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Unlike CEO’s or professional athletes, blogging earnings are typically kept private.
So how does one typically research and compile information on this topic?
Asking the… Experts?
Over the last few years, the internet has produced legions of bloggers that are astute professors on this topic. So, at Source Blogger, we called their bluff and took a closer look. After reading so many articles and seeing “proof of earnings,” it was evident they were making money… if you call $2 and $3 payouts as something to boast about?! Or the occasional $10.00 payout every 5-6 months.
The closer we looked at this group, we discovered they were earning very nominal amounts by utilizing Pay-To-Click (PTC) sites or Paid-To-Survey sites.
It would have been been a better argument to if they were at least promoting sponsored posts!
Some prominent blogging sites like ProBlogger have used sidebar polls to collect information on blogger earnings. You can see that post here where Darren Rowse states:
Of course this is not a scientific poll and it relies upon people interpreting the question correctly and voting honestly – I’m certain that there are inaccuracies in it.
Let’s examine how much bloggers realistically make from blogging; and try to remove some of the mystery for you. As a new blogger, it’s crucial you understand about site monetization early on.
Zilch. Zero. Nada. Nothing.
You may be somewhat surprised to know that 40% of bloggers make no money whatsoever. Not that bloggers must derive earnings from their efforts, but I think for the consensus of new(bie) bloggers, “making money online” is just a matter of how soon him/her can publish their blog, right?
Many bloggers may be unaware of the enormous inventory of tools and resources that are available online for blogs… or might feel guilty about implementing them. Hundreds of reputable advertiser networks are just waiting to for you to register with them. Registering is at no cost to you, and when you are approved you can start making money right away!
I must admit. I have read and subscribed to many good blogs with no means of advertising whatsoever.
Under $10.00 a month
This category represents about 30% of bloggers.
If you’re doing the math, we’ve just covered about 70% of the blogosphere making $10 or less per month… 70%!
Above $10 / Under $100.00 monthly
18% of bloggers represented here.
By this point, you’re a seasoned blogger that has tried and failed at many methods by now. You stick to what works and are consistent with it. You have been with many of the same ad networks for a while are receiving payouts on a recurring schedule – although your paydays are still few and far between.
Above $100.00 monthly
The remaining 12% of bloggers fall under this category.
Earnings are diverse now ranging from a few hundred dollars all the way up to 6 figures for the select few of highly-recognized bloggers. At this point, blogging is not a passing interest. Many fulltime bloggers fall in this category. You are utilizing many blogs, affiliate sites, and reseller sites to achieve financial success… even some e-commerce. (These are methods I use. Perhaps your online income comes solely from one blog. )
It would be safe to assume there are not as many overnight millionaires from blogging as you thought there were.
Blog Traffic
The most recurring theme among the larger sites making money online was traffic.
Let’s take a look at traffic distribution among the top 100,000 sites (Less than 1% of the total number of global websites):
From the image above, the top 100,000 sites are commanding 73% of all online web traffic! Would it also be fair to say that the top 100,000 sites are drawing more revenue?
Well, you can probably answer that one yourself.
So, what of the other 250 million websites? Well, they’re fighting over the scraps, aren’t they?!
In Closing
I hope this post has granted you a realistic picture for your earning expectations. Some will succeed. 80% of all blogs created today are abandoned after 2-4 months.
What category did you fall under? Over $100? Over 1000? Or do you just blog as a casual outlet for your thoughts?
6 Comments
Oh this is going to hit some people really hard. Reality, like gravity, sucks.
But there will be some of us who persevere and break through. The cream, as my Grandmother use to say, will float to the top.
Nice breakdown, very useful and informative.
Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella recently posted..Followers On Twitter Find The Ones That Really Matter
Hey,
This is a good article which will help many bloggers realise that whilst big earnings are possible, it is not easy. It is really survival of the fittest. Really the best earning blogs will be those offering good service or content to a wide variety of readers. The more specific your niche, the much harder it will be to generate good income, unless you can be clever with marketing or with what you sell.
Thank you, Mark and Joella…
I wanted to dispel some of the mystery around blogger earnings.
There appears to be a lot of “hype” around the subject and some bloggers enter the industry with unrealistic expectations.
Source Blogger
Source Blogger recently posted..How Much Money Do Bloggers Make Blogging Source Blogger Digg
I don’t trust a lot of stats. These figures do not account for people who don’t report their earnings, and more to the point, I’d imagine these figures came from a survey of a limited subset of bloggers. Additionally, if a lot of blogs are abandoned within the first few months (and I see this happening all the time), then doesn’t that affect the stats on how much people earn from blogging? Hardly anyone is going to make money from day 1 if they haven’t got a clue what they’re doing. Nobody’s an expert from the start. I don’t earn a lot from blogging, but then I’m not trying to earn a lot from it. I have other ways to make money
Ben recently posted..Tell your friends about your site Who knows- they might read it
This comes as no surprise after spending some time on EntreCard and seeing the activity level some bloggers maintain. I have seen blogs go a whole month with no change and then only a post to say why they have been away so long. I wonder if your calculations include bloggers who only blog to support other money making activities online where it’s easy to break the $100 a month barrier?
Warren Contreras recently posted..Plinky Blogging Aide
Hi Warren,
I think in order to generate a higher online income, it sometimes requires having to “think outside the box” to do so.
One must evaluate opportunities, implement them, and perfect them. I’ve been very busy targeting e-commerce, reseller, and affiliate sites… and flipping websites on eBay.. all in the past couple years.
Blogging makes up only a small part of the overall earnings equation… although the potential is there. At the present time I am running about 8 blogs.
I’d like to think that for many individuals, blogging can be their introduction to all of these other elements?
What do you think?
Jeffrey Baril <> Source Blogger
Source Blogger recently posted..How Much Money Do Bloggers Make Blogging Source Blogger Digg