If you ask people their thoughts on making money from blogging, you’ll get as many different opinions as there are people.  Some think you should never make money from a blog, while some think it’s okay as long as you are running your blog as a business.

If you’re not currently making money from your blog, the question to ask yourself is: “Do I want to make money from a blog?”  if you answered yes, which you probably did since you’re reading this site about how to be a problogger, this article series is for you. 

If you’re not sure if monetizing your blog is right for you, here are some things to consider. 

To Monetize Your Blog or Not – That is the Question

1.  What is blogging costing you?  If you have your own domain name and pay for hosting every month, then you are actually paying to give your readers the great free content that you provide.  Shouldn’t you at least be able to recover the costs that you pay to have the website?

2.  Your time is valuable.  Blogging for fun and writing about your passion are wonderful, and are the reasons that most of us are blogging right now.  If you use this reasoning in the past (“I just blog because I like it – so I shouldn’t really make money from it because it’s not a business”), think about this: 

Isn’t your time valuable?  Don’t you put time, effort, and care into creating the best possible experience for your readers?  As the if you probably answered yes, it would make sense for you to get a little compensation for the hard work you put into creating and maintaining your site.

3.  The personal blog.  If you haven’t monetized your website because it’s a personal blog, you may not want to.  Bloggers who only write about personal topics, their families, or post family photos and videos to share with relatives, are among the group of people who may not even want to consider making money from the blogs. 

This is not to say that you can’t; whether or not to monetize a personal blog is purely a personal choice and only you will know if it feels right for you.

4.  Blogging for a cause.  Is charity important to you?  Perhaps you blog about social issues, if public services, or nonprofit organizations.  If this is the case, it would make sense to fill wary about making money from your blog. 

However, you still have to consider that the money you raise from monetizing your blog could be directed toward serving the causes you’re so passionate about.  Many bloggers choose to donate a portion or all of their blog earnings to charities and causes.  If you’re looking for a starting place to find events dedicated to your cause, check the Yahoo Issues and Causes directory or search Facebook groups to find like-minded cause bloggers.

So You Want to Make Money From Your Blog…

If you aren’t making money from your blog right now but wish you were, then stay tuned.  In the next few articles, I’ll be writing about the many different options to make money from blogs, the best ways to monetize blogs (including affiliate marketing and banner advertising) and tips for earning more.

Make sure you don’t miss any of these helpful tips for making money from your blog! 

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Thanks to Alicja Stolarczyk at stock.xchng for the photo.