The Get Rich Project

Reader Question: You write about making money online, but I’ve never seen you post any actual figures. Just how much do you make from your blog?

Answer: not a lot, actually. There, I said it. Admitted live, for the whole world to read.

This may strike you as a strange admission, given as this blog is partly positioned as a “make money from blogging” blog, but I hardly make any money from blogging, at all. To be honest, my first ever AdSense cheque only just got mailed out a month ago. Text Link Ads bring in about $70 a month. So I’m not exactly living off the fat of the Internet Land.

Now, before you unsubscribe because I’m not the “expert” you thought I was, let me do some explaining. The Get Rich Project is about making money online, personal finance, and working towards financial independence. The personal finance bit has taken a back seat recently because I simply have nothing worthwhile to add at the moment.

So that leaves making money and working towards financial independence. Kinda the same thing, if you look at it one way.

Most of the online work I do is experimental. It’s trying out ideas. Some of these work, some don’t. It’s entrepreneurism., I’m looking to build a real business, not rely on advertising dollars. So I’m not making much just now. I don’t care. I’d rather make something worthwhile than have some short-lived “get rich quick” scheme.

The reader who asked the question above threatened to “out” me as a fraud if I didn’t tell all. Guess what chump, I seem to have outed myself. Oh dear, what ever shall I do? Keep on keepin’ on, that’s what.

You can still unsubscribe, if you like. I’ll be sad to see you go, but I think you’d be making a mistake. Would you rather learn with someone, or be preached at by Yet Another Guru (YAG)?

Before I return to some regularly scheduled programming, I want to take a moment to post a link to something important to me.

2 years ago, I suffered a brain hemorrhage. The specialist Neurology department saved my life. Now the Scottish Government is considering closing the department and “centralizing” services to a new center 150 miles away. On my personal blog I have written an Open Letter to the Minister with the final say on the matter. My hope is to raise public awareness and support against the plans for closure. Please take a moment to read the letter and Digg, Stumble or link it.

At the very least, you’ll get to see a wicked picture of the bad-ass scar I have on the side of my head :-)

Thanks.

Over at the Blog Herald, Lorelle shares ‘Three Lessons That Will Change Your Blog’

The lesson which struck a chord with me most was lesson 2 - Blog Like Your Life Depended upon it:

How would your blogging change if you blogged as if your life depended upon it?

For some, especially those who turn their blogs into businesses, dependent upon the income to keep a roof over their head and food in their family’s stomach, it does.

…

Wouldn’t that change how you blogged?

You could say this is similar to the question ‘Would You Blog Differently if you had Money?’, especially if your blog is your main/only source of income.

I guess what both questions are asking is how different pressures and stresses affect your blogging. People react to pressure (or a lack of) differently, so the same blogger might not necessarily write the same entry under different conditions.

How would your blogging change if your life depended on it?

Here’s a quick and easy question for you - which feed do you read first each morning? I’m a Mac Nerd, so my first read (almost without fail) is John Gruber’s Daring Fireball. What about you? Do you have a favourite feed to start the day with? A news site maybe? Or perhaps a Technorati Watchlist for your blog? Let us know how you start your feed reading day.

P.S. Please don’t spam with links to your own feed!