Do you make money blogging? I, for one, don’t.

It may seem like a a strange question, but do you really blog for money? Will you stop blogging if you don’t make money with your blog?

When I started this blog, I wanted to make money from it. But slowly, as time passed, my perspective changed. My blog became my identity, and people who read me (yes, you!) became my friends.

Now I don’t blog for money. I blog just to share my take on different issues in internet marketing, blogging, and web design world. And I really love doing it.

Note: I’m not averse to money. And I certainly wouldn’t reject it if a money making opportunity arises!

In my observation, most bloggers start blogging for money, but as time passes and they don’t make more than a few pennies, they either give up, or persist – just for the fun of it!

Those who persevere, gain new insights into their target market, and actually find out how to monetize their blog, directly or indirectly. Those are the ones who really make money blogging, and become an inspiration for a new generation of bloggers.

Well, see, I’m still here. And I don’t make money from blogging (though in my case, it’s intentional). I’m in the second phase of blogging.

Now the real question (and please answer) Do you make money blogging? What phase are you in? How long have you been blogging? Do you plan to keep on blogging no matter what?

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1. Do you use to-do lists to stay organized, and do you think it helps you stay focused on blogging tasks and other day-to-day activities?
2. What software do you recommend for keeping to-do lists?

Wayne Liew, in my humble opinion, gave the most thorough answer.

To-do list don’t work for everyone. It is the skill on how to categorize your tasks that makes the to-do list to perform efficiently for you. For example, when to put off a task to “the day after tomorrow” and what will be the priority of certain task. Knowing the fact that you are not required to finish everything off is vital in keeping your to-do list short.

I can say that it can boost the productivity for some but it might also makes someone busy and feels like work can’t stop coming to them.

Softwares for a to-do list is only vital for computer works such as blogging ideas and to-dos such as a modification to your blog. I don’t think life is just about computer and blogging afterall. I do agree with Pelf on keeping a diary or a notepad to mark down to-do items. For online tasks reminders, I do recommend those free sticky pad softwares that you can stick around your desktop to remind you of important online to-dos.

Here are the rest of replies in the order they were posted, for those of you who prefer to read it all in your feed or email reader.

DRF said:

Indeed, I use to do lists. The first commandment my supervisor taught me when I was just starting out on a career was “Plan your work and work your plan.” The second and logical commandment was “A short pencil is better than a long memory.” Those were the pre computer days and we did use pocket books and pencils.

I still follow these two commandments, which have never failed me in my personal or professional life. The only difference is that I now use an organiser rather than a pocket book and a pencil.

I find the facilities provided in the Outlook, more than adequate for my purposes.

pelf said:

(1) I try to write a To Do list every morning so that I can keep track with the things that I need to do during the day. But if I have a lot of things to do in a particular day, I will write my To Do list before I go to bed. It feels very good checking items off the list, and it gives me the feeling that I have been productive, and it motivates me to do the same the next day, and the next, and the next.

(2) I do not use any software, so I can’t recommend any. But I think writing them down isn’t very hard work, is it? All you need is a diary, and you can take 5 to 10 minutes to write your list. The goal is not to list everything you can think of, but to write down things that needed to be done THAT particular day.

And happy new year to you too, pelf.

Aaron said:

I use a mixture of to-do lists and David Allen’s Getting Things Done system. I use OmniFocus to track all of my projects (personal and professional), but I often find myself creating a hand written list of goals when I find myself with a large chunk of creative time.

I find a hand written sheet less distracting and I enjoy crossing out tasks as I make progress.

Jelmer said:

I use to do lists all the time, I run a forum website so there are lots of possible updates and changes and whenever I think of something useful I’ll make a note, if I don’t I’m sure I would forget lots of the great ideas I could have implemented. It’s also useful because I can prioritize and decide what needs to be done first.

Sometimes I write them down on paper but lately I’ve been using netvibes a lot, It has a simple to do list and a sort of notepad and it’s free and easy to customize.. You can create custom pages but it’s not just for to do lists, I add all my rss feeds to it to stay up to date and it has some more useful widgets.

Patrick said:

I’ve always been a fan of to-do lists, since the days of Filofaxes and Day Runners etc. My current favorite, and one that keeps me (sort of) on top of what I need to get posted, future ideas to work on, site maintenance tasks etc., is Remember The Milk, an online to-do list with a slew of neat features. It has widgets that plug in to your iGoogle page, Netvibes, Firefox etc., allows sharing of tasks, publishing via RSS and more. My favorite thing about it right now is its excellent iPhone optimized interface, so I can always update it on the go.

Thanks again for participating everyone.

Now, if you have been wondering where I disappeared, I have been terribly sick, constrained to my bed, and hence unable to update Blogging Bits. I may not be able to post for another week or two, so if you’ve ever wanted to guest post on Blogging Bits, here’s your chance. Email me your post if you are interested.

P.S. The contact form on the contact page hasn’t been working properly, so chances are I haven’t received your emails in the past two or so weeks, if any. My apologies for that.

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Starting from today, we’ll hold a community discussion every week where all of you’ll have a chance to participate and share your wisdom regarding the discussion subject of the week.

The very next post will feature the best reply as well as all the comments left in the discussion thread! (reminds you of Yahoo! answers?)

The purpose of this discussion would be to increase community participation, find answers/solutions to difficult blogging questions/issues, and reward the regular readers of Blogging Bits by featuring their valuable comments in a separate post.

Here are today’s questions:

1. Do you use to-do lists to stay organized, and do you think it helps you stay focused on blogging tasks and other day-to-day activities?
2. What software do you recommend for keeping to-do lists?

Let the discussion commence!

Link Code: d1928 - © Blogging Bits | Blog writing, marketing, and design