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Man, you guys are full of good ideas. When I put out the call for story requests on Thursday, you came through with over 150 suggestions. And some of them are stellar.
I’ll get to work on some of these, farm some out to guest authors, and see if the staff writers want to take a stab at a few. Between us all, we may be able to hit some topics that GRS has never covered before.
Many readers asked to see more articles on boosting income. In fact, there seem to be quite a few people interested in a series of posts about blogging as a business. I think this could be very interesting if done right, with periodic updates like the garden project we did in 2008 and 2009.
I wouldn’t want to use Get Rich Slowly as an example (for a variety of reasons), but since I’m itching to resurrect one or more other blogs, I’d be very open to showing how to build a blog from scratch, including all of the income stuff.
Here’s what I propose.
Blogging for Dollars
I have three dormant blogs, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. They are:
- Animal Intelligence, a blog about — well, animal intelligence. I’ve considered reviving this with a broader theme. I’d cover all sorts of fun and interesting stories about animals. Pros: There’s a huge market for this sort of thing, there’s plenty of material, each post would be quick to produce, not much competition that I know of. Cons: Difficult to monetize. (Animal Intelligence currently receives about 6,000 visits per month, and generated $8.74 of income in June.)
- Four Color Comics, a blog about comics. Four Color Comics was the first site I ever set up with the intention to make money. It died when Get Rich Slowly became popular. Pros: I have lots of source material to draw from, and would enjoy the research. Also, there are probably some moderately good ways to make money with this topic. Cons: There’s tons of competition in this niche. And though the audience is passionate, it’s small (especially for the comics I’d write about). (Four Color Comics currently receives about 600 visits per month, and generated $0.87 of income in June.)
- Success Daily, a blog about self-improvement. I intended to launch this site in April, but the book publicity overwhelmed me. Now I’ve pushed back the launch date to 01 January 2011 at the earliest, though I’d accelerate that if we chose the site for this project. Pros: I’m deeply interested in this subject, and would love to write about it. There’s a fairly good market for the info. Cons: Very tough to monetize; we’d probably have to do e-books or something. Articles would take a lot of work. (Success Daily currently receives about 500 visits per month and generates no income.)
What if I were to revive one of these hibernating sites and share publicly the steps I take as I try to build traffic and income? I could document my design decisions, the ads I choose, and the income I receive. I think it would be instructive. And if we kept the project to just one or two Saturdays each month, I don’t think it’d overwhelm the folks who just don’t care.
I think this could be a fun way for all of us to learn about building and monetizing a blog. What do you think? Would you be interested in a project like this? And if you are interested, which blog would you like to see me flesh out? I’ll tell you right now that I think Animal Intelligence has the best chance at success. Or maybe there’s another topic I could pursue? (I just don’t want to do another blog about money.)
This article is about Administration, Entrepreneurship Saturday, 17th July 2010 (by J.D. Roth)
I’d be interested in this type of thing… and I’d probably select Animal Intelligence as well.
Brilliant and yet flawed. You have readers, so building an income stream will be easier than if someone (say…me) was just starting a blog and had no readers. However, I’d still be very interested in the project.
Pick the comics. Such passion there on your side and those who share your interest.
How do you monetize a blog? Is googleads the only reliable source of income? I’ve tried to use other programs, without much luck…
Blogging has changed, you need to build a blog with a Internet Marketers mentality, build a list, offer a products, etc..
Throw in some affiliate products, couple banners and your on your way.
But regardless how you decide to make money with a blog, you need A LOT of traffic.
I think this would be interesting and Animal Intelligence gets my vote. I also must say that I like your staff writers and guest posts. Their posts are high quality, and it helps keep the blog fresh by introducing some different perspectives and different life’s circumstances.
I really enjoyed reading Success Daily. It’s a hard niche to break into too, so I would love to see what you do with it.
A self-improvement can really help people change their lives, just like GRS.
I love this idea! Having recently started a blog of our own, my husband and I would love to bring more traffic to our site. Easier said than done apparently. However, I do agree with Andrea (#2) that since you already have such a loyal following here you’re light years ahead of us “newbies.”
That being said, I still would love to see this series. There are so many things about the vagaries of blogging that I just don’t know or understand - like how in the world do you still get 6,000 visits per month at Animal Intelligence when you haven’t even posted there in a year and a half?!? Do you pay to get all of your sites to the top of the list on google? I just don’t know how it all works.
My vote goes for Success Daily first, then Animal Intelligence. Thanks! - Carrie
Andrea and WPDK are both right: This project is going to have a flaw/advantage from the start in that I’ll be able to leverage existing readership. I’m aware of that. But that also ties into a point I’d want to make about building readership and community. When you start a blog, it’s vital to take advantage of relationships you already have.
Another option, of course, is for me to start some other site from scratch, without telling readers what it is. This would probably be less fun, but more realistic.
Also, as for passion: I’m plenty passionate about the animal topic, too.
I would vote for Success Daily. The success niche seems to have a bunch of competition, but that area would be potentially most helpful for my life which means I and maybe others would visit it more often.
Oh, one other note: I’m about to leave on a 100-mile bike ride, which means I’ll be away from my computer most of the day. If you’re comment isn’t appearing, it’s because it got trapped in my spamfilter. No worries. I’ll fish it out this afternoon.
I agree that your following is large and it would skew the “behind the scenes of how a blog makes money.” With that said it would be very insightful to see real time how blogs make money. My vote is for the success daily since that the area that I like to discuss.
It’s a great idea and it definitely has my vote, however, you already have tons of followers which will automatically give you a boost on any blog you wish to start just because you’re so awesome (and you are). I vote for either Animal Intelligence or Success Daily.
I would be very interested if you teamed up with someone new (or a few people to really get a variety), have them start a blog from scratch, don’t tell anyone their name or site and have them update on their progress each week as well. Their followers, struggles, successes and failures. That will really show the true possibilities of starting a blog for income, and maybe a more accurate picture of what works and what doesn’t.
Would love to see how you monetize a blog. It would be very interesting. My vote is for success daily since Animal Intelligence and comics are not my thing.
I think what everyone here really wants to know (who is interested in this topic), is how you got Get Rich Slowly to where it is today. It’s a huge blog, you’re making great coin I’m sure, and it’s turned you into an A-list blogger. It at least deserves ONE post!
I think it is a great idea. But, if it is more for instructional purposes, I think you should start fresh with a new site. The current sites already have history. Animal Intelligence has a PageRank of 4. That’s pretty high!
For academic purposes, I would rather see you start from ground zero. Your first blog post would describe how you pick a topic to start a blog about.
I vote for Animal Intelligence. First - I also like the topic. Second - since there’s less competition, it seems more likely to have the greatest potential for growth.
Like I said in the previous thread… I don’t think it really matters which you choose just to get the mechanics of what to do.
sidenote: I looked at websnark the first time in forever… what happened there? Maybe he should have hired more guest writers…
Great, so on these posts instead of 10% of the commenters posting simply to drive traffic to their own sites, it can be 100%. I actually wrote a post on my own site about this topic recently, you can find the link here… (not really).
If you’re willing to move away from personal finance towards entrepreneurialism, why not move in the opposite direction instead? Less focus on money and more on satisfaction, life experience, fulfillment. Basically, I’d much rather see the site move more towards Leo Babuta, who seems genuinely interested in helping people improve their lives than towards Chris Guillebeau, who seems to use world travels as a hook to snare people into buying “guides”, or towards Ramit Sethi, who seems to be able to sell seminar space with no real hook except the voice of a fundamentalist drill instructor (I have no idea how he makes that work, though).
I don’t want to change careers or “earn money online”, I only come to GRS for thought-provoking articles and interesting discussion.
Also, I pretty much hate the rest of the “make money online” scene, like the people who auto-follow you on twitter and then auto-unfollow you after three days if you haven’t followed them back; or in general anyone who tries to make money online by blogging about making money online. That’s not the community I associate with GRS, and I’m not going to want to keep reading GRS if that’s the sort of community it attracts in the future (I don’t mean to “threaten to leave”, I just don’t want to see a site I like start attracting a crowd I don’t).
I wonder how many people are like me - not blog writers and not interested at all in growing a blog? It seems like posts like that belong to their own blog.
Not to worry, I can always skip articles that I’m not interested in. Just my 2 cents (and worth less!) about the topic.
Tyler: Big ????s from me on your comment — more so than usual. Do you really think I’d delve into “make money online” stuff? That’s not what I’m about. However, there are plenty of folks who want to know how it works to make money blogging. How it really works, not how the hucksters like John Chow say it works.
I’m suggesting setting up a real blog on a real subject and exploring the pitfalls of making it an actual going concern, something viable. I’m not suggesting any sort of get-rich-quick stuff. That’s not how real blog entrepreneurs do it.
And I have to defend my man Chris G. He has no ads on his site, provides tons of free content, and doesn’t give a rat’s ass if you buy his guides. He’s the real deal. He’s not some shyster.
Wow, Tyler K… It’s only 7am, maybe you should try hitting the sack again for another couple of hours. Majorly grumpy post.
Like #19 Sheila said, you can always skip articles you’re not interested in.
This is still a great site even if 100% of the articles don’t pertain to one single demographic. And heck, even without a blog, just from an academic standpoint it will be interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes. Even if it becomes popular with links right away rather than in the years it takes most blogs to develop a real following (is that true?) Personally I’d rather see it go a little bit in fast forward, as long as we’re informed what should realistically take longer and what signposts we should look for when making decisions about what to do next.
What about a blog on the day to day trials and tribulations of getting healthy (Losing weight)
I would love to see how you monetize a blog. I’ve tried unsuccessfully; I never seem to get more than $25 a year through things like Google AdSense. I’ve never figured out how to attract independent advertisers.
I have read almost every article from GRS over the past two years, but have never commented. I must say I would love a GRS blog project-especially if it were Success Daily! I also must agree that I have learned TONS of great travel info from Chris Guillebeau without ever buying a single product from him (not that I wouldn’t consider it if I traveled abroad more often). Keep up the great work JD!
I would love this project for two reasons. 1. I already love the Animal Intelligence site, but have been sad at so few posts there! If you chose that one, I would definitely read it. 2. A lot of people I know say I should start a blog but I haven’t been able to justify using my free time to do it. If I had instructions on how to at least make up the time doing what I enjoy then all the better.
I really can’t see J.D. turning into one of “those” kind of bloggers if you know what I mean. He’s just too genuine.
Like Nicole (#21) said, not every post is for everyone. I personally can’t stand any post by Baker, but I still check this site every day because I like the tone in general here.
Totally off topic but…
I would love to hear how your century goes! It would give me inspiration to train for the 100 miles to nowhere next year!
Good idea, though I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t have the time or the inclination to even blog regularly, but maybe your series will change my mind. I vote for Animal Intelligence, an interest of mine as well. I was thrilled when I found out you had that blog, then disappointed that it wasn’t being updated.
I’d love any perspective you have on this process. The free information you are willing to give us, and your own time constraints, make this your choice.
I am a big fan of Chris G. too. He never does hard sell, he has a great model, he answers his emails, his products (yes I have a couple and use them) are helpful, and more and more he shows himself as a thoughtful compassionate guy who’s got a great idea and invites us to join if we want.
I’d love any information on getting traffic and feedback from that trafffic. I have a few hundred devoted readers, but getting either comments or purchases has been difficult. Am in mid-stream of a major reorientation but need to finish the keystone book I am writing and use that as the hinge for the rest of the connections.
So all info is good info. And thanks!
I think it would be interesting to hear how to really build a blog, and go through all the trials and tribulations along the way, unlike reading an article that simply states do these 10 things & you will have a successful blog.
Personally I have started 2 blogs and I always wish I could pick the brains of a few bloggers but never want to feel like I am trying to steal their secrets.
Your project sounds interesting because it is based on topics you are interested in, not just topics you think will make the most money.
My vote would be for the Animal Intelligence or the Success Daily.
Yes and use the Animal Intelligence site.
I’d love to read a series of this type of articles on getting started blogging and making it successful (and making money) all in real time. My vote would be for option #4 completely new from the ground up so we could see how you pick your topic - how you know about competition, traffic and monetization potential. Ok before I suggest this……please realize I know very little about online technology…. Because your followers here would definitely go to your new site and skew the traffic numbers, is it possible somehow for the traffic counter to match up people who visit GRS and the new site so you/it could give you a total traffic number for the new site as well as a total-minus-GRS-people number?
Do continue to use guest posters. You have a fine current crew, and their posts give you time to produce your own, potentially longer/deeper pieces (for the right topic and with the right blend of experts giving their opinions in the piece, I’d follow you through 3000-5000 words; and you could always release 5 or 6 of these as an e-book). You can always add a new guest, one-shot or ongoing contributor, for variety.
I would also be happy if you changed nothing. Very much enjoying GRS and have for some time. And while I’m blathering, the emailed-post option is hugely useful to me and the typical way I read. (I mention b/c a friend is seeing many of his favorite blogs disappear behind an IT access wall, and few have the email option you offer.)
I’d definitely be interested in this project and vote for Animal Intelligence first, and Success Daily second.
I would LOVE this series! As someone who is just venturing into the blogosphere, I haven’t quite chosen a niche yet and currently just write about my own thoughts/experiences as a way to get in the habit of writing, learning the tools etc. I would love to find a niche to focus on and possibly turn it into at least a part-time if not full time opportunity. So learning from you as you go through the steps of getting your blog going would be invaluable.
I would honestly love to see you do something from scratch, because I think it is the beginning steps are the most elusive to us newbies. HOW to grow following? WHERE do you promote the blog to get the following? etc.
Thanks for taking the time to consider doing this!
I love the idea! My vote is for the animal blog.
Thanks so much for telling us about your burn out! We are right there. Everyday I say “I’m just going to dump this” but then I think of 10 years worth of work and I really don’t want to dump all that hard work!
We’ve sold around 200,000 of our self-published book but there are days I think “if I have to pack another book I’m going to scream!:-) (125,000 of those I didn’t pack but still
We are going to have to follow you and see what changes you made so we don’t get so burned out that I throw the computer out the window one of these days!!!
Here is my comment that I put on bloggingwithamy.com about this subject and earning if anyone who isn’t earning yet is interested in my take on blogging for a living. Tawra
First thank you sooo much for this post! I have been dying to know this because I feel like we are always spinning our wheels and getting nowhere!
How old is your blog?
Blog- 5 years
Website- 11 years
Niche?
Frugal Cooking
Frugal Living
Pageviews per month?
We had 100,000 + a month on website and blog but had to go on bedrest with my last pregnancy and now it is down to 60,000 as I haven’t been working on it much for almost 18 months.
Monthly income?
In 2008 we made $54,000 that year but…… (you knew that was coming:-) we had 3 people, my mom, husband and I all working more than 40 hours a week. In the end we averaged $3 an hour! Basically mom and I work for free and my husband is the one with the income.
In 2009 we made $60,000 and I basically quit working on it. So my husband’s hourly income went up. Mom still worked but about 20 hours a week.
Main income streams?
Sell our print books and e-books through our newsletter
Affiliate sales – e-books
Google Ads
Swagbucks
How long before you made money?
9 years!
Hours blogging (& related activities) per day?
Husband works 40 plus hours a week
I work 1-2 hours a day
mom works 2-4 hours a day
Turning point or special circumstance?
(Get your coffee or tea and have a seat!)
Mom and I both have a chronic illness and I now have 4 kids. We just don’t have the energy to spend hours and hours working. Basically mom and I do this as a hobby and just for fun (the fun is pretty gone as you will see below) and as a way to pass the time. I had originally thought this might be a fun way to make some extra money doing what I love…talking about saving money.
My husband is my tech guy and does most of the work to keep it going. He quit his job in 2006 to work full time for Living On A Dime but… (there it is again
he doesn’t like being stuck in front of the computer all day by himself in our bedroom..uh… office. He has decided to go ahead and try to get back into video production.
Now, I will say that I am totally burned out. We have spent YEARS trying to make a good income doing this and it’s just not coming. $3 an hour is NOT worth it!
We keep trying new things and it just doesn’t seem to work. A good example is we decided to switch the website over to a new WordPress template. It was supposed to be an “easy” and fairly quick move. It has turned into a 6 month nightmare and it’s still not loaded with all the info. from the old site.
We will spend HOURS ( 40 + or more) on a sale only to have it bomb an bring in $20.
Also, we spend HOURS dealing with customers. The majority of our time is spent with people who have lost e-books and order problems. I hate dealing with this stuff. I just wanted to pass my great ideas on how to save money on to people but I quickly realized that if I want to make money I am going to have to sell something and that means customers. (yes, we keep trying to find people to hire to help us out but they never seem to work, even with high recommendations)
We also spend hours dealing with ads and angry customers. We have Google ads on our site and not so great stuff will pop up. So we have to go through and find where it is (the person who saw the ad never remembers what page it was on) and then deal with the person complaining. Google’s filters aren’t that great so stuff gets through all the time that we don’t want on our site.
There are lots of other examples but you get the point.
The good part is that when the kids have a concert or we need to take off he can take off work but we do then have to make up the time missed working by working very late. We do get to take vacations but they aren’t paid and we have to again make up the time so we spend 2-3 weeks before our vacation working late to get things done while we are gone.
I know this is probably way more than you wanted to know but I want to be real. I have people ALL THE TIME ask how to start an internet business and make money at home. The truth is it is still work and a lot of it.
At this point we are trying to get the website stable and up and running again in the new template. As soon as hubby finds another job he is going to quit Living On A Dime full time and we will most likely go back to making not much money since mom and I just aren’t up to working a lot.
More days than not I just want to dump it all the stress is really starting to be too much but if our income didn’t depend on it I would enjoy just posting tips, hints and recipes as I feel like it so I’m not going to totally give up.
It’s funny because I was going to email you Amy and see what your consulting services include because we sure could use some help!
Anyway, sorry for the novel but that is what’s involved in making a full time income for us.
I know you said you don’t want to use Get Rich as an example, but I think it would be helpful to get an idea of the upside of a blog. Knowing Get Rich made $1300 in June or whatever the number might be puts the other numbers in perspective.
Hey,
What you could do is prove that someone could make money blogging without spending a lot of money or spending time other than the time spent writing articles. I’ve seen so many sites that say you must pay for ads and join sites like entrecard and such, disprove that, please.
Hi — I know that I started and kept reading GRS because of two things: 1) JD’s “voice” and how personal the blog 2) how great he was at comment moderation, the comments were really good.
So, I don’t think it matters what topic is chosen for the blog experiment, but if that personal connection isn’t strong I don’t think it can work.
(I note you didn’t mention Getting Fit Slowly — I wonder if that’s an example in itself, since you’re no longer involved but it’s still going…)
YES PLEASE! I would love to hear about blogging as a business. I am very interested in starting my own blog, for my own personal satisfaction and income generating too! (However small it may be.) However I am completely new to this arena and will have to learn every detail. Please don’t assume that anyone interested already has good knowledge on the topic. Thanks and good luck!
I like Ashley’s idea of having other people start blogs from scratch with your guidance and post on their results. That seems as though it would be a “fairer” test of how to grow a successful blog.
@JD concerning your comment about almost giving up on the site, and saving it by including guest writers; I had the same situation a few years back for one of my electronic music websites - I wound up opening up the monthly DJ mix I was doing to guest DJs and after that initial obstacle of losing steam, I’m back to form and passionate about it again.
cheers
I like the idea of starting from scratch - even if it is a topic that you currently have a blog for. The best example would be a blog that starts with zero readers and zero hits.
I already get all the self improvement stuff I could possibly need from Zen Habits so personally I’d like to see the Animal Intelligence blog. There are plenty of cutesy animal photo blogs out there but I’ve found nothing particularly intelligent or inspiring. Although I have to admit I am tickled pink every time there is a new post on Zoo Borns.
Great idea. I think the Animal intel. is a great idea. I have been wanting to revitalize and monetize my blog for weeks now and this may be the jolt I was looking for. Can’t wait for your posts.
I don’t mean I think you’d be posting about adwords and SEO and social media marketing constantly, J.D., but I do think this topic is going to attract that sort of readership. It seems that for every person who’s really passionate about writing for the web, you have 10 more who just want an “easy” way to make money from home. I’m worried the second group is gong to be the biggest Audience for this topic.
As for Chris G., he’s one of the people who auto-followed an unfollowed me on twitter, I don’t see why he’d do that if he didn’t want me to read his site and buy his guides. I know you like him J.D., but I’ve been unimpressed.
Pardon typos, it’s almost impossible to compose a multiple-paragraph comment on this site with an iPhone.
@Tawra: Who do you use to print your books?
I might suggest looking into Lightning Source or Create Space. Your books will be available for sale on Amazon, and you won’t be involved in fulfillment at all.
I’d like to see articles about other personal finance blogs, what they have done right and what they have done wrong, both in terms of money and content.
The animal intelligence blog sounds like a winner to me. It seems to me that there must be some way to monetize it. But you clearly know far more about this than I do.
Rob
J.D., I’d be happy to contribute a guest post or two about this. I post my income numbers publicly by reader request; you can see the most recent ones on my site that my name is linked to. My blog earned just over $28,000 in June.
-Erica
One of the most difficult things to do is once a blog has gone by the wayside would be to revive it. I maintained an investing blog for a couple of years before life took over. While I still generate essentially passive income (about $30 / month), it’s been extremely difficult trying to revive it. It’d be nice seeing your progression when you decide to revive whichever blog is chosen.
Hello,
I would love to see this Series “Blogging as a Business.” From a reader’s standpoint, I’m interested to know the entrepreneurial side of what it takes to build something from scratch. What are the gotchas, biggest lessons learned, how to take advantage of synchronistic “coincidences,” staying disciplined, and how to say “no.”
For me, it’s less instructional on the topic of the blog. Actually, I’d rather see it get started from scratch and remain anonymous for the reasons posted in the comments section.
As someone who keeps putting off the development of my blog I would be incredibly interested in reading how you get on. Also @ Erica.biz - just signed up - looks an intriguing blog!
I love reading about blog stuff, but I would caution JD that relaunching a site will take a lot of time. Do you have that time?
I write about money blogging on one of my sites, I enjoy it so much.
For anyone looking for info on starting a blog, there are a MILLION sites out there - try Google and go from there.
Great idea and timing. I just started my own blog and haven’t a clue what I’m doing. Any insights would be great. Animal Intelligence would be interesting! Thanks so much for sharing & your time. GRS has helped me a lot and except for a mortgage - I’m now debt free.
Success Daily seems like the most interesting of all the projects - good luck
I’d be very interested in reading about this topic (series?) on GRS. Of those choices, I’d like to read about the development of Animal Intelligence or Success Daily, with SD having my top vote since good posts on there might end up in the monthly round-up I do on my own blog, Taking Care Of You (tcoyou.com).
I also thought it would be more useful if, instead, the site for this example was not known to be associated with you and built from scratch. Showing a blog developing from the very beginning without all of us being led to it is a more realistic example. And, starting from the beginning would guide those at that stage, rather than them feeling 10 steps behind. Those of us past that point will, hopefully, add comments about our own experience at that point and once the series has advanced to our own level, we will feel more invested in the series and keep reading/commenting.
The unknown blog concept would provide a true representation of the average user’s experience. Maybe the second post for the month could be about your own experience with the topic discussed that month on one of your other blogs (AI, FCC or SD)?
So, do you have any yet undeveloped ideas that you could use for this GRS project?
Hi JD, I’m a daily reader and first time commenter. And a huge fan of GRS! I would love to read an ongoing “tutorial” process of how to start and manage a blog. Though my areas of interest would be animal intelligence (I’m an RVT and manage a veterianry hospital for a living) and Success Daily (who doesn’t find interest in success?,) I like what #15 Dustin suggested about starting a blog from square one…how do you choose your topic? With so many blogs and so many interests, how do you truly prepare to get on the internet highway in the first place? Those are my two cents =) Thank You for GRS, I truly love it!
@Tyler K “It seems that for every person who’s really passionate about writing for the web, you have 10 more who just want an “easy” way to make money from home. I’m worried the second group is gong to be the biggest Audience for this topic.”
So what?
On top of that, blogging isn’t an easy way to make money from home (unless you hit on a brilliant icanhazcheezeburger strategy)– reality check information on how time consuming the process can be should open some eyes on the subject.
And aren’t you always encouraging more posts on how to increase income? Asking for a raise isn’t the only way to get more income. My preferred way is to save/invest money and have it spit dividends at me, and sometimes I’ll take on consulting work if it comes my way, but I wouldn’t say no to a bit of money from something that’s a hobby anyway.
@JD Another idea, building on #33 Suzanne: You could do a contest and choose some other unknown person’s blog and help them build it up, discussing that process, getting their insight (and frustrations) as well as yours in monthly posts. That might also help your time allocation (as #32 points out)… and if the blog doesn’t succeed, well that’s also informative. There are a lot of pitfalls.
@32 Yes, there are a lot of sites on how to start/monetize a blog. The problem is separating the wheat from the chaff. I trust GRS to give me unbiased (or as close as humanly possible to unbiased) information on the subject.
I’d LOVE to see a series like this as “growing” a blog has been on my to-do list for years!
Not sure the topic matters - pick what YOU like and are passionate about - as all of us will have our won passions and niches too. It would just be nice to get the know-how from someone who knows!
Thanks for the offer.
What a great idea. As a total newbie (don’t even have a website/blog up yet) to the blogging world, I would love to see articles on how to make a blog work. While it’s not all about the money, it would be great to have it generate some income beyond just sharing what is going on in my shop (”here’s what I’m working on,” “cool inspirations,” and “projects down the pipeline”). I get the networking aspect, but I can see that a blog would be a lot of time and work and I would need for it to be worth the effort on multiple levels. Yes, I really am 10 years behind the times, but hopefully I’m not alone.
The comic site seems to be really creative, so I’m leaning that. However, do what you are most passionate about to help alleviate your burn-out.
I think this would be a great idea as long as it’s written by you. I’m another reader who hits delete when the post is by someone other than J.D!
It might be helpful if you chose the topic with the least chance of success and taught us how to make it successful. You’ll already have instant traffic which is the biggest problem for new bloggers so anything you can do to make it more “real world” is good.
Absolutely…bring it on!
Tyler, I can see your point, but count me among the readers that would really like to get some specific blog creation information from someone who’s not over the top with their advertising, has a really nice layout, and knows how to network with other like-minded bloggers. Much of the existing pages I’ve read seem to jump over certain steps, and knowing JD, he’ll take the time to make sure it’s clear for those of us following the series.
I don’t have any pretensions of making money with a blog, but I have a topic that I really want to write at length about, and on the off chance that it clicks with people, I’d like to be set up right from the start, rather than having to figure out transitions from one of the quick & easy free sites to something that potentially *could* make money.
While this topic interests me a little bit, I’d be much more interested in seeing articles about starting a non-internet business. Yes, the startup costs are much higher, but the reality is most readers would have a greater chance of success than niche blogging. And that’s saying something.
I’ve commented before that I think there is value in talking about the unknowns of small business startup in the US. Starting an LLC, getting foot traffic, lots of legitimate concerns for business owners the world over.
While a comic book store wouldn’t be a reality (that model is rough), perhaps something else would be.
I think you’d get a lot of interest in this topic. And given that you have something up every day, I wouldn’t worry so much about missing readers every once in a while. All your posts are going to miss some readers anyway—I mean, I’m well past the credit card stuff, but it’s not like I stop reading altogether because I see a CC post.
That said, I think it would help if every once in a while, you had readers actually interview you about the blog subjects. When you started GRS, you were a little bit of a novice about money. So people got to learn about money stuff as you learned about it, and you were well aware of what you didn’t know to start and could write about that. With the blogging stuff, you’re starting the posts as an expert already. So I bet you do some stuff in your sleep that wouldn’t even occur to a non-blogger. You’ve got to find a way to remember what it was like just starting out (maybe you have a journal somewhere or wrote about that on GRS…I don’t know), mistakes you made, etc. Anyway, just my two cents. Looking forward to the series.
I am actually very interested in this topic at the moment. I started blogging just for personal reasons, but lately I’ve been thinking more about how feasible blogging for fun and profit could be.
If you want to go with a case study that is “personal blog turned income stream” then I would choose the Self-Improvement topic.
If you want to go with a case study that is “growing a blog structured for monetization” then I would go with the Animal Intelligence topic.
JD, I understand where you’re coming from. As a blogger, I chuckled when I read where some of your readers want more articles from you and fewer from guest writers. Perhaps they have no idea how difficult it is to write about one topic over a period of years. I also understand your feelings about giving up on a site. I’ve written a sports blog for over three years and I’ve yet to make $10 from Adsense (yes, you read that correctly). I quit writing for seven months and revived it last week.
I’d write about whatever you’re passionate about and welcome any help you can get from other writers.
I like this idea because I am curious about the topic. I also like the idea about helping someone with a nascent blog develop it. I vote for the Success Daily blog - perhaps you could incorporate some of the fitness stuff into that? I’d be interested in your fitness journey.
There’s another popular blog that was going to do the same thing and the same concerns such as already having a loyal following came up.
The way to do this, if you are interested is to start a brand new blog, new domain name, zero posts.
Keep the blog a secret for 90-120 days or whatever you feel you need to get some traction. While you build this blog up over this period of time, keep a daily journal.
At the end of the test period, release your journal as an ebook and everyone that is interested can follow your success/failure.
From then on, if you continue the test, it would be public, but would show that a blog can be build from the ground up and nothing more.
I don’t know about a blog, but I’d like to see some articles about blogging as a business or how to have a successful blog. I’m really impressed that you’ve kept GRS running this long, I only discovered it a couple of months ago.
I realized then its been around for years, I discovered it when one of popsugar.com website’s linked GRS to one of their money articles. I don’t like reading finance journal for the most part because its very repetitive.
How many times can people say diversify your stock portfolio,earn more,spend less,save, etc..Plus the irritating thing is when you pick up magazines like Money, and they profile couples who complain that they can’t make it on 100k, blech.
Anyway I feel GRS is more accessible to people from all incomes, and not just those who are well off. Plus you bring in a real personable feel to finance with your articles, and with the articles of writers like April and Sierra. I like that. =)
I have a blog and next-to-no interest in “monetizing” it, because its primary purpose is to inform those who might interested in hiring me as a personal trainer or dance teacher, my part-time second job (and anticipated retirement gig). Very few teachers/trainers have an effective web presence, and it was easier (and cheaper) to blog than to set up a formal website.
That said, I would be VERY interested in reading J.D.’s take on the process of setting up and maximizing a blog, because obviously he has done so himself, but primarily because of his voice.
I like the way you write, J.D.; I think you are an intelligent, curious, open-minded individual, constantly seeking to improve both yourself and your understanding of the world.
I would be most interested in the Animal Intelligence topic.
I think this would be really interesting. None of your suggested topics struck me in a special way, but whichever you choose, I hope you start with a post about why you chose it (particularly how you weighed passion for the subject with potential profitability)! And, to me, this is totally within the theme of GRS - I don’t think (hope) none of us reading plan to get super rich starting a blog, but there does seem to be a lot of potential for a nice side income.
As a scientist who studies animal intelligence - what a great idea for a blog! Would love to hear more about this.
I too would love a behind the scenes look at building a blog as a business.
Success Daily is the most interesting topic to me, but it doesn’t really matter what topic you choose if you are writing about everything you are doing to develop and promote it.
Start a site from Scratch. Document it all. Kind of like a “Real World” documentary project. Including hard facts, like numbers, traffic sources, click thoughs, income, etc.
I am super into this idea. Please and thank y ou.
I would love to see a series of posts profiling the “journey” of building a blog from scratch. I’m toting with this idea, but it’s hard to know where to start. Hope to see it come to fruition!
Love this idea JD! I have been toying with the idea of starting something like this (and hiring a life coach!). LOL. I enjoy this site because we as a community are out to help through information the other people in our community. I think this would be a great addition!
I’ve been searching the web for guidance in this very area. There’s an ocean of information, but no clear answers. I would find value in being walked through the steps, especially on how to get readers. It would be most helpful if you started from “scratch”, with no readers, so we could understand the entire process. Getting readership is somewhat of a mystery that I do not understand. If you choose not to start from ground zero, which I would totally understand, maybe you could at least include the info on how to get readers. I would be very appreciative of any guidance.
I wonder if there is anyone else that would be happy to have even 50 readers.
I like this idea alot. There are so many sites making money on how to make money blogging that I have a hard time not being suspicious of them all
My vote is for the Animal Intelligence site. First, because I love animals. Second, I think it would be the most difficult to monetize.
Great idea. I would vote for the success daily site.
To avoid skewing the readership by bringing thousands of readers from GRS, why not create a secondary community using a service like Ning for those interested in learning how you build this blog. Regardless of the platform, the idea would be to provide a secondary location so we can watch and learn and contribute and allow the blog to develop naturally.
Great idea and I too like to vote for the Animal Intelligence. The only issue I have with that is you already have 6,000 visits per month. Would it be possible to start a new blog on the same subject and sligtly different title, as you obviously have passion about, it would then reflect a true new blog?
As an aside the link on the Animal Intelligence site to the Chimp on a Segway is broken, this one works http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UpyyooUtMI
I would love to see you do the Success Daily one!
I am interested in starting up a blog site so would love, love all the basics since I am very new at this. I agree with Lauren and Lazy Dazy, in starting from scratch for some of us “newbies” that would like to get started with someone we feel we can trust and is knowledgeable.
I am interested for sure. None of topics appeal to me, but love this idea.
I would follow the progress if that project very closely.
I think the one about self-improvement would be the most interesting to follow
Hi J.D - This sounds like a project which will interest a lot of people. I’m guessing that the self improvement blog would appeal to most of your readers.
But I think you have to choose for yourself. It sounds like Four Colour Comics could work well for you too.
meh, I like the idea but really dislike the ideas around execution. Here’s why:
#1 Big Reason: JD, didn’t you tell us that you almost burned out with GRS? I treasure GRS, and would prefer for you to continue to put your excellent efforts into this site. If you are looking for a change in focus, that is one thing, but if not - this seems like it could be a nail in GRS’s coffin.
2) I really feel like the advantages you have are just too big to make this interesting at all
3) I would enjoy seeing a discussion of the steps you have taken/phases you have gone through with GRS, and then illustrating these steps with other blog examples at those same phases. Using just one example blog, that is one specific type of blog will just be less universally applicable / useful as an example for others.
For purely egotistical reasons I would vote for the “Success Daily.” Egotistical because I could just go along with my site with a similar purpose ;-))
I have this site for a while but things just keep coming up that keeps me in developing this site from a few visitors with no income to one that I can comfortably live on.
I know, I know, I should not be so egotistical, so how about I would also report how my site does when following all the things we learn from “Success Daily?” Wouldn’t that be a nice thing to give in exchange?
J.D., what are YOU passionate and most interested in putting an additional focus and work at this moment in your life? Sure, you would draw on the GRS community to read the new site/topic which is a bonus. But, that may not provide the stickiness you may hope for if there isn’t an ongoing interest in the topic.
I would also say whatever your passion is, again that thing that keeps you up at night, *that* needs to be your topic. Especially if you are looking to use this as a potential case study for building traffic and income. I bet the passion for your topic will give you energy to relay your success and inspire you to find new and different ways *to* build traffic and income.
In saying that, I do think you have tons of value and knowledge to pass along for general blogging, traffic, income tips. If nothing else, share that here at GRS to inspire someone to do what you did!
You could also set up a category that’s excluded from your homepage or a subfolder so it’s a different feed. All of your pageviews would remain here on GRS for traffic purposes and the readers who want to read know where to find those posts. Or, you can always guest post for a blog that shares tips on that topic (and I think you know a good one :).
Your idea sounds ideal and would benefit many.
How about choosing the site which would be the most challenging to get going or stay afloat. Taking the easier route may not help us in the end.
thank you
carmen
I wanted to put in an “Amen” for commenter #12.
Look around for a few dead-but-interesting blogs and offer to mentor them. Then have them, or you, take turns to blog here about methods, philosophy, techniques, ups and downs WITHOUT telling us their blog (or maybe you could “unveil” it after a year or so).
That would give us a picture of how someone without a following, but with your expertise, could grow a blog!
Its a great idea. Please consider it.
JD - I reckon it’s a great idea, and it would be a series I would follow with great interest.
It doesn’t matter that you already have an established readership that would follow to the new blog. Most of the benefit of the series would be in learning how to go about building a blog and monetising it, quite apart from the numbers.
Personally, I’d prefer to Success Daily. I love the concept and think that, over time, there’s a much wider range of sub-topics to cover.
I would LOVE to follow this project with the animal intelligence blog. Please consider the animal focus! I love that it’s something new and useful that you’re contributing to the universe - a lot to be said for the less competition thing. Also, it has a very wide appeal. Comics is a niche thing. Lots of people are interested in animals for lots of different reasons. You might even do some greater good for animals and the environment by helping people see animals differently. Also, don’t underestimate the potential revenue from an animal blog. I bet that cuteoverload or icanhazcheezburger (sp?) sounded like jokes when they were proposed, but now I’m guessing that they get millions of hits and make plenty of revenue.
I would love to see a new blog created specifically and anonymously, and also several users selected to get started as well, also anonymously. A slow rate of one post every other week I agree shouldn’t flood out the theme of GRS - and also shouldn’t cause a burnout situation itself, especially if the selected users prepare some ‘how I’m doing with all this’ posts to share.
I for one would be very interested in this project. It hits core to what I want. My vote is for the 4Comics or Success. Any way you do it I would be interested in learning from you some ideas on driving traffic and making some money from your blogs.
I have to stand up for Chris G. too, @Tyler. I’ve had some professional dealings with him and he is ALL about people, not about money. He has been super-nice to me, personally, during some tough times.
I can’t say anything about the Twitter auto-unfollow, but you are doing yourself a disservice in prejudging him.
Would love to follow this project.
Animal intelligence seems a good one.
Glad to see you didn’t give up on the site. While I like your posts, JD, I don’t mind the other ones–at least most of them. They do provide a variety of ideas and backgrounds and keep it interesting.
Whatever blog you choose to do…it isn’t going to matter too much because, as much as I want to know like the rest of them, it isn’t going to be a “normal blog” because most of us are going to follow it which will skew the numbers much more than anyone’s would who doesn’t have the readership of GRS to launch with.
I would be very interested in following a blog start-up project. I have a blog that’s been up and running for a few months, and growing readership with the intention eventually to monetize would be excellent. (Readership *is* growing, but very very very slowly, and really, I’m probably only going to live another 50 years…)
Content of the new blog is fairly irrelevant to me (unless you want to know which one you’ll gain a reader on), but I have the same question as others have asked — how to grow readership when you don’t have tens of thousands of readers (or friends) to start with? I’m just not that popular
Difficult to monetize is somewhat appealing to me, because that’s the land I live in (I think).