Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate the great
I still make money, but it is a heck of a lot harder than it used to be, yes.
And I am making a lot less because as you said, traffic is down.
But money wasn't why i blogged; it was the mechanism which made my blog possible. Without ad revenue I would have had to get a day job long ago.
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I didn't start out blogging because of the money--I wish I had. I'd have made a lot more back when traffic was high. I was doing it to create a blog presence for when I published and then after I published. Somewhere in there, I knew I needed to make enough money to pay for it and some of the other online expenses because of the amount of time I spent on it (in other words, quit the blog and write more books or make sure the time spent was earning out).
My husband also used to blog (financial blog). He ended his between two and three years ago.
There's two bottom lines: If people aren't reading it, there's no point in doing it--and there has to be a certain level of readership. The second is that if people aren't clicking through to support the blog, because of the time put into the blog, most bloggers end up having to create a new stream of income.
Lots of bloggers start as a hobby, but the time put into maintaining a blog is huge--wordpress (software) updates, the research, the posts, keeping up with comments and spam, keeping up with new requirements from the affiliates, looking for new ad revenue and so on.
Just one example--my most loyal fans are those signed up to get my blog via email. Amazon forbids me from using those links in those emails--the reader must come to the blog and click through. This rule cost ereaderiq its affiliate status (among other affiliates). Poof, there goes that income. It has to be made up in other ways or the service stops (in the case of ereaderiq, he's put a lot of personal time coding his blog, coding ad taking forms and so on).
For blogs you love, make comments on the posts so that the blog owner knows what you are reading, what you like and that you are there. Click through any ads that interest you (rather than using a link on your mobile or desktop). Example: I have a huge fan who follows daily. We chatted one day and she mentioned how she always goes through her special Amazon smile link to buy the books I mention because that gives to charity. Amazon (in case you didn't know) has an app for putting a link on your device so you don't forget your charity). That's great for the charity (although what Amazon gives the charity is less than I'd make in commissions...) but it stunts the blog. It creates a new habit that kills the blog commerce.
These are all "not the problem of the blog reader" but it's like any other business. Most blogs will shut down if the income is too low. Just like newspapers, we make money via advertising and newspapers are having a heck of a time of it.