Blog monetisation - Baby Steps to Growing My Means
Posted by panzer on June 2, 2008. Filed under [grow your means, personal finance]
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Flickr! image by darkpatator.

How much has Panzer made in 2008?

I have been seriously blogging for a year plus now and will start to provide a record of my earnings as a way to motivate myself to continue to grow my means through blog monetisation as well as the learning journey that goes with the new technologies.

From 1 Jan 2008 to 31 May 2008, here is what I have managed to generate through the various monetisation programs (in Singapore Dollars unless otherwise stated):

INCOME

  1. Google AdSense: $546.47
  2. Nuffnang: $42.98
  3. Kontera: US$1.97 (S$2.65)
  4. Bidvertiser: US$9.83 (S$13.27)
  5. Adify: US13.24 (S$17.87)

Total: $623.24

EXPENSES: (Does not include manpower costs)

  1. Webhosting: $145
  2. M1 Mobile broadband: $23 (just started this month)
  3. Maxonline: $300 ($60 per month) - this is used at home for personal stuff by spouse as well
  4. Domain names: $120

Total: $588

Profit/Loss: S$35.24

Is it worth Panzer’s time?

If you look at it from a purely profit/loss angle, it doesn’t make sense for me to devote time and energy to blogging as the returns are miserable to be honest. But if you look at the expenses, the main cost is my Maxonline subscription which I would have to pay whether or not my blogs made money. Thus, my blogging helps to offset my broadband costs.

The other main cost is my time. However, I see blogging as a hobby and it’s actually quite fun. There was a period where I forced myself to write an article a day with disastrous results on the quality of my articles. It became contrived, forced and artificial. An helpful reader actually sent me an email to say she doesn’t read my blog because I am rehashing the same concepts over and over again. Her comments made me pause and reflect. Reading the problogger book also helped me to realise that blogging is not about churning out articles and attracting eyeballs to make money. It is about building relationships using the online medium of social networking, blogging tools and communities of like-minded people. If the relationships work, the money flows and I’ve realised that is the case. :-)

Why blog?

I see blogging as a way to express myself online on the various interests of public speaking, personal finance, investments, my reservist experiences as well as my volunteer experiences as a kidsREAD teacher. It also allows me to keep in touch with the web technologies. If not for blogging, I wouldn’t know the difference between blogger and wordpress nor why twitter is so hot now and what is AdSense all about. :-)


I would be lying to say I don’t dream of being the next John Chow or Darren Rowse but it takes time, effort and a bit of luck to be able to be earn a six figure income blogging. But I will work on it because I feel that besides being able to break even on out-of-pocket costs, the learning that goes with blogging is a great way to learn a new life-skill in this technologically changing world.

I’d love to hear your own experiences about blog monetisation and I don’t mean selling those get-rich-quick or work-from-home schemes. Drop me a note in the comments section and I’d return the commentluv!

Be well and prosper!

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9 Comments to this entry.

  1. jeflin on June 3, 2008 at 12:10 pm

    I think you have done pretty well for a six-month blog. Just treat the money from blogging as extra pocket money and one will be much happier.

    For any business, you will always need to fund its growth out of your own pocket so making a small profit is not too bad.

    Jeff
    http://jeflin.net

    jeflins last blog post..Concerns About Financial Sector Disrupt STI Charge

  2. Dsea on June 3, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    Hi Panzer,

    Actually, blogging is analogous to journalism. The financial dynamics are the same.

    The subscription income will never cover the expenses of a publishing firms. The real kicker comes in from the advertisments rack rates.

    Advert rates goes up when the publication can demonstrate that the readers actually read. That is why magazine imposes a subsrciption (the idea that people who pay up will read the magazine more carefully & hence read the adverts).

    The same could be said for blogs. Somehow, you have to demonstrat that you have a consistent reader base….(which bring about other difficulties) like writing to what the public wants to read or writing what you really feel strongly about…

    Random rambling….

  3. Panzer on June 3, 2008 at 8:03 pm

    Hi Dsea

    Thanks for your insights. I believe it makes a lot of sense. That’s why some bloggers believe rather than focus on Pagerank and SEO, it is more important to build up readership. That is why I track my feed subscriptions as it gives me an idea of the number of regulars who visit my blog. :-)

    It has been a fun journey which I intend to continue for quite some time because I have been interested in IT and computing stuff for quite some time since I started playing Ultima and Wizardry! The good ‘ol days..hahaha

    Be well and prosper.

    Panzers last blog post..HLF silver 40 plus fixed deposits rates (1.22% to 1.24%) 6 to 9 months period

  4. panzer on June 3, 2008 at 10:12 pm

    Dear Jeflin

    Thanks for your words of encouragement.

    I will persevere in this blogging journey because it is fun and I am learning something new almost all the time.

    Would you like to do a link exchange with my blog five cents ten cents?

    Be well and prosper.

  5. jeflin on June 4, 2008 at 7:34 am

    Hi Panzer,

    No problem. Your link is already up on my blog…

    Hopefully your readers find my content useful too. :)
    jeflins last blog post..Strong Dollar Gives Hope For Recovering Economy

  6. Derek on June 4, 2008 at 9:08 am

    Hi Panzer,

    Good results. I have come across many sites that have taken years to achieve that kind of income. Many faded off quickly but kudos to you for your perseverance and quality content.

    I myself started a blog on making money online and along the way, I learned many things (including those you have mention). One leads to another and before long I was frantically setting up as many blogs as I could. It wasn’t long before I realize that this is not what I want. Yes, earning money online is cool but to build a credible site that I’m genuinely interested in is even cooler. Which is why I started TheFinance.sg to become a link all local blogs on Investing and Finance.

    I have another blog on making money online http://myblog-log.blogspot.com/. If you are keen, we can discuss and share our ideas further.

    Cheers!
    Derek

    Dereks last blog post..The Intelligent Investor Review

  7. Brendan on June 14, 2008 at 11:31 pm

    From my experience, affiliate marketing is my biggest income source.

    Brendans last blog post..Hedge funds hold huge short positions on Nikkei

  8. panzer on June 15, 2008 at 7:30 pm

    Hi Brendan

    That’s good to hear. Which affiliate program works well for you?

    Is the the FX companies? :-)

    Be well and prosper.

  9. Matt on September 22, 2008 at 4:28 am

    I think this is a good way to look at blogging.

    I have a blog with growing traffic. However, I’ve made very little money from it.

    It’s taken a lot of my time, and so I’m creating it “at a loss” in one sense.

    But then it’s getting me known, and I can leverage it to get other writing gigs. So it’s definitely worth continuing with.

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