Which do you want to do? Make Money Blogging Fast or Build Your List? Why not both!
People get confused about their blog because they don’t know whether they’re supposed to make money blogging fast, or build your list.
I get that question all the time. We suggest doing both.
Everyone is talking about how blogging for profit as a fast and easy way for you to earn a living.
Well, I’m not so sure about fast or easy…
But there is a way for you to increase your list size and make your blog profitable.
First, let me tell you my theory on blogging. This is how I’ve made money blogging.
My blog is not my primary source of income.
I’m interested in list building because there is a ton of value in creating a list but also making sales.
But normally if you’re interested in niche blogging for profit, you’re going to have to promote a ton of affiliate products.
Nothing wrong with it except that you give up control when you’re sending all of your traffic somewhere else.
So here’s how we do it.
We write “Epic” or “Cornerstone” content.
These are blog posts that are fairly evergreen. They can be used over and over again because they educate the reader on a topic that isn’t going out of style. Or isn’t a fad.
Already, you can see that blogging is a very strategic activity. We don't just throw up a bunch of content and hope you'll read it. There's a process.
Being clear on the goal is key. And our goal is to focus on list building AND making money from blogging at the same time.
When we write an epic or cornerstone piece of blog content, we’re implementing an income stream strategy. Let’s go through the process next.
I actually write two posts!
YUP. You heard me.
Blog post #1 is my list building post.
It’s the post that lives in the blog section of my website and I use to promote on social media.
The call to action for this post is an opportunity for the reader to sign up for something free. Normally a lead magnet, a download, checklist…something valuable and something that relates to the topic I’m writing about.
Blog post #2 is my sales post and I don’t put it in the main blog on my website. I use a category called exclusive member content.
It’s just a way for me to stay a little more organized.
This is a duplicate of post #1 but instead of giving the reader an opt-in opportunity, I give them a sales opportunity.
Even though it may seem like I’m doubling my efforts, I’m not at all. Writing the blog post is the hardest part of this project. It takes very little time to change out the call to action.
And I’m creating content for two completely different segments of my market.
I love using blog content to engage with the readers on my list.
But they’re already on my list and they have access to all my lead magnets and free content anyway. Why would I want to show them content that asks them to sign up for my list again?
I don’t.
So when I’m sending out a blog post to my existing list, I give them an opportunity to buy the product I’m writing about.
This strategy works well.
Let me give you a quick breakdown of the tools I use to do this and I’ll show you an example of a piece of content and reveal the results over the past 90 days.
Steps To Start A Blog For Profit
Example: Post #1 call to action is for list building
I distributed this on social media and ran Facebook ads to it.
I’ve had over 800 opt in’s from this blog post since I published it 90 days ago.
This is an image of the pop-up.
I’ve used this pop-up in two places.
As an exit pop and when someone reads 80% of my content. If the reader has made it 80% down my page then they are uber engaged.
Example: Post #2 call to action is for sales
This is the same exact content as post # 1 except the call to action is different.
This post has generated over $2000 in sales by dripping it out to our existing list over the past 60 days.
I’ve used this pop up in two places as well.
First, it shows up when the reader has made it 80% of the way through my content. Same reasoning as above. 80% means engaged.
It’s also used as an embedded call to action at the bottom of the post as well.
So if you’re looking to make money blogging fast, there are few things to decide.
Do you want to primarily be a blogger who generates a ton of content or do you want to use your blog as another way to engage, communicate and educate your readers?
I’m not saying you can’t do both.
But if you’re in a business like mine, where you have your own products, you need to constantly focus on building your list and selling your products. Creating these types of epic or cornerstone posts is a great way to do it.
The biggest mistake I see folks make with their blog is they don’t have a purpose. They write content just to write content. They don’t monetize it well and they definitely don’t use it to build their list.
If you’re ready to make money with your blog, pick up my report called 6 Figure Blogging. It’s all about using the best monetization strategies even if your just getting started. It’s possible to make your blog profitable. You’ve just got to follow the steps and create content with a purpose.
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