…according to a report quoted by Greg Balanko-Dickson, bloggers are not in it for the money:
In Economics of the Blogosphere, David says that “about 10% of blogs make money from advertising but few of those make enough to pay their operators the minimum wage.” My experience confirms that his estimate is reasonably accurate. So, this means that most bloggers have a different motivation driving their passion for blogging.
Bloggrrl has looked at some alternatives and decided that a lot of other work-from-home jobs really don’t pay that well. Some think that there is not a rosy financial future in professional blogging. On the other hand, we have John Chow, who is happy to let everyone know what he is making.Apart from Greg and the report he quotes, a few people have thought about the “if it’s not for the money, why do we bother?” question recently.
- I looked at it using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and came to this conclusion:
My pick for Maslow’s sustainable motivator of choice for bloggers is Esteem - at least in most cases. The esteem payoff comes through recognition - and I may be oversimplifying things here, but I’ll go out on a limb and say that the single best way to maintain motivation for bloggers is to be recognised by their peers.
- Matt Hodgson then reframed Maslow’s hierarchy to form a new theory on why people use social computing tools. He came to this conclusion:
This is why social computing works for so many people — they are motivated by their need to be social, and, simply, the online environment now has the capability and the capacity to meet this need.
If it isn’t for the money (either through advertising/affiliate programs or as an adjunct to a store), then some other need must be met - either esteem (as I suggest) or the need to be social (Matt’s conclusion). It is probably both - and just quietly, I have a hypothesis that some of the “I’m not in it for the money” folks really wouldn’t mind if they did make some money blogging 
Interesting thoughts Andrew
I had a similar conversation recently with Maria about why money itself is not a motivating force in itself, but actually an enabler due to the way our society is founded (focussed?) on capitalism.
Not met your physical needs? Money can buy food, water and shelter. Not fulfilled your safety needs? Money can ensure your health. Not met your social needs for belonging or esteem? Money can ensure you have those ‘things’ that allow you to identify with a particular group — the right car, the right house, the right toys. With identification with the right in-group, you’ve then got access to the right partner and the right group of friends.
In this way, because blogging can be a way of earning income, people could blog solely for the money.
What about self-actualisation though? I guess if you’ve not got anything else to worry about, if money has helped to meet all (or part) of your other needs, then perhaps it too has played its part in giving you the freedom to self-actualise.
M
Hi Matt,
thank you for your comment.
I think that you are saying “I do not want the money, I want the lifestyle that the money enables” and this does rely upon the money.
I am now wondering how enabling an enabler needs to be before it becomes a motivator in and of itself…
Cheers, Andrew
I used to blog simply for the enjoyment of it. Lately, I’ve been investigating ways to make money off my blogs.
Ironically, I made more money in the past when I wasn’t trying to than I do now!
Still, I’ll keep at it ’cause it’s fun, and a great way to get my ideas and thoughts out there into the world on my own terms.
Hi Matt,
thank you for your comment.
The money thing is a big point of differentiation - I’d have to say that the people that I know that have issues with making money blogging are fairly successful professionally (in other words, they probably don’t see the need to make more).
I blog as a hobby - it gives me a chance to test my skills as a writer, and like yourself, get my ideas out there. Writing helps me to form ideas. That said, I do run adverts and affiliate program stuff, so I would have to say that I too am open to the idea of making money blogging
Best regards, Andrew