Hello,
Allow me to take a different approach as I write this blog post.
I wanted to answer some of the questions many have been asking in the past couple of years:
- Should I continue to blog when people are now watching videos?
- If I decide to blog, will I be able to monetize it?
Blogging in 2020
About a decade ago, a good number of people were starting to have a blog.
That includes me.
Creating a blog has been easy thanks to Blogger, Tumblr, and, most notably, WordPress.
During these years, everyone was blogging as a way of sharing their reality. Blogs have become an online diary.
As more and more businesses migrated online, bloggers have learned to monetize their blogs.
Sponsorships have become the norm.
The cost of maintaining a blog has increased, too. Domains and hosting server costs are growing year after another. Creating a blog takes so much time and effort. Photos and then videos have been part of the entire blogging creation.
Slowly, YouTube gained momentum, and several bloggers have found this avenue as an extension of their blogs.
Then video bloggers (vloggers) have dominated the scene of content creation.
Today, a decade later since that rise of the bloggers, we’re at a time when YouTubers are gaining a lot of recognition from the society.
But are people still blogging?
Some are still producing great content on their blogs. Written content is so much friendlier for them than editing videos.
That includes me.
However, I know several bloggers who have transitioned already to become vloggers. They’re now seeing new challenges ahead of their game.
Whether content creators are maintaining a blog or a video channel, I hope everyone remembers why people follow us: we’re here to help them in ways we can.
Monetizing Our Blogs
About a decade ago, bloggers earned a lot from their blogs through AdSense by displaying Google ads on their blogs.
Today, AdSense revenue has drastically decreased as Google’s focus on its monetization is now on YouTube.
Aside from this source, several bloggers also get sponsorships directly from brands in exchange for a blog post or a link.
Sponsored posts and link monetization are here to stay, but brands nowadays are more aware of what game they’re playing.
So, yeah, it’s more challenging to gain monetary compensation from blogging this time.
Here’s my tip if you want to monetize your blog in 2020 (and beyond): focus on providing value to your readers.
There are fantastic SEO resources out there that you can experiment with, and if coupled with excellent content strategy, you’ll be able to earn from this in no time.
Don’t forget that if you want to make your blog a passive income, don’t treat it as a hobby. It can never be a passive income if you don’t invest time to make it a useful content resource.
But, if you have a new blog like me, don’t be sad.
You can always go back to the reason why you’re blogging and focus on that.
Always remember: we’re here to help people in ways we can.
Thanks for reading this.
Hope you’re having a great day,
Rome
11 Responses
I am beginning my day now and I am happy reading this topic first hour in the morning. Like you, I am much comfortable with blogging than vlogging. Blogging is the extension of my dream to keep writing my experience and sharing them to people – hoping to inspire them. Although I must admit that updating my blog (technical way) is truly a struggle. Whenever I feel frustrated about this, I would go back to my “why” of blogging. And this saves my day. But I wish I could truly monetize my blog. Finally, I really hope that people will still find the joy of reading blogs. Reading is classic and that being said, it never grows old.
For me either blog or vlog still we can monetize by looking for brands to sponsor. The biggest challenge is to make a quality content that can be sustainable and useful for everyone. I never tried to make a blog for money, because I’m focusing on its benefits of creating more content to engage people and businesses. That’s why I stick to my small freelance gig because it easier. This blog serves as an eye opener to anyone who wants to make their content monetized. Love reading this one!
Partnership is the key to monetization whether it could be blog or vlogs. As long you are happy with what you are doing, go for it. It would anyway help both parties.
Thanks for this Rome. Yes, I just realized that monetizing needs a lot of time and effort. You need to have a good content to keep the people reading back, and that’s a big challenge for me. I have been monitoring my topics and engagement since I decided to start blogging again last July. I’m back to square one but i’ll get there. hahah! bahala dugay basta kanunay.
I started my blog because I just want to share what I have, what I know, and what I think is helpful to others. Monetizing it is just a bonus for me. I love writing and doing it makes me happy.
Thank you for sharinf these great insights about blogging and monetization Rome.
One of the reasons why I’ve been blogging all these years without monitizing it is because it isn’t the main reason why I write. I wanted to write something of significance to me, while hoping it will also be of significance to my readers. I didn’t make money, yes, but because of my blog the people who are sponsoring my running events for four years now found me. Because of my blog, I got the opportunity to work with diverse clients, too. Because of my blog, my soul sisters found me. Because of my blog, I am able to share bits and pieces of my soul to the world. 🙂 All these considered, I’m getting more than what I’ve put in from blogging. 🙂 Thank you for this insightful article, Rome.
Even if you don’t monetize it, the blog itself will become one’s portfolio and that can be leveraged later on for blogging, or content creation gigs, projects and freelance roles. 😉
For me, as long as I’m happy with what I’m doing either blog/vlog, will continue to create content as extension of my personality. Monetizing will just follow unless you want to focus on it which is a different story.
Simply written but absolutely true. For my personal experience, I started blogging because I was looking for an avenue to continue my love for writing until brands flock my email for collaboration. Yes, I started it as a hobby, and then it turned into something that gave me extra income when I was still working with a corporate setting in a BPO industry for 10 years. Now, online writing is my primary source of income and I have invested a lot of my time and effort to grow my work to make it stable.
Amazing insights for those who are planning to monetize their blog. I decided to blog but still find it challenging. I guess learning to develop a content plan will be my top priority. Blogging for money with my current blog is not an option, but I’m planning to have a separate blog soon in which one of the future goals is to consider some aspects of passive income. Helping people in ways we can or creating valuable content to them is always a great thing to remember in this endeavor. For now, I’m blogging to network and still learning a lot about it.
This is a great perspective on things, Rome. For me, I blogged to create a portfolio that I can show to my clients. Money was never an issue because I never intended my blog to earn some extra bucks.