Am I missing something about Blogging?

Do people make big money blogging? I suppose some do, but can I say that those who do make big money is in a small minority?

From all the excitement surrounding blogging and bloggers, it feels like blogging is a big thing and writing websites is old fashion and dull. The truth is, I wouldn't know how to write blogs - the very thought of having to churn out content on a daily basis for a living strikes me as very 9-to-5, which is the reason I am writing websites (so that my earning is on autopilot, sort of).

With everyone choosing a blog these days and with all the dynamic functionality I've heard many say that static websites are old fashioned.

Blogs can make a lot of money just like static websites, but it's really all about traffic and how effective you pre-sell. That part is really no different than websites. With blogs, content is often arranged by category and date (instead of a logical order). I have a website group that meets once a month here in my city. Many people in the group complain that blogs are often confusing to read/find information. I think it depends on what the blog is about and how the content is arranged. Even though blogs are popular, the content layout is not best for every kind of site.

I love blogging and I love the dynamic features of a blog. It's a great asset to my static site because it allows me journal about current, news-oriented topics while my static/tutorial site is there for step-by-step teaching and guidance. It's easier to navigate my site because the topics are organized. You can do this with a blog as well (create more static pages), it's just that most people don't take the time to do it effectively, which can cause people to get lost if your site is tutorial based or if the content has to be followed in a certain order.

Also it's easy to get wowed by all the plugins and dynamic features a blog allows, but if you aren't making sales and getting traffic, how much are those bells and whistles contributing to your bottom line? Yes, blogs are cool but make sure they are functional and serve their purpose.

But don't just start a blog because you feel everyone is doing it. Make sure you decide how it can compliment your static site so you aren't just paraphrasing everything on your static site (like I did at first.) Some people who have sites and no blog decide to create a blog for a very specific thing. For example, you have a site on budget travel. Maybe your blog would be for hotel reviews.

If you're going to add a blog to your mix, give it a purpose so people know what it's for. If I could do it all over again I would give my blog a more specific purpose since I already have a static website. (i.e. reviews, case studies, etc.) The more targeted the better.

This is just my opinion based on my own experience. So don't take that as gospel. I'm sure others have had different experiences.