Make Money Blogging
That's a question I'm asked…often. Usually by someone who wants to make money online, but doesn't know anything about internet marketing except what they've seen when they're online:
- advertisements on websites
- banner ads
- search engine ads (PayPerClick) on Google and other search engines
- product reviews by people who say they are ‘affiliates' (but don't understand what the means)
The most recent question came from a woman who already owns a business and wants to use the internet to get more customers. She's been trying social media but hasn't seen results in terms of phone calls or new customers. She has a website, but it's more like a ‘business card online' and nothing is being done to drive traffic to the website…except the site address is on her business card and she does mention the site to people she meets.
That's it.
Before I show you how someone makes money blogging, the marketer/business owner/trainer in me simply must point out where this woman is in terms of making the internet work for her.
She doesn't have a message that is being put in front of her target market on a regular basis because…
- She doesn't have a plan
- She doesn't have a website that attracts potential customers
- She isn't active on social media where her target market is
- She has done zero (0) online advertising
- No one on the internet knows who she is or what she does (except her 242 Facebook friends and her 137 LinkedIn connections)
The first thing that needs to happen is her mindset (and possibly yours).
Yes, you can make money blogging. Don't expect it to happen overnight. Blogging is a long-term strategy and must be viewed as such or you will give up in 6 months.
So, here are 5 tips on how to make money blogging:
1. Identify your target prospect.
Beyond the basics of: 40+ year old women business owners with no internet marketing skills…isn't targeted enough. Where does she live – United States? Southern or northern part? All over is fine, but is she in small town or big city USA? What does she need beyond new customers? Really – you need to know who it is you're writing to. Picture her in your mind as you're writing the blog post. Even better is when you're writing the post to solve a problem she has.
2. What problem(s) do they have?
List them. Is it lack of time to spend with family? Is it too much month and not enough money? Is it being too tired? Is she battling a chronic illness? Does she have communication issues? Does she need to learn internet marketing so her business is more successful? Does she need automation tools or training? If you are blogging then your job is to solve her problems and you need to know what those problems are.
3. Build Your List
On your blog make sure there is a place for visitors to leave their email. It could be in exchange for a free download or set up as an RSS feed so that when a new post is published they receive an email notification. This way you can market to them in the future.
4. Drive Traffic
There are many ways to drive traffic to your blog. The paid options include PayPerClick ads on websites and search engines, in email newsletters to someone else's list, publication advertising and more. Organic (non-paid) options include syndicating your blog post to numerous websites including social media, creating content elsewhere that points to your blog post, and more.
5. Converting the Traffic
If your goal is for your blog to make you money, then your priority for that blog is to convert the traffic into leads and leads into buying customers. This is done through emailing to your list, sharing quality content on your blog and elsewhere, showing them what you have to offer for sale, solving their problems.
If you're ready to set up a blog and learn how to put these 5 steps to use, I invite you to use the platform I'm using here. It's a WordPress based blog that any beginner can use. You literally can ‘fill in the blank' to begin blogging. Truly, it is that simple. Click the link below and get started today.
