Can you make money blogging? It’s a question that business coach Rex Richard gets asked all the time. The answer is a tentative yes. Making money only by blogging is rare (unless you have a major following and your pay per click game is strong)
Most people who “make money blogging” are doing so because they are blogging about their products or services. Blogging as a business means you have to put your efforts into building a website that will draw traffic and have advertisers clamoring for ad space – which you could sell to them and make money blogging. It’s semantics.
Can you make money blogging?
Generating income starts by generating content that people want to read and that Google and other search engines want to highlight because its so well-researched and written and optimized.
Here are things you can sell and promote through your blogging that could help you make money with your blog.
Online workshops or courses. Package and sell your knowledge through your website. Your blogging skills are what you will use to promote your courses and workshops to people who want to buy them.
Sell digital products like e-books or an online store with digital products. These could be templates, photos, worksheets, printables and more.
Affiliate marketing can be lucrative BUT you need to ensure that if you’re selling items that your blog posts and website are a constant litany of BUY these products! No reader wants to be bombarded with that. They come to your site for quality content, or to learn or to be enlightened. Use affiliate links sparingly and naturally. Make sure you have a notice on every post and on your site that you may make money from affiliate links.
Sell ad space. This will require you to show your traffic numbers to potential advertisers. The more traffic the more you can charge for space on your site. Again, this is a delicate balancing act – your readers won’t want to come to your site and have to wade through dozens of ads to get to the content they’re seeking – they won’t.
Write sponsored blog posts for money.
Accept guest bloggers who want to pay for the privilege to be on your site. Again, this, and number 5 require traffic numbers that will cause someone to want to pay.
Create a digital community based on your unique niche. You could charge a monthly membership fee – keep in mind that this recurring income needs to reward members with new and updated and free content regularly.
So, yes you can technically make money blogging, but it does require out-of-the-box thinking. If you need help coming up with a great idea to make money on your blog, contact Rex Richard.
In a perfect world of business you could pick up the phone or attend a meeting and walk away with a folder full of closed sales. What is the life cycle of a sale? They all vary, but there are some standards and steps that many sales calls and prospecting meetings go through until they reach the “sign on the bottom line” portion of a meeting.
As a business owner you will wear many hats. Unless you have a sales force behind you, one of the hats you will don will be “sales person.” Every business owner is a salesperson, but the extent of the amount of selling you need to make will vary.
If you imagined you’d be only focusing on your core competency, you need to step back and realize in order to work our core competency — you need to have a client.
In business, you are always selling if you want to thrive.
What Is The Life Cycle Of A Sale?
Take heed of these steps and work them into your daily routine. Marketing will be part of your business tasks until you can hire a sales team — even in that case though you still may be the one who jumps in and closes the deal.
Always be prospecting. Meet people– in person or on line. Pick up the phone and call former colleagues. Ask for referrals. Where are your ideal clients gathering? Go there. Build relationships.
Relationship building is the most important component of any sales cycle.
Who is your ideal client and how does what you do or sell address their pain point? Keep that in focus when you’re talking with prospective clients.
Listen. Listen. Listen. Don’t fall over yourself giving a pitch.
Take notes. Wrap up the conversation in an email after the meeting is over.
Tell the prospect you will be in touch — then follow through.
Once the contract has been signed, the real work begins — give the client what he believes he is getting and more!
Rex Richard is a business coach who works with his clients from idea to fruition and beyond. Reach out to him if you’re struggling with any aspect of your business operations.
It’s not always possible for a person to say, “I quit!” then jump into being a business owner. You need to make plans. I recommend having enough money in the bank to cover your living expenses for several months. Don’t focus on paying the bills if you’re focusing on starting a business — it’s putting a lot of stress and pressure on yourself. I have tips for how to start your business without quitting your day job. You have probably heard of a “side gig” and that is the approach I am talking about.
I do caution you though, that at some point you will need to “give your notice” at your day job and make the move to full-time entrepreneurship IF you want to be fully self-employed. You will need to jump in and take the chance on yourself.
Start Your Business Without Quitting Your Day Job
Here are some ways to make the most of the resources you have available and scale your part time side gig to full time entrepreneurial endeavor.
Don’t give it away for free. By “free” I mean truly for free or by pricing your goods and services so low that you may as well be giving it away for free. You need to value your gifts and you need to charge for them. Potential clients will de-value your products and services if you’re not charging appropriate fees for them.
Know the value of the products and services you’re offering. See what the competition is charging. Determine what you need to make a living then price your goods and services accordingly.
Be a freelancer in the field you want to start your business in – if possible. If you want to be a full time writer, take on freelance gigs. If you want to be a full time dog groomer, become an intern or freelance or groom your friends’ pets. Gain experience and use that toward furthering your goal for becoming a business owner.
Focus on a niche. Don’t think you have to be everything to everyone… you can’t. Find a niche and make your mark.
What skills can only you perform in your business and what skills do you need to contract out? If you’re an accountant and are not well-versed in copywriting or social media or making graphics, contract those marketing tasks out.
Decide what you need to have to make you feel like you can make the leap into full time business owner. Is it money? Is it a specific number of clients? Once you know your must-haves you will have the freedom to let go of the full time job.
In a perfect world, every client you work with would be a dream client. In the real world, that isn’t the case. We have tips for how to deal with difficult clients, because there may come a time when you simply don’t want to “fire” them and we understand that.
If you are working with a client who is – shall we say – a challenge, you need to have coping mechanisms for those interactions. You also need to ask yourself, “why am I working with this person?” That is truly one of the first questions to be answered.
How To Deal With Difficult Clients
Think about some of these questions when interacting with your difficult client.
Are you working with a couple? A partnership or more than two people in the business? What are their underlying issues – is it truly a disagreement about business principles or is it their own personality conflicts that are driving the challenges? You cannot “fix” their personality issues, but you may be able to read the room and determine how to pose your questions and comments to address all concerns without making them butt heads.
What if you have a client who isn’t angry, but who just can’t make up his or her mind? In this case you feel like you’re running around in circles. Your client decides on Monday to do A but on Tuesday he decides he now wants to focus on B. How do you keep up? Make sure you keep detailed notes. In many cases this type of client will wake up and think that you aren’t doing your job because they aren’t moving forward – in reality it is their indecision that is keeping them stuck.
They cross boundaries. It is easy when you’re coaching or working with someone to have them think they are now your “best friend” and will take advantage of that imagined relationship. They will call at off hours, or drag out conversations or email and text with questions outside of coaching sessions – they’re getting free help and that isn’t fair to you. You need to set boundaries. You need to set expectations. You need to not answer the calls and remind the client of your contract with her and offer to sell her more time if she feels she needs it.
Until you decide to cut ties with a difficult client, you may need to step back, take a deep breath and start over.
With 2020 in the rear view mirror you may be thinking that 2021 will see a return to in-person networking meetings because there is the hope that the coronavirus pandemic will be behind us and life will return to “normal.” We all hope that! But, if it doesn’t materialize quite as quickly as you’d hoped it would, we have some tips and we hope you don’t make these networking mistakes.
Many business owners have honed their online marketing skills and networking skills through the myriad of Zoom meetings they’ve attended, but we are still seeing some networking mishaps that make us cringe!
I and my team enjoy in-person networking, but obviously didn’t have the luxury of attending in the past ten months. We know that nothing takes the place of in-person networking, talking face-to-face and shaking hands. There are still ways to build business online, but with a few nuances.
As with in-person events, Zoom networking meetings can lend themselves to your believing these networking myths and making mistakes.
Don’t Make These Networking Mistakes
Attend meetings that make sense for your business. Don’t attend a meeting that has no importance to you or your business unless it is for learning purposes. Do your homework and attend meetings that put you in front of ideal clients. Don’t fill your calendar so full with Zoom networking that you don’t provide services to your current clients.
Not everyone you speak with or online chat with during a Zoom networking event is a potential client. Don’t treat them as such. Build relationships. Be authentic and genuine in your interactions. Sure, they may be a potential client, but don’t let desperation show in every interaction with thinking you’re signing them up.
Not every networking meeting means you need to toss out your elevator pitch. If you’re in a meeting and the host says, “tell us your name, your business name and one unique thing about you” do just that. Don’t recite your elevator pitch — you will turn people off and take up valuable time that other attendees deserve to use as much as you do. Follow the rules — you will be remembered for that. You can share an elevator pitch later if you connect with someone who wants to get to know you better and whom you want to get to know.
Search for online networking events that not only seem like they will advance your business but that seem interesting and to which you can make a true contribution. Here’s to in-person meetings in 2021!
There is so much that goes into branding your business. You need to think about colors, fonts, logo design, the words you use and you also need to know how to make your brand personality shine through video. Let’s face it – Zoom is now our life and looks like it will continue to be so for many months to come.
If you represent your brand when you’re on Zoom calls with current clients, potential clients or on a networking event with people you don’t know but want to get to know better you need to think about how you’re representing your business.
How To Make Your Brand Personality Shine
We have put together this list of ways in which to put your best brand forward when on a video chat.
What is in your background? Are you in a bathroom and viewers can see the tub? Do you share your office workspace with a child’s bedroom? Are you in your own bedroom? Please, we urge you – look around and make your background as branded or as “invisible” as possible. If you have a banner with your logo, hang it. If you need to add a virtual background for Zooms, make sure it is representative of your business. Be professional at all times. We know that people are working from home and clients are willing to put up with a dog barking or a child chatting but do they need to see your pile of dirty clothes in the corner of your bedroom? No.
Practice on the camera. If you’re uncomfortable or don’t know where to look or speak, set up your phone or turn on your video camera and practice. Record yourself and play it back. Listen to how you sound, what the background noises might be and if you’re looking at the camera and what your lighting is.
What works best for you? Do you want to be on camera with someone and talk interview style or are you able to talk to the camera and interact when you’re a solo act.
Set up your YouTube channel and brand it with your colors, keywords and logo to establish your expertise and online brand.
Do a few Facebook Lives as “test” videos. You can check your lighting with an audience with whom you can interact. Ask a few friends to watch your Live and give you feedback.
If you’re kicking off a YouTube channel or a weekly live event, share that news with your followers on social media, through your website and on your email list.
Pick a niche for your videos. Chances are, if you’re an entrepreneur you know your niche. Work that through your video platform and stay in your lane… until you’re established enough to move out of it and have your followers… follow you!
