Money Chat: Finally Jumping in to Making Money from Blogging

An anonymous JMMO reader recently sent me an email with the subject line “Help Me” and it contains this message -

I have had a blog for 4 years and am FINALLY now looking to make some money off it. I am going to have a web designer recreate it, but can you help me out to make some money off it? Do you make money off yours?

I receive a lot of this type of messages. As in, A LOT.

And, no matter how many times I receive and try to respond to such emails, I always find it a bit difficult to come up with the right answer.

It’s not because I don’t know what to say. In fact, I pretty much have the same answer each time.

I just find it difficult because it makes me feel that these people want a “magic answer”. A simple solution on how to rake in the riches from blogging.

The problem is: There’s no easy solution. No magic answer.

Yes, I make money off my blogs. I run a few, you see. Not as a full time job, mind you. So, I don’t get to spend much time on them. But, that’s just how I like to run my online life at the moment. Much as I love it all, I’m keeping a bit of a distance, as I explore my other interests and live the rest of my life.

I know other people have decided to make this as their full-time gig. I know I have in the past. That’s why I know it’s possible to do it.

So now, how can I help others make money off their blogs? Well, that’s one of the biggest reasons I maintain this site, JMMO. It’s a way for me to write down different ideas on how to make money online. It’s how I try to guide those who are starting out and experimenting in finding ways to make some money from the web. That was the reason I started in this MMO niche in the first place some 4+ years ago. I don’t see myself as a “business” or “marketing” blogger. I mainly do this because I receive so many questions and find a number of leads and ideas in this field. That’s why I keep going with this blog.

But, I digress.

Now, back to the main question: How do I help this person to make money off his/her blog? There really are so many factors with making money from one’s blog.

The longevity of the blog is one important aspect – although not the most important one. A new blog will always have a bit of an uphill battle, as it tries to build content and readership. A four-year-old blog, hopefully, will have enough readers, PR, content, and pageviews to attract monetisation.

So, my next suggestion is to learn as much as you can about making money from blogs. There are so many things written out there, of course. And, JMMO alone has several ideas that I shared over the years. Since there are a number of posts to go through here, perhaps, checking the “Best of JMMO” page might be a useful start. For bloggers, the “Making Money in the first 6 Months” might be a good place to gather some ideas.

Don’t go overboard with the research! Just get enough information to help you gain some confidence about implementing ‘best practices’ — then get in to the action. Make some choices when it comes to revenue models. Then, try to implement them bit by bit. Experiment, take notes, then try some new things. Rinse and repeat – until you find the right formula for your particular circumstance.

If you set some realistic goals, then hopefully, you will begin to see the results of your labour. I wish you all the best with it!