turn your blog into a business
So you want to turn your blog into a business?
Whether you have an existing blog and are looking at ways to generate a profit from it or you have a talent of putting pen to paper (well, fingers to keyboard) and intend to start a blog with the hope of making money, it is important to go about it in the right way.
The great thing about starting a business through blogging is that your content, what you choose to write about, can literally be about anything – so long as it is interesting, well written and will attract an audience.
If your blog content is unique and subsequently attracts traffic, you will be able to change your entire financial life through it.
Here are 6 easy, but effective, steps to help turn your blog into a business.
Find your passion
Choose your passion or your subject you wish to blog about wisely. Remember, there are mountains of blogs and bloggers out there, so the more unique your blog is the more it will stand out.
Make it narrow. For instance, there are thousands of blogs on camping, but how many blogs are there on semi luxury yurts?!
Turn your blog into a business: get involved
This is the part where you need to get yourself out there and really explore your niche.
Find as many blogs as you can that are based on, or close to your niche and get in touch with the bloggers, explaining that you’re really interested in the topic and want to be part of the community.
As you build a strong network of contacts within your niche, your knowledge of the area will improve and ultimately so will the content for your blog.
Plus, this strategy of “staying in the loop” will also provide you with a constant stream of up to date, relevant information on your topic. So build your network to stay fresh!
Boost your online visitors
It’s simple. The more online traffic you have for your blog, the more advertisers will offer you sponsorships and the more money you will make.
You’re going to have to be “that” person for a while and send your blog out regularly to your entire email list. But, providing you pay attention to the previous point, this will be a pleasure to do in time, as your email list looks forward tantalizingly to the next email of juicy blog content.
Another really effective way of increasing traffic to your blog is through social media. Share your blog content through as many social media platforms as you can with clear links to your website in order to get people talking about it and viewing your site.
Sell advertising space
Once you have gained enough traffic, it’s time to put the money making mechanisms in place.
Arguably the most widely used method here is selling display advertising space. If an advertiser’s target market is in line with your website’s predominant group of viewers, then they may wish to display advertisements on your website.
The best way to get started here is to register with Google AdSense, which is designed to allow website publishers to display targeted text, or display advertisements on their websites/blogs, and earn money when visitors click these ads.
Advertising Networks
There are now a huge amount of ad networks available to bloggers and website owners. Put simply, they are companies that connect advertisers to web sites looking to host advertisements.
Have a browse around some of the main companies, such as Adsterra, Revenue Pilot and Google DoubleClick and figure out which are the best plans and payment packages for your site.
Use affiliate programs
This is another method of advertising on your blog where a company will pay for their service to be exposed on your site.
However, the action must end in a purchase (or at least registering on the advertiser’s site) in order for the company to cough up the cash! This means the visitor must click on the ad, then make buy the product/service in order for you to earn any commission.
While this method can produce money, the cost per click mechanism is of course more effective.
Bottom Line
So find your passion, develop your network, boost your traffic and advertisers will come flocking! Do all the above and you will be able to turn your blog into a business for sure.
Happy blogging. 🙂
About the Author
Jessica Gust works as a Marketing Assistant for a new online postcode finder, called Localpeek.co.uk. She is always more than eager to share her ideas via blogging. Hence, she is passionate about learning the newest and latest marketing strategies so she can pass them on.
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turn your blog into a business
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