This is a guest post by Melvin Dichoso from MelvinBlog.com
This is my 5th year now in blogging and my 3rd since starting my flagship blog MelvinBlog.com.
I am very happy to say that I’m making money from blogging but even up until now I still view it as a dream-come true kind of thing.
It was just a realization a long time ago and I never really thought it’d be possible. Heck, I wasn’t even sure back then if its true or just some form of a gossip. 😉
Anyway, if you’re not making any money yet then this post is for you. If you are making money, yet this post still caters to you. Below I will be talking about the reasons why you’re not making that much money yet as a blogger although I’m not limiting it to just blogging itself.
Of course, I’d be damn confident to make controversial statements below that might piss you off but hey it’s me who’s posting this article. 😉
Here we go:
Reason 1: You don’t really view making money as a goal.
We all know that goal setting is important but most bloggers who make some money here and there just don’t see making tons of money as a goal. As a result of that, they’re very happy and contented on what they are making. This is actually not bad if that’s your GENUINE intention but for some people who are dreaming about making lots of money online and yet don’t do much action, then maybe its time to re-assess if you’re acting like its really your goal.
Reason 2: You don’t have a product or ANYTHING to begin with.
Now notice how I put anything in all caps? 😉 This is actually for people who don’t have anything to make money for in the first place. Having a product is not just a requirement, its actually the standard in making money and by this I’m not just referring an eBook or informational materials.
It’s damn important to look at a THING to sell even when just starting. Again, you can sell services, you can sell your expertise, designs, themes, softwares, even affiliate products and a whole lot more. I’m pretty sure there’s at least one there that you’re good at. 😉
Reason 3. You’re not aggressive enough.
Look at the top gurus in this niche, that’s one quality that they all have in common. You can’t just be the shy type of person when it comes on doing online marketing; you have to demand for what you want.
Now this is not to confuse with just delivering junk and asking for so much but if you know you’re providing good value and you’ve built that relationship, you have every right to demand money. That is being aggressive.
And hey this just doesn’t apply to selling your product. It can also apply to other things like selling advertising space, marketing to other people and doing traffic building.
Reason 4. You’re limiting yourself to blogging
I made good money with blogging but not a lot of people are aware that I leveraged my expertise to make money from other things. I do consulting regarding various online marketing campaigns and I’m paid handsomely on an hourly basis. I also do freelance kind of work which is just that I just let my team do for me. Aside from that, I do affiliate marketing via payperclick depending on my mood.
Do take note that those things were started because I got into blogging. It’s like blogging is always a good starting point because there’s so much to learn while at the same time, you’re building your own foundation. So my tip is once you started feeling that momentum and need to branch out to other things, don’t think about it, just do it!
Conclusion:
So there ya go! I hope you understood those four points that I mentioned that could hopefully help you towards making more money. I know some of the people reading here haven’t made any money yet but just persevere. You’ll never really know when it would start pouring down for you. I myself made like $2 for the first 6 months but that didn’t stop me.
Perhaps this is where passion comes in. If you really like what you’re doing then you could survive the initial drought of startup stages. I would be very happy to hear your opinion and criticisms regarding this. Let me know.
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I agree with you Melvin. If bloggers don’t see making money as a goal, there is no way to achieve financial success. Do you know that when I started blogging, I had a lot of challenges. I found out that promoting affiliate offers don’t work so well.
Even a blogger must recommend an affiliate product, then he must have used it first. This is the only way to secure your credibility. I also want to point out something UNIQUE and VITAL about making money online.
BE PATIENT AND BUILD YOUR REPUTATION. Did you read that line. Until I became known in the blogosphere as a guest posting geek, all affiliate banners on my sidebar never got any click.
But it’s a total story right now. In fact, I’m making more money monthly from selling my skills, writing skills, SEO skills and graphic skills and this all came as a result of referrals from my avid reads.
To make this a lot clear, if you visit my blog, you’ll discover that my posts are detailed. They are interesting and this is what readers who would make you rich DESIRE. Keep doing this and don’t neglect marketing – making money online is not that difficult but you must press the right button – DELIVER VALUE!
That’s correct. Credibility and reputation are the things that can start it out. I must admit that its really really tough for those who don’t have any readers yet and have very little credibility but as soon as you start working on it, everything can spiral down so quickly.
Unfortunately, there are very few people who have that patience and do deliver value.
I’m not afraid to say I’m not making much money out of my blog, but like you say, there is always something else you good in that really can make money online, most of my income online comes from PPC selling affiliate products that is out of the make money online world.
I have never make it in the make money online world because I once make a big decision to sell stuff that’s not in the make money online niche, and lo and behold I sold something and that motivates me into selling small niches such as soft toys and many other stuff.
Because of those small niches, I started investing money into blogging because making money out of blogging is a goal I make 3 years ago, and I want it to be truth.
Thanks for sharing this great post, because it is really motivating and let me remember the first soft toy I sold, which was a wonderful feeling 🙂
Wow cool! 🙂
To be honest I’m not even aware that money can made with soft toys. I mean my friend does it but I wasn’t too convinced about it. Anyway, its always nice to see the amount of effort that you’re putting Wong. I remember you quitting blogging for a while and then coming back again and just simply slaying it.
You may not be making that much from your blog yet but only time will tell.
Valid points you make Melvin. I think one of the biggest reasons for lots of blogger not making money is not monetizing well.
Lots of newbie bloggers are thought that as soon as you can , slap some ads on your site. You have to do some research about your audience and monetize your blog based on the interest of your audience.
I agree. But sometimes it’s also because they’re on the wrong niche. I know lots of people who are blogging randomly and not making any money.
Sometimes you can make money by blogging randomly but its not something that can be done consistently. The niche still has to be a niche where people are spending money
Making a salary on blogging is hard but as you explain the craftsmanship that comes from being a marketer and working online can also give you and hourly based salary on the side.
I doubt its a good idea to start blogging for the money, you really have to have passion for what you do and provide something unique. But if you do that i don’t doubt for a second you can make a living on it 🙂
Correct and the reason is it takes patience before you can achieve something. A blogger who’s not passionate about what he’s blogging about can easily give up as oppose to someone who really loves what he’s talking about..
The big bloggers never made money for a year before they started killing it. But its because of their patience that came from their passion
I totally agree with this post. I find it very funny that so many people spend tons of money on software and programs that just don’t work. If they would have taken the time looked at your reasons why people who are blogging are not making any money and don’t do that they could be making real money and not complaining that everything else they have tried does not work.
Heheh thanks. Sometimes its not even on programs/trainings either. People are conditioned to think that if a material that they bought didn’t give them the return on investment in a specific period of time, its crap.
Unfortunately sometimes the problem is on people themselves. If they can’t really get it going or they couldn’t take action, they start to blame other things rather than re-evaluate what needs to be evaluated.
not selling or promoting a produst is a reason people donmt make money. also it can be a reason that their niche is not hihj paying or even worth paying
Great post Melvin, and an inspirational one at that.
I agree with Satrap’s point that many bloggers don’t really understand how to monetize a website properly. Doing a little research/experimentation as to which ads perform well in what position on the page is key to making money.
Also one other recommendation I have for new bloggers is concentrate on establishing your readership, before you even consider monetizing the website. You’ll do much better by writing quality content on a regular basis, then carefully placing relevant ads. Don’t think of blogging as a quick way to make money but a long term project.
Very valid point. Its so valid that my mind thinks every blogger knows it already but unfortunately most still don’t.
Its so hard as a blogger to focus when you’re thinking about monetizing every single time. Personally I don’t think I could track my little earnings per day while focusing on writing and marketing, its just disheartening.
It should be automatic by now that aspiring bloggers should just focus on writing good content and growth. After those things only should monetization come.
Hi Melvin,
For me, this is a great post it made me realize of something that will help me to gain more money. Your true life setting is very informative and really capture my attention in 5th year blogging. In my case, I’m a newbie in this particular effort less money maker. Yes, it is true that I earn less and I double up my job to do more money. Your post inspired me a lot. This post really helps a lot and having a goal for the coming future.
I appreciate you like my article but I’m more thrilled that it inspired you. 🙂
To honest I was hit so hard with those reasons. But my main focus now is to build much traffic for my blog and I increasing it gradually, making money is only next. Actually blogging open doors for me in the sense that I received invitations to product launching from mobile phones to even scooters which can be featured as my next blog post.
Oh sorry that it hit you very hard. =p. Anyway I’m glad that blogging brought you these little things. I believe I had an old post before about blogging opening up new things for us. Thats why blogging is always a good first step.
Thanks for your provoking article. You did point out my problem. I have not enough motivation to success at blogging. I just want to try. I’m not convinced that blogging can make a difference in my life. SO when there needs 100% effort, I just put 70% or less. I know what I should do now. Thanks very much for sharing.
you’re very welcome sunny. I completely understand you because its hard to put lots of effort when you’re doing other things (school, real world job, etc.)