It’s only logical that I write about how to make money with a blog by using my own blog. I have to point out that this blog is relatively new and may or may not be seen as the best example to illustrate making money with a blog. That’s for you to decide after reading this post. However, I must also point that I’ve had enough experience with other blogs in the past to write about this topic.
This is a very comprehensive topic, which is only made complex by the amount of people out there giving their own opinions. I will give my own opinion but I will do it in such a way that it is concise and easy to understand. Of course, there will be sections which I will not cover in depth but rest assured because I will cover them in the future on this very blog.
The one thing I want to make very clear before I start to talk about the topic of blogging is the following:
Blogging is just a vehicle to making money online.
The reason why I say this is that 99% of people do not make a full time living directly from their blogs. Of course, there is that small 1% which end up doing so but that’s the tiny minority. The vast majority use blogs as a tool to make money online. I’m not stopping you from trying to be that 1% which makes a full time income solely from a blog, however, it is far easier and more lucrative (financially) to use blogging as just a vehicle to making money online. And it’s a very powerful vehicle if used correctly.
Why Blog?
The number one reason why you should blog is because the search engines (especially Google) love them!
And the reason why they love them is because blogs tend to have the freshest and most up to date content on the Web. Search engines thrive on relevancy and indexing new and fresh content is up there.
As a result, blogging can allow you to achieve high rankings for certain target keywords as long as your on page SEO is done correctly.
Content Is King
Because the search engines love indexing new and fresh content on blogs, it is suffice to say that content is king!
You have to continuously add new content to your blog, whether it be daily, weekly or fortnightly. The more often the better, however, keep it to a maximum of 1 new post per day.
If you want to see the benefits of posting new content frequently, take a look at Problogger. It was started by Australian Darren Rowse back in 2002 and he has posted something new everyday since. In the process, he makes a full time living from his blog as well as being the biggest blogger in Australia and one of the biggest in the world.
This should be enough to show you the power of blogging.
You Pitch, You Lose
I have to point out that posting new content does NOT refer to finding a new product to promote and blatantly pitching it on a blog post.
That’s not what blogging is about.
Blogging is about giving visitors valuable content and information about a certain topic so that they come back and revisit your blog for more in the future.
Blatantly pitching a product is just going to turn visitors (and potential future customers) away. And given that they barely know you, what chances are there that they will buy from you right away? Would you buy something from someone you’ve just met?
If you want to know how to make money with a blog, you need to be smart and use blogging as a way for online visitors to get to know you and what you are about. Use a blog to build rapport and trust with them.
Build A List
In the previous section, I did not say that you shouldn’t promote your products or services on a blog. In fact, you should and I encourage it. However, it must be done in a smarter manner.
This is where list building comes into play.
You should use your blog to build a list of subscribers or, in other words, a list of people interested in what you are all about. This involves grabbing people’s first names and email addresses using what is commonly called an opt in form. However, you have to give them something enticing in return for their details.
Here are a couple of ideas:
- access to a weekly newsletter
- a free video
- a free report
- a free ebook
- a free audio recording
Once people enter your list, then you can start sending them information about your products and services and potentially make sales and get customers.
The Key To Making Money With A Blog
At the end of the day, the key to a powerful money making blog is great regular content. Think about it this way.
The better and more regular your content is, the higher your blog will rank in the search engines. And the higher your rankings, the more traffic your blog will get. And the more traffic it gets, the more people opt into your list. And the more people in your list, the more sales and customers you get.
It couldn’t get any simpler!
To conclude, I would like to say that if you could not understand some of the terminology used and topics covered in this post, don’t worry. As I said at the beginning, I will covering them in greater detail in the future. The most important thing is you understand the general concept around how to make money with a blog.