Are you afraid to make money with your blog?
Might seem like a really weird question… one that you would think the answer to is pretty obvious. You’re thinking “no”, right?
Well, let me ask you this… Are you afraid to sell things on your blog because of a fear of selling out, pissing off your audience, or somehow sacrificing your integrity?
If you answered “yes” or “maybe”, then we need to look at that. Because that self-imposed barrier is keeping you from success and it needs to be demolished.
A Deep-Seated Fear, But Why?
I see this fear come up over and over again with bloggers. They worry about “selling out” in order to make money with their blogs. They worry about their audience revolting.
As I type this post, the feature post over on ProBlogger is 5 Ways to Monetize Your Blog Without Selling Out. While it is a very well-written post by Darren, the truth is that the entire premise of the post is unfortunate and false. It isn’t Darren’s fault as he is just responding to a large concern of his audience (as I am here), but the basic premise that making money is selling out is completely wrong.
It is easy for somebody like me to act dismissive about this fear. I’m not one who has ever had a problem asking my readers for money for something of value. This is a business. I take on fairly large expenses, actually, to bring what I do to the Internet. I pay writers, contractors, the hosting company, etc. I also have a family to feed and a mortgage. So, quite frankly, if somebody complains that I charge for one of my products, they can go screw themselves. I offer no apologies.
But, here’s the thing…
- The stuff I charge for is valuable.
- I’m confident in the value.
- The free stuff I produce is also valuable.
- I only promote other products if I’ve used/previewed it myself or am personally considering buying it.
- It helps people.
For those reasons, and the fact that this is a business, I have no problem “monetizing”.
If we flip it around, however, and look at somebody who DOES have a problem with the fear of selling out, I think the real issue lies a little deeper. Perhaps…
- Lack of confidence that what you’re providing is really valuable.
- Lack of confidence in your own personal value.
- Fear of failure.
- Assuming thoughts are going through other people’s heads that aren’t really there.
What I find is that people are often imagining problems that don’t really exist. As a result, they don’t take action. They don’t realize that it is all a big mirage that they’ve created.
The phrase “selling out” means that one is sacrificing their integrity or principles for money or success. So, where was it decided that one can’t stay true to themselves and make money at the same time? Do you believe in being paid for your work? Chances are, you do. So, what is “sell out” about seeking money for all the work you put into your blogging, as long as you offer value and maintain your integrity?
People are only going to react badly if their concept of exchange is thrown out of whack. See, people want an even trade for their attention and their hard-earned money. Better yet, they want more value than what they paid for. As long as you keep this balance in their favor, you’re not going to get any negative reaction from monetizing. This has to be backed up with your own confidence in the value of your offer. If you don’t value your own offer, your readers will detect that vibe and they won’t value it either.
Lastly, don’t grovel. When you are providing value to your readers’ lives, act like it. Marketers know that providing a “reason why” is important, but there is an important distinction between a “reason why” and a justification. You don’t need to justify a price tag to your prospects. You set the rules and they have the freedom to walk away. Ask yourself, “Who owns my blog?” I mean, really. You pay for the hosting? You do the work? You spend all those hours writing and providing great value for your audience? Then act like it and stop trying to justify your own existence as an entrepreneur looking to make money.
The Blogger Code Of Monetization
This is a potentially big topic I’ve touched on today and not one that I can solve in a blog post. Quite frankly, for some, this issue gets deep into one’s own sense of self-worth and I’m not really the guy to be putting you on my counseling couch. 
That said, I thought I would propose a simple code of guidelines. I believe that, if you follow these simple guides, you’ll be completely in the clear when it comes to making money. Plus, you’ll have things in perspective.
- You have the right to do whatever you want with your own blog and you do not need to justify that to the world. You own it.
- Always strive to place more value into the lives of your readers than you extract. Help them with real-life problems or goals relevant to your niche.
- If you work very hard to provide a lot of value, you should be rewarded for it. The world is based on exchange and, when that is violated, negativity and complaints will result. With this in mind, you are usually doing yourself AND THEM a favor to charge a suitable price for something of real value.
- Never promote a product as an affiliate that you don’t fully believe in. Never promote just for the money.
- If you question the value of something, or some money-maker is giving you an uneasy feeling, don’t promote it.
- Never disparage yourself and your value. Not. Ever.
- Do not require that everybody like you. Realize that a small, but dependable percentage of people are routinely negative and will complain no matter what you do. You are better off to get them out of your space than to attend to their complaints. On the flip side, don’t be dismissive of all complaints! Some are valid, but you need to learn to tell the difference between a legit issue and a person just taking out their own unhappiness on you.
- If you would personally be annoyed by the number of ads on your blog, don’t run so many ads. Remember, it is about value to the reader.
- Respect your reader’s attention and their time.
- Always be helpful.
So, there you have it. If you agree with this code, then comment and let me know. Also, if you think I should add something, let me know that, too.
Now, go make some money.
David has been blogging for 15 years, and generating a six-figure income at it for the last 12. He is the founder of Blog Marketing Academy. 
David Risley has been building and operating authority blogs for 15 years, and operating a six-figure business doing it for a decade.
Dude – awesome post. I definitely need to print this out because I do worry, at times, about selling out and going down the wrong path, but you’re right…as long as I know I’m providing value I have nothing to worry (and nothing to be ashamed) about. I do have a problem of trying to please everyone though, and I know that that’s an unrealistic goal. #7 for sure.
Cheers, and thank you for this.
Thanks, man. And you, of all people, could crush it if you launch something on your blog, dude. When that day comes, I have all confidence it’ll be valuable and people will dig it.
Great post David. I agree, I think it’s nothing wrong with trying to monetize a site if you’re going to offer true value to your customer.
People who expect everything to be free are the people who are either going to fail or have a rough journey making it to running a successful online business.
Also, when you begin to monetize your blog, you begin to see who your real readers are versus the ones who are just tagging along for the ride.
Your real readers will support you of your choice. Maybe they won’t buy the product, but they’ll at least support it and possibly promote it.
Ha ha. I feel like your article went in a full circle. You started by saying that you shouldn’t worry about being a sell out but your quasi-definition basically implied that making any money is the common concept behind being a sellout whereas I would argue that a more appropriate definition would be making money in a way that is less than ethical. In the end (during your ten points) you summed up how to extract profits by providing legitimate value. Essentially, you just provided ten steps to making profit without selling out (without being unethical).
David I try to put myself in the readers shoes and say..”Is this something that will help me grow” I look and see if value will be added to the purchase of an program. I never offer something to an reader that I don’t use personally, so i can have that confidence that it do add value.
“TrafficColeman “Signing Off”
Thank you. I remember when I first started blogging, years ago, it was considered selling out to monetize your blog in any way. Then it became fashionable for a while, and now it’s considered selling out again. The thing is, we’re doing the work, we’re sharing what we’ve researched and put in to practice, so we SHOULD be earning and profiting and not feel guilty or embarrassed about it.
I can’t say I’ve ever had the problem of feeling like a sell out. I made it clear from start (almost) that I was running a business and therefore, you know, tend to ask for money on occasion. I do however think sometimes “Dude, can I really charge that much? I know it’s worth it, but will they?” Then I remember that I’ve worked damn hard at building “my” perfect audience and I’m golden.
I’ve worked with folks who built reasonable sized lists and didn’t sell anything, and when they did offer something, people got angry. That’s when I ask – do you want to continue pampering a group that will NEVER pay your bills or do you want to create stuff for a list that’s a fraction of the size but who LOVE to buy from you?
Great post, man.
Yeah, attracting the right people is more important than attracting a lot of people.
Good post David.. I don’t agree with the whole “your a sell out if you set out to monetize your blog” mentality either. Your blog is your own, your time is just as valuable as the time of the person reading it, and you deserve to be compensated for that time in whatever way feels OK to you.
So… great code, no revisions.
C
I have worked with people who have deep seated beliefs that are in the way of them making money in their business.
For example, ‘Jim’ may think “I have to please everyone” – then when someone objects to a price, as some will, Jim has a knee-jerk reaction, retreats and licks his wounds, then reduces the price, or starts adding in more ‘stuff’ which means more work for him, to offer ‘over-the-top’ value. The thing is, you can’t please everyone, and it’s futile to try. Some subscribers will think you’re wonderful and some will project their own ‘stuff’ onto you and call you names. It’s all part of the ride.
As you say, David, value what you do, and offer good value in the products you create and sell. Also don’t try to be perfect: get a product out there, if you haven’t already; get feedback; improve the product; improve the offer; increase the price if you feel the urge to do so; etc.
Like the way you rounded it up to ten. Just like the 10 commandments
Yeah, David, As Rob said.. it is a way to separate the tyre-kickers from the true audience that values you. In the end , it is about pleasing those that recognize the value and carefully steer those that don’t away.
I like the blogger code. Perhaps at times it might be wise to also add in a little transparency. So in other words, if you advertise something which you think might cause a few questions, make sure to answer them right up front.
I think one of the main problems early bloggers who want to make money with their blog have is #7. By trying not to piss some people off, they never get anywhere. No matter what you do in life, you can’t please everyone.
That makes sense. Terrific sense in fact.
Blogging *should* be a personal thing, and that means putting yourself on the line. You can’t HIDE behind a pseudo name as most affiliate marketers do.
But then again, SELLING is always a hard thing for most people.
thanks for this post david! i’ve been “preaching” the same thing to fashion bloggers (there is a lot of resentment towards fashion bloggers trying to make money – “selling out” is a term used all too often in our community) recently. i think the tide is turning, and there is more respect for bloggers who make money from their blogs, but there are still so many who don’t follow your “code” – they especially don’t respect their readers – and create blogs covered in ads and provide little or no content of value that give the professional bloggers a bad name…
i absolutely love your “code of monetization” – i’ll share it with as many fashion bloggers as possible
With regards the resistance people experience, aside from the normal negative belief drivers of (traumas, toxins and thoughts) a lot of this is built or reinforced by the aggressive marketers (the syndicate, etc) and so people see the junk they spew out in daily emails and from that comes a mentality in conflict with their values of that’s not me and they consequently end up stuck. My 2 cents.
Hi David, I agree with everything you say. And also think that it is beside the point for those who are worried about selling out.
What they need is a business model that matches their values, rather than telling them to adjust their values to suit prevailing business practices.
For me – who won’t do what I regard as selling out (like putting those rude pop-ups on my site) – the resolution was, “I will be delighted to become wealthy by making friends [marketing] and providing incredible value [any offers of mine will be 'no brainers']“.
Thanks David,
I agree with this post completely. I am an affiliate marketer. I would never promote a product a product unless I have purchased the product, use it and believe in it’s value.
That is the reason I don’t promote very many products.
I’m with you on this one David. Business is about making money. If you aren’t making money you aren’t a business. If you want to have a blog, tell people stuff and not make any money…cool, good for you. But if your intention is to blog as a business, then you’ve gotta make some money which means you have to sell something. I’m not sure why that is such a bad thing. Go buy some groceries or some gas and tell me if the guy who owns that place really cares whether or not you think the price of apples is too high. He’ll say don’t buy the apples. Buying is a choice your customer makes not one you make for them. When was the last time David came to your house, grabbed your arm and made you give him money?
If you think selling apples without first providing 10 free reports on the benefit of apples is a sell out…you shouldn’t be in business.
Thanks for telling it like it is Dave!
Selling out is big in my son’e world as well. He is a musician and lives by the punk ethic. he deals with it by being authentic in all he does and giving more than he gets. It’s about passion and authenticity. I would love to see something about passion in your code.
Have you read the book ‘The Go-Giver’? It’s about being successful by giving. In it are the ‘Five Laws of Stratospheric Success’:
1. The Law of Value – Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
2. The Law of Compensation – Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
3. The Law of Influence – Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.
4. The Law of Authenticity – The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
5. The Law of Receptivity – The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.
The key is law five. You have to be willing to receive, you have to be happy about people giving you money for what you do.
Thank you for the post, David.
David, Well written and sensible. I agree completely.Yes, I agree also with the giving highlighted in Graham’s comment. I always strive to give more value than expected. And I feel good about making money.
Thanks for your insight,
Chris
Great points David,
I have been avoiding monetizing my site until it grew a bit. I am starting to get some pretty decent numbers (nothing like yours) and thinking about beginning to monetize. But i don’t want to sell out. You make some really good points that there should be no reason to fear this.
#1 says it all, I own my site(s) and I can do what I want! The rest of it is certainly about usability and ethics, but really that falls under what kind of person you are….
#1 of The Bloggers Code Of Monetization is right on! My blog, my home…that’s may motto. Would love for you to come and visit but if you act up, take you $2 bottle of wine and seek fun elsewhere! lol (I must be tired)
Great post David…very much enjoyed it and nope, no fear of selling out here. =)
Good advice
Good advice
My 10 Commandments Of Making Money Online
1. Do whatever you want to do in your blog. But you must live in one of those countries in the world where freedom of speech is valued so that you can promote questionable products like colon cleansing or weight loss Acai berry.
2.Help people by providing them with peach of mind – like colon cleansing or selling hope so that they feel good.
3. Work very hard – It takes lots of time to do keyword research, build landing pages, monitor campaign, build fake blogs, etc.
4. You have to just believe in your colon cleansing or weight loss products.
5. Don’t feel uneasy about anything. It is all about making a buck. The secret is that you have to only believe that you’re providing the right thing. As you believe more and write more in your blog, and do the same in webinar, and conferences you will start feeling good about your questionable products. I am pretty sure that all those people who were promoting CDS (credit defualt swap), did feel that they were doing the right thing.
6. Making money requires some skills. Not everybody can do it (but you don’t have to say that in your marketing materials). So, never feel bad.
7. Everybody will not like you. There are financially savvy persons who will buy your super secrets and return it. But for one financially savvy person, there are 10 financially challenged persons.
8. Ads look good. So, don’t get annoyed. Come up with more ways to make good ads.
9. Respect your readers because lots of those readers are financially challenged and they will make your rich.
10. Always help them with materials that you can get it for free from internet and ask them to buy your trial colon cleansing product.