I do wonder at articles on blogs that promise easy money from blogging for a very small outlay in money and time. In fact, it makes me pretty cross.
The latest version nestles itself in an article on “how to make more money by spending it”, and suggests that you can “become an online expert” by “setting up your own blog” and “generating a nice side-income online”:
It costs between $20 and $80 to set up and host a website for a year, and you can make that amount back a few times over if you educate yourself on blogging. Just as some food for thought; John Chow earns more than $30.000 a month from his blog at this point.
No pressure then. Obviously because it’s so easy to do, that’s a realistic goal for everyone to try to achieve, right?
Hang on a minute though. “It does cost time”.
Finally. But… uh-oh:
However, if you could update your website while commuting (if you use public transit), then this is nearly effortless extra cash that doesn’t tie up your regular free time.
Perhaps author Christine has a very long commute, or doesn’t get involved with the many aspects of running a successful blog, but I know that, when I was commuting, ten hours a week was not enough to maintain a blog to a level where it would grow and make significant income.
It wasn’t “effortless” either.
Blogging may well become more popular during the current financial climate, but in my opinion it’s pretty irresponsible to suggest that just by setting up some cheap web hosting and starting to blog that you can be on to a nice little earner.
I’d rather stick to listening to established bloggers that don’t discourage people from blogging for money, but don’t suggest it’s an easy ride.
