I’ve placed one ad using blogads on another site to pimp some shirts I’ve designed.. hoping that in itself will bring in some revenue. We’ll see how it goes. I am really interested in seeing if I can bring in at least enough revenue to have my site pay for itself [which really wouldn't require that much...].

Honestly, I imagine there is a strong market for appliance/home repair information and dialog. I certainly have clients willing to pay for leads/advertising and infrastructure if any of y’all have a willing victim or volunteer. After all, how hard can 10 launches in 10 days be?

that’s my 2¢

Your point about blogging is dead on. There are a lot of reasons to have blogs and by and large I’m *mostly* amused by the reams of marketers that horked my original blog report and are re-selling it as a “make fast money” solution. Obviously they should have READ the report, first, eh?

I am still standing by my statement, though – I think blogs are the #1 best tool on the market (in terms of ease of use, cost and flexibility) for bootstrapping new information (content) driven businesses or positioning yourself as a subject matter expert.

They’re relatively inexpensive to launch and easy to train on – the hardest part is deciding the best method of monetizing them for those that *want* to try and make a living from an internet driven business. That part is a little more challenging and it’s too early to read much into our first test clutch of sites – Jen is just now getting our first true info whoring site set up and those numbers should be more accurate.

I will say this, though – if she makes the money I anticipate she’ll make, she’ll do it in part because it’s a subject she is already passionate and knowledgeable about – if she hated the subject (and let’s face it, how easy is it to get excited about some of the lucrative SEO terms like HVAC) it wouldn’t be worth doing for any sum of money.

I’ve fumbled and lost the statistics from the SBA on the survival rate of businesses launched online versus brick and mortar, but it was impressive – I’ll track it back down and post it later.

Nice to see you! What are you all doing to monetize the Orlando blogs? I need to get back over and peek at what you’re doing with that again – I haven’t kept track since you launched the network.

Anyway, as far as keeping your blog professional [for revenue] — I guess that would depend on what your purpose for having a blog is. For instance, mine is for ranting about politics, gushing about my life and as a creative outlet. I’d love to get actual revenue from my blog, but if I have to change the entire format and content of it, it wouldn’t be my blog any more.

At the same time, it still proves my point. Anyone can do this with the right plan and commitment, with simple, easy to use technology. That’s freedom, and the best kind – do what you love and the money will follow. It’s pretty rare that someone’s interests are *so* obscure it can’t be monetized, really. Time until return on investment is really the factor then, i.e. how quickly can you be earning a living solely from that interest.

not to be too anal, but your math isn’t working out for me. isn’t $600/day for 365 days $218K? or are you allowing for taxes and expenses?