I like to think of myself as a Blogger. It makes me feel good inside…like I’m making a difference in the world. I try to listen and learn and engage on Twitter with the hope of drawing just one more potential reader to my blog…but to what end? Yes, I’ve picked up some accounting, bookkeeping and business consulting work by increasing my visibility in the Universe if only from just constantly reminding people what I do for a living. And also how I’m so amazingly awesome at it!!  But for me, the blog is just that – a promotional tool to drive some business to my ACTUAL business.  For some bloggers, (perhaps someday for me!) the goal is much loftier:

The famous “Monetization of the Blog” (note to self – decent horror movie title)!

I won’t bore you with details of blog accounting (does “bloccounting” work for you?) but will stick to the basics.  For example, at some point the Blog itself becomes an entity…a living, breathing thing with which you someday hope to earn the dollars used to make a mortgage payment.  This might come by way of sponsored posts (where a company will pay for a blogger to promote their goods), from advertising revenue or from fees earned from writing guest posts or hosting a Twitter party.

Yes, there is such a thing as a Twitter party and I just learned what that is the other day and they’re friggin awesome and I kinda want to go to 10 of them a day but I have to work and eat and so that might be tough. (Merci @Mommyreasons #reasonsmommydrinks & @BusyDadBlog & @CanadianDadBlog)

Anyways, once you get to the stage in your blog’s life that this “monetization” seems to be close to a reality, the investment that you’re making in the “business” becomes an expense of that business.  Your time is your biggest investment and you should assign a value to it! Think about what you might pay someone to do similar work, whether that’s $25/hr or $100/hr.  Money spent on pieces of equipment (that new iMac or those self-help DVDs you needed to keep yourself sane) are also deductible. Supplies needed to write a DIY blog are deductible. Travel expenses to attend a bloggers convention are deductible. Your alcohol, however, is not. Unless you’re writing a review on said alcohol….and paid for it yourself!  Delicious.

Point is, the soon-to-be-monetized or already-monetized blog is to be treated like any other developing business.  It likely requires start-up cash, might initially run at a loss and requires huge amounts of time and energy to become an eventual success. If you’re reading this and you’re already that success, there’s always another level to which you can take that brand, leveraging the following you’ve worked so hard to build (boy am I a suck up) and reaching an even greater, more influential audience. Now, just pick ME to help you out and the world will smile upon you.

Happy blogging!

Sincerely,

The Funny Accountant.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter if you like what you read!  And as always, if you have tax questions, need advice on your personal taxes, corporate taxes or anything else accounting or business related, please contact The Funny Accountant/President of MK & Associates at mitch@mkassociates.ca

Also, for a witty and insightful read, check out the wifey’s blog. It’s funny and good.