Making Money Online Is Not Always From Blogging Alone
Blogging, Everything, Money Making Add comments
It’s funny how these past few months when all these new blogs popped out, I’ve noticed a huge majority of them post monthly income reports. I certainly have nothing against these monthly statistic posts since I actually enjoy seeing all the new numbers on all sorts of blogs in the blogosphere. It really is great when you see a blog having substantial growth in the income, but a lot of bloggers that are reading these certain posts are taking things wrong. Some of these type of posts that shows income, misleads other bloggers in believing that amount could be made by anyone with a blog.
Misleading others isn’t always a bad thing since it may just be an accidental thing, but some bloggers do realize they’re misleading they’re readers by stating that they make a certain amount of income each month. Lets take a look at an example here:
The worst way:
May Income Report:
Total Income: $10,000 this month and $5,000 last month
A better way to show it:
May Income Report:
Private Sales: $100 ($50)
Advertising Sales: $200 ($50)
Affiliate Commission: $500 ($350)
Other: $30 ($0)
Total Income: $830 ($450)
After you take a look at the 2 examples I have mentioned, what would you guys prefer? #1 or #2? If I were you, I would rather look at the better one because it’s a bit more detailed. The first example basically has no detail and only mentions the total income of the particular month, while the second example shows the details broken down into its own small categories. The details even shows the previous month’s income broken down.
What I’m going to say now is that both of those examples could still mislead any blogger into believing that sort of income could be made on any blog with a cinch. The first example didn’t state one thing about how or where that money came from. All it shows is the total income and bloggers actually do believe this, but only if the blog seems reputable. As for the second example, the income statistics are broken down, but it doesn’t state where the money is being made. If the income is purely from blogging, then the post should state it, but I can most definitely say that most of these posts do not say it.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the term “Seeing Is Believing” and when a blogger sees those sort of stats, it is pretty much believable if the blog has some commotion. My way to approach income stats would be stating where each and every sort of income is coming from. Some bloggers do great when they explain the income, while some do horribly.
I actually received this post idea from an e-mail I received last night. Here’s the e-mail I got *note - I’m not trying to be offensive to the e-mail sender*:
” So, you seem like a nice guy and someone who might reply to this question. So, has this blog been able to produce you enough income to not work? I saw *insert name here* claim he makes $170,000/month with just twice the visitors you have. Does that mean you make like half of that a month? I would be happy with like 10% of that. Also, if you do, I’m wondering how long it took for you to get there? “
I’m sure you could tell me many things wrong with that e-mail besides the part stating that I’m a nice guy 
. Basically, this e-mail was in regards to this blog that shows a huge banner of how much income he’s making per month. I have nothing against this person since I just met him and he’s a very nice guy himself. Anyways, the e-mail I got was basically from a person that wishes to become a blogger to earn quite an amount of money online. The only problem is, this blogger that I know is an affiliate marketer and his money isn’t just from blogging.
Making money online can come from everywhere, but a income post on a blog is just the only place these statistics could be placed. A lot of bloggers should get things straight and understand that it isn’t as easy as it looks to make a substantial amount of money online.
I hope now you understand the point of this post. I’m not going to type anymore gibberish and I’m just going to leave it with a few final statements. A lot of bloggers that make money online does not just have one source of income, which is blogging. These bloggers pretty much just use blogging as an extra source, while they go out to do some sort of affiliate business or business with other websites/blogs they own. A lot of these stats are just totally misleading and it’s just ruining how good blogs are being ran.
Do you make money from blogging?
That’s a good post - I agree with you. I see a lot of blogs that “make money” from all sorts of places - and I’d love to see more breakdowns like you posted. You can learn a lot from that just by paying attention to where they are making their money and perhaps paying more attention to how they do it (by reading the blog, noticing “affiliate” ads/links, etc.). Too many people (like you mentioned) decide to open a blog and be like - THIS is where I make MILLIONS - and it just doesn’t happen. I make money with my blog(s) by doing paid postings and links (in blog or sidebar). I am awful at affiliate marketing though. But, you live and learn.
Thanks for a good post
My last blog post is..Yeah!!
This is a good point..
If a person makes 10k a month and states that in their report, but makes half of that selling things on ebay…Thats not very productive as far as covering his blogging earnings.
Personally I’m more interested in learning actual blog related earnings, and more importantly how to obtain results myself.
My last blog post is..Go Green for Free
mike, yet u still managed to elude the question…bloggerA makes 170k/m with twice as many visitors, so ur an 85k/m blogger huh? LOL ;p
My last blog post is..Affiliate Marketing Apprenticeship Program - Lesson 3/13
I make a several hundred a month, certainly not enough to live off my blog. But, yes, I think a lot of these bloggers leave things ambiguous because either A) they are lying, or B) they want to leave that sources a matter of mystery. At the end of the day, I still think that a lot of them bluff things up a little bit to add to their prestigue, or previously did so. Guys like Darren and JC have no reason to lie, but a lot of them gotta fake it until they make it because, sadly, a lot of people only view people worthy if they have a fat wallet.
Currently, I haven’t made any money online yet, but I’m working on changing that.
My last blog post is..Blog Goals For June 2008
Did I make money from blogging? hmmm a BIG NO. Yeah I know I have 1.91 dollars in my adsense account and that’s about 98 dollars more for me to be able to request for payment. Well I am really an impatient blogger so I really don’t hope much to get money from the blogs I have. But I must admit I had about 200 dollars last month and even a cent did not come from my blog. Well I earned it from the internet by joining writing contest which I think would not be feasible for me anymore since school will start already next week…
I still hope I could have a stable income from blogging but it is still not very realistic as of today. I am encouraged by many bloggers who earn money online but I agree with this post that everything is not really from blogging. Some bucks are surely from other stuffs in the internet and not entirely on the blogs…and I hope bloggers who earn much won’t mislead the readers in itemizing their income…Let’s face it…we need to be honest also to provide the readers the “reality behind earning money online.”
My last blog post is..Einstein And Manilyn Monroe Look-a-like
As the guy in the e-mail stated that Mike should make like 85,000$. He hasn’t understood the concept. Its not the traffic that brings in the money, Its how you monetize your traffic. I do hope this blog post opens some eyes. Thanx for the gr8 read Mike!
i dont know, people think that a blog can make you easy thousands or hundreds per month… I would say that blogs is a RESIDUAL and extra source…
My last blog post is..People Will Not Read Your Blog
I don’t make money on my blog (yet). I am working on it though, but not in the sense that most ‘make money’ blogs do. I am working on building my site to be somewhere that people come to pay me for my design services. I don’t have time to run giant advertising campaigns, but doing design work pays the bills and keeps GrandmasterB.com doing well.
My last blog post is..Photoshop Tutorial: How To Create Killer Metallic Text - Part 1
My blog has made enough to pay for my hosting and not much more. I had high hopes for BIG money when I started it but now I just enjoy the writing and am pleased it pays for itself. I do appreciate reading the bloggers who give breakdowns of which sources their income is from as it gives me ideas on changing my sources. Great post!
I have many blogs right now which is at least twice a week I update them all..Some of this blogs are already earning and it can give me a hundred per month..Thats why for me blogging is a business to maintain…But it is not just easy to make money online…
My last blog post is..Workout Tips for Cycling/spinning
My income mainly from blogging i.e. paid post…you don’t get much and you have to do some work but the money is there…if want to reach thousand, have to be a long time blogger…wanna have money online fast? need to do the other things Mike mention in the post…
My last blog post is..I’m away…
@ dingexx
yeah I know its hard to maintain blogs especially that you have about 5 blogs right? I know it’s really hard to make money but just keep on going. Maybe the hundred dollars that you make in one month will double. hehehe
I hope that bloggers would really earn from their blogs even if it would take a long time. I notice that the topics here are very much in sequence and the tips are really great. Nice posts by the way. It keeps me motivated.
Well anyone who runs a blog and makes some posts is bound to make some money…..but the question is –Is the time spent on blogging worth it??
And yes,with so many blogs posting the wrong results and misleading people(mostly the beginners),making money from blogs seems to be easy but that isn’t the truth.People need to realize that making money from blogs isn’t any easy thing as such…like any other jobs,it also needs some time and lot of effort!.People need to know this and only then step into blogging….
And as you said,there’s no wrong with that email!!
My last blog post is..About Sitegorge
breakdowns are good so that it would give ideas to others on what other avenues out there where money can be made…
My last blog post is..This is Madness!
I agree with shaxx…breaking down the money with its real source would help bloggers know where they could also generate income aside from their blogs…I am personally encouraged from posts stating the real itemization of their earnings and not just the total sum which could mislead readers that the money is solely from their blogs.
My last blog post is..Einstein And Manilyn Monroe Look-a-like
No, I do not make much money from blogging.
In my 5 official blogging months, I have made like $70-80 strictly from blogging. However I managed to make almost 2 times that amount from through other methods (providing services, selling stuffs, affiliate programs).
Hmm I guess Mike is probably making about $5k per month or slightly less (no offence, just a rough guess).
My last blog post is..Six Figure Income ProBlogger Book Contest
I don’t come close to the range you all speak of but Im not trying to be rich and the money I do make is to Save the Dogs altho I do wish I could earn more Iv made mine mostly through sponsered posts and some from pay per click ads. But I agree with you it would be great if they would post exactly where they make their money from. Id like to know!
blogging to make money has its limits. it’s the marketing that brings in more cash.
My last blog post is..Pacquiao vs Diaz Boxing Fight: A Blogging Brawl
Speaking as a blogger who used to post monthly income reports, I used to break it down into details on how I made my money. And not all of them were from blogging.
But I recently stopped posting my monthly income for a couple of personal reasons. But I don’t see too many people (at least I haven’t seen it recently) about people just posting a total amount without any breakdown…
Jay
My last blog post is..Can Website Colors Affect Your Online Money Making and Traffic?
I have seen a lot of people who seem to think that making money online is only from blogging. A lot of the MMO blogs and so on out there only seem to concentrate on blogging. If you are selling stuff on eBay, writing for Helium (or similar), making entertaining vids and putting them on sites like metacafe and the list goes on, you are still making money online. I think it would be good it more and more people took note of that. If feel like I am going on and not making sense so I will stop here before it gets to that point.
My last blog post is..Cash In With Klusters Knewsroom
It seems to do more with bragging than with really helping others make money online. Making money on the internet is easy as long as one is prepared to do it the right way and put in some effort. Still I don’t agree with bragging in public about how much money was earned.