Iain Dale has put up a very well thought out essay concerning how to monetise blogs in the British blogosphere. He considers using advertising, book deals, crossing over into paid journalism and other methods of generating wealth using a blog. As one of the few lucky people in the world who actually blog for a living (my exact job description is ‘Blogger/Web Designer’), it’s an area I have a lot of interest in – and I thoroughly recommend finding a company who wants to increase it’s ‘social internet’ presence and getting employed by them. I have an option to add to Iain Dale’s list, though, which may be more appropriate for blogs with more mid-range readership levels1: how about actually asking your readers for money?

I read blogs. I write blogs. I know how much time and effort it takes to write content every day and keep it fresh and relevant. You people who do it day in and day out deserve something for your trouble. You could be spending your time doing something more profitable for you. You could be devoting your life to some charitable cause. You could be relaxing on the sofa and watching TV, helping you unwind and be more productive in your day job. Instead, you’re entertaining me, enlightening me, and making me think. That makes you great – and you deserve more recognition than you get.

While some of Iain Dale’s money making tips might work for the mega blogs with the monthly unique visitor counts up in the hundreds of thousand, they’re all about making money despite the readers. Advertising is about drawing wealth from companies who hope to make money from your readers. Asking them for money cuts out the middle man and gives you the recognition you want. Why would anyone pay, you might ask, but it doesn’t matter – you haven’t even given them the chance.

So, put up a button to let me donate £5 to you with Paypal. Start selling Tee Shirts with your blog’s name on them. Start asking me for money. Because there could be thousands of me’s out there, and all of them might know how great you are. And if 1,000 of them donated £5, you’d have £5,000.

  1. Just to completely override my argument, this blog is still pretty much entirely unread (just over 500 unique visitors in the past 31 days! Yay Stat Porn!) and as such I have not the slightest hope or interest of making any money directly through writing Sharpe’s Opinion at present… [↩]