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When Does a Blog Become a Business?

By Laura Lee Carter, M.A. Counseling Psychology

Let’s face it.  At this point in time, blogs are created for every purpose under the sun!  They cover most topics from “Check out these great photos of my grandkids!” to high level opinion pieces on economics and politics found on the most professional websites.  And the reasons why we create blogs are just as diverse.

Perhaps you came to blogging as I did, through pure curiosity.  A little over four years ago I found myself frustrated with the world of freelance writing, when I happened to run into a young woman who was a very enthusiastic blogger.  She had attracted quite a lot of attention and many fans through her financial advice blog, and she convinced me to do the same.  I thought, “Why not?”  It was free, except for the then unknown steep learning curve involved!

Today I maintain five WORDPRESS blogs, I have created two books and three e-books as a direct result of my blogging experience, and I’m beginning to see some real profits from my daily adventures in the blogosphere. Only in the last year or so have national brands started approaching me for sponsored posts and advertising space on my most popular blog:  MidlifeCrisisQueen.com. Through this process I have developed my own beliefs around monetizing my blogs.

“Monetizing your blog” simply means getting paid for the time and talent you have put thus far into maintaining a website on the Internet. I now see my blogs as personal magazines which draw a certain type of clientele to my personality, ideas, advice and writing style. I own these magazines so I now have complete control over which brands I wish to promote through my blogs.

Only last year I stopped working for free with potential advertisers, except for carefully selected book reviews and non-profits. At first I felt offended by those who approached me looking for free advertising for their products. I started sending back this response:

“Amazingly enough, I do not work for free, and my blogs do not exist to promote your products. However, if you would like to consider purchasing some advertising space on one of my blogs, I’d be happy to discuss pricing.”

That was back when I was feeling defensive about the fact that I had worked so hard for years on my blogs, only to be expected to provide free promotions of other peoples’ products. Now I simply send back a form letter explaining how popular my blogs are, and my present advertising rates for sponsored posts and other types of blog links for a set amount of time.

If you have been involved in blogging for at least a few years, you know how it can turn into a business. When this happens, you need to be prepared with a strong sense of the value of your product, respect for the audience you serve, and a reasonable pricing structure.

I would recommend not even beginning the practice of getting paid only in free products for your sponsored posts. Of course you should try out the product BEFORE recommending it to your readers, but payment for your time and energy should also be included in providing a strong testimonial for your advertisers.

The sooner bloggers start to value the services they provide to their clientele and setting their own standards for what their products are worth, the sooner we will all begin to be paid a living wage for the valuable advertising we provide to national brands.

Laura Lee Carter, M.A. Counseling Psychology, worked as a research librarian for 25 years before leaving academe to become a master blogger, author and psychotherapist in 2005. She is best known for her blog: Midlife Crisis Queen, where she teaches others about midlife psychology, but she also maintains the Healthy Aging Blog and Stress Management for Writers.  Laura has increased book sales in the past year, by maintaining her Believe in Love Again blog, where she promotes her latest book: How To Believe In Love Again: Opening To Forgiveness, Trust, and Your Own Inner Wisdom.