A lot of new bloggers get into blogging because they want to make money. There’s no shame in that.
Some people can’t admit that it was the original motivation for starting to blog, but now that these people are blogging, it’s a bit of a sh*tshow. There are a lot of opportunities for bloggers to monetize their blog, but these programs usually require so much content to be published, within a certain time, and sometimes even a certain amount of traffic or followers, just to qualify.
This ends up becoming an end goal, instead of producing quality content. It sometimes sounds like an act of desperation, especially when I hear people complaining about no making a lot.
If you don’t have a lot of traffic, let’s be real – you’re not going to make a lot of money.
This is lost in translation, because of the blogger’s focus on money, rather than creating content, and engaging with people. You’re not getting out of that cycle, so you need to pay the piper, just like the rest of us bloggers, who helped pave the way for you. In fact, many of them gave you the information to send you toward signing up for a networks an other money making opportunities. They had to do all of this way before you, and it takes effort and patience.
Common Advice for New Bloggers Trying to make money blogging
So, rather than this post be a huge rant, I want to tackle a couple areas to hopefully, if you’re new to blogging, open your mind and learn how to avoid spending too much, or using things you don’t need, or making sure you realize what’s important, in order to make money blogging, in the long run.
- Write about what you have first, before buying anything.
- You need a fast site, but your ad network is basically telling people you don’t give a crap about their visit.
- Stop disregarding solid advice from seasoned bloggers.
- If it’s not working, don’t use it.
Write about what you have first, before buying anything.
I’ve seen a lot of newbie bloggers beg companies for freebies, or go out of their way to buy something to review, rather than pick up something around the house, that they already have. They complain because they don’t have enough traffic and aren’t making money, but are spending money.
There’s no need for that. You’ve got oodles of stuff in your house. Even if it’s been previously used, write about it. You don’t even need to put a statement on the post that you were paid for it.
You need a fast site, but your ad network is basically telling people you don’t give a crap about their visit.
There’s no doubt about it. You do need a site that loads quickly in most devices. However, a lot of bloggers, when they learn they need to have a fast site and choose ad networks, that causes a lot of the site load issues.
The hype behind the ad networks is that they will make you more money fast. In fact, their marketing copy usually seems convincing that you will make more money displaying their ads, over other ad networks. Some of these ad networks are loading between 8 to 20 different tracking codes and ads, like Ezoic, Mediavine, and SocialFabric.
I encounter people who use these ad networks, and then want to hire someone to improve their site’s speed. It’s smart to hire someone to speed up their site, but with it comes learning what works and what won’t work, so you, as a blogger, are faces with choosing between the balance of making money or user experience. While I can improve overall score and maybe shave off or half the site’s load time, some of these people expect a miracle, knowing that these ad networks have documentation all over the web, that don’t paint a great picture of them.
I’ve been teaching a long time, and have gotten used to explaining all about speeding up a site. But these newbies in the blog realm are stuck on the money.
So, go make your money, lil blog babies, and ruin your visitors’ experience, because if it takes forever to load your site, they are just going to leave and never come back.
Stop disregarding solid advice from seasoned bloggers.
When someone who has been blogging and has made money doing it, you should really listen. It’s not the time to be stubborn and set that your way is the only right way. You can be wrong, and if a seasoned blogger tells you that you are, hope you listen. I’ve mentored thousands of bloggers for over a decade. I’ve told people about how to write before Google started penalizing people. I even politely warned people. As of December 2020, I’ve been in the blogging world, for 19 years… so I might know something.
Yet, I get newbie bloggers who are stubborn, ungrateful, and rude, especially after asking questions in an online blogging forum. What was the point in asking, if you’re not wanting to learn?
Continue to be rude to people who are giving you solid advice, that will help you learn and grow as a blogger, and probably would’ve made you more money. That’s okay! I’ll still be using my AdBlocker extension and you won’t get a dime from my visit, and other visitors will just leave your site, while you blast them with over a dozen ads before they get a chance to read your blog post.
If it’s not working, don’t use it.
If you’ve been using an ad network or some money making opportunity, and it’s not made you money or enough for payout, in 4-6 months, it’s time to dump it, and try something else. It’s no use keeping something that is using blog real estate space, when you can try something else and see if that will work.
If it’s not working, then it’s also time to review your site, and see how you can tweak and improve it. It may be creating specific content, or adding to what you already have, or even organizing the site structure.
In leaving things as is, you’re resting on hope. One of my friend’s Chris Lema, has stated, “Hope is not a Strategy.” In fact, in holding on, this is what gets new bloggers desperate on the money game, rather than what is important, your content and your visitors.
Think more about improving their experience. What do you want them to do on your site? Are there featured posts or some service, or a newsletter, or something that you want them to see? Your site needs to convey that. A lot of bloggers just set their blog up for displaying blog posts, and forget to occasionally point at the important things that they want visitors to do while visiting the website.
In Summary
I hope this blog post serves as a reality check for some bloggers in the community. I love to seeing new bloggers start up. However, the sad reality is that I’ve seen a lot of new bloggers quit so soon, for reasons that have solutions.
Making money in anything, takes time and patience. It can also take some learning. Be open to learning and be patient. Your time will come. Many of us bloggers before you already did the homework and have given you the blueprint to succeed.
I did a presentation back in 2019, at WordCamp Las Vegas on Making Money with WordPress for Bloggers. Below is the video presentation, and then the slides for it.
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I hope these help. Feel free to comment below about your own struggles on making money blogging, and even what has worked, or hasn’t worked. Lastly, if you could, please spread the word, by sharing this on your social media channels so other bloggers can benefit from this article.
Kind Regards,
Nile Flores
Hi Nile Flores,
I completely agree with your conclusion as I have seen many newbie bloggers start a blog and spend huge bucks on it after some time, they quit it without any reason. I have seen many people in my 10 years of blogging experience, people just read the story of making money from blogging but don’t read their hard work behind this. So, as you mention in this post Keep Patience’s success will come over time and efforts.
Thanks & Regards,
Anil Agarwal
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I think for those of us who have been around for a while, and dedicate our blogs toward teaching others, can benefit more by passing the word on, so people can learn the right way.
Yes, you must have patience! Nothing happens overnight. It takes a lot of time to earn decent money.
Exactly, Amber. “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Loved this article! This is a topic in our house A LOT! I love blogging and know that eventually it will bring money but my husband wants instant results!
Hi Bri! Yeah, I mentor and coach a lot of bloggers who have the same issue. You’ll eventually get there. I’ve got quite a few people that I watched begin their blogging journey, and then become brand ambassadors, and even get social media jobs because they got so good at what they do. You’ll do it. I’m cheering you on.
Very well said. I’ll share this with my friends who’s in the business.
Hi Nikki! It should be shared to any website owner, bloggers and businesses alike. This happens all across the board. I see it when I’m optimizing sites through the one company I work with, and then through SEO website audits that I do through my own biz. It’s a growing issue, and not talked about enough by others in my field, who like me, have platforms where we speak at conferences across the country or world.
Indeed this is such a reality check. Most newbies thought of being a blogger so that they can earn easy money. It takes a lot of effort and requires passion to do it.
It does, and I truly understand the frustration. I’ve been there, and I’ve also seen lots of people there, but patience has always done well for most successful bloggers.
This is such a great post. I think all new bloggers should check this out. You most likely won’t make money right away. It sure does take time.
This is an eye-opener and my take home point here is to do away with ads companies not serving me. They’re not worth my time and they are just using up my valuable blog real estate.
When it comes to ads, I like to keep it simple. I’ve tried the ad networks before, and ditched them after a few months. They performed a little better, but it slowed down my site. As a website designer and developer, a slow site can be an embarrassing thing, especially for potential clients considering my services.
I think a lot of people think that blogging is a quick way to make money. Although it might be for a few people, it isn’t the norm.
It’s never a quick thing, and when there are fast methods of earning cash, it’s never a high enough payout to justify all the work to get it.
It can take time to make money while blogging, and even then you might not make millions. Patience is key.
For real… if only everyone could make millions. The potential is there, but there’s a lot of hustle to do.
These tips are straight to the point and are really beneficial for newbies in blogging. Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you! I always hope they are helpful.
When I started a blog ages ago, I wasn’t thinking of any of this. Looking back, however, I wish I had this knowledge beforehand, instead of learning it on the “job”. I hope this helps a newbie get off to a great start.
Hindsight can be funny. However, anything that deals with making money has it’s learning curve.
In my wordpress site im using some plugins for ad networks, is it okay?
Depends on the ad network, and how the ad network is configured. If you’ve not configured it right, you could be delivering a really slow site. Or, delivering too many of a particular ad (like Google Adsense) and get banned from the network. Some networks, by default, will automatically place over a dozen ads on a single page, if you don’t adjust the settings. Be aware of how many ads are allowed. Test your posts and pages to make sure you’re not delivering too many ads.
This is such a great post. I think all new bloggers should check this out. You most likely won’t make money right away. It sure does take time.
Thanks, Anna! Hopefully it will help those who are really new to blogging, or have been blogging under a year.
Many newbie bloggers fell into trap of wrong expectations and think that it is easy to make money through blogging. It isn’t and it takes a lot of time and dedication. It have been repeated so many times in so many blog posts – write about something that you love, then probably success will come easier.
You’re definitely right on that, John. They do get lured into a trap. Some of them get passionate about keeping the ad networks, and drive a lot of their regulars away.
When I started a blog ages ago, I wasn’t thinking of any of this. Looking back, however, I wish I had this knowledge beforehand, instead of learning it on the “job”. I hope this helps a newbie get off to a great start.
I completely agree with your conclusion as I have seen many newbie bloggers start a blog and spend huge bucks on it after some time, they quit it without any reason. I have seen many people in my 10 years of blogging experience, people just read the story of making money from blogging but don’t read their hard work behind this. So, as you mention in this post Keep Patience’s success will come over time and efforts.
I totally concur with your decision as I have seen numerous amateur bloggers start a blog and spend gigantic bucks on it after some time, they quit it with no explanation. I have seen numerous individuals in my 10 years of publishing content to a blog insight, individuals just read the tale of bringing in cash from publishing content to a blog however don’t peruse their persistent effort behind this. Along these lines, as you notice in this post Keep Patience’s prosperity will come over the long run and endeavors.
At the point when I began a blog a very long time back, I wasn’t thinking about any of this. Thinking back, be that as it may, I wish I had this information heretofore, rather than learning it at work”. I trust this assists a beginner with getting an incredible beginning.