Want to make money from Adsense or Chitika for a living? Here’s the real scoop…
I’ve been hanging back, off the radar, and reading a lot of blogs about adsense, Chitika, and other various per-click affiliate solutions. A lot of the talk I see is the whole “how to get rich,” and “how to become a millionaire in a year,” and “how to buy your new car with adsense profits.” The thing is, each of these individual articles tout one specific requirement, above all else. You have to have a targeted website/blog. In other words, your content must be targeted towards a specific niche. For instance, Satish at Appliblog has targeted his blog towards blogging, making money with blogging, and tools to use. Quick Online Tips has targeted, again, towards making money online, and other various and interesting tips and tricks to use around the ‘net. Even The Adsense Jerk has created targeted websites, specifically targeting a select few keywords. That’s how they all say you’ll get rich. Targetting those high-paying keywords.
What about us little guys? What do those of us do who have trouble coming up with enough for just one or two topics? I mean, I can write one or two articles about mesothelioma (a certain type of cancer caused by asbestos), which pays a staggering $100 per click, at some times.* I can write a series of articles about web hosting (which pays between $1 and $25 per click). I could even write a long series of articles about how I hate lawyers, and draw in some of those reasonable-paying legal ads. But honestly, I wouldn’t like myself very much at that point, and I’d hate my blog. Blogging, for me, would become more of a chore, than a joy.
Honestly, I blog because I like to. I write articles and commentary about interesting things I find, hear about, read about, and want to share. My posts are all over the map. On my front page, alone, you’ll find articles about lesbian cheerleaders and Tupac, the riots in France, Google’s philanthropy, Flickr and Firefox, and even a couple of interesting links. How can I ever hope to draw in reasonable ads with that? The truth is, I can’t… and neither can you.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am earning money. I am slowly but surely seeing an increase in my Adsense and Chitika earnings as my traffic raises. ((I am currently waiting on response from each company as to exactly how much data I can disclose to you.) However, I am nowhere near a millionaire, and have yet to receive my first payment from either program.
Let’s face it, folks, those of you out there opening a “personal” blog, and hoping to make mega-bucks off of adsense, Chitika or other affiliate programs, are going to be very disappointed. First off, noone has yet made a million dollars in a single year off of any ad program (except the people who created the program, heh). As a matter of fact, the guy who’s closest to making his first million is Darren Rowse, the creater of problogger.net. Even he hasn’t quite reached that first million, and he’s been at it some five years, now.**
So, what’s my point? My point, folks, is you have to persevear. You have to ask yourself some questions. “Why am I blogging?” “What is my purpose behind running ads on my blog?” “What am I willing to do to bring in better-paying keywords?” “At what point does it become more about revenue than about blogging?” “At what point do I decide it’s more important to blog, than to be a money whore?” Essentially my point is, you have to decide if it’s more important to enjoy the blogging experience, or to make money.
Now, I’m not saying you can’t do both. I am, however, saying that if you come at this with the intention to make money, it will be exactly what it seems like… a job. Yes, you will turn blogging into a job. Be it a part-time, or full-time job, it will still be a job. You have to figure out if it’s worth turning something you enjoy into a job, or not. Oh, and keep in mind that unlike most jobs (even unlike eBay sellers), you will not see a return on your investment rapidly. You’ll have to stick it out for the loooong haul. It may be a year or more before you can start even beginning to consider blogging as your only income. Oh, and remember that like any job you enjoy, you run the risk of “hitting the wall,” and running out of enjoyment. I used to adore taxi dispatching, until I hit the wall. While I miss it, now that I’ve been away from it for a year, I’m not too sure I’d ever like to go back.
Me? Why don’t I answer the questions I posed above, for you? Gladly.
- Why am I blogging? I’ve been blogging since 2000, starting first at LiveJournal, then at TypePad, and then on my own website. I enjoy getting my voice heard, and I enjoy writing these little articles and commentary - especially the ones where I get to show my rather unusual sense of humour.
- What is my purpose behind running ads on my blog? To make money. Yeah, lame response. Allright, dig it. Since November of 2004, I’ve been unemployed. My mother and I got our heads together in January of 2005 and started a company, online, selling on websites and eBay. It’s very slow going, and our family has been plagued with health issues all year long. Thus far, we’re not showing a profit. Therefore, I have no income. Additionally, I have a girlfriend, whom I adore, who lives four states away, in Georgia. She’s a teacher, and therefore makes just enough to live on. While she is moving to Houston, at the end of the school year, I’d certainly like to see her, some, before then. The money I make from ads, donations, and what little income trickles in through the company, goes toward seeing her. (NOTE: Do not click on ads if you aren’t genuinely interested in the product/ad, please. Ads are there to convert, making money for affiliates is a side-line.)
- What am I willing to do to bring better-paying keywords? I thought I was doing it. heh. Seriously, though. Keywords are not my primary concern. Google will draw keywords from my pages just fine, and usually has some decent ads for every post (although I’d wager this one will show ads related to blogging.) Occasionally, I may get a wild hair up my ass and post on some high-paying keyword topic, but at least I still keep my own little spin on it.
- At what point does it become more about revenue than about blogging? To me, this point wavers. Mostly, it’s around the time I start trying to target each post, and forget that I’m in this to have fun.
- At what point do I decide it’s more important to blog, than to be a money whore? Again, when I forget that I’m in this for fun.
- and a bonus question: At what point, do I decide enough is enough with advertisements? When I look at my own site and go “Okay, that’s waayyy more than enough,” and start frantically trying to find ways to keep the same level of adspace, while making things look better.
In continuance to number six, you will notice I have three ad units on the main page (header, right sidebar, and between first and second entries), and three on the single-entry page (header, right sidebar, and beside comments). What you don’t realize is that I actually have up to six ad units on the page. All of the google ads are set to roll over to Chitika ads, instead of displaying PSA’s. The thing is, I’ve attempted to maximize placement of these ads, and minimize impact on the user experience. Personally, I think I’ve done a pretty good job. There are a lot of purists out there who will say my ad placement is way, way too much… but overall, I think I’m minimized impact, and allowed the user experience to continue unabated.
Okay, back to the real meat of this entry. What do personal bloggers, and folks like me - who just want to have fun blogging, while making the most buck we can, do when it comes to profit margins? Not a damned thing.
We sit back, we write posts, we blog, and we make whatever we can make. It’s just. that. simple. This whole post boils down to one concept. You can’t be a general/social/normal blogger, and still expect to make a living at it. If you’re expecting to, then stop deluding yourself. You need to decide… is it going to be blogging for fun, or for profit? (Hey, now, I never said blogging for profit couldn’t be fun.. read what I said, above, again.)
technorati tags: blogging, adsense, ads, advertising, eMiniMalls, Chitika, CPC ads, blogging for work, blogging for a living, making money at blogging
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