How awesome would it be if you could physically pull knowledge out of your head, package it and sell it?
Becoming a business coach is one way you can achieve that. However, it does take time to build up your reputation as a business coach.
You could start a blog as a way to help promote your services and provide free advice to potential clients.
But what if your blog was more than just an outlet for you to write about what you’re passionate about?
What if your simple blog could be turned into a passive money-making machine?
According to Oberlo, over 600 million blogs exist and this number grows every day. Blogging is still popular thanks largely in part to the freedom of writing about anything you want!
Not only can you share your passions and interests with others through your content, you also have an opportunity like no other to help others be better at what they do!
First, let’s clear away the smoke and mirrors and clarify any misconceptions about making money through blogging. Blogs are usually monetised through affiliate marketing, display advertising or a combination of either method.
Making money through content sites can be seen as a get-rich-quick scheme, so let me briefly explain how these monetisation methods work.
In essence, affiliate marketing is where you act as an affiliate for a vendor by promoting their products on your site. You earn a small commission when someone buys this product after clicking your affiliate link.
The most popular affiliate programs include:
Affiliate marketing isn’t just limited to blogs—you can also earn money this way by creating YouTube videos or posting on social media.
It’s a relatively passive income stream, since there’s no maintenance involved after you create the content and place affiliate links.
With display advertising, you’re paid a small amount of commission each time someone clicks on a banner ad that’s shown on your site.
Popular advertising networks include:
While no purchase is necessary to earn money through advertising, you need many more clicks on adverts to compare to affiliate marketing.
Many bloggers who monetise their site try both methods to see what gives them the best results. However, before you can earn from your blog, you’ll need some content on there first!
I’d recommend sticking to your strengths. Write about what you’re passionate about or have expertise in.
More importantly, write about topics that other people will find helpful. If you’re a graphics design wizard, you could share some best design practices with Adobe Photoshop or post tutorials on how to get the most out of popular software.
As a business coach would, think about common problems that potential clients struggle with. Make these pain points the centre of your content and focus on creating actionable solutions.
Anyone!
Since your blog is on the internet, people from all over the world can access your content. You could establish yourself as an enthusiast in a hobby niche or an industry expert, as long as you write engaging content that helps other people develop their skills and further their knowledge.
To increase the number of people reading your blog, here are certain skills to pick up.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) refers to how easy it is to find your content through search engines like Google. To improve this digital marketing channel, it is important to understand how online and offline SEO works.
Online SEO is concerned with keywords and how relevant your content is to a search query. Writing quality content with certain keywords in mind will increase the chances that your article will appear in the first few pages of a search engine
Offline SEO is related to your site’s reputation and is harder to influence. A common metric people use is domain ranking (DR), which is an estimate of how reputable your site is. One way to increase your site’s DR is by getting more backlinks from other sites.
Copywriting is the art of persuading people through your words. A core concept to remember when producing content is to focus on the benefits and results, not the features.
If you have decades of experience, readers just starting off in the industry will be hooked by the results of your knowledge and practice. Before jumping into the finer details of the process, let readers know how the practice makes them a better practitioner.
Let’s not forget soft skills!
Many bloggers manage remote teams made up of designers, copywriters and SEO experts who live all over the world. Coordinating projects across different timezones to meet deadlines means you’ll need to create great procedures and have open and clear communication.
Collaboration tools like Slack, Zoom and Asana can help establish efficient operations.
So we've just covered a really quick breakdown of how to monetise a blog and what skills you'll need.
All that’s left is to start!
You’ll need to generate enough traffic to successfully apply for affiliate programs and advertising networks. Instead of starting a blog from scratch, you could skip the queue by buying a content site that’s already making money.
Acquiring a monetised blog should ideally be in a niche you’re familiar with so you have the motivation to maintain it. If you’re thinking about buying a business, use this free checklist on what to look for when buying your first online business.
A monetised blog could be the ticket to unleashing your entrepreneurial potential. Even if you don’t stick with the content site for a long time, you can always sell it for a profit further down the road!
Time to put pen to paper and share your gift with the world!
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Author name: Vincent Wong
Bio: Vincent is a Content Specialist at Empire Flippers. Originally from the UK and now residing in Malaysia, he loves everything related to online businesses. He loves discovering new (and old) films, music, and cultures.
Image link: G Drive
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