Almost two years ago, I decided to start my own blog for the sake of helping others get a handle on their finances. While I am not alone in starting a blog, very few people make it past the 6 month or 1 year marks. Making it past these mile markers is a huge sense of accomplishment and if you have made it this far, you should be proud. Two years is coming up and I can’t believe how far I have come in the past 21 months. One of the biggest changes that I have noticed is my new sense of confidence when it comes to running my own business.
Prior to starting a blog, I never saw myself as an entrepreneur. I didn’t see myself ever becoming a business man, but that is what I have become. It didn’t happen over night, but was a gradual process. Before I get into how I turned into a self-made entrepreneur, I think it is worthwhile to illustrate why I now see myself as an entrepreneur.
Proof that My Blog is a Business
While many people may not believe me that blogging can be a business, when you take a look at the facts, it’s very black and white.
A basic principle of any business, I earn money from my blog
Similarly, I also pay expenses to maintain and keep it running
To be more precise, in 2012, before taxes, I made more money from blogging and related activities than I did at my low-paying job.
While I don’t have any “employees,” I do pay several people to perform regular tasks as contractors
I compete with other blogs (aka businesses) for traffic and ultimately revenue
I also provide a service (information) to my customers (readers)
The first thing to come to mind when thinking of a blog is not likely to be a business – but that’s exactly what it is for me. Every blog does not have to be a business – it can still be a hobby – but starting a blog can help you become an entrepreneur. Not only can it earn you money, but it can teach you essential tips for any business person. Before we get into the important lessons that I have learned from managing a blog, let me first highlight the transition from everyday blogger to business man.
From Blogger to Business Man
Upfront Costs – When I was starting my blog, I had to convince myself to pay $100 of my own money to pay for my domain and hosting. I didn’t realize it at first, but these were my upfront costs for my business. It motivated me to make my blog a success because I had to invest my own money.
Generate Revenue - The first thing that I was obsessed with was earning some nice revenue. I didn’t expect it to happen so fast, but that’s exactly what happened.
Reinvesting Revenue - The next big decision was what to do with my money. I could take it and cash out or I could re-invest it. I chose the latter. I reinvesting my money by purchasing a few blogs and before I knew it I multiplied my revenue for the next 6 months. While I didn’t realize it at the time, this was a turning point in my development as an entrepreneur. I started to see my blog as a business.
Focus on New Revenue - The next thing I knew I was focusing on generating more revenue through new business ideas. Some succeeded and some failed. I started to think strategically so that I could increase revenue and lower expenses. Over the next year, I continued to refine my business plan until I felt comfortable.
Lessons Learned from Approaching a Blog as a Business
I recently came to the realization that blogging turned me into a business man. It was a gradual realization as I mentioned above, but once it became completely clear, I also realized that I have learned a lot about switching from seeing my blog as a hobby to a business. In other words, approaching my blog as a business has helped me learn very important lessons about blogging itself.
Traffic Should be Your Top Priority
This may sound basic, but if you want to generate success or revenue, you are going to need a lot of traffic. There are many ways to generate traffic and the best approach is going to be a multi-pronged approach, but if you don’t focus on increasing your traffic, it’s not going to grow that fast. I have noticed that when I am strategic with certain keywords or themes, my traffic grows the most. The problem is finding the time to strategize.
Focus on the Important Items
A lot of non-bloggers don’t realize that there is a lot of work involved in growing a blog. It’s hard to be a successful blogger, let alone one who earns a living from a blog. Not only is there a lot of competition, but there is also so many things that you need to do as a blogger. I’m not sure I will ever earn a living from by blogs, but maybe one day. I recently realized that I didn’t have enough time to make my blog successful on my own, so I hired multiple people to help me. I not only have a VA to help me manage several of my other blogs, but I have multiple authors for 20's Finances. The bottom line is if you are serious about developing a successful resource and you don’t have time to do it all yourself, hire people to help you.
Steady Growth is Better than Inconsistent Highs
A lot of bloggers get excited about being featured on major media outlets… and they should. But, you should not confuse success with a one-time mention. This type of highlight will often have a trickle effect, but it is not the same as sustainable growth. You need to continue to add quality content to keep people coming back. Success is not going to happen overnight, so take it slow.
There’s no magic formulate to creating a successful blog, but approaching it as a business has helped me see some of my downfalls. I still have a long ways to go, but I’m making big strides and am creating a system that will allow me to create sustainable growth for a long-time to come.
Prior to starting a blog, I never saw myself as an entrepreneur. I didn’t see myself ever becoming a business man, but that is what I have become. It didn’t happen over night, but was a gradual process. Before I get into how I turned into a self-made entrepreneur, I think it is worthwhile to illustrate why I now see myself as an entrepreneur.
Proof that My Blog is a Business
While many people may not believe me that blogging can be a business, when you take a look at the facts, it’s very black and white.
A basic principle of any business, I earn money from my blog
Similarly, I also pay expenses to maintain and keep it running
To be more precise, in 2012, before taxes, I made more money from blogging and related activities than I did at my low-paying job.
While I don’t have any “employees,” I do pay several people to perform regular tasks as contractors
I compete with other blogs (aka businesses) for traffic and ultimately revenue
I also provide a service (information) to my customers (readers)
The first thing to come to mind when thinking of a blog is not likely to be a business – but that’s exactly what it is for me. Every blog does not have to be a business – it can still be a hobby – but starting a blog can help you become an entrepreneur. Not only can it earn you money, but it can teach you essential tips for any business person. Before we get into the important lessons that I have learned from managing a blog, let me first highlight the transition from everyday blogger to business man.
From Blogger to Business Man
Upfront Costs – When I was starting my blog, I had to convince myself to pay $100 of my own money to pay for my domain and hosting. I didn’t realize it at first, but these were my upfront costs for my business. It motivated me to make my blog a success because I had to invest my own money.
Generate Revenue - The first thing that I was obsessed with was earning some nice revenue. I didn’t expect it to happen so fast, but that’s exactly what happened.
Reinvesting Revenue - The next big decision was what to do with my money. I could take it and cash out or I could re-invest it. I chose the latter. I reinvesting my money by purchasing a few blogs and before I knew it I multiplied my revenue for the next 6 months. While I didn’t realize it at the time, this was a turning point in my development as an entrepreneur. I started to see my blog as a business.
Focus on New Revenue - The next thing I knew I was focusing on generating more revenue through new business ideas. Some succeeded and some failed. I started to think strategically so that I could increase revenue and lower expenses. Over the next year, I continued to refine my business plan until I felt comfortable.
Lessons Learned from Approaching a Blog as a Business
I recently came to the realization that blogging turned me into a business man. It was a gradual realization as I mentioned above, but once it became completely clear, I also realized that I have learned a lot about switching from seeing my blog as a hobby to a business. In other words, approaching my blog as a business has helped me learn very important lessons about blogging itself.
Traffic Should be Your Top Priority
This may sound basic, but if you want to generate success or revenue, you are going to need a lot of traffic. There are many ways to generate traffic and the best approach is going to be a multi-pronged approach, but if you don’t focus on increasing your traffic, it’s not going to grow that fast. I have noticed that when I am strategic with certain keywords or themes, my traffic grows the most. The problem is finding the time to strategize.
Focus on the Important Items
A lot of non-bloggers don’t realize that there is a lot of work involved in growing a blog. It’s hard to be a successful blogger, let alone one who earns a living from a blog. Not only is there a lot of competition, but there is also so many things that you need to do as a blogger. I’m not sure I will ever earn a living from by blogs, but maybe one day. I recently realized that I didn’t have enough time to make my blog successful on my own, so I hired multiple people to help me. I not only have a VA to help me manage several of my other blogs, but I have multiple authors for 20's Finances. The bottom line is if you are serious about developing a successful resource and you don’t have time to do it all yourself, hire people to help you.
Steady Growth is Better than Inconsistent Highs
A lot of bloggers get excited about being featured on major media outlets… and they should. But, you should not confuse success with a one-time mention. This type of highlight will often have a trickle effect, but it is not the same as sustainable growth. You need to continue to add quality content to keep people coming back. Success is not going to happen overnight, so take it slow.
There’s no magic formulate to creating a successful blog, but approaching it as a business has helped me see some of my downfalls. I still have a long ways to go, but I’m making big strides and am creating a system that will allow me to create sustainable growth for a long-time to come.
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