5 Reasons Why Very Few Bloggers Make Real Money Blogging

To start with, let me quickly clear the air; I’m NOT considering myself a great blogger. However, I’ve been able to build a successful blog, a blog that makes me enough passive income to keep me and my wife from doing jobs we hate doing.

The good news is that it took me less than two years to achieve this. Today I want to share my perspectives with you. I will be writing on what I think are the reasons most bloggers are not making money online.

Let’s get straight to business.

1. Lacking Business Skills

We all know that blogging started as a mere online diary (and hobby), but today, most bloggers are no longer blogging to keep a dairy or to just make noise.

Most of us now blog for money, as a business.

Unfortunately, most bloggers are not business-minded, nor business-skilled. As a result of this, I see too many bloggers just blogging, no strategies, no tactics, no branding.

Less than two years ago when I wanted to start my blog (Africa Business Classroom), I took EVERYTHING very seriously, just as you’d take everything about a business startup very seriously.

I had to spend about three months brainstorming the appropriate name (not every hour of the three months though), I have to spend several hours spying my competitors, to know their strengths and weaknesses, I had to read about branding and branded my blog.

If you’re a blogger who seriously wants to make money blogging, you must be business-minded. You must read so much about business and approach EVERY aspects of your blog as business. It’s a business, why take it lightly?

2. You Don’t Have to Run to Where Much Traffic is

So many bloggers run to where traffic is, just as if traffic is what they want to eat (I’ll explain). Take for instance, more that 90% of blogs in Nigeria are news blogs. Why is this so?

Obviously because probably more than 5 million Nigerians read news blogs every day. In fact, some Nigerian bloggers who started as business or fashion bloggers later shifted ground and become “everything goes”.

It doesn’t make business sense (remember it’s a business?) Doesn’t it make sense to start a blog in a niche where millions of people are willing to read?

Not necessarily!

Will you make money in a niche where a million of people are willing to read?

Not always!

Listen to my next point.

3. Most Bloggers Think Much Traffic is Equal to Much Income

This is a lie from the pit of hell.

I need to explain.

About three months ago I was chatting on Facebook with a man who is in the same niche with me. I asked him how much traffic he was getting and the answer was; “about 1,500 daily visits” (meaning 45,000 monthly visits)

I then asked how much he was making. His answer made me worry. He was earning just about $90/month.

This man has his blog in the same niche as mine. My own traffic was just about half of his, yet, I was making far much money than him.

Isn’t this unbelievable? The same niche, 200% of my traffic, yet I’m making far more money than him. How come? Well, I’m a business man. He is probably a mere blogger. Let’s leave that aside for a moment.

Running to where traffic is makes your life miserable, most of the time, because most other folks also run there and you’ll need a whole lots of uniqueness and stubbornness to win there. Instead of fighting with everyone to get traffic, why don’t you create your own world where you can dominate easily?

I have one other shock for most people. Listen to this next point as I’ll tell you how I make so much money from little blog traffic;

4. Google AdSense is NOT Profitable

…at least for most people.

I’m sorry for telling you this. If Google AdSense is your ONLY way to make money blogging, you’ll have to work very (very) hard.

The reason is simple; you need a whole lot of traffic to make real money from AdSense.

In a situation where most bloggers (including me) don’t even have 20,000 monthly visitors, making meaningful money from AdSense is too tough. But even with 15,000 monthly visitors, you could make a living from blog if you follow my advice.

Check my blog; Africa Business Classroom and you’ll see NO Google Ad (or any other ad or affiliate product), yet this blog is making me more money than most bankers in Africa plus, helping me to change the world in my little way.

The very funny thing is that, as of today, the blog gets just 400-500 daily unique visitors.

How did I do it to make good money from a 2-year old, small blog?

Position yourself as authority, target specific audience, have a unique voice, create your own products and sell.

You’ll work less, have less competitors and make so much money from very little traffic.

Most people may think this is too hard but it’s not, especially when you think of the reward.

Take for instance many of my fellow bloggers who ran to start news blogs in Nigeria (because huge traffic is there) have to post between 7-20 posts every day, or else they’ll stop making money.

I may not post anything in a whole month, yet, I’ll still make money, as much as I made last month or even more than that.

I know you get my point here. It’s not about how much you work, how much traffic you get or how many AdSense ads you use to clutter your blog. It’s about how strategic and business minded you are about your blog.

But wait!

5. I Don’t Mean to Say Blogging is a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme

No. Not at all. In fact, one of the reasons why so many people fail as bloggers is because they want to make money, FAST.

Well, if you’re not willing to invest a whole one year of hard work (and no result), just stay back and get a job.

You’ll have to work very hard in the first one year or more and see little results. That’s non-negotiable. But as you work hard, you also have to be business-minded and strategic.

Don’t just build a blog. Build a real estate.

Don’t just start a blog. Start a business.

Approach your blog like a business

Don’t run to the niche everyone runs to (unless you have a true passion in that niche and could stand out).

Don’t think so much traffic means so much money.

Don’t hope AdSense (alone) will make you rich.

Be willing to work hard, but not like everyone.

I wish you great success as a blogger.