The dot com lifestyle sounds incredibly appealing, doesn’t it? Of course it does. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here reading these words. There is a definite allure to the possibility of abandoning the drudge of a regular 9-to-5 office job that probably has you working more than the regular 40 hours in exchange for little joy and even less freedom. When you live the dot com lifestyle, you’re in control and the sky is the limit.
Making Money in Your Sleep
One of the most critical elements to the dot com lifestyle is the ability to generate passive income. Unlike the regular pay that you might earn at a regular job, passive income is a flow of cash that keeps coming in, even if you don’t put in any more work or effort. John has written extensively on this subject, highlighting at least a few possible sources of passive income.
The thing is that blogging, in the more traditional sense, is not a reliable source of passive income.
In order for your blog to be successful, it needs to be dynamic. It needs to updated on a regular basis with new content. Here on John Chow dot Com, you’ll find several new blog posts each and every day. That’s why readers like you keep coming back and that’s how John can continue to earn the money that he does.
Keeping the Machine Running
A blog requires maintenance and upkeep. You need to keep thinking about new post ideas and then you have to sit down and write them. To some extent, you can try to remove yourself from the blog and simply hire a team of writers, but there’s still all the other responsibilities that go along with running a blog. You need to attract advertisers. You need to manage your correspondence. You need to stay on top of trends and continue to explore additional revenue opportunities.
That doesn’t sound too passive, does it?
The big plus side to blogging is that you are not restricted by the limitations of time. You don’t have to sit in front of the computer for the same eight hours a day, every day. Thanks to the power of the time stamp, you can schedule a whole week’s worth of posts in one sitting on a Sunday afternoon, if that’s what you want to do. You can pre-write posts for when you go on vacation, so the blog can run on auto-pilot.
An Active Role in Passive Income
With that kind of forethought and mindset, your blog can be somewhat passive for income generation in the short run. People will keep coming to your blog during that time, they’ll keep clicking on your ads and driving up your numbers, but that’s not going to be the case in the long run. A truly successful blog cannot run itself.
Am I trying to deter you from the dream of being a professional blogger and earning enough revenue from your blog to quit your day job? Not at all. It’s still a very valid and attainable dream to have and it’s a big part of the reason why I’m able to lead my version of the dot com lifestyle. What I am saying is that you should be clear with your expectations of blogging.
It’s not passive, but honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.