Donations? Need an invoice? – Are blogs a viable way to earn a living in a knowledge economy?

Many people are sharing their knowledge free over the internet. They share this knowledge through blogs, web sites and/or free software. Consumers may utilise this knowledge without cost. Sometimes the knowledge is made available Open Source, or Free Software, licenses without any requirement for payment. This allows the consumer to utilise the knowledge and understand whether it adds value first. If it adds value, the consumer then has the choice of paying for that knowledge.

We all need to earn an income so that we may live, work, play and have children. Marcuscake.com is an experiment to see how much revenue can be earned from sharing knowledge over the internet. Any adsense revenue or donations from marcuscake.com will be put in my daughters bank account. If you wish to make a donation, please click on the Paypal button below. If you need an invoice, please send details to mc@marcuscake.com.

The motivation of each publishers varies. It may be a contribution to the world. It may be an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge or unique skills to attract further paid work.

Sharing knowledge over the internet requires skill and incurs some cost. Fortunately, open source software is available to make the path easier. It does require significant time and income is foregone. Additionally, their are costs of bandwidth that must be paid with no certainty of revenue. These costs are paid for by the publisher. If the full cost of time, bandwidth and lost opportunity is calculated, most lose money by sharing their knowledge. Many request consumers to donate money if the person’s contribution is useful. They also put Google adsense into their sites to earn some revenue to offset the costs of bandwidth. This allows the consumer to utilise the knowledge and understand whether it adds value. If it adds value, the consumer then has the choice of paying for that knowledge.

Adsense revenue can result in material revenue. There are a few blogs and web sites run by individuals that earn large amounts of revenue. However, it is more likely to be small and not something that could be relied upon by an individual, or form the core of a business strategy. For example, onstartups.com receives 1,500 unique visitors a day and after a week experimenting with Adsense had enough money to buy a coffee (See Online Advertising Revenue Buys Me A Chai Latte ).

Internet publishing and sharing knowledge in an open source way is just a different way of turning knowledge into money. It is an alternative to obtaining a conventional job and selling time by the hour. Income may be earned by using knowledge to attract traffic, and hoping that that users click on “contextual ads”, make donations or request services.