Can You Make Money Blogging?

There is increasing heat especially in the FIRE blogger realm that we pretend to do FIRE while making boatloads of money from our blogs. There certainly are bloggers out there that make mini fortunes, Michelle Schroeder-Gardner is very transparent that she makes over $100,000 a month from her blog. Paula Paint is also transparent about how much she makes from her blog. She posts annual figures demonstrating her six-figure income. Mr. Money Mustache has also disclosed that he makes six-figure annual income from his blog as well. J-Money and J.D. Roth, I could go on and on.

So with this information, I guess everyone should start a blog right? That is the obvious conclusion. But not so fast hasty hare. There are some factors to consider here. These people have been blogging since before blogging was cool. In fact, most of them were blogging before the term was used, back when it was called “weblog.” They have on average a decade of experience writing online. And they are genuinely passionate about what they write. They kept at it for years before it was a stream of revenue. Their writing is engaging, funny, and generally entertaining. And need I mention we are talking about the top 1% of financial bloggers here! That is like looking at Tom Brady, Brett Farve, and Peyton Manning and saying hmmm, there is money in this football game, I guess I will play football.


I have met and personally spoken to all the bloggers I have mentioned above and I think it is more than fair to say they are incredible A-list hustlers, people that have enormous grit and determination. They are incredibly talented at growing an audience following and online community. They have committed to blogging just as Tom Brady commits to practicing football. If you apply yourself day-in and day-out to anything, it is rather reasonable to be a success at that this after a decade. It is said that it takes around 10,000 hours (5 years of full-time effort) to master something.

The Answer is YES

The answer to the title question can be seen from above that YES! you can make money from blogging. But I certainly would not consider it easy money. For every profitable blog, there are a thousand that are not. It takes years to build an audience and online presence. while it can happen faster, it will likely take years before a blog is cash flow positive. It takes a lot of commitment and you will never get there without passion for what you write about. It takes a lot of determination to post regularly. However, if you do have that passion and grit and would otherwise do it for free, I do recommend blogging. Or if you are like me, and writing a book, blogging makes perfect sense to break down your writing goals into daily habits.

Most of the bloggers I know (quite a lot since I regularly go to blogger conventions) have spent between a couple hundred and a few thousand dollars to establish their blogs. The majority of them do not make income from blogging. It takes an enormous audience to be profitable. It is certainly possible but not as common as you might think. You will be as successful as you commit to being. When people ask me if I think their blog will be profitable, I simply ask them how committed, passionate, and determined they are. That matters much more than their domain name or topic.

What My Numbers Look Like

Up to this point in time, I have spent exactly zero dollars advertising my blog to grow it. Its growth has been 100% organic. Thanks to the amazing reader like you recommending this site to friends, sharing links on social media and returning for more hacks to accelerate your net wealth growth. I have collected zero dollars in revenue from advertising. My readership has grown slowly and steadily over time. There is no overnight success story there. Although nice boosts come when your articles are shared on other sites and in news media outlets.

How to Make Money Blogging

Obviously, after looking at my numbers above you don’t want to take my advice on how to make money blogging. Remember this is a passion hobby for me at this point. Luckily for you, I know some great bloggers on the subject of making money from blogging. To the tune of seven-figure income great. How great you ask, she bought a yacht this week great. She also has a lot of teaching material, posts, and courses to get you all spun up since I can’t teach it better I must differ to Michelle Schroeder-Gardner.

Ad-Free Experience

You may have noticed that there have never been any banner ads and there haven’t been any pop-up ads through the history of this website (at least until the publishing of this article.) I thought my readers would appreciate this ad-free experience to get directly to the content but they are looking for without the distractions of annoying flashing sidebars dancing in their faces.


I am getting comments that readers would like some premium features on the website such as keyword search bars additional tabs for organization and other many beneficial features to make the reader experience easier, faster, and more convenient. I am also getting offers from “Partner Programs” (advertisers) that want to “collaborate” (sell crap) promoting their products on my site.


This site is beginning to cost me a significant amount of money to continue to develop, support, and troubleshoot. I have done it as a passion project to help educate others on the strategies that are propelling me to higher levels of wealth. My heart is to continue to do that by sharing effective information that’s helping me transform my financial landscape. If you have a light you don’t hide it under a bowl. If you find something that works you want to share it with your family, friends, and the world.


I have spent hundreds of hours curating and publishing the content of this site. For every hour that I spend blogging, I lose an hour that I could’ve been working towards one of my income-producing side hustles. I am now faced with an ethical decision of should I advertise on this site. I must admit that I’m incredibly conflicted with this prospect.

Should I Allow Advertisements?

Personally, I believe that advertising is the root of all evil. Don’t get me wrong I love capitalism more than Capt. America himself. However, if you think of the nature of advertising, it is directly opposed to the entire FIRE movement. The nature of advertising is to convince you to spend money that you otherwise wouldn’t have spent based on your own desires and reasoning on products that you didn’t otherwise want or need.


On this blog, I have spoken directly against listening to the alluring sirens of advertising. I’ve encouraged you to save more of your money and invested so that it can begin working for you like an army of future income. Every dollar that you spend is a dollar not be working for you in your moneymaking army.

Am I Selling Out or Buying In?

Pros: If I advertise I can…

• Put more time into this site which is one of my favorite hobbies.
• Attract better guest bloggers.
• Afford an editor and more time to share higher quality content.
• Turn a passion into a revenue source.
• Stop losing money on this expensive hobby.
• I would be investing in the stability and sustainability of bringing valuable info. to my readers.
• I could continue to grow the site as readership grows.
  
  

Cons: If I advertise…

• Screen clutter would reduce the user experience.
• Uncontrolled ad sources could advertise products and services I don’t believe in.
• Readers could be tempted into wasting more of their hard-earned money.
• I might feel like a sell-out.
  
  

I am now faced with an ethical dilemma and need to define my ethos moving forward. What will my advertising policy be? What will I accept and what won’t I accept with respect to advertise? Should I continue with an ad-free experience? Do users even care? Should I allow affiliate links? Only promote products and services I personally use and believe in? Am I selling out? I would love to hear your opinions. Please leave a comment and help me navigate this ethical issue I am now facing head-on.


Keep the FIRE burning my friends.