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.

For example, About.com commits to $725/a month to start. Sounds good to me.

I am concerned that Thomas is right, tho.

I need a drink.

Wendy

Of course, I’m aware of exceptions – that some bloggers make six figures and so forth. But it seems to me the vast majority of bloggers out there are making less than 5 grand per year, and most can’t even make that much.

This is a tough nut to crack, I suppose: On one hand, I see the value of blogging if you are using it to tout your expertise or drive traffic to a web site where you are making money through advertising, selling a book, etc. But to simply be blogging for pay by the post or to get a bit of Google Adwords revenue just doesn’t seem to add up to me. Of course, we are all in different situations.

I find myself gravitating more toward writing for book publishers and writing the occasional article. Every once in awhile, I’ll write for web sites, etc., and these are typically lower paying, but if it’s a topic I enjoy, I don’t mind writing something that’s 800 words even if it’ paying me only 50 bucks or so. But I try keeping those jobs at a minimum.

I suppose blogging probably has more value to full-time freelance writers (I do frelancing part time), but I don’t know many folks getting rich off of it unless they are themselves operating a whole network of web sites, selling advertising, selling their books and positioning their blog as a component to drive traffic to their site for various reasons.

Ah … but I’m blabbering. I wonder if there are folks out there who agree with me?

A regular paycheck and I’d be a happy camper. No more queries etc.

I’d be proud to blog! (Hey, I’d just be proud to pay my electric bill without flinching!)

Wendy

Personally, I’m hedging my bets against putting all my eggs in one basked. I do web content. But I also do traditional writing for corporate clients.

That’s what I hate about writing online. People always ask, “Oh, you’re a writer? What do you write?”
And I respond, “Well, I write articles for this website and this website and…” and then I stop, seeing the blank look in their faces.

However, I still write articles, I just write them for online magazines instead of print.

The funny thing about this post, is I literally just said to my husband, I’ve been blogging for so long, writing mostly short news blurbs, I don’t remember how to write an article.

I spent the day on the set of the TBS comedies last week and I was typing up my notes I found a wealth great material for a full article, but it’s like I can’t remember where to begin!

Man, we’re creatures of habit.