Problogging is both passive & active income

Over at Problogger, Darren answers the question whether blogging for money is a passive income. Though I would generally agree in his approach to discussing the matter, I’d like to present a new angle which I was surprised Darren did not delve into considering he’s one of the founders of the b5media blog network.

In many of my talks here and abroad, I always refer to the profession of blogging as both passive and active. This is because there are different types of bloggers:

• The Traditional or Independent Blogger. The independent problogger manages most if not all aspects of maintaining their blog/s – installation, setup, design, writing, blog optimization, marketing, sales (monetization). Majority of probloggers started out as independent bloggers and remain independent depending on how successful they monetize their blog. This is the type of blogging for money Darren discusses in his entry.
• The Career Problogger. Career probloggers work for a blog network or a number of networks, either part-time or full time. They will be assigned to write for a specific niche blog (like travel, gadgets, cooking) in the assumption that they are knowledgeable with the said topics. The problogger’s only concern is to blog while the network provides all technical, marketing and sales efforts. The blogger will then be paid on either a fixed salary, per-post, profit-sharing or a combination of the previous schemes.
• Blog Network Owners. More commonly known as Blog Overlords, the network owner practically owns dozens and sometimes hundreds of blogs, hiring bloggers to write for each blog. Blog Network Owners used to be Indie bloggers themselves who have become successful and are now the ones who pay the Career Probloggers. This is where Darren is classified at as one of the owners of b5media.

The 1st type of blogging for money is more or less passive in the sense that a fairly sizable blog, even if left alone and not updated, will still draw some sort of income. This is primarily because a huge amount of traffic (usually around 60% or higher) comes from the search engines. Thus, even if you’re away and on a vacation, your blogs still generate some income. Now that is passive income.

The 2nd type of blogging for money involves a set of revenue agreement. Others are paid on a per post basis or a quota system. Now, if the blogger takes a vacation and does not update the blog, he does not earn a single dollar. That’s because the basis for payment or salary is directly proportional to the number of posts the blogger publishes within the month. This means that the blogger must be actively blogging before he can earn his salary (just like a salaried employee).

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So depending on what type of blogger you are, your blogging activity can either generate passive or active income.