A full-time blogging gig sounds ideal, doesn't it. Schlepping around in pajamas and slippers, and sipping coffee while aimlessly writing and surfing the Internet. Not many fixed deadlines or stringent requirements for your work, especially if you own the blog.

Before you get lost in dreamland, realize that making a living as a blogger isn't really all it's cracked up to be. Sure, there are those few bloggers who got in early and now make six-figure incomes by publishing a post or two a day. But they're not even close to being the norm. I know..... you're thinking that you'd settle for a modest income from your blog. Beware. Even a modest income is hard to come by on the internet.

Take a look at what these bloggers are making, and ask yourself if it's really that appealing. The big money is nice, but good luck getting there. The little money is where the vast majority of today's bloggers sit. The two mid-range bloggers are making between $30,000 and $60,000 a year from their blogs, but it's clear that it's a lot of hard work. They're working between 40 and 80 hours a week to pull in even that modest income.

The social networking evangelists are telling everyone to jump on board the social media train, especially if you're a small business owner. It's being hailed as the greatest thing since sliced bread, and a "must-do" for business owners, but I'm in favor of a more moderate approach. I want to share my personal experience with social media, and how it has (and has not) helped me grow my business.

For this article, my comments will refer to three types of social media:

• Blogging -- A site just like WalletPop, where articles are posted and comments from readers are often encouraged. Business owners will often write their own material, gearing it toward the interests of their clients.
• Twitter -- A kind of "mini blog" in which posts are limited to 140 characters, offering business owners an opportunity to do a quick update or link to an item of interest on another site.
• Social Networking – Sites like Facebook or MySpace, in which users create full-blown profiles of themselves and link to others to share contacts and information.

I work with social media on a limited basis, because I feel it has limited usefulness to a business owner. Some social networking evangelists will likely want to burn me at the stake for saying the usefulness is limited, but it's true.

While many people blog just for fun, for others, this is serious business. There are blogs that are easily recognized as business ventures (like this one). And there are many that maybe aren't so quickly dubbed to be commercial enterprises.

"Mommy blogging" is one of the fastest-growing an most popular sections of the blogosphere. What is it? It's exactly what it sounds like: Mommies blogging about their lives. Many of them are doing it because they want to engage with others about the life of a mother and wife.

And others are doing it as a business venture. Advertisers have zeroed in on the mommy blogging culture and are spending big bucks to get exposure to the audiences of these blogs. They say that "word of mom" is one of the best marketing tools a company can have. And blogging can be very lucrative for the chosen few, who can rake in six figures if their audiences are big enough. Dooce is one example of a mommy-blogger gone nova.

Here's more about the business of mommy blogging from earlier this week on The Today Show.


Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

The blogosphere has been abuzz after the New York Times ran a story about a blogger getting a $300,000 advance for a book. And the blogger has only had his blog up since January! Christian Lander, the author of Stuff White People Like, reportedly received this book advance from Random House.

Certainly, a book deal like this adds more mystique to blogging for money. Blogging about a topic you love, and getting paid for it might be the dream of many internet junkies. But the problem is that almost no one makes a real living blogging. Sure, there are these sweetheart book deals that come along occasionally. And there are a few big money bloggers who say they make six-figures from blogging.

But most of the bloggers are paid minimally, if at all. And they accept that for one of three reasons: 1. They just love blogging and don't really care if they get paid, so long as someone is reading their stuff. 2. They're not blogging to get rich. Blogging either supplements their income, offers them a modest income that pays the bills, or it offers exposure for some other aspect of their professional life. 3. They think the low pay is just temporary, and someday the big bucks will roll in.

I'm all for following your dreams and doing what you like. This book deal is a fairytale, though. And it's not likely to happen again. Why? The economics don't support it. This is likely a publicity stunt by the publisher, and one which can't be repeated very often without the publisher losing some serious money. So don't expect to be the next highly compensated blogger or blogger-turned-book-writer... have realistic expectations about your blogging and financial futures.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

Our man Abelicio Padilla has been blogging about his personal financial situation and he has been seeking advice for making sound money decisions. I wrote this piece as my input into his situation. If you'd like more background before you proceed, read Abelicio Padilla's interesting blog posts here.

Now here's my input:

It sounds like you have a plan Abe. However, I'd like you to think a little more about if you really want to sell that house. The market is down right now which means you probably won't get your best selling price for it. Also, did you consider that if you sell the house, you'll lose your mortgage interest deduction when you file your taxes? That deduction loss will cut into the monthly savings you expect to get by selling. Even though you won't notice it month to month, you'll feel it when you file your yearly income taxes. Consider also the upset that moving can cause. It's expensive. It will disrupt operations. In the long run It could cost you more than you think.

The finance site 24/7 Wall Street just released its list of the 25 most valuable blogs, and the sites are worth millions of dollars. These valuable websites aren't just ordinary blogs, though. They are money machines... businesses with multiple employees, multiple streams of advertising revenues, and methods of leveraging their blogs for other money-making opportunities.

The most valuable website on the list was Gawker Properties, at $150 million, This is actually a collection of sites, which get a total of about 30 million visitors per month. Also high on the list are MacRumors (worth $85 million), a blog known for leaking Apple news, and Huffington Post (worth $70 million), a news and political website. Among the more interesting sites included on the list are DListed and PerezHilton, sites that are known for exposing people in the entertainment industry.

Can you build a blog worth millions of dollars? Probably not. These valuable sites are true business ventures that have taken a lot of time, a lot of personnel, and a lot of money to grow to what they are today. There are a few individual bloggers who have figured out how to turn their sites into advertising machines that help them earn six figures from their writing, but it's not easy and it doesn't happen fast.

As the business of blogging matures, 2008 might just be the year that you make real money off your website. There are a handful of success stories -- bloggers making a living off their sites, and some even scoring six figures for their work. But can the ordinary person make real money off their website? And what does it take?

First, it will likely take an established blogger. You can't open site today and expect to be rolling in money next week. Making money from blogging requires a devoted, sizable reader base. And that's not built overnight. Those making money have probably been blogging for at least a couple of years and have set themselves apart with consistent and creative content.

You also need to sift through the many money-making opportunities on the web to determine what will help you make the most money. Google AdSense is probably one of the most popular way to make money online, but there are many other advertisers out there offering advertising and affiliate opportunities.

It's reported that most bloggers currently make less than $10 or $20 a month through advertising on their sites, so most of you have a long way to go before you can make a living from your site. New methods of advertising on websites include audio ads and video ads, but it remains to be seen how popular these will get. Experiment with your content and advertisers and see where you can go with making money from your blog... but don't quit your day job until you know that you've got a stable income from blogging, which could take quite a while.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how business bloggers can make money directly and indirectly from blogging. And it's clear that there are many opportunities for established bloggers to be seen and heard around the globe.

A survey of American journalists shows that blogging is having an impact on news reporting. Not only is it helping news to travel faster, blogging is also influencing the tone of articles. Journalists are looking toward blogs for ideas and content. While only a small number of journalists say that blogs are helping them find exclusive stories, many are still using blogs to get a feel for the context of a story or a new angle for a story.

The survey found that almost 70% of reporters have a list of blogs that they check regularly. Over 20% said they spend an hour or more per day reading blogs.

Most everyone knows by now that there's money to be made in blogging, yet there's much confusion about how to do so effectively. You've heard all the hype about Google Adsense, and that's a fine option for some people, but honestly folks, unless you can develop content which is undeniably brilliant and original, trying to make money with Adsense can be like putting up a lemonade stand in a McDonald's parking lot.

You can make pretty good money blogging if you are a fairly talented writer and you are willing to pound on the keyboard and knock on some doors until an Internet media outlet takes a chance on you. There's also the possibility that you could land a blogging position by being a dedicated commenter in the comments section of an active mainstream blog. The fact of the matter is, that's how I got my gig.

Journalists and business analysts are sitting up and taking note of business bloggers. Can it be profitable? Does it really create more business for the bloggers? Is it worth the time and effort? How can small businesses blog for success?

The New York Times profiled a few blogging success stories, and readers are starting to agree that blogging can be good business. The appeal of blogging is simple: It's a low-cost way for a business to generate buzz. The biggest "cost" is typically the time spent developing materials for the site. Yet experts estimate that only about 5% of small businesses (those with 100 or fewer employees) use blogs for marketing and promotion.

The real success in blogging is for the select few who have mastered that fine combination of engaging content, regular updates, and loyal readers. Not everyone should blog, and indeed there are certain industries that lend themselves better to blogging. A business consultant will probably have more reason to blog than a grocery store owner. Companies in innovative industries with constant change are more likely to find success blogging than other slow-paced, traditional industries.

Blogs are becoming a must-have outlet for advertisers and, with that development, recreational bloggers with an interesting message are finding themselves earning pretty impressive paydays on a part-time basis.

Easy to use advertising systems like Google AdSense are allowing people to set up a blog with advertising in just a few minutes. Create high-quality content that pops up in prominent searches and gets linked on more prominent blogs, and you could be well on your way to a substantial supplementary income. Best of all, you need almost no technical expertise and, with sites like BlogSpot and WordPress hosting blogs for free, you don't need any capital either.

If you overextended yourself financially this holiday season and are looking for a low-risk business venture to try to add some extra income this year, don't try multi-level marketing. Try blogging!

A couple books that might help you get started if you have a hobby or other interest that you think could make a compelling blog: Start Your Own Blogging Business and Blogging For Dummies.

More from WalletPop!

Have you racked up some serious doubt -- more money than you earn in a year perhaps? Are you, like Tina Fey in Mean Girls, in a situation where the only man who calls your house is "Randy from Chase Visa"?

A piece in this weekend's Wall Street Journal talks about the success some people struggling to emerge from debt bondage have had with blogging about it: the accountability that comes from reporting on your ups and downs to the world and the emotional support that comes from readers.

If you're in debt and you're looking to blog your way out, email me at ZBissonnette@gmail.com. We're looking for a few brave souls willing to write about their financial woes WalletPop, and what they're doing to fix them.

Plus: We'll pay you!

Photo from Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2058416937&size=s