When looking at ways to sell your knowledge, it struck me that many internet marketers sell their knowledge online through blogs and blogging. Last year, blogger Michael Dunlop published a great article in his IncomeDiary.com blog called ‘The 50 Most Influential Bloggers of 2009’. This was an inspirational blog and got a lot of attention. But I wondered what these bloggers so… well, ‘influential.’ We can take ‘influential’ as ‘making a lot of money.’ I don’t know how they monetized their blogs (i.e., through banners, Adsense, affiliate products, or their products); I mean, how they got so many people to go to their blog in the first place. So, I researched and discovered several things they did to make money blogging. Here is what I found…
1) They are super-excited about what they write about
They didn’t go into blogging to make tons of money. But it seems that these money-making bloggers are excited about their subject. Some just wanted an outlet to express their enthusiasm; others had hobbies they tried to tell others about. Others have work/life experiences that they want to share.
RELATED ARTICLES :
2) They have a niche
They don’t just dive in and start writing to become number one. They are interested in a specific aspect of life/work/the internet – whatever their topic is. Then, they set out to establish themselves as experts in that niche. However, this is not an obsessive focus at the expense of everything else. It’s just attention to a specific area of knowledge they have much to say about.
3) They have a ‘laser focus on creating great content
The top bloggers are obsessed with creating outstanding content for their readers. They will spend hours and even days creating great writing or videos for their readers. There is genuine pride in this, and they all insist that the quality of the content gets them recognized and respected.
4) They communicate with others in their niche
Having a niche doesn’t mean you are the only one in it. Contrary to common belief in business, having a ‘critical mass’ of others within the same field is good. It spreads the word ‘wider’. What is fascinating about these bloggers is that they regularly share with their ‘niche’ community and other bloggers, treating each other not as competitors but as allies – a refreshing alternative to the norm. They find relevant forums and blogs in their niche and communicate there.
5) They get ‘backlinks.’
Of course, communicating and sharing generously with others is for sound business reasons. Mainly, it is to build and spread their profile and influence. The key thing here is getting ‘backlinks’ and referrals. These are links to other sites that link back to their site. Google search engines love this as it helps them rank a site’s importance. If lots of people are linking to a place, then Google interprets this as that site is important.
6) They are single-minded
The top bloggers all appear to be very single-minded about their actions. They are not looking to make a fast buck but are sincere and genuine business-oriented people. They are single-minded about giving their audience great content consistently with the view to turning that into a lucrative business. It is reassuring to hear that lots of them struggled to get started, had failures, and had crises of confidence and disappointment, but they didn’t give up.
7) They get help from others
The serious blogger (as for any serious business person) understands the value of time, so many get others to do time-consuming tasks. These seem to be research tasks or technical tasks. Some examples of service providers they use are elance.com, taskus.com, craigslist.com, and subhub.com. The top bloggers spend their time doing what they are good at and send the rest out to people who are good at that.
8) They diversify their business
Super-successful bloggers make their money in lots of different ways. Many will have several blogging sites in different niches, where each is monetized differently. One might use AdSense; another might make money from paid advertising and banners, another from affiliate products, or another from selling their products such as books, DVDs, etc. Some have a combination of these methods. For some, they also provide products on blogging itself. They know how others would like to emulate their success, so they create or recommend products that tap into that audience’s desire.
9) They learn and apply
None of these bloggers rolled out of bed one morning, decided to be a blogger, and then made a fortune the same day. As I mentioned earlier, many struggled to get going. Sometimes, the technology was nothing like it is now (fairly simple). They were happy to fail at things; they learned from their mistakes and started again. They are avid about learning from their own experiences and others because they all network like crazy online and offline – picking up hints and tips from anywhere and applying these to their blog projects.
10) They test all kinds of ideas
To the real entrepreneur, the idea of testing is natural. The successful are always experimenting with different ways of providing content, driving traffic, displaying ads, etc. Persistent testing is the key to finding what makes it succeed. They might try lots of ideas before finding one that works well. They are not disappointed when something doesn’t work – they know that their investment of time and money pays off because they learn something new every time (priceless!).
So, in summary, those seeking to sell their knowledge through a blog can take some great lessons from these bloggers. But don’t expect it to be a quick way to make a million. But this is a perfect option if you are passionate about what you know and want to communicate it with others. I was going to add that you have to love writing. But actually, if you can talk into a recorder – you can always get someone else to type it out for you. Ordinary people are making this work and driving their energies to succeed, so if they can, can you? Follow these guidelines, and maybe you’ll be in the top 50 one day!
