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Bloggers, Do You Value Yourself as a Human Being?

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value

I want to start by stating that this blog post will not apply to everyone. If you are blogging as a hobby or just for fun, and you aren’t focused on creating an income from your blog, then just skip this post over.

However, if you are serious about creating an income from your writing, I think what I have to share might shock you!

So, let me start with my story, then I will be glad to hear yours!

Let Me Start With My Story

I started blogging (with the intention of making money), over 3 years ago.

Now I know what you are thinking,

‘This guy has been blogging for money for three years, he must be making some big money each month!’

But the truth is, that for the first 2 1/2 years of my blogging journey I was like 99% of bloggers.

What do I mean by that?

  • I was putting 30-50hours a week into my blogs
  • I was building great relationships with other bloggers
  • And my BEST month, I made about $400.

Now $400 a month may sound great to you, but let me put it into a bit of perspective!

$400 / 160 (hrs) =  $2.50/hr

For those of you who didn’t get that equation –  let me explain.

$400 = Money I made from my best month

160 hrs = The average amount of hours I spend on my blog each month

$2.50 = The hourly rate that my blog was paying me

I don’t know about you, but doing the sums and finding out that I was only making $2.50 for each hour of effort that I put into my blogging, didn’t really excite me! But the funny (or sad, depending on how you look at it), is that when I posted the fact that I made $400 from my blogging in that month – I had a stream of congratulatory comments!

Since when did $2.50 an hour become something that people aspire too?

What Is Your Value?

I am not talking about your value as a  human being, I am talking about putting a dollar figure on your worth!

This may be easy for some. For me, I knew that I was making $20/hr as a builders laborer – so to me, the value of an hour of my time and effort was $20 (almost 10 times what my blogging was paying me).

Obviously Something Had To Changes!

Once I did these numbers (about six months ago), I knew something had to change.

Being newly married, I couldn’t afford to be spending 30-50 hours on something that was only making me $2.50/hr – my priorities needed to change.

Now I had 3 Choices:

  • Give Up Blogging (This is not something I wanted to do!)
  • Find A Smarter Way Of Blogging

Obviously the first choice wasn’t an option. I love blogging (which is why I continued to work so hard for so long – even with little results). That meant that I needed to find a way of working smarter, not harder.

Everyone knows the 80/20 rule.

80% of the results, come from 20% of the effort.

If I wanted to work smarter, I needed to find the 20% of the work that I was doing that was getting the results and focus on that!

For me, I found that the majority of my income came from affiliate sales that came long after the posts had been made – ie. search engine traffic. This shocked me, because I had a decent following (almost 2000 RSS subscribers), but from that point on I decided to change the shift of my focus from community involvement (which was the 80% not getting results) to search engine focus (the 20% that was). Now I am not saying that we should all ditch any form of social media and community involvement – so please don’t read it that way. I am just saying that was the scenario in my case  – yours could be the complete opposite.

Start To See Your ‘Value’ Increase

When you find out what part of your blogging is getting the results and you start to target your efforts at improving these results, you will start to see a shift! While the time that you spend on your blog(s) may stay the same, since you are focusing your effort – your results (profits) will start to increase.

And now, instead of only making $2.50/hr for my blogging, it is more like $15/hr.

Now I know I am still not at the level of value that I want, but 600% growth in 6 months isn’t too bad!

3 Steps To Improve Your ‘Value’

If you are stuck in the ‘large hours, little pay’ blogging cycle, there are a couple of things you can start doing now, that will almost see an instant increase in your blogging income.

  1. Give Yourself A Value
    I always believe that you need to start with the end in mind. If you are looking to make a full-time income from your blogging, you first need to set an hourly rate – so that you can set a monthly income goal. As my hourly rate was $20/hr – my monthly income goal is currently $3,200 ($20[x]40hrs[x]4weeks).

    Once you set an hourly rate for your blogging effort, just watch as certain tasks start to become less important!

  2. Find Out What Is Working For You Currently
    Now that you are starting to realize that things need to change if you are going to significantly increase your online income, start looking for what is currently working for you!

    I am a stat’s addict! Now this can be a big time waster, but it has also allowed me to really look into where my traffic is coming from, and what is making me money. Once you find out these two things (and put them together), you will have the thing (or things) that are currently working for you.
  3. Focus On What Works
    You now know that there are things that you are doing that are working and making you money, and there are other things that while not necessarily bad things, are not generating the results you are looking for. Doesn’t it just make sense to focus the majority of your effort onto the things that are working? But I find that the opposite usually happens. People focus on what they THINK should work, instead of using the tools available to you and KNOWING what works.

Becoming a full-time blogger is really as simple as following those three simple steps. So why don’t you start now!

About

Tom is an Australian blogger that is currently researching and trialing the opportunity created by outsourcing jobs overseas. If you are interested in learning more about what he has learnt, you can download his latest free ebook GEO Arbitrage, which explains it all in an easy to read format.

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{ 27 Responses }

  1. Des says:
    An interesting post. I suppose it makes very good sense to target the majority of your effort onto the areas of your blog that make money. The trick is, how to do this without alienating the regular visitors who may not make you money but still add to your blog by commenting etc. .-= NEW from Des @ Affiliate Progress´s last blog ..Are Blog Comments Important? =-.
  2. Karan says:
    First of all, great post! I think focusing more on SEO was a smart decision, especially if that was the 20% of your effort that got you 80% of your success. Search engines tie the internet together in a way that backlinks can't and if you want to take advantage of this oppurtunity, you focus on SEO. .-= NEW from Karan @ Trafficke SEO Firm´s last blog ..2 Terrible SEO Techniques =-.
  3. Onibalusi Bamidele says:
    Wow! great post. Making money blogging is more of observing what works for you rather than observing the norm. Had it been you had launched a product with your level of readers then, you would have made far more than you did. I understand your point nonetheless. Thanks a lot, -onibalusi
  4. Blogging Newbie says:
    Awesome post; especially for someone who is keen to venture into this world but is finding an extremely hard time in getting some tips/guidance. Seems like no one is willing to share and guide as they (understandably) fear someone taking a nibble from their a piece of pie. Though not related but can any one guide how to get started... and once again an great post Tom. 10/10.
  5. Kevin says:
    Hey Tom! Long time no see! I am glad to hear that your success is growing! Keep up the good work. :) .-= NEW from Kevin@ShootingtheBreeze´s last blog ..Pictures from our trip to New York City =-.
  6. Sushie says:
    400$ is a very good amount for me but all these hours of work is too big for me, it should be tiring for you to working like a crazy xD. To keep these earnings and decrease the hours of work maybe you can find news earnings programs like ppc, sponsored reviews, ect... Your blog is very popular so you i think you could maybe find easy sponsors. ^^
  7. Jonathan says:
    Smart move on making your blogging appeal more to search. I make more money doing my real life work which I love doing most and blogging gives sort of a passive source of income for me. Recently I have been spending more hours on blogging than on my main income source. $2.50 doesn't really sound too impressive but investing in timeless pillar articles would get you continuous Search Engine traffic and eventually multiply your income. I actually have a few posts which I don't really mind that get around 20 to 30 visits per day from search engines. When you compare that to other pages which I "bet on" and massively promote, these unknown pages account for 80% of my income on one blog alone. Yet these are damn, stupid posts I did not even think of optimizing while I writing about it and either was not so important or are absolutely about nothing. Google and it's users can be very mysterious. .-= NEW from Jonathan @ Archon Digital´s last blog ..Facebook Fan Page & Fan Box Script – Image Replacement Fix =-.
  8. Dana says:
    I think we can not calculate like that for new blog because the value surely be zero. However it is should do for establish blog (1 years and more) in my opinion so the admin can know whether their bloging is already feasible. .-= NEW from Dana @ Blogging Tips Blog´s last blog ..How To Install WordPress Blog in HostGator cPanel by Using Fantastisco =-.
  9. DiTesco says:
    Interesting about putting a value on what you are worth. I think that this is good but I have to call the beginners attention for this. It is great that you set up a value when you are already in the game for a while. You will only get frustrated if you set up a very high price because if it is blogging for money you are looking for, it might disappoint you. Once you have an established blog and decent traffic, then you should start to focus on the 20%, just like Tom said. Now this can happen fast or it could take a while. Whatever your case is, if you are serious about it, then be patient and work on it. In due time you will get rewarded. .-= NEW from DiTesco´s last blog ..Is Your Website Design in Keeping With Your Target Audience =-.
  10. Ileane says:
    I think this post is for every blogger even if they are not focused on earnings. I see this as making a self-evaluation and setting goals. It's something every blogger should strive for if they want to "succeed". Thanks for the inspiration! .-= NEW from Ileane @ The Podcast Blog´s last blog ..HootSuite’s Ow.ly Shortener Just Got Better =-.
  11. Jonathan Beebe says:
    Great post! That's awesome how you zoned in on the 20% of work that was actually making you money and you completely capitalized on it and had in income increase. Just to help you out even more though, since you said affiliate marketing is where your sales are coming from (and from search engine traffic), if you build your mailing list and follow a good strategy you can really increase you affiliate income. It's been proven over and over again that hit and run traffic (traffic that comes to your site once and never returns), whether or not you makes sales from it or not, is much LESS profitable than if you were to have them opt-in and follow-up with them. I think a larger percentage of people who do visit your site will end up being profitable if you were to put some kind of opt-in/follow-up system in place. Just a suggestion though, take it or leave it! Thanks for sharing this great post, it was a real eye opener. You've inspired me to "zone in" on the 20% that's producing my results. .-= NEW from Jonathan Beebe´s last blog ..Is Your Blog Eco-Friendly? =-.
  12. Dennis Edell says:
    An eye opener if there ever was one. I'll really have to do some soul-searching on this and tighten the focus a bit. .-= NEW from Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Blog Subscriptions – Methods to my Madness part 2 of 2 =-.
  13. Sunil Jain says:
    I am very much pleased with this post :) :) 10 on 10 Tom :) The story of yours really teaches a lesson to each and every newbie bloggers , stuck up bloggers and also probloggers , that Never give up and Be smart :) :) .-= NEW from Sunil Jain@Tech18´s last blog ..[How To] Boost your Old posts with Twitter in Wordpress =-.
  14. Tom says:
    haha! That is exactly how I felt when I first say my hourly rate. I seriously was ready to quit, but instead I used it as motivation to do more. You are doing really well with your blog - I love reading your weekly roundups! .-= NEW from Tom@Geoarbitrage´s last blog ..What Is Geoarbitrage? =-.
    • Tom says:
      Sorry, this was a reply to Kristi! .-= NEW from Tom´s last blog ..What Is Geoarbitrage? =-.
  15. Mars Dorian says:
    Interesting article, and it truly sucks if you put in all the hours and still only get sub- mediocre results. But how awesome is it that you changed your focus completely, and even established a full-time income ! High Five to that. And I really like the idea with giving the value to yourself, I'm going to do this from now on, and I'm paying me a nice hourly rate ;) .-= NEW from Mars Dorian´s last blog ..How to Bring Down the Sky ! =-.
    • Tom says:
      Thanks Mars! I'm glad that you could pull something practical from my posts and I hope that a lot of people start giving their time an hourly rate. I think it will stop a lot of bloggers from spending so much time on menial little tasks. by the way, I'd love to know your new hourly rate :D .-= NEW from Tom@geoarbitrage´s last blog ..What Is Geoarbitrage? =-.
  16. Kiesha says:
    Hi Tom, You are right on point with this. And the problem is a lot of people with blogs (and businesses for that matter) are working for pennies and don't even realize it. A guy had what he thought was a great idea for a business and had set his prices. Because the jobs could bring him lump sums of money at once, he thought this was his ticket to luxury. What he hadn't considered was the amount of time it takes him to assemble those planes. That meant he could only accept a few jobs at a time. After he calculated the amount of hours he'd spend doing the job versus the pay - he said, "I wouldn't do any job for that low pay!" Needless to say, he focused his energies on other things. .-= NEW from Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..SEO and Pots of Gold at the End of The Rainbow (and why I’ve stopped chasing both) =-.
    • Tom says:
      I hear and see stories like that all too often Kiesha! A lot of people look and it and think, 'I am creating a nice asset, but if you have a business with a lot of visitors (or a blog with a lot of traffic), if it is not paying it's way - we have to stop and consider if it really is that successful to us. .-= NEW from Tom@Geoarbitrage´s last blog ..What Is Geoarbitrage? =-.
  17. Kharim from WebMaster-Success says:
    Great post. Well I just started out blogging little over a month now and it has been great so far. But I have been making websites over 4 or so years now. The most I have ever made in one month is almost $800.00 USD. So I recently started blogging to show others how to become succesful and make money online as well. So happy that you are successful. Keep up the good work. .-= NEW from Kharim from WebMaster-Success´s last blog ..Work While On Vacation =-.
  18. Julius Kuhn-Regnier says:
    Cool post! I believe $400 is not bad but as you've said if you work 30-50 hours each week then this is a poor return. I have been blogging for a year and a half now and haven't really made any good income at all. I started blogging because I wanted to make money but now I don't use my blog to make money. I actually try to make money through mini sites. We will see how it works ;)
    • Tom says:
      And that is the thing, if people are not looking to make money from their blog and are happy to treat it as a hobby - then that is totally fine. I'd love to hear how you go with your mini sites Julius. Sounds interesting! .-= NEW from Tom@Geoarbitrage´s last blog ..What Is Geoarbitrage? =-.
  19. Kristi Hines says:
    I would have thought $400 is pretty good too, but the hourly rate is kind of depressing (especially since my site makes less). But at the same time, I have decided I'm not (yet at least) into blogging for income. I really just want to come up with enough to pay for hosting, domain renewals, and other costs. Fortunately, the Adsense income alone from Kikolani, Dofollow, and a few of my HubPages cover all of my other website's costs, so I find that good enough. For now. :) .-= NEW from Kristi Hines´s last blog ..My Favorite 2010 Search & Social Awards Nominees =-.