5 Steps to Personal Economic Recovery

Notice I say to start a blog business. Business is the operative word here. A blog by itself may be a good way to pass the time and start conversing with people, but without a business plan, and a business structure behind the blog, the economic gains will be minimal or nonexistent.

This is a 2-part structure. The business is what you are selling (consulting services, professional services, a product, a book, whatever you have); the blog is the tool of choice to funnel traffic to your business. The business model can include multiple sources of income. In addition to your own product or service, you can sell other people’s products and services (this is called affiliate sales). You can also sell advertising on your web site.

I’ll tell you up front that the Fuelblog is the perfect tool to do what I outline here, but it’s not the only one. I think it’s the best one, but I may be biased.

Step 1: Choose Your Niche

The rule of thumb in a blog business is that it’s better to choose a targeted narrow niche than to write about a broad target. You may think that the more general your niche, the larger your audience will be. It seems logical, but the opposite happens to be true. People tend to get excited about specific things, not general things. While a general topic may be attractive to a wider audience, fewer people in that audience will get excited enough to become an active reader. On the other hand, choose a narrow niche and you will attract readers who are truly passionate about it.

So how do you choose a niche? I’ll be writing blog posts about this one topic in more detail soon, but the short answer is passion. What is your passion? Everyone has something they are passionate about, something they can do or talk about all day long regardless of income it produces. Be honest with yourself, and identify your passion. That’s your niche, even is it has nothing to do with the career path you’re already on.

Step 2: Get Your Blog Started

Here’s a great tip for getting a blog off the ground. I recommend to my clients they write at least 5 to 10 posts to launch their blog. These posts form the foundation of the blog, and need to cover the basics of your niche. If all anyone ever read were these posts, they would get an excellent visual of what your blog business is about.

Next, many bloggers find it helpful to keep a running list of post ideas. I have a list of several ideas for blog posts. I add to it whenever an idea comes to mind so I don’t forget. Then, when it comes time to write something, I can look through my list for ideas in case I don’t have something ready to go. Some people like to write blog posts in bulk. They will write 4 or 5 in one sitting, and then post them to their blog over time. I like to write one at a time, and post it when it’s done.

Whatever your writing schedule, it could be helpful in the beginning to maintain some kind of posting schedule. It’s not necessary to post a new blog entry everyday. The key ingredient to a new blog is consistency. For my blog, I am maintaining a new written post each week, and a new PBh Backstage post each week. I am working to increase my written posts to two per week. Sticking to a posting schedule in the early days of your blog will help you to build an audience. Google will see consistent additions to the site each time they index it, which will help your rankings in search results. And readers that begin discovering you will stick by your side if they can rely on consistent (and consistently good) content.

Step 3: Build an Email List

One of the first things you should do on your new blog is begin collecting email addresses and build an email list. An email list will be invaluable when you want to market a product or service. One way to entice people to share their email addresses with you is to offer them something free in return. You can write a report and publish it as a PDF file. You can create something as a downloadable file (artwork, music or a ringtone). Think of something you can create as a downloadable file that would be of some value to your readers. Create an offer for them to receive it for free in exchange for joining your email list.

Step 4: Offer Something for Sale

The goal of this exercise is to start your own economic recovery. Some bloggers give everything away for free, and simply ask for Paypal donations. I’m not going to recommend this path. Instead, I recommend creating a product that you can sell, or offering your services. At the very least, you can offer other people’s products and services as an affiliate for a commission (usually 10% to 50%). I like creating my own products and services best because it has 100% commission.

I suggest placing your product link prominently on the home page, perhaps in the blog sidebar throughout the web site. Remember that your offer has value to your audience, so don’t be afraid to ask them to buy it. If you don’t ask, they won’t buy. Which leads to step 5, perhaps the most important step of them all.

Step 5 (Really Step 1): Believe in Yourself and Your Self Worth

You are extremely valuable, and extremely knowledgeable. You may have a hard time thinking of yourself as an expert or an authority in your chosen niche, but it’s OK if you still have some growing to do. You’ll never get it done, and you’ll never have nothing more to learn. There may be people more knowledgeable than you that intimidate you, but they are not your audience.

The people who come to your blog and become fans and readers will regard you as an expert. Accept the status, and be appreciative for their belief in you. Prove to them and yourself that you deserve it by continuing to learn, continuing to become better at what you do, and to share your increased knowledge with them. That’s what blogging is all about, and why you need to write about something you are passionate about.

Passion is your soul calling you toward something. Follow the call and grow with it. Believe in yourself and your self worth. Look for ideas for things you can make and sell to your readers. Give them your best content and they will continue giving you their attention. Ask them to purchase your product and service offerings and they will.