Well maybe not a millionaire…maybe more like a several thousandaire. Like $3,000 plus a month, just from little old Google Adsense. Whouda thought that those little ads for antique military combat boots would be worth so much? Who cares that they aren’t targeted? They work. Don’t believe me? Take a look at my console screenshot. Read it and weep. I’M RICH BEEYATCH!
Ok, I am lying. I think maybe I have made like $94 in the year that I have run AdSense. But it is pretty fun to lie about my earnings and post doctored screen shots, and to get everyone all fired up about the potential of running contextual ads on their sites and raking in the cash. “You too can be rich, if you only read my site, and buy my book, and listen to my tales of pulling in huge checks all for doing nothing!”
Every day there seems to be another toolbox that pops up out of nowhere and spins wild tales of AdSense riches. Citing Google’s TOS, the conveniently claim that there is no way to really prove it, since they can’t publish the metrics…so, you’ll just have to take their word for it. And then they throw in the obligatory console screenshot to back it all up and induce some forced “oooh’s” and “aaah’s” from the peanut gallery. Gag me.
It took me 45 seconds to whip up that fake screen. I am calling bullshit on guys like this. I don’t buy it. Call me jealous, call me skeptic, call me whatever…but I am not going for it. When a company that has 75 some-odd targeted blogs, and a working staff, is happy to pull down $1,000 per day on Adsense, I am not ready to hop on the $15,000/month from three sites bandwagon just yet.
Hey, maybe it is legit. I am not calling him an outright liar, or a shill for Google, or an idiot…but I am all set with guys like this and stories like these. I throw Adsense on my site so that every year I can be surprised with a random $100 check…not to get rich. And that works for me.
July 21st, 2005 at 9:24 am
Thanks for not calling me an ‘outright liar’!
Come on man - what do you want me to do? People ask me for a screen shot - I give them one and now you say it’s bullshit?
Let me spell it out again (and I’m pretty clear on my blog about this many many times if you’d just bother to do a little bit of digging - I’d start at my about page btw). I have 20 blogs - not three. I said that most of (over half) my income comes from my three biggest blogs - the biggest of which does up to 15,000 unique visitors per day. My blogs do close to 40,000 visitors daily between them.
I’m not saying this to brag - but because I’m getting a little sick of people who don’t know me or bother to read any more than a few words of one post that I write who decide I’m a trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes.
The fact is I’m trying to do quite the opposite. My site is full of free advice for people on how to improve their blogging - make money from blogs if they choose to do so.
Sure my story sounds far fetched - not many single bloggers earn as much as I did in May - but all I ask people to do is to give me the courtesy of checking my story out a little and to give me the respect that any reasonable person would give any other human being that they met in person.
Lastly let me say that Weblogs Inc could make a lot more from Adsense than they do. The reason they don’t (and Jason spells this out in the post you link to) is that they fill their prime ad spots with private ads with sponsors. So yes in comparison to them I do pretty well (although if you check Jason’s recent post you’ll see they are now doing over $2000 a day) - but if they decided to just go to Adsense alone they’d whip my scrawny blogging butt.
Actually if you do the sums - I have 20 blogs, they have 75…I earn about a quarter of what they do from a quarter of as many blogs. Seems to check out to me.
July 21st, 2005 at 8:59 pm
Andrew
You figures quoted for Weblogs Inc., are out of date, Calacanis is close to pulling $1 million a year as I write this, Darren might be doing somewhere between 10-15% of Calcanis’ figures so its not an unreasonable figure across 20 blogs. Read Problogger some more before knocking, Ive got to know Darren a bit, spoken and chatted to him on occasion and I can say I’ve found him to be honest, upfront and helpful…he writes Problogger because he genuinely enjoys helping people and sharing knowledge, and the conversations that have arisen out of some of this posts deliver some of the best advice you can find in relation to blogs on the web. You’ll also note his highest earning blogs are also highly targeted on specific topics that have an industry reputation for high payments from Adsense. Check some of the sites on Alexa and see how well they are placed. Then criticize, but do your homework first.
July 22nd, 2005 at 6:47 am
“Ok, I am lying. I think maybe I have made like $94 in the year that I have run AdSense.”
Maybe you should write something that makes people want to visit instead of badmouthing legitimate people who work damn hard for their money?
Just a thought.
What really angers me is that Darren made one post about his earnings on a blog that talks in very real and honest terms about how it is possible, with hard work, to make some money from Adsense and other programmes on the web.
He didn’t send spam email telling you to buy his ebook and providing evidence as to why you should listen.
He’s been picked up, ridiculed, verbally abused, for something that he wrote in the normal course of his ProBlogger blog. What’s the big deal?
It doesn’t really matter whether you ‘buy it’ or not - he’s not forcing you to read his stuff. He’s not boasting in what he does. It just takes a few slashdot idiots to read one post, slur a good reputation and cause a supposed controversy.
If you go right back, Darren didn’t start to ‘get rich’ - it’s a result of damn hard work, persistence and skill. It’s not a crime to make money from these things - it’s the work ethic.
You can’t possibly correlate this with the slugs of porn and gambling spammers that try to make money by non-legitimate means.
And why would Darren waste the little time he has left doctoring Adsense screenshots? He doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone - I guess after a while it just gets really irritating and a little hurtful defending personal attacks and unfounded remarks from total strangers.
July 22nd, 2005 at 8:27 am
Ah, how I have missed such nerdy confrontation. Geek conflict…now THAT gets traffic. I was due for a little dust up, been a while since the last one, and I was having some withdrawals. I like peppering in some inflammatory posts now and again, between the more subdued and legit stuff. Gets people’s blood pumping, and more importantly, gets them coming to the site. So thanks for stopping by.
The bottom line is that I don’t give a flying squirrel if Darren makes $10 or $10,000 from Adsense. I am just ready to vomit from all of the “Here is how to make money with Adsense” bullshit that pops up every two seconds as I cruise around the web. I work fulltime doing business development for a giant ad network, and I see more “make money on the internet” tips and tricks than I can count, or care to remember. They all bore me to tears, and I wanted to poke some fun at them. So I did. Everyone relax and pull back the dogs.
Per usual, (talk to the Seattle Bloggers, Henry Copeland, et al) some people just don’t get the sarcasm and the subtlety of my style, and frankly, I don’t care to explain it.
Thanks again for stopping by, and best of luck with the AdSense. If it pulls down the $$ you say it does, more power to you. Can’t argue with that.
July 22nd, 2005 at 9:43 am
Andrew perhaps my comment is an over reaction - I had a pretty bad week with some idiots accusing me of all kinds of things (ranging from statements not dissimilar to yours at the lesser end through to some pretty massive threats at the heavier end). Perhaps I lumped everyone into one basket unfairly.
I’m not up for a nerdy confrontation/geek conflict - life’s too short and I have too many other things demanding my time.
All I should have said is that your post may have been subtle and sarcastic in your eyes but a statement like ‘I am calling bullshit on guys like this. I don’t buy it.’ to me seems to be pretty bluntly be saying you think I’m lying. I generally react to that kind of statement because I am proud of being a pretty upfront and transparent kind of guy.
I do agree that there is a lot of crap information out there on Adsense and other advertising - I’m sick of the spin and greed that comes with most of it. In fact that’s the reason I started ProBlogger - a site that tells their ’secrets’ to people wanting to make their $100 yearly Adsense cheque a twice yearly event (or more). I don’t force myself on anyone - I don’t charge anyone for the information - I say it like it is and cut to the chase.
Anyway - perhaps I’m making this a geeky conflict afterall!
Life’s too short - I’m off to have a weekend - cheers for your reply to my (and others) comment.
July 22nd, 2005 at 9:56 am
Darren,
I’m with ya. Its all good. Again, I like to stir things up a bit. I mean no disrespect, but I do like to poke fun and rile some people up now and again.
I will definitely check out more of your site, since you have earned my respect by replying and calling me back out. Enjoy the weekend, and definitely stay in touch.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:17 pm
twas a good weekend - quite refreshing - thanks again for your words. Lets stay in touch - i think we could learn something from one another.
November 28th, 2005 at 9:19 pm
I followed a link all prepared to comment harshly on your article but it seems that you and Darren have worked things out for the better. I’m glad to see that there are those in the blogging community that can remain civil to one another even through disagreement. Cheers Andrew, and happy blogging
February 2nd, 2006 at 11:17 pm
well,
Great to hear that you are moving well with google adsense. Read your blog.
It’s a nice experience surfing through your blog.
Anyways happy Blogging!!!
Arun A.S
http://www.arunspillai.blogspot.com
http://www.bloglines.com/blog/arunsasikumar
October 24th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
You are full of shit, double shit, and triple shit; thanks for playing!
March 9th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
my brother and i have worked our butts off on our site…….. we havent made that much at all……. its really frustrating actually