Hi.  My name is Jason, and I am addicted to stats.  This was my mantra for the first several months of blogging.  I could not pass up a computer without checking out Sitemeter, Google Adsense and my affiliate network.  Sad, I know, but true.  I distinctly remember when my primary blog took off and starting earning serious money–it was my fifth month of blogging.  It was the best of things, and the worst of things.

From that point forward I was borderline obsessed with earning money on my blog.  Up to that point I saw blogging more as a hobby, something I took up to help make myself more accountable with my own financial life, and as a way to help others from repeating the same mistake.  Little did I know the blog itself would contribute to my bottom line and help us pay off debt while supplementing my income.

My enthusiasm for earning money through blogging almost became a liability, as I was soon tempted to link to services that I had not fully tested, or to products that did not line up with what I was writing about.  For the most part, I resisted that temptation, but it wasn’t easy.

Earning money from blogging has a way of spoiling you. When I first started blogging, I would have been thrilled if I earned a couple dollars a day.  Now, I would consider $50 a “down day.”  Nothing about my financial life has changed, only my expectations, which I have to manage constantly.  Here are a few techniques I use to keep things in perspective.

1. Set small earnings goals, initially.  I think a great first goal would be to earn enough from advertising to pay for your hosting, domain registration, and any other administrative costs you might have.

2. Multiply daily earnings by 30.  Instead of being bummed about earning $7 yesterday, convert that to a monthly earnings of $210.  Further convert that to some other expense you pay, such as car insurance, or the utility bill, that you can now pay for via blogging.

3. Consider the working capital required to make same earnings from a bank.  ING Direct recently dropped their interest rates to 2.40% APY.  At that rate, it would take $50,000 to generate about $3 a day.  Most bloggers can easily make that with Google Adsense after a few months of writing.

And now my take on making money via blogging.  Some bloggers take the position of remaining ad-free, and provide their content free of advertising.  To them I say, “Good for you.”  I wish I was in a position to do that, but I have a family to feed, and I spend a great deal of time writing content and administering my blogs.  Pardon me if I place a few ads to compensate me for that time.

We expect no less from magazines, newspapers and media websites.  Why should bloggers be held to a different standard?  Having said that, try to keep ads tasteful, relevant, and present them in a way that minimally interferes with your content.

Photo by sciondriver

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