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Chances of getting rich with blogging

AlwaysCurious

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In this fastlane forum I sense the common understanding that it is not only possible to get rich with blogging but also that the chances are good for that. Maybe I´m not too deep into it, but are there really that much financially successfull blogs out there? As part of builing a community around a "real" eBiz I could understand, but blogging on it´s own?

On the other side People are laughing knowingly about noobs starting Forex trading, which truly is a risky thing. But anyways from my point of view both blogging and Forex trading are possible but also quite uncertain ways to change to the fastlane. Both require little funds to start, some specific knowledge you can quickly adapt and both can be done part time from whereever you are. So I come to ask myself which way has better chances? Of course most obvious answers are
"It is possible to acchieve your goals with both ways, once you are really determined"
and
"It is neither way possible if you are not really determined"

But apart from that it just depends on the people you ask. In forex communities the answer is clearly that currency trading has much bigger chances to get something out of it than blogging. Ask three people and you get four oppinions. So it all comes to your personal engagement and what way fits into your personal plan.
 
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Jonleehacker

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As a very experienced blogger and online business guy, I'd say the odds of a person getting fastlane type money from blogging are about 10,000,000 to 1.

And the one that would make it, could probably make it easier doing something else. :)

These days being a fastlane blogger would be about the equivalent of getting to be the CEO of decent sized company.
 
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kimberland

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I think of blogging as more like marketing,
than a product itself.

I started blogging because I like to write
and because I figured someday (May '08) I'd have a book out.

I'll let you (and the rest of the board) know
how that traffic converts into book sales once that happens.

I DO know that the blogs helped get me a publisher
and it has helped me build a relationship with reviewers.

Going forward, I see blogging as a way to hold onto readers
between novels.
That way I don't have to market each book from scratch.
 

Andrew

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Find some people who have become wealthy from blogging and FOREX, from ground zero (multi-millionaire/billionaire hedge fund managers don't count.)

I know one person who may have become wealthy from blogging, at that is Jason Calacanis who sold Weblogs Inc (a network of blogs, which other people wrote), to AOL for $25 million. There were others involved, so I don't know what his stake of the return was; a few million is likely.

Know any others?

Sure, you can go after these things. But make it a learning experience. Critically examine what works and what doesn't. Don't lie to yourself or in 10 years you may find yourself where you started. A lot of people do, and 10 years down the road they are still buying into the same old bullshit.
 
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Jorge

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How do you define wealthy/rich?

If thats making 6 figures a year there are several guys that make this...

Techcrunch
JohnChow
Shoemoney
...

Anyway, I don't think blogging is just to get rich, it can help you in several other ways such as networking, branding yourself, etc.

http://northxeast.com/blogging/nxes-fifty-most-influential-bloggers/
 

MJ DeMarco

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I think the opportunity to make the big dollars from blogging has past. Blogging has become so mainstream that my grandma now has a blog. When a market becomes saturated, the opportunities disappear. The early adopters are making/made the big dollars. The super bloggers (guys making big monthly $$) had a head start (I see their archives going back to 2005!!).

Blogging is an excellent marketing tool as Kimber mentioned. I plan to have one as as supplement to promote my book; the blog itself won't be the vehicle.

Remember: If everyone is doing it, it more than likely won't make you rich. Rewind to the 90's tech stocks and 2005 real estate markets ... everyone was doing it and everyone certainly didn't get rich. Those who made a killing were the early adopters.
 

Bilgefisher

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To be honest the main reason I blog is to keep an open journal. I am more truthful to myself and I can reflect back on what I did. If others read, great I hope they learn something.
 
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Z5 FILMS

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I noticed that most of the people who are making good money on their blog are making most of their money doing something else. The blogging money is just an addition

John Chow

John Cow

Uber Affiliate

Zac Johnson

Tyler Cruz (who's site I think got hacked today because it's all gone.)


All make good money on their blog. But their main income comes from other sources.
 

Jorge

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I noticed that most of the people who are making good money on their blog are making most of their money doing something else. The blogging money is just an addition

John Chow

John Cow

Uber Affiliate

Zac Johnson

Tyler Cruz (who's site I think got hacked today because it's all gone.)


All make good money on their blog. But their main income comes from other sources.

Could you elaborate more on this? I though the main source of income for them (specially for John Chow) was the blog itself!

http://www.johnchow.com/blog-income-report-january-2008/
 

Z5 FILMS

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Could you elaborate more on this? I though the main source of income for them (specially for John Chow) was the blog itself!

http://www.johnchow.com/blog-income-report-january-2008/


He does affiliate marketing and has something to do with that TTZ Media. That's why he's always at all those affiliate expos. What he makes on that blog is just a bonus. I never understood why so many people visit his blog. It's mostly junk and very little good information. If you call looking at pictures of what he ate for dinner that night good information...then yeah, I guess it's good information.

Lots of blogs have much better information.


Also, the John Cow prolly should not be on that list. Delete Cow and add Shoemoney.
 
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Jorge

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Nice info, thanks!

And yes the john chow blog is BS, I think I have never read an article besides the earning reports just out of curiosity :smx4:
 

Legacy Dad

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To be honest the main reason I blog is to keep an open journal. I am more truthful to myself and I can reflect back on what I did. If others read, great I hope they learn something.

Ditto.

It makes writing a book easier somewhere down the road and leaves a record of your progress and setbacks and where you were mentally at that time in your life.

Lance
 

AlwaysCurious

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Blogging has become so mainstream that my grandma now has a blog.
Nice one :rofl:

To summarize a blog is not a way to get on fast lane but to build up a community or a way to communicate which can be usefull for your other activities or just for yourself.

As for Forex I like this one very much:
make it a learning experience. Critically examine what works and what doesn't. Don't lie to yourself

In any case the advice should read: Don´t make it your main goal and don´t let it distract you from your real biz!
 
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mizchels

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I agree that blogging today, now that it's popular enough for everyone from 8 to 80, has become more useful as a tool than as the main gig. A blog can be an excellent marketing tool, as mentioned in the earlier posts--advertising that can be "fun" as it's more flexible and casual. You can create a personal touch for your services/product/whatever by blogging about it and you can build anticipation for new products/events/etc. You can also keep touch regularly with customers/visitors, which can also be useful for your business. I think the only blogs that could stand on their own and build significant revenue for an extended period of time would be those authored by a celebrity or other influential figure.
 

memenode

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I wouldn't write off blogs that easily. While I agree that everyone and their grandmother have blogs nowadays I think a huge majority of them are low traffic personal scribles without focus or otherwise simply not much to compete with. There is a specific set of strategies which a lot of people don't apply and which are necessary to make the blog stand out.

Granted, that's still not enough. Just making a decent blog covering a particular niche might not be enough for it to be a real fastlane vehicle. However, blogs today tend to be the preffered medium of offering ANY kind of highly demanded and extremely useful content. Blogs today are what traditional static web sites used to be before. I think that if you managed to find a niche that isn't overly utilized yet (no strong competition) and take over as the leading source of content in that niche, you could, depending on the number of people in that niche, generate millions of unique visitors a month and then monetize it to thousands and perhaps tens of thousands dollars a month by means of advertising (CPC, CPM, CPA and TLA) to even paid subscription to special premium content, sales of a booklet you make on the subject etc.

So if that doesn't get you on the fastlane itself, I think it can give you a powerful financial kick in the behind that will help you push you on the fast lane. You can then invest the surplus into a big business.

Although, maybe I misunderstood the fastlane? Is it about going into "big business" from scratch? Like, not setting a goal of $5000 a month for starts on the first year and the first major project that works, but going for the million with it immediately?
 

australianinvestor

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Writing a blog ≈ job.

I'm not a blogger, and will never write a blog as a business. Blogs may be ok for beginners to generate extra cash to invest, but it's not a way to get rich. Regardless of the income, are you rich if you have to write a post each day, answer emails and moderate comments?

Blogs need time exchanged for money. I could hire someone to do it, but the barriers to entry for them doing the same are non-existent, with the exception of contracts which can be broken and uneconomical to enforce. Besides, it takes time and effort to develop brand equity (both the blog and the author).

I think there's more of a chance running a blog like a magazine. Hire writers, make it on an attractive topic, sell ads and editorial pieces, and don't write yourself unless it's for personal pleasure. Go find five brand name people in your industry, ask them to write a piece each week, and spend your time developing a brand and a revenue stream from advertising, products to sell to readers, and anywhere else you can get your hands on a buck.

I will blog in the future, but I'll be writing art blogs and blogs about awesome living.


:)
 
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