Published on June 28th, 2012 | by Charles Mburugu

Is It a Good Idea to Cash In On Your Weight Loss Blog?

How Greed for Money Can Ruin a Weight Loss Blog

It’s no longer a secret that weight loss blogs have become money spinners in this age when obesity is acknowledged as a worldwide problem. A good number of these bloggers were simply weight watchers who decided it would be a good idea to share the highs and lows they experienced as they struggled to shed pounds. Within no time they developed a loyal following of people asking questions, offering advice or talking about their own experiences. And when they put up ads for nutritional and fitness products or diet tips, they instantly started earning decent commissions from their affiliates. In no time they were receiving offers from entrepreneurs seeking to buy out their sites. I know quite a number of fellow bloggers who started this way and ended up flipping their websites for thousands of dollars. So should you follow suit? The smart money, believe it or not, says no. Not every blog is commercially viable. And then there is the fact that once you start writing for money, your initial goals may get swept aside. Let me explain these and other reasons you may want to cool off on the ads.

Every Blog Needs an Income – But Can You Overdo it with Ads?

To expound on how your initial noble cause of helping other overweight folk can be derailed when you start sniffing the scent of dollar bills, consider this scenario: you’ve been faithfully jotting down your little adventures in the weight loss wilderness and have gathered, over time, a steadily growing readership. They may not be legions of adoring fans, but they are a sizeable community with whom you have meaningful exchanges. Problem comes when you get wind of how blogging can potentially earn you a lot of money. Now, we could all use an extra buck when push comes to shove, but when you notice that you’re obsessing about earning more at the expense of what you set out to do, it’s time to take a step back. Some signs of a developing obsession with the green are pages stuffed full of ads that there’s hardly room for meaningful content and change of core subjects to those you feel will rake in the dollars.

What are the Main Problems of Adding Ads to a Weight Loss Blog?

For every action, some wise person said, there is a reaction. He must have had bloggers in mind when he coined the adage. A couple of them I know personally have confessed that their quest to monetize their weight loss blogs has ended in disaster. For one, a good number of the loyal readers they started off with have dropped off, taking umbrage at the bombardment by weight loss product ads they encountered whenever they visited their favourite blog.Others whispered to me that they hated how messy the ads had made their blogs appear and that, in fact, the payoff wasn’t even worth it. But perhaps the most alarming story of the lot was of a guy who used to offer excellent diet tips I’d come to love myself. He had to finally pull the plug on his blog after discovering the products he had been advertising on his site were actually part of a scam.

Blogger beware! All that glitters is not gold.