Is It Really Possible to Get Rich from Blogging?
Making money through blogging is something that lots of people want to do and there’s a huge industry surrounding our attempts.
It doesn’t take much to find resources online claiming to help you make more money on the internet and it seems that every other person these days is giving it a go.
This doesn’t always go to plan however unfortunately, and of all those friends you probably know who have launched their own website or blog with the intention of making money, how many can you honestly say have made it big? In fact, just looking around the net, what percentage of websites do you think are actually making any real money? Of course there are those big sites like IGN or BBC, but how many real success stories are there for individual bloggers?
Is making big money through a blog really as easy as they make it sound? Or is it just a pipe dream?
Why You Probably Aren’t Rich Yet
Well as with all these things, the truth probably lies somewhere in between. No, it’s not as easy as the make money blogs would have you seem, but at the same time it certainly is possible. It’s a little like the lottery – of course someone has to win, but I wouldn’t pin all your hopes on it. Don’t quit your day job just yet.
But of course there is one big difference between running a blog and paying the lottery, and that’s the fact that the lottery is based purely on luck. While there is of course an element of luck involved in web success, it obviously also comes down to the quality of your website and how skilfully you have marketed it and monetised it.
And this all comes with experience. Don’t expect to be able to easily follow a blueprint for web success and start making a fortune overnight, if it was that easy then everyone would be web millionaires. Rather, it takes simple dedication and time, during which you will gradually learn what works and how to optimise your site for making money. There is an element of luck, but for every week you spend trying to make money online, the odds change slightly in your favour.
The Mistakes Lots of Us Make
Like I said, you can’t just read a blueprint – you will only really learn to make money online by trying – but there are some common mistakes you can try to eliminate right now. Here’s some advice to help send you on your way more quickly:
Sell a Product: If your sole form of monetization is AdSense, then don’t expect to bring in much cash. Getting a few cents per click requires huge numbers of visitors to generate any decent kind of money and that just isn’t going to happen right away. Instead then, write an eBook, create a landing page and then sell it from there for $30 or even $50. You’ll make a sale occasionally if the book is good and your sales pitch is well written, and this will help you to start making money without getting thousands of viewers a day.
Treat it Like a Job: If you are treating your website like a hobby, then don’t expect to make a living from it. If you want to turn running a website into your main income, you have to put in the same time and effort as you would with any other job. That also means no cutting corners (don’t use ugly graphics and say ‘that will do’) and it means posting on a regular basis (the more often you post the better).
Treat it Like a Business: Likewise, you also need to apply the same logic and attitude as you would for a business. That means looking at statistics and using them to gradually tweak your model. It also means putting money in to your site – by paying for SEO and posts. Any business model is founded on making the right investments.
Here are some more common blogging mistakes to avoid. Take those tips, apply time and effort, and you will slowly start to bring in some real cash. Just don’t build a website, stick AdSense on it and then expect to be an overnight millionaire…
About the author: Today’s guest author, John Miller, is an SEO executive. He is very passionate about photography and editing.
