This is a simple question but hard to answer.
In fact, I run a thread since April 19, 2008 about it at Webmaster-Talk.com.
To date, there is tens of valuable responds that open up a new perspective about monetisation in blogs. Here’s some of the posts in the thread (some posts are shortened to the summary).
My thread starting post:
Hi guys,
This is a simple question but hard to answer. I blog because I interest in it. But since my traffic grows, I start thinking about monetising my blog.
At first I’m torn in the middle. Now, I’m sure I blog because I want to, while, in the process, seeking opportunities to monetise it.
Share your thoughts…
Cheers!
Some fine posts from forum members:
I used to be that blogger that chucked ads in your face. Now I have become more experienced, and now know that I want to create a site for my visitors, with tasteful ads on the site that are beneficial to my users.
Nope. I go to my day job for money, I blog to express thoughts that occupy my brain. And, when I’m lucky, I get feedback from smart people on those thoughts.
Not really, at least not initially. I started blogging because of an interest in blogging and a subject matter, but it took awhile to find my sweet spot. I blog for two major blogs… and make money off of it, but I never envisioned my future to head in that direction.
Really, my blog brings me clients, work, and all else that goes with it. That’s why I enjoy blogging — I have an audience, and I really enjoy it too.
I think the important thing is not to bog just for money. You should blog about what you’re passionate about so that your enthusiasm for the topic comes out in all your prose. If you continue to do that, you’ll continue to grow a reliable readership and continue to increase your monetization opportunities.
The route I’m taking for optimization is one of showing my skills and offering services. If you can become an expert on a domain through your blog posts and blog offerings, that’s when you can really make the buco bucks from becoming a “consultant.”
My main reason for blogging isn’t monetary. I pretty much just write/rant about random things. That’s not to say I won’t put any effort into making some money. It can’t hurt to try – as long as you don’t have ads all over the place raping my eyes, I think it’s just fine and dandy.
To conclude what the bloggers think of blogs monetisation
I believe that bloggers that start with the wrong motive (i.e. blogging for money) will end up as bloggers that:
- Will never earn substantial amount of money, or
- Will stop blogging and neglect the blog.
I had a blog that started with this wrong motive – I blogged because I wanted to earn money, not providing readers with useful content. The end result: I stopped writing on the blog and abandoned it.
I also believe that bloggers that blog on their interests will end up as bloggers that:
- Will eventually monetise their blogs sucessfully or
- Will stay as fundamental bloggers that treat blogs as log books and journals.
Just to note, 90% of the thread posters believe that blogging for interest and blogging for money can coexist well, and all started as interests that (hopefully) will eventually creating a stream of revenue for them.
Bloggers are still independent journalists at heart :)
Ivan Widjaya
Blog for the love of blogosphere