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Blogger Gives Up Medicine to Go Full Time as a Blogger

Posted By Darren Rowse 21st of July 2008 Pro Blogging News 0 Comments

I always love hearing stories of bloggers who are able to go full time with their blogging so earlier today when I read in the NYT about the author of one of my favorite blogs (Mac Rumors) has traded in a career in Medicine for blogging it got my attention.

“Dr. Kim’s Web site now attracts more than 4.4 million people and 40 million page views a month, according to Quantcast, making it one of the most popular technology Web sites.

It is enough to make Dr. Kim hang up his stethoscope. This month he stopped practicing medicine and started blogging full time….

A question Dr. Kim often fields from friends and associates is, “How does that make money?” He answered the question in an entry on his personal blog last month. It can all be “boiled down to one simple accomplishment: building traffic,” he wrote. “That’s it. If you have a site that attracts a lot of visitors, you will be able to make money. On the Internet, traffic equals power, which subsequently equals money.””

Nice work Dr Kim – welcome to the growing number of full time Pro Bloggers!

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. Who’s going to make the medicine now though =/

  2. Wow. That is quite inspiring, I must say…
    I even admire the confidence of the man, switching over from such an established position a full time blogger. WOW

  3. Mac Rumours is brilliant and on most Mac user’s RSS reader for sure. Well done to him 4.4 million users is fantastic.

  4. Wow indeed! How very plucky of him to do and so interesting – I found this very enlightening:

    “A question Dr. Kim often fields from friends and associates is, “How does that make money?” He answered the question in an entry on his personal blog last month. It can all be “boiled down to one simple accomplishment: building traffic,” he wrote. “That’s it. If you have a site that attracts a lot of visitors, you will be able to make money. On the Internet, traffic equals power, which subsequently equals money.”” “

  5. One day…one day…

  6. @Andrew – ha ha lol. That one day is so close…. but so far!

  7. Wow, I’m jealous. Is it just him that maintains that website?

  8. Great. I am also planning to give up my bugging software engineering profession to takup full time blogging. I am just waiting for that ‘one day’.

  9. Pretty cool story, since buying an iPhone I have been a regular on that site.

  10. That is incredible, 4.4 million visitors!
    That is amazing, you would have to earn a fair amount of money to give up medicine. Hopefully one day soon this will be my testimony of my blogs and online business.
    Cheers for the encouragement

  11. Wow, I wouldn’t mind getting 4 million visitors to my site each month. Very nice!

  12. hey that’s cool…maybe if my blog takes off, I can give up my career as a rocket scientist.

    jess

  13. I guess it’s easier to make money from blogging than it is as a doctor? Then again will he keep his readership once he stops being a “real” doctor?

  14. Soon kids in school will start telling that they want to become ‘bloggers’ when they grow up…

  15. I love his quote about getting tons of traffic to the site. I’m looking to buy John Reese’s Traffic Secrets 2.0. What’s everyone elses ideas on getting loads of traffic to sites?

  16. That’s fantastic. Congrats to him. It’s something I can only dream of – six figure income.

    I recently won my choice of an iPod or iPhone so I am sure I will be checking out his sites regularly really soon.

  17. richard says: 07/21/2008 at 10:48 pm

    Am I missing something here or … where can I find the link to this story? Can not find on the Mac site it self :(

    Richard

  18. What a carreer shift :). With 4.4 million/mo though I bet he’s making plenty more money than your average doc would do these days though, so not a weird move.

  19. Wow – 4.4 huh? Those are some serious numbers!! I could only imagine since I feel lucky if I get 50 visitors on a single day…lol

  20. That is awesome! It definitely gives us something to work hard toward and look forward to, eh? Thanks for plurking this, Darren!

    *smiles*
    Michele

  21. According to my plans and goals I think by 2010 Ill become full time blogger I am trying to peruse that goal and do everything in my power. I am always amazed how people become full-time bloggers.

    What I notice to help me is that my local news paper even wanted me to write for them, so I said Yes for FREE! but that free got me publicity, audience and some traffic to my blog.

    Hope to land some day on NYT :) at least I wish.

    My latest accomplishment is that CNET wrote about my blog and also Tribune is writing comments about my ability and skills in Technology.

  22. Alright more fulltime bloggers has increased now , yeah beside a good content the most basic for bloggers must do is looking more traffic that is build more network on internet to make our blogs known by others :)

  23. I placed a comment on one website and my daily traffic went from about 50 to over 400. It did not last but it did open my eyes to how traffic can spike with the right kind of advertising and/or exposure.

  24. Good for him. It’s always great to hear about a success story. The traffic numbers are out of sight.

  25. I am going to medicine school :)

  26. Congratulations to blogger!. But, I have to say I’m a little surprised he didn’t make the jump earlier.

  27. Shouldn’t the title be Doctor Gives Up Medicine to Go Full Time as Blogger? :)

  28. I guess he wasnt inlove with his job, then again he could always go back

  29. Congrats to the blogger! The title alone is enough to draw traffic to his blog. I wonder if blogging courses will start being offered in colleges?

  30. Well, all I can say is that the doctor is out! With 4.4 million people, I guess he has finished testing his patients, I mean his patience.

    Kidding aside, I will not be surprised that one day, blogging will be the most wanted careers. Even the lowest level of employee nowadays knows how to browse the net.

    Right now, I am doing my best to change my career path – from an engineer to a full time blogger.

    Congrats to him anyway.

  31. Blogging is the best career. I have been telling people that. Specially because it is fun.

  32. I thinks he got a long time journey to become a full time blogger, 8 years mann! But i know one think, it must be from a hobby… Congratulations to Mr. Kim. :)

  33. Kudos to the Doctor on this manificent achievement. This is inspiring for bloggers who are only just starting out or struggling for traffic.

  34. I am also a doctor who is spending more time on blogging and stock market advising. I am also planning to quit medicine.

  35. You mean there’s hope for folks like me who spend countless hours blogging, writing and attempting to build traffic?

    This is a timely post as I was getting a little discouraged. I’ll keep blogging away. It takes work, but it’s sure worth it!

    Congrats to him!!!

  36. Hearing stories like this just make you want to give up your day job at times, until then I shall write more blog posts and drive more traffic to my blogs!!

  37. What is wrong with society?

    Is it all about money and how fat one’s paycheck can be?

    As the NY Times wrote, “Dr. Kim was bringing home a six-figure income as a doctor, but he recognized that blogging was becoming more lucrative.”

    Blogging, at its essence, is about writing a web log. How is Arnold Kim blogging when his website, MacRumors, earns a profit “through a combination of Google text advertising, banner ads and commissions on product sales?”

    It’s noble that Kim can afford a lifestyle change to spend more time at home with his children, but what about other hard-working global citizens who strive to make ends meet for their households, living paycheck by paycheck? What does Kim say to them?

  38. Imagine how horrible medical care would get with “free” health care. Doctors are going to follow the money and if there’s no incentive for them to practice, most will do something like this instead. It takes a lot of money to become a doctor…not to mention a ton of work.

    If you can’t get good service from the Post Office, the DMV and just about any other government bureaucracy, wait till you see the nightmare of socialized medicine.

    Just my 2 cents ;)

  39. MacRumors: my ‘homepage’. To me, the site is one of the best examples of a site meeting a very specific niche. Apple/Macs attract a strong following who want to know what the next product will be before it comes out.

    Not only does the site fulfill that by way of news of rumors (heh), they also have a useful tool (free gift) that helps you determine if now is the best time to buy s certain Apple product based on the history and frequency of their product updates, so you do avoid the “I bought my MacBook Pro yesterday and today they release the new one?!”. This and their news posts makes it of tremendous value to readers. I like also how they have a Page 2 to put things that are not directly related to their main content, but are still of interest to readers.

    Hopefully from now on there will be more content and better quality content :)

  40. I love stuff like this too, I want to quit school and work to work fulltime from home blogging and on my web projects…with time I hope…

  41. I’ll have to show this article to my husband, he still doesn’t quite believe it is possible to make money from a web site.

  42. I suspect he may have had a nice financial cushion established before he made such a move.

    Can the average blogger expect the circumstance of this post to apply to them?

  43. Its being a dream of me to become a full time blogger and now I’m proud to say that I’m…..

  44. Wow, quit medicine to blog, there is something to talk about. All those years in medical school…he must really love to blog. And that visitor count is certainly something we all strive for.
    Thanks Darren,
    JR

  45. At least I have a shot at turning my blog into a job…makes more sense that way.

  46. Well, you have to be successful in real life to earn money from full-time blogging.

  47. One of my goals before i die….Great going doc.
    I love seeing this it’s great motivation for one to keep going and never stop no matter what.

    Thanks great post.

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