What Kind of Blogger Are You?

This is an important question to ask yourself. And the answer will in part dictate what you do (or won’t do) with your blog.

From what I've seen, bloggers seeking to build an audience fall into one of a few types. There are:

• Those blogs support a company, product or personality that they own. The blog is used as a promotional vehicle for that company, product or personality and without that company, product or personality that blog could not exist.
• Then there’s the ones who blog in hopes of gaining notoriety. The Perez Hilton’s of the world, I call them. And the reasons are endless. Maybe you want to be on Entertainment Tonight or maybe you want to meet a celeb. Maybe you want to party with them or get swag to look like them. Whichever.
• This blog is mainly for the type of blogger that blogs about what they are interested in and wonder if they might be able to make some money in the process. You are the ones who would probably blog even if you didn’t make a cent. But since you’re doing it anyway, why not get some kickback?

If anyone felt any shame or guilt about that last bullet point, stop it. Just stop. I know how you feel, though. I felt terribly guilty about monetizing my blog. I mean, I was “keeping it real” with my readers. Wouldn’t making money make me a “sell out?”

Most certainly not! Especially if you are providing something to your readership that is valuable and putting time and effort into doing so. Besides, very rarely do bloggers ask their readers for money. So you are providing something valuable FOR FREE to the people you want to serve.

So how do bloggers make money anyway?

That’s what we’re going to discuss next. I can speak on the methods but not necessarily the strategy behind the methods. I’m not perfect at any of them but, as always, I’m gonna tell what I know.

Until then, keep bloggin’!