I can't say why others do it, but I post occasional updates on my blogging earnings because it's part of my own growth experience. I also want to help demonstrate that if you follow your passion and focus on helping people, the universe will back you up.
In the blogosphere there's also this collective consciousness of wanting to see how various bloggers are doing financially. Professional blogging is still very new, and I think it's fun to share figures publicly and see how well others are doing. It's an opportunity for us to learn from each other and grow the entire field. Blogging is so young that rather than competing against each other, bloggers are mostly in a collective competition against other forms of media. As the acceptance of blogging increases, all bloggers benefit.
I saw this same effect first hand while working in the shareware industry. At one time try-before-you-buy software was considered foolish. Now free software demos are everywhere.
Some people do react negatively when I post income or traffic results, so I allow them to retain ownership of their reactions. The vast majority of feedback I get in these situations is positive.
Bloggers are especially hungry for data. Knowing that it's possible to earn a certain level of income from blogging because someone else has already done it can be very inspiring to those who are just starting out. I was certainly inspired to see bloggers earning over $10K a month back when I was only earning a few hundred.
If you set yourself up such that succeeding means you've helped a lot of people along the way, you'll likely receive far more support and encouragement than criticism. For every piece of negative feedback you receive, you'll get dozens of positive ones. Knowing you're making a difference is more important than money anyway. The money is just an additional channel of positive feedback. |