So, you have a brand new (make money blogging/online) blog?
Me too. And so does Darren Rowse, Shoemoney, Aaron Wall, Steve Pavlina and Eric Giguere. Think you can beat them? No? Think it’s too late to get into this game?
Then I have a secret for you. IT DOESN’T MATTER! It’s not about them and beating them. It’s about you and others like you and me.
Sure, the advice that the A Listers give us is great and there are tons of money making ideas there. But here’s the thing - the view from the top is very different then from the bottom.
They may think that they remember what’s it like at the start. And they may even remember many things correctly. But they also forgot a lot. The situation has changed strongly. And sometimes, the way they tell you about how they started and got there, can take you in the wrong direction. Don’t believe me?
Take a look at this recent post by Darren Rowse. See the casual mention of posting frequency on his way up? 20 blogs and 20-40 posts a day. Be sure to check comment section and all the “Wow! 20 blogs, 20-40 posts a day! Now I know what it takes to become Problogger” comments.
But do you know what most of these 20-40 posts a day looked like? Check out here and here. Can you see a lot of good original content? With 20+ posts a day, there’s little hope you’ll be able to do much better.
There might be some value in aggregating all these reviews and excerpts of various articles in one place. But today’s feed readers, Google News or even del.icio.us do a much better job at that. Aaron Wall almost called these blogs a spam already in 2005.
The “review/article quoting” techniques could sometimes have worked in 2004 and may even continue working on an old, trusted domains for some time. But even then a lot of the effort was a waste of time. Most of Darren’s earnings came from a very few blogs.
And it is a sure dead end for your brand new blog empire. You will just get buried by all the automated Made For AdSense sites/scripts churning out thousands regurgitated feed pages a day.
But how many know that? And how many get the dollar signs in their eyes after reading Six Figure Blogger post, find a perfect formula - 20 blogs x 20 posts a day = I’m rich in a few months, and get on their Problogging path? Maybe not much. But there are some.
I know. I was one of them. And still have more then 20 domains collecting dust in my Godaddy account, to prove it. With keywords ranging from erectile dysfunction drugs and personal finance to web conferencing and web 2.0.
Do you know, that your beginners account about how this 20 blogs/20 posts a day thing is not working, might have led me to find the profitable blogging strategy few months earlier?
So for me, your brand new blog about how you struggle to earn a million online may be as interesting and useful as any blog from Technorati 100. I may learn how to survive without AdSense income, I can empathize with your troubles in setting and achieving goals, or I can use your blog as a benchmark for my own progress.
It’s much more interesting to read about your experiences when you went and did it, then it is to read a nice tutorial by an accomplished blogger/entrepreneur/affiliate marketer.
Even if it’s a detailed, persuasive step by step guide how to start making money in 24 hours and less. You know when I read this particular guide? Almost two months ago. And I’m 99% sure it’s true and 99% sure I could do it. You know what I did with it? Nothing.
But reading your happy boast about how you took this advice and ran with it for some real $$$$$$, might be that kick in the a## that made ME do something about it. Even better will be your detailed account of how you got there. And if your story won’t push me over the edge, maybe the next ones from Jim, Jane or John will.
So don’t worry about being late in the game or the competition out there. If you are itching to start this new blog about your online money making ventures, just do it. If you already have one, keep on going.
After all, what do you have to lose? Regrets of 2010 that you did not start this thing in 2007? Envious look at the list of Biggest Google Whores of 2009 - Mark, Dave & Jay, Empress, Kumiko, Brendan, Rene, Chee, Jake&Kelly, Jake, Mitch, Mike, Nate and all these others that you could have started with? Or the dreadful amount of competition that will definitely spring up in a few years?
Great article and SO very true! It may take some hard work - but it is not too late by any means! We WILL be the biggest Google whores of 2009! Rock on!
Yeah, we will
We just have to keep working hard and doing interesting stuff.
Perseverance is probably the most important part of blogging success.
And even if I do not make the list, I would have had a lot of fun along the way.
Thanks for the mention Staska!
I made a post about this post at my site:
http://www.45n5.com/permalink/.....gging.html
Interesting take on my post.
I do not agree with accusing Darren about the splogs. It was certainly not my intention here.
But, everybody has his own blogging style. And yours seems to be working quite well.
I may usually side with the other party in the arguments you steer up, but the whole discussion is very interesting and educational.
E.g. you even got Darren to respond with one of his most open discussions about what worked and what didn’t on his way up.
So keep up a good work.
A note to everybody - go and read Mark’s post and be sure to check the comments section for very informative Darrens take on the issue
I simply said you “questioned” his tactics, not that you accused him of anything, which is how I honestly read your post, no spin.
However, thanks for clarifying your position on my blog, I posted a response there.
Holla Staska!
Let’s call this the habit of highly effective bloggers. Habit #1. Begin with the end in mind. Nice post.
It’s never too late to start something
Looking forward to be one of the biggest Google Whores in 2010
Cheers!
Yep,
I wouldn’t say that getting on BGW list is my endgame, I may have much bigger things in my sights
But having a goal or example of the potential rewards in sight is an important part of success. However unlikely it seems that we can achieve them.
Someone said that the best way to eat an elephant is one little bite at a time.
The same can be said about blogging - The best way to get to Technorati 100 is one little post at a time.
Excellent post, to me a must-read.
“the view from the top is very different then from the bottom”
That´s simply the point. I think it would be an interesting challenge to see if some of the well-known probloggers would make it again to the top nowadays.
They could find out if they used an alias and started right from the beginning again without any promotion by their friends.
Regards,
René
Some of them might not make it to the top again, but many probably would.
You can’t take away the knowledge and working habits they accumulated along the way. And that’s a very big part of it.
John Chow is one very good example of this. He made it once with Techzone and used his accumulated knowledge to do that again with his personal blog.
Darren’s Digital Photography School is another example. Even if his old photography blog and Problogger shelped some, the content and promotion techniques used on DPS stands out on its own and would have done well without additional help.
[…] Staska.net - So, you have a brand new (make money blogging/online) blog? […]
Nice post, Staska. I just read your post on your earnings for 2006. Pretty impressive.
I do think a lot of the make money online bloggers need to move beyond Adsense. Sure, it’s idiot proof and truly passive but it relies a lot on heavy traffic flow so most bloggers starting out probably won’t benefit from it.
I’ll like to read more about site and traffic building tactics from make money online bloggers instead of silly earning reports, which are just unverifiable bragging exhibitions created to develop awe amongst newbies.
I can easily tell how good a blogger is at making money online by how his or her ability to drive traffic to their site and how fast they can build a community and reader base.
Having said that, I’ll probably be a Google whore myself in 2009, depending on how big my blog becomes by then.. -)
Yep. Especially now that a lot of good alternatives are available.
For me it ain’t that bad with bloggers. Sure, there are some that brag a lot about their earnings and give nothing but boiler plate advice. But they dissapear into obscurity pretty soon
Now, “get rich quick online, here’s how I made a million bucks in a month” affiliate marketers, that bombard my e-mail box daily… These guys really do annoy me
Welcome to the club
Maki is funny.
First Maki says “I just read your post on your earnings for 2006. Pretty impressive.” then goes on to say how much he hates earnings reports
“I’ll like to read more about site and traffic building tactics from make money online bloggers instead of silly earning reports, which are just unverifiable bragging exhibitions created to develop awe amongst newbies.”
I don’t understand, and what if the blogger isn’t earning much, like when I used to report my earnings? Still only made to inspire awe in newbies, doubtful?
http://www.45n5.com/permalink/.....nings.html
Sounds like you just have a problem with people earning alot and reporting it?
If you didn’t guess I’m FOR bloggers doing earnings reports, love to read them, get inspired by them, etc.
Mark,
I’m not sure why you seem so annoyed at me. I haven’t got any beef with you or other bloggers reporting their earnings if they do honestly share their knowledge of making money with others.
I don’t like bloggers who seem to only flaunt how they make money in order to attract an audience, but don’t really share how they actually got to their current earnings level.
Or the type of blogger who ignores email questions just because they come from a blogger with a small blog. Or the blogger who only links to people who benefit him or her and ignores other bloggers who write good stuff because they are competition.
In case you’re wondering, I don’t think Staska is that kind of blogger so there’s really no contradiction if I’m impressed with his earnings.
I’m sure there’s a lot of openings in this comment that you’ll to attack so if you’ll like to aggressively nitpick and debate about this in detail, please feel free to contact me through my blog. My IM details are there as well. And I’m always online.
I don’t want to kick up a ruckus on Staska’s blog. Any concerns about my thoughts on this issue can be clarified in private.
I wasn’t “annoyed” with you or “attacking” you, I was simply offering an alternative opinion to what you said about earnings reports being silly and only motivated by striking awe in newbies. I thought that was silly.
Maybe I read it wrong. Thanks for clarifying.
Mark
Looks like the first fight/misunderstanding on my blog erupted and has been settled while I was sleeping
no fighting, just passionate people with different points of view
But if you are looking for a fight……, lol
just kidding