Eighteen years ago I started making money online and it’s been quite a journey since then. I’ve had my hands in everything from creating banner ads, pushing web hosting, creating sites to drive sales to Amazon, building out my own content sites, email marketing, affiliate marketing and of course blogging. You will notice it’s quite a list… but don’t forget, I did say 18 years!
To be successful in business, especially on the internet, is knowing how to adapt and change your business model with the world around you. All of the methods I mentioned above have changed a lot over the years, by being able to adapt your business to these changes you can continually tweak and improve your business with the times. Offline and retail businesses are failing miserably if they haven’t adapted to the world of internet marketing yet… and still some of them will sit on the sidelines and continue to lose money until they are completely bankrupt.
Of all of the methods I mentioned above, blogging has been on of the most fun and successful for me. However, finding success in the world of blogging is not easy… nothing in life worth doing is! It takes less than a few minutes to setup a blog of your own, but to build it into something amazing it will take a massive amount of time, effort and dedication. Money also helps…
Most people will start a blog and think they can throw content together and then traffic and money will start flowing through their sites. This is the worst thing you can think of… and it will never happen. Over 100,000 new sites are going live everyday… why would anyone want to visit your site over the others? This is what you need to find out and will ultimately determine the longterm growth and success of your blog.
How I Make Over Six Figures Every Year from Blogging
My full page article can be found in the most recent article of FeedFront magazine. While it’s not a blue print for success, it does outline the basics of what every successful blogger needs. I’ve listed each of them below and also went into detail on how I use each to earn over six figures a year from blogging.
Be the Authority
It doesn’t matter what you are good at, as long as you are awesome at something. My calling was to start a blog in affiliate and online marketing, since this is what I’m good at. You will also want to choose a topic for your blog that interests you and that you will be able to leverage and write for over a long period of time. It’s also a good idea to start a blog that will have advertisers that want to buy placement on your site, or that you can create a product or service through.
In my case I get emails on a daily basis from advertisers that want to get exposure for their products and services on my site. Since I’ve built up my brand and authority, I can charge a high premium that other affiliate marketing blogs can not.
Be Everywhere
Imagine what it would cost you to buy a full month of newspaper advertisements or a billboard… this is all wasted money and it’s usually very expensive. On top of that you will also have limited reach, and there is also no guarantee it will even work for you. This is how the retail business is still being run.
Through the use of a blog and social media you can grow your brand and gain authority with little to no cost. Create something amazing, provide awesome advice, guest blog on various other sites and leave valuable comments and you will see a steady progression of your authority and your ability to be everywhere on the internet for an extremely low cost. This is without a doubt one of the best ways to grow your reach online.
I’m all over the place. I will answer interview requests whenever they come in, I guest blog on a bunch of sites, I’m active on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest and I’m always sharing content and commenting on top blogs across the internet.
Leverage Your Blog
I mentioned earlier that a lot of advertisers want to get exposure on my sites. If I’m not doing direct paid placement deals with them, there are usually other ways that we can work together. This can be another from a referral program or exchanging traffic and reviews on their sites. The important thing to know is that people want to work with you because of the blog that you have in place. Your blog isn’t only important for the people who are ready it, but also for leveraging yourself and your brand as well.
As a result of my blog I’ve been able to appear on Fox News, ABC News, speak around the world at difference conferences, launch a real book of my own, win some awesome prizes and meet amazing people from all around the world. On top of everything else, I’ve even been able to launch my own side brand through the blog which has grown immensely in just a few years.
Show Me the Money
The success of your blog and brand is contagious. Once you have a readership and brand following, people will read what you have to say and they will share it with their friends as well. The better the content, the more people will share it. All of this eventually leads to more exposure for your blog and brand, which increases your authority and your ability to charge a higher premium for advertising and gain the attention of Fortune 500 brands.
Anyone can start a blog, but it takes a massive amount of time and effort to turn it into something amazing. Earning $100,000 a year from a blog is definitely possible and some of you will likely accomplish this in the coming new year. Don’t look at the big picture, but instead focus on the core content and goal of your blog. Don’t be afraid to try something different, and also don’t try to replicate someone else’s success.
Creating a legitimate and profitable blog does not happen over night. Start small and try to earn $10 a day, then scale this to $1,000 a month in earnings and you will eventually hit your goal of six figures per year.
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