Writing for Your Wealth

You may be a geek if…

You spend several hours of your cruise to Mexico lounging around the pool, drinking margaritas, and reading… a book on blogging.

Since I am wholeheartedly a geek, I return from vacation with a bottle of tequila (okay, two) and a review of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, the book by well-known bloggers, Darren Rowse and Chris Garret.

As you may already know, I’ve been blogging for a few years, and I make a living from my sites, so this review comes from someone who is already in the biz, as they say. I’ll be giving a general overview and also answering the question of whether you would get anything out of the book if you’re already experienced and already have Darren’s Problogger site on your feed reader.

What the Book Covers

The Problogger book starts with the how-they-got-into-blogging-and-what-it’s-done-for-them stories of Darren Rowse (Problogger) and Chris Garrett (chrisg.com).

I’ve been following Problogger.com off and on since ye olden days when Darren had all his blogs hosted on one domain, but I still enjoyed reading his introduction. As a writer, I identify more with him than with Chris who came into this with a programming/IT background. It was interesting to read about what blogging has done for each of them however.

Each earns money from blogging in different ways. Especially in the beginning, it sounds like Darren earned most of his income from advertising and affiliate programs–the same route I’ve taken–whereas Chris used his blog to create awareness for consulting, writing, and social media services he offers (much as a freelance writer might use a blog to bring in clients).

The next ten chapters of the book cover…

1. Blogging for Money — The basics, including answers to questions such as “What is a blog?” and “What makes a blog different from other websites?”
2. Niche Blogging — “10 Reasons Why Niche Blogs Are Successful” and some advice on how to pick a profitable niche.
3. Setting up Your Blog — Hosted versus self-hosted blogs, choosing a domain name, and basic tips for getting started.
4. Blog Writing — How to create unique and useful content for your readership, as well as advice on choosing titles, sticking to one-topic blog posts, and some thoughts on appropriate post frequency. If you often find yourself looking for ideas, you might want to dog-ear the “20 Types of Blog Posts” list.
5. Blog Income and Earning Strategies – As you might guess, this chapter talks about advertising. Programs such as Adsense are covered as well as finding independent sponsors. Affiliate programs also get a short section, and some less traditional but still potentially profitable ways of exploiting your blog are touched upon: donations, classifieds, and subscriptions. Indirect monetization methods are also covered: freelance opportunities, book deals, speaking opportunities, etc. that may arise as your authority grows.
6. Buying and Selling Blogs — This is just what it sounds like: reasons you may want to sell a blog and reasons you may want to buy an established one. If either of those ideas interest you, it’s worth reading the section on valuation, i.e. how to figure how much to put your site on the block for (or how much to offer someone else).
7. Blog Networks — The pros and cons of joining a blog network or even starting your own.
8. Blog Promotion and Marketing — The basics of getting links and building a readership. There is also a bit on search engine optimization and social media.
9. Secrets of Successful Blogs — This chapter looks at some popular (and profitable) blogs out there and examines some of the factors that have helped them become successful.
10. Creating Something Worthwhile — A blog has to be about informing and entertaining readers, not just about making money for you, and this chapter reminds us that our mission is to serve our audience–ideally in a unique and useful way!

Is the Book Worth Reading if You Already Have Profitable Blogs?

This was the main question I had going into the book, since I know many of you are already beyond the beginning how-to-set-up-a-blog stages.

I don’t usually (ever) pick up books on blogging or making money online, and even being familiar with Darren’s site, I’m not sure I would have bought the Problogger book if it wasn’t with the ultimate goal of writing a review for this site. I assumed it would be a good resource for beginners (and it is), but would I personally get something out of it?

It’s not so much that I know everything (far from it) or that I’m so wealthy I couldn’t use some tips (again, far from it), but I generally prefer reading books outside of the blogging /make money online niche since the ones I’ve picked up on the subject have generally just rehashed what’s widely available online.

So, if you already make money blogging and already read Darren’s Problogger site on a regular basis, is there anything new here?

And the answer is….

*Vanna steps out and spins the blocks around…*

Yes, the book is worth reading–even for experienced bloggers.

First off, while a lot of the information in the book is available on Darren’s site, it’s nice to have it in one place, so you can easily reference it.

Second, there’s some information that you might not expect in the book. Because Darren has joined forces with others to start a larger business (B5 Media) with many, many blogs being written by many authors, he has some insight most of us solo bloggers don’t. If you have aspirations of creating a multiple author site or multiple blogs, you may find his thoughts here helpful.

Darren’s blog network experience also puts him in a position to give you a lowdown on the advantages and disadvantages of belonging to a network–something you may have wondered about.

Also, the chapter on buying and selling blogs is something you might not have seen addressed as often as “how to create great content” or “how to get a bazillion new visitors to your site tomorrow.” If you know where to look and have a bit of capital to invest, buying a blog or website could give you a big head start, especially these days when the search engines tend to “sandbox” new sites. Investing in an existing site that already has links to it and already has visitors can speed up the money-earning process.

Those are the areas that stood out to me and were quite interesting because I had less experience with them. You may also find that there are other, or different, empty pockets of knowledge in your blog experience which this book can fill.

However, before I advise you all to buy the Problogger book, I’d like to make one thing clear:

The Book Is Not a How-to-Make-Money System

Throughout the book, the authors emphasize that blogging isn’t a quick path to riches, and while the potential is there to score big, many people will probably only make pocket change, if that. Hard work, patience, and perseverance for months and even years are a requirement for most bloggers.

More than once the authors note that the Top 100 blogs on Technorati (which are rated by popularity in the form of incoming links) average close to three years in age. Also many of them are team blogs, published by multiple authors.

While this book can give you a very good overview of how blogs can make money, and give you some ideas of what it takes to be noticed, it is not a “how to get rich” guide.

If the bill collectors are at your door, and you need to make money fast, this book won’t get you out of debt in the next three months. If you have the time and patience to build a lasting asset that can bring in money for years to come, the Problogger book is a good starting point:

ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income