Making Money from Blogging — Profiles of 6 Very Successful Blogs
A blog is just another web site, but many people are still surprised by the fact that bloggers can make money from their blogs. Perhaps the most shocking and eye-opening event happened in October 2005 when AOL officially acquired Weblogs Inc. for $25 million.
The days when blogs are used solely for personal journal and diary are long gone. As long as your business involves publishing, communication and interaction with your audience, you can use a blog to help you to accomplish that.
Browsing Technorati Top 100 Blogs today, I was inspired to highlight some of the blogs that make money from bloggings.
Here are 7 of them (why 7? It is a great number, don’t you think so?):
1. TechCrunch
As of this writing, TechCrunch has about 762,000 of feed subscribers, with 2,800,000 million of unique visitors every month.
Site: http://www.techcrunch.com/
Alexa rank: 1,783
Date of first post: 2005-06-11
Industry: Technology
Audience: Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, corporate decision makers, media and financial analysts, developers and interested consumers.
Traffic information: 2,8m uniques/mo (overall network 3,2m), 750K pageviews/mo (overall network 15,6m).
Revenue: US$120,000 Monthly (Source: Wikipedia.)
Advertising rate: From $2,500 to $12,500 per month for 125×125 pixel size (minimum two months).
2. Engadget
Engadget is a very popular blog for gadget enthusiasts. It is part of Weblogs, Inc, which was acquired by AOL in 2005.
Site: http://www.engadget.com/
Alexa rank: 402
Date of first post: 2004-03-02
Industry: Gadgets
Audience: Gadgets enthusiasts.
Traffic information: ~10 million uniques/mo.
Revenue: Unknown.
Advertising rate: Unknown.
3. Boing Boing
If you’ve ever read any book on blogging since 2000, you’ll probably see BoingBoing being featured in it. It is one of the most older and interesting blogs that are available around.
Site: http://www.boingboing.net/
Alexa rank: 2,927
Date of first post: 2000-01-21
Industry: Technology
Audience: Mostly technology geeks.
Traffic information: 7,26 uniques/mo.
Revenue: >$1 million (2006).
Advertising rate: $500 for one-week text link, CPM text ads are available too.
4. Lifehacker
Lifehacker is a daily updated blog featuring tips, shortcuts, and downloads that help you get things done and become more productive. It is one of the most popular blogs part of Gawker Media.
Site: http://lifehacker.com/
Alexa rank: 1,828
Date of first post: 2005-01-31
Industry: Self development (productivity).
Audience: Avid consumers of software programs, hardware gadgets, and “life hacks.”
Traffic information: 6m uniques/mo, 68% are 18-34, 79% are male.
Revenue: ~$50k/mo (outdated).
Advertising rate: Minimum buy $3,000. CPM is $10.
5. TreeHugger
TreeHugger is a blog dedicated to everything about going green. It focuses on everything that have modern aesthetic yet is environmentally responsible. This blog was bought by Discovery for $10 million in August 2007.
Site: http://treehugger.com/
Alexa rank: 4,961
Date of first post: 2003-04-20
Industry: Environment
Audience: People who care about environment and going green.
Traffic information: >2,5m uniques/mo, >6,5m pageviews/mo.
Revenue: Unknown.
Advertising Rate: 7-day text link: $80.
6. PerezHilton.com
This is a blog about celebrity gossip, rumors and other related topics from Perez Hilton.
Site: http://perezhilton.com/
Alexa rank: 460
Date of first post: 2005-12-11
Industry: Entertainment
Audience: People who are interested in entertainment, Hollywood, and especially celebrity gossips.
Traffic information: ~105m pageviews/mo.
Revenue: Unknown.
Advertising Rate: $14,000/week for mini ad format, $18,000/week for standard, and $32,000 for hi-rise ad format.
7. Kotaku
Kotaku covers everything from cheats, gossips, design, nostalgia and prediction about games and the game industry.
Site: http://kotaku.com/
Alexa rank: 602
Date of first post: 2004-10-28
Industry: Entertainment
Audience: Game enthusiasts.
Traffic information: 4.8m uniques/mo, 88% are 18-34, 93% are male
Revenue: Unknown
Advertising Rate: Minimum buy $3,000. CPM is $10.
Return to Make Money Blogging — A Few Considerations and Advices.
Return to Blog Tips for a Better Blog — Blog Building University.
