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Originally Posted by TheCDAllenGroup
My reasoning is that if I am taking significant effort and time to aid in the personal and spiritual development of other people, then at least I should be compensated for my service to 'them'.
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That's where some peoples opinion differs. Personally, I tend to think the same way as you. I'll be monetizing my blog soon (having built a solid reader base over the past few months without monetization). Some people, however, like to think that the friendships they build and the recognition as a blogger they receive is the compensation that you speak of. We all think differently, that's for sure.
To answer the original posters question, it depends on so many factors. The best advice I got when I started blogging was not to monetize the blog straight away. Whether I trusted that advice or not at the time it was given, I listened to it and it is now six months down the road, I'm only just about to start monetizing my blog and I'm glad I listened to that advice.
Blogging really isn't as easy as many people think. It takes a huge amount of dedication, time and effort. You'll often find yourself using an hour each morning reading through your RSS feeds and commenting on other blogs, or taking two hours to research a subject you're about to write about. You have to be prepared to commit a lot of your time and not quit at your first hurdle.
There's a well known wall in the blogosphere. It's often described in a similar manner to the 'wall' that marathon runners hit. They get to a point where they feel they can't carry on and if they can't get past the wall then they will drop. But if they get past the wall, they will carry on and be able to go forever. It's a general agreement that most bloggers hit this wall around the three month stage. I did, and I left my blog inactive for a month. I spent a week at a conference in Chicago and meeting customers and didn't have time to blog, then I just couldn't bring it upon myself to write on the blog when I returned home. I had hit the wall and quit. Fortunately, I was one of the few who managed to get back up and as it happens my blog now enjoys a lot more success than it did before I hit the wall.
I guess I just want to make it clear that blogging isn't an easy way to make money. There are far easier ways to make money. If I didn't enjoy blogging so much, I wouldn't be doing it, because it is incredibly hard!
