On Trying to Make Money Blogging
Sep 21st, 2009 by Nut
When I first started this site, it was out of the enthusiasm that I felt about having a place where I could write about the things I thought were interesting. A place where I could share them with other people. I had gotten really into reading a lot of the other personal-finance sites out there and part of me felt I had something new I could bring to the conversation.
Instead of talking about minute details like CDs, shopping for a better rate on your savings account, and other helpful stuff, I wanted to take a look at the bigger picture. At the role money plays in our lives and our careers. After all, I did get a degree in Philosophy…so I love debating about this kind of stuff all day long.
And wayyyy in the back of my head, I thought to myself, “I wonder if I can make some money at it, too.”
Well, I’m making some money but I’m not making anywhere near what a lot of other sites out there make.
Not even close, and this has frustrated me a bit because I’ve kept money in mind every time I sit down to write.
Try as I might, it just hasn’t happened and I think I know why: things that I find incredible interesting just aren’t that interesting to the mass of people it takes to draw a huge following. It’s either that or I’m just not a very compelling writer, but I’m blocking that thought out for now.
And I think I’ve finally come to the point where I make a decision about trying to squeeze as much money as I can out of what I write for The Writer’s Coin.
I don’t want to think about what might go viral when I write for this site.
I don’t want to think about what keywords are being searched for.
I don’t want to think about what topics are in high demand or who will link to my post.
I don’t want to feel like I have to post something every day.
Here’s what I do want:
I want to write about things I find interesting.
I want to really let my personality loose in my writing.
I want to connect with my readers on a deeper level than just around money stuff.
I want to expand what I write about far beyond money.
I want to have fun doing all of this.
I know I had a similar moment a while back when I laid down my manifesto on my new blogging philosophy. But that was still under the old model of writing “in the PF space.” I want to go beyond that. Basically, I want to move more towards sites like Brip Blap and Ben Casnocha’s blog.
What About Making Money?
I still want to make some money, I won’t lie. But that’s where partnerships like the one I have with Wisebread come in. I like writing for them because that’s where I can write about things their audience is looking for and a LOT more people are going to read them, comment on them, and hopefully enjoy them. Plus I get paid way more than if I put it on my own site.
It’s just a matter of putting the right content in front of the right people. It just makes sense.
I’m also looking at some other partnerships that might make sense, allowing me to send my content to other sites that can better monetize it, leaving me with more income for that type of writing and giving me my site back so I can write about the things that I’m truly engrossed in.
Things like Viktor Frankl, psychology, and philosophy.
Anyway, I hope that those of you out there will still come back and enjoy what I’m writing. I’ll always link out to the stuff I write, so you can consider this your one-stop shop for all Writer’s Coin-related content.
That is all.
It’s difficult to make money blogging although it can be done. Blogging should be first about writing what you want to write and write for your audience, then hopefully that can translate into some money after.
Hey there,
I saw that Moolanomy is taking on new authors as well and has published a very clear, interesting payment system – pays for both initial article + traffic you draw based on your article on his site. I was mulling it over; but noticed you said you get paid by Wisebread as well. Are you able to share what the comp structure looks like? I’ve been thinking about doing something similar.
btw, have you seen (or been able to quantify) the benefits of the exposure on Wisebread? I’m just curious because it’s a toss up between building content on your own blog vs. someone else owning it but getting paid a nominal amount up front.
Thanks for any insight.
Darwin: Pinyo from Moolonomy actually sent me a message about writing over there, so that’s something I’m exploring. It’s the reason I felt like writing this post….this idea of monetizing certain types of content in other places and not worrying so much about that on this site is kind of appealing. We’ll see if it sticks.
As for Wisebread, it’s a great way to gain more readership. I love that I can write something up knowing it’ll get way more traffic than it will here. Plus it’s a good way of driving some people back here to see if they like what I’ve already written.
Congrats on the success at Wisebread. I might also be posting at Moolanomy once I get my audition piece over to him!:) I’d be interested to know what you thought was the “old model” of writing in the pf niche…. I came in mid-2008, and had read a few pf blogs (including Brip Blap’s – amazing) regularly before that. Not sure what kind of difference I’ve seen, except maybe with some of the influence from Twitter and a greater social media presence has changed the development of the blogosphere a bit – what do you think?
To me, the “Old model” is just the “actual model.” It’s just that I want to move past it. I don’t want to just write about CD rates and index funds anymore. Kind of like what JD is doing over at Get Rich Slowly with his 3rd Stage of Personal Finance, only different.
Good stuff man. Monetizing is a beautiful thing, but I found it got very distracting. I’ve therefore taken all advertisement off of Financial Samurai, and will only put ads up that we ourselves would recommend and consume.
By writing for the sake of writing only, I’ve found it quite liberating. Good luck in your efforts!
Blogging by nature is very self-conscious writing. It’s not the free, deep-thinking writing that you might do just for yourself, as part of you is always trying to protect yourself, from negative comments or worse, from no one wanting to read it at all!
Trying to make money on a blog just adds another layer of this problem, taking you even farther away from writing that is true to your core. I myself love your posts where you contemplate life’s issues. Probably not the money makers or even the comment generators, but that’s why I come to read.
I don’t care about financial advice, I want to know what other people are thinking about their lives.