Serving Bread

This post does not aim to answer the question: “What is the purpose of blogging?” It seems to me that question has become as trite as “What is the purpose of life?” But having been reading blogs for three or four years now, I have noticed that for some people [tag]blogging[/tag] is just a hobby (something they do for fun or to exercise their creative edge), for some people it is a way to articulate their thoughts and reflections or life’s circumstances (like a journal), and for some people it is a way to make money.

Check out [tag]John Chow[/tag] for example. This guy went from making about $300 in September 2006 to over $7000 last month–just by being a blogger, advertising, etc… I’m not exactly sure who he is or what he does and why he is so popular and/or successful, and it doesn’t seem he started his blog to make money, but he sure is benefiting from having so many friends visit and interact with his blog. And out of his success, he seems to be freely advertising how the rest of us can [tag]make money online[/tag]. Before you or I quit our day job, I think we should recognize that most blogs whose singular aim is to make money will probably not make money.

To be honest, I am intrigued/curious about how a “hobby” can be another source of income. But after having read through articles here and there, I am convinced yet again that whenever the aim is for “more money”, it usually will suck up our energy with little fruit to show for it. Perhaps that’s how John stumbled on his success. Lately, I have taken up photography, as I have mentioned in a previous post. I have sold one picture online. That was probably more of an affirmation that someone liked my taste in taking picture, then a new business idea.

For years, I have struggled to keep a [tag]hobby[/tag], and now that I have discovered two (blogging and photography), I certainly hope I don’t suck the joy out of them by spending more energy trying to monetize them than to enjoy them.

-----
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to grab the RSS feed. Also, please take a moment to submit this post through "Share This" above.
-----