Ever wonder how much can you make blogging for a living? With more people looking to make money working from home, trying to make money blogging is a growing pursuit. You can make a lot more money blogging for a living than you realize.
I've been blogging consistently since 2009. After more than 16 years, it's been a long and awesome road. However, with the creation of AI, there is now an existential crisis brewing with bloggers who do not build a brand and have anything unique to say.
In this post, I want to share how much bloggers can really make and how they make their money. Overall, I'm positive on blogging because it's a creative process that's good for the soul, which can also be profitable.
It took me 20 years to build a investment portfolio that generates over $250,000 a year in passive and semi-passive income. It took only five years to build the same income blogging. That's right, you can make six-figures or even seven-figures blogging a year.
Blogging for a living is the real deal if you stay consistent, build a brand, write strategically, and grow your network. Schools still don't teach people how to start a blog or make money blogging. So, let me share some of the secrets.
Reasons Why You Should Try Blogging For A Living
If you've ever thought about blogging for a living, now is the time. The global pandemic has proven that online businesses that can't be shut down are very valuable.
No matter how tempting it is to sell your cash cow blog, don't! You will regret it. The value of cash flow has gone way up because interest rates have come way down.
Here are the main reasons why you should try blogging for a living.
1) Low barriers to entry.
Depending on where and when you buy, you need $1 – $2M in capital to generate $50,000 in net operating income with property here in San Francisco. It takes at least $1M in capital to generate $20,000 a year in dividend income from the S&P 500 index.
With both asset classes, you can also lose principal. With blogging, it costs less than $2/month to run a website and you can get a domain name for free. If things don't work out, all you've lost is your time and a minimal amount of money.
2) Enormous demand curve.
Financial Samurai can theoretically reach three billion people online through search engines, word of mouth, organic promotion, and advertising. If that happens, I'll be worth billions and I'll take each of you out to a steak dinner!
However, in real estate, you can only lock in one set of tenants and raise the rent once a year. And sometimes, dealing with tenants can be a huge PITA! See: Real Estate vs. Blogging.
In the stock market, you are a passive investor with no control over dividend payouts or other strategic management decisions. If management decides to commit fraud, or mismanage its investments, which caused a bank run at Silicon Valley Bank, then you are screwed.
With a retail store, you can only capture your neighborhood traffic. The internet is growing in usage and size every day.
If you can create a successful blog with consistent, quality content that people want to consume, the demand curve is enormous. You are the CEO of your blog and have an enormous demand curve to capture.
3) Operating leverage.
Because costs are generally fixed (hosting and domain registration), operating profits soar the more traffic and revenue you get. It's not uncommon to earn 80%+ operating profit margins as a professional blogger, depending on how much you pay yourself. Very few businesses can compare.
Now that I've convinced you pro blogging is the best business on Earth, perhaps you're interested in knowing how much you can actually make? Before we get to the money, let me first highlight the types of people most suitable for succeeding as a professional blogger.
The People Most Suitable For Blogging
Blogging for a living isn't for everyone. Therefore, let me share the most suitable types of people for blogging.
1) Creatives who enjoy writing.
There's no getting around the fact that you must love to write. You don't have to be a great writer to blog. But, you need to enjoy writing as much as you enjoy eating a juicy double cheeseburger with garlic cheese fries. Creativity is what will also make you feel rich!
After a day without writing, I get an insatiable need to be left alone for a couple of hours to write. Even after my son was born in 2017, I needed to write despite being so exhausted every day. Writing is just a part of me, like playing tennis or even breathing.
Blogging even led me to a book deal with one of the best nonfiction publishers today, Portfolio Penguin. Thanks to blogging, I ended up writing a Wall Street Journal Bestseller, Buy This, Not That!
Three years later, I published my second book with Portfolio Penguin, Millionaire Milestones: Simple Steps To Seven Figures. It also because a national bestseller, making it on the USA TODAY bestseller list.
I've now got a third book with Portfolio Penguin that will likely come out in 2027. In other words, writing begets more writing success. These books will generate supplemental retirement income. It also helps keep my brain active and my young kids engaged as they go through academic life. If they see their dad reading, writing, and creating, it should motivate them to do the same.
2) Creatives who enjoy connecting with others.
One of my favorite joys is bantering with intelligent people who have an opinion on the topics I write about. For those who wish they could live multiple lives to experience more of the world, blogging comes very close to vicarious living.
There's a great online community that is generally very supportive. If you used to have a pen pal, used to BBS, or enjoy meeting unique people, blogging is for you.
3) Someone with an entrepreneurial spirit.
There are huge differences between being a freelance writer, a journalist, and a pro blogger. Let's break them down.
A freelance writer gets paid per article and is always looking for the next assignment.
A journalist covers a beat and is paid by an employer.
A pro blogger is self-employed gets paid nothing per article. They must think long-term to earn advertising and partnership revenue. The pro blogger is the Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Designer, and Chief Executive Officer. As a true entrepreneur, you wouldn't have it any other way because you are in control of your destiny.
When you're a pro blogger, you eat what you kill. And there's nothing more rewarding than nurturing something from nothing. But it requires a steadfast entrepreneurial spirit, discipline, a range of skills, and the motivation to stick with it long-term.
But make no mistake about it. Becoming a professional writer where you make enough to provide for your family is very difficult. So strategically, if you want to become a professional writer, you should do some freelancing and blogging on the side while still having your day job.
You can listen to my podcast episode on making $10,000 a month freelancing here. Freelancing is the easiest way to make money, but it also requires more active work than blogging.
4) People who always want the freedom to choose.
Most people are unhappy with their jobs because they're limited in what they can do. They've got a boss whom they might like, but resent being told what to do. They might have unqualified micromanagers who drive them crazy. Or, they might work at a company which produces a product or service that adds no meaningful value to the world.
When you have the freedom to choose, even if you choose wrong, you feel much happier. In many ways, the feeling of being a blogger is very much like the feeling of having financial freedom.
There's no better combination that making money from blogging and enjoying it! I would blog for free.
5) People who believe they have the power to effect positive change.
Every single blogger I know started their site because they were unhappy about something in their lives. I started Financial Samurai during the depths of the financial crisis because I was worried and confused. My net worth took a 35% beating. But I believed I could pull myself out of the doldrums. And I wanted to help others who were suffering to rebuild their wealth.
Since 2009, millions of people have been able to improve their financial well-being by reading a simple personal finance site. My own wealth is much greater due to careful analysis and accountability online.
Having a platform is alluring. It's one of the reasons why you see so many billionaires by big media sites e.g. Bezos buying The Washington Post, Benioff buying Time. When you have a platform, you have a voice. And when you have a voice, you have power and status.
How Much Can You Make Blogging?
The people who make the most amount of money blogging tend to be those who got into blogging because they predominantly enjoy writing and connecting with people and then figure out the business side of things.
The people who make the least amount blogging tend to be the ones who primarily blog to make money. Their content has no spirit, which means their content hardly gets read or shared. They write content for the search engines. They hire freelance writers who pump out lots of souls content that will likely get marginalized by artificial intelligence.
Blogging Income Is About Pageviews
In general, you can make anywhere from 1-15 cents a pageview. In other words, if you have 100,000 pageviews a month, you can make $1,000 – $15,000 a month. The range is wide because how much you can make blogging depends on your niche and audience demographic.
If your entire audience is under 18 years old because you write about cats for teens, then you probably aren't going to make as much money as someone who writes about retirement planning for Baby Boomers.
That said, there are plenty of examples of entertainment sites and YouTube channels that cater to a younger demographic that make millions.
Below is a graphic of how much you can make blogging if you generated 1,210,543 pageviews in one month at a $13.5 revenue per thousand impressions. You can make much more money on YouTube than on TikTok.
Compare Blogging Income To Median Household Income
The national median household income is around $75,580 a year as of 2025. Thus, simple math states that if you can generate 75,000 – 750,000 a month in pageviews, at a $10 – $100 RPM, you'll be able to quit your job and support a median family in your underwear through your writing endeavors.
But of course, you should know by now that it's never a good idea to quit your job without having a livable income stream on the side.
Always negotiate a severance through a layoff so you can have a long enough financial runway to build your site’s traffic and income into something meaningful.
Ever wonder why many professional bloggers hail from the Midwest, the South, the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, Texas or international cities like Chiang Mai or Manila? Lower cost of living! It's much easier to be a pro blogger if you live in an inexpensive area.
Only a fool would try to blog for a living from San Francisco, Manhattan, London, Paris, or Hong Kong. If you find such fools, follow them, because they've beaten some insurmountable odds and probably have something worth reading.
Example #1: 100,000 Pageviews A Month, 3 Years Experience
Key Points From The Blogging Income Statement Chart
- With roughly $51,144 in annual income, this blogger lives a comfortable life in Portland, Oregon. She blends lifestyle design and personal finance blogging topics together to reflect her personality.
- She found one product she loves that generates the majority of her revenue. Once you find that perfect product that fits well with your ongoing content, selling the product becomes easy. The only risk is product concentration. If the product changes its terms or goes out of business, she's out of luck.
- This blogger has also found corporate consulting work due to the content of her blog. She writes articles for a corporate blog, edits articles for another corporate blog, and does additional book writing/editing for various clients.
Her income split between her own blog, and consulting for others is a balanced 50/50. She loves the freedom of not having a structured 9-to-5!
Example #2: 300,000 Pageviews A Month, 4.5 Years Of Experience
Key Points From The Blogging Income Statement Chart
- This blogger makes more money from consulting than from blogging. Once you become a recognizable brand in your niche, corporations may contact you for your online marketing, content marketing, and writing expertise. Individuals will reach out for your specific advice as well if you put up a consulting page.
- Corporate freelance opportunities are the biggest X Factor I did not anticipate when I left my day job in 2012. But it makes sense. Many professional athletes make more from corporate sponsors than they do from tournament winnings or NBA salaries.
- The key to generating sustainable online income is to find affiliate partnerships for products you use and love. If you can provide a 1-2 combo of providing value added content that answers an important question while also providing an actionable product to use, you've got yourself a home run. Every single product I highlight on FS is either free or will save readers time and money.
- There’s nothing better than selling your own product that you’ve spent your heart and soul creating. You are the product expert. This makes selling easier. I know my severance negotiation book works because I’m still getting benefits from it four years later. Not only have several dozen people written in to thank me for the resource, I've consulted with several dozen more people about breaking free from their jobs with money in their pockets.
- Your product can and will act like a lead generator for any consulting services you might want to provide. It's a lot of work, but helping people with a specific problem 1X1 is tremendously rewarding.
- $151,200 in blogging income and $337,200 in total income might sound unachievable, but I can assure you the large majority of blogs which generate 300,000 – 500,000 page views a month like in this example earn similar amounts.
Many professional bloggers are making more than bankers, techies, lawyers, politicians, doctors, journalists, and company executives. Yet nobody has any idea because blogging is not taught in school and gets very little respect as a profession.
The key is to generate as much traffic as possible by writing genuinely interesting and helpful content. Sadly, great content doesn't sell itself. Those who are the most self-promotional often get the most traffic, even if their content isn't as good.
Example #3: 1,000,000 Pageviews A Month, 10 Years Of Experience
Key Points From The Blogging Income Statement Chart
- The key revenue growth driver is affiliate partnership, which has more than quadrupled from the second example due to strong traffic, better terms due, and more concentrated topics that relate with the affiliate product. CPC/RPM income hasn't grown at the same pace as traffic growth because the quality of the ads/products aren't as good. The rise of ad-blocking software may account for part of the slowdown in growth as well.
- By having a large platform under a strong brand, a new product can easily generate $2,000+ a month e.g. XYZ For Dummies series of books. An online platform can hold an infinite amount of product. The only constraint is one’s effort and time.
- Corporate consulting activity goes down because the blogger is already making $900,000+ from his site. All non-blogging related income activity is done entirely for fun. He now charges $1,000 – $2,500 to write a corporate article where he also provides a linkback to generate traffic to the article. 1X1 career coaching revenue goes up as individual clients seek out this blogger's expertise after 10 years of blogging and publishing over 1,800 articles.
Podcasting Can Help Build A Blogger's Brand
- This pro blogger has introduced a podcast to provide more color and personality to his content. He recognizes that there are millions of people who only listen to podcasts, which he'd like to connect with. Given his blog traffic and established brand, advertisers easily pay $1,000 – $2,000 per 15 – 20 minute episode. If the blogger just produces one episode a week, he can make an additional $52,000 from his work, instead of the $12,000 I estimated here.
- With over $1,000,000 a year in revenue working 25 hours a week, the blogger has the freedom to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. He practices Stealth Wealth because very few people will relate to such an income level. Or very few people will believe he makes such an amount from a blog. The general tendency is to try and discredit a person whom you don't believe. It's much better to blend in and continue the belief that blogging can't be a true profession.
Example #4: 4,000,000 Pageviews A Month Food Blogger
And you thought you couldn't make big bucks being a food blogger? Check out Pinch Of Yum's income statement for one month. Not bad.
How To Transition Into Blogging
When I left my job in 2012, my blog was generating around $5,000 a month. It's not bad, but not that much if you have a $4,300 a month mortgage.
However, with combined with my established passive income streams of roughly $6,800 a month and a six-figure severance check, I felt comfortable enough blogging for a living.
Unless you've been able to negotiate an enormous severance package, I don't recommend anybody to just leave their job to try and become a professional blogger. It takes years to grow your online income.
Based on my 12+ years of experience blogging, it takes a minimum of one year of consistent publishing to make any sort of meaningful income on a consistent basis. I'm talking $1,000 a month or more. But after that, the sky is the limit!
Given it'll probably take you two years to earn enough to pay your mortgage or rent, I strongly suggest everybody start a site while working a full-time job. Plus, competition is fierce and only continues to grow.
Work On Your Blog For Two Years Then Make A Decision To Go Full-Time
If you're afraid of starting a blog while working, don't be. Nobody is going to deny you the freedom to write your own personal journal online due to the First Amendment. And if you feel they will, simply write with a pen-name.
Obviously never write about your employer, share inside information, or denounce people you work with. Be positive and focus on a different niche.
Consider the two years as an incubation period with little downside risk for whether you can really keep up your writing schedule. See if you enjoy the process. To me, progress is addicting. Your upside is very rarely capped on the internet since the demand curve is so large.
If you're blogging for at least three years and seeing progress, you're making enough blogging where you could take the leap of faith and quit your job to blog full-time.
There is a strong correlation with hard work and reward in blogging. If you believe in meritocracy, then blogging is a great way to make money. I promise you the harder you work, the more money you will make blogging over time.
Write What You Feel Strongly About
After spending 13 years working in Equities/Investment Banking and getting my MBA, it's been very easy to write about finance. I didn't write much about investing until after I left my job in 2012 because I didn't want to risk blowing myself up at work if there was some sort of conflict of interest. Instead, I wrote a lot about real estate investing and being a landlord.
When you write from experience, writing becomes so much easier. You don't have to do as much research or make things up as you go along. You can draw from real life examples to share your advice.
Writing from experience also gives you a lot more authority than writing through pontification.
Today, it's not enough to just report the news and interview a few sources. Consumers want to also hear your opinion of the subject matter. Part of the reason why the journalism industry is getting decimated is because journalists can't throw in their own personal analysis for fear of being biased.
Always Have An Opinion Backed By Facts
However, thanks to the plethora of ways we can now consume news, e.g., Twitter, news has become a commodity. Therefore, for you to thrive, you must have an opinion, backed with enlightening analysis.
Anybody reading Financial Samurai for at least a month knows that I'm very opinionated about certain topics. For example, I don’t think anybody should contribute to a Roth IRA before first maxing out their 401(k).
I think the reason why so many of us are spoiled or clueless about money is because we haven't suffered enough or seen true suffering by people from around the world.
I think getting a 30-year mortgage is a waste because interest rates will likely be low for the rest of our lives.
When the stock market was melting down in March 2020, I wrote the post, How to Predict A Stock Market Bottom Like Nostradamus. If you read the post, you will see that it was a strong voice of reason to not panic and to buy.
Have An Opinion – It's What Makes A Blogger Unique
You may disagree with my views. However, I provide some very thorough analysis as to why I think the way I do based on experience. An opinion is what differentiates a blogger from a journalists. Have an opinion!
Only when you write based on experience and strong interest will you be able to maintain a consistent production schedule. Not only will you be able to write consistently, you'll also be able to write more affectionately.
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader,” as one saying goes. Readers can tell when you're “shipping it in” or putting everything you got into your craft.
As your site grows, you must grow a thick skin and embrace those who dissent. Once you start getting nasty comments or hate mail, you know you've arrived!
Leverage The Internet For Everything
At age 47, I'm fortunate enough to clearly remember what life was like before the internet. Here are my reflections on making money online since 2009. Life is so much better now.
The amount of free and useful information online is amazing. What used to take 10 hours to write might only take two hours now thanks to the ease of finding sources.
It used to take days to get written correspondence delivered or a stock confirmation. Now communication and trade confirmations are instantaneous.
There is one big headwind to beware of regarding blogging for a living. That is that artificial intelligence is scraping blogger's content and spitting out info as their own. There are plenty of lawsuits agains OpenAI, Anthropic, and more for plagiarizing bloggers' content. As Google shows more of a bloggers' content in search rather than a link to the blogger, there will be less traffic.
Blogging for a living is a real possibility. I'm living proof of it and so are the thousands of other bloggers out there today. Like any industry, there are ongoing challenges to be aware of.
Start Your Own Blog Today
There's nothing better than starting your own website to own your brand online and earn extra income on the side. Why should LinkedIn, FB, and Twitter profit off you? With your own website you can connect with potentially millions of people online. You can also sell a product or sell some else's product. Finally, you can find a lot of new consulting opportunities as well.
I never would have imagined not having to ever go back to a day job again due to my online income. So how do you get started? Use Bluehost to host your website.
What used to cost thousands of dollars and days of your time now can be done for much less in only 15 minutes. Once you own your own site, it's much easier to get a job, sell a product, and tell your story. You never know where the journey will take you!
For those who need help, I created a step-by-step tutorial on how to start your own blog here. Not a day goes by where I'm not thankful for starting Financial Samurai. The site generates great supplemental retirement income and it also gives me something to do in retirement!
Making money blogging is a reality. And some people can make a lot more money blogging than you can ever imagine!
If You Want To Quit Your Job And Blog Full Time
If you love blogging and want to quit your job, I recommend negotiating a severance. In 2012, I negotiated a severance package that paid me six figures. With subsidzied healthcare, unemployment benefits, and a severance, I pursued blogging without much stress.
Since you got laid off, you're also eligible for unemployment benefits. Unemployment benefits can range from 27 weeks and up, depending on the government. Having a financial runway is huge during your transition period.
Conversely, if you quit your job you get nothing. Check out, How To Engineer Your Layoff: Make A Small Fortune By Saying Goodbye, on how to negotiate a severance. It was recently expanded with new resources, strategies, and additional case studies thanks to tremendous reader feedback.
Use the code “savefive” to save $5 at checkout. The book is an all-time bestseller than will help you leave your job with money in your pocket so you can be a contractor or freelancer with more freedom.
For more nuanced personal finance content, join 60,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter. Financial Samurai is one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites that started in 2009. To get my posts in your inbox as soon as they are published, sign up here.
You need to post a lot of content to your blog and advertise it to get traffic. Also adding backlinks helps a lot.
Hi Sam – long time reader and I just recently launched my own website thanks to your numerous posts. So far it’s been a fulfilling creative outlet, but I’ve hit a few walls with growing it. One of the personal challenges I’m experiencing is whether to use my name as my brand or a pseudonym, a la Financial Samurai. I’d love to hear your thought process when you were first starting out on why you chose to build the Financial Samurai brand rather than, say, the Sam Dogen brand. Many thanks for your perspective
Hi Ryan,
Congrats! I use Financial Samurai because it is more scaleable and fun to say. Maybe people can write under the FS brand, and the brand Can be used for many things. I believe less so if I used my name.
GL!
Sam
This is great motivation! I just started my blog in the last month, with no expectations. I just wanted to start sharing some of what I know and have a writing outlet.
But, I did no real research ahead of time and just sort of thought people would start reading. I was very wrong!
Seeing 2 views in a day is discouraging, but I’m going to give it 1 year to see how it goes! I feel like I am / will provide valuable content, so I’ll try to learn and iterate along the way.
Reading your blog front to back at the moment if you can’t tell, haha. Such great stuff!
Hi Sam, I just started blogging as a side hustle when I lost my job during the pandemic. I have only been doing it as a hobby and made my first commission couple a weeks ago. I almost lost all motivation to continue blogging as another stream of income. However after stumbling on your post it really sparked some inspiration in me to keep pushing. Thanks!
Really great post! I have read a few of your posts now on creating a blog, or how much you can make with a blog and it is really inspiring. I am only 3 months in (approximately) and despite how many articles I read telling me to ‘stay the course.’ Much like investing, its easier said then done. I love writing so I just keep cranking out content because it is therapeutic, but also because if I write about it, then my wife doesn’t have to put up with me rambling about financial topics on our walks. Thanks for your inspiring advice and tutorials. Quickly becoming a big fan.
Thanks Sam for the link to BlueHost. I wanted to make a website for my new short-term / vacation rental property after I stage the property. I wonder if I can use bluehost for that. Will def check it out. Thanks!
Hi Ceci,
With a simple website for your vacation property, you can create a website for free with WordPress, Wix or Weebly. I would go the free route first and then go the paid hosting route second if the website grows and needs to handle lots of traffic.
I had to go the dedicated server route years ago due to Financial samurai’s growth. I pay over $200 a month.
Enjoy!
Sam
Thank you! Appreciate your feedback. I will check out WordPress, Wix and Weebly. Have a good weekend!
Hello – ran across your blog and thank you so much for the info…. I currently have a Weekly Podcast – The Simple Money Show – where I bring my 25 years of experience in banking, credit, mortgage and finance to my audience.. I have received great reviews and have been asked to guest on several podcasts – How would you recommend I start a blog to leverage my podcast… all of the subjects that are highlighted I already have “blog posts” written .. your feedback is appreciated
Yes, the key is to just start your blog. Don’t overthink things. You will optimize your site after you start and figure out the synergies between your blog and podcast.
Hi Tom, I just went through your podcasts on Apple Podcasts – great content you’ve got there.
Moving your podcasts to your blog posts shouldn’t be too hard –
– You’ll simply need to use a transcription service (like otter.ai) to convert your audio to text; then
– Re-edit the words to suit reading on screen, and adjust the headlines to make them more catchy and interesting.
I’d be happy to help – if you’d like me to.
I started blog just 7 months back. Getting hardly 150-200 views per month. So 5-7 views per day. I am okay with less traffic but I did not get a single subscriber till date. So I am assuming users don’t like what I write much. So how will it grow. You mentioned skills are not required but one should love to write. I do like but wonder if I should continue without those skills may be. Also I don’t promote my blog in my friends, social media etc as I want to get true audience if at all. Also is there any way to know how to improve your blog without users actually commenting.
What’s your blog address?
technfinance.in
Thanks! I’m not a professional blog reviewer, but I did notice a few things about your blog that might be holding you back. First, the page loaded very slowly for me. If readers are trying to get to your website, or trying to read articles within your website, and if the page doesn’t load within a few seconds, they might get frustrated and click away from your site. If your “bounce rate” is high, that could be a big part of the problem.
More importantly, though, I found your blog a little difficult to read. I don’t mean any offense by that, I’m just trying to give you my honest opinion. It might be a good idea for you to collaborate with a friend or associate who can help edit your posts to make the language smoother.
Try to give your posts catchy headlines with just enough “teaser” information for a reader to want to click on it. Put yourself in the shoes of your reader and think about what they want to know, and how you can say things in a way that will interest them. (A good editor can help you with this.)
One possibility that might work for you, if you’re not writing in your native language or if you’re just not a smooth writer, is to hire a writer. Maybe you want to be the brains behind the operation, thinking of topics and writing the outline of the article, and maybe someone else could do the actual writing for you. Just some thoughts. I know blogging is hard, but if it’s something you really want to do, I’m sure you’ll find a way to make it work for you. :)
Thanks for your feedback. Will relook, I am amature blogger so may not afford other writer but thanks for your views. I will take it positively and see what best I can do. Yes – English not my native language so not that fluent.
What a great no-nonsense overview about blogging for a living. I wish I had read this when I started blogging.
The thing is – the blueprint for success is pretty simple. Post quality content that truly helps people. Promote it (heavily). Do some SEO work for each piece of content. Repeat consistently (as often as possible).
The part that 90% have a hard time with is that it takes time. In the beginning, you’re working hard but your analytics are showing three visitors to your site the last week. You’re busint your tail churning out great content but you’re not seeing the fruits of your labor.
But if you can press onward through the first year, you’ll find it’s not that hard to make a very good living blogging.
You have to look at that first year as a means to an end. Keep your eye on the prize. Celebrate your wins, no matter how small (“hey look at that, the analytics show 20 visitors last week woot woot!”). If you can accept the path, and keep putting one foot in front of the other, you will get there!
Sam,
You’ve inspired me to create a blog. I’ve been in sales for almost three decades, and that’s what I cover. I hope you’ll check it out: http://www.salesparency.com.
Brand new, but I’m looking forward to the journey. Thanks for all of the great info.
Great summary and great points. Even though I’ve had a blog for several years, I’ve only started taking it seriously in August. I’m a teacher and wanted to experiment with a blogging challenge before I assign it to my class. Break out month for me…….Earned $0.04. Next week, my total earning might go as high as a whole nickel. Looks like I’ll be teaching for a while.
Big bucks! Don’t think in monthly segments. Think in yearly segments. Things start getting good after about 1 year of consistent posting, and definitely after 3 years. GL!
Hey Sam,
Just want to say that it’s been a year since I’ve created my website. You were one of my initial inspirations. I’m a long time follower of Financial Samurai and appreciate all that you’ve contributed to the financial community. I’ve learned a ton and will continue to do so. Keep up the great work–I know I’ll continue trying!
-Bob
Very detailed information, this kind of guide me on how to organize my previous and future posts. You’ve got yourself another subscriber (not that you need anymore)
Hi Sam, I’ve just came across your blog and like what I am seeing. I especially like your examples of potential income from your blog. As a new personal finance blogger, it’s great insight!
Thanks,
PF Mojo
I know more than 10 professional bloggers who are solely depending on blogging and earning a handsome amount. But, I know how they started and worked hard to reach this position. Earn a huge amount from blogging is not a myth but all about a perfect plan and implementation.
Thank you very much for this article. I just found it. I have a blog but put it aside temporarily because I had a temporary health challenge that then motivated me to work on being financially independent. Now that I am almost there, I’m looking to return to what I enjoy doing.m, which is all kinds of craft/sewing/baking/creating, but then I am also interested in real estate and passive income. So many topics! My initial website name has to do with sewing but my interests are diverse. Would it be better to come up with another name? So I can blog about other things? Or better to stick with one area? I have seen others who just use their name as blog address and then do fashion/lifestyle etc. I’m more of a DIY Person and not a consumer so don’t follow fashion/lifestyle blogs. Any advice would be helpful. Fascinated that I am almost to 200k passive income by investments in real estate and compare that you in the same about the same amount of time (started real estate 2010) you got to that passive income by blogging. Congrats!
It might be interesting if Sam were to do a survey of his readers who operate blogs. How long have they been blogging, what is the area they focus on, and what is their income from the blog?
Hi there.
It was nice and reassuring to read about the income level. Recently I started a blog (mysticrich.com) and every body around me is saying that I am making a mistake. Blogging is a very saturated field and don’t waste your time. So, I was getting depressed. But, after reading your post, I have a feeling that I am going in right direction. Only I have to keep posting better quality posts.
Thank you Sam.
Everything is saturated. We’ve got over 7 billion people on Earth with 3 billion+ online!
But that doesn’t mean we can’t carve out our own little niche. I see so much opportunity out there. Half the battle is to never quit. I’m in my 10th year now. If you can last for at least 1 year, good things start happening.
Sam,
Let me start first by thanking you for what you do. I wouldn’t be here writing this were it not for my wife reading your posts and sharing them with me regularly. Your posts have started a number of rewarding conversations in our house and given us a lot to think about so early in our marriage.
After speaking with family and friends who have valued my financial perspective over the years and reading your posts detailing the process of starting a blog, I have taken the first step and started my own. My site isn’t quite two weeks old but I do hope to begin dedicating more of my time to writing about my perspectives on finding financial wellness and ultimately, financial independence. Personally, I find the topic area to be an endless well filled with opportunities and teachable moments. I am excited about laying down my thoughts at one moment in time and seeing how they mature with time as I, too, grow older. Will they stay the same? Will they appear completely foreign, or perhaps naive to me once I’ve had kids and gained some better perspective on what it means to be a parent? Will I come to value different approaches to reaching financial independence learned through experience, research, or experimentation? I don’t know- and that’s what’s so intriguing!
I don’t know how many novel ideas I will provide but I do hope others will find my perspective valuable. After all, I’ve had many experiences to which I think people can relate and explore further. Finding that ability to relate and provide a new perspective is important and what I aim to do with my blog. I look forward to reading more about your perspective and using it to shape my own thinking.
Happy Blogging,
Riley Adams
Really enjoyed and appreciate your guidance. Have saved it to refer to many more times in my blogging career!
Thank you so much for all the effort you’ve put into this article, it will really help me in my writing career.
All the best.
Rachel
Hi Sam,
Great article and very useful comment. I recently started my own blog and the article had some great insights.
Thanks
Hey Sam,
There’s a small you on the first blogger case study. The same information appears twice. No biggie. Just a heads up in case you want to correct.
Thanks for the wonderful content
Howdy – Can’t find the typo you are mentioning. Can you specify? Is it in the content, chart, what is it etc? Thx!
I’m not sure what “you” FM is talking about but in example one, last bullet point, the last few sentences are repeated. Same thing with the last few sentences in the first paragraph under “leverage the internet for everything.” I love your blog btw!
Ah hah! Thanks for pointing out the repeats and typos! Always helpful. I’ve gone ahead and updated the post for 2H2020 and beyond.
Having a blog now is more valuable than ever because it can’t be shut down like so many other businesses during the lockdowns of 2020! If you can’t shut down a business, its earnings are more defensive. If earnings are more certain, than the overall business is even more valuable.
With interest rates so low, any cash flowing asset has also increased tremendously in value.
I’ve clicked on this post so many times yet always find it so inspiring. I’m a newbie blogger (6 months in) and haven’t made a penny off of my blog. But I’m glad there’s always hope about a more profitable future! :D
Hi Sam,
Great article! I am a new reader and like what you’re doing.
I am going to start a blog with focus on helping people become landlords. Based on your suggestion in “How to start a blog”, I have decided to use Bluehost and purchase the Genesis Framework, and I have a few questions I am hoping you can help me with:
1) Is it necessary to buy a Theme with the Genesis Framework? Put another way, is it simple enough to use the Framework to create your own Theme similar to using a software package OR are the Themes such that they require coding expertise?
2) I see Bluehost offers SiteLock Security. Is it good idea to purchase that add-on OR are those security features basically included with Genesis?
3) How much traffic can Bluehost handle before needing to upgrade to a better host, and how many years was it before you had to upgrade?
4) I notice you don’t include the date an article was written. Does this improve SEO and that is why you don’t include dates…or other reason?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
– Mike
Hi Mike,
1) no need to buy a genesis theme. You can start with a free basic one like I did for the first 2 1/2 years and then switch if you want.
2) I would purchase no add-ons in the beginning. Do you want to keep your car slow and see how things go for the first several months. And then you can decide to add on some new things if necessary.
3) your basic server from bluehost can handle more traffic than you can generate the first one or two years, I’m pretty sure of it. Therefore, no need to upgrade. I didn’t upgrade to A private server until before the year I think. My cost went up to $250 a month, but my traffic and revenue went up much more.
4) personal preference. I try to write evergreen content that lasts forever so the day doesn’t matter. Further, I’m always updating content to be as relevant as possible.
The key is to write consistently and not quit for at least three years. You will see tremendous about any opportunities if you stick to it. Good luck!
I currently work in finance and am securities licensed; I have thought about blogging on the subject, but I am concerned about the compliance and legal implications, especially if the blog started making money. For instance, I suspect most broker-dealer firms wouldn’t approve “Finance Blogger” as an Outside Business Activity because (from their perspective) it could open the firm up to liability, but not disclosing as an OBA could land you in trouble with FINRA.
You mention that you were working in finance when you started blogging. Do you have any advice on how to legally and ethically navigate this? Thanks!