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Can You REALLY Make Money Blogging? [7 Things I Know About Making Money from Blogging]

Posted By Darren Rowse 28th of November 2012 Blogging for Dollars, Featured Posts 0 Comments

make money blogging

Every now and again I am pulled aside at a conference or am emailed and/or tweeted by someone wanting to get the “real” scoop on whether it is possible to make money blogging.

  • Is it really possible to make a living from blogging?
  • Is it just a small number of people making money from blogging?
  • Is it only really possible to make money blogging if you write about the topic of making money blogging?

I completely understand the questions and would probably want to add one more:

  • If it is really possible to make money blogging, how likely is it that you’ll succeed?

I’ve written many times here on ProBlogger about this in the hope of giving a realistic picture of the topic, but I think it is worth touching on again because there is a lot of misinformation out there right now.

On one hand, we see hype on the topic. Periodically someone will claim to be able to make millions from blogging quickly. These claims are usually accompanied with the release of a product or service (i.e. they are marketing spin).

On the other hand, I periodically see people writing about how it is impossible to make money blogging (or that anyone claiming to be full time is either a scammer, a liar, or is selling something on the topic of making money online).

The reality is somewhere between these two extremes.

7 Things I know about making money from blogging

1. It is possible

I’ve been blogging for just under ten years and for nine of those I’ve been making money blogging. It started out as just a few dollars a day but in time it gradually grew to becoming the equivalent of a part-time job, then a full-time job, and more recently into a business that employs others.

I used to talk about the specific levels of my earnings when I started ProBlogger but felt increasingly uncomfortable about doing so (it felt a little voyeuristic and a little like a big-headed boasting exercise and I didn’t really see the point in continuing to do it)— but my income has continued to grow each year since I began.

On some levels I was at the right place at the right time—I got into blogging early (in 2002 … although I felt I was late to it at the time) and have been fortunate enough to have started blogs at opportune times on the topics I write about.

However I know of quite a few other bloggers who make a living from blogging, many of whom have not been blogging anywhere near as long as I have.

For some it is a hobby that keeps them in coffee; for others it is the equivalent of a part time job/supplementing other income from “real jobs” or helping their family out as they attend to other commitments (raising a family). For others it is a full-time thing.

I’ll give you some examples below but you might also like to check out my How to Make Money Blogging Tutorial too.

2. There is no Single way to Make Money from Blogs

Recently at our Melbourne ProBlogger event I featured numerous Australian bloggers in our speaker lineup who fit somewhere in the part-time to full-time spectrum. They included:

The year before, we had others, including:

Most of these bloggers are full-time (or well on the way to being full-time bloggers). They come from a wide array of niches and all monetize quite differently—doing everything from selling advertising, to having membership areas, to selling ebooks, to running affiliate promotions, to promoting their offline businesses, to selling themselves as speakers, to having book deals, and so on. Many have a combination of different income streams.

They are all also Australian, and are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is happening here in Australia—the same thing is being replicated around the globe.

There are many ways to monetize a blog. To give you a quick sense of the many methods check out this “money map” I created a year or so back, which outlines just some that I brainstormed (click to enlarge).

How to Make Money Blogging

I also recorded this free hour-and-twenty-minute webinar giving an introduction to the topic.

3. There are no Formulas

From time to time, people have released products that claim to be formulas for success when it comes to making money online. They outline steps to follow to “guarantee” you’ll make money.

In my experience there is no formula.

Each full-time blogger I’ve met in the last ten years has forged their own path and has a unique story to tell. They have often acted on hunches and made surprising discoveries along the way.

There are certainly similarities in many of the stories but each blogger has their own personality and style, each one is reaching a different audience, and each niche tends to monetize differently.

The key lesson is to be aware of what others are doing and to learn what you can from each other, but to also be willing to forge your own path as well!

4. Many Niches Monetize

One common critique of the topic of monetizing of blogs is that the only people making money from blogging are the ones writing about how to make money blogging.

This is simply not true.

In the above list of speakers from our Melbourne event you’ll notice I included topic/niche of each blogger. None sell products teaching others to make money blogging—all are on blogging on “normal,” every-day topics.

My own experience of having a blog about blogging (ProBlogger) and a blog about Photography is that it is my photography blog that is by far the most profitable blog (I’d estimate it’s ten times more profitable).

I’ve interviewed numerous full-time bloggers of late in a webinar series including:

Interestingly, none of them make money by teaching others to make money online. Sarah largely blogs about health and wellbeing, Tsh blogs about simple living, and Ana blogs about woodwork.

5. Most bloggers don’t make a full-time living from Blogging

Every time I’ve surveyed readers of ProBlogger about their earnings, we’ve seen that those making money from blogging are in the minority.

In a recent survey of 1500 ProBlogger readers we asked about their monthly earnings. What you’re seeing below is the spread of earnings from readers who are attempting to make money blogging (note: not all ProBlogger readers attempt to make money, so not all are included in these results).

Can You REALLY Make Money Blogging? [7 Things I Know About Making Money from Blogging]

Keep in mind that ProBlogger readers are generally newish bloggers—about half of those who took this survey had been blogging for less than two years.

So of those trying to make money blogging, 10% don’t make anything and 28% are making less than 30 cents per day. A total of 63% make less than $3.50 per day.

Let’s be clear—most bloggers who are attempting to make money are not making a living from blogging.

Having said that, of the 1508 bloggers surveyed 65 (4%) are making over $10,000 per month (over six figures per year) and a further 9% were doing over $1000 per month (which is at least a part-time level of income).

My feeling, having been attending blogging conferences for six or so years now, is that the number of full-time bloggers is on the rise, and there are actually quite a few more people now at least making the equivalent of a couple of days’ work a week in income from their blogs.

However, most bloggers don’t make much.

6. It takes time to Build

When I dig down into the stats from the survey on income levels above, and do some analysis of those who are in the top income bracket, it is fascinating to look at how long they’ve been blogging.

85% of those in that top income bracket have been blogging for four years or more. Almost all of the others had been blogging for three or four years.

This certainly was my own experience. I blogged for a year without making money and once I started monetizing it was around two years of gradual increases before I approached a full-time income level. It would have been four years before I joined that top bracket of income (over $10,000 per month).

Blogging for money is not a get-rich-quick thing. It takes time to build an audience, to build a brand, and to build trust and a good reputation.

And of course even with four or five years of blogging behind you, there’s no guarantee of a decent income.

7. It takes a lot of Work

Longevity is not the only key to a profitable blog. The other common factor that I’ve noticed in most full-time bloggers is that they are people of action.

Passivity and blogging don’t tend to go hand in hand.

Blogging as “passive income stream” is another theme that we hear in many make-money-blogging products, however it is far from my own experience.

I’ve worked harder on my business over the last ten years than I’ve worked on anything in my life before this. It is often fun and gives me energy, but it takes considerable work to create content on a daily basis, to keep abreast of what’s going on in the community, to monitor the business side of things, to create products to sell, to build an audience, and so on.

The four main areas to focus upon in building profitable blogs are (click each for further reading):

  1. Creating Great Blog Content
  2. Finding Readers for Your Blog
  3. Building Community on Your Blog
  4. Making Money/Monetizing Your Blog

The key is to build blogs that matter to people, that are original, interesting, and helpful. But this doesn’t just happen—it takes a lot of work.

Note: the other major factor is starting. It might sound obvious but I’m amazed how many people I meet have ‘dreams’ for starting a blog but never do it! Here’s how to start a blog (do it today)!

Conclusions

Yes, it is possible to make money blogging. There is an ever-increasing number of people making money from blogging at a part-time to full-time level —however they are still in the minority.

Those who do make a living from blogging come from a wide range of niches, however one of the most common factors between them is that they’ve been at it for a long while.

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Each week here at ProBlogger we publish numerous articles and tutorials on building great blogs.

Our articles and tutorials focus upon the four key areas mentioned above (creating great content, finding readers, building reader engagement, monetization strategies) as well as some of the technical side of running a great blog.

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About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. In my talks with other bloggers the main thing I have noticed as well is that making money with blogging takes TIME. So let’s be patient, my friends, and keep on going!

    • Alex Frank says: 11/30/2012 at 1:02 am

      Thanks for the great article. I tend to find that any business takes at least 2- 3 yrs to make a good steady return. that is also why I want to create a travel and hotel blog to backup my website, http://www.onlyrooms.com . it is a lot of hard work

  2. Ive had the-dame.com for two years and I make no money on it as yet, but then I have not been consistent with it which is something I regret because I wonder where I would be now if I had been consistent. My niche is female empowerment and speaking to women like me who find regular magazines patronising and uninteresting. It takes a lot of work to write interesting and engaging articles that start discussions. It is much easier just to blog about fashion or beauty! But that is not what I want it to be about.

    I want an engaged audience who get involved in discussions and who are inspired by my content and I want that to earn me paid advertising and eventually to develop an e-book as a sellable product.

    • @The Dame Intl you can do it, but you have to do hard work.

      And be consistent ok!!

      @Darren once again very good article.

    • You may also want to do some keyword research on your niche to figure out whether or not you will actually make any money from your site. Just check out the AdWords keyword tool and check the average CPC for your keywords — this will determine what kind of ads will display on your website (if you use AdSense).

      You could make more money by actually marketing affiliate products on your website that will appeal to your target audience (women). That way, you can offer engaging content to your readers and still make a good amount of money.

  3. I’ve been blogging about 1.5 years now but I started to take it a little more seriously since last August when I bought a domain of my own. I have tried to make some money with the blog but without any success so far. Maybe one limiting issue is the subject, cars, technology etc. where at least the tech part has quite a lot of competition. Cars are our main focus though.

    Since August my visitors have been growing from 300 a month to 1000 a month which is still very low figure. This is something I like to do though (testing cars and filming, photographing and telling about them) so it’s ok. Sometimes I just wonder if it’s worth the work I’m putting in. So far it costs me much more than it’s giving.

    • I think the main thing is that you enjoy it – I find bloggers who enjoy what they’re doing not only can sustain it for a longer period (which can help to make it profitable) but their enthusiasm for what they do is infectious and readers pick up on that passion.

  4. Thanks Darren for yet another great article on ProBlogger. I’ve been blogging on The Austinot (austinot.com) with regular content (5 posts per week) since January 28th. It has been quite a journey and I echo your statement of a lot of consistent work. It is really just my wife and I along with a handful of contributing bloggers and guest bloggers that do the work. The Austinot earns somewhere around $500 to $700 per month at this point. Which is obviously a far cry from a full time income, but we are hopeful that with perseverance and the continuance of education about the industry from folks like yourself, we’ll eventually make a full time income. We love blogging about Austin, it’s like being on a permanent field trip. A sincere thank you from us here in Austin for ProBlogger, we are true fans. ~ Eric and Brittany of The Austinot

  5. Good points discussed here.Blogging is best the way to earn money through this you can make 1000 of dollors , But i takes time and attention and if you work hard and pay your full attention to your blog then you will get success and able to make a lot of money from blogging

  6. I’ve been blogging for three years already. I’ve got some income but not much. I dream, believe and aim at blogging full-time.

  7. Joe-seo says: 11/28/2012 at 2:11 am

    Great encoraging post as always. Yeah, only experienced bloggers know that it takes so much work and time to make blogging put food on the table. I have a few 3 year old blogs with hundreds of quality articles people love to read (They left comments) but Google just keep ignoring me. Sometimes, I saw a site with only 20 articles and doing good on Google and making tons of money from adsense is just pissed me off so much. I just wish I wouldn’t have to rely on Google stupid algorithm so much. Thanks

  8. It’s been 1.5 yrs I started my blog and I keep floating between 20% & 17%, mostly the income is on the lower side because I’m also a freelance writer & I can’t afford to give my blog more than 3 hrs per week.

  9. The bloggers you mentioned above, I know Nicole Avery and I’ve been reading her Planning with Kids blog from long time when I was planning to start a Birthday niche blog, but than I changed my mind.

    Well, Bloggers should focus on different monetizing method to see which works good for them and than focus on one which is making them great money.

  10. I’m writing a tea blog about Japanese green tea. It’s 6 months old, and the total earnings are less than 30 dollars, all from affiliate commissions (each sale only makes cents).
    My traffic isn’t that great, but it seems to slowly improve every month. Even if the blog never makes significant income, I’m having fun with it and I’ve learned a lot of things in the process.
    My current goal is to take it to 100 dollars/month, and I’d like to make my own e-product to sell there once I have a decent number of readers.

  11. A great post. Those three questions at the top, plus your extra one are the exact ones I’ve been asking myself since I got interested in doing this. I’ve been writing my blog since July, and made a couple of dollars from adsense so far. Today though I sold advertising space on my blog for the grand sum of €15 per month :-)

    A step along the road, and at least it’s now paid for itself for this year, which was goal number 1 on my roadmap!

  12. hey ya sir Right things you hv said

    I blogged approx 6 months on free wordpress blog n then i have selected to Go for self hosted domain
    n i started there just 2 months ago
    n its not easy way out to get good money out of your blog

    there are many ways to make money out of blogs
    but not even single one makes you money just in single night

    i wanna add one thing its not even easy to get Google Adsense Approved easily

    you have to build traffic ( organic traffic must )

    n lot more things…

    Its not Your Dads ATM

  13. “If it seems to good to be true, it probably is”

    I think it’s unfortunate that people push the concept of “passive income” as though it doesn’t involve effort and passion. It would be intersting to have surveyed the individuals you depict in the pie chart above with questions like

    1. how passionate do you consider yourself to be re your blog?
    2. when was the last time you posted content to your blog?, and
    3. how many hours do you devote to your blog each month?

    It would not surprise me if some those individuals making the most money actually make less per hour of effort than those making less money in total. As you said, you work harder on your blogging businesses than you ever did at anything else.

    Without a doubt there are techniques and tools that will increase someone’s probability of success immensely. I’m very new to blogging, but my own life experiences very clearly point out a very strong correlation between success and effort.

    “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is”

  14. Thanks for the well-rounded summary of what it takes to be a pro blogger. I especially appreciated the examples of specific people and blogs so I can check them out and learn more of their unique styles.

    I’ve personally only begun trying to monetize my 5+ year old blog. I don’t have hopes of getting rich, but I do plan to earn (that’s the key word) a modest amount that will enable a simple sailing life.

  15. Darren, your breakdown of income is helpful, but there’s a huge difference between earning $1k/mo vs. $9.9k/mo.

    I assume the pie chart’s segments are a consequence of the survey question, but a breakdown of the $1k-$9.9k segment would be revealing.

    I personally don’t know anyone who can live on $12k/year (certainly people do), but plenty who can get by on $30k or $40k / year. Seeing these gradations might serve to encourage more people trying to make a living at blogging (apropos to your point #7).

    Nonetheless, the meta point is clear — there’s a small percentage of bloggers earning enough to live exclusively from their blogging efforts. It would be really interesting to see this trended over time…perhaps a report ProBlogger can produce annually in the manner that Hubspot reports annually on content marketing.

    Thanks for the post.

  16. I have been blogging for almost 6 years and don’t make as much as I would like. But, the primary purpose of my blog is to educate people on their finances, not to get rich quickly.

  17. Thanks for sharing, Darren! I’ve been blogging for a little over a year now. It was at just about the year point that I started seeing significant monetization progress. But I’ve also been much more intentional about that.

    It also gets a bit murky when you talk about making money as a blogger since, as you point out, there’s a lot of money that can be made indirectly. This month, I’m going to make somewhere around a third of my total income in advertising and sponsorships. This is the highest percentage I’ve seen yet. The rest will be split up between consulting, coaching and online products.

    You’re right, there’s no magic formula. I’m trying a little bit of everything right now. It is a ton of work, but I can speak from experience that it’s possible.

  18. Thanks for the inspiration. I lost motivation after 2.5 years of blogging and have been awol for the last 3 months. Time to give it another stab!

    • Thanks for the inspiration. I’ve been blogging now at least on a weekly basis and some days 5 to 10 posts. It took a few months to start making any real money to speak of. Sometimes it’s kind of like playing the lottery. Some posts do well and others do nothing. The key is to keep on improving!

    • No kidding Roy, it gets discouraging for sure. The key is to find the best things to blog about and really make the most out of each blog post. I had some descent luck on Squidoo and Hubpages – nothing huge. I made about 55.00 off squidoo over a few month span. Most recently I moved to Empower Network – I am looking to make this my cash cow – it has the potential. Problem is it will be a couple months before I can go ” all in “. As they call it. I’m a wussy for now because I simply do not have the cash. That’s okay for me because I’m mentally all in and have put to much into everything to give up now. Keep pushing on and we will all find what we’re looking for. God Bless..

  19. I get this questions a lot too. I get a giggle from the people who think I’ve found some secret and I’m holding on to it like Golum. Most everything I learned, I learned right here. If it wasn’t a ProBlogger post or product, it was a guest writer who shared their knowledge. It takes time. Every month, I’m reading one fiction book and 1-2 books on blogging. I’m trying new things out, letting them simmer for a bit before trying new things. Keep the Tail Wagging had such success in gaining traffic quickly, because I had 2+ years of blogging lessons to help me.

    I definitely think it’s possible and I’m looking forward to being in that 4% pie wedge.

    Kimberly

  20. Great post, almost an eye-opener for me.

    When I started my first blog I gained a large amount of followers and audience, daily traffic. I put so much time into it but eventually gave up as I wasn’t making enough money. I wish I’d kept going with it!

  21. I started blogging (on ShockAndOrr.net) just over a year ago, but it took me ages to find enough time for it and to be able to post quicker. I know lots of (travel) bloggers who make varying degrees of money from their site, but for a lot of them it is just a personal platform to promote/acquire other income (as in your diagram). I think a blog run to enhance your service or reputation is great and much easier to live with than a blog trying to earn money in its own right. Its a less onerous endeavour and producing content for it is less pressured. A few months ago I started my newer blog (TravelUnmasked.com) with the goal of using it to get me work as a photographer and videographer, and it is progressing nicely. It also means I don’t need to worry quite as much about marketing and SEO all the time, I don’t use any ads. (But yes it still needs plenty of work.)

    When I think about the amount of hard work that goes into blogging full-time, to do it for 3 years or more and only then start to earn $100,000 a year – yes it sounds like a lot – but maybe getting a regular income will earn you more over 10 or 15 years, AND it is probably more secure an income AND you don’t take the job home so much. There’s so many other businesses to choose from, I think the misconceptions around full-time blogging (and low startup costs) make it way more popular than it should be.

  22. After reading your post titled “A reality check about blogging for money” i found my self sitting on the fence,don’t know if i have made the right choice for becoming a blogger.But then i remember this,only about 3 to 5% of the world population are really wealthy.
    So it doesn’t matter what % are making full-time from blogging as long as one individual proved it can be done,then another can do it giving time and equal ability.
    What i see is most people who goes into blogging really don’t know what it requires to build a successful blog.And after some few months of blogging,seeing all it takes to do it,they trow in the towel.Great Thanks Darren.

  23. I’ve been blogging since 2009 and it took me until 2012 to really start earning anything significant. I think that for the longest time my problem was that I was constantly switching up strategies. Another thing is that I didn’t really understand the basics of SEO. Now I know that you can get ridiculous amounts of traffic without writing SEO blogs if you have viral content.

  24. Been blogging for around 4 years now and the income is growing slowly but definitely still far from becoming a full time blogger. I don’t think you can become a full time blogger when you are relying too much on search engine visitors (which one day can come and go)

    I used to think blogging as a “passive income” but as you mention, there is no way passive about it!!

  25. No one ever mentions ‘selling volume product’ via a blog, as a way to earn a full time income from blogging. I earn a full time income through my blogging via online sales of lighting/furniture/interior decorating consults. I have an online store but also a lot of my business comes from relationships and trust I build through my blogging. My day is spent managing sales request emails from readers of my blog “Hi, I love your blog and your style and I was wondering if you could help me do all the lighting for my home, and while we’re at it all the soft furnishings and furniture”.
    If it wasn’t for my blog, I would not have the sales I have in my business. Sorry, I just have to put my two bobs worth in and come out from under my bushel. I come to your conferences and listen to speakers who are ‘almost making a full time living’ and I wonder why no one mentions ‘building trust through blog relationships that lead to sales of physical product’. My business is flexible and manageable, run lean and thriving. My blog advertising (paid ads) passive income pays for my warehouse rent, petrol and blog hosting so my business profit is clear profit. I was a Paediatric Dietitian in my previous life and I could not earn what I am earning now through my old career. Some days I have to pinch myself that it all came about through a free blogger blog to start with. I am so grateful for the internet and blogging. It has changed my life and puts food on the table and a roof over my little family’s head. There, I said it! Back under the bushel. A-M xx The House That A-M Built / Cape Cod Designs

  26. Can we make money from blogging if we don’t know how to write English properly as it is the second language?

  27. Thanks for the great article Sarah! I just started following you on Twitter and added your blog to the long list of PR blogs I subscribe to. Looking forward to reading more from

    Thanks for share this post.

  28. Point #7 rang very true to me. I have started many blogs in the past with every intention of regularly posting content only to find that life gets in the way. I am now on my third blog and hope that I have finally found a consistent pattern that can maybe one day make me some money. For now, I will do it for the experience of blogging and see how all this SEO stuff works too. Thanks again for the great post.

  29. Thank you Darren for the above statistic. Now I understood little bit and can see where I’can reach. Earlier It was blank to me regarding how many (%) people really earn good figures ($) through blogging.

  30. Hi Darren,

    #1 is where bloggers fail. They never believe making money online is possible, at least with blogging, so lack inspiration to make money.

    It needs to be a possibility in your mind, then a probability, then you can move into persistent action to begin making money online with blogging.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Ryan

  31. This is a nice post, i just stunbled upon this blog for the first time and I deeply appreciate it. I’d bookmark it for there’s more to learn here.

  32. Reading the statistics actually blew my mind. Every blogger has their own way in connecting with others. I think most people who fail to even make a hundred dollars from their blogs is due to lack in experience and consistency, I did struggle for a few years before I could actually see money coming in. In my opinion, I do think that every new blogger should work towards getting their voices heard and improving their way of communication via their blogs also technically upgrade themselves. Definitely, follow or emulate a person who is successful with a dedication to provide value.

  33. It is really hard to earn enough money from blogging. You need strong cooperation partners who support you with sponsored posts, product reviews, ads, etc. You have to find a good mixture between writing and managing your blog. But I think, only blogs with relevant, innovative and high-class content will be successful.

  34. Thanks for the excellent article. I’ve been blogging for just over five years, and last year was the first time I made over $2,000–hardly full time income, in spite of the many hours I’ve devoted to the site. I expect to do better this year, and things are looking up. I’m in the preparedness/survival niche, which is growing these days. I do mostly affiliate marketing, which is rather hit or miss when it comes to income. Attempts to sell e-books haven’t been very rewarding. I’m starting to get into Kindle e-book publishing, with the hope for good things to come. Also, it’s gratifying when advertisers approach me to put their ads on my site. I also do a weekly show on Blog Talk Radio. Honestly, I’m not sure how much traffic that drives to the site, but it gives me content for blog posts and helps me make connections with others. I can offer business people and book authors the audio platform and blog posts to give them exposure. But the bottom line–treat what you’re doing like a business, and give it lots of time.

  35. Wonderful article! I’ve been blogging for about 2 years and just recently have been researching and reading problogger.
    I’ve developed a few workshops and made a few bucks on those and am always churning ideas in my mind for new content.
    I finally set myself a goal of $1000/month that I HAVE to have in order NOT to be forced back to the brick and mortar job outside the home.
    I WISH I could afford a personal coach to get me up and running. I come up with an idea and tend to 2nd guess myself. I have to keep the momentum going.

  36. I’ve been blogging for 4 years now and feel incredibly lucky to be in the top 4% — the first year I spent probably 15 hours a day on the computer, and read everything I could get my hands on about blogging, promotion, and search engine optimization, yet all that did was cement my goal to provide a valuable service — which in my case was slow cooker recipes. I had a goal to attract 1,000 readers a day on average for that first year, and didn’t reach it steadily until 10 months in. I kept doubling my goal each time I met it, and continue to do so today.

    Not a get-rich-quick plan, but a solid one that was realistic with focus and determination, and hey, it certainly beats teaching preschool, which was the back-up! ;-)

    • I too put in the time in the beginning. I spent more than a year doing nothing but stuff for the blog. Now I’m able to relax more and have it in an auto-pilot mode. It’s been nice because I almost burned myself out working so many hours in the beginning.

  37. Good post for those people who think blogging is a quick and an easy way to earn and for those who think Adsense is a only way for monetization.

  38. Dropped in for your book sale, and thought I’d answer your question — I’ve been blogging since it was called “updating the website,” in the late 90’s, and have had my current blogs since 2004. I make just over $2,000/month working about 4 hours a week (I was very preoccupied this year – not blogging as regularly as I did in other years). Each year, for the past four, the income doubles, but I don’t devote more than 10 hours/week on the blogs, as my priority is family time and with homeschooling four kids ages 9-17, I don’t have a lot of “work” time.

    My revenue streams are in order of income: 1. Sponsored Posts (a niche blog perk), 2. Adsense, 3.Ambassador/Campaign Jobs, 4.Affiliate Programs I really need to write an ebook….

    Thanks for keeping up this blog, Darren, even though it isn’t as profitable as your photography blog! I’m glad it’s here when I need it. ~ Lori

  39. Terrific blog post Darren.

    I blog for a living for over 1 year now (started my first blog 3 years ago) and always had the impression that most of the top bloggers make money from the “making money online” topic. And, let’s face it, they are the guys making the most money but there are others NOT in the “make money online” topic that can still make a living, at least part-time, from blogging.

    I’m in the grey 7% in your graph making around $600-$700 a month with a blog in the games niche (reviews, previews and news). You can check it under my name link above.

    I couldn’t agree more with what you’ve said. It takes time and a lot of work. It’s not something you can pull off with just a few hours a week on the side. To get serious income you really need to get pro and work full time or at least part-time (highly committed).

    So, thanks a lot for clearing this issue out from your point of view and long experience in the field. I agree that you can make decent income and even make a living from blogging, but be prepared to work hard as Darren said. There are no magic bullets. Only work, time and a passion for what you do. Luck also plays a significant factor, so that’s why some people take just one year to get decent results while others may take five or even more years to get something out of it. But, I’m convinced you’ll eventually get there. You may not get right at first but you’ll probably get there with enough time and perseverance.

    Cheers,
    Adam

  40. I think my biggest issue with traditional ways of monetizing blogs is that it is intrusive. I’m glad that tons of ads and affiliates works, but it’s just not for me. I’m content with just writing a blog about being better at life and business than about making money. Is that weird? think I am going to focus on guest blogging and freelance writing to draw more folks to my administrative consulting business.

    I am having a tough time staying focused on a niche. I am seriously considering writing about being a “Jane-of-all trades”. LOL

  41. Blogging is definitely not the get rich quick scheme many people are led to believe. You can’t just post a dozen articles and kick your feet up while the money pours in…it takes a lot of work!

    But, if you enjoy it and can grow as a person then there is a lot of potential for profit.

  42. I am glad that I lie among the top 13% of Problogger readers :)
    I am not searching for new ideas, to keep this further.
    BTW: Really a nice share.

  43. Really awesome post! I’ve never talked money on my blog because I will get negative comments. People don’t want to hear about my blog being a business, they want to read home decor posts. It’s nice that there are bloggers (you) who can talk about money without it being weird. Having said that, I think I am doing well with my blog considering I blog less than 20 hours a week. I get about 400k page views a month. I’ve blogged for 2.5 years. I only have had networks on my blog. I no longer participate in any type of sponsored post or sidebar advertising for small businesses. I may in the future but for now I just don’t want to. So, I only make money two ways – adsense and blogher. I bring in over 2k a month before taxes. After taxes and all my blogging bills I have around 1k of profit, which I will use part of to invest in home decor projects to blog about. I love having a part time job and honestly I have no desire to turn this into a professional career. I’m very happy with the amount of money I make each month.

  44. Hi Darren,

    Great post! Actually we are looking out for bloggers on our website, and are ready to pay. But the problem has been finding quality content creators. Do you have any suggestions on how I can go about finding great bloggers who could write for us?

    THanks,

    Arjun

    • Arjun,

      It would be helpful if you could provide some guidance regarding what type of content you are looking for. The more specific you can be the greater your chances of locating someone with that skill set and interest.

      Dale

  45. Hi Darren,

    Great post, the idea of opening up the topic of making money with blogging is very good as many bloggers are curious to know what will be there future in blogging,as they are not able to earn some decent amount also.

    I like the way you opened up all the aspects which can be if choosing blogging as part time to full time.

    You have mentioned that blogging is not a game of day ,months or years ,its about the patience ,hard work ,dedication and love toward your work.

    I am also 2 months in the industry of blogging but i made some of income so that i can spend on my blog as well as to earn money.

    I started making websites for small business companies as i have good knowledge of themes and plugins.So it gives me a support of money and i can do my work without taking any tension of money.

    Many bloggers who are just starting and are not gettting any money out of there blog ,they can can do this as they know how to set up a website or blog.Making website or blog for some small company is very easy and less time consuming when you have good knowledge how to set up .So it take less time to make a website for others for which you are paid and you have alot of time to work for your blog also.
    Try it!

    Thank You
    Shorya Bist
    From Youthofest

  46. Hi Darren,

    As usual, great post with inspirational sharing. Maybe as a follow-up, can write a post on which are the best performing income streams e.g. Ads placement, Affiliate commission earning, Speaking contract through the blog, own product/services sold through the blog etc…?

    Thanks.

  47. Nice Inspirational Post , Im Making a Descent Income from Blogging which took nearly TWO Years to reach this ,at the initial Stage i cant even make even a Penny .

  48. Junaid khawaja says: 11/29/2012 at 10:40 pm

    Lets wait for my college exams to get over and i will bang my blog with lots of hardwork! Hey Darren! Watch out for me..:D

  49. I just started a blog not very long ago, so I wanted to see other people’s blogs to get an idea what they write about and really to know what I should do! It is hard to know what to do. I got some knowledge through reading yours…so thanks. I understand it takes time and EFFORT on my part to build my blog up and if I do it right people will eventually go to my blog like they are to yours.

  50. My mantra is “multiple streams of income.” Not only does that help even out the income flow but it keeps me from getting bored and keeps my writing fresh and interesting.

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