John Tozzia a writer for businessweek.com wrote an article about blogger success stories called, "Bloggers Bring in the Big Bucks". The article highlights Eric Nakagawa, who turned his website, where he posted funny pictures of cats with even funnier captions, into a blog called "I Can Has Cheezburger" so that visitors could comment on the postings.
Nakagawa quickly saw his viewers double each month, so he quit his job to focus on the website. Now, according to Tozzia, "A week of ads on Cheezburger, via Blogads, starts at $500 and tops out at $5,400 for a premium position. The site also sells through Google AdSense and AdBrite platforms. It recently ranked No. 26 on the most-linked-to blogs list on Technorati."
Something I found very interesting that was not mentioned in the article by Tozzia, is that not only do Nakagawa's funny cat photos- now commonly called Lolcats- appear on his "I Can Has Cheezburger" website, they also appear in emails and on facebook. Prior to reading this article I had never visited Nakagawa's site, but I have seen the Lolcats numerous times in chain emails and on the formally popular facebook app called 'bumper stickers'. I find it very very interesting to see where these crazy photos originated, considering their popularity today is sky high.
According to Tozzia, "Many of the most popular bloggers have similar tales of starting out with a niche idea." There are many many other success stories about bloggers who have turned a large profit, after their blog took off and gained popularity. The best way to gain popularity is to find a way to get community involvement and gain viewers to the blog.
Tozzia included a slideshow at the end of his article that highlighted other bloggers who have found success within their niche. For example, Josh Marshall's "Talking Points Memo" brings in huge bucks. TPM brings in an estimated $45,000 a month based on ad rates and self-reported traffic data.
Ads on blogs are one of the biggest forms of revenue for bloggers like Marshall and Nakagawa. Advertisers naturally want to go where the viewers are, and right now viewers are online surfing blogs. The good news for bloggers is that having a passion can turn out to be profitable.
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