Last week we talked about how to monetize your niche. This week, we’re going to go one step further and talk about how to turn your niche into a business.
In last week’s post we talked about the importance of having a plan – so like all good action orientated infopreneurs, I’m sure, by now, you’ve gone and written one. If you haven’t why not?!
So, assuming you’ve got your plan, you’ll now have a good idea about how you’re going to make money from your niche; whether that’s selling your own information products – (Check out Brandon’s excellent guide 7 days to information products), selling the products as others (ie as an affiliate) or selling advertising (such as Google Adsense) – you now need to think about putting this all together and making it into a business.
Beware: the big time saps
Many people think that their blog is their business. I’m sorry, but that’s a myth. A blog is a means to an end it’s a shop window to your business.
So if you spend all of your time tweaking the theme or the look of your blog you’re really just shuffling the deck chairs or window dressing. All this activity on it’s own won’t make you a penny, but you can be sure as anything, it eats up your time.
The so called ‘pro-bloggers’ – focus on the business first and the blog second. This is a sensible plan and you should follow it too.
When you’re prioritizing your task list you should spend your time on the things that will help your business move towards it’s goals – too often people spend all their time tweaking a post, or commenting on other blogs, rather than writing out to their email list to promote an affiliate product which could earn them a commission.
Don’t get me wrong, you need to attract people to your blog through quality content, but the content generation has to be balanced in the context of the overall objectives for your site. In addition the quality of the content needs to be the highest to encourage people to come back for more.
I see many people talk about their plans to monetize at some point. Or, “I’ll be starting an email list in a few weeks”, but in every interview I’ve read with the ‘probloggers’, they all talk about the one thing that they wish they’d done earlier is start an email list earlier and I’d argue you to do it too.
I’ve talked before here that some commentators refer to a name on your email list being worth between $2-5 a month. So ignoring building your list is potentially throwing money down the drain. If you haven’t got your email list set up, get to it now! I personally use Aweber, which is paid service, to manage my campaigns, but there’s a whole host of other services such as Mailchimp which are free for smaller lists.
How my website became an extension to my business
I earn the vast majority of my income from working directly with clients on either an interim basis (where I resolve a problem or provide them support during times of change typically on site) or as a consultant and provide short term advice on solving issues and advising business on their next steps.
Over the last year I’ve been looking to mix my income up from being all physical (ie 100% carried out by me) to a mix of virtual and physical. So I’ve had to spend a lot of time thinking about how my website could support my business.
About a year ago, I started down this route and brought togehter my static website and Blogger.com hosted blog to a fully integrated site.
My blog now fully supports my business, either by attracting new clients for the consulting services or providing added value services to existing clients with reference materials.
In the last couple of months it has also started generating income from passive sources too, so my plan to split my virtual/physical income is starting to become a reality as my experiments in generating passive income have taken place and I have now started to generate a very useful second income.
Next week I’ll talk more about this in detail and the platforms and the tools that I use to generate my passive income.
Does your website support your business?
Matthew Needham, is a UK based professional interim manager, qualified accountant and consultant. He is the writer for The Big Red Tomato Company and member of the Infopreneur.net TIP Team. You can connect with him on Facebook or on Twitter or subscribe to his RSS feed. If you have an business problem or idea you want to chat through you can hire him for a one hour brainstorm/consulting session by Skype or Email.
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Hi Matthew,
This is a very interesting subject for me. I am looking to establish my blog as a means to drive traffic and subscribers to other parts of my business. The overall plan involves both my blog (maybe not in it’s present form) and my other planned business outlets over the next year.
Look forward to your next post.
Pete
Pete Carr´s last [type] ..Underground Traffic Blueprint
Thanks Pete for your comment. You’re right it’s quite a fascinating subject and I have learnt a lot about it over the last few months.
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Achieving Your Dreams The Tomato Way- Episode III
Really like your advice about focusing on your business rather than your blog. We need to dedicate a specific number of hours in our blogs as it is only one of the aspects of our business.
Julius´s last [type] ..An Invitation to Subscribe to the Even Grounds Web Accessibility Channel in YouTube
You’re absolutely right Julius. If you’re not careful you blogging can be a distraction from the real reason you blog in the first place!
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Accelerate your growth with a business audit
Matthew,
Awesome post. It is way to easy to get caught up in the minutia of working on a blog. It is helpful to be reminded on occasion that it is after all a business and those aspects should never be forgotten for a the sake of a little extra glitz.
Thanks,
Steve
Steve Scott Site´s last [type] ..A Period of Transition
Absolutely Steve, your have approached your own site in exactly that way, by outsourcing the tasks that are low value and focussing on the important things.
Thanks for your comment!
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Accelerate your growth with a business audit
Way to bum me out Matthew. Just kidding!
When you brought up the “blog is not your business” it reminded me of a break down point I had not long ago – it was exactly true!
I think, as bloggers, we can be wrapped up with keeping up with our blog and forget the bigger picture. We’re not all pro bloggers here and need to work on the things that actually generate us money.
For example, I’ve been putting off posts so I have more time to write, which is where I make the majority of my online income.
For others, you may be blogging about a hobby but if you spend all day on your blog you’re not doing your hobby – how will you ever grow if all you’re doing is summarizing! You have to get out there, spend time with what you love (your niche) and then come back and tell something new.
Murlu´s last [type] ..1000 Articles In 100 Days – A Challenge From Me To You
That’s absolutely right Murray. Truth is a lot of bloggers are a ‘bit geeky’ and like to tinker.
I admit it I am.
My wife said to me a few months ago “why do you spend all your time on that site when it brings in 5c”
She’s changed her tune now income is starting to come in!
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Accelerate your growth with a business audit
Something is speaking to me, because I can’t shake the rabid trail of people and blog posts that are telling me the importance of starting an email list… I too have recently thought to myself, “oh it’s too early, I’ll start one down the road”… looks like I need to pursue this agressively. Thanks!
Daniel Snyder´s last [type] ..How long can I browse the web with no antivirus protection
Daniel…it’s NEVER too early to start. There is nothing more important than an email list. It all starts there.
Brandon
Get it going Bud!
Absolutely Daniel. Put it another way. What harm can it do?
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Accelerate your growth with a business audit
I have been writing “commentaries” to health articles (that I disagree with) and it’s not the first time someone tells me I should monetize my niche. I am not sure how to go about this but I do know you let some cats outta the bag keeping the really good ones for those who are willing to pay. Would love to know your views and loopholes about promoting “private content” while giving free content away.
Thanks for the comment Kelly. You’re basically on the right lines. Start by checking last week’s post for ideas on how to monetise.
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Accelerate your growth with a business audit
Hey Matthew,
This was a bloody awesome post mate, and I’m really glad I came by to read it, because those points you touched on about time sappers really hit home for me and made me realise I have spent so much time blogging and not enough time on the business side of things.
Thanks for reminding me to get my butt into gear
Alex´s last [type] ..The Ultimate Keyword Research Resource – Available Now!
Hey Alex
Thanks for the comment. In the accounting world we talk about sales being vanity and profit being sanity. A lot of those lessons apply to blogging.
Which reminds me, I need to check out your awesome new eBook!
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Accelerate your growth with a business audit