From Nobody To Somebody - Part 1
I’ve been challenged to create a new blog but not tell anyone about it. The premise is to see if a nobody can really become a somebody in the blogsphere if that person has no name behind him.
In this experiment you would detail your strategy, hardships and successes at starting this new blog (an experiment) but never mention the actual blog url/name. You can always sell it off at the end, or give it away on johnchow.com as massive super challenge/reward… to gain a ton of publicity for john chow dot com.
It has been mention that one of the reasons John Chow dot Com got so big was because I had an established name as the owner of The TechZone and TTZ Media Network. By creating a successful blog as a nobody, I will be able to prove once and for all, that anybody can do this. In part 1 of this series, I want to talk about laying down the foundation.
It Will Not Be a Make Money Online Blog
You know, it truly amazes me that a person who has never made a dime online would start a blog about making money online. That’s like me starting a blog on how to fly a plane and expecting people to come and read it. I don’t know how to fly a plane. Why would I make a blog about it? However, people see me pull down over $12,000 per month by blogging about making money online and suddenly everyone wants a piece of the action. It doesn’t work that way.
John Chow dot Com started off as a personal blog about my ramblings. It turn into a make money online blog and developed a following because I am an authority on the subject. I’ve been in the game for a long time. I survived the dot com crash and I own an ad network that serves millions of ads every month.
I get tons of emails everyday from new bloggers asking how they can make money with their make money online blog. I answer their question with a question, “Why would I want to read your blog?” When you can answer that, you are on your way.
I’ve decided to keep the topic of the nobody blog a secret for now. However, it will be on something that I know very well.
It Will Not Be Hosted on a Free Blogging Service
If you’re truly serious about making money from blogging, then get the hell out of blogspot.com or any other free blog hosting services. If you can’t afford to pay $4.95 a month for a BlueFur hosting plan, then you have no business making money on the Net.
As your blog getting bigger, you’ll start to understand the power of your brand. And you cannot create a brand when your blog has blogspot.com in the URL! This is not to say you should never use a free hosting service. By all means, use them to get your feet wet. However, the longer you stay with a free blog host, the harder it is to make money with it. Many ad networks (like TTZ Media) will not deal with a blog hosted by free blog host. Because of this, the nobody blog will be have its own domain name and web hosting.
$100 Budget
While it would be easy to pour thousands of dollars into the nobody blog to acquire tens of thousands of readers in the first month, this is beyond the ability of the average blogger. Therefore, I have set a budget that I believe everyone should be able to afford. Of the $100 budget, $8.95 will go for a domain name and $4.95 will go to pay the first month of web hosting. I expect the blog to cover hosting costs after the first payment.
The remaining $86.10 will go into blog promotion. That’s a pretty tight promotion budget but I have a few ideas to leverage the limited funds. I’ll talk about that in part two.
At What Point Is The Blog a Somebody?
I will open this question up for discussion. How much would a nobody blog have to make before it becomes a somebody? $100 a month? $1000 a month? $10,000 a month? Give me a number. The amount you pick will help me decided when to reveal the name and URL of the nobody blog. Until the blog hits that amount, no one will know where it is.
- Posted in Make Money Online, The Net
- 218 comments what's your take?
I think $3k US where someone could quit their job would be fair.
Reply to this commentI agree, that should be about the minimum. Less than that amount would still be great but not enough to be a “somebody”.
Reply to this commentThis is definitely the target goal for many. It is a good number indeed
Reply to this commentWOw! John Chow..
Always challenge your self! there is no limit! Bless you!
Someday, i will be somebody that have a dine with you and darren rowse! that is my goal!
Reply to this commentI agree, if you can earn enough to be a “pro” blogger then you will be a “somebody”. $3-4k sounds about right.
I assume there is some rule in there that you can’t add a link in there from John Chow or do a ReviewMe on yourself
Reply to this commentand it will be better if one earns $10K a month… I think, i am near to that….
Reply to this commentI also will quit my job if i can earn $3k Per month
Reply to this commentSame here!
Reply to this commentAnd I would stop looking for a job If I am able to earn that much.
Reply to this commentI agree 3k is a nice round number, it is a very good income for a blog and pays more than some jobs out there.
Reply to this comment$36k a year from blogging is a very obtainable number for “nobodies”. Go john go!
Reply to this commentYup
Reply to this commentThat would be what I make working outside the home…I would totally quit if I could make that per month…I think $3000 a month is a good bar.
Reply to this commentYeah i would too…
well, probably not I think i would just become a more confident employee knowing that i don’t have to depend on the check. How backwards is that… haha…
Reply to this commentHeck - this is John Chow - I think you should aim higher!
10k per month! Come on stretch yourself
Reply to this commentThere are so many people making absolutely nothing online right now that I think 1k a month would be fair. Any limit higher than that would be pure gravy.
This is sort of what I’m trying to do with my Blogging Experiment, although I have attached my name to it. Luckily, I’m not at all well known online and certainly not by my real name which is what I use on my blog. I’ve set my goal at “a full time income” which I’ve got to say is definitely not 3k a month. I’ve got a wife and a mortgage, I’m not sure what the price of living is where BlueFur is from but 36k a year isn’t exactly living the high life.
Reply to this commentBut $3,000 is enough to proove you can do it as a nobody. If he can get to $3,000 a month, its only a matter of time before you get to 4,5,6 grand a month…
Reply to this commentWell, it’s not always just a matter of time but yes, I agree that’s more than enough to prove you can do it as a “nobody” that’s why I think 1k would be fine.
Reply to this commentI earn about $500/month now without working too hard at it. I’m a nobody. $1K isn’t even close to being a somebody in this business.
Reply to this commentYeah, at the very least.. 3k. but I say 4k.
Reply to this commentAs the person who emailed you and got you to start this new mini-series (I’m Kyle), I agree. $3,000 a month is enough to live off of and a good number to go with.
If you can get to $3,000, it could also be grown way past that with more time and effort. But $3,000 a month is enough proof that its successful.
I wonder how long it takes to get there as a nobody. I guess we’ll see! I first emailed you the challenge not knowing if I would get an answer. Thanks! This is awesome and a really interesting mini-series I think will be a publicity getter for your blog.
Good luck, I’ll be watching with interest!
Reply to this commentAfter reading comments, anywhere between 3 and 5 thousand should be enough to proove it.
What do you think John? How much do you think a blog should make before you deem it a success? $3,000 would be well on the way… but $5,000+ would be a decent income.
Up to you!
Reply to this commentNah, lets keep it at $3000. You do not need to make more than that to prove you’re a somebody. The purpose isn’t to see how much the blog could essentially pump out, if you’re making $3000 (which is definitely enough for most to live off of and quit their day time jobs), I think thats more than enough to prove you’re a somebody. Anything more, is pretty much a bonus.
Reply to this commentWell John it depends how much money you want to make out of it.
Let’s just say you get it to $1k a month and then reveal your identity.
$1k a month is very credible so there’d be no complaints there…. And you’d then be able to accelerate the money making potential of your blog because of the thousands of visits pouring into it once you give it the publicity.
Another point to remember is that you’re going to make a mistake at some point. There will be a time where you slip-up and your identity will be un-masked, or a switched-on reader of your new blog picks up something in the syntax of your posts. This might be at 250 a month or 5000 a month. But it’s gonna happen, despite you wanting to release the name at a time and date of your choosing. So if you keep a target of $1000, which barely anyone is making, you reduce that risk.
Reply to this commentI agree, $3k a month is more than I made right out of college.
Reply to this comment$3k USD in my country is about RM9000…Normally after college only can make RM1500++(500USD)
Reply to this commentIs it really about the money? I make a lot more than 3g a month but I am a nobody. To be a somebody wouldn’t some other form of metric be better say to be mention on 10 of the top 1000 bloggers or to have 3 posts in digg etc etc
Reply to this commentThe challenge was issued to John in response of the fact he is able to make what he can because he was already well known. He needs to prove he can make money as an unmarked name, thats why the money is determining factor here of whether you’re a somebody or not. Otherwise I could see why you would consider the other factors into play.
Reply to this commentThat’s a great number… $3,000 per month.
Reply to this comment3K should be a very nice figure.
I hope I can learn from you
Your blog is one of my top favorites!!!!
Good luck
Reply to this commentI think $4K a month is good.
Reply to this commentI agree wholeheartedly although I probably would at 2k.
Reply to this commentOh you mean something that you know very well..
Reply to this commentLet me guess… is it parenting?
My guess is either food, cars, or maybe a Canadian niche blog.
Reply to this commentI’m with BE. Food and cars seem to be John’s thing. I’m going to do some digging.
Reply to this commentHow about $8,334 a month net. That would be $100,000 net a year.
You may want to pay a little more and register your domain with a private registration.
I give it 30 days and someone will find your footprint. I hope not, because I would love to see the results with your constraints.
BeachBum
Reply to this commentBTW Beach Bum, I used your blog scheduling plan you suggested on your blog.
Reply to this commentAwesome, I am glad to hear that something I said helped someone. I appreciate your comment.
Let me know what you think after using a schedule for a week or two. So far I love it. Now I don’t have to think about what direction to go in, I have a theme each day already set.
BeachBum
Reply to this commentPrivate domain registration is mandatory in this case. Unless he asks a friend to register (can’t be Bob the Cow)
But I also believe someone will discover the new blog, sooner or later.
Reply to this commentThat’s what I’m doing with my blog.. not worrying about ads right now, just writing about my business, opinions, etc. and have it grow for a while.
Reply to this commentI would say about 1000 a month. It wouldn’t allow you to quit a day job but it would be enough to call it a successful experiment.
Will you write all the posts yourself or use a guest blogger sometimes? Or is it part of the secret?
Reply to this commentSame as Jeff Kee, I am focusing on getting the blog out there rather than focusing on making a ton of money. The more popular it is, the more money it can pull in, in the long run.
Reply to this commentThe flip side of this method though is that once your blog is more established, your regular readers will have to endure the changes you make to monetize the site. If you establish a large readership and only then put ads on your site, you might end up losing readers. If you suddenly start dropping affiliate links all over the place and selling links, your readers might feel you’ve sold out etc. Monetizing early (in subtle and tasteful manner) can help avoid those types of transitions.
Reply to this commentDepends on how hard you want to monetize it… I would call the 300×250 banner spot on this blog a pretty big one.
Reply to this comment$1000 a month
Reply to this commentGood luck with that.
Reply to this comment$1000 per month would be good, but I’d guess that most new bloggers would set initial success in the $600 - $700 range.
Reply to this commentThis is exciting! I say 1,000/mo since you will be established by then and make more after that critical spot!?
Reply to this commentI think $1000 per day. Perhaps you could implement the 4-Hour Work week techniques and processes so we can see it in action.
Or perhaps that was your planned topic?
Reply to this comment$1000 per day? Wow! We might be waiting a few years.
Reply to this commentYet, for John Chow should be doable. He is trying to make a point so this blog should out do his current efforts.
Reply to this commentThe point is from nobody to somebody. I don’t see how this take an accurate messure of possible success if your already somebody.
You really need to watch a nobody blogger and see if they can become somebody. That would be a true messure of the possibilities.
Reply to this commentSteve Pavlina is supposedly up to $4k a day or something nuts like that now. Although like you said, it takes years to get there.
Reply to this commentConsidering that John Chow dot Com makes $12k a month (about $400 a day), it would seem out of place that his “nobody” blog would need to generate 2.5x that before it becomes a somebody. I think we’d all agree that John is a “somebody” right now.
Reply to this commentWhy are we lowering the bar. This is a person who has become a Mogul. He should be able to replicate this model over and over again with ease. Where is the challenge if we expect ans except less?
Reply to this commentIf that’s your opinion, then should John not be shooting to “replicate” John Chow dot Com, getting this nobody blog to generate 12k/month?
Reply to this commentWe’re “lowering the bar” so to speak because he’s not going to have the name recognition nor the strength of his network of sites behind him. Part of the reason this blog succeeded (at least from what I can tell) is because John already had a bit of a built in audience not to mention a technology forum/community to market to.
With this new blog he’ll be starting from scratch. I’m not sure what nich John will chose but I’m willing to bet making 1k per month would put him among the top in most niches.
Reply to this commentLol that would be more like nobody to a superstar. I think 1k a month would be reasonable, 1k a day would be an incredible accomplishment and would become well known long before he ever hit that level.
Reply to this commentAnd I’m saying he should shoot for the stars. He gets to be evil anonymously, pull out all the stops with little to no damage to his good name. Go for it!
Reply to this commentThis is awesome that you are doing this John! I vote for $1,000/mo. How long do you think that would take? I’m really interested to see what kind of advertising you can do for $85. I’ve never advertised my sites because I thought it would cost too much, but I have $100 to spend! Looking forward to seeing what you do!
James
Reply to this commentMe too
Reply to this commentMe three!
Reply to this commentMe four, $1000 a month is a tidy bit of extra income. Can’t wait to see how you spend your marketing budget, hurry up and get to that $1000
Reply to this commentWTF Debo? You just voted for $1,000 a day. Why the sudden change of heart back down to $1,000 a month?
Reply to this commentI’d say 3K. Just one question and I’m sure many will at least be thinking it - how do we know you WILL keep to your word and NOT pull any super-duper-pow-wow strings? I mean you obviously will have means and ways to do stuff simply because you ARE John Chow.
I suppose what I’m saying is that there has to be an impartial “overseer” so to speak to vouch for the authenticity of the experiment. That way, the results would hold so much more weight.
I don’t mean to sound cynical John.
Reply to this commentExpecially with the whole John Cow scandal
Reply to this commentIs John Cow the “nobody” blog????
Reply to this commentThat’s a good point Andrew. Most “nobodies” don’t have the same level of access and “ins” as John, so I hope he sticks to what is readily available to the average user.
Reply to this commentSo far from my experience with my Blogging Experiment, it’s almost like your other connections and such limit what you can do if you’re striving to keep them separate. In many ways I think it’s a bit tougher than starting from scratch even.
I’ve been documenting everything I do but every now and then I realize I took something for granted that “newbies” or blogging rookies might not know to do.
This is going to be interesting.
Reply to this commentI would say $5000/month would be the right amount of money for a nobody to become a somebody.
I just started my new blog, I will run with you!!
Let’s you who gets there first.
Do you accept the challenge?
I am kidding, but keep me posted of all of your techniques.
Francesco | Guadagnare
Reply to this commentI like the idea of the blogging income being able to pay the bills to the point where you (well maybe not you) could quit your day job. So, my vote is for $2k-$3k per month. Alot of single people survive on that amount.
Reply to this commentIn order to be a ’somebody’, it would be important to sustain a stable income over a few months.
Therefore John, if you wish to make this a realistic experiment, I would vote for $3000/month over 3 consecutive months.
This way ’somebody’ can truly quit their full-time job and still support a typical family.
Reply to this commentI think this is the most fair yardstick to use. $3k a month provides a livable income, but the sustainability is key.
Reply to this commentI say $5,000 a month is a good number to shoot for.
At $5K a month, its more than chump change, but not enough to live on and not enough to retire on. Still, at $5k a month you are more than a nobody in the bloggin world.
Reply to this commentExcellent idea. I should give it a shot.
$5,000 sounds good. Not too high, but definetely a living.
One Man. One Year. $100,000 online. How’s he doing it?
Reply to this commenthttp://www.oneyeargoal.com
Thats ok John,
Reply to this commentyou can admit that you’re behind John Cow
I’m going with $1k a month for a successful experiment number. This is a great idea, and I was wondering if someone of your blogging expertise would be able to do it successfully starting from scratch, like most of us do when we start a new blog. Good luck, I look forward to seeing all of the steps that you’re taking and the results.
Reply to this commentI’d say $1,000 a month is good. It took me about two years to get there, so I would expect John Chow could make it in six months.
Reply to this commentThis will be fun..I guess for start $1000 per month is great achivement. Any time frame?
Reply to this comment$5K a month in revenue. That’s enough to quit a day job over.
Reply to this commentThat’s what I’m shooting for. I’ve got roughly 11 months left to do it if I want to achieve my goal.
Reply to this commentTotally. $60k a year should have you covered easily.
Reply to this commentI like the $5K figure as well. But it has to be the average over 3 months in order for it to qualify as being a “somebody”.
I also think the # of subscribers should be at least 2000. If anyone has a blog with 2,000 plus people reading it regularly, that is truly a “somebody”.
Reply to this commentGood point it shouldn’t just be monetary stats. What community standards will the blog need to meet ie helping other bloggers, charitable donations etc.
Reply to this commentI am voting for $1,500/month!
Reply to this commentOh I’m soooooooooooooo into this.
Reply to this commentHold out till you hit $6,000 in a month. That figure would let a lot of people go full time.
Reply to this commentI’ll definitely be watching this one. I vote for $1000/mo. That’s quite a bit for a blog imo.
Reply to this commentnice one John
http://desiarticles.blogspot.com/
Reply to this commentHey! Good luck with this one. I will dedicate exclusive coverage to it
Reply to this commentGreat blog series John! I think if a blog can bring in about $1,500 /mo, your “somebody”. This should be a very interesting series to follow. Looking forward to it.
Reply to this commentThis is awesome John, You Rock!!!
I would say 3k a month, like it’s mentioned before,
I would also quite my job.
Goodluck!!
Reply to this comment“It will be on something I know very well”
Let’s see: expensive dinners? fast cars? hardware? Crashing parties? Linkbaiting?
Reply to this commentGreat work mr John. I would vote for something around $2000-3000/month to be recognised as someboy in this buisness.
Reply to this commentGreat idea. Nothing like stepping up to a challenge.
Personally, my school of thought is that big goals are better than little ones. So, I’d say shoot for $4000 a month before you publish the site’s identity. It’s not really a big goal, but I’d wager you could hit that in a reasonable time frame to make the experiment worth wile.
Also, I love your comment about the “making money” blogs that have popped up in obvious imitation to your site. People need to learn to be the chess player rather than the chess piece.
Reply to this commentA money making blog by a beginner only makes sense if its main purpose is to LEARN (and report/share lessons learned).
If the beginner intends to TEACH, than I agree it’s pointless.
Reply to this commentI don’t think this contest really shows anything because if this is your blog you already know the techniques. It would be more interesting to see an “actually” nobody blogger or a new blogger that is provided support (budget) to see if they can make it big. The only qualification would have to be their writing skills and time to devote. The results of that would be interesting.
Also, I would think $1,000 a month would be an achivement to consider someone from nobody to somebody.
Reply to this commentExactly!
After all the time John will have spent using techniques he’s written about ON THIS BLOG already to build some random ‘nobody’ blog, everyone here could have done the same.
Just read the first paragraph of this post by Kumiko to see what I mean: http://www.cashquests.com/start-making-money
Reply to this commentI think if you can pull $1000/month with a $100 investment you’d be proving your skills quite well.
To aim for $5k or more would likely force quite a bit of work on you, plus drag the experiment out for too long.
I want to see this happen with very little work, perhaps something one could repeat 5-10 times over?
Reply to this commentHappy Door? i found it?
i vote for 1k too
Reply to this commentNeed contributing writers?
Reply to this commentThis is going to be a lot of fun to watch. Mitch started a similar project but