So it seems that blogging is indisputably mainstream. And by mainstream, I mean it’s become a common profession. Indeed, a Wall Street Journal article has the skinny on how it’s more common that many professions that we all probably know at least somebody in:
In America today, there are almost as many people making their living as bloggers as there are lawyers. Already more Americans are making their primary income from posting their opinions than Americans working as computer programmers, firefighters or even bartenders.
Paid bloggers fit just about every definition of a microtrend: Their ranks have grown dramatically over the years, blogging is an important social and cultural movement that people care passionately about, and the number of people doing it for at least some income is approaching 1% of American adults.
The best studies we can find say we are a nation of over 20 million bloggers, with 1.7 million profiting from the work ,and 452,000 of those using blogging as their primary source of income. That’s almost 2 million Americans getting paid by the word, the post, or the click — whether on their site or someone else’s.
So it looks like affiliate blogging has not only caught on, but is a very viable business model. After all, there are a variety of ways that bloggers can use affiliate marketing tools, so it’s little surprise that so many bloggers have found way to monetize.
And here are some other interesting numbers on teh revenue potential of blogging, complements of BlogWorld Expo:
- Over 57 million Americans read blogs.
- 1.7 million American adults list making money as one of the reasons they blog.
- 89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years.
- 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs .
- 37% of blog readers began reading blogs in 2005 or 2006 .
- 51% of blog readers shop online .
- Blog readers average 23 hours online each week.
Recent Comments