I read an article a few weeks ago on Ask Men: Blogging To Make Money. I’m not sure why it was in the fashion section of this somewhat notorious online men’s magazine, but it makes a point that blogging for money is somewhat fashionable.

There’s not a whole lot in this article that’s new, but I found it interesting as an outsider’s take on the blogging world. The author, Jeremy Burger, takes a fresh look at something he’s heard a lot about, but never directly experienced. What he finds is not entirely surprising: Some people are still making bank through blogging. Or, at least, adding to the bottom line of their main business through a related blog.

Show me the money!

So, does he conclude that it’s still viable to blog for money? We all know the stories of the big bloggers who are making tens of thousands per month from their blogs. Yes, they’re out there. For real. Darren Rowse was one of the first to make a lot of money primarily from blogging, although most of the money came from a digital photography blog rather than his signature blog about blogging. And he worked his ass off to make this happen. I remember reading his posts about how he worked 12 hour plus days to keep the content flowing. He would be posting 5 or 6 times per day just to keep the content fresh and the traffic coming.

Jeremy Burger concludes that there is definitely potential for enhancing your career or business and creating or connecting with a network of like-minded people, but that it’s pretty difficult to make a lot of money blogging:

To be sure, financial independence from blogging is the least-likely outcome. A more common scenario is that it gives the blogger a louder voice in, and perhaps access to, a community and lifestyle he finds attractive.

All things considered, there’s a lot of truth in this article, even though much is written tongue in cheek. It really is hard to make money blogging. It’s hard, but not impossible. In fact, I would say it’s easy to make a little bit of money if you just know a few things. Unless you’re very savvy or very lucky, it’s not likely that you’ll make a million dollars or a full time income.

I’ve managed to make a little money from this blog over the years. It’s never been enough to live off of, but at times it was enough to supplement my living and get me through some tough spots. And it would have been worth doing even if I hadn’t made any money. But, the cash is always nice.

Leave a comment and let me know about your experiences making money with your blog.