Ok, I’m diverting from my usual topic here at Blogging For A Living; making money blogging for others, because I saw a blog post recently at Coupon Sherpa titled Quick Cash: 24 Ways to Make Money While Unemployed and part of it irked me, hence the diversion.
The post isn’t terrible. In fact there are many gigs listed that could theoretically make you some quick cash but the blogger also notes on number 15, “Monetize Your Web Site or Blog. You’re already spending a ton of time on your blog or Web site. Why not earn some money from all your labor? Google AdSense and nine other sites listed on MoolaDays require little to no supervision: Once it’s there, you don’t need to do much more.”
Quick cash? Um no. For one thing if you’re really unemployed I hope to god you’re not spending “A ton of time on your blog” – that’s not very smart now is it? It might make more sense to, I don’t know, look for a job. Secondly, monetizing a blog is not in any way shape or form a make money fast sort of deal. At least not with anyone I’ve ever met. Just because you toss up some Google AdSense or other monetizing/affiliate links does not mean you’ll make a dime. Wait, you may make a dime, but not quickly and it might be just that a dime (maybe two). PLUS often you won’t get paid for any income you make until one, you reach a specific threshold and two, until a month has past after you earn that cash.
What really gets to me is that number 24 the blogger notes, “Free-lance Work (free-lance is her spelling not mine). Many easy-money stories will suggest putting your creative skills to work by free-lance writing, doing design work, etc. I don’t recommend this as a feasible way to make quick cash as it takes time to build up a clientele, even if you’re well connected. Free-lance work often pays pathetically little until you’re well established.”
So basically she’s right on about the freelancing deal, but that’s what blogging is. It’s freelance if you own a blog. It pays pathetically little until you’re well established just as noted above. I’m not sure when freelance work vs. blogging became so divided, but honestly, blogging is not a get rich or even make money fast deal. Sometimes it’s not even a make money at all deal. If you do manage to break out a bread-winning blog it involves hard work, time, and a little luck.
Have you had luck making money fast (or at all) from your own blog projects?
My goal is to make enough to run my blog and maybe buy button or two for my blog. I never thought of blogging as a quick cash option. This is setting her readers up for disappointment and no, I can’t retire off of my blog.
Love the spelling of free-lance.
.-= Adrienne´s last blog ..Do You Buy Into Celebrity Endorsements? =-.
Hey, I love this article! Its fantastic! I hav been going from website to website, looking for ways to make money on my blog.
I started my blog http://www.mymorningstory.com with what I feel is a great idea: Have a new story a day to help get everyone through the day. Obviously I can’t write a story every night, and so I have opened up registration to everyone to add a story
ANYWAYS:
I have earnd a total of 10 bucks and probably spent a few hundred. At one point i was averaging 100 people per day to my website. Right now, I have no idea how many people are coming but its probably in that range.
My point is, earning money through Google Adsense isn’t easy and until my website hits about 1000 people. I probably won’t earn a dime.
I don’t know why bloggers do that: write posts that lead a reader to believe that making money blogging is a piece of cake. It is such a disservice to the potential blogger and puts a black mark on those bloggers who are working their buns errr…. fingers … off to make a dime or two, moving up eventually to earning enough so that your biggest clothing expense item is pajamas. It is no wonder that there are so many abandoned blogs.
.-= Valentina´s last blog ..Affiliate Marketing: Plan Your Campaigns =-.
I find my blog to be extremely useful for networking, writing what I want to write about, a creative outlet, etc….I do not find it to be a money making machine! (If blogging was a money making machine, I sure wouldn’t be sitting in this cube right now browsing freelance writing forums….)
That is laughable and unrealistic. Anything is possible, but it is smarter to put your time and energy towards a proven method, versus a hope at being one of the few who gets rich blogging (or who even makes a living blogging).
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