Time to give up on blogging networks

Blogging sucks.

Well, maybe I should make that a bit more clear: Blogging for a blogging network sucks.

There's a reason for this: The people behind blogging networks have no idea what they are doing. And for very low monthly or per-post fees, they expect their bloggers to not only supply their content but to bring visitors, and ad-click revenue, to their networks.

Blogging networks treat writers like garbage. That's what I've found, at least.

My first blogging network was b5 Media, where I blogged about residential real estate. I steadily grew the site's readership, increasing its visitors each and every month, sometimes by quite a bit. The pay wasn't great, but it was better than most blog networks, and it was steady.

Then b5 Media began counting its visitors a different way. Suddenly my monthly pay would be cut by about 75 percent. I decided that it was time to go.

I went to Today.com, where I wrote two blogs, for the princely fee of $1 a post. Still, the posts were easy to write. Why not? Well, because the geniuses at Today.com obviously had no idea how many site visitors would actually click on the ads on their blogs. Before long, the Today.com brain trust told me my pay rate was being changed. I'd be paid $2 for every 1,000 visitors to my blogs. That was below insulting, so off I went.

ContentQuake wasn't so bad. They always paid on time, even though their pay was bad. But it was a combination of pay-per-post and pay-per-visitors, so you knew what you were getting into. Unfortunately, last month, ContentQuake, too, ran out of money. Now they're not paying anything for bloggers. So long again, blogging network.

Finally, there's Creative Weblogging. The folks behind this blogging network gave me a whole two months before they decided that my blog wasn't making enough money. So they slashed my monthly pay from $140 to $28, and dropped my posting level to once a week. Add to this that they usually take a long time to pay each month's payment, and it's just about time to leave Creative Weblogging, too.

And that's it. No more blogging networks for me. And my advice for you? If you want to make money blogging, do your own thing. You won't make any money, probably, but at least you'll only have yourself to blame.

ContentQuake in trouble

I've been blogging for ContentQuake for more than a year now. I've liked working with the company. ContentQuake doesn't pay a lot, but it did pay on time and regularly.

Well, those days are now over. ContentQuake sent out an e-mail message today to contributors saying that the company was taking a furlough starting Sept. 1. That means that bloggers can continue to post for ContentQuake, they just won't get paid for those posts after Sept. 1.

I won't be posting. I can't justify doing any free work.

Combine this with my experience with Creative Weblogging earlier this week, which you can read about one post below, and I've just about given up on writing for blogging networks. I've now written for Creative Weblogging, ContentQuake, b5 Media and Today.com. None of these experiences have ended well.

I think blogging networks have never made the kind of money the people behind them expected to see. And I'm tired of being asked to not only write for these networks but to promote my writing, too. The networks ask a lot for not much money.

I think the days of the blogging networks that pay per post are ending. The real money in blogging? It lies in blogging for businesses or corporate clients. Writing for blogging networks usually means little to no money.

Giving HubPages a shot

There seem to be an ever-growing number of content sites out there for writers who want to make a little money.

The emphasis on that last sentence, by the way, should fall on the word "little." So far, I've made enough money on content sites to buy a few fast-food meals. It's a bit depressing.

But I am soldiering on. I've tried Examiner.com, Suite 101, Demand Studios, Associated Content, Today.com, b5 Media and ContentQuake. I've stuck with Examiner.com (though I'm wavering these days), ContentQuake and Suite 101. The others I've fled. They just weren't the right fit for me. I've also created five niche blogs of my own so far, with plans to create more. I've equipped them with AdSense and, in about two-and-a-half weeks, I've made $4.40 in click revenue. See? That's a fast-food meal right there!

I'm now ready to give HubPages a try. I didn't know much about this service until I signed up yesterday. The sign-up process was a snap. Now I'm able to create a HubPage of my own, basically a long story on any topic of your choice, complete with photos, videos, links to other sites, anything you find important.

This is a bit of a departure from most content sites and blog networks. You can create as many HubPages as you'd like.

The income potential doesn't look great at first glance, though. You make money by equipping your HubPages with Adsense and Amazon Affiliates. I already know that neither of these systems is the key to riches.

But who knows? Maybe more traffic flocks to HubPages. Maybe this traffic is more apt to click on a Google ad.

All I know is, it's one more content site to give a whirl. So that's what I'm doing. I'll report back on my progress once I get four or five HubPages up and running.

Besides, it can't be as bad as writing for Associated Content, can it?

Writing for peanuts with ContentQuake

If you're hoping to get rich writing online, well ... I don't know what to tell you. If you want to make at least a little bit of a guaranteed money, then a blog network might be for you.

I haven't always had the best luck with blog networks. I've had some bad experiences with Today.com and b5 Media, two networks that suddenly changed the way they paid their writers. The changes, of course, would have left me with a monthly income that was drastically reduced. A drastic reduction from peanut-level money didn't sit well with me.

I still write for one blogging network, ContentQuake. You might not have heard of it, as it doesn't seem to be nearly as well known as b5 Media, Today.com or Examiner.com.

It's a simple setup here: You get paid for each post you write. You also get money for page views. (Don't rely on the page views, though. I've struggled mightily to get more than 200 or so page views a month on my ContentQuake blog.)

The pay is low, of course. For the first three months you write for ContentQuake, you get 50 cents for your posts. The next three months you get $1. Three months later it jumps to $1.50. Three months later it goes up one more time, to $2. And don't think you can simply write 100 posts a month. ContentQuake will only pay you for 20 posts a month. You can write as many as you want, of course. But anything over 20 is payment-free.

I'm currently in the making $1-a-post stage at ContentQuake. That means I'm making peanuts. For instance, I made a little bit over $18 for February.

Now, I'm writing for the network's business channel. If I was writing about celebrities or a popular TV show, maybe I'd be making more money per month because of increased page views.

There are positives, though: For one thing, it takes me about 15 minutes, tops, to write a ContentQuake post. And I'm hoping that the longer I write, the more monthly page views I'll attract. We'll see.

On the whole, I find blogging networks to be a bit of a waste of time. I can't explain, then, why I'm sticking with ContentQuake when it certainly qualifies as an extremely low-payer. Maybe it's the laid-back nature of the place, or the fact that it gives me something to do when I'm waiting for return phone calls or e-mail messages.