Picture via About a week ago, Digital Life (the tech-focused section of the most widely-read newspaper here in Singapore) had an article about blogging. The online version is only available to paid subscribers, I think, but it basically asked the question of whether people are earning money from their blogs – and as such, whether blogging was worth it.

Reading it kind of got on my nerves. The shortsightedness of it reflects part of why blogging hasn’t picked up in Singapore.

Blogging shouldn’t be about how much you can earn. Some of the best bloggers I know – Chris Brogan, Dan Schawbel, Robert Hruzek (among others mentioned on my recommendations page) – bloggers who provide amazing content consistently, don’t run ads on their blogs, and as such, I don’t think they make an direct income from their blog.

There’s nothing wrong with putting ads on your blog in the hope of earning from your content. But that shouldn’t be the focuus of it. You shouldn’t be blogging to earn money. That isn’t the point of it. The point of it is to let yoru voice be heard.

And the benefits go far further than direct income. The benefits are how it builds your personal brand, the number of relationships you can build, etc. It’s not about how much you make from it. If anything, the money comes indirectly from building your personal brand.

If you’re starting out just because you want to earn money online, it’s not going to work. Blogging should not all about the money.

Picture by monkeyc