[chibluu]

I started a blog back in April after losing my job. I was starting to think blogging is maybe dead as an income stream. I think it's true that video blogging has probably taking over as a more popular way to make money but for me I'd rather not do video and put myself out there. Anyways three months in and I've made about $300. Not too bad. Here's info about how I made it if you're curious.

[CleanSlate]

I don’t think it is dead per se, but its become a lot more saturated and harder to make money.

I have a friend who is making $100 a month per blog on 3-5 blogs using affiliate marketing. He already has passive income so he doesn’t really need to scramble for a living income.

Another guy on here does make a livable income off blogging alone, but his work output is astronomical. We’re talking 3-5 blog articles per DAY, on top of email campaigns and writing website copy. It’s rare for someone to be able to sustain such an output. It can be done, but it’s not for me.

[semibaron]

Yes, the travel section is dying

[rotinz]

I think people in general just don't read as much anymore in any medium whether it is blogs or books. Video has basically replaced reading and will continue to do so.

[flanders]

There are a number of large blogs out there, usually in the realm of personal finance, that bring in 100-200k+ per year for the author. It's hard to believe numbers like that but they make their income streams public and it's probably true.

Usually these guys are approached by refinancing companies and credit card companies (among other things) for endorsements and affiliate marketing. This is only after they get a shitload of traffic to their site, for quite a while, maybe even a year.

If I understand correctly, one guy did a sort of 'rags to riches' story where he paid off his student loans on a teacher's income in a short period of time. Then he bought a bunch of facebook ads to drive traffic to his site, set up a huge facebook community discussing all kinds of personal finance (it's non-stop duckspeak about Roth IRAs and "side-hustles", they go nuts about this) ... he might even have a patreon. None of his blog posts are even that good, but somehow they get liked, shared, subscribed, and sent all over hell's creation. Paid trafficking might be useful for you once you get enough material out.

[rotinz]

(07-08-2018 03:34 PM)flanders Wrote:  

There are a number of large blogs out there, usually in the realm of personal finance, that bring in 100-200k+ per year for the author. It's hard to believe numbers like that but they make their income streams public and it's probably true.

Usually these guys are approached by refinancing companies and credit card companies (among other things) for endorsements and affiliate marketing. This is only after they get a shitload of traffic to their site, for quite a while, maybe even a year.

If I understand correctly, one guy did a sort of 'rags to riches' story where he paid off his student loans on a teacher's income in a short period of time. Then he bought a bunch of facebook ads to drive traffic to his site, set up a huge facebook community discussing all kinds of personal finance (it's non-stop duckspeak about Roth IRAs and "side-hustles", they go nuts about this) ... he might even have a patreon. None of his blog posts are even that good, but somehow they get liked, shared, subscribed, and sent all over hell's creation. Paid trafficking might be useful for you once you get enough material out.

Yeah that self help guru space is really blowing up there are like a dozen new ones a day. They are really getting nauseating.

[This Is Trouble]

(07-07-2018 11:36 PM)chibluu Wrote:  

I was starting to think blogging is maybe dead as an income stream.

Hell no it's not.

[John Michael Kane]

If you write quality content, you will have your loyal followers. Blogs that have a profit-first, quality content-never type of mindset die quickly. So many blog authors are looking to monetize that they forget the Cardinal Rule of Blogging: Write something worth reading!

[Alpha_Ambitionz]

Once you garner enough readers, you can start selling a product or offering a service.

For example, if you're writing a men's skin care blog, you could try selling an e-book that you wrote on diet.

Or if you're blogging about muscular dysfunctions, you could create a video course that shows how you fixed a particular problem.

Regardless of what you're writing about, and what you're selling, you can always use your blog as part of your portfolio if you ever want to become a copywriter.

[LesterLynch]

(07-09-2018 01:45 AM)This Is Trouble Wrote:  

(07-07-2018 11:36 PM)chibluu Wrote:  

I was starting to think blogging is maybe dead as an income stream.

Hell no it's not.

What makes you say that? Sometimes I feel as if it is, even if you are making quality content. The space is now so competitive that its hard to find a way in and actually make any money, but I may be wrong.

[Black Caesar]

Keep going for another 2-3 years and then you’ll see.

Most don’t make it long enough to see any results.

[zoom]

The OP only made this thread to promote his blog. It's pretty obvious.

[jamaicabound]

(07-08-2018 04:12 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

I don’t think it is dead per se, but its become a lot more saturated and harder to make money.

I have a friend who is making $100 a month per blog on 3-5 blogs using affiliate marketing. He already has passive income so he doesn’t really need to scramble for a living income.

Another guy on here does make a livable income off blogging alone, but his work output is astronomical. We’re talking 3-5 blog articles per DAY, on top of email campaigns and writing website copy. It’s rare for someone to be able to sustain such an output. It can be done, but it’s not for me.

How is your friend living off $300 to $500 per month?

[jamaicabound]

Its not dead, it can be incredibly profitable but you have to be okay with doing it for a year potentially without earning shit. 99% of people don't have the patience or don't see the value in doing that. It's also not as simple as just writing, most people to make larger amounts of money need to incorporate e-mail marketing, affiliate programs, Youtube, etc.

You referred to vlogging, I would say vlogging has become more popular than blogging ie writing over the past few years but blogging is still alive and well

[ChicagoFire]

I know Mike Cernovich says writing pretty much amounts to $1/hour and that you have to be insane to want to blog. Back when he had DAP he had an article stating how he writes 10K words a day which is significantly beyond what I do. For the unitiated he suggested doing cardio, taking nootropics, among other things I don't remember.

I blog anyways to get my thoughts out there and for me it's a 10 year plan of writing in obscurity. It may very well be 20 years unless I get a break (not likely). I'm essentially operating at a ~$500 loss at the moment.

Writing is definitely a loner activity and it just fits me. Or I could go out to bars, clubs and do other extroverted things that would piss me off.