How Top Bloggers Earn Money
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From cat pictures and celebrity gossip to tech news and politics, the stars of the blogosphere earn plenty of dough, regardless of subject. Some bloggers start their sites intending to make big profits. But most of the bloggers we talked to had more modest expectations, and saw their blogs unexpectedly turn into businesses as traffic picked up and ad dollars rolled in. Here's a look at how some of the most popular blogs make their money.
Next: BoingBoing -
BoingBoing
boingboing.net
Launched: January, 2000
Revenue: Over $1 million a year
BoingBoing, a "directory of wonderful things," might be the king of moneymaking blogs. In June the site garnered 22 million page views from 2.6 million unique visitors. Frequent posting drives high traffic to the blog, which Mark Frauenfelder and his wife, Carla Sinclair, started as a print zine in 1988, to write about comics, science fiction, computers, and technology.
Next: I Can Has Cheezburger? -
I Can Has Cheezburger?
icanhascheezburger.com
Launched: January, 2007
Revenue: Estimated $5,600 a month based on ad rates and self-reported traffic data
This blog, consisting of silly photos of cats, and even sillier captions, rocketed to the top of the blogosphere a few months after a Hawaii-based pair started it on a lark. Since its launch in January, Cheezburger's traffic has doubled each month, and the blog now gets half a million page views a day.
Next: ShoeMoney -
ShoeMoney
shoemoney.com
Launched: October, 2005
Revenue: $12,000 a month
What better way to make money online than to write a blog about making money online? Jeremy Schoemaker, a 33-year-old Web entrepreneur, did just that. The half hour he spends each day writing ShoeMoney attracts 20,000 unique visitors daily, brings in $12,000 a month, and gives him a platform from which to launch his own Web products.
Next: Overheard In New York -
Overheard In New York
overheardinnewyork.com
Launched: July, 2003
Revenue: Estimated $8,100 a month based on ad rates and self-reported traffic data
Software developer Morgan Friedman and five editors work part-time, running Overheard in New York, a collection of anonymous comments submitted by readers that range from the hilarious to the outrageous. Started in 2003, the blog is profitable, but Friedman says revenues can fluctuate by a factor of 10 over six months.
Next:ShoeMoney -
Kottke.org
Kottke.org
Launched: March, 1998
Revenue: Estimated $5,300 a month based on ad rate
Self-taught Web designer Jason Kottke hosts a single ad on his design blog, which he bills as the "home of fine hypertext products." Kottke began blogging in 1998, on 0sil8, a site he built to profile his design work. The blog moved to its current domain in 1999, and now gets 250,000 to 300,000 unique visits a month.
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