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Money from blogging: Too good to be true?


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Money from blogging: Too good to be true?
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solstace
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: London, UK
 
2010-12-16, 13:29

Not sure this is totally the right place - but thought I'd put it here in case anyone more than me could benefit from this info... Don't want it to become evidence for slander though, so... ya know.

Aaanyways - I blog, and I tweet, and on twitter I'm now getting tweets mentioning that http://www.realwritingjobs.com/ are looking for writers and that they'll pay etc etc.

Now, I'll happily talk or write the hind legs off a donkey, so to do so for a living sounds too good to be true. Anyone else had experience of these guys? Are they legit? How does it work? Best avoided?

"A computer once beat me at chess. It was however no match for me at kick-boxing." - Unknown
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Mugge
Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
 
2010-12-16, 13:56

Not to break your hopes and aspirations , but I've heard that job-spam is up on Twitter.

Chances are that if they start demanding personal info or processing fees then it's a scam.
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solstace
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: London, UK
 
2010-12-16, 14:03

Figured.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2010-12-16, 15:41

I live and die by the old "if it's too good to be true, it is" thing. It's never let me down.

My skeptical, practical nature means I might have missed a few choice opportunities over the years, I realize that. But I'd wager that my skeptical, practical nature has also kept me from getting screwed, scammed, scapegoated, etc. by the professional shitheads of the world.

1. Nothing is ever free
2. "Something for nothing!" doesn't exist (not in any serious, major or reliable way)
3. Nobody in Nigeria, especially a prince or high-ranking official's aide, gives a shit about you
4. That rumble in your tummy and catch in your throat are your friends; pay attention to them, because they're trying to tell you something that you should already know and be on top of
5. You'll never add four inches to your wang overnight (unless you tape a crayon to it or something)
6. If you're making "$10,000 a week from the comfort of your own home!" chances are you're doing something highly illegal or involving a lot of oral sex and photography equipment

Words to live by.

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Dorian Gray
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2010-12-16, 17:32

On the serious topic of making money by blogging, though, has anyone here managed that? Is it strictly fairytale stuff, the exclusive preserve of workaholics, for prodigious hacks only? Or can money be made with skill and three hours a day?

There are a few niche things I know enough about to feel I could impart something useful to the world. But because I have the business smarts of a newt it's never gone beyond a pleasant daydream three times a year.
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
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2010-12-16, 17:47

There are a few bloggers out there that make money, mostly from ads, but that is generally used to cover hosting costs.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2010-12-16, 18:14

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorian Gray View Post
On the serious topic of making money by blogging, though, has anyone here managed that? Is it strictly fairytale stuff, the exclusive preserve of workaholics, for prodigious hacks only? Or can money be made with skill and three hours a day?

There are a few niche things I know enough about to feel I could impart something useful to the world. But because I have the business smarts of a newt it's never gone beyond a pleasant daydream three times a year.
I guess if you're an exceptional writer and have some sort of voice or a draw that people genuinely respond to, the audience will be there (and therefore the ad interest and money flow). I'm sure there are those who do it, but I'm betting they're few and far between and probably got into it via legit, established patterns and methods (and not singled out randomly, or via unsolicited spam).

If someone was a famous tech pundit or columnist, and decided to ditch their gig and stop working for The Man, but that person had a following, some clout, contacts in the industry, etc. they could probably make a go of things doing that. Probably helps to be single/childless, and not hung up on the finest things in life (because it might not be super-lucrative either).

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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2010-12-16, 18:21

Didn’t that Kottke guy try something like this years ago? Not sure how it worked out for him.

The only thing even close to this I can think of is Leo Laporte’s podcast network, but he a) has real radio shows and b) was already loaded so it’s not like there was a lot of risk.
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torifile
Less than Stellar Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Durham, NC
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2010-12-16, 19:13

I think Gruber is a good example of someone who has made this work. It's rare though. I would like to give it a go, but I don't think I could support a family doing independent writing.
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evan
Formerly CoachKrzyzewski
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Charlottesville, VA
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2010-12-16, 21:23

The guy at the simple dollar makes a living off of it too.
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bassplayinMacFiend
Banging the Bottom End
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
 
2010-12-17, 09:37

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
I guess if you're an exceptional writer and have some sort of voice or a draw that people genuinely respond to, the audience will be there (and therefore the ad interest and money flow). I'm sure there are those who do it, but I'm betting they're few and far between and probably got into it via legit, established patterns and methods (and not singled out randomly, or via unsolicited spam).

If someone was a famous tech pundit or columnist, and decided to ditch their gig and stop working for The Man, but that person had a following, some clout, contacts in the industry, etc. they could probably make a go of things doing that. Probably helps to be single/childless, and not hung up on the finest things in life (because it might not be super-lucrative either).

I wish Jerry Pournelle did this when Byte was going under. I always enjoyed his Chaos Manor segment.

Oops, looks like he has his own site. Open mouth, insert foot.
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