Do you blog for your business? You might be wondering where blogging fits in with what I call the Youpreneur ecosystem, the activities which bring money into your business. In this article, I’m going to explain how your blog can help you make money online.
Blogging is an investment
Before I go into the ways you can monetize your blog, I want to make one thing clear: you can make money from blogging, but the success of your blog depends on your willingness to deep dive into a topic for a long period of time.
I know a lot of people who have started blogs over the years only to abandon them when they changed their minds or they got bored writing about whatever the topic was that they had chosen to focus on. Successful bloggers are in it for the long haul. Blogging is an investment. The returns build over time.
Successful bloggers are in it for the long haul. Blogging is an investment. The returns build over time. #Youpreneur Click To TweetBlogging builds authority
You want to be the ultimate authority for your topic and blogging is a great way to do this. People should think of you when they want to know about your niche and if they don’t know who you are yet when they search online for your topic, they will find you. This takes time and effort but believe me, if you’re in it for the long term, it will pay off.
You should have a step by step strategy for your blog posts. Are you covering all the basics people want to know? Are you sharing the latest news and trends that you think matter? Don’t just follow the crowd, you need to give your opinion as an expert. If you’re wondering how to do this then take a look at my guide on how to create content your target audience will love.
Building your influence through your blog will unlock opportunities for you to spread your message to new audiences such as getting paid speaking gigs. Stick at it.
Use your blog to build your list
Once you have lots of good quality content that’s driving traffic to your site, you need to convert those readers into subscribers. They need to get on your list. Email marketing is still incredibly powerful. What’s the one thing you check every day? Your email. No matter how much we complain about getting too many emails, we still check them.
People will subscribe to good quality content which can help them solve problems. This is what you need to be providing for the people you want to serve. You want to become their favorite and who doesn’t want to receive the inside scoop from their favorite by being on their email list?
Stop guessing about what to sell
If you want to start blogging for money, you need to stop guessing what people want from you and start finding out what they would like. When you build an email list with an engaged audience you have the ability to find out directly what people are looking for. You know your subscribers love what you’re doing already because they take the time to open your emails and engage with the content. Ask them what they would like you to create. It’s as simple as that.
What you’re doing here is pre-validating your actions. Rather than creating a product or a service that you think people will want from you, people are telling you what they are willing to buy if you make it for them. This is when your blog starts paying off because your consistency has grown trust and an audience who has got to know you.
They have invested in you and you have invested in them. And then the barriers start to drop and instead of it being a one-way relationship in which you produce content, products, and services you think your ideal clients want, they start opening up to you about what they are struggling with.
Now you can start serving people what they need. Listen to what your audience is telling you and let them guide the direction you go in. Your business will develop to meet your customers’ needs.
How a blog post started one of my businesses
Let me give you an example of this which has earned me a lot of money. In 2010 I wrote a blog post about the book The Four Hour Work Week and what Tim Ferriss had to say about virtual assistants. And a guy called Michael commented on it and said he would love to be able to find VAs he could work with if only he could find a trusted, reputable source.
He said this was a service he would be willing to pay for. It would help him out. He had been struggling to find VAs and needed someone to do that for him. Four weeks later we launched virtualstafffinder.com. We match people with their ideal VA based on their job description and carry out all the checks and initial interviews. We’ve helped thousands of people to work with a VA and grow their business. And it all started with a comment on one of my blog posts. Thank you Michael, you’ve helped an awful lot of people by taking the time to read my blog and comment on it.
Use your blog to tell people about your services
Do you sell digital products or offer online courses? Don’t just shout about it on social media. Whatever your service, product or offer is don’t forget to use your blog to promote it. Think through all the questions people might be asking about your product or service. What are their objections? Are there any stumbling blocks?
Remember, you are an expert in your field so things which seem simple to you are not to other people. Help people buy from you by writing about the answers to their questions. And make it easy for them to get the product you’re offering with calls to action and a clear link to where they can sign up to get the great product you have for them.
Make use of affiliate marketing
Another simple way to monetize your blog is through affiliate marketing. This means putting an affiliate link on your website that sends your visitor to an offer and if they buy, you make a commission on the sale.
Use it to share products you love with your audience. Perhaps there’s some software that you can’t live without. You recommend it to everyone. By becoming affiliated with that company you can earn a little bit of cash by telling people about a product you talk about already.
Only stand behind products you know. You don’t want to lose the trust of your audience by promoting something you’ve never used.
Blogging is an investment but as you can see, it is one that can pay off big time if you are committed, use it to grow your list, and listen to what your readers are telling you.
Chris founded Youpreneur® in 2015. He is a serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker and author of the bestselling books “Virtual Freedom” and “Rise of the Youpreneur”. He hosts our podcast, live events and coaches our clients inside the Youpreneur Incubator. Chris is based in Cambridge, UK.
