Blogging for Profit (With Legendary GOLD Follow Up Posts)

[Yoda]

Let's open the flood gates. Let's think big.

I feel many people think of blogging as, "Let me throw some words on a page once a day/week and throw it on my social and make some money!"

These are the people who won't make it very far.

This type of thinking is equivalent to, "Let me buy a single story home and rent it out and make some money!"

There's nothing wrong with either statement, because both are true: they can both make money. But there's little thought in scale or magnitude.
--------------------------------------------

Elements of Scale and Magnitude: Blogging Edition​

Speaking to magnitude, we need to look at how much you can earn per visitor, and how many of those visitors we can attract (don't mistake this as scale, because it's somewhat separate here, though it becomes scale once the full pipeline is created). This will give us:

Value of Visitor x Number of Visitors = Magnitude of Monetization
​

The reason number of visitors here isn't (in my mind) considered scale, is because for this little exercise, we're just going to look at how the blog is monetized. When we start adding different types of monetization... then we're talking scale. But more on that in a moment.

So let's start with a site pulling in 10,000 visitors a month off organic search from content you've written. (You did remember to bring the audience in first, right?)

Here are some monetization methods you might be able to expect:

• You can throw on Adsense and let Gorg attempt to make you money by giving your users ads to click on.
• You can attempt to collect data in the form of Leads and find a buyer/business for them.
• You can add in affiliate links in hopes users will click them and go make a purchase somewhere else, making you commissions.
• You can import/create your own products which uniquely fit your audience.
• You can sell all your ad space to a single buyer who will pay you a steady amount based on traffic/clicks.
• You can lease your site to other vendors who throw in their own monetization to, hopefully, use your traffic to earn more than they're paying you.

Those are pretty much the basics, and there are more. In a nut shell, assuming the same exact 10k visitors a month, the only way to increase your bottom line here would be to:

1. Test all of them to find out which makes you the greatest net income (not to be confused with rev, since the different methods have different ways to create a dollar)
2. Use more than one method to monetize (though, usually, adding in another will cannibalize the others in some fashion)

So, what do you do? Again, since we're using the same 10k visitors, your job is to execute the proper method of monetization(s) to maximize the bottom dollar. Let's say you can make $500/month from these visitors with pretty steady consistency.

Value of Visitor x 10,000 = $500
​

The value of a visitor is [up to] $0.05, and your best method of monetization is worth $500 (magnitude). Remember, this is per visitor. Why is this important?

Assuming you're this far, and there's no way to suck out another dollar from your visitors, you only have two ways to grow (scale) now:

1. More visitors (which we're keeping at 10,000 per month, for now)
2. Find another way to make more money from these visitors

Yes, we could begin to start "driving traffic" to get the 10,000 up to 100,000... but is it worth it? What about number 2?

@csalvato was on the right track, where you could begin to add sites. This is fine, but now we're making our money from lots of sites, and lots of sites means more costs, more time (create and monitor), and more content.

@RHL was right in pointing out how aggregators make their bucks on scale, though there are ways to scale your own blog just like the big guys (and not have to pay for it either).

So, what are we left with?

When you got to the store to buy milk, how many of you come out of the store with something else? How many of you swoop by another aisle to check if your favorite item is on sale, or favorite beer in stock, or whatever? Probably a good portion.

Well, let's give our users more eye candy.

Enter:

• Podcasts
• eBooks/Books
• YouTube
• etc.

Your goal is to do one of three things:

1. Get your users to stick around longer and/or do more things (buy more, click more, watch adverts, etc.)
2. Ger your users to become repeat buyers/visitors
3. Appeal to a wider user base

If, in the beginning your 10k visitors could only peruse through your content and click/buy, there was little else for them to do. But what if only 1% of your visitors engaged? Maybe they aren't the kind of person who reads much. Maybe they like video.

This is scaling (when talking about value per visitor, remember) what users are worth. You reached the highest magnitude possible at $0.05 per visitor in one channel, so by creating multiple channels, you're now scaling your bottom line on the same number of visitors (instead of adding whole new sites).

Make sense?

Let's say out of your 10,000 users, 100 of them were making you money (1%) conversion through your written content. Well, now, maybe another 1% make you money through your Podcasts, another 1% make you money through your book, and another 1% make you money through YouTube adverts/views. Maybe each one doesn't offer up the same magnitude, but either way, you're pulling in another dollar on the same user count.

You're scaling the value of a visitor through channels, not through "driving traffic" or adding sites or growing social or anything else.

This is not any different than what car manufacturers do. Ford has one brand: Ford. But they have lots and lots of makes/models/upgrades to offer. Not everyone wants an F-150. Not everyone wants an Explorer. Not everyone wants a Taurus. But, by adding all these different styles of cars under one brand, they're taking advantage of giving their customers options. Assuming they had consistent traffic to their lots, they'll close more deals by having more to offer.

Give your audience every possible option, all in one place. A blog is written content, infographics, videos, podcasts, etc. It's every type of media. Open your mind to more than writing words on a page.

Oh, and once you've maximized your magnitude (value of a visitor), now you can go back to the traditional scale by making your 10k visitors 100k+. Now you're really growing.

Now, the impact of scaling each additional visitor is 3-5x more valuable to you, and suddenly the best use of your time is adding visitors, not content.

 

[Vigilante]

I was wrong. - Vigilante

There you go, haters. Print that out and frame it on your wall, stalkers and ego maniacs.

I was wrong about blogging.

I have been quick to dismiss people's concepts of starting a blog for sustainable, passive income.

I was wrong.

I am doing some inquiries within a small subset of the internet, in one area specialty. I am reaching out to top bloggers in one small sector of the consumer marketplace.

And I am flabbergasted by their rate cards.

Many have professional marketing companies managing their advertising. If they get 2-3 sponsored posts a month (and the top bloggers in this space get more than that) they're pulling in six figures annually.

Blogging.

So, to those of you who I have discouraged from blogging... sorry. Some of you probably left, sad. Sorry.

There is still gold (and maybe growing stacks of gold) blogging.

Get writing.

When you can get to a million page views a month, with less than 20,000 fans... you can make a living selling information and advertising via. a blog.

 

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[Yoda]

People under-estimate the effort though....I helped someone with their blog and they gave up after a few weeks.

As far as Entry goes, I love blogs for this.

It's a perceived easy Entry, but the barrier isn't broken by simply starting!

False perception.

The true barrier to entry with building a legitimate blog is not growing the blogs content, but the audience.

You don't need 700 posts on your blog to go big. You just need an audience who cares about the posts you do write (have written). Now, if you do have 700 and each one is a huge asset, well, money shouldn't be an issue for you whatsoever.

I know I've said it already in this thread, but the market you choose matters deeply.

Think ever green niches (ones which aren't fly-by-night) to get into, but also couple those with something you're truly interested in (to avoid burnout). It should also be something you can create lots of content on, but where the content value won't expire.

Example: If you created a blog on tech, how fast do you think your blog will become obsolete if you were to slow down or stop producing?
​

Finally, your blog should target an audience, not so much the product.

Captivate the audience, then deliver the product(s).

 

[MJ DeMarco]

who I have discouraged from blogging

I like to think we don't discourage any action, no matter if it fits into the realm of Fastlane or not -- what I think we strive for is a discouragement of unrealistic expectations -- the expectation that pulling in six figures monthly (or worse, annually) is as simple as downloading Wordpress, installing a theme, and making three posts. Sadly, this is the effort most people are willing to entertain when they get starry-eyed about "blogging for passive income."

 

[Yoda]

In the words of Gary V, blogging is chess, not checkers.

In my experience, you need three things:

1. Expertise backed by a real brand -- if you don't plan to build a bigger, fully funded brand [eventually], you're a loser before the gun goes off. Be the expert, or become it.
2. Consistency -- if you can't stick to blogging for years, why even try? It takes time, to build a brand, after all. One viral article does not make you successful.
3. Something remarkable, unique, or simply unbelievably marketable -- If you don't stand out from the crowd, well... only crazy people talk to the wall.

When you look at it.. it's just like any other business. You need a USP, you need to build a brand, and you need to act like you're going to be around for a while if you want to build anything even remotely passive.

You need assets.

You need relationships.

You need ideas.

You need execution.

You need systems.

In my opinion, "blogging" as most of us think of it is not a business. However, a "blog" can be a great piece of a business. It's just one piece of a giant puzzle.

As soon as you start monetizing, hiring out, branding, and what not, it's not just a blog anymore. Your 'blog' is the facade of your business, the traffic magnet. It's the start of your sales funnel.

And trust me...

It can be one hell of a traffic magnet and sales funnel.

 

[Vigilante]

You're extremely uneducated about online marketing if you think building a blog isn't literally the best decision you can make for a business... just fyi.

I'd say the best decisions you can make for a business are :

• to ruthlessly control expenses
• to find a unique need and fill it
• to create scale and affect thousands of people for the better
• to exercise elements of control
• to separate time from income
• to distance from competition by creating high barriers to entry

You think blogging is more important than all of those things?

I confess to being extremely uneducated about online marketing.

 

[Envision]

You guys are lost...

Good luck.

You're posts are incredibly annoying to read.

Post your blogs in this thread so we can see the genius that is TheGrind or gtfo

Edit: Let me clarify why they're annoying so you can work on it... They provide no value to the topic that Vigilante brought up.

Edit #2: And after going through your profile its quite obvious you have a negative mindset and rarely if ever post something constructive or worthwhile... Even you requesting a refund for your INSIDERS membership is pathetic and rude.. MJ was even working with you when he didnt have to.

What are you here for?

 

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[Tiger TT]

There is a much better way than blogging.

I think most of us want passive income and
traffic, right?

Is blogging passive?

No!

Because you have to write those blog posts. But I don't
want to write everyday or twice a week. I don't even
want to write once a month!

And I don't

Because when you write articles that are going to
be relevant and fresh even 10 years later, then
THAT IS the way to get passive traffic and passive
income.

The last blog post that I wrote was 3 years ago. I have
approx. 35 articles which I wrote 3 years ago.

And they bring about 160,000 unique visitors per month.

Yeah, 35 articles=160,000 unique visitors (my website has
a total of 70 pages approx.)

And I haven't written any new articles in the last 3 years.

And they still bring in traffic.

Even 10 years after those articles will be valuable and
fresh. And Google knows this. As years pass by, those
articles get more and more traffic.

So "you need fresh content, you have to write 100 posts
per day" is not 100% true.

And blogging is a bad idea, because you have to
actually write stuff on a regular basis.

I don't want to write stuff on a regular basis. It's HARD WORK.

I don't like hard work.

I want to write a few articles, and then I want them to
bring a ton of traffic and I don't want to write anymore.

So, in order to do that, all you have to do is do a really
really really good keyword research about evergreen
topics and then write those evergreen articles and
create a GREAT PRODUCT and then maintain the
system.

And do whatever you want after that. Create
other products, or go travel or get out of the
house, go to a club, and meet new people
using this line:

"Hey guys, I'm stupid, wanna be my friend? "

Yeah, I actually used to do this, and it works.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is this:

You don't have to write lots of blog posts, you
can find the evergreen keywords and then
write articles that are going to be fresh
15 years from now.

So now, you won't have to write regularly.

But you have to do a really good keyword
research. And be smart when writing
articles.

You shouldn't write about a topic that will
be out of date a few years later.

 

[Vigilante]

You should be, and you're an idiot if your not.

*you're

 

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[RHL]

IMHO The options are:

1. Drive blog traffic to your own product
2. Drive blog traffic to your own service
3. Drive blog traffic to a partner (e.g. you have a direct relationship with a college, and you send them leads in exchange for cash.)
4. Drive blog traffic to an affiliate offer (e.g. you have a relationship with QuinStreet and you send them college leads, then they send them to the colleges. Then QuinStreet pay you.)
5. Drive blog traffic to ads

I started a post in response to... whatever the hell was going on earlier in this thread, this afternoon, but @cslvato already said it better and more concisely.

If I can ad my own tiny little tidbit of wisdom for potential bloggers, it would be this:

Any business plan that begins with "drive," per Chris's formula above, (except the ones that drive recursively, back to your own product/service) crumple it up and throw that away unless it's just a small brick in a bigger wall. If "drive..." is your main revenue strategy, that word clues you in that you're not "Driving the Fastlane, but Riding It." Having been there, done that, I just don't think that it's worth the considerable effort. A good blogger can make tens of thousands. Maybe even hundreds of thousands. Maybe the handful of bloggers who represent the top 5 in their niche or so can even make a few million.

But there are no billionaire bloggers. Absolutely none. There aren't even any hundred-millionaire bloggers (who got there from blogging) that I'm aware of. Even giga-successful "bloggers/vloggers" who tie their content into an actual product (like The Oatmeal or Jenna Marbles) are only single or very, very low level deca millionaires. Fastlane to be sure, but that's a whole lot of a$$ you have to kick in the blogging/vlogging/serial content creation world just to be a relative nonentity in the world of wealth. Do you want being the 5th best in the world at what you do to be worth 2.5 million? or $250,000,000? What if you can only get to 150th or 500th place in the world, and have to take the smaller slice of the pie that comes with that lower level? Want 500th place in a race for 2,500,000? Or $980,000,000?

Given that the top bloggers in each niche "affect" millions when they're at the top of their game, the fact that they aren't making millions points to one thing: A breakdown of CENTS/CENTS. Somebody else (Adsense, Toyota, Under-Armor, dare I say, even Eight or PaintBrushCover) is making millions by their affection, while they make hundreds of thousands, or just thousands.

Make something and sell it.

Make people better in some way and sell them (their skills).

Make yourself epic and sell yourself (magnitude).

Never sell something for somebody else. Leave that to the Girl Scouts.

 

[Supa]

The problem I see with blogging is not that it can't be a Fastlane business. The problem, in my opinion, is that most people don't treat it like a real business, but rather like a easy way to make money since entry is so low.

Treated like a real business, not as a road to chase money, it can definitely become a great Fastlane business.

 

[Yoda]

do you mind talking a bit on how you view market selection and picking a blog topic for building a particularly lucrative audience base? Some of this is basic business sense here, I know, and also largely dependent on the blogger treating the subject matter. But for the sake of this discussion I'd still love to hear more about your ideas in this regard.

Plenty of resources on niche selection on Google, but there are some basic principles which are mandatory:

1. Evergreen
2. Existing
3. Entrance
4. Enthralling

Evergreen - Don't pick a niche which is here today, gone tomorrow. What you think may be evergreen, may not actually be. Look beyond 10 years. It needs to have been, and will be. (Examples: Health. Beauty. Money.)

Existing - Don't pick a niche which is new, most of the time, unless it's a sub-niche. Banking somewhat on the point above, it better be something which has been, and will continue to be. It doesn't mean you should avoid micro-niche topics which come and go, just look at the bigger picture. (Examples: Computer keyboards. They've been around a while now, but there are micro-sets of keyboards niches which are coming and going all the time. However, the big picture is still keyboards.)

Entrance - This is the most closely related to fastlane, so I doubt I need to talk too much on it, but it bears repetition for the blogosphere because there are some niches which are worth diving into, others not, strictly based on entrance. You want something which is difficult, yet bearable. (Example: Good - Law. Bad - Pens.)

Enthralling - Seriously consider a niche which has some type of interest or fascination where people talk, discuss, argue, and actually participate in forums, etc. While there are riches in niches where this is not the case, it kills scale. If you want to blog and grow rapidly, you need scale in your back pocket, and nothing is more scalable than probing human behavior to acquire social shares, but, more importantly, acquiring other people's content (OPC). (Example: The Fastlane Forum)

If you've got a niche which fits, you're only just beginning. Let's take computer keyboards, now and dive in deeper. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is there room in the market?
• Do you have special expertise or experience with the market?
• Are there niches to exploit within the market?
• Is there potential for cross selling to closely related markets?
• What are the existing methods of monetization available in the marketplace?

Computer keyboards have plenty of room in the market. There are several main competitors, which is a great thing, because there is no single dominant player. It also allows you great opportunities to pit the competitors against each other, and their respective audiences will be happy to get in on the conversation.

Expertise is up to you, but let's say I know quite a lot about them. Great. I would also have the capacity to find proper writers who are more expert than me, and I would also know how to employ OPC to get free content on my site. People who use computers are more likely to be proficient in using search, forums, etc., so OPC is probable. On a sidenote, younger crowds are more vocal than older, on the whole.

There are plenty of smaller niches within the keyboard space, yes. From basic, old school keyboards, up to the latest and greatest fully integrated full-scale keyboards with trackpads, to budget wireless or high-end gaming boards.

Cross selling would be a breeze, because you've got everything from accessories to the keyboard itself (keycaps & LEDs, for example), up to additional peripherals because you're likely dealing with someone who may want a matching mouse, keyboard dock, mouse pad, headset, etc.

Monetization could be everything from being a direct affiliate, to being able to build and source your own product, though electronics aren't the easiest. One thing I would do is build a list of email subscribers and pass along a monthly deal on the last Friday of each month. I'm not going to tell you why that's the ideal day for this type of niche, though.

That's what I'd do. YMMV.

Tools are you disposal are Google Trends, watching the news, monitoring sub-reddits, and even just being open to what people say on a day-to-day basis about their lunch, dogs, vehicles and favorite widget they just found out about. Just listen. See what blows by on your facebook feed. See what products are hot sellers every year at Christmas time or Black Friday.

Be open to any niche, and don't get emotionally tied to it, just in case you find out it's actually a horrible niche, after all.

 

[JasonR]

This is what bothers me when I consider my blog's future. It's definitely the nth iteration of some guy talking about eating right.

BUT...

I started working out in my garage when I was 14, chugging 48 oz gainer smoothies as mid-day snacks.

When I was 18 I got access to my first gym (at university), and spent the 3-4 hrs a day busting my a$$ in there for the next 4 years of my life. I commuted to school and was the guy that walked around with a giant bag of veggies and proteins, eating whenever I could.

When I graduated at 22, I started competing in powerlifting. I would not eat one calorie that wasn't prepared by me and did not fit my diet plan. I competed in the lowest weight classes I possibly could while maintaining my strength.

Now, at 26, I've picked up rock climbing and plan to compete next year. In rock climbing, being both light and strong is a huge boon, which is what I've spent the last 8 years mastering.

My point is: no matter where life has taken me, fitness and nutrition have been my constant. It's the only subject I feel I have authority over. There are plenty - and I mean PLENTY - of other subjects I've dabbled in but would not feel comfortable trying to provide value with my limited knowledge. How can I provide value through my knowledge (and make a living) when it's such an overcrowded and dead horse beaten market? To make matters worse, I spent my time at university learning something trivial like chemical engineering. I have no degree in nutritional science, no dietitian certifications, etc. No credibility other than my own results (which is what everyone else has and more).

Yet... there are still soooo many misconceptions and misinformation about nutrition that so many people still have. I see this is a problem that needs solving. Still need to figure out how I can make a real impact in that regard. Anyways, end of rant.

Reading this forum is both incredibly inspiring and incredibly disparaging. What a bipole!

I went back and highlighted every time you said "I" or "my" to illustrate a point: you are in a consumption mindset. You are a consumer. You need to shift your mindset to that of a producer.

@Vigilante nailed it: the market does not care who you are. The market does not care about what you've done. All the market cares about is themselves. What can you DO for them?

Instead of asking yourself what the market needs, you are looking within yourself with your current, limited experience. This is a very limiting belief that will lead you down a road of "blogging" which will probably get you nowhere.

Yes, there are counter examples of blogs making money: Bold and Determined, Perez Hilton, etc. But they are very in millions of blogs that simply do nothing. You're basically claiming to be the needle in the haystack, or a winning lottery ticket. I'm not going to spend my time or chase after something where my chances of succeeding are so slim.

You tell me there are misconceptions about nutrition, which I will agree with you, is mostly true. However, there are literally hundreds of thousands of blogs and books that cover this topic. I've read many of them. Most recently, Mark Sisson's book. It changed my life.

So is this NEED really underserved? No, it's hyper competitive. Would I ready our blog? No, I already don't have enough time to read the ONE nutrition and fitness blog I want to read.

Have you read the millionaire fastlane ? It's pretty much a prerequisite to joining the forum (well, at least it should be).

Start shifting your mindset from consumer to producer, and focus on what NEEDS, WANTS, DESIRES the market has (there are MILLIONS of them), instead of looking inward at your own experiences.

Every single Entrepreneur that I know did not succeed until they had significant mindset changes that put them way outside their comfort zone. MJ learned to code, Bio learned how to import and sell online, Vig learned how to source from China, this list is endless.

Become a REAL producer: your mindset will change, but it takes time. Give it time.

I wonder, in one year, when you look back at this post, what you will think of becoming a "blogger for profit."

 

[Yoda]

You don't need a 1M page views a month to 'make it' blogging.

I assure you, 10k/month can easily bring a quarter million annual income (not rev).

Choose your markets properly.

 

[Yoda]

Instead of Blogging, learn to market products....

I market products (over 50 now) with blogging.

Blogging is a form of marketing.

I'm not sure what you did the last 4 years, but I can absolutely tell you why you failed, because these are the only possible reasons:

1. You chose a poor market
2. You had bad monetization
3. You didn't execute

There is nothing beyond market, monetization, and execution, no matter what form of marketing you choose!

Please write that on your wall.

 

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[Greg R]

BLOGGING UPDATE:

Even though this is not a progress thread, I wanted to share with you some of my findings when I applied the things I learned from here.

This was mostly for experimental purposes, but the impact from these changes were very positive.

I dissected the top 13 money making blogs and tried to figured out what they did that I could apply to my own.

Here are the changes that I made:

• Theme: After doing some research, I realized that the previous theme I was using was more for personal blogs. I changed the theme to look more like a BIG BLOG. My end goal is to come across as a high traffic media site.
• About Page: I changed the whole damn thing. Instead of making the about page about us, I made it really about my readers. I also added staff profiles to show that it's not just me working on it and rewrote the all of the copy. The copy for the about page took me about 10 hours and I am still monitoring the conversions.
• Contact Page: In the contact page I added a section for "contributors" and a sections for "advertisers." I gave a detailed outline for future contributors explaining what I expect~ should they want to send me writing. For the advertisers, I wrote some decent copy and told them to contact me. I also placed ads on the site to show that the site was advertiser friendly.

After I made these changes; I have gotten several request to post ads on my site for way more money than I thought I was ever going to make, many potential contributors have asked me to feature their work, and my traffic volume has significantly increased.

What I need to work on more:

Email subscribers

More content

I will give another update as I continue to work on these two things.

Thanks.

 

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[csalvato]

I love all the chatter in this thread about how it's so easy to start a blog and make money from it.

As someone who makes money from his blog every month with 0 effort, let me tell you, it's definitely not a matter of "just get started writing"! It took a long time to get to that point, and it was a hard road.

Even with my experience creating a successful, revenue generating blog, getting a larger organization to start a profitable blog has been incredibly difficult.

Like everything else in Entrepreneurship, be very wary when anyone tells you "how easy it is".

If you seriously want to go down the road to blogging, it will help your business for sure. Just don't expect any results for about 5 months after 24/7 effort. IF everything goes well, that is.

 

[Andy Black]

I create content on a daily basis. Not on my blog, but in this forum. Let's consider that daily content creation/writing, akin to "blogging".

It's generated work for me because forum members refer me to business owners who aren't forum members.

It's not my main way of generating leads though. I just do it because I enjoy creating content and "can't not do it".

If I *had* to create content to grow my business, then it would take all the fun out of it for me.

I'm just not interested in having a blog or "content marketing strategy" where I have to write every day in order to grow my business.

I'd rather focus on making sales than writing content to make sales. I'd rather go the direct route.

For me that means using my skills to make clients happy and refer me to other people.

For me, that also means using my skills to generate leads for my own business.

Maybe I could do a bit more with my content and I'm leaving money on the table.

Except the whole idea of "blogging", "online funnels", and "building a list" bores the hell out of me.



Reminds me of "You don't need a website, you need sales."

Just replace "website" with "blog".

Sure, a blog can increase sales for a service business like mine, but it's just one of many ways HOW I can get sales.

Something I took away from "Ready, Fire, Aim" was that, until you're making $1 million per year revenue, your job is to find ONE sales strategy that works and scale it like a mofo.

I'll stick to finding ONE sales strategy that works best for me and that I enjoy, and continue writing for fun - and therapy.




EDIT:

Found it:

• Getting Started - Ready, Fire, Aim: Stage 1 (0-$1M)

It looks like I misquoted it, but heck, finding your ONE initial sales strategy sounds good to me.



EDIT2: This is in response to comments about creating a blog for a business, not about creating a media empire and blogging for ad revenue etc - which was the point of Vigilante's opening post.

 

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[Kelly C]

I've said it before but I make a full time income from a couple of sites...I haven't touched them in ages....every so often I decide randomly to do a competition but that is it. They have been going since 2010. It is unfortunately a niche I can't really make them grow BUT it has given me the capital to invest in other things and grow them...and its nice to see money coming in from stuff I am no longer working on.

A LOT of effort went into creating those sites....its not easy. You have to really believe in yourself and put in a lot of hours to get something decent up. I think my sites have stood the test of time because I started with the notion I wanted quality content - I do check in now and again just because I get quite a few comments and that is always good to respond to.

I am currently working on a Christmas project but I am also building a branded site in health/fitness. I have put up about 50 articles I outsourced so far and its just made its first few sales from Amazon. Outsourcing is a massive pain in the butt itself...but it frees up time to do other things..but everything is a lot of hard work and perseverance (I am going to try to outsource guest posting next and getting a virtual assistant). I am glad I am no longer writing the articles as that took up too much time. I am hoping to grow this with my brother when he gets back in a couple of weeks. We are spending 3 months solidly working on it. If it can get to a nice monthly income we will be able to sell it for a lot of money...which would be the end goal...then we could put that money into something else.

People under-estimate the effort though....I helped someone with their blog and they gave up after a few weeks. I spent a lot of time helping them...never again wasting my time doing that unless they pay me lol.

 

[Vigilante]

I like to think we don't discourage any action, no matter if it fits into the realm of Fastlane or not -- what I think we strive for is a discouragement of unrealistic expectations -- the expectation that pulling in six figures monthly (or worse, annually) is as simple as downloading Wordpress, installing a theme, and making three posts. Sadly, this is the effort most people are willing to entertain when they get starry-eyed about "blogging for passive income."

My hunch is that the best blogs grow out of a purist with expertise in an area, or at least an interesting personality that can attract other people because they are funny, interesting, or knowledgeable. If I set out to do a blog on investing in penny stocks, it would crash and burn as I have no idea what I am talking about. If I set out to do a blog on eating right, it would crash and burn as nobody would give a shit.

I think you have to bring to the table a blend of expertise, strong articulation skills, marketing skills, and in general you have to be someone that has something to say that people want to hear.

Blogging for the sake of blogging still doesn't work. Blogging for money doesn't work. The cat and the tuna analogy still applies.

 

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[Yoda]

To make the most of the time put into the blog as a lead-generation tool and way to get organic traffic from Google, can you give some advice?

Uh... Yeah... don't look at it like a way to get leads and traffic from Google.

It's there to add value, mate. The traffic and leads come after you give first.

People read articles online because they have questions or want to be entertained. There isn't anything else in the world you need to learn more about blogging than this sentence. Read it 1,000 times. Print it out. Make it your damn mouse pad.

If you answer questions and/or provide entertainment, leads will follow. Stop looking to get when you haven't given.

The questions you SHOULD be asking (and I say 'you' as in everyone, not just @rwiman) are:

1. How can I make someone laugh/cry/get pissed/understand?
2. How can I talk about a subject in a light it's never been talked about before?
3. How can I bring something NEW to the table?
4. How can I leverage every type of media for a singular topic?
5. How do I refurbish old and make it new?
6. How do I create a must-have resource (not product)?

A blog is a way to communicate, on a regular basis, to targeted customers. It's not a way to SELL... but a way to COMMUNICATE.

If your blog communicates value, fun, entertainment, learning, and BENEFITS...

Then you won't need to sell.

They'll buy first.

 

[Vigilante]

I think as media continues to change, the no-filter access to targeted markets will only intensify over the next several years.

Podcasting (or what ever format it will evolve to in the next few years) is a perfect example of a medium that is only at the tip of the iceberg. Your ability to get content you want, on demand, is paving the way for new media engagement.

You get the content you want now on your schedule, vs. what the media moguls want to serve up to you and when. The media started to lose their control when sites like Drudge popped up, and started gaining inroads by breaking up the monopoly.

Blogs are as if not more relevant to your specific interest than any newspaper ever could be. A newspaper is a generalist, and a blog is a specialist.

We're living in the midst of the information explosion.

 

[Vigilante]

Missing the whole point, way over your head.

It's okay, you'll learn 1 day, maybe.

I would reply, but I am busy blogging.

 

[csalvato]

Can you elaborate on that idea?

Let's say you create an affiliate content site selling motor cycle insurance leads to a major auto-insurance affiliate. Let's call this major auto-insurance affiliate InsureUSA (fictional company).

To do this, you create a motor cycle site with a few pieces of really great content related to motor cycles and motor cycle culture.

To generate the leads, you place a form provided by InsureUSA on several pages of your site in a sidebar. Once submitted, that information is automatically sent to InsureUSA, and they add $11 on the balance they owe you at the end of the month.

You have a 0.1% form fill rate, and generate 10,000 visitors a month. That's 10 leads per month, or $110 in lead revenue generated.

Without touching the content itself, you move some things around the page and get to 1% conversions on the same 10,000 unique visitors. Now you're up to $1100/month in lead generation revenue.

You then create more content on your motorcycle site and get more backlinks. This gets your traffic up to 20,000 unique visitors per month. Now you're at $2200/month in lead generation revenue.

Right now, you're only generating motorcycle leads. But InsureUSA can accept motorcycle leads, auto insurance leads, RV insurance leads, home insurance leads, renter's insurance leads, etc.

You have a great relationship with InsureUSA, so you spin up a whole new site for RV insurance leads. You generate content, and go through the same hub-bub you did before with your motorcycle site. Let's say the numbers match exactly - you're up to $4400month in revenue.

Do the same for all the other lead types that InsureUSA can accept. Then do the same in another niche, say, education, where EducateUSA is the lead buyer.

Or, instead of working with EducateUSA, you spin up an insurance company, and take some leads for yourself, gradually absorbing all leads you generate, and cut out all the middlemen.

You're still "blogging", because you're making high-quality, useful content, publishing and promoting it. But you're not writing it yourself, and your name and persona aren't attached to it. The content stands alone.

This is possible, and there are people doing it. There are companies that are in the mid 7-figures with sites you would consider to have relatively shitty content doing a very similar lead generation model. But it's really hard and it's not sexy. And if we are talking strictly about lead buying and selling, you can find yourself working with pretty scummy people, and inadvertently doing pretty scummy things.

EDIT: Full disclosure, I was trying to execute on this model a couple of years ago, but when I saw how fickle SEO traffic is, saw how much I hated the niche I was in and saw how incredibly soul sucking the work/industry was, I decided it wasn't for me, but these numbers are very similar to those I was working with in my own content lead gen biz.

 

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[Yoda]

I'd love more input on how you guys reach out to the people who buy/want leads.

Dude, pick up the phone. Period.

In regards to becoming a "publisher" of sorts... when you start a blog, you're at the bottom of the food chain.

Here's the hierarchy:

1. Blogger - you write, you market.
2. Editor - hire your writing, you edit it, you market.
3. Editor In Chief - your writers pass their work to an editor, who edits and publishes, you market.
4. CEO - your writers pass their work to an editor, who edits and publishes, and communicates to your marketers/affiliates. You brand.

Find your place, and figure out how to get to a critical mass where you're forced to move up the chain.

Ideally, you go from creator and marketer, to spending to more time on marketing and the rest on editing, to spending all your time on marketing, to spending your time on straight up branding.

 

[Greg R]

@Greg Rutkowski / @csalvato How do you like to test demand in your target markets?

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking, but I will approach this question from the prospective of testing demand for a product or service that I may want to incorporate on my site in the future.

I like to talk to those who are engaged most with the blog. The people that write me emails, comment on posts, share my work, and open the most newsletters/ emails that I send them.

It is important to identify who those people are. What they want. What their problems are.

The easiest way to do this is by talking with them ten minutes on the phone or sending a friendly email.

Just be real with them and ask a lot of questions. The will reveal what the actually want with out even saying it. You just have to listen carefully.

To test demand I:

• Send them a survey via Survey Monkey
• Send them an email to see if they get engaged with the topic
• Write a post about an idea and see what people have to say about it
• Lastly if I am soft launching a product, I ask them to buy it.

The key is getting them to buy. That is the only true way to test demand.

Last year I made these personalized walnut serving boards. I tested demand by simply posting a picture of it on Facebook. I don't think there was any copy associated with the post, just the picture. I got ten sales out of that post and I wasn't even advertising that they were for sale.

That is demand.

There are two videos that I like that address the topic of validating.

Noah Kagan likes to talk about validating. He doesn't over complicate it. There a a few other videos by him we he instantly validates business on the spot.

Don't get too hung up on it. After testing a few ideas, you will instantly know when the demand is there.

I hope this helps.

 

[Charnell]

I started a very niche blog (not the one in my signature) back in mid-January that's been making progress in the last 6 months. A pretty consistent 150% increase in traffic every month, and an average earning of roughly $0.07/visitor.

After 4 months people were actually reaching out to me because they found the website from Google and wanted to advertise.

Is it changing my life? Hell no. If it maintains this trend until the end of the year? Maybe a little bit.

I started it on a whim to learn about SEO.

I still don't know anything about SEO.

 

[theag]

There is a difference between properly run and niched down blogs like the ones you talk about and the 99999999th iteration of a guy spitting out personal development, dating and fitness advice on his new wordpress install, which are the ones we usually get here in the forum and rightly discourage from wasting their time.

 

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[Yoda]

Do all monetisation strategies for a blog involve generating leads for some business?

Lead generation provides significantly more control than, say, Adsense.

If you have Adsense throwing random adverts all over your users, you never know what they're going to click on, how much revenue you'll generate, etc. You can also test your own design/layout of each CTA, where as with Adsense, it's other marketers doing it for you, essentially.

Yes, over time, you can get averages, but as mentioned, you can almost always do better.

Lead gen allows you control over what questions to ask (how many, or how few), where you want to distribute those leads to, to whom, and for how much.

Something most people don't consider:

Leads can be traded. They're simply data points. Businesses buy data all day long. Here's a few ideas to get the cogs turning:

1. Trade them for cash (selling)
2. Trade them for partial revenue (revenue sharing)
3. Trade them for other leads (lead exchange)
4. Trade them for anything of monetary value (indirect exchange)

Or, perhaps one of the best... lead generation can be your direct sales line where you're selling your own product. SEO's love to claim this as "inbound marketing" or some silly phrase, but it's just marketing, albeit through organic search engine traffic. The key, however, is the fact Google traffic is "Free" once everything is up and running.

Leads also have a "life" to consider, where ads don't. Ads have your users click and be gone. Leads, again, as data sets, mean you can continue to use this data for a period of time, and even then, you can still monetize the data down the road.

Example, let's say you ask a lead for an email as part of their data input... they can now be a part of your list to cross-sell other products.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Some great posts / debate in here, and mostly civil! Marked GOLD.