Recently on my blog I stirred up a little controversy with a little email “experiment” and I am happy I did. Let me preface this post by saying out of the 6 bloggers I actually have only read 3 of their blogs - Shoe, Chow, and Problogger. The other 3 I only used because I was proving a point. So, this experiment wasn’t exactly fair to them, but it still needed to happen. At least a couple of the “A-listers” stopped by and hopefully read everything. I wasn’t planning on writing anything for a while but the comments I got from the post really got me pissed off. I just do not understand the mentality of some of these people. They went as far as to bitch about how my experiment wasn’t valid because the email wasn’t worded right and even called it spam. I am not going to get into that because I explained myself once in the comments section so you can look there.
I am not going to lie - I started out reading Shoemoney, John Chow, and Problogger when I first got into blogging and even before that. So, for about 2 months I poured over their pages and took in every word they said. I can tell you one thing - they are great marketers to the “n00b crowd” but not much else. So, I decided I wanted to start a blog in this niche and make money like so many others before me have wanted. So, naturally the first thing I needed was a blog.
What did I learn from the “A-listers” about setting up a blog?
Well, the main thing would be I learned my best bet for a platform would be Wordpress and I learned about a few good plugins. That is about all. I wasn’t exactly looking for a how-to from these guys, but they didn’t help a lot in that department. So, I learned from other resources and got the blog up and tweaked to my liking (one of the hardest steps).
What comes next?
Well, the blog is up so I guess it is time to monetize. What are the “A-listers” telling me about that? Well, there are many ways to monetize a blog: Adsense, Text Link Ads, PPP, Affiliate, etc. There are no shortage of monetization methods on their blogs (filled with their affiliate links). So, Chow writes a post about how “such and such” is the greatet thing since sliced bread and puts his link in the post. Well, I am really new so I may not know he is getting paid for this link and sign up. I get all excited because Chow said I am going to make a killing with this new program. I put it up on my website and wait for the money to roll in - but, it never comes. Well, I figure I must be doing something wrong. Oh yeah! I need to write a post about it and maybe get some referrals. But wait - the same thing has been blogged about about 10,000 fricking times in the past week. The post then isn’t interesting to anyone and they leave. Well, time to go back and read the “A-listers” to see what to do next.
My first attempt failed now what?
So, ProBlogger has an add about “the easiest money ever” and I click on it and the ad takes me to the Text Link Ad website. Wow! This looks super easy, I just put some code in my sidebar and the money will roll in. I sign up and another hour or two goes by after I read up on TLA, sign up, and get the widget going. Now I really will pull in some money! Well, a week then month goes by and I maybe got 1 or 2 ads and maybe a couple referrals, but nothing too great. What the hell am I doing wrong? So, you write another post about how great TLA is in hopes of making some money finally. Well, another couple months go by and the new Page Rank comes out and you didn’t get one. Why didn’t I get a PR man? Well, come to realize Google doesn’t like TLA and punished you for it. You can say you don’t need Google as much as you want but it is bullshit. So, great not only has 3-4 months passed and I haven’t made shit for money, but now I don’t have a PR.
This is getting a little frustrating but I want to stick it out, now what?
How the hell could I have missed how easy this one is? Shoemoney has a check on his website for like $130,000 from Google. What is he using? It is called Google Adsense and I must be living under a rock because I haven’t used it yet and it will for sure make me some money. I go and sign up and throw some Adsense on my blog. So, after a few weeks I get a click here and there and make 6 bucks. What is wrong now? Well, its your placement Rookie you have to move it around and experiment. I move the block and try different sizes over the next couple of weeks and still am getting nothing. Well, with a little more research I realize that the ‘make money online’ ads aren’t worth crap and I am getting like 10 cent clicks. The worst part is if I had another niche blog I am now smart priced and all my clicks are worthless.
I can’t take much more of this, but what now?
I head back over to Chow’s blog to get some other ideas and what do I see? Well, I see what he had for dinner and how he spent $400 on it. Great, I get to see what meal I will never be able to afford reading his blog so he can get a tax write off. Maybe Problogger has something better. Oh, a video post cool! Now I am listening about how blogging is like watching grass grow - real helpful. Well, I just don’t get it, I read if I tried all this stuff I would make a little bit of money. I can’t take it anymore. I have tried everything and I quit!
What happened here?
We had a really n00b blogger and he took the advice of the big guys. I tried all their affiliate programs and stuck with it for 6 months but haven’t made enough back to pay for my hosting. What happened with the “A-listers”? Well, they made $25 bucks off of a couple of sign ups from me but nothing major. Well, multiply this by 10,000 or even more of the n00bs reading their blogs and thats a nice little income off referrals and I haven’t made shit.
Is this their fault Rookie?
Well, in theory I could have marketed the blog better and over a couple years I might get some following and I could turn around and sell them the same shit affiliate programs full circle. It is endless - you read the same crap over and over in hopes someone will use my aff link to sign up and I will make money. Now, this isn’t entirely “A-listers” fault but they are pushing this shit. They are writing ebooks filled with aff links (don’t get me started how worthless ebooks are) and if you tell me otherwise you are simply wrong. The whole problem is the first time you read Chow’s income report, or see Shoe’s Adsense check you are filled with hope and a desire to do the same. So, you religiously read their blog waiting to see what to do next and don’t tell me they don’t love the fact you are doing this.
There is a slight chance you may make it. You might make as much as Chow, Shoe, or Problogger from your make money blog but it is highly unlikely you will ever hit this level. Just trust me on that, stop reading their sites because you think you will make as much as they will and follow in their footsteps it just isn’t going to happen. You might get lucky and and hit the mid level income status and make 1k-3k a month. But, then what happens? You have to push the same crap to other n00bs to hit this level and there is the full circle again.
This post is getting really long and is a rant in sorts, but I just can’t help it. Open your fricken eyes is all I am asking. Please stop thinking you will get rich with 1 make money blog. I am not telling you to stop reading these blogs. I just want you to take what they say with a grain of salt. A lot of times your best intentions are not in their minds and I really don’t want another n00b to get duped like I did.
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Well, while I do think you were a bit oversensitive to legitimate criticism in the comments section of your “e-mail experiment” I think you have some points there, I do think you’ve confirmed what I believed for a long time. Most people regardless of their status or position just don’t answer e-mails. Hell, sometimes even people I know well in the real world just refuse to communicate by e-mail.
It can get very annoying to hit a blank wall. I prefer even a negative response to none at all.
good show rook. i think i was going thru similar frustrations at around the same time. i found your blog somehow a couple of months ago, and i thought we had similar intentions with out blogs. so i continued to follow your blog. i would check up on the A listers too. they are partly responsible for me wanting to start a make money blog. But after i started to break out of my noob shell. i realized that so called A list blogs are for shit. I would even go far as to say that, they didn’t help me with anything. None of the blog posts contained anything useful. It was hard in the beginning, So i wanted to give up. But for some reason, i was starting to get some regular visits. and it was fun seeing comments, and writing my frustations down on my blog. So i continued. I’m at a point where it’s worth it for me to contineu blogging for about an hour a day on bloggernoob. It’s worth it cause it’s fun, it’s worth it cause i make a few dollars on the side. I think bloggers should really focus on other blogs that are similar in size and view points. Work together with each other to grow. Spending time on johnchow, ron jeremy, or darren’s blog is just a waste of time. I think the people who kiss ass now, will later learn that it wasn’t worth it. I’ve seen bloggers pay thousands to johnchow and their blog hasn’t even grown bigger then mine. What a waste of money. Why spend that kind of cash when, more then likely you won’t make that in a year. I think the best way to make money online is to not listen to those guys. Plenty of small and medium blogs out there that are helpful.
@noob - I didn’t even think about the point of how much they charge for site reviews, what a waste of money. I saw you had a pretty good month from your report, good job. It really is frustrating and that is why I needed to take a break and figure out a direction I wanted to take my blogging and internet marketing in general.
@hari - thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my rants. I am an overly sensitive, I am the first to admit that. I am just sick and tired of people wanting to get into blogging having to sort through all the crap to get a clear answer.
Yes, unfortunately a lot of the marketing hype is just a way to scam people and people who are not technically aware of the issues in blogging and the internet in general get scammed.
I myself started blogging before the whole “make money” thing began to blow out of proportion, but then again, I blogged for completely different reasons: in order to express my creativity.
i think you’re doing a great job now. the new direction seems to be paying off. help from vic, griz, and court is showing. ur experiement is one of the most informative and entertaining posts/comments i’ve read in a while. keep it up rook
Thanks Noob I am glad somebody does. You are doing a great job as well from what I have seen.
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I read a few of the A-lister blogs, but not for tips on how to get rich online. As you stated, most bloggers will never see the kind of income that Chow and Shoemoney are bringing in. I have found some great blogging tips on a few of the sites - in particularly, ProBlogger.
I’m not blogging to get rich, but of course, I wouldn’t complain if it happened. I’m blogging because I love to blog, and if I can make a little bit of income while doing it, that’s great. It pays for the hosting and gives me a little spending cash.
If you’re looking to make some money online, I suggest reading a few blogs by REAL bloggers - the bloggers just like us. They’re blogging when the regular work day is done, and many of them are making a couple hundred dollars a month or more. That’s more realistic as to what a new blogger can expect.
I just started monetizing my blogs in December, but I’m doing decently so far. I made about $150 in January, and I’m hoping to end February with a little more. But even if I don’t, that’s okay - because I love to blog and I’d do it for free.
Best of luck to you with your future monetization efforts! I hope you find the programs that work for you!
The only ”A-list” blog I ever check out is JohnCow. I don’t even no why. Hmmm, I think I like his style of writing. Anyway, there’s lots of sites out there offering the same information without having ads pushed in your face on every page. If I’m doing some research I go pay them a visit.