My friend Liz sent an interesting article my way ... one by The Brazen Careerist about being realistic about making money from your blog.
Before you head over there to read that (excellent) post, let me set you straight right now: THERE IS NO REAL MONEY IN MUMMY BLOGGING.
Let me rephrase that in case you blinked or didn't understand my accent: If you choose to turn your mummy blog into a commercial enterprise, you will earn, hold on to your hats ladies, upwards of couple grand a year. Gasp.
The people who make real money from advertising on their blogs - as in you would consider quitting your day job if you had a day job - are the ones with high traffic sites. I'm not talking 25k monthly page views. No, you need more like a million page views a month. A MILLION. EACH MONTH.
How about a book deal you may ask, surely you can get rich with a book deal? I heard Lucy Cavendish speak at a literary event last year, and she pointed out there's the small issue that a novel takes at least a (very intense) year to write and after everyone takes their bit, you get around £30-40k. For a year -- if you are lucky-- of blood, sweat and tears!? No, novels are a labour of love too.
Many advertising options for blogs are based on traffic. My guess is that the average UK mum blog gets about 5-25k pageviews a month, which will earn anywhere between £5 - £50. Of course you could always go for Google Adsense. I earned £16.97 last year! I didn't even bother to claim it. Running your own text links and banner ads is an option. They usually go for £80 - £120 a year. A YEAR.
Some mum bloggers are invited to review products. You may open your email one morning to find a very kind invitation to review the MOTHERHOOD DVD (which will retail for around £16.) If you are good at it, you may even be asked to review more things. Things that you probably don't really need. You could fill a whole house full of this stuff, and open your hall closet to an avalanche of Baby Annebelles, Blu-ray DVDs and advent calendars, have prams multiplying in your garage, and a whole office full of cereal, self-filling into bowls.
OK, so I'm glossing over the FEEL GOOD factor. Yes, it is nice to get compensation -- any type of compensation -- for doing something you love, WITHIN SCHOOL HOURS. It's nice to be told your opinions are valuable. But hour per hour, I could make more money, as Penelope says, flipping burgers.
But blogging CAN lead to other more lucrative opportunities: writing contracts, consulting, heck you may even decide to put on a mum blogger conference. But you are never EVER going to pay your mortgage by mummy blogging. There are small bits to be made here and there, but please keep it in perspective. Write a personal blog because you like to do it. Because you like to connect with others that love to blog. Because you like the camaraderie and support and the feeling of joy when you find out you're not the only one with a baby that fills a nappy with green poo or that someone else actually hated breastfeeding.
So what do you think? Are you making any money from your blog? I'd love you to prove me wrong and to hear some success stories.
Photo credit: fishy fish
