I did like having the second eye of an editor when I did magazine work and I’m surprised by how many sites publish webwork without anyone giving it another look – everyone’s work benefits from a good edit and that’s sorely missing on the web.

I’ve written for blogging sites that pay a flat fee as well as sites that also pay a fee in addition to sharing in the ad revenue.

Quite frankly, I wasn’t really satisfied with either. I just find that I make more money for my time and get more satisfaction out of writing for traditional media outlets or doing marketing copywriting; less glory but more money.

Personally, I’d be much more inclined to operate a blog myself, sell advertising in addition to Google Adwords, develop a niche and an entire network of blogs and therefore be making some decent cash.

I do realize that there are some blogging gigs out there that pay very good, but I don’t see many people who are not the owners/operators of blogs really making so much money. Just an observation.

But again, I’m not trying to bad mouth blogging or anything – I understand there are people out there – particularly full-time freelancers – who are making a good income. But I do think that the people making the most money are those that tend to be the owners of the blog, and that entails a lot of marketing, working on social networking sites such as Mixx, Propeller, Alexa, etc. … and all that just becomes a full-time job in and of itself.

Like Deb said, you get what you put into it and some people are probably more astute at this sort of thing than I am, but I find I get more from my effort in working in print media.

Again, this might come down to the full-time versus part-time freelancer. If I make five figures a year from my freelancing, which I can usually do pretty easily, then I’m pretty much accomplishing what I want and find no shortage of work. If I was counting on freelancing to make six figures I year, perhaps I’d be scrounging for every single blogging gig I could find – even if it only paid $10 per post and I devoted a few hours a day to it … who the heck knows.

As far as print, I’ve been well served by working in newspapers and magazines and happening to be a pretty decent writer. More often than not, my work speaks for itself and I can get work without an insane amount of effort.

Well, that’s my two cents … again.

I believe that you can find poor quality writing in both print and the web just as you can find good quality writing in both.

I enjoy having the mix of the two and although it would be great to earn some money from my blog that isn’t my reason for setting up the blog. I just wanted to have the experience and be able to say, “Hey I know how to do that!” I enjoy it more than writing on a blank page for a journal because of how it appears once you press publish and view your blog.

If I had the time to post several times a day I would, but that too is another reason why I have not applied to many blogging jobs.
My choice right now and other priorities.

Thank you for sharing Peggy.

I broke into print media by pitching and marketing myself to publications who I felt were a good fit for me. Once you break into a couple, it becomes a snowball effect. Other editors see your work, might be familiar with your name, and when you come calling, they’ll give you a shot. But it is like anything, you have to plug away at it.

People don’t trust internet content for this same reason.

So if you blog 9 times a day, but produce poor quality work, ya you might get a little bit of ad revenue, but you havn’t produced anything to be proud of.

Not to say you can’t produce good work on the internet; you just have to police yourself to make sure that you do.

I know she’d “put the effort in”, but didn’t seem to know how to make it successful. And I didn’t know what to tell her.

It’s http://www.romanceandthemommy.com.

Wendy

I can tell you that I earn more now through blogging than I did as a New York City Administrative Assistant or working in accounts payable.

Here’s the thing about blogging – you get what you give. If you give it the minimum, you get the minimum. If you work hard to find a formula that works, bring in traffic, etc. you’ll do well. A lot of people look at a network’s base pay and say “wow that sucks.” Once you add in traffic bonuses, it’s a whole other story. I have four blogs with one network and combined they earn a nice amount of money – for only an hour’s worth of work each day. I have a few other blogs with another more lucrative client as well. Out of the blogs I own, this is the only one that earns a decent income, but that goes to Jodee and maintenance – but the good news is that it’s starting to to do better and this may be the first month I make a profit since last summer.

Again, if you put the effort into making a successful blog, you may be pleasantly surprised. If you just post and forget it, you won’t earn much at all.

Wendy, it’s possible to make a living at blogging, but you’d need several blogs (like Deb has). And Jennifer Chait! You really do need to enjoy your topic(s) though. Otherwise, it’s not worth it.