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Can Bloggers Make Money?
By JLP | April 18, 2006
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting discussion between Alan Meckler, CEO of JupiterMedia, and Jason Calacanis, co-founder of Weblogs, about just how much money bloggers can expect to make from blogging. I’m not sure of where I stand on this issue.
What do you guys think?
Topics: Blogging | 11 Comments »
April 19th, 2006 at 12:20 am
I really think that a lot of money can be made from blogging. But at the same time, I have to agree that not everyone will become super rich like Jason Calacanis.
He had a great idea and it worked for him, but i doubt it will work again. For those of us who don’t have a blog network, we still have Adsense. Adsense has made it very easy for normal people to earn a decent amount of money online. As more ad serving channels open up to the public, and competition heats up between the major 3 search engines, everyday people are going to earn even more.
April 19th, 2006 at 1:03 am
The conversation is what’s to be expected. However, whatever magazine featured Jonathan and MyMoneyBlog.com said he’s making about $1,000 per month. And he doesn’t have 500,000 page views per month. Shoot, if I ever made that much or half that per month I’d be ecstatic! Soon I think we’ll see the decline of the blogging craze just like with geocities because it’s the same general concept, just easier to implement. Blogging will become dominated by a few… or will it?
Good post.
April 19th, 2006 at 1:05 am
Like all money making propositions – a few will make it big, some will lose money, the majority somewhere in between.
A lot depends whether you intend to monetise your blog (quite a few bloggers don’t); and if you do, what the intention is. Is it just to cover expenses, make some extra money, or make a fortune? Last but not least – how well are you executing on the intent?
Given that intent clarity and execution capabilities vary so much, it isn’t surprising to see different opinions.
April 19th, 2006 at 7:26 am
I think a select few will make a fortune, a handful will do quite well, several will make enough for some extra spending money and the vast majority won’t make much (if anything). Then again, the vast majority isn’t in it for the money — they’re not concerned with it nor trying to make it.
April 19th, 2006 at 8:04 am
I guess it partly depends whether you are referring to income specifically generated through blogging or whether you include the reputational impact of the blog. For a financial planner who blogs, does the blog attract potential clients? If so, it can be seen as an inexpensive advertisement rather than a revenue generator.
As to blog-specific revenue, I have been up for 6 weeks and “made” $1.50 in AdSense revenue. Given that Weblogs, Inc. expects its authors to grow traffic by 25% per month, I can use that for my goal and project that by the end of the year I will cover my hosting costs. But the power of compounding is great, and if I kept up at that rate for three years it would turn into good money. Few have the patience to work three years at below minimum wage for a highly uncertain potential large payoff. Will I? We’ll see.
April 19th, 2006 at 10:29 am
Depends on what is meant by making money: AdSense and other advertising revenue is one thing. Getting sales leads is another. Selling these sales leads, or collecting sales leads on behalf of someone else is a third. Building an industry reputation as an expert, which then leads to other opportunities if a fourth, and very hard to quantify.
I think there is certainly some sort of payoff; what’s important is to find the right balance on how much effort to spend on the blog vs. what you get out of it. Furthermore, as a few have already stated, it’s not always about the money, which makes it all the more difficult to quantify any kind of ROI.
April 19th, 2006 at 11:04 am
I think they can definately be profit-making vehicles. I think that it’s not easy money, however, and the more time and effort you commit to your blog, the more monetary potential it has. Just like any other business, really.
April 19th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
I don’t think anyone can “lose their shirt” in blogging, so to speak, because the startup costs are so low. That being said, the probability of making a ton of money is also lower because of all the competition.
When I started blogging there were less than half a dozen personal finance blogs, it was easier back then to differentiate yourself and gain a following. There are an incredible amount now… it’s much much harder.
April 20th, 2006 at 12:57 am
Persistence is another factor. There may be a lot of competition, but many of the newcomers will just fizzle out after a while, and they’ll drop out.
April 20th, 2006 at 11:32 am
During the Yukon Gold Rush the people most likely to make money were the ones selling shovels. When you start seeing sites that advertise how to earn money blogging, you know the market is well into or has gone past the growth stage.
May 3rd, 2006 at 5:21 pm
Blogs are just websites, and there will always be money in websites. I think to make money with a blog takes finding a niche and digging in.
Far to many people approach the whole thing casually, and then are upset when they don’t get rich overnight. It’s exactly the same as with people who go into real estate, a franchise, or whatever. Making money on a web site often takes a year of hard effort (judging by what I’ve read).