Quote:
Originally Posted by humppadoll  Hey everyone,
I really enjoy reading Steve's blog and learn a lot from ist. But now I have a question.
I think there is a contradiction, when he says in his list at #10, if you don't make money with your work it is just a hobby, and on the other hand he said in other posts, that you have to give your knowledge away for free.
I am thinking about this now for some days. Can anyone help me to sort it out?
I have been writing a blog myself for nearly two years for free. Is it greedy to now add Adsense or affiliate programmes to it? On the other hand it has not yet contributed anything to my income...
And how long do you have to try until you can tell, whether it is a hobby or a profession?
Thank You in advance |
I never really saw it as contradictory. How I took it was, I can do what I want, do what I love, do what makes a difference, I can do what I would do for free (a hobby) and turn it into something I can make money on (a business). It all depends on what you want to accomplish and how you want to accomplish it (Steve wrote a great blog entry on the medium vs the message).
For example, you want to monetize your blog. There are a ton of ways you can do this. Steve decided that at this point (I extrapolated this from a few of his post, I am unsure if he has said this direct words or not), what was important was reaching people; well if it is free, you reach more people then if people pay. You can:
- Add ads
- Add affiliate programs you like
- Keep you blog free but add a pay members section
- Write a paid newsletter
- Ask for donations to help with hosting and other expenses
There is a lot more. Chose what is best for your readers. Do you think they would rather pay? Or do you think they would rather have a few ads? Heck, you can ask them with a poll or ask the question and let them comment.. See what your readers reactions are. I myself never mind ads as long as they are not popups, animated gifs, or intrusive. I don’t mind Steve’s animated gif because it is so out of the way, my eyes go right over it.
Every blog is different. I think the point Steve was trying to make is you can make money doing what you would do for free. Now do you have to? No. For example, I am a volunteer EMT. I could run at another department and pick up and extra grand a month for the amount of hours I run, but I don’t do it for money, I do it to give to the community. So, your motivation plays into it as well.
Hope that helps, a bit
Adrienne