Lessons Learned from a Year of Blogging
I’ve been blogging for more than a year now. It started out as a kind of writing repository for me. But when I realized I can make money out of my blogs, I decided to join the bandwagon and monetize my site.
The problem was, I veered away from my first love–that is, literature, reading and writing. I ended up pursuing other topics that could earn me money although I wasn’t passionate about them.
Blogging is difficult work. Sure it’s fun to write and get your thoughts out there in the World Wide Web. But if you really want a thriving blog that people keep visiting, you need to write a lot, preferably daily, you need to have good design, promote it a lot! Place some ads and monetize it. But believe me, it can take up up to twenty hours a week!
Writing good (or even great) content does not guarantee site visitors and subscribers. Some of my posts were great. A lot of them are generally good. But writing is just one-third of the blogging process. You still have to promote the blog, network with other bloggers, and do effective Search Engine Optimization.
Stick to your chosen niche/topic. If you’ve been following this blog, I started out as a kind of personal blog. I shifted to movies late last year till mid-2009. After realizing that I didn’t really have the money for movie tickets and enough connections in the entertainment industry for free screenings, I bolted out. It’s worth mentioning, too, that I really didn’t have spare time for watching movies weekly.
After that, I decided to write book reviews and some tips for lifestyle design and makeover, together with some literary, arts and culture stuff along the way. All in all, that wasn’t a very nice approach. It would be better to put up an entirely separate blog for each topic you wish to cover. I tried my hand at a personal development blog, a spam blog and some other blogs
Blogging can bring in extra income. Don’t expect it to replace your paycheck though, unless you really are a power-blogger making at least $X,XXX a month. Don’t even think of leaving your job (at least in the Philippine context), if you are just earning under $700 from your blog.
Build on your passion. So called internet marketing gurus and blogging superstars keep telling would-be bloggers to find their passion first before embarking on a blog. That’s so true. But it isn’t nearly enough. Blogging is actually a business model, a marketing channel, and even a means of distributing digital products. Passion is good. But a solid plan for how to use blog is extremely important to make the most out of it.
Spam blogging works. Have you ever came across blogs that exploited whatever’s popular for the day? These kinds of blog feed on search engine hot trends such as Google Trends. They even come in the form of breaking news blog. But really, all they offer are regurgitated content scraped from all over the Web. I should know. I have one. And I’m planning to shut it down completely by 2010. Or at least use it for something else.
It’s easy to figure out what doesn’t work. After a year of blogging, I can fill an entire book of what doesn’t work. Yet, it’s not so easy to spot what works. Ugh. If only blogging were easy, a lot of Filipinos would be millionaires by now.
Moving On.
For 2010, I’m planning to sustain just two blogs-this one and a leadership and social entrepreneurship blog I’m planning to launch by March 2010. Penstalker.com is currently under renovation. It’s gonna be more of a literary journal for short stories, poetry and other literary outputs from me and some of my friends. It will also feature some websites, resources and tips on writing. People will also learn more about Ilokano and Filipino culture through this blog.
It’s gonna be a return to basics for me–to what I’m really passionate about. Look at the new look of this blog, it’s even minimalist. I’m loving it!
I might have been a clueless blogger for 2008 and 2009. But then, I keep learning.
2010, here I come! 
image credit: kaptainkobold via Flickr
Thanks for writing your thoughts about blogging. I’ve been blogging for 6 months on freestyle mind but I totally agree with what you said.
Hey, it’s good to know that I’m not the only one doing this thing – blogging and earning on the side. I have created my own niche and I don’t want to veer away from topics that is so far away from what I loved to do even though there is a promise of good traffic. Anyway, blog on and keep that juice flowing…
Merry Christmas!
Hey Oscar. By the looks of it, you’re doing well with your blog. Good luck on your journey with blogging.
mighty
Hello pinoyapache: thanks for visiting my site. I’m just a small player in this blogging game. I’m certainly no expert. Thankfully, I’ve learned quite a lot of lessons this past year. God bless you.
-mighty
Hello pinoyapache: thanks for visiting my site. Yeah. It’s best to stick with your chosen niche. God bless you.
Mighty
I’ve learned many of these lessons the hard way myself… and blogging is certainly hard work! I think were I to blog about a topic that different truly interest me, by website would surely fail. If it’s not something you WANT to write about, and it feels like you’re doing it to merely go through the motions, I think you WILL end up with a very poor blog.
Blogging is really hard work but there are one time big time bloggers out there. I know some bloggers who are earning a lot because of SEO and trends and I’m trying to mimic their success.
Sadly, CPC for internet buzz news using google trends are very low so even though you are receiving hundreds of clicks, income is not really that high.
But I’m happy that in my case, my peak was at $1,200+ in a month of income. Actually, I was pondering if I should start blogging about making money online.
Wow! Tyrone that’s pretty good money.
the make money online niche is quite tough and competitive. It might even divert your attention from the main blog. But if you can make time for it, your experience with your site now will certainly be a good jumping board. 
cheers!
By the way, don’t shut down your news blog. If ever you don’t want it, please give it to me.
Hi Mighty,
Cheers to another year of blogging for you. Vit and I have been blogging for almost two years and boy was it a hard thing to do. I know a lot of people that quit blogging because they thought it was an easy thing to do.
Well, we wish you more luck Mighty! Go 2010!
Hi Mights:
Good luck for this year 2010. I will pray that you’ll make it big on blogging this year and you’ll share the learnings with us as you go along…
Mighty,
I agree that earning money in the net really takes time. With all those factors that affect the traffic of you blog or a website in general, yes. Adsense is a long term investment I must say. tiis tiis lang tayo dito sa pilipinas