are you guys making any money from blogs
 

it seems like a lot of trouble for nothing

with the updates etc etc

I kind of asked that a while ago and came to the conclusion that it is more a labor of love than anything else.

I got a really good idea for one but
writing an article every day or 2 doesnt really appeal to me

trying to figure if I wanna do this and how to do it

If I owned Tommy's Bookmarks I probably wouldn't start a blog if money was the main motivation. If I owned a crappy little LL that wasn't making much anyway I'd try anything, including blogs, to improve my bottom line. But the short answer to your question is "not much".

Don't do it!!!! Seriously.
I have a blog and at first I liked doing it but I make good money from all my other things that spending time each day writing a few posts/updates just isn't worth it. It really isn't. (Unless you actually have nothing better to do and want to write...not write to try to build traffic but actually write because you like to)

I might even sell my boob blog or turn it into some type of hosted TGP or hosted blog somehow.

Ramster is right, if writing an article every other day isn't appealing then you shouldn't do it.

You have to want to write and you have to believe that there are some people who may find what you have to say as being interesting / entertaining.

On the other hand, when I first started blogging I didn't know what I was really getting into. Had I known then, I probably would have never started. That would have been a mistake cause I really like it.

I'll trade you my blog for Tommy's bookmarks. :D

I really don't know if it generates any sales or how much traffic it brings my LL.

I do it mostly because I enjoy doing it. It's interesting reading through it, kind of like looking at vacation pictures, but probably much more for me then for someone else although my girlfriend says she reads it to better understand me.

It is kind of surreal that I often do searches on it when I'm trying to remember the date that something took place in my life.

I have 2 blogs that I keep up to date but I got some that are fed by rss or just run on auto pilot. Build them, set them on auto pilot and forget them.

Its just one way to do them if you wish

My blogs are a definite drain on my time. And I've just set up a fourth one... which may be a bit on the insane side. And I've revived 2 blogspot blogs because Yahoo likes them.

For me blogging is about 3 things:

1. Creating value-added content that Google will like
2. Making the site sticky so surfers will come back
3. Networking and building links, preferably one way links.

To achieve those things you need to offer unique, interesting content and it takes time to do that.

Does it make me more money than free sites? Possibly not. It does, however, help me get traffic which is useful.

No!

Probably not -- but if you have a blog idea and don't have time/energy to write the posts, then talk to me. Maybe I can get someone on my writing team to do it for you. :)

Hi Tommy. I have a great idea for you.

You should do a blog aimed at adult webmasters. You've been in this business a long time and you run one of the biggest adult sites. I'm sure you have some terrific insight into this business.

You could post tips and tutorials, stories about the old days, your opinions on the latest industry trends, reviews of affiliate programs and webmaster tools, etc.

If you were to do even one good post each week, I'm sure it would be mandatory reading for any adult webmasters (especially for all your submitters). And with all those adult webmasters signing up for affiliate programs and buying webmaster tools through your blog links, you'd probably make some good money.

Two examples: I've had one personal for quite some time (2004) and it's fun writing it and I don't expect any income from it, but it can be a pain in the ass especially when I realize I haven't being posting in few days time |loony|
Lately I have done few commercial and I have to say I don't intend to earn piles of money on them (in fact if they cover their expenses I'll be happy) but I do expect them to bust up my other business models/sites and there is that don't keep all the eggs in one basket thing, I had pleasure to learn few years back |cry|
For me these were the reasons I've started doing them, as well as the fact that they are something new so it really breaks Your daily routine, but ask me in few months time and I'll let You know was it worth it.

I'd say, for now at least, they can't make You much money but they can give You a boost to Your business, not that You need one :D

I do okay. I've only been doing this part-time for a little over a year. I have a bunch of small blogs. One that I post to daily with plugs to other sites (who in return plug my galleries back) and 5-6 other niche ones that I update not very often at all. It's been hard to find people to trade plugs with on my latina, milf & other blogs so its hard to motivate to create galleries and plugs for them.

However in my circle of webmasters I would say the drop out rate among new blog webmasters is 99% because of the grind.

Buncha

thats a very decent idea, Thank you

I think I might wanna do that
maybe just to get my feet wet

can you guys help me out with some info on how I would start this ???
should I use a sepreate domain, what script etc etc

I know that would be a must read on my blogging list.

New domain - Not necessary as you could incorporate it in a webmaster section of your site

Script - WordPress

Boogie did a couple radio shows about a year ago. Download and give them a listen and check out this post

I agree that you don't need a new domain. You already have a well known domain and brand name. Just create a sub-domain like blog.tommys-bookmarks.com.

Wordpress is the best blogging software. Its pretty easy to install. I think it's also the most flexible with regular updates and new plug-ins.

There are a lot of free wordpress themes, which you can tweak to fit your needs. Then once you've got things going and you know exactly what you want to do, there are tons of designers that can do a custom wordpress theme.

As I mentioned before, you don't need to update every day. Especially if you're targeting a niche like adult webmasters. What most important is that the posts be informative and useful. Some of the best blogs I read are only updated a few times a month.

If you know how to market it (get eyes) and the eyes are coming from somewhere other than your own network it can have pretty good returns. It is fairly easy to put up a blog that will get 200 visits / day steady almost immediately. After this ROI can be much lower and I think this is where a lot of people decide not to update as frequently.

If your blog is unique and really fills a niche I think then it can be very sucessfull. Especially if you update it regularly and take good care of it (the hard work shows). Otherwise if it is something where there are 1000 other blogs out there doing the same thing then I think it is very tough. Even if you devote hours each day into it, it doesn't mean that people will return or that it will be a hit. Too much competition.

I take a little different approach and have hundreds of hands free blogs vs a few manual ones. It works for what I need. :)