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Blogging for Profit (With Legendary GOLD Follow Up Posts)

Vigilante

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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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Supa

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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.
 

MJ DeMarco

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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."
 

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Vigilante

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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

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LOL, reminds me of a certain product photography discussion. :)

Early on, you could send bloggers free shit and they would blog about it. That still exists on some lower tiers, but in the upper echelons, the bloggers actually want you to PAY them. :)
 

Vigilante

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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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illmasterj

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My personal blog/website income to date is around 1/40th of my content marketing income to date. And I've been working on my personal sites it for for around 5x as long!

It's doable, but being a good digital marketer is only part of it. You have to be very driven IMO. I love writing, but writing for my blog is painful!
 
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Yoda

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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.
 

The Grind

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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.
 
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Vigilante

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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.
 

The Grind

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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.
Yes it is, for reasons you don't understand because of a lack of kkkknnnnoowwwllllleeeeddddggggeee.....
 

Vigilante

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Vigilante

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Product quality, yes #1 priority.

But listen... pal.

Building a blog properly, BY DEFAULT, crushes your competitors and makes you impossible to compete with.

Understand?

I have competitors who have great blogs, but suck. So I think you have to add a "don't suck" rule to your overemphasis of the importance of a blog to the competitive landscape.

But I digress. The purpose of this thread wasn't a blog as a competitive tool. I was more marveling at the blog BEING THE BUSINESS ITSELF.
 

mikey3times

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I need to figure out how to run my site as a business. I have 350,000 page views per month, but I only make a few hundred dollars.

As someone said in my INSIDERS progress thread, AdSense is webmaster welfare.

@Vigilante, I'd love to see some of these blogs you speak of so I can look at how they market and monetize. (Not copying their site...copying their strategy/process.)
 
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The Grind

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I have competitors who have great blogs, but suck. So I think you have to add a "don't suck" rule to your overemphasis of the importance of a blog to the competitive landscape.
Pretty sure I JUST SAID "PROPERLY" after I said build a blog.

Stephen King could start a blog today and NOTHING would happen, ever.

Do it right. And what I said above stands true.
 

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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.
So stop making sales calls, start a blog?
So stop training staff, start a blog?
No more paid traffic, start a blog?
 

The Grind

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So stop making sales calls, start a blog?
So stop training staff, start a blog?
No more paid traffic, start a blog?
What in gods name are you talking about...

Build the blog while you do everything else.

1 Article a day, properly.

It's not hard people.
 
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Vigilante

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I need to figure out how to run my site as a business. I have 350,000 page views per month, but I only make a few hundred dollars.

As someone said in my INSIDERS progress thread, AdSense is webmaster welfare.

@Vigilante, I'd love to see some of these blogs you speak of so I can look at how they market and monetize. (Not copying their site...copying their strategy/process.)

These blogs I am talking about returned on the front page of google for their industry. So, I then inquired with them, and they responded with rate cards. However, their page views were 3x yours. I think you should drive more traffic first, and then dumb advertisers like me may seek you out in your space.
 

Vigilante

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Pretty sure I JUST SAID "PROPERLY" after I said build a blog.

Stephen King could start a blog today and NOTHING would happen, ever.

Do it right. And what I said above stands true.

I would read Stephen King's blog. Hell, I might start a blog about Stephen King. [HASHTAG]#moreLandFill[/HASHTAG]
 

The Grind

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I would read Stephen King's blog. Hell, I might start a blog about Stephen King. [HASHTAG]#moreLandFill[/HASHTAG]
I'm really glad you just said that... it proves how ignorant you are on this subject.

Ready...

You would never find his blog :)

Read that again, let it sink in, think about it... dream about it...

...take out a pen and paper, take some notes, paint a picture

...let the heavens open up

...let the red sea part.
 
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Vigilante

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Greg R

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I have competitors who have great blogs, but suck. So I think you have to add a "don't suck" rule to your overemphasis of the importance of a blog to the competitive landscape.

But I digress. The purpose of this thread wasn't a blog as a competitive tool. I was more marveling at the blog BEING THE BUSINESS ITSELF.

Aside from the last point you made, businesses with blogs rank better in Google. When done well, you can own keywords and drive more revenue to your business this way.

A Chicago painter who has a blog and ranks well when "Chicago Painting" is searched is going to get more business than the average Joe.

As far as the blog being the business goes, you must not treat it like a personal blog if you eventually want to have a liquidation event.

Personal blogs can make great money (Pat Flynn is a good example) however have little to no liquidation value.

I have seen a personal blog that had an Alexa rank of 30K bomb after some venture capital firm bought it because the readers only wanted to read content from that specific individual (he signed a no compete for a year).

While that guy made out good, there probably aren't too many firms any more that would put up huge sums of cash for a personal blog.

Just my two CENTS.
 

ZCP

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What in gods name are you talking about...
Build the blog while you do everything else.
1 Article a day, properly.
It's not hard people.
Teach me. You get 10% commission on first two jobs we bring in because of a blog.
 

Supa

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I'm really glad you just said that... it proves how ignorant you are on this subject.

Ready...

You would never find his blog :)

Read that again, let it sink in, think about it... dream about it...

...take out a pen and paper, take some notes, paint a picture

...let the heavens open up

...let the red sea part.

If Stephen King would do a blog, it would get more traffic than most blogs out there, all his readers alone are a potential market for it. Same goes for every big author out there, J.K. Rowling, Dan Brown, etc.
 
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JokerCrazyBeatz

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Why so defensive guy ?
I'm really glad you just said that... it proves how ignorant you are on this subject.

Ready...

You would never find his blog :)

Read that again, let it sink in, think about it... dream about it...

...take out a pen and paper, take some notes, paint a picture

...let the heavens open up

...let the red sea part.
o_O
 

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