In the News: Many Bloggers Earning Big Bucks

The Wall Street Journal’s Mark Penn published a column this week about the growing number of professional bloggers — and their growing earning potential. Penn says that 1% of American adults are now earning some income from blogging.

That translates into 20 million blogging Americas, with 1.7 million profiting from their work in some way — and almost half a million earning their primary income from blogging. Wow.

Penn also reports that as the number of bloggers has increased, there has been a seemingly inverse relationship to the number of journalists. Penn cites the number of newspaper employees in Washington, D.C. has declined 79% in the last few years.

Bottom line: If you are considering a career in freelance writing, it would seem that traditional print journalism is out — and blogging is IN. Of course, not everyone agrees with Penn’s conclusions. Pro blogger Penelope Trunk, for example, recently posted this reality check: 8 reasons you are not going to make money from blogging.

Whether or not blogging is easy money, you can learn plenty about freelance writing jobs in JobMonkey’s section on work at home jobs. Be sure to read this interview with pro blogger James Walker, to learn first-hand about the blogging life.