“I Want to Blog to Make Money.”

The title of this post is a statement that I hear fairly often.  Very recently, I had a conversation with a childhood friend of my mother’s about blogging.  I have been giving advisement to my sister-in-law, whom I like to refer to as just my sister, about her blog.  It started as a hobby for her and with a little advice, she has been able to turn it into something far greater and is earning a small income from the site in a very short amount of time.  My mother’s friend was looking for a part-time way to earn some extra income and my mother thought she should talk to me about blogging.  She was not entirely sure what a blog was or how to make one, but she knew she wanted to do it to make money.  By the end of the conversation (don’t worry, I told her this would end up becoming a blog post), I had talked her out of doing so.

 

Here is why:

Saying “I want to blog to make money” without any other goals, purpose, etc behind it, is like saying “I want to randomly make a commercial to air on tv.”  To me, blogging for business or some monetary gain is part of a marketing plan.  It is a marketing practice that helps to reach a goal.  The goal could be revenue in terms of pay per click ads on your site.  Another goal could be customer acquisition by putting you and your brand in front of more people.  Being a helpful resource to people of a particular niche is also a goal.  A blog can help to generate revenue in the same way a print advertisement, podcast or tv commercial spot can help to generate revenue.

Things a blog can do for you:

• Increase the visibility of an author/writer
• Make you the go-to guru for a particular niche
• Create brand awareness
• Create a community of like-minded individuals
• Create a space for you to engage with an audience
• Build an audience
• Showcase your work/portfolio
• Give insight into your company’s culture
• Give helpful information
• A lot more…

A blog can help generate revenue, but a blog with no purpose other than to make money; will not make money.

The other reason why I discouraged her from creating a blog was the time commitment.  The reason why she was looking for something part-time to do was because she had gone back to school and needed time to devote to her studies.  In order for any blog to be successful and especially for her purpose of making money, a lot of time has to be invested into it.  She would not only need to write daily or almost daily, but she would need to promote it, and also respond and engage with those that engaged with her.  My sister did not achieve success by blogging part-time.  She treats her blog as a full-time job.  Her dedication and time commitment to her blog has helped to make it as successful as it has been.  She also had a purpose that was not monetary.

She started blogging as an online journal where she shared stories of relationships with significant other’s, co-workers, family and friends.  I saw the beginnings of a creative writer and she took the concept and ran with it.  She also loves what she is doing which takes some of the edge off of the time commitment, while trying to run a household with young children at the same time.

I explained the amount of time and effort that was needed to my mother’s friend.  I also explained that she might come to resent the blog if her heart was not in it and the sole purpose was to try to make some money.  After explaining everything to her, she agreed that she did not have the time to commit to doing something so tedious.  We discussed some of her future plans upon graduation and I told her how a blog could complement those future endeavors…if the current tech/marketing landscape remained the same.

Although the outcome to the conversation did not help her to start a blog, it did help her get some insight into the “blogosphere” and different ways blogs were used for both business and for pleasure.  Having more insight, I think is what ultimately helped her to make her decision and I thought writing about the conversation, might help someone else that wants to “start a blog to make money.”