Lee Rowley
Lee Rowley started Blogger’s Workshop as an accessible resource for people who want to earn extra money, or even earn a living, from their blogging efforts. Lee spent nearly a decade working in Corporate America, and he was miserable the entire time.
Through blogging, he was able to finally free himself from having to answer to someone else. According to Lee, what sets Blogger’s Workshop apart from other make money online blogs is that he lays it all out.
He lets people watch both his successes and failures unfold, and he is not afraid to admit it when a project blows up in his face.
Deepak: How do you define the success of a blog? Is it traffic, readership, revenue, brand image or anything else?
Lee: For me, blogging success comes from knowing you provide something of real value for your readers. If you can’t wait to blog when you get up in the morning, you’ve found your success. (Of course, being able to keep the lights on and the house off the auction block is a big plus, too.)
Deepak: When did you decide that you finally reached success with your blog?
Lee: I think it was when a reader referred to one of my posts as an ‘indespensible manifesto’. That was also when I realized I had a reputation to uphold! 
Deepak: How long does it take to become a successful blogger?
Lee: 12.563. Exactly that long. No, really, it’s all dependent on motivation, willingness to learn, a bit of luck, and a steady supply of beer. It goes back to how you define success. If success means personal satisfaction, then you can achieve it on day one. If you’re talking about earning enough to make a living, it depends on the size and profitability of your niche market, and how much money is ‘enough’.
If we’re talking $10,000 a month, then you’d better pack a big lunch, because it’s going to take a while to build that kind of traction – maybe a year or two if you blog consistently and promote yourself shamelessly.
Deepak: In your opinion, who are the most successful bloggers on the Internet today?
Lee: Whoo. Well, John Chow comes to mind first, because he earns over $40,000 a month from a single blog, and still manages to have a lot of fun with it. You can tell he really enjoys what he does. Yaro Starak is probably on that list too. He’s happy with the amount of money he makes, and he’s one of the most influential bloggers I’ve run across. And though it makes me cringe to admit it, I guess you have to give Perez Hilton props for building a million dollar blogging empire simply by being a juvenile douche-waffle.
Deepak: What are the three blogs which you most often read?
Lee: Well, I read Yaro Starak’s blog, Entrepreneurs-Journey.com, almost daily. Ditto for Darren Rowse’s Problogger.net. My third entry is a bit left field – I’ve been a vegetarian for about 15 years and a vegan for about 7, and I really love Veggie Girl’s vegan desserts and such. Can’t be all business, you know.
Deepak: If you saw that your close friend had the potential to be a successful blogger, what would you say to him to motivate him to start a blog?
Lee: Man alive, yol u’re not pulling any punches here, are you? Okay… my first thought is this: You’ve got unique knowledge and insights to share, and the world needs to hear them. Seriously, I can’t think of too many niches or interests that can’t be parlayed into successful blogs.
Deepak: What is your advice for new bloggers who are just getting started to help them build a successful blog?
Lee: Nail down your niche before you ever write the first damned word. If you don’t know what your blog is about, your readers won’t know either. Oh, and get a good, customizable Wordpress theme. You’ve got enough work ahead of you that you can’t afford to spend time screwing with your blog’s code.
Finally, you have to remember that blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. If you expect to receive tons of traffic and make insane money overnight, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you (and probably trying to get you to buy an overpriced ebook).
Deepak: What is your advice with regard to the length of the blog articles and the frequency of posting?
Lee: Don’t make all of your posts the same length. It will bore your readers, and lock you into a blogging “formula”. Most of my posts are 500-600 words long, but I use shorter posts for quick announcements and brain farts, and really long posts (2500+ words) when I really want to go in depth with a topic. The long posts are important, because they’ll keep bringing in organic traffic for years… but use them sparingly, because no one wants to wade through a 2000 word post every single day. Save those for the important stuff.
As for frequency… don’t worry too much about posting every day. I’d focus more on keeping a sense of consistency. If you start out posting three times a week, your readers will learn to expect that. If you go a month without posting, you’ll lose your readership base.
Deepak: What has been your most effective marketing method so far for bringing new readers to your blog?
Lee: Really, organic traffic has been my mainstay. I’m not big on paying for traffic, although I’ve done it on occasion. Proper keyword research has done me the most good of anything.
Deepak: In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes that new bloggers make?
Lee: Expecting overnight success. For the first couple of months, you’re probably going to feel like you’re just talking to yourself (because you will be). It can take 50 posts or so before you start getting indexed, and a whole lot more before you really start getting targeted traffic. I can’t tell you how many bloggers I’ve met who give up after a half dozen posts or so.
Also, failing to make a plan before you begin is a big one. You really have to know why you’re doing this, and how you’re going to reach your goals, if you expect to keep writing about the same topics for years on end.
Deepak: If you had ever said to yourself ‘I wish I had done that when I started my blog’ what would it have been?
Lee: I would have used internal linking right from the beginning. Going back and building a directory by hand is a major pain in the ass when you’ve already written hundreds of posts.
Deepak: What turns you off from other blogs (such as lack of quality content, blatant advertising, etc.)?
Lee: Really, the biggest thing for me is lack of blogging personality. I care as much about the blogger as I do the content. I want to know that your heart is in it, and you’re not just spitting out information to show how smart you are. Bloggers without a sense of humor also tend to bore me pretty quickly.
Deepak: How much money do you make from your blog per month (approximately), and which has been your best monetization strategy?
Lee: Right now I’m at about $4000 to $5000 a month… but a lot of that is indirect. My blog brings a lot of business to my copywriting/marketing company, Java Joint Media, which has been great. Aside from the copywriting gigs, affiliate marketing is my best monetization strategy.
Deepak: What is your most interesting story related to your blog and blogging experience?
Lee: Well, I was in a bookstore about a mile from my house, and this guy walks up to me and starts ripping into me. Apparently, he read my blog, and he was mad because he hadn’t yet made a pile of cash using my advice. It was completely surreal, having some guy who knows you from your blog (although he only lives six blocks away) blaming you for his failures. I mean, I can tell you how to use a hammer, but if you don’t practice pounding nails, you’re never going to build a house.
Deepak: What is the biggest opportunity that came your way because of your blog?
Lee: A couple of months ago, I landed a $10,000 copywriting project with a guy who found me through the blog. That was a pretty happy day. I also did an interview with Odesk’s Brian Goler a while back, which brought me a nice bump in long-term traffic. I applied to give a speech at BlogWorld Expo this year, but I apparently didn’t make the final cut. Imperialists…
Deepak: Any other comments that you would like to share?
Lee: As I frequently tell my readers, there are a lot easier ways to make money (both online and offline) than through blogging. I just can’t stress that enough. Blogging takes patience, persistence, and personal development. If you’re going to do it full time, it also takes approximately 297,364 ibuprofen tablets. It’s fine to make money with your blog, but if that’s your primary focus, you’re going to have a long, hard slog ahead of you.
Also, make friends in the business. Leave sincere blog comments, use social media, link to other blogs without their owners asking you to, and if you find a great post on someone else’s blog, tell your readers about it. As much as blogging may seem like a competition, it’s not. Some of your strongest allies will be bloggers targeting the same niche market, if you play nice. They can help you succeed, especially if you show them you’re willing to put forth the effort to build your blog correctly. See, that’s how I approach it – talk dirty, but play nice. It seems to have worked so far…
