Can Blogging Generate Enough Income To Quit Your Day Job?

There’s a lot of people these days looking for alternative ways to make money.

Some people have lost their jobs and are looking for alternatives. Some aren’t having much luck finding a job and are, too, looking for alternatives. Some just want to make some extra money. And, you have some more who just want to get OUT of their jobs because they know there is something better.

In this environment, you’re going to have a lot of people looking for business opportunities. And, those kinds of people are ripe for falling for every promise of a quick buck that is out there. The “make money online” space is rife with promises of easy money with just a few clicks. While most of us like to think we’re smart enough not to fall for it, the truth is that people are falling for it in droves. If the demand wasn’t there, those offers wouldn’t be being made.

It just so happens that blogging is considered by some to be like a subset of the “make money online” space. And, sure enough, there are a fair amount of people out there who look to blogging as a non-scammy way to earn a living online.

But, how realistic is it?

Can blogging generate that kind of money?

Sure, you see people doing it. You see people like Pat Flynn, Derek Halpern, Corbett Barr, Darren Rowse – and yes, me – talking about the idea of making money with a blog. There are a lot of people out there talking about it. Those I name are only a few of the guys I know… there are tons of people talking about it that I haven’t even heard of.

It is really easy, from the outside, to think that that’s all there is to it – we blog and we make money. Yay, everything is awesome. Right?

But, of course, we know. We know that people who are able to eek out livings from their blogs represent a small minority. The ones that come to mind for you are just the guys talking about it. And, surely, there are people out there making good money with their blogs talking about completely different things. You don’t know about them… because they’re not out there talking about it. They just do it. I know, because I was one of those guys up until around 2008 when I began this very site. I was making a full-time living with my tech site before then.

But, again, is it about the blog? Are we really making money by blogging?

It would seem that way sometimes. And, that lends itself to the notion of earning enough money – through the act of blogging – to quit a day job.

Is it truly possible?

More relevant, is it possible for YOU to do it? Or are you destined to be one of the people simply reading about it?

Why I Long Since Stopped Posting Income Reports

I used to be more public about my income. I used to do income reports. And, I know people love looking at Pat’s income reports every month. It is a successful action for him, and perhaps it would be for me, too. That being said, I stopped doing it for a reason.

First, it always felt weird talking about my income like that on such a public platform. Money is one of those topics that can pull a lot of different kinds of reactions from people – not always good ones. So, I figure my exact income figures were best left to myself, my wife, and the IRS during my yearly extortion… err, I mean taxes. 😉

Secondly, because I believe it gives a false impression, and leads people to concentrate on the wrong things. I think income reports tend to place all our focus on the raw output of a business – the income. But, in reality, a real business is a multi-faceted thing. We have expenses – and they can be rather high in some cases. But, there’s also differences in markets, differences in our daily schedules, differences in what we’re willing to do or not do, differences in personality…. just a lot of factors. And, if we get SO concentrated on monetary output, we lose sight of more important things.

Sure, income reports provide credibility. But, it just felt a little “off”. So, I stopped.

Back when I was doing those reports, I released the Six Figure Blogger Blueprint. That report is still available – and you can grab it right here without any opt-in required.

But, around that time, I said You Can’t Really Make Six Figures By Blogging. In that post, I talked about how it really isn’t blogging which is doing it. It is making offers. It is selling things.

In other words, it is BUSINESS.

And, I also created a Getting Started page which made a point to dispell some of the myths about this business. I didn’t want anybody to think it was easy.

Note to Self: I really need to unbury that Getting Started page. Jeez. It just got left back in the archives! Dammit. Anyway…

So, Can Blogging Do It?

Yes, it is possible. But, it is pretty damn difficult.

If anybody comes to me (and it happens), saying they need to make a certain amount of money in a certain time frame… and they’re looking to blogging to be the road out… I wince. And, I quickly try to give them some perspective.

Blogging – as most bloggers think of it – is an ineffective way to make money. So, if you’re sitting out there trying to figure things out, don’t look to blogging as the answer.

Many bloggers probably don’t include certain things in under the category of “blogging”. They don’t think about:

• Making offers
• Selling things
• Building an email list
• Providing solutions

Those of you who have been around for a little while probably think of these things. But, your typical Joe Blow blogger out there doesn’t. In fact, they probably write those things off as evil marketing schemes. They don’t want to be one of those people.

Well, they’re lost. They can enjoy the few dimes coming off the Google Adsense money tree.

In the REAL world, it is those kinds of things that generate money. Not blogs.

A blog is merely a marketing vehicle. The question is… what are you marketing?

If you’re not marketing something – a SOLUTION or collection of solutions to a goal or problem people have – you’re spinning your wheels. If you’re just spending your time talking ABOUT something, you’re spinning your wheels. You’re being naive enough to look at yourself as something special, like a source of media for the world. Well, have fun with that. But, in the real world, you don’t make money unless you’re providing a solution to people who want it.

That’s called business.

So, Looking To Quit Your Job? Start Like This…

Don’t start a blog and start talking about something. Talking about things is just a hobbyist mentality. When you’re doing this for business, you are very strategic about what you’re talking about. It is blogging with a purpose.

What value can you bring to the world? What problems can you solve for people? What are you good at that you could do for others? What can you teach others that would alleviate a pain or frustration that they have?

Identify your problem -> solution first. Before you worry about blogging. Blogging comes later.

Blogging is what comes AFTER you have the business model in place. Blogging is what you do to attract a particular kind of person – your ideal prospect – to your place of business, so as to educate them, so as to get them to raise their hands and partake in delivery of your product or service.

Blogging is to an online business what the yellow pages were to a traditional offline business. It is a form of lead attraction. A form of marketing. You wouldn’t place a Yellow Pages ad for a business which didn’t exist yet, where you had nothing to sell.

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Now, there is a way to devise a business plan for yourself, which will THEN lead into a blog which can support a real income stream. A perfectly viable one. And, yes, one where you can quit your day job.

I discuss that system – and walk people through it – inside the Academy. And, I’ve just opened up a lifetime option to join the Academy. That means no recurring fees at all. So, check it out.

I was told recently that some of the advice I give in my newsletter and on my blog doesn’t apply to all bloggers. She told me this as if I had lost sight of that fact.

Truth is… I haven’t lost sight of that at all. Truth is, many bloggers just aren’t part of my target market. Because, they cling stubbornly to the idea that blogging, alone, can generate a lot of money.

I teach bloggers how to build real businesses. And, I teach business owners how to turn a blog into one of the most powerful marketing channels there is – and blogging is insanely powerful for that. It is a wonderful medium.

If you’re looking to do that, I’d like to work with you. If you just want to keep on blogging on the rat wheel, you go right ahead. 🙂 Just don’t quit your day job.