Shoemoney had a post on his blog a couple of days ago that talked about the path to success that some of the current “gurus” in the make money online space have taken. Or more specifically, some of the signs along the road to their current successful state. It got me to thinking about the possibility of building a site that could achieve the same success and whether or not it’s possible.
To muddy the waters even more, today I was reading an article in Website Magazine discussing monetization strategies for blogs. The author mentioned that private paid advertising was considered “the holy grail” of monetization methods, but isn’t always necessarily the case. It kind of sparked a bit of concern in my mind with some of my primary methods of earning money online. I started to doubt, just for a second, about the strategies I’ve been investing in (and earning money from).
That led me to wonder two things: a. If building a “big time” blog was even worthwhile in today’s market; and b. If it was even possible to replicate the success, using the same principles as some of the most successful bloggers in our industry (just as an example). Everyone dreams of the 4 Hour Work Week, JohnChow.com, Shoemoney.com, Problogger.net success, but sometimes I wonder if that type of success is still out there to be had or if it will need to be substantially different in order to see that kind of monetary level.
This also raises other underlying questions such as:
- How many people are actually making money online? (as in percentage)
- What methods are they primarily (or most successfully) using?
- How long did it take them to get there?
The last one isn’t as important as the first 2, but still weighs in on how you evaluate and make a decision as to which path you’re going to follow in your make money online venture. I think part of the problem is those of us still developing our make money online methodologies and strategies (really that should be EVERYONE if you agree with the theory that you should never stop learning) can get easily distracted or misdirected by some of the latest spin on what’s working for some. This can lead to being counter-productive rather than helpful.
So, where am I going with all this? I’m not 100% sure. I’m kind of wondering if anyone else has the same feelings and what conclusions you’ve come to. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
3 things I’m confident in:
- It definitely IS still possible to build a big time blog or web site that you can monetize.
I think there’s always room in existing niches to do a better job or take a different approach to the topic. The dream of earning a decent income (let’s use $100,000/yr as an example) still exists while not killing yourself. It might even be possible, if you’re smart in how you architect it, to do this while working part time. - The big payoffs come with hard work and persistence.
The usual principles apply. You need to work hard at what you’re doing, be diligent and work at it with persistence. I want a get rich quick method as much as anyone else, but that just doesn’t happen that often. In fact, most of the get rich quick stories from the gurus that I’ve read happened after they had tried a number of different things that were mediocre or failed completely over the course of months or even years, then happened on something that made them a load of money nearly overnight. - Stay focused on what you’ve identified as YOUR method for making money online.
What I mean by that is first figure out what you are going to do (blog, affiliate stuff, some kind of Internet service, web site focused on a niche, web app, etc), determine your strategies (link building stuff, SEO tactics, old fashioned networking, etc.), then buckle down, focus and stick with it until it succeeds or completely tanks. You’ll learn more than enough along the way to help you expand or fine tune your strategy and likely end up being a guru of sorts yourself. Don’t get distracted by the latest and greatest method for making money online or getting traffic. Most of the tried and true traffic strategies that worked 3 Internet years ago (my feeling is, like dog years, it’s a 7 to 1 ratio) still work today.
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April 30th, 2009 at 5:52 am
Its a nice offer to make money online. great thinking.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:32 am
thank you, very interesting topic that time and hard work to achieve good results
April 30th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Its a nice thinking to make money online.
April 30th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Nothing is impossible but only need hard work with long vision.
April 30th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
On my blog I've often pointed out the obvious that it takes a very long time and a lot of work for people to make money online. Even then, sometimes it's just simple luck.
April 30th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I believe that it is possible to make a decent amount of money on line. I also believe that apart from the basic formula of building traffic, good content and community building, each one has to find his own way to make his blog a success.
April 30th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Nothing is impossible but only need hard work with long vision.
May 1st, 2009 at 8:54 am
It is right to make money online. Most newbies jump from one project to other after trying for a small period. You just need to have some continuous hard working to succeed online.
May 1st, 2009 at 1:40 pm
I have a question related to ranking of a Blogger based on the number of posts in the Blogspot. If I decided to talk about Computer and my header if for example Computer repair. My adsense ads will be related to PC repair. Now I feel talking about programming,, should I build a new Blog? Or just getting a new post in that PC repair blog? My big concern is raking, If ranking is an issue then I don't mind building 2 separated Blogs.
May 2nd, 2009 at 9:17 am
Quite nice and informative article. You can make money from our home and office you can continue when you are travailing.
May 2nd, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Blogs build community and getting information out to your target audience more quickly than existing channels. They enable you to articulate your viewpoints, knowledge, and expertise on matters pertaining to your products as well as your industry.
May 3rd, 2009 at 12:05 am
Surely it's possible, but it will need hard work!!!
May 3rd, 2009 at 6:13 pm
It is still possible. A good idea (or simple luck) and some hard work and learning will do it. The time frame is ard to say, but it can be done, I am sure!
May 3rd, 2009 at 8:54 pm
When I first started blogging I had no idea what I was doing. Now I've got a plan and I'm hoping to clear about $1000/month pretty soon from the sites I have. The nice thing about that is it keeps growing and growing whether you put work into it or not
May 4th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Everything is possible in the life,the result depends on combination of many factors-efforts,time,knowledge,experience,invested money,That is why it is different every time.
May 4th, 2009 at 11:33 am
oh yes it's still possible to make a big blog today , but you have to be sure that it's not easy at all , you have to spend a lot of time and effort , but nothing is impossible
May 5th, 2009 at 2:49 am
All good points. I strongly believe if your blog is really going to make it big in terms of traffic than you have to bring new value to the internet. With so much information out there you have to create value.
May 6th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Great points and yes it is still possible to make money online blogging. There are many different tactics to go about monetizing and marketing you and your blog. You just have to find whats right for you and try to be original when picking your vertical!
May 7th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
But who will work, if everybody will just "make money"?
May 9th, 2009 at 1:45 am
Great post.
I think my biggest issue when developing a web strategy is that I don't stick to what I said I was going to do. I never follow through with my plans and by not doing that haven't really been able to figure out what works and what is just plain useful.
My goal now is to create a plan and stick to it. Break my blogging strategies up into monthly, quarterly and bi-annually and yearly. Document everything and that way I have a good idea of what is working and what's not.
May 10th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
As you described its very good but , the comments of gaming girl are also good.
May 12th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
I have a hunch that soon it'll become much harder to make a successful blog. I get the feeling that search engines are going to get fed up with people manipulating them soon.
But this is just a feeling I have that makes me weary of getting too into my blog.
May 13th, 2009 at 8:07 am
thank you very helpful advice and provide inspiration for more advanced
May 15th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
What do you mean? if everybody will just work? You have to work hard to be able to play hard. Work smart not Hard!
May 21st, 2009 at 10:46 am
Very usefull. Make money online is a great ability to make some extra.
May 24th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
money on the Internet is real, and this is confirmation of my friends. However, it must be great patience, desire, and a lot of time …
May 26th, 2009 at 4:31 am
Using the Shoemoneys and the Probloggers of the world asan example is a bit of a reach. These "guru" types got in early and capitalized early. This is what gives them there status. For me keeping the content socially rich and steering away from the pack is a bit more natural.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
I think it is possible to create another big blog, but it would likely be tougher to start today compared to a few years ago. With blogging and other internet marketing, it helps considerably to jump on the bandwagon early. The longer you wait, the longer it will take to achieve success. It is not an overnight goal. It is something that you have to put a lot of effort towards. One thing that might make it a bit easier these days are the countless blogging pros who willingly share their strategies.
May 27th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
i think Its a nice thinking to make money online.
May 28th, 2009 at 4:40 am
Encouraging post!
If I think, whether it is possible to build a successful blog or website, the answer is clear. That is the ONLY reason, why I am marketing online! As mentioned in this post, the market is always hungry for new interesting and useful approaches. Always. But the secret is, whether the new approach solves some problem better or looks like that.
Online business is an information business, where the way, how you market is important. I personally like strategies, like this blog`s owner has, where the entrepreneur himself puts his personality into fire and does his job honestly. That is the way to success – well it can take time,but it comes!
May 31st, 2009 at 10:22 pm
I think it is still possible to create a big money making blog today, but like most here, I think it would be much more difficult than it was a few years ago.
There is so much blogging competition today, it has become more difficult to compete. But, if you can find the right market, or if you have a unique, entertaining style of writing I think your chances of success are increased.
One thing I find difficult about blogging is finding something to write about consistently. I don't think too many bloggers have the discipline to blog consistently.
May 31st, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Well, I believe that 99.9% of projects fail b/c ppl don't have a clear goal in mind. My humble advice is to be patient.. success takes time and unless you've failed miserably before and still stuck to your idea, you're not gonna end up big.
June 1st, 2009 at 2:38 pm
It could just be one page! I''m being completely honest with that answer. The trick you see is to use the correct WORDS in your blog. The blog makes money because you're placing ads on it, right? Well, aren't some ads worth more than others?
June 1st, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I'm just starting out and am beginning to realize how much work is ahead of me. A lot of fun though. Great article! Keeps people like me motivated!!
June 5th, 2009 at 11:28 am
There's so much to be discovered on the web that you cannot argue the fact that there will be so much more happening like a new big blog in this day in age. It's actually happening now!
June 10th, 2009 at 4:53 am
Agree making money online not easy task but dedicate hard work easily earn handsome money for blogger.
June 11th, 2009 at 8:53 am
I think it is very much possible to still build a big blog today, I know we have the power bloggers right now in the make money online industry like John Chow, shoemoney, etc…. But it is still possible to come and beat the current top guns. The way to do it is to just be unique, be a stand out, and provide a better blog than they provide.
I know it's a totally different sector… but Google beat Yahoo who was #1 at the time for search engines, and no 1 saw yahoo coming down. Facebook started from nothing and is now way past myspace.
Is it possible? Definitely!
June 11th, 2009 at 9:14 am
Everything is impossible in this world of opportunities,but time and efforts are needed to get good results.
June 18th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I've searched through the Yahoo Answers and found out that most of the blog marketing users are doing smaller or home business.
June 18th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
The key to making a profit is to get large amounts of traffic and then to turn that traffic into money. You should be making about $2 for every 100 visitors to your blog.
June 18th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Right now I have a picture repeating a million times because I can't find a pic big enough on photobucket? How do i find a big enough pic?
June 18th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
After every episode of the show the writers post a blog for about 1 half of a second. Usually short and always hilarious.
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:12 am
Thanks for the info Ryan. Your blog posts are usually very inspirational.
June 25th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Great post buddy and the tips you provide above related online making money is really incredible.
Blogging is the best to earn money easily online..
July 4th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
I think the market and ideas are still open today for someone to claim. It's only going to get better for bloggers online. Great post!
Regards,
Jermaine
July 16th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Not giving up is the key. You must stick with it if you want to succeed. Im hitting at around a 50% success rate with my sites. So for each one that fails, I just look at it as the next one will be successful. I truly feel it is all a numbers game.
July 19th, 2009 at 5:26 am
I would agree with what most everyone else is saying, that it is possible but you will have to put in the proper amount of work and time before you can have your 4 hour work week. I also would say that if you have quality content and data on your blog that there is no stopping you from becoming a super blog.
July 19th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Well, it better be the case! I guess that 99% of blogger try and blog for money, so if we were to say, no you can't make it big any longer, well, that would crash our dreams overnight!
Just hard hard work and will see the results…
August 3rd, 2009 at 11:52 am
I agree with some of the comments here: building a profitable blog will be more and more difficult as more players enter the game and the market becomes more and more saturated….
August 4th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
nice post. it gave me a hope. Thanks!
October 9th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Thanks for inspiring the best and lead with good amound
October 11th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Still possible but just really hard thing to do.
Great post, Thanks