Get Rich Blogging – Or not.

There is no technical knowledge required: all you need is this book, a laptop, and an internet connection, and you could be blogging your way to wealth and happiness. – From the back of  Get Rich Blogging by Zoe Griffin

Warning: I have a Love/Hate “relationship” with this book. Be prepared to jump back and forth. Take a Dramamine or Gravol, if needed. 

It sounds so easy. Just start a blog.

Not so fast, Speedy!

Griffin is walking the talk if the talk is about stuff like beauty, celebrities, food, and fun. Her blog is bringing in a six-figure income and she livin’ life large! Good for her! Seriously.

She’s a good writer and Get Rich Blogging is easy to navigate and conversational with case studies, quotes, checklists and easy-to-follow directions.

But…

Not everyone will benefit.

First, the book is about five years old and some of the info in it is dated – technology moves quickly!

But…

Still, there’s a lot of helpful stuff in here… especially… and by this, I actually mean “only” … if you’re a newbie.

If you’re an oldie like me… with an established blog… a niche… a brand… and it’s not any of the subjects I mentioned above…

Skip it.

Accept that, like me, you’re on a road called, “Slow Burn” and will either fizzle out or catch fire… later.

This is not to say that there was *nothing* helpful for me here. Who doesn’t need reminders to stay on track and reach out for new opportunities (like finding new revenue streams)?

But…

… if I wanted some neat-o ideas to grow my blog, I’d visit current websites or publications. Also, they wouldn’t be called Get Rich Anything because that just smacks of an MLM. Oh, in case you don’t know, that’s MLM for Multi-level Marketing, like… pyramid schemes. But I digress.

Let me be clear in saying that I’ve done pretty-much everything suggested in this book. I’m not rich… at least, not from this blog.

Gratitude Moment: Unless you mean rich by movie standards – love, family, friends (think “It’s A Wonderful Life“) then indeed, I’m a wealthy person. But I digress. Again.

I’ll give you a few ideas Griffin offers… and if you’re new to the blogging game, take notes (or buy the book) because she’s right on!

• Be on point with what your blog is about
• Make it look good
• Write with your readers in mind
• Build a brand and encourage brand loyalty

She is SPOT ON about these things!! AND how to accomplish them!

In Part II she breaks out into specific blog advice for fashion, beauty, parenting, technology and business, food and drink, entertainment and celebrities. As you can clearly see, there’s nothing that fits my niche.

Note: If you check out her blog (and other niche bloggers culled from the list above) you know that the BIG money is CLEARLY in joining ranks with the likes of cosmetic, travel, fashion, and food companies. It makes sense! So, if you’re planning to blog to support yourself… get in the right niche from the beginning! Griffin says it and so do I!

Now, you may be thinking that a blog like mine would tie into Amazon or Barnes & Noble for books. I thought so, too! And I tried… not enough clicks to those sites from my blog. And clicks matter. Clicks are God. Especially in a blog like mine. Another digression? Yes.

So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that this book is great if you’re just starting out. Also, if you have little to no understanding of how to grow a blog.

And it’s not so great… or maybe I should say unnecessary or redundant … if you know what you’re doing already.

No matter where you are on the blogging gameboard… it certainly won’t hurt you to read it. But it’s time you’ll never get back.

See, I told you. Love/Hate.