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10:12 am
September 17, 2012
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martin
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One question that was brought up a few times at fin con was the idea of blogging and if it was even worth it. I started to think about this on the plane ride home. I then realized that perhaps blogging isn't worth it.
I wrote about it and would to see what you guys have to say… http://tinyurl.com/9zhjzkx
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11:18 am
September 17, 2012
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michael @ financial ramblings
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Devil's advocate: Freelancing doesn't scale. There are only so many hours in a day. Yes, "you do the work and you get paid" but your pay is proportional to the amount of work that you do — and there are clearly limits to that. With blogging, your past content keeps working for you even after you've long since forgotten about it.
In other words, you keep working at a steady rate but your income climbs over time. Sure, you're doing the work for "free" at first, but what you're really doing is planting the seeds of future income. Yes, the odds of being wildly successful are low, but you can tilt them with talent and hard work.
You're absolutely right that these things don't happen overnight and that they require hard work — and even income from the archives is hardly passive given that you need to manage the backend (e.g., compliance with affiliate programs) but the (potential) upside is much greater.
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11:38 am
September 17, 2012
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TB at BlueCollarWorkman
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Depends what you mean by worth it. So far, I've made less than $20 blogging, but my numbers are now just starting to climb. Like Financial Ramblings said, you put in a lot of "free" work but then it starts to pay off because with more traffic, a lot of people are visitng my old posts. I think if you're solely in it for the money, then it won't really be worth it for quite some time. But if you're in it for the money AND because you want to interact with other people and learn and contribute to actually good internet content, well, then it's definitely worth it. All depends on your definition of worth.
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12:11 pm
September 17, 2012
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KyleAAA
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Post edited 12:13 pm – September 17, 2012 by KyleAAA
Ha! Well it probably doesn't make sense if you're doing it for money. Most of us who make decent money doing this got kinda lucky. Lots of people will disagree, but that's how I see it. Not that you can't succeed through hard work, just that you'll need a bit of luck as well. Can you make $10k per month blogging? Yeah. Will you? Probably not, and here's the kicker: it probably doesn't even matter how hard you work at it. Sometimes its just not in the cards. But enough people will make enough money to keep hope alive for everybody else. If you don't love personal finance, I would say blogging isn't worth it. If you do, it is. Maybe you'll get lucky and make enough to quit your job, but I wouldn't count on it.
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12:16 pm
September 17, 2012
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michael @ financial ramblings
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Yeah, if you don't love a topic to the point that you'd probably be willing to do it for free, then chances are you won't succeed. In fact, chances are you won't stick with for more than a month or two.
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1:40 pm
September 17, 2012
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LaTisha @YoungFinances
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I think it's worth it. Just left a comment.
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1:55 pm
September 17, 2012
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Ted Jenkin @ YourSmartMoneyMoves
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As others have said "All depends on your definition of worth" – Is your worth purely financial or is it to help educate or is it ______________ (you fill in the blank)
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1:55 pm
September 17, 2012
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krantcents
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I don't think it is a black and white answer. In terms of income versus effort, it is not worth it. I di dnot go into blogging for the money and I get much more out of it than the effort. I think the answer is individual and personal.
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1:59 pm
September 17, 2012
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Club Thrifty
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krantcents said:
I don't think it is a black and white answer. In terms of income versus effort, it is not worth it. I di dnot go into blogging for the money and I get much more out of it than the effort. I think the answer is individual and personal.
I think we have this same conversation. We didn't go into this for the money, although we are on the verge of being able to make a little bit. We do find it to be a very fun hobby that we can both enjoy. However, to do it well, it takes up a ton of our time. It seems like if you can make it through the first six months or so, it starts to pay off both financially and socially.
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2:13 pm
September 17, 2012
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Jake@iHeartBudgets.net
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As others have said, if you wouldn't do it for free, it's not worth it, but most of us started out of a passion for personal finance and helping others…so it's definitely worth it. Money is just a nice bonus.
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7:33 pm
September 17, 2012
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Lena Gott
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Post edited 7:34 pm – September 17, 2012 by Lena Gott
hmmm, if what you stated in your article is what you really believe, then I think we might be true opposites. I love the passive income game. It's doable with hard work (yes, much of it for free at first), and while you might not ever be a runaway success, there is a formula to making this work.
I "worked" part-time for 3 years writing articles for Suite101 and got paid a fair amount for my time on rev share alone. Now, even post-Panda and then another Panda, I still earn enough each month to make a car payment+, and I haven't written more than article a month since March 2011. However, many writers saw their income drop to basically zero, so I'm sure those people would agree with you. If they had been freelancers instead of betting on revenue share all that time, they would have come out ahead.
I can see what you're saying – freelancing is a sure thing whereas income from blogging is not. But, like anything else, I believe with greater risk comes greater rewards.
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10:04 pm
September 17, 2012
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Compound Capitalist
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I think blogging is something that definitely sees rewards long-term. Like Club Thrifty said, if you can make it six months, you'll start to see the rewards. However, that said, it's hard for most people to do something for six months without seeing hardly any real tangible benefit to the hours upon hours of work they are putting into something.
It's a test of patience, but should ultimately pay off in one way or another.
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9:01 am
September 18, 2012
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Money Counselor
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As long as I'm having fun and learning new stuff–and I am–it's worth it. The money (which is modest for me so far) is a bonus.
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11:56 am
September 18, 2012
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maria@moneyprinciple
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Post edited 11:57 am – September 18, 2012 by maria@moneyprinciple
Well…I was thinking about this one recently as well. Frankly, I can make (and do make) so much more money per time unit doing other stuff that if we see it like that – no, it isn't.
Then again, I blog for pleasure; and as Woody Allen says in his latest film 'there is so much pleasure in money'. Blogging is something I'll be doing anyway and it is a nice side income line. So, why not!
Maria
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3:34 pm
September 18, 2012
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Financial Samurai
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Post edited 3:36 pm – September 18, 2012 by Financial Samurai
Blogging is absolutely worth it.
* An outlet for ideas
* A way to connect with other like-minded people
* A platform to practice your writing and communications skills
* A platform to build your brand to get a job, sell your product etc
* A great way to have fun
* A good way to keep yourself accountable
* An excellent way to learn from others
* A good way to keep in touch with friends and family
* And of course a possible way to make some income on the side, or full-time income
If we can speak naturally, hopefully we can write naturally given we're not writing essays with stringent guidelines.
I'd rather earn money blogging than freelancing. The potential is unlimited and I can write what I want, when I want. Freelance and consulting income is good and often times very rewarding to help others. However, we only have so much time in the day.
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Regards,
Sam
Financial Samurai - Helping you achieve financial freedom sooner, rather than later.
Yakezie Network Founder
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4:57 pm
September 18, 2012
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Compound Capitalist
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Financial Samurai said:
Blogging is absolutely worth it.
* An outlet for ideas
* A way to connect with other like-minded people
* A platform to practice your writing and communications skills
* A platform to build your brand to get a job, sell your product etc
* A great way to have fun
* A good way to keep yourself accountable
* An excellent way to learn from others
* A good way to keep in touch with friends and family
* And of course a possible way to make some income on the side, or full-time income
If we can speak naturally, hopefully we can write naturally given we're not writing essays with stringent guidelines.
I'd rather earn money blogging than freelancing. The potential is unlimited and I can write what I want, when I want. Freelance and consulting income is good and often times very rewarding to help others. However, we only have so much time in the day.
I'm going to absolutely agree with you when it comes to keeping yourself accountable. This is something I really struggled with before blogging, and having an "audience" (regardless of how large or small) has given me that extra nudge to write and publish posts when I may have otherwise not done so. The connections, as well, have been awesome so far.
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