For the past month I’ve been driving for Uber anywhere between 5 – 15 hours a week. It’s been a very insightful experience, learning about the different types of passengers, as well as the reaction I get when I tell them I’m a blogger. I encourage everybody, rich or poor, to work a minimum wage service job if they ever want to regain some appreciation for what they have!
Most people react with indifference when I tell them I’m a blogger, with nary a follow up question asking what I write about. For those who do ask, I tell them I write about everything personal finance related. Some find it interesting, while most kinda let out a gruff of acknowledgement before looking back down on their iPhones.
The most common question I get is, “Can you actually make money blogging?”
I always respond with something like, “Yeah, a little bit here and there. It’s not easy because you’ve got to build up a lot of traffic, and that takes many years.”
The conversation rarely continues on the topic of blogging after I tell them it’s hard. I can hear them internally thinking, “Oh, this poor Uber driver who’s trying to make a living as a writer. Sucks to be him!“
WHY BLOGGERS DON’T GET MUCH RESPECT
The #1 reason why I don’t think bloggers get much respect is that most pro bloggers demonstrate a tremendous amount of Stealth Wealth. The vast majority of bloggers keep their online income quiet. Can you imagine if a frugal blogger who tells people his family lives off less than $35,000 a year, actually makes over $50,000 a month and tells that to his community? He’d lose a lot of credibility because a lot of people will stop believing what he preaches.
I spoke to one such blogger and he admitted that he spends way more than he tells his community, but can’t admit it because he’s too afraid of the backlash. He’s created a cult, and he can’t resist the temptation of spending more freely with so much money coming in.
“The best way to make a lot of money online is to write stuff even the dumbest, most impressionable person can understand!” he told me. “If there comes a time when I start feeling a little too guilty about saying one thing to my community, but doing another, I’m just going to sell my site for millions like my peers before me.”
The only bloggers who do share their online income on a regular basis use their posts as a way to make more money online. It’s a very smart formula that sells the dream of blogging riches while also helping with those who suffer from financial insecurity feel better about themselves.
Given most people have no idea what professional bloggers make, the second reason why bloggers don’t get respect is because people automatically confuse pro bloggers with being the classic starving writer. We all know that writing is one of the worst paying professions in the world. Check out the fun hashtag trending called #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter for more.
From author Heather MacLean,
“Every year, around 500,000 new books are released: half from publishers, and half self-published. Of those, only 10 percent will ever sell more than 500 copies! Insane, right? In 2008, only 9 new books sold more than a million copies. Only 9. And only 41 sold more than 100,000 copies.
Books are generally called a “success” if they sell at least 7,500 copies. And even the Big Six publishers usually only make a profit on every 1 in 7 books!”
In other words, most non-celebrity authors make anywhere from $10,000 – $50,000 a year. With $12,000 a year being the poverty threshold for a single individual, it’s not that far-fetched to assume some authors are literally starving!
As a pro blogger, you know that although you may not have the same writing skills of a classically trained writer, you’ve got the great combination of writing skills plus business savviness to make a lot more money because you control your own vertical.
BLOGGERS WILL GAIN MORE RESPECT OVER TIME
It’s probably going to take another generation before blogging courses will be taught in high school or college. But until the world learns that you can relatively easily make anywhere from 3 – 10 cents a pageview, most people will probably just find your blogging profession to be just a cute little hobby.
So for those looking to gain a little more respect, don’t tell them you’re a blogger, unless you want to highlight how much money you’re making. Even then, they probably won’t believe you. Instead, focus on how much freedom you have as a blogger. Maybe then, they might start feeling a little envious!
For some reason, I get a thrill of always being perceived as the underdog. The peace is very welcoming. At least bloggers are looked upon with slightly more respect than Uber drivers! Oh, who am I kidding? If you can develop multiple income streams online, you can potentially make a full-time living as a professional blogger. Many bloggers make more than bankers, techies, doctors, and lawyers!
STARTING A MONEY MAKING BLOG
I never thought I’d be able to quit my job in 2012 just three years after starting Financial Samurai. But by starting one financial crisis day in 2009, Financial Samurai actually makes more than my entire passive income total that took 15 years to build. If you enjoy writing, creating, connecting with people online, and enjoying more freedom, learn how you can set up a WordPress blog in 15 minutes like this one.
Leverage the 3+ billion internet users and build your brand online. There are professional bloggers now who make way more than bankers, doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs while having much more fun, much more freedom, and doing less work. Get started. You never know where the journey will take you!
Updated for 2017 and beyond.
Very interesting insight. I don’t think anybody thinks “when I grow up, I want to be a blogger.” But, there are plenty of people who say, “when I grow up, I want to be a writer.”
But, as soon as people figure out how much some bloggers people make, and their lifestyles that go with it, I’m sure that will change!
Knowing what I know now, I would have definitely started a blog or launched various type of sites in my college years. No brainer!
This was a fun read because I understand everything you highlight. I think the most people have absolutely no idea that there are professional bloggers. And I don’t think they know what it’s like to run a website either.
When they hear the word blogger, I think they just imagine someone writing about their personal life on a small website that only a few friends and family read like social media. They don’t realize the scale a successful blog can grow to and how it can be monetized. I don’t really mind this though because it means less competition. :)
Thank goodness for Twitter, Tumblr, and other stuff that puts blogging in a clear “hobby” category!
The issue really is that most people can’t thinking beyond having a traditional job to make ends meet, and as stated in the article, some made bloggers do not share their real income status. When all these change, the right appreciation for bloggers will soar
Great piece!
It’s kind of like the need to stage an open house to sell. Buyers have bad imaginations, and statistics show that staging brings a greater return than the cost.
LOL I don’t get enough respect because I’ve just about broken even on my blog. Been at it for about a year. I’ve finally been forcing myself to write every day and not just off of a whim. I’m trying to broaden my blog’s horizon a bit (eBay flips are fun, but there’s only so much I can talk about). I’m super into personal finance and early retirement, but I’m toying with some other options to grow it.Either way, it’s much better (to me) than writing a book. I get near instant responses and I don’t have to go through the turmoil of writing a book.
Just last two more years at your increased cadence and you will get that respect! :)
I also think many people cannot fathom there’s more ways to making money than a 9-5 job. I am a web designer for instance and get ‘the look’ when I tell them I earn a living working from home, few hours a day, when my baby sleeps :D
Exactly. It’s like the movie The Matrix. People have no idea there are so many different ways to make a living that may very well be more rewarding, more free, and more lucrative as well!
Most don’t dare to try, so they never know.
Good one, Sam. In my case it is neither: I don’t have stealth wealth (it is all ‘what you see is what you get) and probably this is why some find the numbers on The Money Principle a bit disturbing. I don’t parade my net-worth either – I never feel compelled to do so. With me it is the fact that I’m a full professor at well regraded university that leads to puzzlement: how does a professor end up writing a blog? Some of my academic colleagues laugh; now they’ve started reading and can see the point. I touch (and help) many more people through my blogging than I’d ever do through my academic writing (and I’m one of the more successful in this one). In reaction, I’ve just perfected the approach of any revolutionary: do what needs to be done and let people be as silly as they wish to be.
@maria@moneyprinciple: I completely agree with you! The more people begin to realize that they can touch more lives by being a blogger than by traditional means, the better.
Even public figures amplify their reach using the internet as a launchpad.
I started a blog on my own without taking any courses, but just reading other blogs that had posts on how to start a blog. I recently took a workshop on blogging. Although a lot of it was review for me and had already implemented a lot of things on my blog, I still learned a few things that I could apply to my blog. It was interesting learning about people’s different reasons for wanting to start a blog. There were only a few blog including myself that had actually been blogging for a few years and were able to make some money off of it.
Interesting post! I think another difference between bloggers and “classical writers” is that bloggers are more willing to adjust what they’re writing. If a certain type of post does well, we’ll write more of them! If you suggested to a novelist that she might make more money writing home improvement guides she’d probably be offended – even if you were right.
No wonder that no one except my wife knows that I blog and earn money from it. Once I told a stranger at work, during a training and he felt like I was not earning enough and suggested me to look for jobs in silicon valley :)
We also need to consider the fact that most people have being brought up on traditional ways of getting things done. To become a “real person” according to them, you have to do the general things.
Being a blogger pushes the limit though; it helps one work and become better at mastering the use of time. Soon, all efforts become valuable and more time is created for other things.
In other words, after a blogger is made, they sleep while others still run the same 9to5 jobs.
I love that kind of life. Very soon though, some of the skeptics will follow suit.
This is a great post. Until I started my own blog, I didn’t realize just how much work it entails. All bloggers deserve enormous respect for that aspect alone, no matter how much money they are generating from their blog.
Thanks for the insightful post!
Laura Beth
@Laura Beth: While others sleep, the blogger is hard at work; correcting and editing, rewriting and all. The life of a blogger is one where he/she mustn’t rest on laurels else, the position won over the years through sheer hard work and business less could soon be lost
One of the hardest jobs to do. You have to write, reply comments, promote and add value to your blog even I you don’t feel like it. It’s a difficult job when one begins.
The good news is; with some dedication, a blogger can make his 9to5 job’s yearly salary in a month.
That said, you can link to my directory above.
This is the time for bloggers to confidently declare their vocations without any fear. It’s a wonderful thing to sit on your couch or a comfy chair to make serious money when others have to go the traditional route.
Well said @Financial Samurai Driving for Uber is a great way of getting to know the temperature of what is going on around you. It takes you away form your office / spare room and provides a plethora of material to write about. It is good to do a variety of jobs because it not widens your skill set but also allows you to make quite a few important deicsions. What do I want to do in the future. Do I enjoy that type of job.. You also get to meet a lot of different people who have various takes on life. Those who are content, those who are doing it as a stop gap, those who are doing research to set up their own business and those who want to start at the bottom and rise up the corporate ladder.
Thanks for an interesting perspective on pro-blogging. I’ve always wanted to set time aside to start a blog and share my experience in online retail, business and finance. Does anyone here have some tips on starting a blog? Which platform to use and why? (wordpress vs blogger vs tumblr etc…). And the initial baby steps to take to be seen without spamming other peoples blogs by posting links etc…?
Or if any of you is a pro-blogger who blog about starting and becoming a pro-blogger, that would be even better.
Thanks in advance
Check out BlueHost. Costs $3.95 a month and you can set up your WordPress site in no time.
I think blogging is going to be an even bigger industry in the next ten years than it is now as we will see the rise of independent contractors/freelancers. I decided to start my blog now while I’m in college. There are days that I feel foolish for writing on my site just because no one is reading but everyone starts somewhere. =)