Some people have asked me why I decided to start a blog and since I received this question more than a few times, I thought it would make a pretty good (and timely) post topic. By discussing my motivation I thought I could possibly inspire some of you to find your own motivation for doing something online, whether it be a money-making endeavor like this blog or simply an outlet to express your creativity in whichever medium you choose.

Like me, I’m sure many of you follow the popular blogs in the make money online niche and just sit there day after day wishing you could earn that kind of money.  Well, I decided to stop wishing and start writing, but I can tell you that the money is not my main motivation nor main source of inspiration.

I am motivated by trying to create something of value for my readers (someday maybe I’ll even have have some ) and I am really looking forward to the first time I receive a positive response to one of my articles. My goals for this site are to allow my readers some insight into what I am doing to earn money online, both, through this blog and through my other websites so that you can follow along. 

As someone who is new to WordPress blogging (but not new to website development or affiliate marketing), I am documenting everything I do to this blog through my posts so that other beginning WordPress bloggers can follow along and do the same things to their new WordPress websites. I do not claim to know everything and would really appreciate feedback from those of you who are more experienced than me.  As I’m sure I’ve said elsewhere on this site, “Killer Income” is the GOAL, it is something I aspire to, but it’s not my main source of motivation; providing value to my readers through sharing the steps I am taking to become successful online, is.

Also, I would be lying if I said that the money that can be made was not a source of motivation for me because it is (even though it is not my main source of motivation), but it is a more indirect motivating factor.  My inspiration does not come from the notion that I may be able to ulitimately make a lot of money just to have a lot of money, it is more what earning a substantial income online would do for my self-esteem, the general well-being of myself and family and my overall outlook on life. How awesome to create something - practically out of thin air - from which others derive value, that can also be a source of support for myself and my family, possibly for many years to come.

I am also motivated by the fact that the income that may eventually be produced from this blog, as well as my other websites, will be a direct result of the value I provide, as opposed to some arbitrary hourly rate that is not at all a function of how well I currently perform my 9-to-5 job.

I am further motivated by the potential freedom that earning a living online could someday provide.  That freedom will ultimately allow me to enjoy life more and have the time to increase the value that this blog provides by posting more often and interacting with my readers on a more regular basis than I would ever be able to do while working a regular job and commuting almost two hours every day.

I am motivated by seeing my ideas and creativity expressed on this website and I am certainly motivated by the idea that my posts, articles and ideas may someday become a source of motivation, inspiration, and education for others who happen by.

So think about what motivates you, but be sure to also act on it.  Once a person becomes inspired there is no telling how far they will go!

We have all heard the popular catchphrase ‘Don’t Blog for Money.’  I often wonder if anyone actually takes the time to consider the much deeper meaning behind this very popular saying.  I can tell you this: I DO BLOG FOR MONEY as I’m sure many of you do, as well.

I think one of the first ideas behind the catchphrase mentioned above is that if your only motivation for blogging is money, then you will not be successful. I don’t necessarily agree with this last statement, but there is a deeper meaning to it that can shed some light on why this may be true for some bloggers.

If your only motivation for blogging is money, you will view blogging as a chore, for example, and may not be motivated to continue.  You might view it as a chore if you do not enjoy writing or do not enjoy the subject around which your blog is based.

Perhaps you have read that travel related blogs are big earners and you decide to create a blog about travel so you can make six cents per click from Google Adsense instead of 2 cents per click and think that this will be your ticket to easy street.  Well, if travel is not your thing, you WILL grow tired of writing about it every day and if the sole reason you decided on a travel blog was money you probably will not succeed.

Earning money from a blog takes persistence and time and if you are looking for a get-rich-quick-scheme this is definitely not it.  Perhaps you will become discouraged if your only motivation for blogging is money and you do not see your earnings rolling in like some other famous bloggers.

But how about this, DO BLOG FOR MONEY only go about it in the following manner:

1) Choose a topic that you find extremely interesting so that you are motivated to continue posting on the subject day after day and month after month.  Don’t let those stratosperic Adsense earnings that we all hear about influence your blog’s topic or niche. Let your love of the subject be your motivation.

2) Find or create a PURPOSE for your blog (other than making money) so that your blog will become synonymous with the purpose for which it was created and you and your blog will be seen as an authority on this particular subject. This will lead to better search engine rankings and more traffic. It will also position your blog well within its niche and when this happens others bloggers may reference (i.e. link) your blog.

3) Find other metrics by which to gauge your blogs growth (i.e. success) other than monthly earnings, such as more RSS subscribers than last month, more pages indexed in Google, more traffic, and a lower (better) Alexa ranking.  These are all necessary BEFORE your blog can start earning money so let these be the metrics by which you measure your success.  If each of these is improving month over month, your blog earnings WILL increase.

Follow my advice above and then you can say, “I don’t blog for money. I blog because I enjoy it, I love my topic, my blog has a purpose that others find useful, I like to see my readership, traffic and Alexa stats improve every month and, oh yeah, I make money doing it.  Keep your priorities in this order and you will be a much happier and much more successful blogger.