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The Blogging Friend Factor

The Blogging Friend Factor

I guess I am as guilty as anyone for this, after all I have written enough on the topic myself, but it gets me down than so much emphasis in blogging is on the money side now. Only yesterday I was reading how people should not bother starting a blog as they are unlikely to make much money at it. Is money the only reason to blog? No way!

It’s a lot like music. There is a pleasure in creating and performing music, regardless of if you get paid well. Yes there are a ton of people wishing to become rock stars, but many many more who will never be and are happy despite that. Does every musician dream of being a rock star? No. Does every blogger dream of making big money? I don’t think so.

OK, easy for me to say, I make a decent living from blogs. In fact though I blogged long before thinking I could make money doing it. To begin with I had pigeon hold blogs as being fun, niche, sidelines of webmastering. Not real money spinners like affiliate sites or ecommerce, etc. It was Darren Rowse who inspired me to try Adsense. So for years I had been blogging “just because”.

Through blogging I have made some great friends, too many to list (and I would risk an argument when I inevitably missed someone out!). Some of these people I have met in real life, others only over email and skype. For this reason alone I would continue blogging if for any reason I couldn’t make money from it.

As Ryan says, making friends could be a critical success factor.

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The funny thing is, when you enjoy the process of blogging and make friends, without any expectation of pay off, you become better at it and see more success.

If you are not making big bucks right now, just relax and know that blogging can be its own reward.

View Comments (6)
  • Well said Chris. I think with some coaching and optimization, every good blogger can make a decent living from blogging. However, if money is the only thing the blogger cares about, pretty soon he or she will burn out.

  • “but it gets me down than so much emphasis in blogging is on the money side now. ”

    I have been thinking the same thing. I even came across an article recently which basically said personal blogs were a waste of time because they were unlikely to make money. I feel that the writer of that article is seriously missing the point. Blogging can/should be fun, it’s a great way to meet new people, and for anyone who enjoys writing, blogging is often the main or only reward necessary.

  • So far with my blogging experience I have had lots of fun and profited zero dollars. Blogging has opened my mind to a lot of new perspectives on certain issues regarding politics and life also. I’d say that the non monetary gains from blogging exceed the monetary ones greatly.

  • I am glad there are still people who blog for the pleasure of it. The good news is if you blog selflessly then the rewards and opportunities do come if you want them, the key is to give first :)

  • I totally agree. Not everything need be “monetized”. We live in a capitalist society and unfortunately there can be the general feeling that everything has a price.

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