Blogging for moolah.

I was talking to a friend online and I mentioned that there is money to be made via advertisements on blogs and such. The first and very expected question in response to my 'entrepreneurial' comment was "How much?".

Somehow, that simple "how much?" made me hesitate, and probably even shudder as I struggled to formulate an answer that would not seem too stupid. After pondering for a few seconds, I decided that there was nothing I could do to hide the sad truth that each click earns publishers like us a measly couple of cents. And I went on to tell my friend how much money I have 'made'. (Perhaps 'accumulate' would have been more apt.)

"So cheap."

I thought the comment was directed at the advertisements and the payout, but no, it was at the blogger. (Ouch.)

This kind of sat me down to think if monetizing your blog really brings you much returns, if any at all. I, for one, do not have much traffic and there is no way I can rely on this as a steady of income. Not even a steady trickle, just a few occasional drops. People who earn enough money via blogging to be able to survive with just another part-time job are really drawing in huge crowds to their sites, and without huge volume, small payouts per visitor do nothing but keep your payouts small.

So does this mean that all small-time bloggers should just log into their accounts and clear their blogs of all advertisements they have put up and cancel all their publisher accounts? Notwithstanding the fact that I barely make any sensible amount of money to be so proactive about blogging, I would still keep things the way they are. Even if no attempt is made to try to earn a larger income via blogging, I guess being able to see some form of returns, no matter how small, can be a form of recognition for yourself. And perhaps for some people, it acts as a form of motivation to simple keep a blog active.

Some people have this idea that "if it doesn't make big money, it isn't worth my time at all". It sometimes becomes a very narrow-minded perspective that obviously ignores the bigger picture. Yes, granted that even 100 clicks a day can't feed you all 3 meals a day, 36,500 a year could probably get you a decent treat for your brithday. Also, even the biggest bloggers start with 1 visitor a day (probably their own selves), to 10 a day, to a hundred or even more. And if you consider the fact that some bloggers earn money on their blogs without a lot more effot, just adding an extra line of HTML or two and doing what they normally do, an income from a blog starts to seem to make a little more sense.

People tend to think that those who try to make money online are suckers, or that they are being lazy, impractical and more or less unrealistic.
1. Suckers do not know of, or bother to try their hands at new opportunities, or even know what HTML is.
2. Lazy people do not deal with layouts and bother to come up with content.
3. Impractical people are those who believe that one should take action only if it can earn you a million bucks.
4. Unrealistc people really believe that making a million bucks is their only goal in life, and if blogging does not get you there, you drop the idea.

Blogging for money can be a seriou business to some people, and I somehow applaud their effots and envy the results they achieve. I know that I cannot set my mind to this task as of now, but nothing is stopping me from doing what I would like to do even without the money. The money, to me, is merely a bonus, not a basic requirement, nor is it a commission of sorts. If money is the only basis for your blogging and you aren't earning an income you desire after a few months at it, then you probably might want to worry a little, but if money isn't the sole reason, then no-money isn't a reason to give up blogging anyway.

I don't quite like the idea of having 'blogging for money' as a hobby, because to me, anything that requires a form of financial return isn't quite a hobby. (But we still can't deny that there are people in this world who have a hobby of making money, and are pretty darn good at that.) Whatever the case, to any bloggers out there who might just be feeling the same thing as me, keep it going, and just do what you like to do. Don't stop blogging totally just because your advertising network only pays you a few cents a click or never gives you new ads. If you really enjoy blogging, keep the money part out of your mind, let it come naturally, and blog like you would. Checking your balance everyday doesn't earn you a sigle cent more.

All things can end either with a bang, or fade quietly into oblivion, but they all share a common point.