Blogging

NathalieNeal

Has anyone had any luck with running a blog - say, arts and culture journalism - and earning advertising revenue, Amazon referral money, commissions from those who want to be featured, etc.?

jjhr

Have you already started your blog? I have a blog but I have only just started on it really. I think you need to find something your passionate about and just go for it.

whitegoods_engineer

jjhr wrote: »

Have you already started your blog? I have a blog but I have only just started on it really. I think you need to find something your passionate about and just go for it.

If you're running a professional blog, you'd be advised that it's you're and not your as you wrote in your post. Basic punctuation really.

NathalieNeal

I have started my blog, yes. It's a combination of original art, comment, and reviews. When I have a little more money, I plan to go back to going to concerts, and review those for the blog.

jjhr

whitegoods_engineer wrote: »

If you're running a professional blog, you'd be advised that it's you're and not your as you wrote in your post. Basic punctuation really.

Oh silly me! I could do with you on my blog, helping me with my editing skills.! I feel a bit of a fool! And to think I have a blog! I bet it's littered with 'basic punctuation mistakes'!

jjhr

NathalieNeal wrote: »

I have started my blog, yes. It's a combination of original art, comment, and reviews. When I have a little more money, I plan to go back to going to concerts, and review those for the blog.

Sounds good.

SkintDadUK

I've had my own blog for just over two years now and it has been very successful. Before you even think about making money from blogging you need to get some worthwhile content on there. Find your passion, write about your passion.

You need to make sure the topic is something you can write about long term otherwise after 3 - 6 months it's going to be really hard to keep adding fresh content for very little return.

Set some goals as well. Whether it's a goal to add three posts a week, get 100 people a month reading your blog or two people a day to sign up to a newsletter. By doing this you will have something to aim for and small wins really keep the motivation up!

Good luck and if you have any specific questions let me know

droopsnoot

Have a search back through this section of the site, there's quite a few links to others who have set up blogs, advice and so on. I also found this from here, though it's getting on a bit now : http://www.theguardian.com/money/series/how-to-build-a-profitable-blog

Wizzbang

I have 2 relatively successful Wordpress blogs, but I (not being that tech savvy) have tried and failed to monetise them. Is there a better platform? I think I need to think about sending out newsletters. I would welcome any input on how to grow them.

Ilona

I have been blogging for 7 years, and choose not to monetize mine. My blog is about making the best of what I already have, and living a good life on a pension. It would be hypocritical of me to carry advertisements encouraging readers to spend more money, when my blog is about not spending money you haven't got.

If you want to go down the blogging for money route, you need to continually refresh the content so people will come back again and again. That could mean writing a post almost every day. You need to have a passion for your subject, and enough knowledge to appear credible. Bluffing and !!!!!!!! might fool some people but not everybody.

Be honest in what you write, be consistent, and above all be sincere. It will take at least six months of building your content, increasing your page views and growing your followers, before you can monetize it. It's a lot of hard work, but it's what you have to do. I haven't earned a penny from my blog, for me it's a hobby, not a job. Good luck.
Ilona

Ha ha, MSE didn't like that word, substitute fanciful lies

ShoestringJane

Ilona and Skint Dad - love your blogs! I have a blog which I enjoy doing but haven't attempted to make money from it. I am very interested in what others say. I suspect you need quite a lot of time to spend on it.