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How to Make Money Blogging: How This Blog Makes $100K per Month
You know everyone thinks we’re fools, right?
To most of the world, blogging is a joke.
It isn’t a career. It isn’t a way to make money. It isn’t a tool for changing the world.
It’s a hobby, a diversion, a fad that’ll come and go. Sure, you can start a blog, but don’t count on it to make you any money. That’s just silly.
Try telling your family or friends or coworkers you want to quit your job and make money blogging. They’ll smile politely and ask, “Does anybody really make money from that?”
Yes, they want you to have dreams. Yes, they want you to chase them. Yes, they want you to succeed.
But they also want you to be “realistic.”
If you really want to improve your life, you should get an advanced degree, write a book, or even start your own business, not hang all your hopes and dreams on some stupid little blog. Nobody can make money blogging.
Can they?
Well, I’m hesitant to say this, but…
This blog makes over $100,000 per month.
In fact, here’s a screenshot of our sales from January 2016:
Granted, it was a good month. We don’t always make that much money.
But we almost always cross $100,000 in sales.
How?
Well, I’ll tell you. Not because I want to brag (well, maybe a little), but because most of the advice out there about monetizing your blog is complete crap.
For instance, do you see any ads on this site?
No? How about e-books for sale?
None of those either, huh?
There’s a reason why.
Combined, I wouldn’t be surprised if both blogs have earned more than $50 million. In comparison, the $100,000 per month I’ve managed to generate is a pittance.
I’ll also be straight up with you… that income is far from passive.
For the first several years, I worked 80-100 hours a week, and even now I
usually put in at least 60 hours.
The good news?
It’s paid off. If you’ll take some of these lessons to heart, it’ll pay off for you too.
Because here’s the thing:
Professors do it. So do public speakers and best-selling authors.
Hell, consulting is a $415 billion industry, and what are all those consultants doing?
Getting paid to teach.
Blogging is no different. It’s just the same old models with some rocket fuel thrown in, courtesy of social media.
Fine.
Here’s exactly how to make money from your blog:
The problem?
It’s freaking hard to do. The process is simple on the surface, but each step is enormously complicated and requires extraordinary skill.
Especially the last one.
For instance, do you want to sell your own products or services? If so, which ones?
Here are just a few of the options:
Or… what if you don’t have any products and services to sell? What should you do then?
Well, you can also make money blogging by selling someone else’s products and services.
The most conventional (and least profitable) method is selling advertising, where you allow companies to promote their products and services to your audience in exchange for a fee. You can also form partnerships with other companies, promoting their products and services as an “affiliate” and earning a commission each time one of your readers purchases.
Which model should you choose? What should you do?
It’s up to you to decide, but before making your decision, there’s one crucial lesson you need to understand:
You’ve probably heard of financial planners giving free seminars to attract clients, right?
Well, blogging is a lot like those free seminars. You’re giving away your expertise and knowledge in the hopes of attracting customers and then gaining their trust.
In other words, if your goal is to make money, your blog is a lead generation mechanism. It also nurtures those leads until they are ready to purchase.
“But Jon,” you say. “This sounds too corporate. I just want to make a few bucks on the side teaching people what I know.”
My response?
Don’t start a blog. In my opinion, it’s a terrible way to make a few bucks on the side.
For one, there’s the time investment. I’ve never seen anyone learn everything necessary to build a profitable blog in less than three years.
For two, there’s the chance of failure. Your first two or three blogs you start will probably fail because you make a fatal misstep.
In other words, it’s exactly like starting a business. Exactly.
Can you get rich?
Sure, that’s why many people are attracted to entrepreneurship. If you start and grow a successful business, you can make millions or even billions of dollars.
But you can also lose everything.
For every entrepreneur who makes millions, there are dozens who invest years of their life into companies that ultimately fail, sometimes bankrupting them in the process. It’s a high risk/high reward lifestyle, and it requires more skill, smarts, and good old-fashioned work than most people can fathom.
I’m not saying that to discourage you. I’m just trying to make sure you have reasonable expectations.
Let me tell you how it happened for me…
During that time, I started four different blogs, working on them at night and on the weekends. The first three failed. Despite investing hundreds of hours into each one, I made too many mistakes, and I eventually had to shut the blogs down. I didn’t earn a penny from them.
And I won’t lie to you… it sucked.
Each time a blog failed, I seriously thought about quitting. I felt like I was putting in all that time and energy for nothing.
But it wasn’t true. I was learning.
Yes, I made a lot of mistakes, but I didn’t repeat them. So, while those first four blogs were all “failures,” each one was also closer to success than the last.
With the fourth blog, everything finally clicked. I was getting 1000 visitors a day within about two months, and I sold it for $10,000. That’s when I knew I was onto something.
From there, I went to work for other big blogs for a few years, helping grow Copyblogger and KISSmetrics into what they are today. Eventually though, I felt the itch to go out on my own again, so I left and started this blog. It now turns a fairly steady $100,000+ a month.
In total, it took me about eight years to get here, but in exchange for investing those eight years, I now have enough money to support me until the day I die. Also, every day I get emails from people telling me how I changed their lives for the better.
So, it was worth it. No question.
But was it easy?
No. It was just as hard as starting any other business.
I did learn a thing or two that might speed along the process for others, though. Below, I’ve recorded a few of those lessons, and I believe some of them might surprise you…
But it’s a mistake.
When I was at Copyblogger, we ran a little experiment. Normally, we refused to sell any ads on the site, but just as a test, we decided to put three ad spots in the right sidebar. The site looked like this:
Initially, we placed ads for our own products in each of the three spots, and we tracked all the sales resulting from someone clicking on the ad. I don’t remember the precise numbers, but we had something like $50,000 in product sales over 30 days. Not too shabby.
Well, out of curiosity, I shopped around to see how much advertisers would pay for the same ad space. The absolute highest rates I could negotiate would’ve brought in only $5,000 per month per ad spot, totaling $15,000 per month — 70% less than we made selling our own products.
And this was for a big, authority site! Imagine the pitiful rates a beginning blogger would get.
Granted, it’s not really a fair comparison. With your own products, you have to consider the cost of development, support, and other miscellaneous expenses, but even factoring those in, advertising our products was still more profitable by far.
The next most profitable strategy would have been to partner with other companies, collecting a commission on each sale as an affiliate. We never tested it, but I would guess we would’ve made somewhere around $25,000 per month on the spots — 60% more than advertisers would have paid.
The point?
If you have an engaged audience that trusts you, selling ads is never a smart move. You’re better off either selling your own products or getting a commission from endorsing another company’s products, assuming you truly believe in them, of course.
Sometimes though, you have no choice. If you’re a beginner, chances are you have no product to sell. What should you do then?
Let’s talk about that next…
Affiliate marketing is the smartest strategy.
If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s a business model where you endorse other people’s products or services in exchange for a commission. On software and information products, affiliates typically earn a 50% commission or sometimes even more, so it can be quite lucrative.
Pat Flynn, for example, makes over $100,000 a month in affiliate commissions. Here at Smart Blogger, we mostly promote our own products, but we also make a tidy sum promoting LeadPages and SiteGround:
Granted, you won’t make that kind of money when your blog is small, but affiliate marketing is still a good way to start for several reasons:
Service providers.
If you are a graphic designer, real estate agent, attorney, or any other type of service provider, you probably want to offer your services on your blog from day one. The profit you make will almost certainly outstrip anything else, at least in the beginning.
My answer: with blogs, the most profitable price is usually the end of the funnel. Here’s what I mean…
You’ve seen a sales funnel, right? A company entices you with a
freebie, then they offer you something cheap but irresistible, and then
they gradually sweet talk you into buying more and more expensive stuff.
It’s a tried and true marketing tactic, and you should absolutely build
a sales funnel for your blog.
What you might not know is you should build it in reverse.
A lot of bloggers launch a cheap e-book as their first product, and then they get frustrated when they don’t make much money. Here’s why: the real profit is at the end of the funnel, not the beginning.
Selling e-books is fine and dandy if you have half a dozen more expensive products to offer your customer afterwards, but it’s downright silly if you don’t. You’re much better off creating and selling the expensive product first, and then gradually building cheaper and cheaper products.
When you do have some less expensive products to sell, you can offer those to new people first, safe in the knowledge that you have something more profitable up your sleeve to sell them later.
Here at Smart Blogger, our products cost $9,997, $1,997, and $997, $497, $197, and $47. We started on the expensive side first, and we gradually worked our way down. It’s been much, much more profitable this way.
My response: you’re 98% right. Unless you’re selling exclusively to multimillionaires, the vast majority of your customer base won’t be able to afford premium products, but what’s interesting is it doesn’t matter. Often, you can make more money selling to the 2% than you can to the entire 98% combined.
For instance, our $10,000 product is a year-long coaching program for bloggers — a group that’s not exactly known for their wealth, but I always fill all ten spots within minutes of opening the program. Here’s why: the last time we opened it, I notified 40,000 bloggers. 2% of 40,000 writers is 800 people. By only accepting 10, I’m creating a situation of extreme scarcity.
You can do the same thing, even if your list is much smaller. If you have 100 subscribers, chances are two of them might be willing to buy premium products or services from you, and those two will often pay you more money than the other 98 combined.
And let me be clear…
I’m not saying you have to charge $10,000. We actually make even more money from our $2000 product than we do the $10,000 one:
The point is, most people are afraid to charge more than $200 for a class, believing that’s all people can afford, but it’s just not true. Every market has customers who are and willing to pay for a premium experience. Give them one.
Just be aware… higher prices demand bigger promises. Let me explain.
It’s not because they were stupid. They didn’t get one of my emails and say, “Oh, look honey, this is a fabulous opportunity to throw our money away. Let’s give this good-looking fellow $10,000 just for the hell of it.”
On the contrary, they expected a lot of me. In exchange for that $10,000, I promised to help them launch their blog from scratch and get their first 10,000 email subscribers in only 12 months.
That’s one hell of a promise. Just to put a dollar value on it, you could probably sell a blog with 10,000 subscribers for at least $100,000 in most markets. So, I was essentially promising them $100,000 of value in exchange for only $10,000.
This, my friend, is one of the fundamentals of business.
If you want to charge high prices, you absolutely can, but you must make big promises. Similarly, if you want to charge low prices, you absolutely can, but you must make small promises. In either case though, the value of the promise should be at least 10X the price.
For instance, we have a guest blogging course that retails for $497.
In exchange, we promise to help students get featured on a big blog or
magazine like The Huffington Post or Forbes. I think it’s fair to say
that exposure is worth $5,000 to the right person. So, the product sells
easily and well.
Not to say everything is sunflowers and daffodils here, though. In fact, there are are two easy ways to screw up:
But come on, who are you going to believe?
No, in all seriousness, I learned all of these lessons the hard way. If you’re wondering how to price your product or service, you’d be wise to heed my words.
Oh, and a few final points before we move on:
What can I offer people that’s worth 10X what I charge?
Answer that, and you’ll at least be headed in the right direction.
On average, each webinar generates about $60,000 in sales. It’s by far the most profitable thing I do. Nothing else even comes close.
If you’re wondering how on earth we make that much money, part of it is how many people attend. For instance, here’s a webinar where we had over 3,000 people registered to attend:
But that’s only part of it.
The other part is just the skill of doing a really good webinar. If you want to know how we do it, all you have to do is attend one of our webinars to find out. Everything we do is on display, and you can study it, free of charge.
Automated funnels. Take a look at this bad boy:
Now, before I get into the nitty-gritty details, a word of warning:
this is extremely advanced marketing. I don’t even recommend you think
about this until you cross $100,000 per year in revenue.
But here’s the idea:
Through the magic of technology, we have sales happening every minute of every day. We can automate who gets discounts at what times, as well as when those discounts expire.
We can also chain together promotions. If you don’t respond to a $2000 offer, we might follow up with a $497 offer, which now seems cheap by comparison.
Oh, and did I mention we are tracking your every move?
For instance, you’re reading a post about how to make money blogging. If you’re a subscriber, what do you think the odds are that you’ll receive an email from us sometime soon offering you a product about how to make money blogging?
Hmm. Pretty good, I think.
And just to be clear, this is all automated. I’m not doing anything. No one is.
The computer is following rules we set up in advance, and it’s following them 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Welcome to the future of marketing.
In analytics, there is a principle called “the one metric that matters” (OMTM). The idea is that you find a single number that accurately predicts the success or failure of your project.
In the case of blogging, that number is the size of your email list. (Not RSS, mind you — it’s dying a slow but certain death.) In my experience, your email list is the most accurate predictor of how much money you’ll make.
Here at Smart Blogger, we strive for one dollar per subscriber per month in sales, and I think that’s a good place to start when you’re a beginner too. In other words, an email list of 1,000 subscribers should result in at least $1,000 per month in sales, 10,000 subscribers would result in $10,000 per month in sales, and so on.
The more subscribers you get, the more money you make. Granted, your relationship with your subscribers and the quality of your products or services and dozens of other factors still matter, but to drive revenue, focus on email list growth. To make money blogging, it’s absolutely essential.
Nope. Start selling from day one. Here’s why:
Motivation.
If you’re not making any money from your blog, it’s hard to stay motivated to continue. The opposite is also true. For instance, how do you think I feel when I see this number pop up on my dashboard every day?
It’s pretty easy to feel pumped with numbers like that.
And honestly, the numbers don’t have to be big.
I remember the first morning I woke to discover I’d made $100 overnight. It felt… magical. It also gave me the motivation to do the work necessary to make sure that happened every night.
It’ll be the same for you. When you have money being deposited into your account every day, it’s a whole lot easier to keep yourself motivated.
It will also give you the funds you need to build a team around you. You can hire an assistant, a tech person, a billing person. The faster you get rid of stuff you suck at doing, the faster you will grow.
Now, a caveat: don’t turn your blog into a gigantic sales pitch. Nobody likes that. You should, however, be offering something your audience wants and needs. Don’t push them on it, but do make it available, and do remind them from time to time that they can purchase it.
Why on earth would the CEO of the company (me) work hours to write a post like this, sharing all our secrets? It’s nearly 4,000 words, for God sakes!
Simple:
It’s my responsibility. If people are ever going to respect blogging as a legitimate business model, those of us who are successful have to speak up and share what we’ve learned. None of us works in a vacuum. The only way we can advance our field as a whole is to collectively share what we’ve learned.
After all, isn’t that what we’re here to do? Help people?
In the end, that’s what I love most about blogging: every article we publish, every course we create, every coaching call we do can change somebody’s life. Maybe not always in a big way, but we touch thousands upon thousands of people, and we make their lives just a little bit better. We inform them, we inspire them, and we give them the roadmap for achieving their dreams.
And the best part?
We get paid for it. It’s our job.
I just wish more people knew it was a viable career. Let’s change that, shall we?
To most of the world, blogging is a joke.
It isn’t a career. It isn’t a way to make money. It isn’t a tool for changing the world.
It’s a hobby, a diversion, a fad that’ll come and go. Sure, you can start a blog, but don’t count on it to make you any money. That’s just silly.
Try telling your family or friends or coworkers you want to quit your job and make money blogging. They’ll smile politely and ask, “Does anybody really make money from that?”
Yes, they want you to have dreams. Yes, they want you to chase them. Yes, they want you to succeed.
But they also want you to be “realistic.”
If you really want to improve your life, you should get an advanced degree, write a book, or even start your own business, not hang all your hopes and dreams on some stupid little blog. Nobody can make money blogging.
Can they?
Well, I’m hesitant to say this, but…
This blog makes over $100,000 per month.
In fact, here’s a screenshot of our sales from January 2016:
Granted, it was a good month. We don’t always make that much money.
But we almost always cross $100,000 in sales.
How?
Well, I’ll tell you. Not because I want to brag (well, maybe a little), but because most of the advice out there about monetizing your blog is complete crap.
For instance, do you see any ads on this site?
No? How about e-books for sale?
None of those either, huh?
There’s a reason why.
How I Learned to Make Money Blogging
Over the past eight years, I’ve had the good fortune to work with some of the smartest bloggers on the planet. I worked with Brian Clark as he built Copyblogger to a multimillion dollar brand. Neil Patel and Hiten Shah also hired me to help them launch the KISSmetrics blog, eventually creating a multimillion dollar SaaS company.Combined, I wouldn’t be surprised if both blogs have earned more than $50 million. In comparison, the $100,000 per month I’ve managed to generate is a pittance.
Want to know how much money you could be making from your blog? Find out with our free Blog Profit Calculator.
The good news?
It’s paid off. If you’ll take some of these lessons to heart, it’ll pay off for you too.
Because here’s the thing:
You’re Not a Fool. You Can Make Money Blogging.
So, you want to make a living teaching other people what you know? Nothing wrong with that.Professors do it. So do public speakers and best-selling authors.
Hell, consulting is a $415 billion industry, and what are all those consultants doing?
Getting paid to teach.
Blogging is no different. It’s just the same old models with some rocket fuel thrown in, courtesy of social media.
Come on, How Do Bloggers Really Make Money?
You want specific steps?Fine.
Here’s exactly how to make money from your blog:
- Write content that gets lots of traffic
- Convert visitors into email subscribers
- Send those subscribers content that builds trust
- Sell products or services your audience wants
The problem?
It’s freaking hard to do. The process is simple on the surface, but each step is enormously complicated and requires extraordinary skill.
Especially the last one.
For instance, do you want to sell your own products or services? If so, which ones?
Here are just a few of the options:
Make money blogging by selling these types of things
Well, you can also make money blogging by selling someone else’s products and services.
The most conventional (and least profitable) method is selling advertising, where you allow companies to promote their products and services to your audience in exchange for a fee. You can also form partnerships with other companies, promoting their products and services as an “affiliate” and earning a commission each time one of your readers purchases.
Which model should you choose? What should you do?
It’s up to you to decide, but before making your decision, there’s one crucial lesson you need to understand:
You’re Not Just a Blogger
The moment you decide to use your blog to make money, you’re no longer just a blogger. At that moment, you also become an entrepreneur, and your blog becomes a small business.You’ve probably heard of financial planners giving free seminars to attract clients, right?
Well, blogging is a lot like those free seminars. You’re giving away your expertise and knowledge in the hopes of attracting customers and then gaining their trust.
In other words, if your goal is to make money, your blog is a lead generation mechanism. It also nurtures those leads until they are ready to purchase.
“But Jon,” you say. “This sounds too corporate. I just want to make a few bucks on the side teaching people what I know.”
My response?
Don’t start a blog. In my opinion, it’s a terrible way to make a few bucks on the side.
For one, there’s the time investment. I’ve never seen anyone learn everything necessary to build a profitable blog in less than three years.
For two, there’s the chance of failure. Your first two or three blogs you start will probably fail because you make a fatal misstep.
In other words, it’s exactly like starting a business. Exactly.
Can you get rich?
Sure, that’s why many people are attracted to entrepreneurship. If you start and grow a successful business, you can make millions or even billions of dollars.
But you can also lose everything.
For every entrepreneur who makes millions, there are dozens who invest years of their life into companies that ultimately fail, sometimes bankrupting them in the process. It’s a high risk/high reward lifestyle, and it requires more skill, smarts, and good old-fashioned work than most people can fathom.
I’m not saying that to discourage you. I’m just trying to make sure you have reasonable expectations.
Let me tell you how it happened for me…
My Journey from $0-$100,000 a Month
It took me about five years to earn my first dollar.During that time, I started four different blogs, working on them at night and on the weekends. The first three failed. Despite investing hundreds of hours into each one, I made too many mistakes, and I eventually had to shut the blogs down. I didn’t earn a penny from them.
And I won’t lie to you… it sucked.
Each time a blog failed, I seriously thought about quitting. I felt like I was putting in all that time and energy for nothing.
But it wasn’t true. I was learning.
Yes, I made a lot of mistakes, but I didn’t repeat them. So, while those first four blogs were all “failures,” each one was also closer to success than the last.
With the fourth blog, everything finally clicked. I was getting 1000 visitors a day within about two months, and I sold it for $10,000. That’s when I knew I was onto something.
From there, I went to work for other big blogs for a few years, helping grow Copyblogger and KISSmetrics into what they are today. Eventually though, I felt the itch to go out on my own again, so I left and started this blog. It now turns a fairly steady $100,000+ a month.
In total, it took me about eight years to get here, but in exchange for investing those eight years, I now have enough money to support me until the day I die. Also, every day I get emails from people telling me how I changed their lives for the better.
So, it was worth it. No question.
But was it easy?
No. It was just as hard as starting any other business.
I did learn a thing or two that might speed along the process for others, though. Below, I’ve recorded a few of those lessons, and I believe some of them might surprise you…
Lesson #1: Don’t Sell Advertising
Ask your average beginner how they plan to make money blogging, and they’ll say they plan to sell ads on their site. After all, that’s how big newspapers and magazines monetize, so why not them?But it’s a mistake.
When I was at Copyblogger, we ran a little experiment. Normally, we refused to sell any ads on the site, but just as a test, we decided to put three ad spots in the right sidebar. The site looked like this:
Initially, we placed ads for our own products in each of the three spots, and we tracked all the sales resulting from someone clicking on the ad. I don’t remember the precise numbers, but we had something like $50,000 in product sales over 30 days. Not too shabby.
Well, out of curiosity, I shopped around to see how much advertisers would pay for the same ad space. The absolute highest rates I could negotiate would’ve brought in only $5,000 per month per ad spot, totaling $15,000 per month — 70% less than we made selling our own products.
And this was for a big, authority site! Imagine the pitiful rates a beginning blogger would get.
Granted, it’s not really a fair comparison. With your own products, you have to consider the cost of development, support, and other miscellaneous expenses, but even factoring those in, advertising our products was still more profitable by far.
The next most profitable strategy would have been to partner with other companies, collecting a commission on each sale as an affiliate. We never tested it, but I would guess we would’ve made somewhere around $25,000 per month on the spots — 60% more than advertisers would have paid.
The point?
If you have an engaged audience that trusts you, selling ads is never a smart move. You’re better off either selling your own products or getting a commission from endorsing another company’s products, assuming you truly believe in them, of course.
Sometimes though, you have no choice. If you’re a beginner, chances are you have no product to sell. What should you do then?
Let’s talk about that next…
Lesson #2: Start with Affiliate Marketing (or Services)
As I write this, it just so happens that I’m in the initial stages of starting a new blog (more details to be announced soon). It’s in a completely different space where I have no products, so I’ve been pondering the best way to monetize it, and here’s what I think…Affiliate marketing is the smartest strategy.
If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s a business model where you endorse other people’s products or services in exchange for a commission. On software and information products, affiliates typically earn a 50% commission or sometimes even more, so it can be quite lucrative.
Pat Flynn, for example, makes over $100,000 a month in affiliate commissions. Here at Smart Blogger, we mostly promote our own products, but we also make a tidy sum promoting LeadPages and SiteGround:
Granted, you won’t make that kind of money when your blog is small, but affiliate marketing is still a good way to start for several reasons:
- It’s faster. Instead of investing months or even years creating a product, all you have to do is publish a link on your site. Assuming your audience is engaged, you could be earning commissions within hours or even minutes.
- The income from affiliate marketing is almost entirely passive. You don’t have to worry about creating products, supporting customers, or any of the technical complexity of selling your own products or services. You can also invest the time you save into growing your traffic, leading to more revenue later.
- It can guide future product creation. If one affiliate product sells 10X better than all the others you promote, you might want to think about developing your own version of the product, because you have proof your audience wants it.
Service providers.
If you are a graphic designer, real estate agent, attorney, or any other type of service provider, you probably want to offer your services on your blog from day one. The profit you make will almost certainly outstrip anything else, at least in the beginning.
Lesson #3: Build the Funnel in Reverse
Even if you’re making fantastic money from affiliate marketing or selling services, chances are you’ll want to try your hand at developing your own product at some point. So, where should you start?My answer: with blogs, the most profitable price is usually the end of the funnel. Here’s what I mean…
Build a sales funnel in reverse, starting with higher prices.
What you might not know is you should build it in reverse.
A lot of bloggers launch a cheap e-book as their first product, and then they get frustrated when they don’t make much money. Here’s why: the real profit is at the end of the funnel, not the beginning.
Selling e-books is fine and dandy if you have half a dozen more expensive products to offer your customer afterwards, but it’s downright silly if you don’t. You’re much better off creating and selling the expensive product first, and then gradually building cheaper and cheaper products.
When you do have some less expensive products to sell, you can offer those to new people first, safe in the knowledge that you have something more profitable up your sleeve to sell them later.
Here at Smart Blogger, our products cost $9,997, $1,997, and $997, $497, $197, and $47. We started on the expensive side first, and we gradually worked our way down. It’s been much, much more profitable this way.
Lesson #4: There’s No Such Thing As a “Cheap” Market
“But Jon,” I can hear you spluttering. “I can’t sell a $10,000 product! My customers don’t have that much money.”My response: you’re 98% right. Unless you’re selling exclusively to multimillionaires, the vast majority of your customer base won’t be able to afford premium products, but what’s interesting is it doesn’t matter. Often, you can make more money selling to the 2% than you can to the entire 98% combined.
For instance, our $10,000 product is a year-long coaching program for bloggers — a group that’s not exactly known for their wealth, but I always fill all ten spots within minutes of opening the program. Here’s why: the last time we opened it, I notified 40,000 bloggers. 2% of 40,000 writers is 800 people. By only accepting 10, I’m creating a situation of extreme scarcity.
You can do the same thing, even if your list is much smaller. If you have 100 subscribers, chances are two of them might be willing to buy premium products or services from you, and those two will often pay you more money than the other 98 combined.
And let me be clear…
I’m not saying you have to charge $10,000. We actually make even more money from our $2000 product than we do the $10,000 one:
The point is, most people are afraid to charge more than $200 for a class, believing that’s all people can afford, but it’s just not true. Every market has customers who are and willing to pay for a premium experience. Give them one.
Just be aware… higher prices demand bigger promises. Let me explain.
Lesson #5: The Price Depends on the Promise
Let’s go back to the example of the $10,000 coaching program. How on earth did I get people to pay me that much money?It’s not because they were stupid. They didn’t get one of my emails and say, “Oh, look honey, this is a fabulous opportunity to throw our money away. Let’s give this good-looking fellow $10,000 just for the hell of it.”
On the contrary, they expected a lot of me. In exchange for that $10,000, I promised to help them launch their blog from scratch and get their first 10,000 email subscribers in only 12 months.
That’s one hell of a promise. Just to put a dollar value on it, you could probably sell a blog with 10,000 subscribers for at least $100,000 in most markets. So, I was essentially promising them $100,000 of value in exchange for only $10,000.
This, my friend, is one of the fundamentals of business.
If you want to charge high prices, you absolutely can, but you must make big promises. Similarly, if you want to charge low prices, you absolutely can, but you must make small promises. In either case though, the value of the promise should be at least 10X the price.
The value of the promise should be at least 10X the price.
Not to say everything is sunflowers and daffodils here, though. In fact, there are are two easy ways to screw up:
- Charging high prices but making small promises (result: the product doesn’t sell well, and you waste a ton of time).
- Charging low prices but making big promises (result: lots of customers, but you make no profit).
But come on, who are you going to believe?
No, in all seriousness, I learned all of these lessons the hard way. If you’re wondering how to price your product or service, you’d be wise to heed my words.
Oh, and a few final points before we move on:
- Needless to say, you should only make promises you can actually fulfill. Anything less is unethical.
- If people immediately think you’re full of shit upon hearing your promise, then you’re in trouble. In my opinion, this is what marketing is really about: getting people to trust you when you say you can help them. The better you are at it, the more money you’ll make.
- In the above graph, “value” refers to how much the customer values what you’re promising them, not your own personal value. For instance, I personally think my guacamole is worth $10,000 a bowl, but none of my friends agree with me, so I’m forced to give it to them for free. Bastards.
What can I offer people that’s worth 10X what I charge?
Answer that, and you’ll at least be headed in the right direction.
Lesson #6: Webinars Kick Butt
If you’ve been on our email list for long, you know that we do a lot of webinars. Here’s why:On average, each webinar generates about $60,000 in sales. It’s by far the most profitable thing I do. Nothing else even comes close.
If you’re wondering how on earth we make that much money, part of it is how many people attend. For instance, here’s a webinar where we had over 3,000 people registered to attend:
But that’s only part of it.
The other part is just the skill of doing a really good webinar. If you want to know how we do it, all you have to do is attend one of our webinars to find out. Everything we do is on display, and you can study it, free of charge.
Lesson #7: Automated Funnels Are Even Better
You know what works even better than webinars for us?Automated funnels. Take a look at this bad boy:
Use automated funnels to make more money.
But here’s the idea:
Through the magic of technology, we have sales happening every minute of every day. We can automate who gets discounts at what times, as well as when those discounts expire.
We can also chain together promotions. If you don’t respond to a $2000 offer, we might follow up with a $497 offer, which now seems cheap by comparison.
Oh, and did I mention we are tracking your every move?
For instance, you’re reading a post about how to make money blogging. If you’re a subscriber, what do you think the odds are that you’ll receive an email from us sometime soon offering you a product about how to make money blogging?
Hmm. Pretty good, I think.
And just to be clear, this is all automated. I’m not doing anything. No one is.
The computer is following rules we set up in advance, and it’s following them 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Welcome to the future of marketing.
Lesson #8: Your Email List Is More Important Than Anything Else
Okay, enough flashy technology. Let’s get back to foundational principles.In analytics, there is a principle called “the one metric that matters” (OMTM). The idea is that you find a single number that accurately predicts the success or failure of your project.
In the case of blogging, that number is the size of your email list. (Not RSS, mind you — it’s dying a slow but certain death.) In my experience, your email list is the most accurate predictor of how much money you’ll make.
Here at Smart Blogger, we strive for one dollar per subscriber per month in sales, and I think that’s a good place to start when you’re a beginner too. In other words, an email list of 1,000 subscribers should result in at least $1,000 per month in sales, 10,000 subscribers would result in $10,000 per month in sales, and so on.
The more subscribers you get, the more money you make. Granted, your relationship with your subscribers and the quality of your products or services and dozens of other factors still matter, but to drive revenue, focus on email list growth. To make money blogging, it’s absolutely essential.
Find out how much money your blog could be making – and how quickly you could grow your email list – with our free Blog Profit Calculator.
Lesson #9: Start Selling from Day One
How long should you wait before you begin selling? 1,000 subscribers? 10,000 subscribers? More?Nope. Start selling from day one. Here’s why:
Motivation.
If you’re not making any money from your blog, it’s hard to stay motivated to continue. The opposite is also true. For instance, how do you think I feel when I see this number pop up on my dashboard every day?
It’s pretty easy to feel pumped with numbers like that.
And honestly, the numbers don’t have to be big.
I remember the first morning I woke to discover I’d made $100 overnight. It felt… magical. It also gave me the motivation to do the work necessary to make sure that happened every night.
It’ll be the same for you. When you have money being deposited into your account every day, it’s a whole lot easier to keep yourself motivated.
It will also give you the funds you need to build a team around you. You can hire an assistant, a tech person, a billing person. The faster you get rid of stuff you suck at doing, the faster you will grow.
Now, a caveat: don’t turn your blog into a gigantic sales pitch. Nobody likes that. You should, however, be offering something your audience wants and needs. Don’t push them on it, but do make it available, and do remind them from time to time that they can purchase it.
Lesson #10: Share What You Learned
Now, we come to the reason for this post.Why on earth would the CEO of the company (me) work hours to write a post like this, sharing all our secrets? It’s nearly 4,000 words, for God sakes!
Simple:
It’s my responsibility. If people are ever going to respect blogging as a legitimate business model, those of us who are successful have to speak up and share what we’ve learned. None of us works in a vacuum. The only way we can advance our field as a whole is to collectively share what we’ve learned.
After all, isn’t that what we’re here to do? Help people?
In the end, that’s what I love most about blogging: every article we publish, every course we create, every coaching call we do can change somebody’s life. Maybe not always in a big way, but we touch thousands upon thousands of people, and we make their lives just a little bit better. We inform them, we inspire them, and we give them the roadmap for achieving their dreams.
And the best part?
We get paid for it. It’s our job.
I just wish more people knew it was a viable career. Let’s change that, shall we?
About the Author:
Jon Morrow has asked repeatedly to be called “His Royal Awesomeness,”
but no one listens to him. So, he settles for CEO of Smart Blogger. Poor
man.
Related Posts
Want to know how much money you could be making from your blog? Find out with our free Blog Profit Calculator.
Note:
This post has received a significant update since it was first
published in 2014. As a result, some of the original comments reference
points have since been modified, renumbered or removed.
325 Comments
Apr 03, 2014 @ 12:21:54
Apr 03, 2014 @ 12:28:43
These are great lessons and I agree with all 20 points…
This is very timely for me being that I’m just starting out.
Thanks for sharing!
Apr 03, 2014 @ 12:29:44
Speaking of which, time to get back to work on those guest posts…after I go read the link about promoting your content
Apr 03, 2014 @ 12:51:56
Thanks for all that you do!
Apr 03, 2014 @ 12:59:06
Awesome indeed
I loved the way you shared everything so well with us – the way you have gone about doing things – it’s surely an eye-opener for me and for many others too.
Honestly speaking, I haven’t really started thinking of earning money from my blog as that wasn’t the aim when I started it, but your post surely motivated me to think in that direction for a change. I guess you need to make a start somewhere, and if you want to do that, you need to lessen down or cut-off a lot of other things you do too.
Thanks for sharing yet another inspirational post with us. Have a nice week
Apr 03, 2014 @ 12:59:32
The thing I keep saying to my team is, “I know…I’m the bottleneck!”
I’m outsourcing fast as I can, but it never seems to be fast enough. Still working on it….
Apr 03, 2014 @ 20:56:41
Jan 09, 2015 @ 15:47:45
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:00:31
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:13:06
I just had to write and say I LOVED your comment. So funny !
Lynne
Apr 03, 2014 @ 14:18:17
Apr 03, 2014 @ 21:01:28
Apr 05, 2014 @ 07:09:53
Great stuff Jon. You hit it out of the park again.
I’m honoured to have you as a mentor.
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:04:53
Apr 03, 2014 @ 21:01:50
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:05:07
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:07:57
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:08:04
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:12:02
I met Brian Clark last week at SMMW14 and was soooo inspired !
Cheers for all that you do. You are by far one of my faves in this big ‘ol internet world, and your webinars rock out loud!
Lynne Knowlton
Apr 05, 2014 @ 07:12:07
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:17:02
The most interesting point for me was about doing more guest posts and then writing on your own blog. That does make lot of sense.
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:19:01
Impressive milestone
5 years ago I would not be able to understand this post, as I do, now. It’s pure value, but most (98%) won’t decrypt it.
In case of doubt, do follow these advices.
I did. And I am on my way to 1$/subs/month. Thanks again Jon!
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:20:10
But much of the advice still applies. It’s tough to figure out a system that doesn’t demand most of your time though, so that’s what I’m working on.
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:24:30
I love your straightforward style. To all those that doubt that blogging is a viable business, “This Blog Makes $100,000 per Month.” Hah! Take that, doubters!
I have recently learned the value of outsourcing work to specialists. I used to endure sleepless nights trying to keep up with all the work necessary for building a blog. The right specialists are dramatically cheaper at tasks than I could ever hope to be as measured by the cost of my time and the amount of distractions that I created for myself.
I am becoming much “smarter” as I find time to act based on resolving a challenge as opposed to merely reacting to the same challenge.
I had never considered the value of giving webinars. I had attended plenty of webinars and purchased some products based on same. It hadn’t occurred to me the economic value of giving webinars prior to reading your post.
“I was blind but now I see!”
I will share my #gratitude to His Royal Awesomeness (you) by sharing this post on social media. Thanks for sharing this incredible content. I appreciate your guidance.
Apr 03, 2014 @ 20:16:59
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:24:35
Apr 05, 2014 @ 07:14:43
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:45:29
It has given me lots to think about. Love your point about ignoring SEO for the first year.
I would, however, love to see a post specifically on your webinars and hw you go about them with your clients.
Carol’s right, turn this into an eBook!
Thanks for such high value practical info absolutely free.
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:47:52
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:51:44
This is the first step am still struggling with.
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:57:51
You sir, are a genius.
Peggy
Apr 03, 2014 @ 13:58:19
Apr 03, 2014 @ 14:16:51
Great analogy to manufacturing – flashbacks to my previous life on the day I’m finally getting my first post published on my blog.
Apr 03, 2014 @ 14:21:25
Apr 03, 2014 @ 15:12:25
What you say at the beginning is the biggest value for me — ‘I learned from the best …and I keep learning.’
It’s been true in my own life, training, education and with you…Learning from the best.
I knew nothing about Blogging until I met you. Things are happening for my coaching business because of what I learned from you. Headlines — subtitles – formatting — passion and a big mission. My writing has completely improved.
Thanks for your knowledge. This post is another one of your gifts.
My very best – Michael
Apr 03, 2014 @ 15:32:42
Apr 03, 2014 @ 15:40:57
Awesome post. Where was this a year ago? SMH.
Lesson #10 rings the loudest for me. LinkedIn and similar platforms are the best for gaining reputation and building a network.
Love #19 and #20 – I know that’s what keeps me going is the thought of serving clients and teaching what comes naturally to me.
Thanks for an awesome post!
Apr 03, 2014 @ 16:01:59
I’ve been a consultant for manufacturing execution systems and you are 100% correct. Awesome point.
While I still own stock in the software company that helps factories remove bottlenecks, I’m now helping people remove bottle necks from their lives.
Oh dear blog master, thanks for giving me the goods.
Now what was number 8?
oh, and “audience per hour” now that is true genius.
Only thing I could possibly add is go read: The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt
Oh, never mind. I’m going to just write more guest posts and headline hacks. Now, where did I leave that list of “cool kids” and guest post targets?
Ergh, I hate being the slow kid slowing up the works.
Apr 05, 2014 @ 07:19:28
Someone else was telling me about the book by Eliyahu Goldratt. I’m heading over to amazon as we speak.
Um … On second thoughts … Maybe not. I have about 5000 posts to finish reading in the next 2 weeks.
My mentor’s a slave driver!!!
Apr 03, 2014 @ 16:27:18
But in a good way.
Thank you for clarifying all of these lessons. Super, super helpful.
Apr 03, 2014 @ 16:47:35
This post is surely destined for the list post Hall of Fame. Some awesome tips to help stir up the pot of BS excuses most people hide behind and light a fire to finally get people off their asses and into gear. So here’s an unpaid endorsement.
Some time a few years ago I was fed up writing for no one online. I wanted my words to be read and ultimately wanted to be paid to write. So I decided to educate myself on the subject. Here’s what I did:
1. After paying for a few bogus online courses that didn’t do too much for me, I discovered your Guestblogging course.
2. You promised to get your students a guest post on a major blog of their choice. I chose Copyblogger. You made good on your promise. The post did very well.
3. After guest posting for all of 5 posts, my list grew from 4 to 500. Lesson #9? Check.
4. Last year your team contacted me and asked if I was intrerested in ghostwriting for one of your clients. I accepted and got my first paid client. In the first month, that assignment paid for your guestblogging course. Wish to be a paid writer? Check.
Now two other clients have followed.
I just wanted go say thanks in public, Jon. For giving advice that doesn’t suck and actually works!
You rock!
Apr 03, 2014 @ 21:06:05
Apr 05, 2014 @ 07:24:47
Apr 03, 2014 @ 17:16:08
Serena @ Thrift Diving
Apr 03, 2014 @ 17:18:25
Apr 03, 2014 @ 17:32:46
I love all your posts, all points are solid. Number 9 and 14 are my two big takeaways for our blog.
Apr 03, 2014 @ 18:07:45
So, I’m pretty new to blogging, here’s what I’ve done to get started.
1. I joined your guest blogging course last month
2. Have been working on a freebie for my opt-in page for guest posts
3. Pretty much spend most of my time focusing on those two things – not much time on my blog itself
It absolutely makes sense to start off with selling a service, but how do you go about creating one?
You suggest not posting on your blog until you have a decent amount of subscribers, you also mention how surveys are dangerous for finding what your audience needs – My question is: How do you decide what your audience needs a service for if you’ve yet to build an audience?
In other words, how do you find your reader’s biggest frustration before you have any readers, so that you can start selling your service ASAP?
Who knows, maybe I just sparked an idea for your next post…Or you’ll tell me I’m just a dumb blogger and should already know…Or both
Apr 03, 2014 @ 18:24:14
Apr 03, 2014 @ 18:32:45
This is insanely valuable. Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to put this together! My only qualm is I wish I had seen this stuff earlier.
Congratulations on your massive success so far, and I wish you even more going forward. You deserve it!
Corey
Apr 03, 2014 @ 20:21:05
Jude
Apr 03, 2014 @ 20:26:21
You know how you talk about blog posts that “stop traffic” well this is it. I couldn’t stop reading as every sentence was something important and it dragged me in.
Not only is this one of the most eye opening posts I have ever read its also a textbook example of what you teach – congratulations.
Paul Back
Apr 03, 2014 @ 20:48:07
Apr 04, 2014 @ 11:16:41
Apr 03, 2014 @ 21:44:45
Good post, well described ideas.
I wish I had enjoyed a positive experience working with you to accomplish these things, but sadly, I just don’t think you get what it takes to make people feel like they’re spending their money with someone who’s interested in them.
I think the most important question you should ask is – before doing anything else – who are these people signing up for my mailing list? What have they’ve accomplished so far and where they’re looking to go? If they’re giving you money by signing up for one of your courses, that goes double.
Glad to hear you’re earning so much money though.
-Daniel
Apr 03, 2014 @ 22:53:10
Time and time again, I have to repeat many (if not all!) these points to them; some learn, some don’t. But the ones who learn will definitely see better results and probably become one of those bloggers who gets paid to do what they love!
I’ll be sharing this post, Your Royal Awesomeness. Spreading the Blogging Gospel, and all that.
Apr 03, 2014 @ 22:58:09
But where can I read more about your products mentioned in lesson #3?
I have just started my business and think you could be a big part of my success
Apr 04, 2014 @ 11:09:02
Apr 04, 2014 @ 14:45:08
I have only writte one blogpost on my site so far, so now I’ll go make a coming soon page instead
Apr 05, 2014 @ 07:38:10
Just wanted to say that I’ve done the guestblogging.com course and found it to be awesome. I can recommend it highly. It’s excellent to improve your writing skills and your networking skills – the latter invaluable to me as a beginning blogger.
All the best to you in your endeavours.
Apr 04, 2014 @ 00:55:04
this post is really inspirational, truth been told in your post, good read.
Apr 04, 2014 @ 02:47:53
Apr 04, 2014 @ 03:05:41
These tips are awesome. Your guide for 0 to $100k is great and contains lots of great deals. All these points are pretty important for bloggers to start his journey as a professional blogger. And you are right most of the world thinks bloggers are fools? But we are fools for changing the world.
Thank you for this awesome guide.
Apr 04, 2014 @ 03:58:19
Apr 04, 2014 @ 05:20:23
Apr 04, 2014 @ 05:53:20
Apr 04, 2014 @ 07:03:25
As usual a top knotch post full of excellent advice, very easy to understand and follow. Just studying your posts is an object lesson in how these things are done. I, like many aspiring bloggers, am very familiar with the glazed look that passes over people’s faces when I attempt to explain what my plans are! I think the primary problem is that we have been brought up to do business in a particular way. You make something therefore you get paid for it. Most business people feel there is something inherently wrong about a system where you provide huge amounts of valuable content free of charge and without obligation. The peception is that the model cannot be susstainable.
The historical sleeze associated with the worst excesses “internet marketing” and “get rich quick schemes” hasn’t helped either!
The key insights here, in my humble opinion are that:
A. No one is being paid to do nothing, everything you teach depends on the blogger adding value to their customer’s lives in some way. This takes a lot of hard work – just the right sort of work!
B. The value in the guest blogging arrangement works both ways – top quality content/exposure win/win
C. The process works as a filter rather than a funnel. You expose your work to thousands, you hope to add value to those thousands for no cost to yourself but of those thousands there will be a few hundred who need your service and they pay for those things in proportion to the cost to you in terms of time or resources.
The reason this works is because the incremental cost of publishing acceptible digital content is practically zero so the blogger has far more leverage than any writers prior to the digital age.
Having said that, I have possibly also demonstrated another reason why people start glazing over when I start talking about this stuff
Anyway Jon, keep it coming, this blog is absolutely essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how our new digital world works!
Apr 04, 2014 @ 09:42:11
To all the bloggers out there…STOP sucking up to the very small, elite and narcissistic group of self-proclaimed influencers out there. If you all stop treating them like they’re special, they will not longer by special and therefore some of us who aren’t in there secret society will be seen as knowing what we’re talking about too! This isn’t High School, grow up and read someone else’s blog already!
Apr 04, 2014 @ 11:05:01
Something must have to be so jaded.
Apr 05, 2014 @ 07:57:15
I don’t think getting a gig at copyblogger is as simple as “being in the right place at the right time”.
In fact I KNOW it isn’t. Brian Clark isn’t easily impressed and rightly so.
I think it takes years of working your ass off (with little or no reward) to produce jaw dropping, spectacular content that CANNOT go unnoticed.
And anyone willing to perform at such a high level, for so long, will inevitably find opportunities being thrown at them – by copyblogger or problogger, the huffington post etc.
This principle applies to just about anything: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Abe Lincoln, Einstein, Edison, and just about any other successful person I can think of worked their ass off for a large part of their lives before they saw any success.
They weren’t in the right place at the right time. They created the right place and the right time for themselves as a direct result of their grit and sincere effort.
Apr 04, 2014 @ 11:07:39
Apr 04, 2014 @ 11:22:20
I’m sure your above critique was motivated by altruistic reasons but may I ask you to reconsider some of your views?
I think you may well be right if you are saying that few of us will have the skills required to attract and service a lucrative and large enough market to earn the sort of sums quoted. Nevertheless, may I just say that Jon has freely given us, not only a system but the commercial logic and reasonings behind that system.
Now, once you and I have taken advantage of that info. (and I am still in the process of launching) then we will be in a better position to either thank Jon or criticise him. Of course, timing is almost everything but with the amount of free flowing, easy to read, writing that Jon provides, which is the hallmark of all good communications, plus incorporating such useful content, then I like to think that if we could follow that example then eventually we (yes, you and I, Bill) would be rewarded with fans and finance.
So, I do hope, Bill, that you are in the midst of preparing an inspiring blog full of up-liftment that we can all enjoy. In the meantime, please accept my kind regards and my wishes for your success in the future. Onwards and upwards!
Zara x.
Nov 22, 2014 @ 14:54:55
Apr 04, 2014 @ 16:33:55
Spot-on post though, I’m just genuinely curious…in your experience, have you found it more difficult for people to break into guest blogging since it’s so pervasive among the IM crowd? Is it more-so a matter of who you know versus what you know?
Keep up the good work
Sherice
Apr 04, 2014 @ 20:03:28
Apr 05, 2014 @ 19:18:56
Apr 05, 2014 @ 20:16:22
I think I’ll try that approach myself, many thanks!
Apr 04, 2014 @ 16:56:05
Apr 04, 2014 @ 19:58:13
I was wondering if you knew of any specific resources that focused less on how to be a successful blogger per se, and more so on how to run a blog that helps make your business successful?
One example is this: since our blog is a sub-domain for my wife and I’s boutique beach resort, nobody seems to want to touch me as a guest blogger. I get the same response every time “you’re commercial and so you’ve got to pay for a sponsored post”…and while yes, we are commercial and not a private blog per se, we’re a tiny family run business and 95% of private blogs are striving to be commercial, whether they’re associated with a company name or not.
I can’t imagine that it’s worth the payoff to actually pay $25-100 per guest post. I mean, sure, if Conde Nast would let us write for them for a hundred bucks that would be one thing, but I don’t think it’s worth it to pay to guest post on a middling travel blog.
So yeah, my comment is getting a bit long-winded here, but how can blogs that are meant to funnel traffic to a business site best gain traction without paying for the right to write guest posts?
Cheers.
Apr 04, 2014 @ 22:40:37
Challenging but ll be worth it. Another site I can think of is business insider.
Just take a look at their viral post and pitch them a topic.
It will be best if you contact the editors of the site. Its quite easier that way.
Warm up with them through twitter. And you could hit that big deal
Apr 05, 2014 @ 01:12:22
Our blog actually covers travel tips and insights into expat life along the Oaxacan coast of Mexico, so I am not sure that those sites would be the target audience for our blog’s content even if they were more accessible, which clearly they aren’t.
I mean, of course I’d come up with suitable content for Forbes should they wish to publish me, haha, but honestly we’d be happy with guest posting on even mildly popular travel blogs. The problem up to now, as I mentioned above, is that nobody wants to let us guest post, they want us to pay to do a sponsored post since our blog is attached to our business. If my blog was MexicoMike.com instead of http://blog.geckorockresort.com/ then it wouldn’t be an issue, but as soon as anyone sees the name of our business they incorrectly assume we’re loaded
Whereas the truth is that we’re trying to build our blog in lieu of paying for advertising.
Somehow it’s OK to let an aspiring blogger write a guest post, but not a boutique hotel owner who writes a blog to funnel traffic to the main hotel site.
Apr 05, 2014 @ 04:23:18
I really liked your premium tips. Your guide for 0 to $100k is just awesome. All bloggers should follow the rules of blogging if they are on starting point.
Keep it up
~Gagan Masoun
Apr 05, 2014 @ 06:34:13
Apr 05, 2014 @ 08:15:50
I really like point #4. There’s not such thing as a “cheap” market.
I agree with your statement “Often times, you can make more money selling to the 2% than you can to the entire 98% combined.” and your following example about selling a $10,000 mentoring program for aspiring writers.
In fact, I’d go one step further to say it’s necessary for a blogger to really understand his/her audience and to know what keeps them up at night BEFORE coming up with a product idea that delivers more value than it costs.
Point #6 about deliberately delaying the sale happens to have this added benefit of giving the blogger more insight into the audience through the way they interact with the blog. i.e. The posts they read, the comments they leave etc.
Once you’ve really understood the audience, it’s a case of demonstrating the potential value the product (in excess of the cost) will bring to the audience in the form of a solved problem. If it’s clear that your product will deliver more value to the customer than they pay for it, then it’s a no brainer for the customer.
I’m guessing you spent a LOT of time understanding your audience and analysing their needs before deciding to launch the mentoring program (product).
Apr 05, 2014 @ 10:27:02
Thank you,
Apr 05, 2014 @ 11:33:11
I am struggling in generate more income from my online business. I can’t increase my Adsense revenue, even I tried so hard.
Your approach is showing me a new way. I actually have my first Kindle book which I sold only two copies until now.
I think I am going to focus on my first information product or online course and start selling.
I don’t expect to get much as you, but I think I can improve my family by the end of this year.
Thank a lot for sharing this real experiences. I really appreciate it.
Apr 05, 2014 @ 14:35:45
Speaking of which, time to get back to work on those guest posts…after I go read the link about promoting your content
Apr 05, 2014 @ 16:35:58
So in the end I come up with… did I choose the wrong niche? Am I a looser then? Please answer as I will be waiting.
Thanks
Apr 05, 2014 @ 17:24:50
Question for you. What’s your opinion on turning off blog comments? I like engaging with readers and bloggers and having a dialogue with them. But I know some bloggers are turning off their comments. I don’t know about this. Some readers may feel you’re turning your back on them. Others may not care at all.
Also, I think allowing comments on your blog makes you approachable and builds a community. Plus, if you solely build your community on social media networks, what happens when they disappear? You never know, it could happen.
Thanks again for this wonderful blog post. Have a great weekend!
Apr 05, 2014 @ 19:19:48
Apr 06, 2014 @ 07:04:06
I will quibble on one point though, your comment about BBT getting 13,000 subscribers before launching even though you “had nothing but a coming soon page and an invitation to join our email list.” As I recall, you also had a freakin’ awesome video on that page as well that just made people yearn to give you their email address, even without knowing a thing about BBT. So that didn’t hurt, either. ; )
Apr 07, 2014 @ 11:37:06
Funny thing is, the video didn’t work that well, but HH sure did.
Apr 07, 2014 @ 12:44:10
I’m not surprised about Headline Hacks converting though. I just had someone email it to me last week, and I’ve been using it for years. I have a copy printed up which I keep under my pillow at night (OK, maybe not… but I might as well.)
Apr 06, 2014 @ 15:44:17
Apr 07, 2014 @ 03:16:40
Apr 07, 2014 @ 04:42:08
Apr 07, 2014 @ 18:15:24
Apr 07, 2014 @ 13:24:59
Though most of my income is generated by helping others 1) get found online and then 2) engage through video, I do use my blog to attract people to me so they can see the services and products I offer.
Doesn’t fit with exactly the type blog being presented here, but Jon’s thoughts are always helpful.
As always, Jon: thanks for the great info.
Charlie Seymour Jr
Apr 07, 2014 @ 18:14:23
Apr 08, 2014 @ 03:01:25
Great article. Just one question about guestblogging. Didn’t google put in on a list of things not to do recently regarding SEO?
Thanks for your great posts.
Maurice Smit
Apr 09, 2014 @ 14:47:56
Apr 08, 2014 @ 09:51:12
Apr 09, 2014 @ 20:26:06
Apr 10, 2014 @ 10:00:52
You are such of a man who blows away all of my assumptions with each and every post. And yes I’m the bottleneck and I’ve realized it now.
No other blogger can compare to ‘His Royal Awesomeness’ Jon Morrow.
Have a great day Jon. I am a true worshiper of you and BBT. I really Thank God that I’ve found this site very much early in my blogging career.
Apr 11, 2014 @ 17:21:09
Apr 23, 2014 @ 12:29:07
If you’re blogging in another language, I would recommend just focus on posting amazing content and then asking influencers to share it for you. You have much less competition, so it should be fairly effective.
Apr 12, 2014 @ 05:36:56
Apr 12, 2014 @ 07:39:57
This article not only shared much valuable knowledge, but also reignited my flair for enhancing my affiliate sales and has inspired me!
Great work Jon, I appreciate the long hours and work you put towards creating this article!
And thanks to Kingged, where I actually found the link to this post. I’ll be Kingging this useful post over there too!
Arun
Apr 15, 2014 @ 00:35:35
I want to start off by saying I really do like this blog. But I have a problem (or at the very least, a couple questions) pertaining to your blog post, Jon.
1) The first thing is in regards to your statements about creating your own products, promoting affiliate products, and doing unique things like creating courses and webinars.
So…is everyone who reads this blog in the business (or currently trying to get into the business) of helping teach other people to make money on the Internet?
In other words, Jon is an incredible writer, communicator, and hard worker–no question. But you’re in the business of helping other people make money. You’re not, by contrast, a travel blogger. You’re not, by contrast, helping to teach people how to buy their first pet. You’re not, by contrast, an entertainment blogger writing about Rihanna and “True Detective.”
And so, I guess my question here would simply be–would a person who follows your blog about TV shows be interested in paying for a TV-related webinar you created? Would a person who follows your blog about vinyl record collecting want to buy an online course from you? Would a person who follows a travel blog you created want to call you up for coaching lessons?
In other words–isn’t most of your advice squarely aimed at a very, very small segment of bloggers who, more than likely, are trying to teach other people how to make money online?
2) And second, you mentioned that you would recommend people do guest blogging, and not even post their first blog entry until they have 10,000 subscribers. You then said you would completely dismiss social media for now (which goes against what someone like Gary Vaynerchuk thinks, but that’s fine–nothing wrong with differing opinions).
So based on this advice, I would approach someone’s blog and see if I can write a guest post for them.
But because I’m not launching my blog or writing any blog posts until I hit 10,000 subscribers, I can’t point them to a blog I own that contains some of my writing samples, so that whoever I’m contacting can read and get an idea of my writing style.
So….why would someone accept me as a guest blogger? I have no blog where I’ve written similar content on my own platform, and because we’re not focusing on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, I have no social proof of any kind.
Why would someone accept me as a guest blogger, when there’s other people who are contacting them about the same opportunity, but they also have their own platform and potentially followers?
To me, that’s akin to walking into a business on a Monday morning and demanding to see the manager. I tell him I’d like a job opportunity at his company, and when he asks for my resume, I can’t provide him with one (my blog). And when he asks for my references (social media), I can’t provide that either. Why is he going to listen to me?
I suppose I just don’t see why being DEVOID of a blog and social media will make you an attractive guest blogging candidate. I get that you’ll maybe be more focused on finding guest blogs rather than building up your Twitter following, but couldn’t you just ask easily say that we should focus on doing nothing but building followers on Twitter, because you can then build relationships and find guest posting opportunities through the people you meet in social media?
–Leonard
Apr 23, 2014 @ 12:27:20
Doesn’t this stuff only work in the “make money online” niche?
It’s a valid question. And to answer your question, these techniques DON’T work for everyone.
For example, the entertainment blogger you mentioned. That’s a completely different style of blogging, and it operates by entirely different rules. Usually, the only way to monetize those blogs is advertising, and as a consequence, those bloggers almost never make much money.
But those blogs are really more the exception than the rule.
I have a client who makes a ton of money in the interior decorating space. Most of her readers are moms looking for interior decorating tips. Check her out: http://www.mariakillam.com/
And that’s just one example. I could list hundreds that have nothing to do with making money.
And as for guest blogging…
Popular bloggers accept guest post for the same reasons popular bands have opening acts. It’s a way to extend the “show” without doing all the work yourself.
When an up-and-coming band auditions to be an opening act, do you think the more famous band cares where they have played? Not really. All they care about is the strength of the audition. If the up-and-coming band is good, they get the gig. If they suck, it doesn’t matter where they played or how good everyone else says they are, they get a polite no.
Same thing with guest blogging. If your post is good, you’re in. The editor won’t even look at your blog, most likely. Or if they do, it’ll be a cursory glance just to make sure you don’t have anything offensive on your site.
Apr 15, 2014 @ 04:51:10
1) Your niche selection is extremely important. You probably won’t be able to make money helping people watch better quality TV. But you could help them lose weight or be more productive and make a bunch of money in the process. Making money is not limited to helping other people make money.
2) You should have an active blog, but you should put a lot more effort into guest blogging in the beginning and when you hit 10.000 subscribers shift the focus to your own blog. Because then the effect of social media, SEO, etc on your site outweighs the traffic you’ll get from guest blogging.
I think that is what Jon meant.
Apr 15, 2014 @ 11:00:58
This is such an awesome content from Jon Morrow. It inspires me a lot and I hope other bloggers will be inspired too after reading these valuable and effective lessons on how to build a profitable blog. The lessons given are practical and are delivered wisely.
I believe that Jon Morrow is a successful person and that his blogs truly touch someone’s life.
Two thumbs up for their great job!
Best,
Ann
By the way, I found this post shared on kingged.com
Apr 15, 2014 @ 19:44:42
I also teach others to do the same. Yes tip #20 “” We give them the roadmap for achieving their dreams!
I absolutely loved this post. Lesson #13: Promote The Crap Out of Your Content Now this is one thing that I know gets results. Sites like Kingged for instance getter done.. I did land here today Via this site where I also commented and kingged this post..
Thanks for sharing.. Chery :))
Apr 17, 2014 @ 14:44:42
Thank you again!
Krystal K.
BLOG & COMPANY
Apr 20, 2014 @ 23:58:29
Apr 23, 2014 @ 12:11:37
Dec 30, 2014 @ 21:32:54
Apr 23, 2014 @ 12:51:49
Apr 23, 2014 @ 17:18:18
Apr 24, 2014 @ 03:33:35
Apr 29, 2014 @ 07:42:41
May 06, 2014 @ 19:28:04
May 07, 2014 @ 04:10:41
May 07, 2014 @ 05:19:41
May 07, 2014 @ 09:11:45
May 09, 2014 @ 11:35:39
May 10, 2014 @ 06:20:29
May 20, 2014 @ 11:27:38
Thanks for this wonderful post, infact it make my day. Am a blogger, but this articles makes me realise a lot of things.
To be sincere i learn alot and no one will read this article and will not feel inspired to do more in his/her blogging career.
You hit the hammer on the nail directly, all the point you mentioned are great and the explanation are wonderful.
I will surely put all I learn in this articles post to action.
Thanks and have a nice day
I found the link to this post on Kingged and i have also kingged it on kingged.com
Jun 05, 2014 @ 05:02:12
Thanks for all this valuable information.
So many insights. Here are two:
“Start selling from day one”. That goes against everything I learned, but it makes sense. Even when you have a small 100 subscriber list.
“Build a reverse funnel”. Also not what I was taught. I was led to believe that you should start, with free, then have somewhat cheap product, before you have your premium product.
Will start thinking about my premium product right now.
Jun 07, 2014 @ 16:17:45
I guess it is time to write some awesome guest posts.
Thanks.
Jun 26, 2014 @ 08:55:54
Jun 29, 2014 @ 12:05:29
Jul 01, 2014 @ 07:40:30
Jul 04, 2014 @ 08:08:10
Jul 05, 2014 @ 23:38:07
Jul 09, 2014 @ 16:57:12
Jul 10, 2014 @ 02:43:07
Jul 13, 2014 @ 08:12:05
Jul 14, 2014 @ 22:24:08
Jul 15, 2014 @ 04:05:10
Jul 16, 2014 @ 02:43:16
Jul 16, 2014 @ 05:29:24
Jul 18, 2014 @ 15:37:58
Jul 18, 2014 @ 21:00:03
I am keen on applying these tips to my blogs.
Jul 20, 2014 @ 04:52:33
Jul 23, 2014 @ 06:16:16
Thank you for putting something like this together. i have been trying to make money blogging, and this is exactly what I needed to be guided on the right path.
I wish I had found your blog much earlier . . . thanks so much!
Jul 28, 2014 @ 08:25:03
Aug 11, 2014 @ 09:51:22
Donna Devane
Aug 13, 2014 @ 13:51:25
Thank you for your advice. I’m definitely interested in applying these techniques to my make money online blog. I currently have Google Adsense on my blog and I offer advertising banner spots on my website through micro job sites. But $100k a month is awesome! I’ll even be happy with $100k a year. If I can get my blog on that level, I could quit my job and work from home. I’m re-reading these techniques tonight and applying them to my blog. Thank you so much!
Aug 14, 2014 @ 12:54:46
Aug 19, 2014 @ 14:52:46
Aug 23, 2014 @ 13:41:28
Aug 25, 2014 @ 03:28:15
This post provides great advice; lesson #10 is priceless.
Thanks!
Aug 27, 2014 @ 08:41:44
Aug 27, 2014 @ 09:18:37
This article is like the Holy Grail for bloggers. Thank you for this!
I also wanted to ask you how is this applicable to a blog that has as a mission educating people about science. Any ideas?
Aug 27, 2014 @ 14:16:39
Aug 30, 2014 @ 23:56:26
One of the most frustrating things for me since I began blogging was getting more engagement on my blog posts. When I first started I went from nothing to around 200,000 on Alexa in about 3 to 6 months. After that, I had a long hiatus of no content and flew back up past 10,000,000.
Anybody who’s been online for a while has heard the term “VALUE” at least a million times. Yet, only a few of us know “WHAT” value IS. I’ve generated a substantial amount of subscribers over the years, but my relationship with them was lacking, because I didn’t fully grasp the concept of giving value.
I think now that I have finally started to have a better understanding of how to provide value. My new challenge is learning how to differentiate when I’m giving “too much” value, in the case where I should have just packaged up the content and created a product.
What’s your take on deciphering when you have given enough value for free and when it should be sold?
Sep 07, 2014 @ 19:45:17
Sep 09, 2014 @ 03:05:27
Writing a post contains 2000 – 3000 words may be a bit difficult to me. But i must realize that nothing can be achieved without hard working. If we write a long valuable content like this, there is a great chance for bookmarking the page. So it is a great innovative strategy.
Sep 13, 2014 @ 01:00:47
Sep 16, 2014 @ 05:23:12
Sep 17, 2014 @ 13:46:37
I’m asking the question, focusing on OTHERS and forgetting about FB for a while.
Thanks for all the goodies to work with!
Sep 19, 2014 @ 22:54:14
Sep 23, 2014 @ 15:22:42
Great post, liked the content some great ideas. It definitely got me thinking. I hadn’t though of some of these tips, so thanks.
Sep 26, 2014 @ 07:34:50
Sep 26, 2014 @ 08:10:47
Oct 03, 2014 @ 04:00:09
Oct 10, 2014 @ 14:12:56
Oct 11, 2014 @ 22:35:49
Your inverse funnel idea is incredible. Focusing on the 2% is just wow! I mean I’ll have to read that post again and again because I did everything wrong with my blog.
Thank you so much for sharing this!
Oct 22, 2014 @ 04:44:33
I read your 4000 words post almost without blinking. Thank god, breathing is automatic or I would have forgot to take it
Extraordinary post. Not only I got new insights but it totally change my paradigm.
Hats off Jon
Oct 26, 2014 @ 07:41:19
This is one of the best posts about the subject I have ever come across.
Thanks for your insight and for spending your time writing this superb piece of advice.
Oct 29, 2014 @ 11:21:57
I’m impressed about the depth of insight you seem to command in this area. It is true there are lots of sites that means opposite of what they say or write but yours is different. Keep on doing a good job out there.
Nov 01, 2014 @ 11:56:57
Nov 05, 2014 @ 16:30:05
I hope you are having an awesome day!
Clay Steadman
Nov 10, 2014 @ 22:42:34
You are man of kind. I do blogging since 7 years ago. I didn’t earn much like others. The reason behind i didn’t gave readers value. I pushed them to click my advertising. That’s silly. But, now, i understand that readers need something useful for their life. I called it human to human approach. Not human to machine, like the way i did. E Since months ago, i read your blog everyday. Just like a breakfast at Tiffany.
Nov 16, 2014 @ 11:44:10
I’ve been a perspective Blogger/writer for some time now, my wife Carly suggested I take up the career as I have allot to inform people of.
I am a very successful entrepreneur and wish to blog about how to build success thru proper moral business ethics; things like Honesty, integrity and moral vigor are things that are quickly becoming the “past”.
I will combine your kind advice with my style & be coming for $100k month sales.
J.R.
Nov 17, 2014 @ 15:19:11
Nov 18, 2014 @ 18:47:26
Nov 21, 2014 @ 01:05:24
Nov 21, 2014 @ 13:14:42
Many begin blogging for fun and then realize their might be money to be made. Others use their blog as the means to an end, a hub of activity to attract customers and traffic to their main event.
Regardless of the reason for the blog’s existence, once you decide it is for business and not just a hobby, you must learn to treat it as a business and learn every step to do it effectively.
Nov 21, 2014 @ 18:37:45
To Your Success
Adam Rance,
Nov 25, 2014 @ 16:20:46
Nov 28, 2014 @ 02:10:13
After having some time to build a community and learn what your readers like to learn, you can then create your products and link to them from banners on your sidebar.
Thanks for this amazing tips
Dec 01, 2014 @ 07:02:54
Dec 02, 2014 @ 09:10:00
Rest tips and tricks are just being impatience
Thanks for sharing such a nice post
Dec 03, 2014 @ 01:37:56
Your every point is the voice of my heart. The only difference is that you heard it before me and that is why you are earning 100k dollars and I am still a struggling blogger.
But the positive aspect is I haven’t fail as yet and will never fail till I am struggling.
I think there are two types of people in this world. One type is of those who think they know and other type is of like you who really know and can tell others what they know.
Selling services first and then creating a product is an amazing idea which I never read before. I can enumerate several others from your post but don’t want to repeat all the points you mentioned. It will be just like the reproduction of whole post.
And thanks a lot for sharing this post and once again thank you for helping me conceive an idea for my next blog post.
To be very frank every week I get a new idea of my post after reading your post here.
Dec 06, 2014 @ 13:00:11
As a new(ish) blogger, it’s a little intimidating to see such a great post, yet realize it kinda goes against SO much you’ve learned thus far. At this point, I seriously feel like a deer in the headlights. But I have a question…
If you’re a total newb to the blog world yourself, what service could you possibly offer someone else? I’m sure I could be a pro hand holder, but the idea of trying to tell someone else how to be successful when *I* don’t even feel like I’m there seems far fetched.
So what’s a beginner to do?
Dec 26, 2014 @ 22:19:37
Dec 29, 2014 @ 00:17:00
Dec 29, 2014 @ 08:34:27
Loved your thought on blogger: “You’re an expert, a teacher, a mentor, maybe even an entrepreneur”
I remember a lot of Internet entrepreneur, were bloggers few years back and had started their career as blogger.
Jan 01, 2015 @ 13:20:22
Thanks for the informative post though. I definitely picked up a few important pearls!
Jan 02, 2015 @ 06:39:54
This is one of the greatest and most inspiring articles i have ever read online.
I however seem to have one challenge to over come.
This is has to do with what specific niche to settle for because, i am only about starting out and blogging is going to be my major occupation and source of livelihood.
The niches i have in mind and passionate about is making money online and self improvement.
Jan 05, 2015 @ 12:52:18
Jan 07, 2015 @ 00:40:23
Jan 07, 2015 @ 00:37:43
Thanks Again for this article.
Jan 07, 2015 @ 08:07:24
I have another about oriental movies that has reached about 300.000 visitors and i havent posted anything in it for a year or so…
Ive been so busy working in illustration through my site that most of the time there´s no room to work on anything else but after reading your text i think i need to find some extra time asp to go back to blogging….thanks.
Jan 09, 2015 @ 20:57:46
Jan 11, 2015 @ 04:51:09
Thanks
Jan 11, 2015 @ 22:45:27
Came here after listening to you on Content Champion, great interview and great article!
That calculator must be broken i’m not seeing those blog returns yet!
Daniel
Jan 12, 2015 @ 23:03:48
Jan 14, 2015 @ 02:30:47
Jan 14, 2015 @ 06:25:10
Blogging pays well if done correctly.
Jan 20, 2015 @ 07:55:36
Feb 08, 2015 @ 08:28:15
I personally like all your posts (writing tone especially), and I’m also part of some of your premium courses. You ARE a true leader Jon. You share what you follow.
Feb 10, 2015 @ 07:08:45
Congratulations on your blog and so glad I found it!
Feb 13, 2015 @ 12:17:26
Thanks Jon! Keep being awesome
Feb 17, 2015 @ 19:14:08
Your case seems to fall under 2. You do not want to blog, you make money from the blog, it is just a way of marketing.
My blog is a blog for blogging. To express my thoughts, and maybe make money as a side effect. There is a huge difference between those situations, and the differences lead the use of ads, guest posts and so on.
I will be happy for your reply.
Feb 20, 2015 @ 23:26:26
Nice guide to make money from blog.
Bloggers need both patience and strategy to be successful .
Feb 26, 2015 @ 23:49:03
Thank you!
Peyton
May 18, 2016 @ 18:46:16
Thank you!
May 19, 2016 @ 01:54:48
May 19, 2016 @ 04:16:15
This is one of the best articles I have ever read in my entire lifetime, Jon. I can’t put into word how amazing this post is!
While there have been a lot of articles talking about making money blogging, your is the BEST one I have seen so far!
This is giving me motivation and a huge push to continue working on my blog. You can really make a lot of money blogging, but you HAVE to put the work in (you get what you put in).
I love using affiliate marketing, Pat Flynn is also one of the best in the game.
One thing that really struck me in this post is the reverse sales funnel. I’ve always thought to start off cheaper then gradually charge more money. To be honest, this reverse funnel sounds scary, but since you said you had great results, I should probably give it a try.
My gosh, the information in this post is so good that you can charge for it. Very valuable information!
Thank you soo much Jon for this outstanding post.
Best wishes,
Benjamin
May 19, 2016 @ 06:54:17
May 19, 2016 @ 12:17:33
May 19, 2016 @ 12:20:13
Thanks for updating the post to more relevant data. It does provide hope and renews my spirit to keep working.
My hurdle that you make seem so easy comes for this one line: “Write content that gets lots of traffic”. I know that I write good content, but content that gets lots of traffic … well. In that one line you have made the most difficult part of getting started seem like a “no brainer”.
I still have work to do and I really appreciate the value you offer for free. You are an inspiration to me.
Thanks.
May 19, 2016 @ 12:22:58
you’re the best!
I’m going to start a blog soon! real soon!
your posts have motivated me like nothing else!
when I succeed as a blogger!
you’re gonna be my guru!
May 19, 2016 @ 12:24:09
May 19, 2016 @ 12:26:49
May 19, 2016 @ 13:28:06
May 21, 2016 @ 13:54:30
May 19, 2016 @ 13:49:28
It seems we are at the same juncture for professional blogging. It strikes me as a positioning opportunity for professional blogging. You have generously done as much or more than anyone I know to move the profession forward. I want to be part of that process. Perhaps, destiny calls.
May 19, 2016 @ 13:56:31
May 19, 2016 @ 14:43:01
May 19, 2016 @ 14:52:37
I blog on religion, all ads I subscribed for gave me contrary outputs.
May 19, 2016 @ 22:38:05
May 20, 2016 @ 02:51:06
Really awesome post… thanks for your suggestions and advice’s.
May 20, 2016 @ 02:52:23
Though thanks for all of your valuable resources Jon.
Keep up the great work at smartblogger!
May 20, 2016 @ 08:27:14
Thank you, Jon.
May 20, 2016 @ 13:59:47
May 20, 2016 @ 22:18:48
May 21, 2016 @ 04:00:48
i am a newbie,your post helps me a lot.
i started to learn money earning steps from this blog.
thanks a lot.
May 21, 2016 @ 06:21:15
May 21, 2016 @ 07:00:30
May 21, 2016 @ 07:16:20
I don’t want a team of people milling around me, either. Just not my goal.
Rather, I’d like to life a simple but comfortable life, say, of 5 figures per year. Having extra to give away on occasion would be fine. But my main goal is to teach, and by teaching to help people who have enough desire to be helped that they would actually make an effort to learn.
I have read about being careful to charge enough to cover my expenses, also not to undercut others who must cover expenses, and really, I think that an admirable goal. I don’t want to run someone else’s life, to guarantee their life-long success if I’m the one in control. I just want to publish, successfully, and thereby help as many as possible.
Fame? Okay, if it’s necessary, and I can see how that concept works, but always being gone? Always demanding top dollar? Not so much…
Can a person live like that through a blog?
May 21, 2016 @ 13:52:17
$100K+ per month is rare.
May 21, 2016 @ 12:48:54
quote: from you by the way..
It took me about five years to earn my first dollar.
During that time, I started four different blogs, working on them at night and on the weekends. The first three failed. Despite investing hundreds of hours into each one, I made too many mistakes, and I eventually had to shut the blogs down. I didn’t earn a penny from them.
quote: from you (again) by the way…
Within a month, I had On Moneymaking off the ground, and within two months, it was getting 2,000 visitors a day and Performancing nominated it for the best business/money blog of the year. A couple of months after that, Brian Clark asked me to become the Associate Editor of Copyblogger, and so I sold On Moneymaking for five figures and went to work at one of the most popular blogs at the world.
And amazingly, that’s just the beginning of the story.
quote; from me by the way…
odd how people sometimes lose credibility in the blink of an eye
May 21, 2016 @ 13:47:43
What’s unclear?
May 30, 2016 @ 14:31:38
Jun 21, 2016 @ 04:33:51
Unless you have something to offer like the HeadLine Hacks that Jon generously gave for us all and I personally used it to build my trial blog to 33K views in 9 months, its best you shut up.
Thanks Jon for being a true inspiration for all of us.
You are insanely amazing.
May 21, 2016 @ 20:53:38
May 22, 2016 @ 07:35:06
May 22, 2016 @ 10:59:38
May 22, 2016 @ 11:01:21
I have also shared your story of life with my blog’s readers , you are an inspiration for others . May god bless you with lot more success and love .
May 22, 2016 @ 16:10:07
May 22, 2016 @ 19:25:39
Thank you for posting this.
Amazing FREE CONTENT
awesome.
Kerry.
May 23, 2016 @ 00:52:15
May 24, 2016 @ 04:30:35
I’ve been through quite a lot with my days a blogger. I was making money, but it just wasn’t enough. You literally make pennies and dollars. That is not enough to support yourself. It wasn’t until I met Noah King. A mentor of mine who taught me how to make REAL MONEY online writing about what I love. I am now making $6000/month after a year of hard work and can do it all from the convenience of my home. Never give up or sell yourself short! Noah has his own website where he talks about how to achieve the same success he has. You can check him out here if you’re interested – http://www.deservingwriter.com/
May 24, 2016 @ 10:03:20
May 30, 2016 @ 14:26:28
Did you do your 301 redirects so that googs knows it’s really the same domain, just with a different name? I also changed domains—twice. yuck. Nobody was reading me back then, but it’s not fun while you’re going through just the same.
May 25, 2016 @ 09:29:52
Thanks for sharing this valuable information. I am a regular reader of your blog and looking forward to read these types of informative articles. For sure, I will refer this write-up to my friends.
Have a Nice Day >!! Happy Blogging
May 25, 2016 @ 10:10:15
i started to learn money earning steps from this blog.
thanks a lot.
May 25, 2016 @ 11:34:33
May 25, 2016 @ 15:18:55
May 25, 2016 @ 17:14:31
Sarah
May 26, 2016 @ 00:49:31
I’m blogger from Indonesia, it’s really helpful to find a blogger like you who dedicated for the “art of traffic”, not many bloggers here (Indonesia) explain it deeply like your blog, though some advice not applicable here.
I have read around 20 posts of your blog, and it really help a lot… Thank you very much
May 26, 2016 @ 21:55:53
May 26, 2016 @ 22:44:38
May 27, 2016 @ 00:45:17
I like the fact that you endorse affiliate marketing, and by extension high ticket marketing.
I started 10 years ago as a big ticket affiliate marketer. I made money quickly and quit the rat race 55 days later. It made sense to me to avoid creating a product (a tortuous path for a newbie) and let a third party take care of product creation and delivery, not to mention customer service.
I also like the fact you made it very clear that bloggers are growing a business, and that it is hard, not easy. Although I have a couple of blogs now, I see blogging as just one of the elements in an overarching strategy.
Fabulous post
May 29, 2016 @ 01:23:26
May 29, 2016 @ 20:28:11
This is absolutely fantastic stuff and a real eye opener for business like mine, where we want technology to be our main driver given today’s day and age. I really appreciate the honest insights that you’ve put forward, and we will look forward to always learning more about the business through your posts and will definitely spread the good news.
Cheers,
Sean
May 30, 2016 @ 07:08:27
Thank you!
May 30, 2016 @ 11:14:24
May 30, 2016 @ 15:23:49
Maybe you’ve heard already because good news travels fast. ;] I just passed 100k, no not in one month, but in just over 8 months, since September 26, 2015!
For anyone reading this.
I’m not a geek.
I’m not a writer.
I’m an interior designer
And a student of Jon’s.
Admittedly, I’m a horrible student. Really bad ADD.
But… I did everything he told me to do.
And then I joined an accountability group with a few of Jon’s students.
That last piece was critical.
I doubted my every move.
I lived in fear that someone would dump on me.
Occasionally they do.
Big whoop. That’s their problem. :]
The vast majority are overwhelmingly kind and generous.
I built my email list with a carefully crafted optin. I now, have over 13,500 subscribers. (in September 2014, I had 78) :]
I built credibility through my blog with humor, beautiful images and rock solid information.
I created two products that my readers were dying to have. (I knew this because I did a survey. Highly recommended!)
I worked insanely hard to create the best products that NO ONE else had ever done, still doubting; still not believing it was possible.
It IS possible.
Listen to Jon.
(BTW, I am in no way affiliated with him other than an admiring student)
Do what he says.
Believe him when he says that it’s an INSANE amount of work!
INSANE! I did not have much of an outside life (for a time) because that is how much effort and time it takes.
But, it’s also fun, and immensely rewarding.
Especially when the orders come pouring in and if you do everything Jon says and you’re committed…
Well, it worked for me.
And it all came about because this Angel (who doesn’t realize that she is…) told me about Headline Hacks.
I am beside myself with gratitude. There aren’t enough thank yous in the Universe to express that.
xoxo,
Laurel
May 30, 2016 @ 15:44:46
Jun 04, 2016 @ 17:28:17
Jun 28, 2016 @ 07:30:38
May 31, 2016 @ 11:28:57
Jun 02, 2016 @ 01:54:10
Jun 02, 2016 @ 10:13:49
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Jun 03, 2016 @ 04:47:35
Jun 03, 2016 @ 11:59:04
Hmm. Oke i will try it..
Maybe, I success with it.
Jun 03, 2016 @ 13:15:57
Jun 04, 2016 @ 02:49:15
Jun 04, 2016 @ 17:23:59
Jun 10, 2016 @ 05:32:17
Guys!
Great post ! Thank you so much.this article is very useful for me.
Jun 10, 2016 @ 05:55:15
P.S. this is a nice guide for blogging beginners.
Jun 10, 2016 @ 07:10:26
Jun 10, 2016 @ 07:11:30
Jun 10, 2016 @ 07:12:14
Jun 12, 2016 @ 08:12:20
Congratulations for being in a positive position to earn over $100,000 monthly from blogging and online marketing. Keep up the good work!
Jun 12, 2016 @ 18:56:49
I may not personally know you (yet lol) but let me give you the 2 thumbs up for your achievement and thanks for showing others that their goals are also achievable ($100k a month is a goal for a lot of us Internet marketers)!
Keep inspiring others and posting real no fluff content!
Jun 13, 2016 @ 02:57:09
Jun 13, 2016 @ 20:35:43
Jun 13, 2016 @ 21:07:06
1) direct ads
2) Reviews
3) Guest Posts
4) Affiliate marketing
Jun 16, 2016 @ 10:55:36
Jun 16, 2016 @ 14:31:21
Jun 16, 2016 @ 23:43:40
Jun 17, 2016 @ 10:27:59
Jun 18, 2016 @ 23:56:11
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Jun 21, 2016 @ 06:06:48
Jun 21, 2016 @ 07:45:15
Jun 22, 2016 @ 03:38:35
Jun 22, 2016 @ 05:11:52
Do you plan on offering year-long coaching anytime soon?
Jun 23, 2016 @ 08:35:11
Jun 23, 2016 @ 17:04:23
Thanks for the info!
Jun 24, 2016 @ 19:19:39
I am ready to work!
Jun 25, 2016 @ 21:13:41
Jun 26, 2016 @ 21:08:19
Jun 27, 2016 @ 07:04:23
Jun 27, 2016 @ 18:27:08
Jun 28, 2016 @ 07:02:35
Jun 28, 2016 @ 22:09:07
It is true that most beginners gravitate towards ads, that is the most common response it seems. The reverse funnel is genius as well. Again, thank you.
Jul 02, 2016 @ 02:37:38
Jul 02, 2016 @ 06:17:40
Jul 02, 2016 @ 10:07:58
Jul 07, 2016 @ 18:57:03
Jul 02, 2016 @ 13:43:41
Jul 07, 2016 @ 18:50:09
Best of luck to you, Anja
Jul 03, 2016 @ 15:49:47
I have an affiliate question (hopefully you aren’t annoyed at them by now): I want to start a couponing website for a specific niche, that will provide coupons and deals to users at certain stores. What do I do if the store that I really want to promote does not have an affiliate program? Thanks again!
Jul 04, 2016 @ 05:10:35
I love that you’ve actually had the experience of 8 years and are honest in what you say. Not like the majority of most bloggers who give advice on making a profitable blog.
So counter-intuitive, I thought that I was going to monetize my blog with ads as well. Literally changed the direction of my blog for the better. Thank you so much for saving me the time. Going to read this again and again in the future and will share it now.
Cheers!
Jul 05, 2016 @ 07:00:15
I think this one will motivate me into action!!
I love reading comprehensive posts, especially those that distill what the blogger has learned themselves over the years. Helps know what works and what does not, so I don’t waste time and hopes on something that’s less likely to help meet my blogging goals. Thank you for this.
Jul 05, 2016 @ 08:22:18
Jul 07, 2016 @ 05:54:03
Jul 08, 2016 @ 01:51:46
Jul 08, 2016 @ 02:06:46
Jul 08, 2016 @ 08:43:46
can anyone please tell me exapt ads or selling..can a blogger earn money if a big number of readers visite his blogs…
Jul 08, 2016 @ 08:46:59
Can anyone please tell me exapt ads and selling the products if a blogger can even earn money if large number of readers visit his post.
Jul 10, 2016 @ 21:51:52
That was such an inspiration to read. I can’t believe it took you five years to make your first dollar. Very few people would have that kind of perseverance and stick it through. You deserve all the success.
I just started my own blog and I can’t thank you enough after reading this post. Thanks again for keeping it real. I’m going to re-read this post again. Too many nuggets of wisdom.
Jul 13, 2016 @ 03:14:33
Jul 13, 2016 @ 10:55:45
Wow!
I was simply Googling on ‘How to Make Money Using Blogspot’ then I stumbled upon your blog. This is loads of information.
I’ll read this Blog several times to grasp the concepts
Thank you
Jul 13, 2016 @ 14:10:05
Jul 14, 2016 @ 23:52:16
Jul 15, 2016 @ 06:00:29
Awesome post to make money via blogging in 2016. As today many bloggers are struggling to make money and choosing the right path to make money. So I say monetization is not the right way to make money instead use alternative methods you have already described above. So thank you.