7 Steps To An Amazing Blog Business Plan
A recent survey of bloggers revealed nearly 80% of them want to turn their blog into a full-time business that pays all the bills. That’s a pretty amazing figure. Nearly all of the remaining 20% said they were already making a full-time income from their blog
What made the difference? Why this huge gap between those who wish for something and those living the reality of their wishes? Is there something different the minority group is doing? Whatever that is, a lot must have gone into solid strategic planning which was faithfully adhered to and smartly implemented.
So today’s post will help teach you how to create a Blog Business plan that can turn that side hobby (and hustle) into your full-time business that pays all the bills and more.
Nearly all successful mega businesses today use business plans, which experts agreed factored into their success. (A business plan is also a requirement if you plan to approach a bank or other investor for a business loan)
19 Easy Ways To Promote Blog Posts
Blog owners know the thrill that comes from hitting the “publish” button. Even after years of being at it, the thrill is still there. Well, who wouldn’t be thrilled? Certainly you would be after spending sleepless nights and tons of edit in order to create a masterpiece you wish to share with your audience.
One thing that baffles me though is how blog owners spend all of their time on the content part of content marketing, and then totally forget about the marketing aspect. This involves blog promotion and post promotion, which they must fine tune to bring success to their blog. It’s not a superiority contest of whether creating content is more important than marketing. Spending equal time on both creating content and blog promotion will improve the odds of bringing your blog in front of the right people.
No one lights a candle and puts it under a bushel. So also, no one spends time creating that perfect blog post with the perfect image and/or video only to have no one read it.
In this post I’ll examine nearly 20 easy ways you can promote your blog posts to help optimize your reach.
1. Blog Comments
This is an old practice yet it helps blog promotion every time. However, commenting should not be done simply with the aim of self-promoting your blog posts. It also doesn’t bring good karma points in the end. Have you read a good blog post and would like to add one or two more points? You can use this avenue to promote your blog posts by commenting something in the direction of, “I just wrote about this topic and added two more points. Read about it here.”
Another style is commenting as an answer to a question the writer has raised. Your yardstick to measure if what you’re doing is right or wrong is to ask yourself if you’re adding any value to the ongoing conversation.
5 Top Resources For Terrific Traffic To Your Blog (Part 1, Social Media)
Regardless of the niche your blog covers, increasing traffic to your blog is a key way to increase your profits. The more visitors you can bring to your blog, the more of your articles they may review, the more advertisements they will click, the more affiliate product offers they will see, and the more opportunity they will have to buy your products.
In addition, all of this adds value to your site and makes it more appealing to potential advertisers and sponsors.
The problem is everyone on the web wants more traffic, so everyone is competing and fighting for the attention of viewers. The Internet is filled with so many different bloggers, businesses and advertisers all trying to stand out. That can make it very difficult for you to differentiate yourself from others and to get your blog noticed.
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What dictates the winners and losers can come down to who has the best strategies.
Five of the top major sources for getting traffic to your blog are social media, search engines, Facebook ads, forums and videos.
In this series of posts, I talk about those five major sources. I will share some very effective ways to use them to increase the flow of traffic to your blog. For each traffic source, I’ll cover only the most effective and the most valuable techniques.
5 Top Tips To Earn Money Blogging
If you are looking to earn money with your blog, especially more of a full-time income, it helps to have a lot of different resources from which to choose to help give you a lot of options.
And as far as income, sometime we hear you can’t earn full-time income as a blogger, while at other times we hear all about the heroes slaying the dragons in the Blogger-land and you’re convinced these stories must have happened on another planet or that these heroes are just demi-gods. But I’m here to tell you it really is possible to earn lots of cool cash from your blog! Be warned though, it can take a long time to start earning cash from blogging so don’t start expecting overnight miracles. If you are in need of money quickly then you go to one of the MDP pawn shops in San Diego.
So let’s dive into some of the many options out there to help you get started!
Ad Networks
Ad networks are the link between bloggers and brands or companies seeking to advertise their products and services. They find unsold advertising space from publishers. Then, they fill that space with digital ad campaigns and sponsorships from their clients. This can be done using several different types of formats, such as text, image and/or video.
Most sponsored ads you see online, whether a sponsored post or a sidebar ad, were created by these ad networks.
Great Way To Introduce Yourself As A Blogger Or Freelancer
Remember those beautiful moments when it seems you’ll soon be adding a new friend to your list? Yes, it could even be online, not just offline. You’re both having fun getting to know each other and then suddenly you get fired that dreaded question, “So, what do you do?” And then it suddenly feels as if time has stopped. Everything becomes awkward!
Great news, there is a way out of this tight spot. Yes, a much better way than just tossing an “Uh, I run a blog” or “I’m a freelancer.” What’s more, giving a four-word or five-word response might simply earn you puzzled stares or some half-hearted “Oh, great!” A flubbed introduction may also leave your audience less interested in whatever it is you say next.
I will also cover some of the more general things to do and not do, many of which you will probably have heard before. However, a refresher certainly won’t hurt. Remember, how you say things can be as important as what you say.
But let’s first discuss in detail some strategies you can adopt to give a long-lasting response to that dreaded question, “What do you do?” Here we go…
Value Versus Title
If I tell you I’m the Chief Design Coordinator for my company, you’re likely to wonder, what exactly does she do? But if I say something like “I’m in charge of ensuring our product designs are compatible for use with our customers, while ensuring the team works productively to meet deadlines,” you’re more likely to get interested in knowing more about what I do.
12 Content Upgrades To Quickly Grow Your List
If you’re in an online business, one recurring message you must have heard is that the best way to grow your email list is by offering content upgrades to your audience. There’s no substitute for exchanging value for email addresses using content upgrades. This is more true if you’re a new kid on the block.
What is A Content Upgrade?
Simply put, a content upgrade is that packaged information people get after submitting their email before downloading. They are usually quite helpful and provide additional, or provide a shortcut or easier way of using specific material.
Why is A Content Upgrade Necessary?
A content upgrade tells your audience “I care about you. That’s why I took special care to prepare this checklist, ebook, etc. It makes it easier to refer to the information you’re looking for.” It is one email building method that works ALL the time because everyone loves free things that have value. It can also simply help make the material or the use of it much easier.
Benefits of An Email List Built Through Content Upgrades
An email list obtained through content upgrades provides essential information about your audience that helps you segment your campaigns. You can better focus on sending them more of that related content or offer related products and services by noting the information in which your audience is most interested. It puts some human touch on your automated email campaigns, while helping you avoid some people unsubscribing from the list because they keep receiving irrelevant information.
I can hear you say, “Great, so, let’s get started already!” But the next thought dampens your spirits, and that’s how do I come up with interesting content ideas regularly? There’s no denying the fact that coming up with valuable content upgrades is not an easy feat.
I’ve got great news! Here are 12 awesome ideas you can use to grow your list every day. Check them out. (And be sure to check out our four-page Content Upgrade with all kinds of resources for all 12 of these ideas!)