The 10 Painful Reasons Why Your Blog Doesn’t Make Money Online

Are you having trouble making money online? Of course you are! Want to start making money online for all the time and energy you spend blogging? Of course you do!

But, there’s a real reason why you haven’t been successful —and no one has honestly shared with you the painful truth why your blog doesn’t make money online, have they?!

Until now!

Some of what is going to be shared…you may know it already…whether you want to admit it or not.

So, put your seatbelt on and let’s take a look at what we can do to start increasing your online earnings, shall we?

1) Why Did You Pick The Niche/Category of Making Money Online Anyway?

As was mentioned in “How Much Money Do Bloggers Make Blogging,” only a very small percentage of bloggers are consistently making a significant amount of money online blogging.

If you sat down with that select group of bloggers, you would see they possessed something that you do not at this point — experience.

It’s very difficult to provide monetization advice when you just don’t have that experience. And no, you can’t “fake it until you make it!”

2) Who Are You? Why Should I Listen To You About Making Money Online From Blogging?

Sure, bloggers are 30% more likely to buy something online, but only from reputable resources.

Blogging is truly about trust, transparency and visibility…qualities that you have not established thus far.

Reach out to your fellow bloggers and readers; develop your network first.

(Hint: Think about getting your own domain. Blogspot in your site’s URL is a big deterrent. Are you just here temporarily?

3) I Want To Know More About…

Developing an opt-in list, the successful creation and launching of a digital product or service , I want to know what a shared revenue project is, I want to know what affiliates to use and what type of advertising would work for my blog, I want to know…how to increase traffic. I want to know…I want to know…I want to know! Hello?!

So, you wanted to be the “Make Money Online” guru…are you prepared to answer these types of questions from your readers?

4) What Else Do you Do?

What do you do for a living? Are you in the industry? Do you run other blogs? What have you written? Do you have an eBook? What projects are you working on? Do you have experience in driving traffic to an affiliate? What does “driving action” or “leading a reader to a desired action mean?” Can you expose me to different thinks like running a reseller site or e-commerce?

5) You’re Selling What?

When I was a new blogger, I contacted another blogger who had a 125×125 for a particular blogging product. When he responded, he was genuinely annoyed by my question.

I simply asked: “I see that you are offering this product/service on your sidebar, can you tell me a little more about it? I am interested in learning more. Thank you.”

If you are going to sponsor and advertise a good or service to your blog’s community, let it be something you are very familiar with, understand how it works, and clearly communicate the most common reason why people buy — the benefit.

6) Is This A Blog Or A Billboard?

You have ads everywhere! And mostly from your affiliation with e-Junkie and Clickbank.

While many of those products are genuine, the majority seem a little suspicious.

Let me read a few of your ads: “30 Days To Becoming A Blogging Superstar” and “Kiss Your Day Job Goodbye.”

Dude…seriously?

7) The Check Arrives!

Everyone likes a good payday. When the affiliate check hits the mailbox (or PayPal account) it’s a great feeling of accomplishment. (I purposely leave the checks lying around so my wife can see them.) 

Normally, bloggers must meet certain funding thresholds to trigger the affiliate company to disburse the funds. Some may be as low as $10 or typically as high as $100 or more.

That close-up of you holding a check for $2.14 is embarrassing. Put it down.

The check appears to have come from a PTC (Paid-To-Click) site from where you spent the better part of two months clicking and reclicking links to other people’s sites in the network.

That’s not even blogging.

8] That Row Of Empty Ad Spots

Hey, look, advertise here!.. I like that. I believe in blog advertising and feel it is a legitimate alternative of monetizing a blog — when it’s done right.

You have six empty slots on your blog. Six. And none of them are being occupied by an advertiser.

That sends a very clear message that your blog is not worthy of someone’s advertising dollars and shows you have a clear detachment to the frequency of these requests.

If you are reading this and are serious about selling your blog’s 125×125 ad space, you must read: How Do I Sell The 125×125 Ad Space On My Blog?

9) Take that PayPal Button down!

No one is going to “buy you a beer” or “buy you a coffee.” Your blog has not matured to the point that a high volume of loyal readers are interacting with you and have little reservation in clicking your PayPal icon. Otherwise, you look sort of pitiful asking for donations. Who are you anyway, the American Red Cross?

10) You Are Reading An Article Entitled: “The 10 Painful Reasons Why Your Blog Doesn’t Make Money Online”!!

Hello! If you’re not making money online, how are you going to help and advise others?!

The Bottom Line

Look up Zac Johnson, John Chow, and Jeremy Schoemaker. Try to evaluate why they have established a reputation in the “Make Money Online” category.

Look…selling anything online requires a subtle approach. Bloggers are very intuitive and can easily “sniff out” when a blogger is driven and motivated by money — like a bloodhound!

Don’t be that blogger.

OK, This Was Fun. Now What?

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