What do you think?
Rate this book
Blog, Inc.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community
With roughly 95,000 blogs launched worldwide every 24 hours (BlogPulse), making a fledgling site stand out isn't easy. This authoritative handbook gives creative hopefuls a leg up. Joy Cho, of the award-winning Oh Joy!, offers expert advice on starting and growing a blog, from design and finance to overcoming blogger's block, attracting readers, and more. With a foreword from Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge plus expert interviews, this book will fine-tune what the next generation of bloggers shares with the world.
Learn how to: - Design your site
- Choose the right platform
- Attract a fan base
- Finance your blog
- Maintain work/life balance
- Manage comments
- Find content inspiration
- Overcome blogger's block
- Choose the right ads
- Develop a voice
- Protect your work
- Create a media kit
- Leverage your social network
- Take better photographs
- Set up an affiliate program
- Partner with sponsors
- Build community
- Go full-time with your blog
- And more!
Learn how to: - Design your site
- Choose the right platform
- Attract a fan base
- Finance your blog
- Maintain work/life balance
- Manage comments
- Find content inspiration
- Overcome blogger's block
- Choose the right ads
- Develop a voice
- Protect your work
- Create a media kit
- Leverage your social network
- Take better photographs
- Set up an affiliate program
- Partner with sponsors
- Build community
- Go full-time with your blog
- And more!
184 pages, Paperback
First published September 7, 2012
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
January 9, 2015
I've been blogging since 2004. I started as a mommy blogger on Livejournal, but then my writing life led me to RedRoom.com and my love of cemeteries steered me to WordPress. After all those years, I know the basics of setting up a blog and generating content, but I struggle with posting consistently and I'm a dilettante at design. I was hoping this book would provide the solutions to my lapses. It didn't.
It does, however, provide a lot of information about setting your blog up as a business, including writing a business plan and pursuing advertising. I don't see myself doing either of those things, but I didn't know anything about them either, so it was good to be exposed to the information.
Overall, I felt the book was targeted toward designers or cooks or craftspeople, people who create a physical and photogenic *thing* they could focus their blogs on. Since my blogs tend to be heavily based in research and/or memoir, I felt less like one of the cool kids. I learned a fair amount I didn't know, but I'm not sure how pertinent it actually is for me.
Maybe what I need is to take Britt Bravo's blogging class again. Or for Britt to finally write her book...
It does, however, provide a lot of information about setting your blog up as a business, including writing a business plan and pursuing advertising. I don't see myself doing either of those things, but I didn't know anything about them either, so it was good to be exposed to the information.
Overall, I felt the book was targeted toward designers or cooks or craftspeople, people who create a physical and photogenic *thing* they could focus their blogs on. Since my blogs tend to be heavily based in research and/or memoir, I felt less like one of the cool kids. I learned a fair amount I didn't know, but I'm not sure how pertinent it actually is for me.
Maybe what I need is to take Britt Bravo's blogging class again. Or for Britt to finally write her book...
December 5, 2013
So when I first started blogging (last month lol), someone recommended the the book Blog, Inc. and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Now I'm pretty good with technology and I've been pretty familiar with the NetWorld for many years. So for me, I didn't really get too much out of this book. It really goes into MANY current/past blogs that have done well and why the bloggers think they did well. This book is really geared to someone who is unfamiliar with blogs and social media. I really wanted more tips than just 'advice questions' from past bloggers. And I feel that starting a blog requires a different approach then it did a year ago (when this was written).
So overall I would give this book a C-. Maybe that's a little harsh -- but I'm being honest with you guys and I don't feel that I really got out of it anything that can't be found by googleing 'how to blog'.
So overall I would give this book a C-. Maybe that's a little harsh -- but I'm being honest with you guys and I don't feel that I really got out of it anything that can't be found by googleing 'how to blog'.
January 20, 2014
Honestly more a 2.5, but I thought I'd be generous.
On the whole, it covers a blog's life from the very conception (or pre-conception?) through to making a full-time income from it.
Delving deeper.... well, it doesn't really.
Although published in 2012, some of the book is already quite outdated, though that's pretty typical of any book written about computers or the internet, in that they date exceedingly fast. Several of the blogger profiles featured have changed names and/or re-invented themselves, and others have ceased entirely, most notably, Regretsy (sniff, sniff!)
I was also disappointed that one of the main things I was reading the book to get ideas on was virtually nonexistant in the book - how to *grow* an existing but poorly read blog. The stuff on creating and establishing a blog, yep, got that covered, though I like to read it for general ideas anyway. The stuff on how to properly treat the blog like a business, and handle tax stuff, and consider collaborating and/or taking on staff.... well, I'd LOVE to need to know that stuff, but at the moment it's a pipe dream. Really, the book seems to jump from very basic do's and don'ts in blog ettiquette (do: post regularly. don't: leave the blog for months on end and expect readership to still be there. do: make it interesting, ideally unique don't: copy other people's stuff) to how to proceed once your garnering over 100,000 unique visitors per month.
Seriously? Am I the only one who noticed the gap between the two topics?
But... well, it wasn't a complete waste of my time. Joy Cho's voice is strong, entertaining, and informative throughout, so I can't knock the writing, even if I do question how heavy it is (or isn't) on actual content.
On the whole, it covers a blog's life from the very conception (or pre-conception?) through to making a full-time income from it.
Delving deeper.... well, it doesn't really.
Although published in 2012, some of the book is already quite outdated, though that's pretty typical of any book written about computers or the internet, in that they date exceedingly fast. Several of the blogger profiles featured have changed names and/or re-invented themselves, and others have ceased entirely, most notably, Regretsy (sniff, sniff!)
I was also disappointed that one of the main things I was reading the book to get ideas on was virtually nonexistant in the book - how to *grow* an existing but poorly read blog. The stuff on creating and establishing a blog, yep, got that covered, though I like to read it for general ideas anyway. The stuff on how to properly treat the blog like a business, and handle tax stuff, and consider collaborating and/or taking on staff.... well, I'd LOVE to need to know that stuff, but at the moment it's a pipe dream. Really, the book seems to jump from very basic do's and don'ts in blog ettiquette (do: post regularly. don't: leave the blog for months on end and expect readership to still be there. do: make it interesting, ideally unique don't: copy other people's stuff) to how to proceed once your garnering over 100,000 unique visitors per month.
Seriously? Am I the only one who noticed the gap between the two topics?
But... well, it wasn't a complete waste of my time. Joy Cho's voice is strong, entertaining, and informative throughout, so I can't knock the writing, even if I do question how heavy it is (or isn't) on actual content.
October 20, 2016
It's okay. Nothing new. This is a good book if you're new to blogging and social media because it goes over things from the very beginning. Picking out a name, blogging platforms, and what to post. There are a lot of interviews with successful bloggers who share their experiences.
It's not what I was hoping for and it's nothing that you can't find in a few helpful articles online. However, if you're brand new to blogging, Blog, Inc will be a helpful book.
Content: clean
My blog: Batch of Books
It's not what I was hoping for and it's nothing that you can't find in a few helpful articles online. However, if you're brand new to blogging, Blog, Inc will be a helpful book.
Content: clean
My blog: Batch of Books
November 9, 2017
I have been blogging for years now, the first blog was a mess, the second one an experiment, the third one was my first real attempt at blogging, I messed up a lot, learned a lot, and became well known, all in all Dana's Sanctuary will always hold a very sweet spot for me, but now that I'm working on my business venture, I need to study my steps better, this book is simply amazing.
Every question I had was answered, it raised in me new ideas and more questions as well, I recommend a small notebook with you to write your ideas and questions down while studying this book.
October 10, 2018
It's an okay read. A nice reference in blogging and a great reminder in tax... 😊
March 17, 2014
A good resource if you're brand-spanking new to blogging, but you can skip this if you're a veteran blogger (there's not much new to take away if that's the case.)
December 3, 2015
Oh man, this book got me so excited about blogging but then I had to accept, I'm lazy.
Read
July 9, 2023Probably, one of the most complete books about blogging I've read. Really good, even better for newbies.
April 18, 2024
The basic components are there to get a creative start. The book is more like a "you can do this" than a "this is how you do it". It has two parts motivation and information. It's a fun and inspiring read.
December 6, 2017
Some good info, but the first half covered mostly basic things I didn’t need information on. The second half was more helpful given my prior knowledge.
December 29, 2012
I was really excited to see that someone had finally written a good book about blogging. It doesn't seem like there are many other books out there written by bloggers that I follow and respect. That's why I was so thrilled when I saw that Joy Cho had come out with this book. I feel that it is the perfect extension of her blog and am so grateful that she would share this personal advice on how to get your blog up and running the proper way. The book is broken up really well into different categories which also include personal interviews with other famous bloggers and how they got their start. The book is also filled with encouraging words that I feel every human can relate to. This book is a great read and a powerful tool if you are looking for ways to start or improve your blog or similar internet venture.
December 21, 2012
A solid overview of blogs and blogging best practices. I'd recommend this quick read to beginners and to people looking to take their blog to the "next level." Also, nice touches with the many interviews with professional and hobby bloggers, with the overarching community-building focus, and with offering multiple measures of success (instead of simply defining success as related to money.) Good design and easy on the eyes. My reason for the three starts is that I, while I felt inspired and found a few good takeaways, I strangely had trouble focusing on this book and kept falling asleep. Probably it was me, not the book! :^)
January 4, 2017
Oh, the perkiness. Everything is gonna be just great. While one of this book's main points is about being authentic, this paper-cutter blogger's voice sounds like it's issued through clenched teeth--and I'm not specifically pointing to this author, but all who adopt this twinkle-toothed tone. I guess that works for people raking in success from their blogs, but it isn't authentic, not on anyone.
This book also seems outdated, even for 2012. Blogging was way out of the "Wild West" territory by that year.
Overall, this book only scratches the surface and basically tells you what all such books tell you: where to go to find the information you need, in the most general terms.
This book also seems outdated, even for 2012. Blogging was way out of the "Wild West" territory by that year.
Overall, this book only scratches the surface and basically tells you what all such books tell you: where to go to find the information you need, in the most general terms.
July 5, 2013
Highly recommend to anyone interested in starting a blog as a hobby or a business. Covers all the bases in a professional yet casual, friendly voice, and lists all the resources the author or the interviewees mention to assist you in creating and maintaining the best blog possible. Good to have on hand for future reference as your imagined blog becomes reality.
January 3, 2016
While this book had tons of practical tips for bloggers, I definitely think most are of value to newer or aspiring bloggers rather than ones that have been in the game for awhile. I enjoyed some of their interviews, but for the most part, I already know most of the information in it. It was nice to have such a well-put together guide though, and it did help top inspire me to keep chugging along.
May 10, 2016
It's a good book for those who are completely clueless about the blogging world, as it provides detailed explanations about many blogging aspects. However, I already knew most of the things included in this book (online), but it was still intriguing to read the multiple interviews from successful bloggers.
November 6, 2013
As a new blogger all the information that Joy talks about was very useful. I liked reading about things that I would consider when writing on my blog.
November 26, 2013
Terrific, comprehensive guide for anyone contemplating starting a blog
September 25, 2021
If you’re thinking about getting into blogging or are brand new to blogging, this is a great place to start. Joy Cho has a successful blog and has broken down just about everything you need to know for getting started and hopefully monetizing your blog down the line. This is a short book, and while she doesn’t go super deep into each subject, she goes pretty wide, and that’s great. As someone with some experience in content, I can’t think of a relevant topic that she doesn’t cover in this book. So, if you’re new, you should definitely grab a copy of this book.
For me, the about 75% of the book wasn’t useful, but that’s no fault of the author because I don’t think I’m the target audience. I’ve been writing online content for years, so if you’re someone who knows a lot of the basics about setting things up, how SEO works, and things like that, this may not be for you. But I actually picked this book up because I’m considering taking my blogging more seriously, and the last few chapters were extremely helpful, so I definitely got some value from the book despite my experience.
For me, the about 75% of the book wasn’t useful, but that’s no fault of the author because I don’t think I’m the target audience. I’ve been writing online content for years, so if you’re someone who knows a lot of the basics about setting things up, how SEO works, and things like that, this may not be for you. But I actually picked this book up because I’m considering taking my blogging more seriously, and the last few chapters were extremely helpful, so I definitely got some value from the book despite my experience.
December 11, 2018
Solid resource book for those beginning the blogging life. Some areas did not go in as much depth as I had desired, but the interviews with current, full-time professional bloggers were spot on. Even if the chapter did not go into the depth of knowledge I desired, there are lots of resources listed for more information gathering. I will keep it on my shelf for future reference, but there will be no reason to read it in its entirety again.
The book basically read like a collection of blog posts about blogging - specifically with the sans-serif font chosen for the body text and the color scheme. As it was a book, and not on a screen, I would have preferred a serif font, for ease of reading. The color and paragraph breaks did help with keeping my eyes focused on the words.
The book basically read like a collection of blog posts about blogging - specifically with the sans-serif font chosen for the body text and the color scheme. As it was a book, and not on a screen, I would have preferred a serif font, for ease of reading. The color and paragraph breaks did help with keeping my eyes focused on the words.
June 16, 2021
Unfortunately most of this book is already outdated. Media moves far too quickly and Joy was very specific in a lot of her advice, which may have been incredibly relevant in 2012 but not so much in 2021.
If you have absolutely no experience blogging this is worth a quick skim. If not, you can probably skip this. Though, I must admit simply reading about the blogging process was motivating for me.
I did enjoy her interviews with bloggers (though outdated) but they left a lot to be desired. Many of the questions she asked the bloggers were specific to the blog (how do you chose the outfits you write about?), which I couldn’t care less about. I wish she would have stuck to questions that were more relevant to blogging in general (why is it important for bloggers to network?).
If you have absolutely no experience blogging this is worth a quick skim. If not, you can probably skip this. Though, I must admit simply reading about the blogging process was motivating for me.
I did enjoy her interviews with bloggers (though outdated) but they left a lot to be desired. Many of the questions she asked the bloggers were specific to the blog (how do you chose the outfits you write about?), which I couldn’t care less about. I wish she would have stuck to questions that were more relevant to blogging in general (why is it important for bloggers to network?).
July 18, 2018
As a life-long geek, I may not have been the main target for this book, so I'd say that it probably is a good intro to this subject, but by no means an in-depth manual.
So if you are new to this subject, you get a bunch of basic data and real-life case studies.
The only new and valuable point I found was the suggestion to make the permalink of a blog entry easily accessible. In my setup, that would be the same as the address bar entry, except in one special case, so it makes sense to show that explicitly, too.
So in that sense the book was worth its Bookbub discount value, hence one extra star...
So if you are new to this subject, you get a bunch of basic data and real-life case studies.
The only new and valuable point I found was the suggestion to make the permalink of a blog entry easily accessible. In my setup, that would be the same as the address bar entry, except in one special case, so it makes sense to show that explicitly, too.
So in that sense the book was worth its Bookbub discount value, hence one extra star...
May 7, 2020
This is a good book to read. Although I've started the blogging for dummies but didn't cope with it due too much technical stuff. The author has defined the concept neatly and hooked me to the end. I've learnt many things from the book to start my blog but the problem is, it doesn't cover the main concept of mine: how to generate traffic to my blog. She just touches everything about the blog. It is also not a guide to start blogging business. It just gives to ideas to the person who had already generated the traffic.
However, overall the good book with the bonus of interviews of the bloggers.
However, overall the good book with the bonus of interviews of the bloggers.
March 10, 2020
This didn't really offer what I was hoping for - it starts with a how to start a blog and finishes with how to expand in to a shop and pitch a book with very little time spent in the middle and more around the how-to build up a base, ect. I did learn one new thing with pictures so that's cool but not much else. The interviews with bloggers were more about post hitting it big again as opposed to what went in to it. Also, I'm not blogging to make it a full time job so I might not have been the target audience.
July 9, 2023
As someone who is thinking about starting a blog about career and organizational development, I have been reading different materials on what it takes to start and maintain a blog. This book provides a very nice overview of what is needed and where the writer's focus should be. I particularly liked the section about SEO and analytics where it gave me a better understanding on how SEO works and the best ways to increase traffic to the blog. For those interested in blogging or would like to improve their blog, this is a good book to start with.
September 27, 2017
note: I am a veteran blogger so this book was not for me. More than likely this is a great book to pick up if you have never blogged but want to start now. Unfortunately a good 75% of it was of no use to me. I did take some of the advise from the "for profit" section and I do feel the "resources" page was helpful but honestly for me it could have been broken down into a two sides page of a well formatted PDF.
July 22, 2018
Disclosure: I've never blogged and rarely read anyone else's blog.
The practical advice found in this book was good, but it was few and far between. Probably the most valuable section was on monetizing your blog. There were eighteen (!) 2-3 page interviews of different bloggers who have been successful. I did not find this very useful because they are almost all food/wedding/design type blogs. The rest of the book is mostly fluff.
The practical advice found in this book was good, but it was few and far between. Probably the most valuable section was on monetizing your blog. There were eighteen (!) 2-3 page interviews of different bloggers who have been successful. I did not find this very useful because they are almost all food/wedding/design type blogs. The rest of the book is mostly fluff.
July 22, 2019
This book is short but punches far above its weight in terms of valuable content. I have been blogging long enough that I know 85% of this information already, but it was still a great refresher in best practices and filling in some gaps (especially for things like monetization). I sorely wish this book had existed 7 years ago when I first started my blog. This is a must-read for anyone wanting to build a brand online , whether for full-time or freelance.
November 26, 2018
Lots of info!
This book wasn't bad, filled with a lot of great information, a lot of it i already knew, but it's in an easy to read format and makes perfect sense. It has interviews with bloggers sharing their stories as well as to the point information for setting up and growing your own blog!
This book wasn't bad, filled with a lot of great information, a lot of it i already knew, but it's in an easy to read format and makes perfect sense. It has interviews with bloggers sharing their stories as well as to the point information for setting up and growing your own blog!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews