Why Aren’t More Bloggers Earning A Decent Income?

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

(Source) Technorati tracks almost 100 million blogs and estimates that about 20 percent of blogs are active in the sense that they were updated in the last 90 days.

In Economics of the Blogosphere, David Evans comments on the number of blogs that are inactive. I knew it was low, but this is lower than I expected. I’d be interested in seeing the percentage of business blogs that are inactive. I’m sure it’s nearly as low as this. And, quite frankly, I’m surprised by it.

I’ve been saying all along that if you’re going to do it then stick to it. But so many business owners start blogging thinking it will be a ticket to riches and glory. It isn’t. It’s really hard work and you’ve got to go into it with a plan. A strategy. That’s where most business bloggers fail. They have no strategy.

Well, Greg Balanko-Dickson talks about his blogging dilemma quite openly on Lorelle’s blog and I respect him for that. I love what he has to say:

I made a decision to remove all advertising because I felt an internal conflict – do I write to maximize click-through or to help the readers? I was not able to easily overcome that internal conflict and it really bugged me – so to keep myself intellectual honest, I removed all advertising.

I no longer have any confusion over why and who I am writing for – I eliminated the internal conflict.

He went on to say that after cutting out his advertising revenue he secured two book contracts from his blog. That was a bold move and this gets to the heart of what I’ve been telling people for a while now. You’ve got to be focused. Develop a plan for your blog. Know why you’re doing it and build a business strategy around it. When you consider that most bloggers don’t do that it’s no wonder that most bloggers aren’t making any money. From Evans again:

About 10 percent of blogs make money from advertising but few of those make enough to pay their operators the minimum wage.

As Paul Simon said, “Get a new plan, Stan. Set yourself free.”

For more information about what makes a successful business blog, read my post on that subject here. And if you have a business blog that isn’t getting the attention it deserves, give me a call and we can discuss how to get you more daily content and set you a plan to make that blog more profitable.