Medical Blogging Can Lead to $upplemental Income

You wouldn't believe the type of supplemental income you can generate by blogging. I'm not talking about blogging about Apple computers like Dr. Arnold Kim. He left his nephrology practice to devote his time and energy into full-time blogging. Instead, I'm referring specifically to writing about health and medical issues. The key is to capture the right audience. I'm speaking about medical students, physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, nurses, nursing students, and other healthcare professionals. It's essential to get the right type of people viewing your blog. If you primarily capture patients, then your blog still has value, but it's not like blogs that draw the attention of healthcare professionals. Why? Blogging income comes from advertisers. That's the primary source of income. So, if you're not willing to put some ads on your blog, then you'll have a hard time generating any income unless you write for someone else (or a company) who pays you for your writing.

You won't reach the status of KevinMD overnight. He started blogging in 2004 and now he captures a huge audience! If you want to start blogging, you have to be patient and persistent. There are some tips and tricks that can help you speed things up, but you need to make sure that you don't abuse any services and get identified as a "spammer."

So how do you start? Are you an "expert" in a particular area? For me, I've always had a passion for technology (yes, I blame that on my MIT education). Do you colleagues and peers ask you questions about a particular topic all the time? I always got questions about PDAs, handhelds, smartphones, mobile devices, laptops, and other gadgets. What about you?