I have been reading more and more information about monetizing your blog, and turning your hobby into a business. This created a situation that this weekend worked me to the bone and I made some changes that reflect as of now. Did I really think that I could make money with this blog this fast?
What was I thinking?
Somehow I came across the problogger site and got into my head the thought of making money from this technology blog. So after reading an article or two about blogging for money I decided to sign up for Ad sense to run Ads on my blog. That was the first of my many mistakes here are some the lessons I learned.
- Don’t monetize your blog unless you have readers.
- If there is no one to click on your ads then why have them there in the first place.
- Money from blogging is not easy, don’t believe the hype.
- A lot of people, websites and others will say it’s easy just follow my 12 step program it’s far more than that I assure you.
- Time is your friend
- Time is on your side the more you do and the more time and effort you put into blogging will help you out in the long run.
- Make a plan of what you want and set goals that help you move forward.
- In any business you can’t get to where you want to go until you plan for it, set obtainable goals that help you reach the finish line.
- Everyone does not make money blogging
- Most of the people making money from blogging have been around for a long time with tons of resources that keep people coming back, you have to create something that compels people to visit over and over again.
- Hope for the best plan for the worst
- Just one of those saying that you forget when it’s your turn to do something, just a reminder to Plan, Plan, Plan…
- You will probably not make money your first 6 months of consistent blogging
- Making money from blogging takes time, traffic, planning, and understanding you want it to grow not fizzle out and die.
Are you a pro or not!
I’ve learned that to call yourself a Pro you need to have posted more then 20 articles about something you like or love.
While that is a joke you have to understand people want resources and something to visit over and over again. Your passion has to be there even if your readers are not. In the beginning you can only rely on yourself and no one else. You need to read some of the resources out there by these pioneers, now once you have read these blogs don’t get in your head that all of the sudden you are a blog PRO. Your far from that title and need to understand this is a hobby for most with some having a goal of a full time endeavor. Visit these sites with caution they will take up hours of your time:
Problogger by Darren Rowse
DoshDosh
Remarkablogger
Seth
Chris G
When will the change from novice to Pro happen.
That question will plague you over the coming days, weeks, months, and maybe even years. It is my belief that once your readers ship and viewers of your site are at a level such as 500 viewers and 500 readers. To me this is where you have a following that will continue to come back to read. As you create more and better content your numbers and influence will begin to help you grow from Novice to Semi-Pro. Those numbers are my own indicator for me, see what others think out there and use the FREE resources that are available to you.
In conclusion I know I have not even scratched the surface of blogging, let alone I can’t be called a Pro. So back to the content I will go. As I grow I will ocassionally share with you but my main objective is to keep this blog about technology. Also to keep it simple.
