So, how much can we make?

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[Evan]

A rude question?  Well, perhaps rudely put.

I find there is little information available on this.  The highly paid don't want to say, which I suppose is understandable.  But then it would be nice to know that I wasn't just wasting my time.  I want to make my income from what I love to do.  I don't want to waste two years finding out what I was kidding myself all along.

Those who do say tend to be those who are blogging about blogging (marketing marketing).  For those of us with other niches (mine's health) this may not be relevant.

Does anyone know of any information on this?  I really would like to know.  I don't mind putting in the work, I would just like some basis for thinking it isn't wasted effort.

[Sire]

What exactly is it you want to know? How much can we make from blogging via avenues such as Google Adsense? Or perhaps how much you can make via paid posts?

[Evan]

I'm interested in a broad picture.  If there's information on different ways of making money this is great, I can then compare and pick and choose.

I write a blog in the health niche, but the information will probably be of interest to others too.  So, I'm after any information that anyone has really.

[swollenpickles]

I don't really know what my blog's about. It's not really a "marketing" blog, or a make money one. I'm not full time or anything, but I do make a little bit of extra cash which I find helpful. I've often wondered how much I'd make if i dedicated myself to it full time.

I have set some goals for this year, and I'm publishing the results here:
http://www.swollenpickles.com/goals-2008

Here's some other stuff.
http://www.swollenpickles.com/money
http://www.swollenpickles.com/category/ways-to-make-money/

[Sire]

Well Evan, in regards to Adsense it all depends on the amount of traffic you get as the more that visit your blog the greater the earning potential. As a term of reference I make about $10 - $15 per month. Last month it was a little over $14 and I had 9121 page views from 7148 visitors.

As for doing paid posts the most I have ever made in a week is close to $500US. The thing with paid posts is that the amount you make is relative to your PR, unfortunately Google has been known to penalize bloggers who do paid posts.

Another thing to remember is that the earning potential is greater if you can host your own blogs.

With only one blog, unless your traffic is huge, your earning potential is limited. Naturally this is only my opinion and I would be really interested to see what the more experienced bloggers have to say

[Evan]

Thanks this stuff is helpful.

More most welcome.

[Lani]

Evan, I think there is a lot of potential in "health" for making money.  Darren at Problogger talks about how he makes money there, but although he's "marketing marketing" he started making his money from a photography blog.  That's where he learned what he now knows, and shares.

From what I understand, the key to making money is to post things that are likely to lead people to buy.  With Darren's camera reviews, etc, the search engine traffic he attracted were lloking at reviews because they were interested in buying the camera.  Obviously that leads to a lot more clicks / sales through the relevant ads.

I'm sure there are ways you can structure your content for that.

[Evan]

Thanks Lani.

There are lots of health products out there.  I could certainly write about them.  And there are lots of affiliate programs.

I'm thinking about affiliate programs - mainly about if the stuff is stuff that I want to endorse.  Health for wealth is not what I want to promote.  I am thinking about doing a course on living authentically (not sure what it will be called yet, but something like that) which people will pay to do.

I would like to hear some figures from those in the health niche and know how they make money (my guess is mostly affiliates and selling product).  Also what percentage of people make a living.  My guess is that the blogosphere is a 'winner take all' kind of market.  That is there are a very few who are well paid, a few well paid and then the great majority (80% or more) for whom it isn't terribly good.  But I don't know - and haven't seen any figures with this kind of information.  I'm quite a heady person and find this lack of information very frustrating.

Thanks for you comment.  I'm thankful for people's contributions so far and would like to hear from many more of you.

[swollenpickles]

From what I understand, the key to making money is to post things that are likely to lead people to buy.  With Darren's camera reviews, etc, the search engine traffic he attracted were lloking at reviews because they were interested in buying the camera.  Obviously that leads to a lot more clicks / sales through the relevant ads.

I think that's a very good point. Gold star to Lani.

[neerav]

My guess is that the blogosphere is a 'winner take all' kind of market.  That is there are a very few who are well paid, a few well paid and then the great majority (80% or more) for whom it isn't terribly good

You are spot on. I suggest you read http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/11/30/how-much-money-do-bloggers-earn-blogging/

According that that poll:

50% earned $0-$100 per month
16% earned $2500-$4999 a month
12% earned $5000+

Also note that IMHO those survey results are probably skewed towards people who earn income from blogging so if anything the % of successful individuals is over-represented

The latest stats http://www.rttnews.com/sp/Quickfactsnew.asp?date=02/20/2008&item=242 say that The average wage for Australians was placed at A$57,730= $4810.83/month

So fewer than 1 in 8 bloggers earn more than the average Australian salary worker

[Evan]

Thanks Neerav,

This is the kind of information I'm after.

Of course a good deal less than fifty per cent of Australians earn the average wage.  Not sure what the median is at the moment.

The stats for those who earn over $500/wk is surprisingly high to me (c.25%).  But, as you say, the readers of Problogger are probably the more business oriented end of the blogosphere. 

These are encouraging figures though.

Anyone with more information, I'd love to hear.  There really doesn't seem to be much about.  Or that's the way it seems to me.

[Lightening]

I agree Evan, there isn't much information about.  I, for instance, would love to know what some people have managed to achieve in the personal blogging type niche.  Even to have some idea what *is* possible would be great.  But in general, I don't think people really like talking about what they do or don't earn.  Which makes it difficult.

[scotty]

The latest stats http://www.rttnews.com/sp/Quickfactsnew.asp?date=02/20/2008&item=242 say that The average wage for Australians was placed at A$57,730= $4810.83/month

So fewer than 1 in 8 bloggers earn more than the average Australian salary worker

Exactly.

Also remember the average wage $57,730 p.a. does not include super, and gives you all the benefit of annual leaves, sick leaves, 8 hours/week, (sometimes) your own office/cubical with desktop/chair and computers...

Whereas the $5000/month blogger has to pay for all that as they are basically self-employed.

Personally I cannot imagine myself getting the same income from blogging/running websites as my day-time job. I need to be a marketing genius to earn the same income. However if I am a marketing genius I won't be blogging...