Get Rich Blogging!

Gotcha, didn't I? Seriously, this is the perfect place to illustrate the whether an activity makes economic sense.

I actively write three blogs on three very different topics: green roofs, economic efficiency, and management. One of my friends convinced me that I should write a blog because I could make a bunch of money. He was making $300 a day. While that seems like a fantastic claim, I saw the balances.

Guard against ID Theft with 15 Points of Protection from TrustedID, including our $1,000,000 Warranty. Click Here!

So, how does one make money blogging? The simple answer is ad revenue. Whether you use a service like Blogger or Typepad or Wordpress, advertisements on the sites, when clicked, provide a meager amount of money to the site "owner." Ehow allows you to write "how to" articles, while they provide the hosting and the ads. When people read your ads, they are also present ads from Google Adsense. While they don't disclose their payment formula, my guess is that readers need to click the ads.

Ads are often provided by Google Adsense, or folks act as affiliates for a company selling something. Both blog sites and Adsense have particular rules about their use. Adsense only allows three ad units per page. Blogger doesn't allow you to write things like "Support our Sponsors" or "Click Here!" Its reasonable, as using Blogger is free for the person writing the blog. Besides, Blogger is not for "commercial" purposes. Cheap? No. 100% Free. Trade stocks for free on Zecco.com. The Free Trading Community. www.zecco.com

When I review the amount of time I have taken to write approximately 100 posts, as well as the supporting research and interviews I have conducted, the operation is completely in the red. In other words, I can't even think about quitting my day job, or buying that tempting cookie for desert at lunch.

So why do it if it isn't economically efficient? Simple, its fun. I enjoy writing, particularly about the topics I write about. I also enjoy learning about Web 2.0, content creation, and the metrics surrounding it. In short, its a hobby, not a job. If blogging ever becomes like work to, I am out. Trading time for fun is worthwhile, that's why casinos are still around.

Carbon Offsets

Whether you believe in global or warming or not, money is being made selling what are known as carbon offsets. According to TerraPass,

A carbon offset is a certificate representing the reduction of one metric ton (2,205 lbs) of carbon dioxide emissions, the principal cause of global warming. Although complex in practice, carbon offsets are fairly simple in theory. If you develop a project that reduces carbon dioxide emissions, every ton of emissions reduced results in the creation of one carbon offset. Project developers can then sell these offsets to finance their projects.

Of course, TerraPass doesn't do this out the kindness of its heart, one has to be a member, which is either pay as you go, or business programs.

What will not be discussed is whether carbon offsets is a moral good or not, rather this is a discussion of whether it is or isn't economically efficient.

In one respect, TerraPass follows the existing model of the market for pollution credits in the US. Power plants and major industrial entities receive pollution credits and are able to sell them to more polluting entities. The incentive to become a lesser polluter is there. However, the incentive must be greater than or equal what that capital could earn versus other projects. It has proven to be a successful program, to one degree or another.

While this program may work for businesses, as there may also be government subsidies, whether it makes economic sense for individuals is another matter entirely. Consumers must be willing to part with $9-$26 to "reduce their carbon footprint." Does that purchase make economic sense?

Arguably, the answer is "no." That money could be used to finance home conservation projects, like installing weather stripping or building a cistern. What TerraPass is making money on is a sense of moral guilt. Those who are most concerned with global warming are buying feel-good credits to tell their friends they live a "carbon neutral" lifestyle.

As stated above, if you are really concerned about reducing your carbon footprint, consider conservation and home energy efficiency projects. I maintain another blog that discusses green roofs, which I think is economically efficient at reducing air pollution and storm water runoff (http://www.cleanerairforcities.blogspot.com)