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Blogging For A Living: How Much Can You Really Make Online?

Updated: 09/14/2022 by Financial Samurai 229 Comments

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.

I’ve been blogging consistently since 2009. After more than 12 years, it’s been a long and awesome road. In this post, I want to share how much bloggers can really make and how they make their money.

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 as little as $2.95/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.

In the stock market, you are a passive investor with no control over dividend payouts or other strategic management decisions.

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.

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.

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! In other words, writing begets more writing success.

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.

4) People who always want the freedom to choose. 

Financial Samurai Blog

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.

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.

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.

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.

CPC Blogging Income Example
Example of real click-based advertising income. Month to date is for 21 days. RPM = ~$13.5 or 1.35 cents/pageview.

Compare Blogging Income To Median Household Income

The national median household income is around $68,000 a year as of 2022. Thus, simple math states that if you can generate 64,000 – 640,000 a month in pageviews, 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

Professional Blogging Income Statement 100,000 pageviews a month -

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

Blogging For A Living Income Example: $300,000+ - how much can you make blogging for a living

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

How much you can make blogging  for a living - 1 million pageviews a month

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.

* 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.

Pro food blogger income statement
Who knew taking pictures of food and writing about recipes could be so lucrative? Based off real example.

Transitioning 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 45, 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. 

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.

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!

“Start

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Filed Under: Entrepreneurship

Author Bio: I started Financial Samurai in 2009 to help people achieve financial freedom sooner. Financial Samurai is now one of the largest independently run personal finance sites with about one million visitors a month.

I spent 13 years working at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. In 1999, I earned my BA from William & Mary and in 2006, I received my MBA from UC Berkeley.

In 2012, I left banking after negotiating a severance package worth over five years of living expenses. Today, I enjoy being a stay-at-home dad to two young children, playing tennis, and writing.

Order a hardcopy of my new WSJ bestselling book, Buy This, Not That: How To Spend Your Way To Wealth And Freedom. Not only will you build more wealth by reading my book, you’ll also make better choices when faced with some of life’s biggest decisions.

Current Recommendations:

1) Check out Fundrise, my favorite real estate investing platform. I’ve personally invested $810,000 in private real estate to take advantage of lower valuations and higher cap rates in the Sunbelt. Roughly $160,000 of my annual passive income comes from real estate. And passive income is the key to being free.

2) If you have debt and/or children, life insurance is a must. PolicyGenius is the easiest way to find affordable life insurance in minutes. My wife was able to double her life insurance coverage for less with PolicyGenius. I also just got a new affordable 20-year term policy with them.

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Comments

  1. Tim Wolski says

    September 1, 2019 at 1:43 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      September 1, 2019 at 10:19 pm

      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!

      Reply
  2. Bob says

    August 18, 2019 at 3:17 pm

    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

    Reply
  3. Andrew says

    May 6, 2019 at 1:00 pm

    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)

    Reply
  4. PF Mojo says

    May 6, 2019 at 11:57 am

    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

    Reply
  5. Kevin Battle says

    November 20, 2018 at 9:19 am

    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.

    Reply
  6. GDS says

    September 27, 2018 at 7:03 am

    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!

    Reply
  7. Robert Spall says

    August 13, 2018 at 2:44 pm

    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?

    Reply
  8. Akhil Mishra says

    August 7, 2018 at 10:05 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      August 7, 2018 at 11:30 am

      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.

      Reply
  9. Riley Adams says

    July 30, 2018 at 7:31 pm

    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

    Reply
  10. Rachel Ashton says

    June 14, 2018 at 3:06 am

    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

    Reply
  11. Max says

    March 13, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    Hi Sam,

    Great article and very useful comment. I recently started my own blog and the article had some great insights.

    Thanks

    Reply
  12. FM says

    January 26, 2018 at 2:20 am

    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

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      January 26, 2018 at 7:07 am

      Howdy – Can’t find the typo you are mentioning. Can you specify? Is it in the content, chart, what is it etc? Thx!

      Reply
      • Christina says

        May 28, 2020 at 12:22 am

        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!

        Reply
        • Financial Samurai says

          May 29, 2020 at 4:01 pm

          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.

          Reply
  13. Ms. Frugal Asian Finance says

    October 19, 2017 at 10:26 am

    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

    Reply
  14. Mike says

    September 27, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    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

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      September 27, 2017 at 6:43 pm

      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!

      Reply
  15. Brandon says

    August 25, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    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!

    Reply
  16. Ms. Frugal Asian Finance says

    June 12, 2017 at 10:29 am

    I’ve gone back to read this post multiple times and always feel so inspired and impressed by your writing. You’re definitely someone I look up to and want to learn from. Thanks for sharing the great advice!

    Reply
  17. Mr. Crush says

    June 5, 2017 at 4:35 pm

    I especially liked the structure to your article. You broke it out with some interesting writing to bring people in; then you were able to explain the numbers down the page well enough. Seems like it’ll inspire plenty of people who read all the way through!

    I’m just starting out with my blog. I knew you could make money with a blog, but I never really considered it as feasible. Reading this, I may want to reconsider, but the top of the mountain seems pretty high up at any rate.

    Reply
  18. Tony says

    May 7, 2017 at 7:51 pm

    Great blog and thanks for sharing the great information. I have been thinking about doing a travel and lifestyle blog and this helps give me confidence. I’m still nervous and scared about it but I am going to jump into the deep end and get it going.

    Reply
  19. Ming says

    May 7, 2017 at 8:25 am

    Hi Sam,

    Very helpful information. Wish I had read it a couple of years ago and taken your advice of starting a blog while working at a full-time job. Starting a blog is easy but growing it and building an audience takes time. When you start blogging on the side, it takes away the pressure to make money and allow you to really focus on creating good content for your audience. Anyone who is thinking about quitting their job and make a living blogging should take this advice seriously:)

    Ming

    Reply
  20. Acein @Likeellul says

    April 26, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    Hi Sam, I have parted with my brother and started a blog about a year ago. As I posted above, we an Amazon affiliate link and Adsense and make about $30-60/month. Amazon affiliate revenue is growing slowly but surely, but Adsense is almost always close to zero to a couple of cents due to Adblocker, which is my speculation. Any advice on how to improve Adsense revenue?

    Reply
  21. dodoi says

    April 13, 2017 at 6:41 am

    the numbers look good but how about the users who use adblock or similar extensions? Are they included in your calculations? do you know their percentage from your total number of visitors?

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      April 13, 2017 at 6:49 am

      Before the invention of ad blockers, only about 5% of my revenue was from banner ads. Therefore, it doesn’t really matter to me. I purposefully made the strategic shift away from banner ads and click ads at the end of 2013.

      If you focus on business partnerships, they will never go away because they are part of your content.

      Reply
  22. GZ says

    April 12, 2017 at 5:59 am

    I think the 1-10 cents per page view is very aggressive. That would be $10-100 CPM. I am seeing average CPam around $2-10. In other words it is 5-10 times too aggressive?

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      April 12, 2017 at 6:25 am

      What is your site and how long has it been active?? I’ll have a look and let you know.

      Reply
  23. Acein says

    April 4, 2017 at 6:14 pm

    I have a full time job and no niche areas/expertise to write about, so helped my brother whose job/hobby is reading books set up book review blog. It’s been over one year, and the initial monthly revenue was $0-3 but now $30-60. The goal is to hit $500/month on average. I know it will take a long time to accomplish but the time will come if he writes consistently.

    Reply
  24. Justin Dinkins says

    February 25, 2017 at 7:55 am

    Hey samurai

    I love your blog. Just ran into it . I ahve been looking to start a blog for a lil while now. Just wondering what platform should i use ? Something that is easy and plug and play. Also is there any sites that you would recomend that would put me in the right track with affiliate programs?

    Thanks alot

    Justin

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      February 25, 2017 at 1:45 pm

      Use WordPress. It’s the best platform to create a blog. I don’t even know how anybody could have created a good looking, multi-functional blog before WordPress began on May 23, 2003! Thank goodness for innovation and technology. Seriously. I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be here before 40. Never.

      Think about building your brand, your content, and your traffic before getting deep into affiliate programs. This is very important.

      See: How To Start A Profitable Blog

      Good luck!

      Sam

      Reply
  25. Jason says

    January 21, 2017 at 3:01 am

    Sam,

    I like the layout of your homepage, how you have popular posts and latests posts instead of having the actual post and content on the homepage so people can see more articles.

    I don’t have a blog yet, was reviewing your old articles, and saw you recommended genesis, but it looks very different from the link that you had on the article versus your site layout. Can you let us know what template you’re using?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      January 21, 2017 at 9:10 am

      It’s a custom Genesis theme with custom banners and such. Gotta make your site unique.

      Reply
  26. Frank Van Buren says

    January 9, 2017 at 10:02 am

    Hi Sam – Just a short note to THANK YOU for the super advice detailing blog start-up instructions, economics and the compatible attributes of bloggers. Fantastic advice! Since I read your posts in early September 2016, I have launched two blogs. The Wise Blackhawk (thewiseblackhawk.com) and Advice for Vets (adviceforvets.com). I simply followed your well written posts on the subject, and the process has been smooth, and I sincerely appreciate it! Frank Van Buren

    Reply
  27. catherine gacad says

    November 28, 2016 at 9:22 pm

    I have been blogging since 2005 and have a respectable blog awarded the top San Francisco blog by FlipKey/TripAdvisors: catherinegacad.com/. If I hustled my ass off, maybe I could make a living blogging (probably not at the lifestyle I’m used to), but yes it’s possible.

    That said, I have to make the counter-argument that, more often than not, it’s extremely difficult to make a living blogging. I see top bloggers (i.e., Dooce which was considered the most popular lifestyle blog of our time) burn out and give up. In an interview, the Dooce blogger made an enlightening point which is that she can’t outsource her voice/opinion. She said if you want to make money, do something in craft or design or anything where you can hire or outsource your messaging. If you’ve got a personal blog, which she and I have, then creating content can be exhausting.

    Reply
  28. Joshua Morgan says

    November 28, 2016 at 7:55 am

    I am curious if this works for niches in education. I am good at math and literary analysis. But you seem to focus on business topics or “mommy” topics in this post (just a presumption). Can I analyze high school pieces of literature and and create a website for affiliated links from that? And help students write better essays. I did that for the last three years as a learning specialist.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      November 28, 2016 at 8:16 am

      Anything is possible Joshua. You didn’t hear about the website that sold for millions 15 years ago that was the online Cliff notes for high school students? He spoke at Hustle Con in Oakland last year. It was great.

      Reply
  29. Robert Spall says

    October 15, 2016 at 8:42 pm

    I notice your site has a fairly comprehensive Disclosures, and Terms and Conditions statement. Did you write your own or have an attorney write it? Seems most but not all blog sites have something, but the level of detail varies greatly. I don’t think I’ve seen mention of this in any of your posts, but it does seem like a necessity.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      October 16, 2016 at 7:21 am

      Yes, it’s always good to have comprehensive Disclosures, Terms, and Conditions. You want to let readers be aware of your background, the business partnerships you have, what you are selling, etc as much as possible.

      At the end of the day, Financial Samurai is free for anybody who’d like to come visit. I share my thoughts and journey, as well as the thought’s of others.

      Reply
  30. Value Nurse says

    October 1, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    I would like to ask this as genuine as possible so I hopefully get some responses. Mr Money Mustache started his blog 6 years ago, before financial blogs were really that cool or popular. Financial Samurai started his many years back as well roughly 2009. They developed huge audiences and were able to monitize first and foremost because of amazing content but also because they were some of the first blogs about personal finance and financial freedom/early retirement. So the question is genuinely- is the financial independence/early retirement blog space very saturated and seriously challenging to monitize when starting right now 2016 from scratch. I’d appreciate any responses or opinions.. thx u!

    Please understand I’m not trying to be negative, debbie downer, pessimistic. I’m really wondering how viable this space is now starting from zero.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      October 2, 2016 at 8:20 am

      Hi Value Nurse,

      When I started in 2009, there were tons of sites as well. No matter when you start, you’ll always think there’s so much competition. But as internet penetration and usage increases, we’re now at over 3 billion users online versus less than 1 billion 7 years ago. And in 4-5 years, there will be around 9 billion users due to the continued proliferation of mobile devices.

      You only need a TINY slice of the internet to make money.

      If I was starting right now, I’d be PUMPED b/c the installed base of potential readers is much larger, it’s much cheaper to run a site, it’s much easier due to all these amazing free add-on widgets on WordPress, there’s a lot more social media platforms to help get noticed, it’s faster and cheaper to access sites with a mobile device, you’ve got way more companies wanting to do business with bloggers, and you’ve got guys like me still responding and sharing thoughts 7 years later!

      I’m pumped! Just make sure you say something different from what everybody else is saying. Have your own unique take.

      Related: How To Build A Powerful Brand For Your Blog

      Regards,

      Sam

      Reply
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