for $30,000 a year.

    Going to work on breaking down my goals this week. Thanks for the post, Darren!

  • Ms. Freeman

    December 16th, 2009 2:42 am

    I have an ad spot in my side bar that rotates products I use, but other than that I am not really trying to make money from my blog just yet. I really need to focus on bettering my content and building a community.

    Thanks for the great tips. :)

  • LPCs

    December 16th, 2009 2:52 am

    Darren – so useful. Thank you. I will have been blogging for a year in February, and I have that same sense of time to see if money is to be made. I have a pretty low threshold for income, simply because concurrently I am looking at returning to corporate work, and that will simply pay way more than I could make blogging any time in the near future. Or mid-range future. Thank you for breaking this into little steps. Seriously.

  • Joi

    December 16th, 2009 2:53 am

    Great post! I work fulltime from home (entirely online) and love every second of it.

    You make an excellent point – breaking it down into bite-sized pieces makes it all less overwhelming.

    With all of the great money-making sites online (Google, Chitika, CJ, Linkshare…), networking opportunities, and ProBlogger.net – there aren’t any excuses!

  • laptop battery

    December 16th, 2009 2:56 am

    Thanks for your great post, But it need spent a lot of time and power to build that.

  • Jeffry Pilcher

    December 16th, 2009 2:57 am

    Darren,

    Your math is wrong. Either that, or your assumptions are goofy.

    There are 52 weeks in the year. Multiply by a 40-hour work week and you have a little more than 2,000 working hours in the year.

    That means in order to make $30,000 a year, our blogger would need to make an average of $15/hour.

    Unless, of course, you’re assuming she would be working every minute of every hour every day of they year.

    The *blog* may need to make $3.42/hour, but most *people* can still only afford to apply 8 or so hours a day to their professional endeavors.

  • batteries

    December 16th, 2009 2:58 am

    Great post, But I think i cann’t to do so strongly!

  • Bloggers School

    December 16th, 2009 3:00 am

    Great post real informative PROBlogger is spot on when he talks about it taking time. Do you think that anyone you work for in your life did not struggle. Some businesses may be past down from family, but at one point it took time to build for someone down the line.

    Work hard push your limits I worked many years in a truck and Blogging, Working a stages in Manhattan as a stage hand. tonight we are doing our third Workshop and after party sponsored. Consulting is going great and working for others is a thing of the past.

    Get others involved like at the events we work with Book Authors likeMelinda Blau signing her book and giving it away. Gary Vaynerchuk Last month sent 20 copies of Crush It.

    Use what you have for leverage to grab you 82.19 a day it will happen when you make it Happen captain!!

    Follow the tips laid out by PROBlogger above and your sure to win. Affiliate Marketing takes time don’t lose faith during the climb.

  • Srinivas Rao

    December 16th, 2009 3:04 am

    This is such a great way to break things down. I think you nailed with the being specific part. For anybody who want to accomplish a specific revenue goal, I have one more recommendation. Write it down and read it out loud twice a day: right when you wake up and right before sleeping. You will see that it does wonders for allowing you to come up with ideas for revenue generation. It will enhance your creativity for revenue ideas massively.

  • Nibras Bawa

    December 16th, 2009 3:05 am

    30,000 USD per annum is subjective depending on the location. For instance in Singapore you atleast need to have double that amount before you even think of quitting your day job whereas in India this may sound like a jackpot and a dream salary. Yes, i agree with you financial planning always helps.

  • Revenue Robot

    December 16th, 2009 3:13 am

    great article! I bookmarked it for future reference… thanks!

  • Tina Fortune

    December 16th, 2009 3:15 am

    Outstanding post! Great way to break it all down into bite size pieces!!! Thank you.

  • turisuna

    December 16th, 2009 3:39 am

    Thanks Darren, it’s really useful for me. Sometimes as a newbie I get confused to set my goal, I also overwhelmed with it and then get upset if I can’t reach the goal. At first I also confuse how to monetize my blog and what program I will follow. Finally I only focus for one type of program and set a realistic goal. Break down our goal is a good idea, I like it :)

  • John Paul

    December 16th, 2009 3:44 am

    Great layout. Baby steps will get you to your bigger goal.

  • Rajesh Kanuri @ TechCats

    December 16th, 2009 4:03 am

    I love to hear from u… you are my true inspiration always .. I have question for you.. how to run adsense CPM ads in my blog….

  • NessWorld Magazine

    December 16th, 2009 4:03 am

    The approach whereby you break it down into achieveable steps is so valuable, because above all else, it gives you that feeling that something is a viable goal, and really within your reach – which naturally leads you toward the goal anyways!

    Love this post.

  • Rennell Garrett

    December 16th, 2009 4:13 am

    Right now, earning $3000 a year would make me happy. You have worked hard for 2 years to achieve this now, its my time :)

  • Matt Rittorno

    December 16th, 2009 4:23 am

    But what if I want to make $30,000 / year overnight?

  • Dong Eito

    December 16th, 2009 4:29 am

    This article is an eye opener to aspiring full-time blogger like me. I have been in IM since 2002 on and off without any success. I thought then that making money online is a quick fix! I was dead wrong, confused with so many offers (most of them scams and spams). Been thru many membership sites and still couldn’t find that ‘thing’. Now, I’m being careful not to rush things for money. I have learned that what is important is the quality of a blog, the income is secondary and is automatic. So rather than spending time how to figure out to make money from my blog. I’m trying hard to figure out how to make my blog attracts readers, then the money goal will arrive.

  • Steven Richardson

    December 16th, 2009 4:30 am

    Thhis is a wonderful post and has actually given me a bit of fire to sort my blogs out to earn more money from them.

  • Jeff Carroll

    December 16th, 2009 4:36 am

    Very good article. Even with software development ranging into the millions, these back of the envelope calculations are excellent methods to inject concrete reality into goals.

    BTW, there is one small error in the article. In the “Low Commission Affiliate Products” section, it reads “$205 products,” when I believe that you meant “205 products.”

  • Klodian

    December 16th, 2009 5:04 am

    To do 30k $ a year, first you need to have minimum 1M pageviews monthly, this means too many visitors, to many comments, good alexa rank… etc and you will feel like a king and you will be more proud for those results then for money :)

  • The Padrino Dot Com

    December 16th, 2009 5:08 am

    Great Post that’s alot of adsense clicks but it’s a reachable goal with twitter around.

  • Dana @ Online Knowledge

    December 16th, 2009 5:10 am

    I use $1000 a month as my first milestone target and it is still far from touch that limit. And you are right when say that we must have clear target, because my target make me have passion to do whatever i must do, and also the result countable.

  • The Padrino Dot Com

    December 16th, 2009 5:10 am

    Jeff Carroll,I believe he made that mistake also.

  • Anupum

    December 16th, 2009 5:18 am

    Thank you for the inspiration. I’ll work on my blog for 2 yrs now without trying to make money. This was a fantastic read. Read the whole article thoroughly!

  • Alex - Business Cards

    December 16th, 2009 5:23 am

    This post really struck a chord with me. I think its because I’m usually the cup-is-half-full pessimist type of guy so I usually feel like I’m doing something wrong when I don’t get that immediate feedback from the work I put into it. This post really helped remind me to get the heck back on track. Patience is a virtue.

  • Camil

    December 16th, 2009 5:28 am

    I love it,
    I think once you break it down and ask yourself,

    “How much do I have to make PER DAY to reach my target annual income?”

    Your brain starts thinking differently and it’s a great way to figure this out. Making money online is tough starting out.

    Check out my blog for similar content @ http://www.camilturcotte.com

  • Faisal Khan

    December 16th, 2009 5:40 am

    Darren, what will be interesting is that if you can comment on approx how many page views a day (should?) translate to that much income. From my experience developing a programming related website, I can say that even 10,000 page views a day is not enough to make a figure close to $1,000 a month, and that is with running 3rd party ads. Most of the other streams of revenue like selling direct ads or products or selling affiliate links will not work unfortunately to the extent they did for you for most of the other aspiring bloggers.

    The key IMO is to have a website with content, advice, or opinion that is regarded as authority in its niche. And to get to that point, lot of effort, hard work and perseverance will be needed.

  • Davor Gasparevic

    December 16th, 2009 5:45 am

    That is the similar strategy I am doing right now.

    First of, I started a FREE blog on a FREE blog platform – blogger.com

    Many people say that it makes you look unprofessional, and probably they are right, but I don’t care. My goal is simply to make my first check from Google Adsense come from this very blog.

    Last month I made 1.12$ from Adsense, this month I arleady made 2.02$ and this month still has 15 days left… so I guess I will probably be at 3-4$ untill the end of the month.

    Ultimately, my goal is to simply make 20-30$ from this blog (click my name if you want to see it).

    The country where I live 1000$ a month is just about the average monthly salary. Sure some people make more, a lot more, but a majority actually makes less than those 1000$ and still manages to live somehow. So what is my ULTIMATE ultimate goal?

    To make 15 000$ yearly, and not necessary from blogging alone, although I see it as a focus of my attention, because I like writing.

    However, my dreams are a lot lot bigger, but they are just dreams.

    Something that I believe, actually KNOW that I will achieve is those 15 000$ a year.

    I am consistent, persistent and patient.

    Wish me luck :)

  • Anthony Licari

    December 16th, 2009 6:21 am

    Good list, people need to understand that they won’t be successful for a while. Keeping at it when it seems like it’s not worth it anymore is what separates the failures from the success.

  • Darni

    December 16th, 2009 6:39 am

    Her goal is very similar with mine.I want to make over 100USD a day.

  • Blog Tips

    December 16th, 2009 6:51 am

    Nice list of break downs darren, i myself is still figuring out what type of monetization will i focus more but i’d still diversify my resources.

    By the way i was earning average of $1k /month already without a blog so i’m expecting to earn more now that i will start my own blogging site next month

  • Bloggeri

    December 16th, 2009 7:18 am

    Earning my by blogging takes only hard work. The more time you are willing to use, the quicker you can get there.

    Like Darren says, splitting stuff into more simple chunks can make it all a lot easier.

  • Tresna

    December 16th, 2009 7:19 am

    Another one of your great post from you Darren(ProBlogger).

    It’s very motivating for me. People often think that blogging is easy. At my country, and interesting point is said that the best product to sell is ‘the dream’. So many internet goers and beginner bloggers easily fall for these ‘business models’, which the seller are not focusing on the ‘product feature’ but ‘the dream’.

    The thing is that many know little that blogging takes effort for increasing your writing quality, copywriting headlines, link baiting, etc. We must be persistent and consistent. And it’s also a form of work like every type of work that takes time and effort; the difference is if you make it your hobby it wouldn’t be a burden. Many also fall for the ‘write some articles and sit back for the money’, and don’t know that other efforts like optimizing are required.

    I agree not to give up the daily job yet.

  • Jago News

    December 16th, 2009 7:38 am

    Now these are great tips to follow. Best thing is in this article is the way you Describe the big picture of $30000 into small tasks. That little days makes a big day.

  • Mike Skel

    December 16th, 2009 7:55 am

    I really liked the breakup!

    Earning $100 a day after 2 years blogging seems a practical and achievable goal, according to me.

  • Daniel Johnston

    December 16th, 2009 8:05 am

    Definitely. Many people in life know where they want to go, but don’t now how to get there. Without a plan, you’re just doing random things that don’t amount to anything. People will be people, though.

  • Chris Monty

    December 16th, 2009 8:28 am

    This is absolutely the way to do it. You’ve got to break it down just to keep the figure from spooking you to death.

    I’ve been at it for two years now and one of my blogs had a record-shattering November (and I’ve already topped that here in December).

    I don’t know if it will last after the holidays but I’ll enjoy the ride for now.

  • Günther

    December 16th, 2009 8:35 am

    The figures sound like a dream to me. But again I admire your practical approach – down to earth approach. To break it down into small portions. I will work hard to reach these small goals on my little christian blog.

  • Chad

    December 16th, 2009 9:04 am

    The break-it-down approach is very useful. When I think about how much I need to quit my day job, that approach makes it seem almost certainly unattainable. But, when I look at it in terms of supplementing current income, I can see how it just might work.
    Looking at it this way makes it possible to see just how it might or might not be possible to achieve your goals, either by continuing with current methods or exploring new ones.
    Thanks for this. It was also a brief education in some of the other ways to make money blogging.

  • Living with Balls

    December 16th, 2009 9:12 am

    Great post. I’d be happy making some extra pocket change from blogging. I hope I can get to that level one day but I’m not expecting it.

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 9:58 am

    Jeffry Pilcher – thanks for the comment but let me clarify this. The blog needs to make only $3.42 an hour…. the reason I say this is that blogs earn money even when you’re asleep. You might put in 8 hours a day (or a couple…. or 15….) the blog continues to earn money as long as there are readers on it.

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 10:02 am

    Qatar – yes, good point, keep expenses in mind. Having said that – I didn’t have many of those in my own first few years of this, in fact my accountant kept asking me why I wasn’t claiming anything – the reality is that apart from a little hosting, domain names and design costs I didn’t really have any in those early days.

    If I were starting again today there would be a few more costs (aweber would be one) but I still would keep it pretty lean expense wise.

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 10:03 am

    Gordon (and others) – yes it certainly is a theory that needs hard work, effort and time to put into to make it happen. No overnight riches with this method unless you have some extra luck or a profile/brand to leverage to kick start you.

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 10:06 am

    Ivan – thanks for sharing that story. I was similar actually. When I started I was working 3 jobs, studying part time and blogging in the evenings. I then slowly decreased the jobs as blogging increased. At one point though I did take on another job before I could again go full time as a blogger. I think it’s about looking at your situation and making it work for your life and fit in with other opportunities and responsibilities.

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 10:08 am

    Nate – you might find my Blogging for Beginners series of posts useful. Alternatively the ProBlogger Book is written for beginners and is a little more up to date than that series.

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 10:11 am

    Nugroho – it’s certainly tough in the early days.

    Another way I used to break down things was to give myself the goal of increasing traffic/earnings by 10-20% (or more) a month. It doesn’t sound like much in the early days but if you can do it consistantly over 2-3 years it starts to exponentially increase and really grow into something.

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 10:13 am

    Nibras – absolutely – $30k goes a lot further in some countries than others :-)

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 10:16 am

    Matt Rittorno – if you want to make $30,000 a year over night you might want to look into bank robbing or learning to count cards :-)

    Seriously though – it’s not a fast money game (at least the way I play it) however once you do build it up you do have big/fast money days. I’ve been at this for 7 years now and have built some momentum up to the point where I can launch a product and make some serious cash in a day or two – however this is only built off the 7 years of hard work and months of work specifically on those products before they launch.

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 10:21 am

    Klodian – I don’t agree on the 1M page view number. That may be the case in some niches and models but not in all. For some it’ll be more and some less. I know of one blogger with a few thousand (around 3000) visitors a day who makes $30,000 a year because he’s able to get them to buy his products (he sells a $30 product – so he has to sell 1000 of them in a year which he does).

    The way he looks at it is that he has 90,000 visitors a month – he needs to sell 83 products a month which is one product for every 1083 visitors. It’s not easy but he’s managed to do it by capturing email addresses of readers and buyers and releasing multiple products.

    You might need 1M impressions a month for some models (like AdSense) but if you’re selling your own stuff or doing affiliate marketing or have a targetted niche where advertisers are willing to pay – you can do it with less.

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 10:23 am

    Faisal – see my last comment. It’s pretty much impossible to give a figure on that – it varies so much depending upon your niche and how you’re trying to make money.

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 10:24 am

    Davor – that’s what I’m talking about. Increase your earnings at that rate for a year or more and you’ll be at your goal.

  • Kyle

    December 16th, 2009 10:40 am

    It’s all about the niche. I’ve been at this just less than 2 years and will come close to the $30,000 mark this year, although I will probably fall a bit short. But I do it with only about 1500 uniques per day. You don’t need massive traffic to make good money if you maximize the traffic you do get.

  • Alvaro Hahl

    December 16th, 2009 10:58 am

    Due to the economy tanking in the U.S. I lost my job in 2008. I decided to teach part time and live off my wife’s income and onlline income. The teaching part didn’t work out but my online income plus unemployment compensation has allowed me to pursue my dream of full time online. When the unemployent benfits run out this year I fully expect to make enough to live on from my IM thanks to help from experts like Darren among others.

  • Angela @ Homegrown Mom

    December 16th, 2009 11:02 am

    Great article, for me it just makes me realize that with the other priorities in my life. blogging will probably never be a money-maker for me. I am only willing to work a couple of hours a day. And I’m OK with that, because my husband and kids come first. My kids will only be young once!

    Could you share more sometime on being a consultant? I’m not sure how that might work. Most of my readers are stay at home or homeschool moms, so I’m thinking this wouldn’t work for someone in my niche. Got any ideas?

  • Roberta

    December 16th, 2009 11:04 am

    It took me two years of working a job while also blogging full-time before I was able to quit my day job. To say that it doesn’t happen over night is a total understatement. Even after quitting and blogging consistently since 2006, I’m still trying to find out what works better.

  • Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com

    December 16th, 2009 11:18 am

    Ok Darren, I didn’t take your advice. I quit my day job.

    I am in a better situation than some may be though – I have moved back in with my parents to achieve my goal of making a living online, I’m young and I have worked the last 2 years and saved up a bit of money so I’m able to live comfortably for a year to achieve my goal.

    I don’t have a mortgage or kids. No-one is at risk but myself. I’ve covered worst case scenario and know this is the right step for me. I have many projects I want to work on online and continuing spending 13 hours a day dedicated to my ‘fulltime job’ was limiting my potential that I really feel I have.

    This post highlights how important it is to break things down into chunks. I agree $80 a day or even $4 an hour seems VERY achievable. I actually think $4 an hour seems much more achievable than $80 a day.

    For me it’s about the experience, not so much the money. I would be happy to make 20k a year. I could live off that. I don’t want fancy cars, I want a lifestyle I can enjoy and at the same time be able to do what I enjoy :)

    Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com

  • Are Morch

    December 16th, 2009 11:25 am

    It’s kind of funny.

    Here I been struggling a little with my Social Media/Blog Strategy for 2010. I knew I wanted a lot of things different to move my blog in the right direction.

    And suddenly all these great articles comes in my Twitter Streamline..

    Thanks Darren for sharing this article. Some great tips that I will adapt.

    Cheers.. Are

  • Darren Rowse

    December 16th, 2009 11:35 am

    good luck with it Sarge – I think when you’re young and single is a great time to get into it – but do consider a backup plan too. Perhaps some study on the side to get some other qualifications – perhaps in something related that will help your blogging?

  • Mary Lutz

    December 16th, 2009 11:36 am

    This is great info. I’m going to pass it on to Mom Mastermind members as we were just talking about goal setting this week in our Breakthrough session with Kelly McCausey. Thanks Darren.

  • Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com

    December 16th, 2009 11:45 am

    Cheers Darren, much appreciated :)

    I have a back up plan for sure. I have a degree in Multimedia and have been working full time in the field of web design/developer for the last two years.

    I just got to a point where I wanted to focus on other areas like online marketing/social media and blogging which I got a taste of while I was in my previous job. I really have a craving to work for myself too and create my own lifestyle.

    It was a time issue more than anything. I want to devote my full time and energy into this, not just part time but full time and I am in no better situation in my life than to do this NOW.

    I have plans of hopefully combining web design and blogging into a business but for now I’m doing my own study and practices in the areas of blogging, social media and online marketing.

    Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com

  • Reilly Morris

    December 16th, 2009 12:15 pm

    I’m a brand new blogger and haven’t earned a cent yet- and I found this article inspiring. Having been online for only about two weeks, I find myself continously scanning the blogs of who I would consider ’successful’ at providing continuous value for their readerships. As I read through this article, it firstly showed me that I’m on the right track… having already initiated on AdSense, Amazon and affiliates and learning still. Secondly, however, it showed me that blogging is a form of art in its own right- requiring time, patience and tenacity to keep at it, running with what works and dropping what doesn’t. I think I need to enjoy the journey more instead of trying to race to the destination. :)

  • Technology Slice

    December 16th, 2009 12:27 pm

    lol most people are ready to give up their jobs at the thought of making money blogging.

  • mark | digital photo tips

    December 16th, 2009 12:37 pm

    Thanks Darren for the wealth of info shared (and for your great ebook, reading it now and trying to improve my blogging every day). I know it will take time but hope that my site can be a great learning tool for people and a way to share my passion for photography. I started out 4 months ago with a site just to provide to my workshop attendees for continuing education and after reading some of your posts it has encouraged me that this little side venture can actually make some income, while it may not be right away I know after hard work and time it can be a nice addition to my current business (full time photographer). Thanks again!

    PS, I found you through your DPS site which is great!

    Mark

  • Paul Crowe

    December 16th, 2009 12:47 pm

    Great article,

    I have been blogging on and off for a few Years and never tried to make money from it;

    Afew months ago i decided to dedicate myself 1 blog and see if i could build a following.

    I like that you mention that you didnt blog for money the first year as i didnt put any ads on my blog untill last week when i first got 400 unique hits in 1 day (that was my target before putting ads on the blog)

    Hopefully it will stay growing and i will keep learning from helpfull posts like this.

    Thanks.

    Paul.

  • Jim Hardin

    December 16th, 2009 1:16 pm

    Hi Darren
    What a break down. Just like everything else in life you do need to have multiple streams of income. I mean I can’t expect as a newer blogger to make $1million on just google adsense alone(well I am not sure anyone could), but if you can make a few dollars with google adsense on top of a few dollars from affiliate links and in-text adverstising then you are on your way to earning some money. I certainly believe it does take time. I am having a great time blogging and I believe thats what comes first. If I can make some money than all the better. I would certainly like to quite my day job, but not ready to do that right now. Maybe never, but I can hope and dream Thats what life is all about

    Jim Hardin

  • Mike Stenger

    December 16th, 2009 1:39 pm

    Nice stuff Darren! I totally agree with number 3 and breaking it down into something more achievable. We always tend to get overwhelmed with bigger numbers but once you do break the numbers down and figure out EXACTLY what you need to do to reach that figure, it makes a lot more sense and isn’t nearly as stressful as before.

  • Rita

    December 16th, 2009 2:03 pm

    I’d love to make $30,000 a year. I wish I knew what I know now when I started blogging in January of 2008.

    It does take a long time to build traffic on a blog.

    Rita blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

  • Pat Curry

    December 16th, 2009 2:07 pm

    Thank you for putting this in perspective for me. It was overwhelming to think of just the final goal.

  • Mike Crimmins

    December 16th, 2009 2:35 pm

    Thanks for sharing that post. Not too long ago I did a similar break down, it made it feel like it was possible, a goal to aim for.

    Since then I’ve started keeping better stats and setup goals to get me to my full time blogger goal.

  • Big Brain

    December 16th, 2009 2:52 pm

    Great article. Time and perseverance is really the key. Stick with it, provide good content and they will come.

  • Brian

    December 16th, 2009 3:09 pm

    Thanks for the article. I use similar means on my site (still looking for that perfect mix) and have a 2-year horizon. This wasn’t so much new info as great motivation!

    http://www.brianshall.com

  • Nate Moller

    December 16th, 2009 3:23 pm

    Great tips about becoming a full-time blogger. I wrote an article about performance vs outcome goals that talks about how important it is to set specific goals that you have control of.

    What you talked about here was great confirmation that you have to break it down in to smaller sized segments or you’ll feel overwhelmed and quit when it doesn’t happen by next month.

    I also really like what you said about not quitting your day job right away to “go for your goal”. I live in Utah, an entrepreneurs haven, but also known for lots of bankruptcy for that very reason – people drop EVERYTHING to go for their dream job and, when it doesn’t work as much as they initially hoped for, their house is in foreclosure.

    Thanks for the post!

  • recordable media

    December 16th, 2009 3:23 pm

    I don’t know what world you live in where a client will pay $100 per blog post, but let me know so I can move my ghost blogging business there. Although you may feel your writing is worth more, based on all of the formulas listed above, if no one will pay how can you pay your bills when you are providing professional services.

  • Iqbal

    December 16th, 2009 3:29 pm

    Writing $30000 is enticement to people. Is it possible to make $2000 from blog?

  • Dragon Blogger

    December 16th, 2009 4:32 pm

    I have been blogging for 14 months with 2 blogs trying to earn money on the side, I have cleared about $2500 in my first 14 months earning. The catch is don’t forget blogging income alone can’t just match your salary from your day job, assume that your company pays part of your health insurance, PTO and you pay taxes, you would have to make almost 2x your full time job to be able to quit your day job and blog full time.

    For people who have families the health insurance alone can cost 500-700 dollars per month if you have to pay out of pocket to cover a family, if you made 30,000 USD in one year blogging, lets say 22k after taxes, more than 8k covers health insurance premiums and another 2k in copays for an average family of four.

    If you can live on 30k from a salary day job, you need at least 50k equiv in blogging income to live the same lifestyle.

    Lets also remember that bills are constant (every month paid same time) and blogging incomes are constantly changing, one good month or week, one bad month or week. Unless you are making enough that a fluxuating week or month is still enough to cover your expenses, you could come up short some months.

    Darren you do a great job of detailing setting a goal and trying to achieve it, that is really what it is all about. Follow the dream of earning while blogging, but be realistic about it as well.

    One last note, I don’t consider affiliate earnings blogging, they are product sales, though a blog can be used as a medium to sell products, it isn’t really blogging selling affiliate products or your own books. But you are right that affiliate sales are where the real money is, if you have a product to sell that you created and can keep most of the earnings, and it is something that you can sell and people want you can make good earnings. This is an area I have yet to tap myself.

  • delaorden

    December 16th, 2009 4:32 pm

    Who believes in adsense? this is pure illusion.Only a handful blogs today can achieve such amount. Most people are eager to stay at home and earn money, but, you have to ask yourself What do you have of really new to offer ? $30,000 a year ? come on folks. Money is not shit. It is very hard to get money nowadays. What we see today is everybody wanting to make money from blogging just copying and pasting what others have already said.Blogs that talk about “how to make money with your blog” indeed can make some figures but soon they will be vanished. There’s a point that nobody nobody mentioned and is more reliable to get money than those exposed here by the author and it is called DONATE. If you really have a nice content don’t be ashamed to ask for donations in order to keep your blog up and running. I can assure you that it’s more reliable than expecting for money from clicks on adsenses. Only Google wins with adsense.

    And that’s all folks ! (Please donate !)

  • Mio Navman M305

    December 16th, 2009 6:21 pm

    It’s a really good tips you have given, I will definately follow it. And I wish I also could earn some good amount. Hope for the best.. :-)

  • Alex

    December 16th, 2009 6:59 pm

    It’s the first concrete “how to make money” post i ever read online…Finally someone that make money dont talk about what are the tools, but what are the real numbers that needs to be reach for our objectives.

    I’ve repost it into my blog, for italian readers, that are still blocked on use adsense and spam affiliation banners all over the pages.

    Thanks for your article.

    Alex

  • enciktitan

    December 16th, 2009 7:31 pm

    i earn around at least 10-15 dollar by selling my own e-book. I guess, i can reach that 30k per year. Its not too hard and i know we need to be realistic if we want to aim for some target.

  • Facebook Blog

    December 16th, 2009 8:38 pm

    Well i agree by the help of blogging we can make a a lot of money. Thanks for sharing nice information related to blogging.

  • hokya

    December 16th, 2009 8:48 pm

    does being full time blogger should have a lot of blogs to manage to earn those goal ?

  • Davor Gasparevic

    December 16th, 2009 9:14 pm

    Nice to see you respond to my comment, Darren, thanks.

    I really see obvious progress with this, as I am not one of those who expects big money right away.

    Yesterday I had 2 clicks which brought me 1.11$ from Adsense.

    In the whole month of November I made 1.12$, so I really really see some progress with this.

    I don’t think that I will raise my income significantly over the next, 2010 year. I hope so, but I really think it is not that easy at all.

    I am the kind of guy who is accustomed to “baby steps” progress.
    Where other people see failure and lose their hopes, I see just another challenge and a motivation to keep pushing, no matter how hard it is.

    People around me laugh at me, colleagues at the university tell me that I am crazy and wasting my life.

    I think about it this way. In a period of 10 years from now, by the time when I reach the age of 30, I will be making 2x or 3x times more money than them. While they will already be wasted and tired of life, that will actually be the time when I will be gaining bigger and bigger momentum.

    In my country people still categorize each other by the university degrees, and the general opinion is that without university your really have NO chance of being successful and financially independent. I believe that me and a handful of other people from the other parts of my small, 4.5 million citizens country will be the first to prove them the opposite and finally bring the 21st century to the rest of the people.

  • iWoodpecker

    December 16th, 2009 10:51 pm

    I’d say “overcommented” post.

    Is it because of money? -)

    I’ve got 0.5 euro after 15 first posts. And I really think, that this is a very good result.

  • WebpageLottery

    December 16th, 2009 10:54 pm

    Adsense seems like the biggest source of income for most of the bloggers.

  • Harsiddh

    December 16th, 2009 11:00 pm

    Hi Darren,

    Thanks for helpful information. your wrote…..
    $30,000 a year = $576.92 per week
    $30,000 a year = $82.19 a day
    $30,000 a year = $3.42 an hour

    But How many visitors required for this Clicks. I think It should 10,000 plus visitors required for this achievements and this is a difficult job but possible if anybody try it.

    Thanks a Lot

  • Davor Gasparevic

    December 16th, 2009 11:38 pm

    Well, I honestly don’t rely on Adsense as something that will eventually be raking thousands of dollars to my budget, but I rather see it as a solid foundation for my future plans.

    I consider even a mere 100$ Google check a month as something that will be a positive motive for me to keep pushing my own way towards luck and financial independence.

    I know I am mostly a noobie, and I probably still have wrong perception about many aspects of blogging, internet marketing and making money online, but I think that the only things I really need to succeed are will, patience and persistence.

    And of course a significant portion of every day, regular education, collecting valuable tips, tricks and tactics from various sources – forums, blogs, various sites etc.

  • Richard

    December 16th, 2009 11:55 pm

    Very detailed breakdown! Thank you for your wonderful insight!
    I think, earning $100 a day after 2 years blogging seems a practical and achievable goal.
    But I reckon the content you put in and the amount of SEO you do are also the crucial things to achieve that goal.

  • ami | 40daystochange

    December 17th, 2009 12:11 am

    Thank-you Darren, this is so timely. I’ve been wondering if I should just focus on being a blogger/freelance writer or try to get a paying job AND build up my blog at the same time. I was dragging my feet on the decision and becoming a little discouraged b/c I thought my reluctance to go whole hog with blogging was a sign of lack of dedication or commitment. THIS post gives me exactly the encouragement I need and at the right time.

  • Christie - Childhood 101

    December 17th, 2009 12:22 am

    Darren, were you eavesdropping on a conversation I was having with a blogging friend on Sunday night? Your post is very timely given that I was bemoaning the effort:return ratio and how little I seem to be gaining given all that I am putting into my blog.

    Thanks for the reality check and making it seem possible, even if it will take a while longer to achieve.

  • Alex Crabtree

    December 17th, 2009 12:57 am

    The breakdown was a solid piece of advice. We all have our comfortable methods of goal setting, that’s for sure.

    The most important message in this post is the one of patience. Success rarely comes overnight in any aspect of life, on or off line.

    As usual, great stuff.

  • Adam Smith

    December 17th, 2009 1:23 am

    Probably the best blog post I ever read. It’s the only one I ever saved.
    Adam

  • William

    December 17th, 2009 1:24 am

    Great article. Small bits & pieces make the big picture much more easy to obtain.

  • scheng1

    December 17th, 2009 1:30 am

    I’m still in the first year, so not really expecting much. Now my aim is to reach 1000th blog post for each of my blog. I guess that is a better goal than always thinking about sucking money out of blog.

  • Tracy @ Hall of Fame Moms

    December 17th, 2009 2:32 am

    Lovin’ this post! Keepin’ it real and personal examples are priceless.

    Thanks Darren!

  • Bill

    December 17th, 2009 3:00 am

    Darren,

    As a long time reader of your blog (3+ years I think) I really enjoyed this post. I find myself breaking things down and realizing setting smaller goals to attain the larger ones not only looks easier, but can be easier to attain with the different mind view.

    I laugh at myself though, because my blog has been online since late 2006 and I have cleared into my bank account less than $20. I say I laugh because I have a few adsense spots, one or two other ad networks going and that’s it. I have always had adsense on it, but just recently started exploring other networks, affiliate marketing etc.

    I also laugh because in 3 years I only have posted 100 posts. I have 40 approved comments. I currently get about 20 visits a day. Why? I write a post per month, if that….lol.

    No matter how one breaks it down, you have to write and generate the content and promote to generate the traffic.

    Of course, if my blogging was truly about making money, I would do it much different – as it is I share web design, server, marketing and tips as I can (along with the occasional off-topic post), and usually only blog about things that I have not found an answer to through extensive searching. Luckily, my hosting costs are next to nothing since I own my own server, run my own email, DNS and the like. So I have $10/year domain name and that’s about it.

  • Flint Einstein

    December 17th, 2009 3:26 am

    blogging is very much hard, but after reading this post i guess money can be make though these policies. let me try an di think it will work.

  • Rajput

    December 17th, 2009 3:59 am

    The break down concept is very good. Currently I am earning $ 12 per day. And my target is $120 per day…..I will be updating my earning report gradually….

  • keithb

    December 17th, 2009 4:56 am

    good article, it’s a lot more reassuring taking things in baby steps, my goal is about 50 dollars a day which would be 10, 000 impressions with CPM ads.

  • Cathleen

    December 17th, 2009 6:10 am

    As usual loved the article, came to it from Networked blogs This speaks to me as I am hoping to be able to make income from blogging one day. As I plan for the new year and make goals I like the ideal of breaking down the $ and diversifying. Thanks!

  • Chris @ YourNetBiz

    December 17th, 2009 6:20 am

    Excellent post Darren. Everyone on the net seems to throw it around that making money on a blog is the way to go and can be as easy as just writing about something you have a passion for. Whilst it’s a great, in fact, essential point to start – without a passion for you chosen subject how do you expect to be blogging about it everyday – but making money this way is no overnight thing.

    Breaking it down, at first, might make it seem much more daunting… once you can clearly see what you need to achieve then taking the necessary action becomes much clearer.

    Plus, it is much easier to start gauging your success when you start seeing yourself hitting figures of $30 per day, than trying to figure out all the time what that equates to over the course of a year.

  • Fredrick Nijm

    December 17th, 2009 7:21 am

    Thank you so much for putting this together for us – sort of reminds me of 4 hour work week.

    I am so motivated now and thinking a little differently. Thanks

    Fred

  • Daryl Williams

    December 17th, 2009 7:56 am

    Hi Darren, I have subscribed to your email newsletter for a few weeks now and have been sitting in the side lines watching, reading and assessing if you are for real. Your emails have been very informative and I have been looking at bloggin as a means of income. I am impressed with your honesty and your community spirit in sharing your experiences freely. I felt like giving up on my attempts to blog (18 months now), but you have revitalized my passion. It is so nice to have someone walk us through the cloud of confusion and supply us with directions that will lead us to our goal with clarity.

    Thank You.

  • Darren Rowse

    December 17th, 2009 10:13 am

    Bill – thanks for sharing that. I think you’re completely right, for this to work you need to put the time into writing content and getting out there to promote it. Without that you can take all the time in the world but it’s not likely that your blog will grow too much.

    But like you say – it’s about your motivations, if blogging for money isn’t your main motivation then that’s totally cool too :-)

  • Rich

    December 17th, 2009 10:49 am

    I’ll echo what virtually everyone else has said, great advice. Allow me to add a thought:

    Being a fulltime blogger is no different than being a fulltime magazine writer or fulltime chef or fulltime anything where you work for yourself. It is a business and needs to be approached that way. It is not as revenue intensive, in set up I mean, as a brick & mortor store or restaurant or whatever but is is no less a business.

    I think that is something too easy to forget in the rush of being a professional blogger. Get a good business book (along with the Problogger book, of course!) and follow the basic principles of setting up & running a business. Recognize that many biz’s don’t show a profit for years. Keep at it, be responsible and more than likely, you’ll succeed.

  • Peggy Duncan

    December 17th, 2009 11:38 am

    My money from blogging comes from promoting what I know so I stay on the first page of Google for my expertise. I’ve gotten great speaking engagements and international product spokesperson opportunities. The only outside ads I have are a couple of affiliate products that fit my blog’s focus which is productivity and technology.

  • Zabeton 2.0

    December 17th, 2009 12:00 pm

    Good article…more motivation..

    Wow!!! While I’m reading some of these comments (and the post, obviously) I feel some extra-motivation to keep my blog for a long time. I’m lucky…

    Because I have a 1 year blog in Spanish, with just 300 visits a day (aprox.), and from May 2008, I have $85 revenue from AdSense. That’s makes me feel like I am in a good way to make much more money when I have few years more. The emotion is because I do this by hobby, and my primary focus isn’t money, but anyway is a good when you have something extra into your pocket and enjoy helping other.

    I earn an average of $.60 or $1.50 day…almost $10 per month….My goal could be $100/moth, I hope reach that level.

    If you know Spanish, you have a special invitation to visit me.

  • Blogger Den

    December 17th, 2009 1:37 pm

    This is a very inspiring article, I really appreciate the post Darren and look forward to hearing more from you!

  • Boris

    December 17th, 2009 1:39 pm

    Darren,
    I would think that if the only motivation of a blogger is money, he is not going to create worthy material…
    There are plenty of blogs that were created just for making money and there will be always naive people who make that possible by buying worthless materials from them.
    For me money and happiness are very similar: they are the byproduct of a life with purpose.
    All the best,
    Boris

  • hassan

    December 17th, 2009 3:03 pm

    this is realy great tips i have ever read for setting goal and making money as new blogger thanks Darren and keep it up

  • RahulBuzz

    December 17th, 2009 4:27 pm

    You gave me good idea of eBook. Surely i will launch my eBook in future.
    First darren i say. Making $3.42 per hour for a new blog is not easy. New blog and newbie blogger will not get easy traffic from search engines.

    I know different bloggers who earn $100+ from adsense…
    1) Who get large traffic from few pages of his blog….this is blogspot blog.
    2) Who get small small traffic to many pages of blog…quality blog top domain name…
    3) High CPC niche focussed blog for make money….only hundred visitors [er day….this is blogspot blog
    4) $50 per day…only crapy softwares review..blogspot blog…

    I say tons of peoples making lot of money from blogs….but this need time, hardwork and dedication.

  • VendingCoach

    December 17th, 2009 4:27 pm

    It sure seems a lot easier to swallow breaking it down on a daily basis. It was especially helpful to see how you combined programs to achieve your overall strategy. Thanks for the valuable insight.

  • Zabeton 2.0

    December 17th, 2009 5:20 pm

    Darren
    I’ve been reading you for long time, And this was the fist time I wrote something, but it was not published. Did I say something wrong in my last comment?

    Well, just congratulations for this post, I think it help me to keep my dreams for long time. And some day I want $1000/moth from my Spanish blog.

    I hope this comment be good enough.

  • Ashok

    December 17th, 2009 7:11 pm

    Darren is my inspiration for blogging. As he said, it all depends on our goals and for the moment, our goal is to make hobby-blogging only.
    But I am a great admirer of Problogger, also because I have read the book ‘6 figure blogging’ by Darren.
    Voluntarily, I have been suggesting this website to all my friends for their focus on blogging, especially when they are the beginners.

  • Saurabh

    December 17th, 2009 7:34 pm

    Hi Darren,

    Great help with all the information that you have given.
    I have been blogging for sometime now but now i want to earn from it.

    I dont target something huge ad given in the post but a very small $100-$200 every month.
    I would be greatly thankful if you can suggest the best practice to follow so that i can make a very achievable money with which i can pay my hosting & internet charges with some pocket money.

    Thanks,
    Saurabh

  • alex

    December 17th, 2009 7:54 pm

    this article was really wonderful, am sure if i put all these tips into practice, i will start making huge amount of cash from my blog

  • peter

    December 17th, 2009 7:58 pm

    making huge sums for a blog requires planning and determination. when i started planning on my blog, i started making big from it.
    thanks for this post

  • dewa nugraha

    December 17th, 2009 8:41 pm

    HI Darren, nice post but could I kinda mess up your first condition there hehe. I already quit my day job, I do hope that your tips could help me out more here.
    Aside from adsense, do you have any tips, If I don’t want to use it?

  • Carl Burke

    December 17th, 2009 11:12 pm

    I am new at blogging also, great info, I hope I have what it takes, need to set those goals. and get down to work. again thanks.

  • Todd - Home Construction Improvement

    December 17th, 2009 11:15 pm

    @ Klodian – I’ll back up what Darren said. My site gets just over 3,000 impressions daily or 100,000 impressions monthly plus or minus and I’m in the 30K range now. I REALLY depends on the topic and quality of traffic. I think it also depends on how well you can diversify your income streams. The bottom line for all of the folks on here being doubtful is this takes time and hardwork….anyone suggesting otherwise is either damn lucky or living in a fantasy world.

  • Drezz

    December 18th, 2009 12:45 am

    Darren, great advice (as usual.)

    I think the biggest stumbling block for me is the feeling of being at the base of the mountain looking skyward, and thinking “How in the hell am I going to get up there.”

    That’s how I felt when I started. Then I just realized, “I may as well start climbing.”

    This post offers some wonderful encouragement. Instead of seeing it as a large mountain to climb, you set smaller daily goals and whittle away at the larger goal.

    Thanks for the confidence boost!

  • Mark Wood

    December 18th, 2009 1:36 am

    I love that you’ve made a large sum of money seem reasonable by breaking it down. When you put things in perspective, it does seem attainable (with a lot of hard work of course).

    I really wonder if this could be applied to a Photo Blog. While I haven’t converted my site over, I’ve been pondering making it into an almost entirely photo based site. My concern is that I’ll reduce the overall profitably – especially with affiliate marketing (hard to link to things if you don’t have much text, if any).

    Thank for the perspective.

  • krissy knox

    December 18th, 2009 1:39 am

    Great post, Darren. I like your idea of “working backwards,” so to speak. Determining first the goal you want to achieve, and working backwards from there, breaking your goal, and then those goals, up into smaller steps. That would give a blogger real focus. Thanks so much for sharing this with us.

    krissy knox

  • bestlinh

    December 18th, 2009 1:46 am

    It’s really a good example for what’s the right mind set about make money through blog (or through any way)

    simple but easy to understand
    big thanks, bro!
    Much love :)
    bestlinh

    http://www.bestlinh.com- Bee Happy!!!

  • Syed Mansur Ahmed

    December 18th, 2009 3:04 am

    Surely this is’nt for a new blogger, wants to depend exclusively on blogging. No serious person can wait
    for two years, even one year to upgrade earning.
    However, diversified back planing is a great tips for
    the blogger to have speed progress. Why not plan
    to proceed with more earning blogs?

  • Brandy

    December 18th, 2009 3:07 am

    I love the way you broke this down, I have set my goals on paper and now going to peek at all my Affiliate programs, CPM ad network, monthly sponsorships, ad placements, virtual assistant clients and other areas I already make/made money on this past year to see where I am at and to focus on making that money moving forward.

  • Paul Swaney

    December 18th, 2009 3:29 am

    Thanks for the advice. I feel almost obsessed about the idea of making money doing what I love- sports and travel. I actually tried quitting my job this past summer when they offered a voluntary lay off, but they said I was too valuable and kept me on. It was flattering and frustrating at the same time, but ended up being the right thing.

    I didn’t have nearly enough infrastructure in place to leave my full time job. Since then, I have 55 reviews up, and continue to build. The goal is still the same- to make this my full time “job”, but the timeline has changed, and breaking it down more is really helpful…Thank you

  • Peter

    December 18th, 2009 5:42 am

    I was tallying up what I made from my blog and other online enterprises this past week, and realized that I had made more this year than I made at my first full time job after graduating college. I’m amazed at how well I’ve done, and just how much money can be made through a blog or other online presence.

    Of course, it didn’t come without a ton of work, writing daily blog posts for almost 2 years, tons of networking, learning how to run a blog and become an admin behind the scenes, promoting myself and my blog, using social media religiously, etc.

    At what point would I consider going full time? Probably when I was earning at the rate of 1.5 times the income of my normal day job. I have to consider that my day job gives me great health care and other benefits, as well as giving me a ton of income when added to my blog income.

    When will I get there? Hopefully another year or two? I’m working towards that goal and I hope I reach it sooner rather than later!

    We’ll see, I’d like to go full time at some point, but it’d have to be at the right dollar figure.

  • Waasys

    December 18th, 2009 8:19 am

    Good post, I really like it, gives me so much inspiration, I’m going to try some of your ideas on my blog, thank you a lot for posting !

  • Randy

    December 18th, 2009 11:19 am

    I can totally relate to many of the folks here. For me it’s about quality of life and doing something that I love. I’ve been blogging for 38 days and I can see that it will take time to build readership and loyalty. I’m not in a rush to monetize; I figure that I’ll know when the time is right. Until then, I’ll keep blogging every day and stay the course.

  • Randy Mejias

    December 18th, 2009 1:20 pm

    Great post!

    I’ve often used the breakdown approach to keep myself going. It sounds so much easier to sell 10 products a day than make $3000.00 a month.

    To keep my momentum I usually set many goals as I go.

    Right now I’m shooting to make enough to break even with all my ventures. I do some eBay sales besides blogging among other things. Once I can break even, there’s no more stress of losing money which is a big goal for me right now. (Not that I’m spending a whole lot on anything)

    After I achieve that I’ll reevaluate my goals to be higher and higher, and I don’t plan to ever stop. The sky’s the limit, as they say.

    I also aim to reinvest my earning into myself, at least in the beginning, spending everything I earn on personal things rather than developing websites or on inventory will never help me grow.

  • sockyee

    December 18th, 2009 8:11 pm

    It’s a risk going full-time and abandon the day job. Either the position is already well established with websites covering different niche, with income source coming from different advertising network, I will never think about it just yet. All because online income can be quite unpredictable.

  • Mike

    December 18th, 2009 11:52 pm

    Darren,

    I have followed you and recently bought your book. I am stumped at how a blog can make money. I have a retail niche site(s) and over 30 blogs in my niche. None of them make money, as most of them are my “mini” network of sites for SEO benefit… but I have a couple of main ones that “should be making money”.

    Hmmm????

    Cheers,
    Mike

  • Tinh

    December 19th, 2009 12:17 am

    I dreamed of earning that much next year and hope I can make it. Thanks

  • Jenny

    December 19th, 2009 5:19 am

    Thanks for this great article, Darren. I’m just starting out on the quest of blogging professionally,and I also didn’t try to monetize my blog at all in the first year. You’re right – it won’t happen overnight, and it is easy to get discouraged.

    One thing that helps me stay motivated — I have a “progress journal.” Each night, I write down something I did that day to build my blog. It could be publishing a post, thinking of my next topic, or simply reading a helpful article on ProBlogger.

    One day at a time, with baby steps, I have faith that it can happen! :)

  • Charles

    December 19th, 2009 7:48 am

    I have been blogging for more than two years now and I can only make between 3 and 5 US dollars a day with Adsense. It is not much but at least it can pay for my electrical and internet costs.

  • John

    December 19th, 2009 9:33 am

    Informative. I think using Facebook, Myspace, and reddit are a great way to get a few thousand hits right off the bast, assuming you have decent content. Good luck.

  • Stephanie

    December 19th, 2009 10:43 am

    Excellent article, Darren. I agree that setting specific and attainable goals is a great way to achieve – no matter the desired end results (money, more readers, more influence, etc.).

    ALSO: I’d love it if you would write a post about ad networks – how you chose the ones that you currently are a part of, how much control you have over the ad content, etc.

  • max

    December 19th, 2009 3:59 pm

    Interesting take Darren,

    I didn’t start making a living blogging until I was actually “forced” by being fired from my old job. There’s nothing like a “will” to survival that makes you focus on making money blogging. Well, just my 2 cents. Of course, I was going to take the “safe” way too but I think putting yourself in the situation also helps you although it can break you too.

  • Akhza

    December 19th, 2009 5:42 pm

    That’s a good coincidence. I just wrote about this yesterday, how you shouldn’t quit your job just yet. Making a living blogging is certainly achievable but it takes a lot of work. It helps if you’re doing something you love as well

  • Gail Puckett

    December 19th, 2009 5:47 pm

    The breakdown math and fugures is what I was looking for. I will re-read this article till it sinks in my head well. It would be nice to tell how much traffic you had when you made $100 per day? How many page impressions and unique visitors ?

  • Scentsy Wickless Candles

    December 19th, 2009 8:16 pm

    With the uncertainty of job security and everyone turning to the web for almost all aspects of their life, I think turning to the internet for your business is imperative. Blogging is just another great way to be your own boss, control your own income and have the flexiblity to work full or part time and the opportunity to make it happen. Thank you for sharing tips on how to speed up the process.

  • Golden Blogger

    December 19th, 2009 9:16 pm

    Great Article! Its good information!

  • mike

    December 20th, 2009 2:40 am

    Yeah I’ve found breaking down the numbers does help dramatically to meet your goals and not feel overwhelmed.

  • Jeff Bode

    December 20th, 2009 3:54 am

    Hey Darren

    very useful information here… you address 2 of the most common issues people have when trying to go full time online. Choosing a specific (actionable) goal.

    making something complex and overwhelming simple!

    most people don’t have ‘instant full time income’ – all of the full time internet marketers I know worked at it at least a year while having another job – including me!

  • Mohammed Rhalmi

    December 20th, 2009 4:24 am

    Thanks Darren. As a newbie in blogging( about 9 months now) I still think that earning money from blogging needs a lot of time and effort! Good luck!

  • Coach Signature

    December 20th, 2009 6:26 am

    This post is right on point. Currently, I’m working full time and do affliate marketing on the side. Once I decided that I wanted to do affilate marketing full time, I asked myself the questions, how much do I want to make, what I’m going to do to get there and what I will give in return. I my case, my goal is to double my day job salary. I like looking at the daily number as my goal.

  • mike

    December 20th, 2009 7:07 am

    It takes a long time. Keep going at it for several years.

  • BusyWoman

    December 20th, 2009 8:01 am

    Thanks for the article Darren. It doesn’t seem near as difficult when you break it down like that.

    Here’s a thought I was having while reading this article: what if you combined your posting plan ( regualr systematic posts) with your plan for revenue while you kept your day job ? who of us could benefit from adding $30,000 to your current income. Do this for a few years and then sit back and coast.

    Michelle in Australia.

  • Oluniyi David Ajao

    December 20th, 2009 10:17 am

    Very few “make money online” advocates are honest. Thanks for your realistic post that clearly explains that making money online from blogging is certainly not a day’s job. It takes time, hard work and smart work.

  • Fun FREE Giveaways

    December 20th, 2009 11:27 am

    I have used the internet to create my own business which led me to the idea of using a blog to help other independent business owners as well. Viola, Fun FREE Giveaways. I hope this blog’s ratings will only improve to help everyone involved.

  • Blommi

    December 20th, 2009 11:33 am

    Making a full time income from my blogging is a bit out of reach right now, but using these principles to attain a more moderate goal, might eventually get me to that point.

  • Wickless in Seattle

    December 20th, 2009 11:45 am

    I think the internet and blogging is not only a great way to make money, but a great way to share information, stay informed and stay in touch. Plus it is more more convenient than looking for my oudated encyclopedia. :)

  • digital photo buzz

    December 20th, 2009 3:32 pm

    Darren, just wanted to Thank you again for the great info on this blog and your book. I am only on day 8 of the book but my post to create a list got picked up on a bunch of peoples twitter list and I had 1000 pageviews today (I know that is nothing compared to most of you) but just starting out and averaging 300 views a day I am very excited to break the 1000 mark, that made my day today! Had to share it with you!

  • James King

    December 20th, 2009 9:04 pm

    Hi Darren,

    This is a good solid plan of building a blog. At my job, I am creating a book of leaving your job for being self-employed or business owner. The security net is there, for building your business whilst working full-time.

    Excellent blog post.

  • Jonny

    December 21st, 2009 12:40 am

    Man blogging for money is getting really tough, I can’t manage to make more than a couple hundred bucks out of my 3 blogs.

  • Ahsan Malik

    December 21st, 2009 12:49 am

    A beautiful & talking truth, yes you don;nt need to rush for money in the begining , first concentrate on content. Thankyou for sharing such

  • Robert

    December 21st, 2009 1:35 am

    Hi Darren,

    Great advice on goal setting and making money. I’m in total agreement with your statements regarding goal setting. Without setting realistic and achievable goals, it would be very difficult to succeed no matter what business you’re in.

    Yes, this business isn’t easy but it can be very rewarding if you have the following traits: action taker, determined, persistent, motivated, hard worker and patient.

  • Edgar Allan Poe

    December 21st, 2009 3:09 am

    I have been blogging for about a year with big dreams of making money, but as I have become more experianced I understand that a blog takes years to really become established. I like the time frame of two years and how you talk about spreading out your income streams. Personally I use affiliate programs for my main income making a few hundred monthly I will try chitika. Good post.

    Kris,

  • Katherine

    December 21st, 2009 3:31 am

    I am going to break down my 2010 income goals right now! This is an excellent post and one that gives me a solid plan of action. And it is smart to not leave the day job at first. However, sometimes leaving can give you that push…

  • adsense alternatives

    December 21st, 2009 1:29 pm

    Amen brother, don’t quit your day job. That’s knowledge.

  • Yves

    December 21st, 2009 2:14 pm

    Great article.

    Being self-employed I thought that creating a few various sites would open the possibility of diversifying my income (eventually a possible income stream) much in the way you describe the diversity of sources with which you had used to generate the income.

    I’d been blogging for several years but mainly as a hobby. I decided to try and develop a targeted readership for a couple of blogs I started which I am passionate about their respective topics. (Also started a blog about my learning experience in this process)

    Anyway, trying to treat these blogs as part of my “business” or my “job” already without expecting to make anything from them. For me it’s also an exercise in writing which I find satisfyingly challenging.

    Your blog is a much valued resource!

    Best wishes to you and thanks for all the great content!

  • Budzer

    December 21st, 2009 9:32 pm

    Nice break down Darren. It looks more reachable. Thanks a lot.

  • Paul Allen

    December 22nd, 2009 12:23 am

    In my case Adsense is making more money on the site than CPA ads.

  • Joshua

    December 22nd, 2009 2:06 am

    This a nice breakdown,and it’s very achievable.Thanx man!

  • Athul Jayaram

    December 22nd, 2009 3:05 am

    Nice Article Darren. Got some ideas to make money including “break-it-down”

  • Singh

    December 22nd, 2009 4:38 am

    The all ways you write here are very genuine ways to make money online,.But thanks for your post very intersting and informative.

  • Samuel Watson

    December 22nd, 2009 5:08 am

    So many people on here just don’t get it. You have to have the dream in the first place, if you want it to come true. If you work at it and do whatever it takes you can make that dream come true. But the cold hard fact of reality is, that most people are not into the work ethic part of making the dream come true.

  • Adam

    December 22nd, 2009 7:22 am

    Darren -

    Thank you for taking the time to break this down for every and for reiterating that making Problogger-type money takes a while. A nice splash of reality is what makes it easier to continue blogging about what you love – while a blog may not make money today, tomorrow, or even a year from now, staying focused on a topic you are passionate about will eventually bring the readership needed to sustain full-time blogging.

    In other words, taking the time to build an “expert” status in your niche will ultimately bring the rewards you are looking for.

    (However, if we woke up tomorrow suddenly making $30,000+/year from our part-time blog, that would be fine too. :) )

    Take care,
    Adam

  • Stocks on Wall Street

    December 22nd, 2009 7:46 am

    Right now I use adsense and Sell private ads, the combination works quite well together. Currently just focusing on content and growing my traffic numbers.

  • Harshathlete

    December 22nd, 2009 8:02 am

    Once again… excellent article….. We live in a time where everyone wants instant gratifications ( get six pack abs in just 10 mins a day or make 6 figures working from home in just 1 month )…. this article hits home some basic realities that people ignore.

    This article is timeless and can be applied to things others than blogging as well.

  • download fonts

    December 22nd, 2009 11:03 am

    one of the biggest things is diversity. if you can spread your writing around a few different places, you will not only improve, but you will gain much needed exposure.

  • Travel To Amazon

    December 22nd, 2009 11:11 am

    Darren

    Now I’m only playing with blogs, but one of my projects for 2010 is to develop some websites to make money.
    This break it down is a good way to think and you see that it’s not so hard.
    One of my goals is to develop some websites in English and Portuguese.

  • Ryan @ Planting Dollars

    December 22nd, 2009 12:56 pm

    At this point are you still doing this sort of calculating for your own blogs?

    Does income still motivate you for blogging?

  • Thomas George

    December 22nd, 2009 2:02 pm

    Darren,

    Great article and even better, from a fellow Aussie! I’ve been reading many blogs lately about copywriting and blogging and more often than not, It’ll be an from an Australian author!

    I’m currently building up my own blog (for a professional showcase of skills) and it deals with blogging and other targeted writing. I’m still not sure if I want to blog professional (doing that and nothing else) because all the monetising work seems to take the fun out of it.

    But as a writer at heart I can see the trends of readings moving away from print media and onto online deliveries like blogs and news services, so perhaps I’ll end up being a professional blogger either way.

    With my blog developing a solid following in less than a month, I wonder if it’s even feasible to try to make money out of it in the niche it is in when looking at all the other awesome sites out there dealing with the same content.

    At the very least, it’s a platform for me to build an audience with, which will always be handy when looking to publish anything.

    Anyway, have a good Xmas!

  • Jose Anajero

    December 22nd, 2009 4:46 pm

    Even if I’ve been in home business for three years now, I still consider myself a beginner. And it’s great to see how you spelled out in realistic details what it takes to really earn a living in blogging. Hope beginners would see your post and heed your advice.

    Thanks Darren for this useful post.

    Jose

  • edwin

    December 22nd, 2009 8:41 pm

    very good article…hopefully I can do it within next 5 years :) ;)

  • edwin

    December 22nd, 2009 8:42 pm

    very good article…hopefully I can do it within 5 years :) ;)

  • David Morson

    December 22nd, 2009 8:53 pm

    Nice article, A complete guidance on how to start a home based business.

  • Hear Mum Roar

    December 23rd, 2009 2:07 am

    Thank you for this piece. I always appreciate that you don’t make outlandish get rich quick promises, and still show that good things are possible IF you put the effort in.

  • Edgar

    December 23rd, 2009 12:19 pm

    Great advice Darren, I never saw it in this type of point of view, breaking it down makes it look possible to reach my goal.

    thanks again

  • Anish K.S

    December 23rd, 2009 7:49 pm

    Me to have a same dream, hope adsense and ifolinks will rock this year.

  • John Sullivan

    December 23rd, 2009 8:04 pm

    Very honest and clear post :) Lucky I’m at 2 yrs and yes it took me about 8 months to be able to stop asking my wife for weed money

  • fat mum slim

    December 23rd, 2009 8:28 pm

    This just makes so much sense {or cents!}.

    When I think about making money blogging, I end up overwhelmed and throw any future plans down the drain. But when you break it down, it makes it seem almost achievable and worth striving for.

    Thanks so much for everything this year. xx

  • Kazanç Yöntemleri

    December 23rd, 2009 8:31 pm

    That looks so great,I will use this method and write on my blog,thank you very much

  • Mark Clayson

    December 24th, 2009 3:44 am

    A great way to encourage people. The hardest part is sometimes taking the plunge in the first place. Starting off with income in mind is fine – but it is the STARTING that is important. And that takes a vision and a commitment.

  • Brian Satterlee

    December 24th, 2009 4:35 am

    You know, I really enjoy blogging and microblogging and I would do it even without making any money. Well, I’m not really making much now but it is building and I am talking to a lot of like-minded people who I am able to help out with advice. Now, if I could only do this full time right now…

  • fred

    December 24th, 2009 10:20 am

    Wow! never knew one can make soo much money blogging.
    I have been reading with my mouth open.
    You are the man, I thought i was doing fine until now.
    Cheers

  • Bugsy

    December 24th, 2009 3:36 pm

    I’m happy to see this blog post and have been waiting for something like this. I break down how much a salary takes per day all the time, but here’s the thing…

    All you read about is 6-figure blogging and all this jazz. That’s great an all, but you know what, I’m looking to make 5-figures first. If I can make 5-figures, then I’ll start worrying about 6.

  • Online Dating Tips

    December 24th, 2009 5:09 pm

    I very agree.. breaking it into smaller part looks far easier to achieve… it’s just like our short-term goals

  • lincoln

    December 24th, 2009 7:00 pm

    30,000$ per year is quite alot for a beginner blogger.Well,if you follow the advice here,maybe you can make it^^.

  • kishin

    December 24th, 2009 7:02 pm

    The breaking down method is good,seems more realistic.

  • Pallav

    December 24th, 2009 7:20 pm

    Nice post but I am still struggling to get visitors. Can someone tell me the reason?

    Waiting!

  • Rick

    December 24th, 2009 8:39 pm

    A very well-written guide. Thank you for writing it. This will be one of my guides to making my bucks online. I am just starting up so wish me luck. :) Thanks again.

  • Min En

    December 24th, 2009 9:16 pm

    Inspirational to know that it is actually possible to make decent money from blogging.

    I have neglected my blog. Felt like giving it up altogether.

    Yet it seemed like a waste as my blog has Google Pagerank 3.

    Much encouraged by your post!

    Thanks!

  • Armuss

    December 25th, 2009 12:30 pm

    After this post i think everyone will try to open a blog . I 100% agree about the musts, always have to be on your job, you should have to think like you are working at another job and look at yourself like the boss of this job , do you approve yourself in this way, if yes then you are successful.
    Have to keep it always, search for new thins, developments and ofcourse technology

    free galleries

  • Aaron

    December 25th, 2009 9:31 pm

    As someone relatively new to blogging I’ve always wondered “where does the money really come from?” Thanks for outlining this in clear detail. You explained it in a style that provides promise even for beginners like myself who didn’t start a blog as a profit center.

  • Cheryl-Anne Roelofsz

    December 25th, 2009 10:53 pm

    I’m fairly new to the blogging world, and it really does seem overwhelming. My two main motivations for creating a blog site was to write. I love to write but I’m aware of my limitations and that I need to up my writing skills to be taken seriously. The other reason was to quit my day job… eventually. I know this is not gonna happen overnight, and that it takes hard work and effort. I cant work for a boss, and I’ll never be able too. But still… it seems so out of reach.

    So I think the advice you give here is wonderful and useful, for now I’m gonna stop giving myself a headache trying to be rich and just blog for the sake of blogging. (working hard to earn a living out of it too, but without breaking my head over it. if that makes sense. lol)

  • Scentsy Canada

    December 25th, 2009 11:29 pm

    I think the most important thing to remember is that any business takes time, hard work in addition to a passion so strong to achieve a goal, you are willing to make the sacrifices and get through the down times to make it happen.

  • simluo

    December 26th, 2009 4:40 am

    Darren

    Now I’m only playing with blogs, but one of my projects for 2010 is to develop some websites to make money.
    This break it down is a good way to think and you see that it’s not so hard.
    One of my goals is to develop some websites in English and Portuguese.
    Here, you help me analyze this site do： http://www.8ge.info

  • ryan

    December 26th, 2009 5:53 am

    Great Post. I found that really breaking down my goals to the exact dollar amount a minute really helped me put in perspective what I needed to do. Then all the rest was doing the work and testing. I found testing to be huge for me.

  • gator

    December 26th, 2009 12:48 pm

    great info. That’s funny I break everything down by dayand hour..I’m blogging for fun of it. Maybe I’ll earn enough one day to quit one of my two jobs.

  • spring

    December 26th, 2009 5:27 pm

    Dear Darren,
    Thank you for sharing your excellent experience with us.
    I have not paid much attention to the blog, and always nobody read my post. However, the $30,000 is a big attraction, lol. I’ll try my best to.

  • Paul Lowe

    December 26th, 2009 9:01 pm

    I think that blogging forms an important part of social networking. Writing and reading blogs on your particular niche can vastly increase your rankings and earnings online. It can also throw up some interesting and profitable opportunities and should be taken very seriously by anyone who is serious about a lasting presence online.

  • r0bert

    December 27th, 2009 6:46 am

    It seems to me amazing that I could earn some day 30,000$ / year. Thanks for your words.

  • A.V. Prime

    December 27th, 2009 7:54 am

    Great info! Thanks…

    I love your idea. Thanks again for inspiring me.

  • Latoya

    December 27th, 2009 2:04 pm

    Thank you for this post because reading it really helped me out in this area. Adsense has me in a frenzy right now because I haven’t been getting the results that I would like, but this information was definitely helpful. I have been working towards a goal of $50 per day and hopefully I can achieve that.

  • Nero

    December 28th, 2009 3:33 am

    I have created my own simple blog “Computer Zone”. Above article is very informative and detailed…gives much needed guidance…

    Thanks..
    http://computer-edu.blogspot.com/

  • blinkky

    December 28th, 2009 6:41 am

    You’re an inspiration for me…Thanks =)

  • earnword

    December 28th, 2009 7:54 am

    em. i can do that. yeh. I believe i can do that.

  • How to Make Money

    December 28th, 2009 8:02 am

    ($30,000 a year = $3.42 an hour) I’ve never thought of it that way.

    it does make perfect sense now, and encourage people to work for that target.

    Yeah, the day has 24hrs on it, so I should be able to find a way to bit that goal.

    I’m going to start this new strategy.

    This is one of the best posts, and Great Inspiration! Thanks a lot…

  • trisha

    December 28th, 2009 8:47 am

    It took my just under two years to get to that income as well. The majority of my income is CPM.

    Trisha

  • Anoop

    December 28th, 2009 10:28 am

    Dang.. That’s a lot of money. Great post!

  • brand clothing

    December 28th, 2009 5:47 pm

    The majority of my income is CPM.

  • Gregg

    December 28th, 2009 9:12 pm

    Ok, I understand the breakdown (and I also understand that me with my new blog maybe isn’t the target readership for this article), but I’m having a lot of problems wrapping my head around the idea of generating the thousands of CP* needed to make anything near this amount. This is definitely geared towards extreme professionals…

  • Tareshwar

    December 28th, 2009 11:02 pm

    Only a handful blogs today can achieve such amount. Most people are eager to stay at home and earn money, but, you have to ask yourself What do you have of really new to offer ? $30,000 a year ? Money is not shit. It is very hard to get money nowadays.

  • Lior

    December 29th, 2009 12:38 am

    It’s nice to see that you didn’t over shoot here while others publish (or sell) tips promising to make my blog a $500,000/year vocation — in 30 days.

  • Hailey Erickson

    December 29th, 2009 5:56 am

    Not only was your advice helpful but it also gave me some motivation to set short term goals on my own website and what sort of income I would like to earn from my blog. I didn’t really like the messy look of a bunch of ads on my site, and had thought about selling my CD, so now I am going to go with that advice and sell my CD!.. at least for now!

  • ski with marty meetup

    December 29th, 2009 7:58 am

    I’ve always been sort of repulsed about those who don’t attempt to meke money from blogging. Unless you’re living off daddy’s nest egg, or are totally self sufficient running a farm on some kind of commune, you will eventually need money. Why would the fact of whether or not you make money online have any influence on the quality of posts?

    And, who says you can only make the 30k or whatever from a single blog?

    These are just some of the questions that make me just shake my head in wonder when reading money/blog discussions like this.

  • Saijo George

    December 29th, 2009 12:27 pm

    This was a great read. Looks like I will be visiting the site often. I didnt know you were from Vic.

    In about 2 years I have hit

    AdSense: USD$30-40
    Private Ad Sales: USD$25 per month.

    I find that adding more ads stuffs the page with too many ads. So I have over ignored the other options.

  • My Loans Consolidated

    December 29th, 2009 4:06 pm

    My long term goal is to make $50k per month. But I realise it would take a few years to get there. To help me get to this goal is to start with a smaller goal with a time limit.

    For example:
    $500 a month in the first year.
    $1000 a month in the second year
    $2000 a month in the third year

    and so on until I reach $50k a month. Of course you may find that you would need more than just 1 blog to do so. And depending how much time you are willing to spend on your blog, you can adjust your time frame accordingly.

  • Duncan

    December 29th, 2009 4:42 pm

    Hi Darren, you are a good writer, you write for bloggers at the same time you tell them how to earn from writing. I am a writer and i am earning through writer essay, of course i heard of making money blogging but i given it up a long time ago cause it seems it is not for me. My earnings did not soar up until now.

  • assey

    December 29th, 2009 6:01 pm

    it does make perfect sense now, and encourage people to work for that target.

    Yeah, the day has 24hrs on it, so I should be able to find a way to bit that goal.

  • Manoj Kumar

    December 29th, 2009 6:11 pm

    this is nice article, but it happens, little confuse, many times (days) I can’t get a .01 cent. Even I have good network and impressions.

  • Marshall Wayne

    December 29th, 2009 10:29 pm

    I think if people really want to make money from their blogs they’ll need to start creating their own products.

    You have a book out. Books are great tools for building credibility which can then lead to you being hired for copywriting…all of which I’m 100% sure you do since you’re the blogging and copywriting expert.

    What if my mom blogged on quilting, which she is good at and then held a yearly retreat that cost $5000 (or whatever the cost).

    She could also get a cut from selling high end sewing machines on the site.

    …just thinking out loud and wondering whether $30,000 would fit in the range of a market like that.

  • flip

    December 30th, 2009 12:32 am

    earnings seem to be harder these days especially for newbies, the competition is tougher… there’s a lot of established blogs like yours and there are maybe 1 or 2 blogs created every second…

  • Depends on your niche

    December 30th, 2009 2:23 am

    it is possible to earn more than 30K blogging in less than a year. I personally have, and many other bloggers in this same niche I am in earn that and more I am sure, because I have a small blog in this niche. You just have to figure out a niche you like and are passionate about that can earn you a lot of money. I have found it, and am loving it.

  • Durkin

    December 30th, 2009 4:18 am

    Most people as unrealistic about blogging, and that’s why there are so many completely useless blogs on out there now. As a blogger that wants to offer a top rate service, and make money on the side its getting increasingly frustrating to see all these blogs emerging that are just plastered with adverts, and don’t really give the reader anything.

    The truth is that making money online is tough. It requires top rate content, and intelligent advertising.

    I’m currently making around £3000 a year just from adsense, and only recently have I looked at other opportunity. My advice would be to blog in a niche and make the best site in that niche and use multiple sources of income. You definitely won’t make £30 000 just from adsense.

  • Cash Searcher

    December 30th, 2009 2:15 pm

    Great post, and a great website. I have seen you around the forums, mainly on webproworld.

    One adense story that always inspires me is that guy, cant remember the full name, bob the builder or something similar. The guy makes millions a year from Adsense.

    All he does is give DIY advice on how to build a walls, loft coversions, etc.

    It’s true, competition is so high for most subjects. Most new bloggers lose interest after they find out the truth regarding how much work is involved.

    Most think that all they had to do is update their site once a year and watch the millions come rolling in lol.

    When they know the truth, they think, forget it and give up.

  • Frugal Expat in Abu Dhabi

    December 30th, 2009 3:49 pm

    This is very interesting.. I have been blogging for months but I really didn’t consider it seriously as a venue for extra income..

    But after reading this post, I think I change my mind

  • home decor

    December 30th, 2009 3:57 pm

    I absolutely agree with you… the process of making money blogging is not so easy…it takes hard work, smart work, patience, persistence…now i’ve been almost 2 years blogging and excatly know what you’re talking about. it’s time for me to make a new goal blogging…i’ve already earned some from adsense and chitika, but it’s not enough…it’s just a millstone to get more achivements…i dont wanna quit my daily office job now, but it’s not impossible for next few years…thanks Darren for this great advice…

  • Rajendra

    December 30th, 2009 6:23 pm

    Hi !
    I really like this topic , as most of the new bloggers like me will definetly find useful from this.
    I am also from one of them who is looking for an good traffic on my blog . Its really having an
    good stuff to refer and implement these things on my blog.
    Thanks once again for such post.

  • Moise Levi

    December 30th, 2009 7:49 pm

    It really depends what you are blogging about.
    I coach traders, I can charge high fees.
    The usual 2 days training is $5000 per client.
    My blog serves as my trading diary so that future clients can see how well I trade. Credibility creates trust.
    I see too many “internet marketing consultants” out there, how about some interior designor consultant where I could send pictures ofmy home and pay for quality tips ?
    First get the credibility, then charge high fees.

  • bps

    December 30th, 2009 8:00 pm

    Hi Darren!

    I really like these words ” $30,000 a year Blogging “. Thanks for this tips Darren. Hopefully 2010 gives me more than $30,000. :)

    Happy Blogging to all blogger`s and happy new year wishes too!!

    -bps

  • Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality

    December 31st, 2009 2:02 am

    Great tips! I’ve really enjoyed reading back in your archives on all of your subjects. I’m making a part-time income from blogging & it is a lot of work, but very rewarding too. I totally agree that blogging your passion is a must. I sure see a lot of people in my niche jumping in trying to make $$ without putting in the time that it takes to build a better blog. Mine has been slow and steady growth (going on 3 years) and that’s worked well for me.

    Keep up the informative posts!

  • matt

    December 31st, 2009 3:38 am

    Now thats really a professional blog I would admit.Most people like me who are also doing a day job and have just started doing internet marketing are getting really frustrated if things dont happen too quickly.But by reading quality tips like these it makes people like me more confident.Thanks a lot!

  • Robby Payne

    December 31st, 2009 4:06 am

    As always, full of wisdom.

    I have been blogging for just under a year and found out the hard way that trying to make any kind of living through it is both difficult and time consuming. The misleading lie is that you can write whatever you want in a space, monetize it, and you’ll make money.

    Untrue and somewhat cruel.

    Since figuring this out, I’ve set out to learn how to properly develop a website, drive traffic, and most importantly, do it patiently. Thanks for this post (and dozens of others)…it really gives me a realistic hope that, one day, I might be able to write for a living.

  • Rajesh

    December 31st, 2009 6:33 am

    Thanks Darren for your advice… You have really helped me in blogging and monetizing my blog… Keep going…
    It would be great if you could release your current earning stats… It could be a source of motivation for all of us. May be one day, we’ll reach it.

  • Guna @ StartupBooster

    December 31st, 2009 6:45 am

    Again a great post. I have been blogging part time for the last three years without expecting to make any money. However, I have made a goal to make money starting in 2010. Really to cover my expenses first and then use it as a testing platform to test all of the strategies I have learned over the past many years.

    This sort of breakdown really helps. It helps you define your goals so that you can achieve each milestones.

    Thanks.
    -Guna

  • Webmaster

    December 31st, 2009 8:50 am

    Great post. But I always feel blogging for money is the wrong approach. Whereas blogging for enjoying should come first, then money will follow.

    Regardless, I’ve learned something new today – thanks.

  • tim

    December 31st, 2009 9:45 am

    My income from my blog came more indirectly. Even though I wasn’t making much, if any, money from blogging, I kept doing it and even enjoying it! What my blog did and/or does for me is it builds my authority in my niche.

    Actually, it built my authority in my niche AND showed that I know the technicalities about HOW to blog and write. Both of these look good when you’re looking for either a job or freelance work.

    On a happy note, because of this I now make a pretty good PART TIME living off of blogging and because of blogging. I also work a “real” part time job:)

  • Robert Geczi

    December 31st, 2009 9:58 am

    Good article.

    I am trying to get my blog chugging like yours is. Hopefully I will get there, baby steps is what I say all the time.

    Thanks for the encouraging post.

  • Holly - The Work at Home Woman

    December 31st, 2009 12:54 pm

    Hi Darren,

    Thanks for the encouragement & for sharing how long it took you to make $30,000.

    I think a lot of bloggers want to the be the next Heather Armstrong or Darren Rowse but it takes a lot of time, work and patience. And when it doesn’t happen right away they get discouraged and quit.

    It’s reassuring to know that it even takes the master bloggers a good amount of time to build up an audience.

  • Aldon Johnes

    December 31st, 2009 3:42 pm

    earning $30,000 a year is a dream of most bloggers, I too dream of that and really this is acheivable with your post, you made it even improve my chances.

  • travel-muse

    January 2nd, 2010 2:36 am

    Your simple and informative article makes it easy to understand and work towards achieving the goal. Thanks for posting this.

  • Celebrity-server

    January 2nd, 2010 7:39 am

    Well the goal to earn $30 k / year is skyhigh to say the least if someone is just starting out. Affiliate programs in parallel with ad networks might the key towards monetary success. Gud luck anyways.

  • Connie

    January 2nd, 2010 4:58 pm

    This one I have to print and save. It must be possible to make some decent money blogging. Just always thought of adsense. The ebook idea and sponsored ads sounds like the main source of income. Thanks for the tips.

  • Sai @ Bloggerstop

    January 2nd, 2010 8:06 pm

    Wow that’s a brilliant approach Darren, right from a newbie blogger to an experienced blogger, this method will definitely help to further improve and more importantly it will give a better achievable view to our goals. Thanks for that!

  • Peter

    January 3rd, 2010 4:01 am

    Very Good. It is useful to me. Here battery-replacement.com Supply cheap laptop battery and laptop battery replacement, cordless drill battery,camcorder battery,camera battery etc.

  • Ankur

    January 3rd, 2010 4:23 am

    I wish I can make this amount in the next two years.Right now ,we are a group of three running 5 websites and two of them are really doing well.

    Thanks Darren for the post

  • samuel mowe

    January 3rd, 2010 4:33 am

    There is a lot of responsibility joining the best company because this means that you have no excuse not to achieve success so the pressure will be all on you to make it work. Are you ready to handle this kind of pressure? Embracing the pressure is what will make you a better and more successful individual because it proves you are no longer afraid and do truly have what it takes.

  • Sam

    January 3rd, 2010 6:17 am

    This is a really great way to break it down. When you look at the overall picture it seems unreachable, but when you break it down into smaller chunks and try to think of what you need day-by-day it makes everything seem that much more attainable.

  • Khor

    January 3rd, 2010 7:46 am

    Great post, as usual. Making any kind of living from blogging is a slow process at the beginning. I remember my monthly income from my blogs was around $50 per month starting up. Luckily, it’s been about a year and I am finally starting to see some of my hard work pay off. Working full-time, I am happy to have this as a side gig.

  • Gaurav

    January 3rd, 2010 7:57 am

    Yes, anyone would like to earn $30,000/year. But me myself blogging for an year now and I barely crossed 50 till date, so for me it is still a long, long, long way to go…
    Even today, learning process is going that how can i make my blog more rich content wise and during all this period I learned one big thing, that “you need to be patient, it is not a one day job thing, t can really take time to be popular among readers.”

  • Carolyn@artsyshark

    January 4th, 2010 2:15 am

    I love that you mentioned that during your first year, you weren’t even trying to make money blogging. Isn’t that really the first rule? Love what you do . . . then you are motivated, fulfilled and satisfied with your blog just as it is. If income was the first consideration, Darren, where would your blog be today? (maybe a future article from you?)

  • Anton

    January 4th, 2010 3:10 am

    fantastic article! I bookmarked it for future.
    Thanks a lot, so i have so much to learn.

  • wayangtimes

    January 4th, 2010 4:07 am

    i have recently started to earn about US$20 per day. but i think it is only temporarily and wonder how my type of blog which is focused on pretty celebrities and humor stuff can sustain and increase the income level to what problogger has indicated.

  • tim

    January 4th, 2010 6:08 am

    One thing in consideration, I LOVE writing and blogging in particular. I don’t however enjoy the “monetizing” part. That is, the searching, testing and trying of ways to make my blog into an income stream is not a “fun” part for me. I LOVE writing though.

    For me, writing for my own blog, while not really aiming to monetize it, is a real enjoyment. For income, writing and earning by writing for someone else’s blog is a way for me to “outsource” the part I don’t like. Someone else figures out how to bring the money in. I just get paid to write! Win-win for me!

    Meanwhile, my personal blog builds brand and authority for me as I look for writing (and other) “gigs.”

  • We Fly Spitfires

    January 4th, 2010 9:00 am

    Awesome article. It’s always interesting to read exact figures like the ones you stated (i.e. how much you made per day etc) as often bloggers avoid that sort of stuff completely.

  • Jason

    January 4th, 2010 10:54 am

    I agree keep a backup plan and set yourself some realistic goals. Work on your Blog when time allows. At the very least it will be a nice part time income, and if you play your cards right and be consistent you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. Great blog post!

  • Paramendra Bhagat

    January 4th, 2010 10:57 am

    Darren, I mean no direspect, but it is heartening and inspiring to see you once only made 30K a year.

  • Jeff Purcell

    January 4th, 2010 12:33 pm

    “Note: I didn’t achieve this milestone until I’d been blogging for over 2 years (I blogged for the first year without trying to make money).”

    There is a huge point to be made here! Many blogs try to monetize right away. I think this is a bad idea. Bloggers need to figure out why they are blogging in the first place. Is it because you want to share your passion for something or because you want to make money?

    When a blogger tries to monetize to early, many times the advertising potential influences the content.

  • Gina

    January 4th, 2010 2:16 pm

    I agree it can be done, but that is a tall order just on blogging alone. You’re right that you’re going to have to combine those things.

    I also recommend building a big list.

  • hokya

    January 4th, 2010 2:49 pm

    wow, that’s too cool,
    you could manage those monetizing well

    i only have CPC AdSense on my blog, yet i still unable to get money from it everyday

    however, if i may ask you, what’s the best CPM for yours ?
    Thanks :-)

  • Terra Andersen

    January 4th, 2010 3:00 pm

    I take this same approach when helping my clients start blogs, whether it be corporate, niche, or personal. We take goals and break them down, so they can always look back and remember the blog’s primary purposes. It helps them stay the course and not divert.

  • abercrombie

    January 4th, 2010 6:27 pm

    to be honest, i think that’s almost impossible.

  • Gabe | freebloghelp.com

    January 5th, 2010 1:42 am

    This is a great article. There are so many posts out there about making $30k a month and to be honest, that’s like teaching a baby to run right out of the womb.

    Making $30k a year is an achievable goal for even the newest bloggers. It’s not a ton of money but it’s a definitely a great start that’s very realistic.

  • Auntie Val

    January 5th, 2010 2:11 am

    Interesting article because, and i don’t want to sound like a smarty pants, but that how I have been thinking about the revenue target for my site – I want to earn $100 a day from it or I’ll scream and scream till I am sick..or maybe just work harder.

    But really, it’s just a hobby at the moment, that I am envjoying immensely. Also it’s great to see others’ replies and realise Rome wasn’t built in a day.

    My favourite comment was by Dustin who said that this article,”…demonstrates…the impact that creating your own product can have on your bottom.”

    How true! I presume he meant “bottom line” but it could mean that starting a blog is scary if you quit your job to do it. So far my bottom is looking good though, I am pleased to say.

  • How to Get on Google

    January 5th, 2010 3:10 am

    Wow, this is excited. $30,000 last year!

    “Don’t Give Up Your Day Job…. Yet” that is a good advice. And I like the way you break it down for us, yep $30,000 a year = $3.42 an hour. This is possible to accomplish, but you need motivation off course. Thanks man for sharing this. Really helpful…

  • Geld Verdienen

    January 5th, 2010 4:53 am

    That’s 80 dollar a day (about 55 euro). In Europe you need min. twice that much to became a pro. And on the Dutch market it;s not so easy to make money online.

  • Vance Sova

    January 5th, 2010 8:48 am

    Hi Darren,

    I appreciate your sharing how you started blogging and how to break down a goal into small achievable pieces.

    I will read this post several times to really internalize it.

    When i was reading the other comments I was very pleased to see that you actually replied to some of them.

    I was pleased and surprised at the same time since I read somewhere that you no longer bother with replying to your readers comments.

    I’m really glad to know that you are still involved personally with your readers.

    But since some internet marketers seem to hire people to approve comments and to write comments on other sites for them it leaves me wondering if it’s really you.

    I will hope that it is and if I find that out for sure, I’ll make a post about that on my blog to let people know that you are still involved and aren’t too big and too proud to bother with the small guys.

    Vance

  • AdSense iPhone App

    January 5th, 2010 8:53 am

    I also liked the way you broke down the 30k to what we have to earn each day.

    How many visitors a day should we target in order to reach 100$ a day?

  • Muhammad

    January 5th, 2010 10:08 am

    I love this blog, I think this blog would help any person out there looking to make money online. I’m bookmarking this page for future reference. Keep up the good work :)

  • Nate Moller

    January 5th, 2010 10:13 am

    Thanks again for this great post about making money with a blog. I’m sharing this content right now with a client who is excited about blogging for her ecommerce business.

    I’m excited for 2010 and all the opportunities that blogging will give entrepreneurs.

    Thanks again for the great content.

  • Fun FREE Giveaways

    January 5th, 2010 1:59 pm

    I think free giveaways are a great way to promote your blog, along with questions that engage the reader.

  • Lee Ka Hoong

    January 5th, 2010 2:24 pm

    Darren, $82.19 a day sounds a lot for a new blogger, I’ve been part time blogging for 2 years but I couldn’t be able to reach that stage, perhaps I have less output and I’m really tired after my day job.

    I used to earn only average $300 per month right now, but I’m happy with this little figure as it shows that make money by blogging is not impossible. Right now, I’m working on several blogs and websites, hope they would bring me more income in coming days.

    Next target $20,000 a year would be good for me, equal to $55.56 a day.

    Cheers,
    Lee

  • Wakas Mir

    January 5th, 2010 2:46 pm

    As always a great post darren. I hit my few thousand bucks a year and slowly catching up :)

  • 2010 Calendars

    January 5th, 2010 4:35 pm

    I would further break it down into smaller goals along the way. first $5 a day, then $10, $20, $50, $75, $100. Start with the small goal and work your way up. it’s easy to get disappointed when your ultimate goal is so far away.

  • provamsi @ India365

    January 5th, 2010 5:24 pm

    I’m here after some time and found an awesome articles which really inspired me. My goal is not too big, but yes, you are 100% percent right darren. It’s good to imagine the earnings/day rather than a year or month.

  • Barry - Make Money Online

    January 6th, 2010 2:34 am

    The idea to breakdown what you need to make per day, or even per hour, is brilliant. We find most people see the original number and just give up before even starting. We all knw that to get anywhere, especially in this business, you have to start actually DOING it.

  • Rina Miller

    January 6th, 2010 8:35 pm

    I wish I can earn 30k. Need to start now. Thanks Darren!

  • ann

    January 7th, 2010 1:47 am

    i wish i can earn extra 50K,work it now

  • How to Make Money Online

    January 7th, 2010 2:49 am

    I like your article, because I have seen headings on many blogs like “make a big money by blogging” but when I read them internally I didn’t found deep information about the procedures that how one can make money.

    But your article is some different because you discussed the procedures and tricks like ebook, affiliate programs, advertising so it’s become easier for visitors to understand where to start.

  • Naveen

    January 7th, 2010 3:58 am

    Wonderful information with all figures and statistics. I can say it would help the pro-bloggers like me….

    Thank you pretty much….

  • Nature Sounds

    January 7th, 2010 11:11 am

    This article gives very good incentive to keep pressing forward. Start out slow and build on it a little at a time. Thank you for this article.

  • Farouk

    January 8th, 2010 2:16 am

    you encouraged me to try chitika!! guess i will do that this week

  • creazionesitiweb

    January 8th, 2010 2:21 am

    Make $30,000 a year??
    tis is great but it is real?
    i have a bit of blogger experience but dont think that is possible to do that

  • Cyberhari

    January 8th, 2010 5:49 am

    Excellent post! And Excellent Blog. Your posts are truly inspirational. Alright i will make a try! but for a smaller catch say 3000 USD/year. Bless me you humble ProBlogger! :)

  • Upage

    January 8th, 2010 7:01 am

    At the first thought It seemed to be impossible to earn over 30k/y just by blogging, however, when I thought it through a bit I might have changed my mind. If you take blogging as your full-time job, not to mention that most of us who work from home basically spend more then regular 8 working hours on the net, it could be possible to make quite a bit of money.
    Anyway, what matters the most, at least to me, is the freedom to work from your own home without any boss or annoying colleagues hanging over your head… you make your own hours and it’s never boring!

  • Karina Guerra

    January 8th, 2010 8:47 am

    Great article.

    For anything in life you must have a definite goal to achieve in order to get there.

    I would just add: choose a topic that you love.

    Being a full time blogger is 100% true, your sould and mind become bloggers. If you want to live from this dedicate your time to what you really love doing and it will be easier.

    I am into women coaching and one fact that I am facing is to combine what I love VS. what it gives you more money.

    What I really love is coaching women (in Spanish) what I do at http://www.lacoachdelasmujeres.com but posting articles about what women in sydney need at http://www.sydney4women.com.au is giving me more money.

    I think I just need to find a balance to achieve those goals you have accurately pointed out before.

    Thanks as always.

    Karina Guerra

  • BloggerDollar

    January 9th, 2010 1:24 am

    I’ve made 1.400$ this month. I’m on my way to 30k.

  • Den

    January 9th, 2010 2:07 am

    I started my blogging career few months back but I have taken the same mentioned approach. I have calculated by achievable goal on an daily basis and use Adsense, CJ and direct affiliate… but as of now very little success but that seems to be ok.. still growing

  • Vikas Rathi

    January 9th, 2010 9:54 am

    Thanks Darren for such a nice post. I totally appreciate your sharing.

  • Tech Blog

    January 9th, 2010 1:13 pm

    This exactly how I planned when I started blogging ! 2 years ago. I am glad to hear about the 3 year success period, that means this year will be a good one for me :)
    As many have commented I migrated from Hit and miss to niche specific to writing about something I actually know and enjoy and others would benefit from.

  • Air 23 Air Jordans

    January 9th, 2010 7:53 pm

    I’ve made about $1100 last month, and already $250 into this month. Definitely making progress and I’m feeling quite positive about things, but like you said, I’m not quitting my day job just yet.

  • Keith Davis

    January 9th, 2010 11:54 pm

    Hi Darren
    I guess that a lot of us reason along the lines…

    1 Tens of millions of people use the web.
    2 If only a fraction visit my blog, that is still a huge number.
    3 If only a small percentage of my visitors buy or donate… I am still doing very well.

    Your breakdown shows the real side of making money from blogging..

    $30,000 a year = $576.92 per week
    $30,000 a year = $82.19 a day
    $30,000 a year = $3.42 an hour

    Bottom line… do I have enough visitors and will they contribute $3.42 an hour?
    I know my answer, at the moment, is a big big NO!

    Thanks for putting it into perspective and thanks for giving me some ideas on how to turn my resounding NO into a definite YES.
    This post is at the top of my favourites…

  • Siau Hen

    January 10th, 2010 12:01 am

    $30000 a year is too far away from me. Yet, like what you said, it’s achievable but won’t happened overnight.

    Your post not only helping.. but very encouraging. Thanks Darren.

  • Victor

    January 10th, 2010 2:24 am

    I am a new reader at this blog – this post contains some incredibly valuable information within the readers comments – I find it fascinating how variables like the target niche affect the efforts to monetize a blog to such a degree.

  • poorblogger

    January 10th, 2010 1:52 pm

    I agree.. Set the target means you must work hard to achieve it

  • Brian H.

    January 10th, 2010 1:57 pm

    Darren,

    This was an awesome post. You’re the inspiration I needed today to keep going.

    Thanks,
    Brian

  • fedhz

    January 10th, 2010 6:32 pm

    wow. and i’m only earning a hundred bucks a month. LOL. anyway, that’s a great goal, esp since if you’re paying for mortgage and your kids are in school.

    you have one itsy bitsy typo there. 2nd to the last paragraph, last sentence. “(and for me to quite my day job)”

    i hope i could earn more this year. ^^ to blogging!

  • Tom - marketing tips

    January 11th, 2010 1:37 am

    I really like the breakdown approach you showed.So much easier to look at the daily goal than a big figure, the yearly goal.

    Many people are looking for a part time income from their blog, and by diversifying your income to 5 different income streams it would be quite simple to make $15 – $20 per day down the road.

  • çiçekçi

    January 11th, 2010 2:40 am

    ıt’ true
    30000 a year is too far away from me. Yet, like what you said, it’s achievable but won’t happened overnight.
    Thank’s

  • JPS

    January 11th, 2010 3:05 am

    Nice Post! I’m a new blogger and been looking for many ways on how to make my blog more meaningful to me and to my readers. Also, on how to make it profitable as I finds a lot of people are making money from blogging. You inspired me and I am motivated again to keep going. thanks, Darren!

  • Sophie

    January 11th, 2010 5:37 am

    Setting goals really, really help. My first year or so I was simply learning how to blog and network along with what the different monetization methods were out there. After my first year I started setting really specific goals (monthly, anything else would’ve been too cumbersome for me) on how much revenue I wanted to bring in, unique hits, bounce rate…etc.

    For me, I break down what my goals are for each monetization method and within that I also break it down by site. So, for example CPA (comissions) I break down as one large group and list each site as a subcategory. So for me those would be CJ, Linkshare, SAS, GAN, PJN and a few others. I’ve found the more effort I put into categorizing things and trying to understand conversion rates, my traffic, and what monetization strategies work the best for my sites it all seems to improve gradually over time.

    For newbies I will tell you that it is definitely a process. Meaning that you will not figure this out overnight nor will you have it figured out completely after 2-3 years. It’s an ongoing learning process especially if you are working at FT job while trying to build your site(s).

    I will say this, $30k is definitely possible after 2-3 years of work. However, if you only put in a few hours a week and don’t learn from the gurus (Darren of course) and only post about what pops into your brain then those chances decrease dramatically. Having multiple sites provides a broader range of revenue opportunities and gives you an portfolio of sites to generate revenue from as opposed to putting all your eggs in one basket with just one blog. Not saying it can’t be done but generally speaking for most of us I think the “more is better” strategy will give you a better shot at making a FT income at some point. Just remember that finding a targeted Niche is key and having a real interest in what you’re talking about also really helps.

    Sophie

  • Cathy - Desperately Seeking WordPress

    January 11th, 2010 8:21 am

    The making – money thing in general is overwhelming for me. But to “improve” my blog – THAT is something that I can breakdown. And by improving the user experience, the way search engines crawl the site, and the relevance of the words I use, I hope to get more traffic and make more money. But it is the quality of content that I can set goals toward without being overwhelmed.

    For me – an editorial calendar
    - daily monitoring what interests people on my blog
    - improving links and titles on all my posts for this month
    - once a week bloggy maintenance
    - daily times for reading others’ blogs.

    Those are goals that I can do, and will provide the feedback I need in teh form of what my readers are looking for.

    Before making money, I need the blog that readers WANT to read! But without a doubt – breaking down goals into SMART goals are the only way to go!

    Cathy

  • Dhananjay

    January 11th, 2010 8:22 am

    Great approach! I wish if I could also join $30k club soon!

  • Self Esteem

    January 11th, 2010 1:26 pm

    Thank you so much, there aren’t enough posts on this… or at least i cant find them. I am turning into such a blog nut, I just cant get enough and this is such an important topic… i’ll be sure to write something about your site

  • Auntie Val

    January 11th, 2010 7:57 pm

    Wow – Sophie’s comment was nearly as good as the actual article itself. Thank you for the additional real-world experience you have shared, Sophie!

  • forexphil

    January 11th, 2010 11:40 pm

    Just when I was getting a little frustrated, you’ve resored my fiath that making money from a blog CAN happen. The added bonus of starting one to share knowledge and help others, I’ve already done, so it’s just a time thing I guess.

    Phil.

  • Justin

    January 12th, 2010 2:33 am

    Great article! I have been working on my website for over a year now I’m not seeing much money come in at this point, I’ve decided to put some of your ideas to work. Thanks! Hopefully buy next year i’ll be making that 30k a year. :)

  • Change the World

    January 12th, 2010 3:06 am

    Wonderful post. I think the key points are persistance, creating websites about what you love and above all having realistic expectations.

    By breaking things down into an hourly figure you can plan your work day, I also agree do not quit your day job instead use your day job income to help grow your online business. One final point a person should be prepared to reinvest anything they earn online for atleast the first 12 months

  • Free Mario Games Online

    January 12th, 2010 10:32 am

    Nice article . Most of times it needs more than 2 years to work and make money from a website . It needs a lot of work to generate money . The best thing is never quit trying .

  • Web Trainings

    January 12th, 2010 3:56 pm

    A very good article. Very informative for beginner like me.

  • Simone Fernandes

    January 12th, 2010 7:55 pm

    Nice article Darren!
    I think if we break down our goal to a daily basis target it becomes much easier and clear to achieve.
    I just started my new blog and I already made my daily goals.
    Thanks.

  • don't waste your time promoting blogs

    January 12th, 2010 10:57 pm

    I loved reading the way you kept playing with numbers. Anyway, you proved at the end that whatever target you fixed is achievable and YOU DID IT.

    Thanks for the suggestions, they are real, practical and inspiring. I’m doing hard work.

  • Kristine - Freelance Writing Philippines

    January 13th, 2010 12:32 am

    There’s no such thing as an overnight blogger celebrity :p taking baby steps towards your goal, splitting it into smaller stuff, and doing everything you can to promote your blog can definitely help.

    Going to your $30,000-goal shouldn’t be hard – if you like what you are doing. But when you feel it is dragging and you aren’t really enjoying it, you won’t seem to succeed.

  • blogger penajam

    January 13th, 2010 3:37 am

    darren this good post, very motivating us as a beginner

    http://penajam.blogspot.com

  • SallyBeam | Self Help Friend

    January 13th, 2010 8:19 am

    Wow! Breaking down enlighten me.

  • LiveCheap.com

    January 13th, 2010 8:37 am

    Darren,
    Getting down to short term numbers is exactly how you focus on getting to a big goal. I like the approach and in any business this is how you take your annual goals and bring them down to daily/weekly goals. The thing we are looking at right now are the precursors to revenue which is of course traffic and the sources of that traffic. For instance, we have a daily goal of what we want our Google search traffic to be. So we focus on SEO and watch the results. We also look at RSS, registered users, etc. And of course pages per visit. All of that stuff comes together to generate traffic which in our case drives the CPM ads which drives revenue.

    Another way we started looking at things is how much traffic does the average article get. If you assume 6 ads served per article (ours average 3 pages), and 1,000 views, you have 6,000 impressions which for us would generate about $8-$10 an article. Put out an article a day and you are looking at $3,500 a year or so in income. On a CPM model, we determined that we need to get to about 10,000 views per article and 3 to 5 articles a day to make decent ad money. We’d love it if the ad rates went up as the traffic established itself but we have to model what we can currently get.

    What we have focused on is which topics seem to get the most traction and after analyzing a couple months worth of data, it was obvious. We are completely new at this, but at least there seems to be a cause and effect relationship that you can work off of.

  • paukaya

    January 14th, 2010 2:30 pm

    This article really motivated beginner like me.

  • jacqueline

    January 14th, 2010 4:51 pm

    A very nice break down and you are right about the numbers. I think most of us start blogging as a hobby, but then it becomes like a full time job if you want to write fresh content daily or even a few times a week. I get frustrated when I don’t get enough time to spend on my blogs because of my full time job.

  • Saturnina Wienecke

    January 18th, 2010 5:10 am

    Hey just wondering how you went aout setting up your design etc. I’m fairly new to the whole internet thing, Was blogengine easy to install

  • Steve

    January 18th, 2010 4:22 pm

    Seems like a reasonable goal, $30,000. That’s really part time income in the US, maybe it’s good money in other countries. Affiliate marketing is the way to go. Adsense and the like bring in so little it almost is a waste of time.

  • Recession Proof

    January 20th, 2010 5:08 am

    $30,000 is a great goal to set. It isn’t so far out that you would get discouraged if you didn’t hit it right away. And when you really think about it making $30,000 on your blog is really like making $38,000, because you don’t have to worry about the taxes coming out:) Blogging usually starts out as a part time gig. BUT somewhere down the road it hits you that you can make this a full time job. HINT! This usually happens when you realize how to incorporate all the necessary elements needed to get good relevant traffic flow to your blog. Not limited to niche, content, ad revenues, email marketing, and great SEO, etc. And good meta tags like title, description, and keywords aren’t enough, there is more to SEO than that. Webmasters and bloggers should be concerned with getting their images ranked in google as well.
    http://www.stumbleuponguru.com

  • Mr. hættetrøje

    January 20th, 2010 8:06 pm

    Great article, many good pointers and hints. I am not the expert, but I hope I will be :-) Thank you for helping me on the way…..

  • Scentsy

    January 20th, 2010 11:05 pm

    My biggest challenge has been taking the time for backlinks and getting my site rating as high as possible. A process that is requiring much patience. Wish there was a way to speed up this process.

  • adsense-url.blogspot.com

    January 21st, 2010 8:19 am

    great post man, i learned a lot.

  • luanpa

    January 21st, 2010 6:48 pm

    great blogger, I will learn how to make money online this year

  • laptop-battery

    January 23rd, 2010 5:52 pm

    I love this blog, I think this blog would help any person out there looking to make money online.

  • Sophie

    January 24th, 2010 3:11 am

    Thanks so much Auntie Val! You are very welcome. I am by no means a big-time blogger (yet) but it’s a real passion of mine and my revenue from my blogs has really started to grow in the last year. So glad to see so many people commenting on this, it truly is a long process for most of us starting out. Remember to test, test and test as far as ad placements go, different affiliate programs (conversions vary greatly) and setup multiple revenue streams so if one drops a little you have others that can grown or at the very least balance income out somewhat.

    Getting organized has also really helped me. I break down what I want to accomplish on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis. I try to keep my folders on my desktop maintained and set up in a way that is convenient and easy for the way my own brain processes information. There are certain areas I’m stronger in than others and so I try to dedicate a little time each week at strengthening those areas.

    One thing I really love is that there are so many more tools, tutorials, gurus and so on out there than even 2 years ago. One tool I could absolutely not live without is Evernote. Not sure if everyone here is familiar but this tool really helps you save everything you want in one program. You can tag things and categorize in ways that makes sense to you personally. If you don’t use the software currently I would suggest giving it a try… I believe it’s still free. There’s also an iPhone app as well for those of you that stay on the go.

  • Justyn | CoverGround.ca

    January 24th, 2010 11:18 am

    Great way to put it…just break it down

  • Acryl-Gemaelde-Galerie

    January 25th, 2010 2:40 am

    As I’m an artist I’m always short with money. So let’s try to make the first million with your tip.

    Doris

  • hammock

    January 25th, 2010 11:16 pm

    Great post, thanks for posting. Definitely a great way of thinking, and is quite motivating viewing it that way. I also like a lot how you have broken down the various ways of making money with a blog. What I find interesting is how many different types of blogs make money, they don’t all have to be about SEO or website marketing. What would also be interesting is the amount of working time difference between working full for someone else and making that money blogging.

  • Toni

    January 26th, 2010 9:24 am

    Thanks for sharing your tricks Darren!
    I will lern and make it better and better.

  • NearlyEverything.com

    January 26th, 2010 6:10 pm

    I’m late to this party, but I dig the post.

    I will say that watching stats can be fun, but also they can be immensely stressful! I am roughly “obsessed” with stats, I’ll admit. I’ve put myself through much too much stress when I get to checking them a bunch of times per day. I’m trying to get away from that again.

    Remember that we’re looking for trends and long-term averages increasing over time. That means that daily checking is nice and all, but you can’t adjust things too much based on a single day’s stats. It’s far more important to watch a period of time and look for the trends as moving generally up or down.

    Actually, the new AdSense (beta still, ATM?) interface defaults to a “last 7 days” with a graph. It’s taking me a while to get used to it since I’m still obsessed over “today” & “yesterday” numbers. However, it’s better to see how the past week/month/etc. is going and consider the period’s events before making adjustments. IMHO, of course. :P

    Don’t forget to compare week-to-week stats over time, too. Just looking at a week that is dipping down might be less stressful if you look back and figure out that each week dips down for the weekends, for instance. Remember your blog’s audience(s) and consider things like school days, work holidays, etc.

    Anyway.. blah, blah, blah.

    –Paul

  • weng

    January 26th, 2010 7:23 pm

    It is a very inspiring article. If we want to earn more than what we are expecting to achieve within the specified period, then a goal must be set up well. This would serve as a basis on how we will work forward.

    The reality in business world is too tight due to profound competition. Bare in mind, that could be a hindrance to achieve your goal.. So we will earn more dollars or $50,000 is achievable enough.. Think positive.

  • carlo yu

    January 26th, 2010 10:45 pm

    “Don’t Give Up Your Day Job…. Yet.”

    this is so true.. wait until you are ready by blogging alone. but if that day hasn’t come yet, then dont..
    this is really a great post.. thanks for sharing.

  • brother Sewing Machine

    January 27th, 2010 1:17 am

    Thank you so much, there aren’t enough posts on this… or at least i cant find them. I am turning into such a blog nut, I just cant get enough and this is such an important topic

  • VipDit

    January 27th, 2010 5:23 am

    It’s the first concrete “how to make money” post i ever read online…Finally someone that make money dont talk about what are the tools, but what are the real numbers that needs to be reach for our objectives.

    I’ve repost it into my blog, for italian readers, that are still blocked on use adsense and spam affiliation banners all over the pages.

    Thanks for your article.

  • gweb

    January 28th, 2010 7:20 am

    to make I lot money for Blogging This need big work and more 10000 visitor A day for me Naw I have 500 a day and may blog have 3 monthe I now I can reach 10000 in years

  • Tara

    January 28th, 2010 12:48 pm

    This is so true, that figure is absolutely possible, it is a matter of hard work and consistency. Most people hear the dollar amount figures that some bloggers make and are like oh I want to blog, but they do not take the time and effort to understand what goes into blogging and what it really takes to succeed.

    I like the way you explain the possible ways to make money in plain english and it is amazing how many people still dont try once they find out how much hard work it takes. Yes it is simple just very tedious.

  • Dave

    January 28th, 2010 2:30 pm

    I really enjoyed reading your article. It is encouraging to read articles that tell it as it is. Thanks again!

  • Stephanie - Epic Beauty Guide

    January 28th, 2010 3:33 pm

    This was extremely helpful, Darren, thank you. I just started my blog a month ago and have been really enjoying writing and doing videos for my subscribers, and I figured I should at least look into monetizing it…so I found this post and I loved your tips. Thanks again, you’ve been a huge help.

    ~Stephanie
    Epic Beauty Guide

  • CA Karan Batra

    January 29th, 2010 5:29 am

    $30,000 a yr is certainly achievable…

    And I’m sure you wld be easily achieving it( if i’m not mistaken)

  • Barb - Candle Warmer

    January 29th, 2010 9:11 am

    I’ve had pretty good luck selling products of my own as far as ebooks and pdf series go. The key is to hit it hard and hit it hard for a short period of time. That’s what I’ve found at least.

  • Wally

    January 29th, 2010 2:57 pm

    This is super true, blogging doesn’t happened overnight. I am amazed on your earnings today. $30,000 dollars a year? wow. This is so big. I am just one month in blogging today. And i am utilizing just adsense as my advertiser in my blog. I still have no domain, I was just hoping that my blog will become popular in the future. I always make sure that I always update it everyday. The contents of my blog is anything on my mind. But i do always make sure that they will learn something out of it.

    Actually, I have read an e-book from Macuha, one of the most popular bloggers here in the Philippines, same as this blogs says, patience really is a virtue.

    http://wallyibong.blogspot.com/

  • Infographiste

    January 29th, 2010 11:57 pm

    Inspirational to know that it is actually possible to make decent money from blogging.

  • Magazine Themes Wordpress

    February 1st, 2010 5:51 pm

    You’ve really gone a long way Darren! Congratulations. At 3.42/ hr. I think this is cheap if you are a full time blogger :)

  • Chinese Handicrafts

    February 1st, 2010 7:56 pm

    Great post, I built my following by asking questions on Twitter, and kind of fell out of doing that. I need to focus more on going back to that process to engage more people.
    I will also make sure that I begin asking questions in my posts. Thanks for your video.
    I would like to know if people enjoy reading my content and what I could do to make it more informative.
    Thanks again

  • Web Design Tutorials

    February 1st, 2010 10:12 pm

    Great Post. Blogging and Affliate marketing is not an easy task .It really takes time and dedication. I have recently setup a blog for web design tutorials, news, and resources at:

    http://www.organicwebsitebasics.com/

  • HitAndWatch

    February 2nd, 2010 9:52 am

    Great post. Thank you for sharing.

  • The Bible Post

    February 2nd, 2010 7:07 pm

    Excellent information!

    Indeed, it is always best to take bite size pieces, as it keeps one from becoming overwhelmed with too much too fast. Leaping towards goals tends to lead to failure, while taking life in steps leads to stability.

    Of course, the idea of being diversified is good too, as it is never wise to put all of your eggs into one basket. For where one prospect might fall short another can make up for its lack.

    Thanks! I am going to share this post with my sister.

  • Buyers Advocate

    February 2nd, 2010 10:37 pm

    Great blog, I think that breaking it down and diversifying makes it very achievable., and easy to stay focused on the goal.

  • bigjobsboard

    February 3rd, 2010 1:23 pm

    Wow! Nice Post! I’ve been a blogger for just a week now and I am very lucky to see this post! A million thanks! Great! Keep it up! I never knew that blogging could make me leave my job in the future! LOL.

  • Emily

    February 5th, 2010 5:44 am

    Great post! I love how you broke it all down so new bloggers, like me, could see some great ways to earn money! I am still trying see which affiliates will work best for my blog! However I’m more concerned with building an audience right now! Thanks for the helpful info!!!!

  • Mathew Anderson

    February 5th, 2010 7:50 am

    Great stuff !, really must diversify at some point. This business is probably like being an Olympic athlete, you need continued persistent effort and determination. Hopefully things will get a bit better once you read the daily target.

  • bassinet

    February 5th, 2010 12:29 pm

    Outstanding article and advice! We are starting a blog soon for our company and have been hearing about the financial benefits of blogging from marketers. Our primary focus is for our website promotion but its nice to hear that there are additional benefits that can come with a quality blog.

  • Photographer Judd

    February 5th, 2010 4:19 pm

    This post has really opened my eyes on how I could potentially monetize my blog – Thank you so much! I didn’t realize there were so many options. Does anyone have any tips for gaining blog sponsors and more importantly, how to approach them in the first place?

  • Weight Loss

    February 6th, 2010 11:06 pm

    I pray that someday I will have a blog as good as yours! :) I talk about the great weight loss achievments with resveratrol.

  • shinryuurey

    February 7th, 2010 2:34 am

    :) Thanks for the great infor darren. As of now, I have different ideas to start with a blog. Doing eviews are my target. I really hope my blog would be successful. :) BTW, starting a blog is easy right? But continuing it is hard, especially when you are not earning anything. To be a successful blogger needs patient and perseverance. I really hope my upcoming blog would be as successful as yours. Thanks again.

    Rey

  • web design kolkata

    February 7th, 2010 5:33 pm

    Nice…

    I am really curious to know how much you made in your first year and how much did you increase on a month by month basis.

    I am kind of not happy with my site : http://www.freelancing-on-net.com

    Your post was of great help to me…

  • Mohamed Adam Jr

    February 8th, 2010 12:45 pm

    Great info. Clear, useful and actionable. There are so many people who are looking for jobs, and I think that making $30K per year from blogging is better than most jobs.

  • Cemil | Online Business Blackbook

    February 8th, 2010 2:37 pm

    I’d be interested to know whether that $100 a day came from one or multiple websites?
    I would be saying probably for multiple blogs, especially if you are just starting out.

    It is amazing reading through the comments of many that it did that many months/years before a decent income could be made. It’s still early days at the moment, but I tell you, $100 a day sounds great

  • Words of Wealth

    February 10th, 2010 10:24 am

    I agree this is a great way to break things down into more manageable dollar amounts to shoot for. It sounds like such a small amount to shoot for when you’re goal is $3 an hour :)

    Writers can do similar things when they’re trying to transition out of client based work and into more of their own projects. If you regularly earn $15 per client article written, then each time you’ve earned $15 from AdSense, Affiliate Programs, your own products, etc, you should write another article for your own sites or projects. That way you’re still earning the “today” income needed for current bills and cash flow needs, but you’re also making sure to invest in your own future profits and growth.

  • Eric J

    February 15th, 2010 1:46 pm

    Great and insightful post. I wouldn’t suggest for anyone to quit their day job either. They have to remain focused and centered on their goals first. Great way to break it down for us. I’ll stop back by as there is a lot of useful information here. Thanks!

  • Houston Librarian

    February 16th, 2010 1:05 am

    Glad someone finally broke it down as to what you need to do in order to make such and such money. It was also nice to see how long it took you.

  • Yash

    February 16th, 2010 7:23 am

    Really helpful info.. easily understandable and Actionable..!!
    Great Work..!!

  • Dave Lianelli

    February 16th, 2010 7:49 am

    You know what’s so funny Darren, lots of people starting a blog are writing about making money online, or online marketing.

    They don’t have a clue what they publish or copy/paste content from other blogs – maybe rephrasing the content a bit.

    I want to advice any wannabe problogger to start writing about what you DO know. Pieces written from experience are more powerful than anything else.

  • Darren Rowse

    February 16th, 2010 10:21 am

    Dave – there are so many people who start their first blog on the topic of making money blogging. While on one hand I think writing about what you’re learning is a good idea it’s not the smartest move in terms of creating authority if you’ve never done what you’re writing about.

  • freelancing career

    February 16th, 2010 6:30 pm

    I have just started a website http://www.freelancing-on-net.com
    I have put google adwords on it but have not pondered upon the other monitization techniques that you have mentioned. You have provided good breakup and good money making techniques from a blog or a website.

    Excellent thoughts. Also can you write a blog on how much time do I need to spend a day on my website to attain such a goal in one year?

    Also is it more important to do link building or write new content for good search engine ranking?

  • Essay Help

    February 17th, 2010 8:20 pm

    I totally agree with this post. I know some contacts of mine who make around $600 a month just by doing part time blogging and its fun too.

  • 博客提示，幫助您賺錢博客

    February 17th, 2010 10:14 pm

    Darren you should put more emphasis on hard work. Also put more emphasis on patience. Take things one day at a time. Making money only is FOR HARD WORKERS ONLY. Some people that actually do make money online might tell you that it is easy to do so, but they say that because they work so hard that they have gotten used to it. To YOU writing one article maybe hard but for guys like Darren who has written tens of thousands of articles, just writing one of them doesn’t hurt at all. To You building links seems really hard but for Darren it is not hard because he has done so much of it.

  • Philippine Virtual Assistant

    February 19th, 2010 5:04 am

    Wonderful post!, I simply would certainly just like to bring that Freelancing really has its appealing advantages. Firms can take benefit of the much less expensive operational and labor expenses when they delegate their work. Outsourcing also allows firms to focus on their core business.

  • aria utomo

    February 19th, 2010 1:56 pm

    need hard work to get $ 30,000 a year. I agree with you to break it down into something more achievable. thanks for your tips

  • Optimum Reading

    February 19th, 2010 10:51 pm

    Yes i am 100% agree because i make alot through the blogging and other stuff.

  • thesharkguys

    February 20th, 2010 12:51 pm

    This seems completely pie-in-the-sky to me…

  • Muriel

    February 21st, 2010 10:14 am

    This is a great article. Thank you for writing this. There are a lot of people trying to earn a decent income online. I have enjoyed reading all of the comments on here as well. It’s not easy earning a living when you first start trying to make it online. There is a lot to learn. There 1st website I ever made was 17 pages, yes 17, lol. It’s still up but has a lot of information on it about where to find jobs, where to post ads, etc. Thousands and thousands of visits later I made no money at all. Now after 8 years of working at home I make a good income. I started by writing an ebook and made some money on that but not what I expected, made small amounts on affiliate programs and 4 1/2 years ago find a full time online job Iove. I am still doing affiliate programs and earning with those and just got into a 5×8 matrix that’s going to be huge! CheaperGroceries! WoW! Everyone needs to eat for less! Try different avenues. There is a lot to learn. Just remember: don’t give up. You can do anything you set your mind to.

  • Bass Guitar Lessons Blog

    February 22nd, 2010 2:23 am

    I love the idea of breaking it down into small chunks.

    I think getting your own product is one way to quickly increase your income.

  • Success Growth

    February 22nd, 2010 10:32 am

    Thanks for your great post, But it need spent a lot of time and power to build that.

  • geld verdienen

    February 23rd, 2010 9:00 am

    The most people i’ll know want to have a living with 30k (euro’s (Dutch))

    Where i aim for is, 5k euro per month. Then i’ll quit my job!

  • kids make money

    February 23rd, 2010 12:06 pm

    At first thought $30 000 a year seems like a dream, but when i “listen” to you it’s look somehow easy.
    Anyway post is encouraging for new bloggers like me.

  • fast abs at home

    February 23rd, 2010 12:19 pm

    It’s good calculation but you need to be a pro blogger to monetize blog on all this ways, even if do it need much work to get targeted traffic to be good conversation.

    Your blog looks very good, you give very good tips to people to get income online. Experience is everything P.S. i will look for other pages it will be useful for me.

  • J&K Lowline

    February 23rd, 2010 3:15 pm

    It can be done, but it will require lots of hard work, talent & dedication. Great read. Thanks!

  • Essay Help

    February 23rd, 2010 10:36 pm

    These are very useful tips for someone who is starting to blog for earning. I would suggest two things here

    1. Do what seems fun to you. If you think that you will have fun while doing blogging, the estimated two years (as mentioned by author) or even more than that will not be big deal for you.

    2. Never quite your regular job until you feel that it is hard to manage two jobs at a time, but that would after when achieve your goals. In the initial stage you have to work more harder and manage both of them simultaneously.

  • Prav

    February 25th, 2010 7:28 pm

    ITS simply Amazing the way you explained it. Iam also into blogging from the last 8 months and have only started making some bucks. Hope i will see some increment in coming months like you explained it here.

  • Hybrid Golf Clubs

    February 26th, 2010 2:28 pm

    I agree with a lot of your post, the biggest thing to stress though is to write about what you love. A lot of people go after markets just because it might have a little more money in it, but do not enjoy writing about the topic. Stick to what you love and you will be able to write more and actually enjoy doing it as well.

  • Leonard

    February 27th, 2010 7:55 am

    This is a nice way to break it down. Many of us out here are just chomping at the bit at the thought of earning a full time jobs’ yearly wages doing something that for some, just comes naturally. Thank you, and keep up the great articles!

  • Inkjet Ink Cartridge

    February 27th, 2010 7:55 am

    I just got into website creation early last year and I’ve noticed that a lot of people just starting out seem to think it’s possible to get all your earnings from just one method. This train of thought is just such a huge limitation on yourself. There are so many different ways out there to make even a few dollars a day.

  • Jay Neaves

    February 27th, 2010 8:23 am

    Excellent post with good, sound advice. I think some people thing blogging is an ‘easy job’ where they can earn unrealistic amounts of money without doing very much. If it was that easy, no one would stay in employment very long!

    Keeping it real, setting targets and old fashioned hard work are the way to blogging success.

  • Thea Grace

    February 27th, 2010 12:00 pm

    I like the organization of your thoughts. It helps a lot to all those who blogs. I am a new blogger (15days young). I was really intrigued of how big the incomes are. I hope someday i will be one of you earning that much. This site is really great. I like it so much. Thanks Darren. More power to you!

  • Web SEO

    February 27th, 2010 7:16 pm

    I really appreciate your concern to make good money from blogging. But its not so clear. Like just making from cpc, cpm and affiliate programs.

    I know people around the world do something to make money. But they need some more clarity on where they can get the resources from you. Try to put some examples for affiliate commissions for cj.com or something. So that they can get a good idea. Its my suggestion.

    Regards
    Mano

  • Paid Directories

    February 27th, 2010 8:18 pm

    30,000 a year right now would be nice. Very hard right now to make money. Thanks problogger for the advice

  • Amber

    March 1st, 2010 9:34 am

    I am just starting my blog, my goal is $200 a month and I would like to reach that in my first 3 months of blogging. But from what I am reading that seems unrealistic?

    I was reading posts of people who make $5 a month after a few months of blogging, or $100 a month after a year of blogging or $300 a month after 2 years.

    Yes breaking it down seems achievable but how many people actually make $200 or $500 a month in their first 6 months or year of blogging?

  • seo software

    March 4th, 2010 6:21 am

    Great breakdown for full-time blogging. I need to look more into affiliate marketing because adsense just isnt cutting it.
    -Jack

  • Scentsy independant consultant

    March 4th, 2010 4:19 pm

    Breaking down 30,000 dollars a year really makes it hit home how hard you have to work daily.

  • çiçekçi

    March 5th, 2010 4:30 am

    I really enjoyed reading your article. It is encouraging to read articles that tell it as it is. Thanks again!

  • Dr Kevin Cooper

    March 5th, 2010 3:07 pm

    All your eggs in one basket or diversity to divide and conquer !
    Good advice, thanks a lot. 1643 clicks is rather scary though !

  • Oak Electric Inc

    March 5th, 2010 4:46 pm

    Great blogging site. Specially for those who are making money through blogs.

  • Web Hosting India

    March 6th, 2010 5:46 am

    Yes,

    It is possible if you have some good knowledge over blogging, adsense and other revenue models. More over if have knowledge over affiliate programs that offer either cost per sale or lead, can make at least $12000 honestly. But you need a good concept like web hosting niche.

    I make $600 – $700 a month on affiliate programs with some niches. Profitable niches will have huge competition.

    From a blog, i am sure you can make at least $20 – $30 a minimum by promoting blog well.

    Thanks for a nice post to aware people can make good money from internet marketing and blogging.

    Regards
    Mano

  • Praneesh

    March 6th, 2010 6:06 am

    Thanks a lot. i am making $5 daily from my blog. But not showing much, these days the ad revenue got down suddenly from google adsense.

    Hope we get good time soon again.

    Praneesh Jain

  • how to stop snoring

    March 7th, 2010 4:23 am

    don’t you think 5 cents per click is so low
    I thought the average is 10 cents so you need 821 clicks per day
    Actually it is still toooooooooooooooo difficult for a beginner

  • SEO Marketing

    March 7th, 2010 1:21 pm

    Great Post, I really like the breakdown of the monetization options.

    Thanks

  • Web Designing Companies

    March 9th, 2010 3:47 am

    I really appreciate you for a good post on making money online.

    making $5 or $10 per day is not an issue. people around the world already making. But there should a trick to make a good living income. For example, promoting CPA offers from blog. If your CPA offer $2 per signup and you have some solid traffic, you can make at least $30 – $40 per day, its all about 20 signups.

    Try this if you have any good traffic from your blog.

    Bets Regards
    Santhon

  • How to become a police officer

    March 9th, 2010 3:55 pm

    I would be happy making $10,000 / year! The only problem with blogging vs static sites is having to constantly update and do work on it. It’s like a full-time job!
    -Jack

  • angst jan

    March 10th, 2010 9:03 pm

    By breaking it down you know what to do. I’ve been building a couple of sites. In the first 6 months you don’t make much (any) money. Now I do make most money by selling my own ebooks.

  • Gemstone Jewelry

    March 11th, 2010 12:17 am

    Hello,

    Your this post sound very cool but before starting that i want ask few more questions that should i start my blog on my self hosting site or should i go for wordpress.com(Free hosted blogs). Which one would be the best option. Kindly reply me your help full thoughts.

    you can send me your thoughts on simplevicky1983@gmail.com

  • Auto Repair Shop Maryland

    March 12th, 2010 1:24 am

    30,000 dollars a year!? I know this takes time and dedication.

  • indir

    March 12th, 2010 5:07 am

    Saying that you want to be full time as a blogger is a great goal – but it’s not really specific enough. This is why I wanted the blogger I was chatting with to name a figure. For her full time was $30,000 – for others it could be more or less – the amount is not the point, the point is that you need something more concrete to work towards so that you’re able to measure where you’re at.

  • Hennrik R. Hansen

    March 13th, 2010 1:25 am

    Howdy How are you today? It’s just that i dig your website so much, and that i believe you could start getting alot of dinero from it. I run a couple of winning blogs that i started bringing in some money from recently. They are using something called a content blocker widget, that makes visitors fill out a small quiz inorder to view highly valued content or to download programs or tools that they need. And each time they do a easy quiz i make about two dollars. Pretty awsome eh? Been earning lots more from this than adsense. Feel free to contact me, or you can check it out through my refferal link. http://www.tinyurl.com/yevwfst, Kind Regards, Hennrik R. Hansen

  • gaban

    March 15th, 2010 2:27 am

    “Work hard push your limits I worked many years in a truck and Blogging, Working a stages in Manhattan as a stage hand. tonight we are doing our third Workshop and after party sponsored. Consulting is going great and working for others is a thing of the past.”
    you are really kind of people who have much experience

    great post you did

    thanks for sharing

  • nada

    March 15th, 2010 2:29 am

    What I find interesting is how many different types of blogs make money, they don’t all have to be about SEO or website marketing. What would also be interesting is the amount of working time difference between working full for someone else and making that money blogging.
    i aalso the same way

    cheers

  • money income

    March 15th, 2010 7:52 pm

    it’s really hard to make $82.19 a day…. we have so many blog / website to make $82.19 a day, i hope that day will come…

    thx


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