Several times people have questioned the lack of ads on my own blog. It is particularly confusing because I tend to write blogging tips and marketing advice. You would have thought that meant some direct monetization.
First of all, I do monetize, just as yet not directly. If you look closely you can see that I quietly link my blog consultancy services. Perhaps I do not promote them enough, but they are there.
What about people who don’t monetize at all? Are they wasting their time? Well I have a completely non-monetized blog, my personal blog chrisg.org. I do nothing to promote it, publicize it or monetize it. It just is. Heck, I don’t always write on it.
It seems the vocal commenting minority people on Digg have come to the conclusion that all bloggers are wasting their time, but let’s ignore those opinions and ask the question, should you blog and not monetize it?
My answer, you will not be surprised to hear, is “Yes, absolutely!”.
There are many advantages and benefits from blogging that don’t revolve around ads or selling services. I think for me the most important have been these three:
- Networking and making friends – Blogging has brought me in contact with so many great people, I can’t begin to list them for fear I might miss someone out. It’s crazy how effective having a blog can be for making contacts and friends. In the real world I am an introvert and quite shy at introductions. People like me find real social situations draining. While I have managed to overcome the worst of my shyness my face to face skills have never matched up to what I have been able to achieve online, and I couldn’t hope to physically meet the diverse range of people I know through my blog.
- Opportunities – Many people are not entrepreneurial. We all have our own goals and they rarely make sense to anyone but ourselves. There are many ambitions people have that do not involve direct financial reward. A great blog opens doors and invites opportunities. If you want to gain a promotion, new job, change career, become more well known in your industry, get opportunities to write for trade publications, consumer magazines or even write a book, then create a great blog. Without my blog I wouldn’t have even sniffed half the opportunities that have come my way. I would say that writing books is not as much fun nor as lucrative that people think, but it is fantastic to walk into your local Borders book store and see your name on the shelves! It can be small opportunities too, I regularly get asked to review products. While not all are relevant to my audience, it is always nice to be asked!
- Enjoyment of writing – I put this last but it is not the least important. If you get pleasure out of writing then blogging is its own reward. Thankfully I both love writing and get paid well for it! Many people blog just to have an excuse to write and keep their skills up.
Monetized or ad-free, any type of blog is just as legitimate as any other. It’s a big blogosphere! While making money online seems to get all the press right now, there are just as many people who blog just because. And I applaud them.
Do you have a blog without any revenue streams? Why do you blog? Share in the comments …
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