How To Remain Broke As A Blogger – Guaranteed!

83 | Posted In Make Money by David

A lot of bloggers have a big problem. This problem plagues them despite all efforts to monetize their own blogs.

That problem is… A crappy attitude about marketing.

What I’m about to say may hit home. I’m going to go for the jugular on this, because it is absolute suicide to an online business. If I offend you, then perhaps it is because I hit a little too close to the truth. Here we go:

Do you want to make real money with your blog? OK, then answer this:

  • Do you think that internet marketers are mostly scammers and despise their methods of selling to you?
  • Do you get nervous that your audience is going to get mad at you when you try to sell them something?

If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, you’re doomed. You’re just doomed. I’m not even going to bother to sugar-coat it.

Marketing is simply the practice of getting other people to agree with you. That’s it. It doesn’t have to mean sales. The fact that marketing is framed under such negative vibes by many bloggers is, well, just plain stupid.

The reality is that ALL bloggers are in the business of online marketing, whether they sell something or not. You want people to think your blog is pretty good and keep coming right? That takes marketing.

But, you said you want to make money. So, what about that?

Begging Business Woman If you answered yes to either of those questions above, then you come try to sell something, how’s that going to work? Well, it won’t work. What it leads to is PROPITIATION.

You sit there and GROVEL at the feet of your reader. You try to convince them that you’re OK because you’re not one of those “bad” marketers with sales letters and high prices. And because you’re so unsure of yourself, you low-ball the price to some insanely low figure. So, instead of actually marketing the e-book, you GROVEL like a little girl with your low price and hope people will feel enough compassion (because you’re not the evil marketer, remember) to take a gamble with a few bucks on you.

Oh, come on!

You don’t make sales by lowering your price and trying to tell people what a good person you are for not trying to sell it to them. That’s insane. And, that’s a sure-fire way to never make any money online.

The “buy it if you want it, and if not, whatever” approach doesn’t work. The “buy it because it is so cheap” approach is failure. Absolutely no value proposition.

Groveling doesn’t sell. Propitiation doesn’t sell. Do you want people to buy because they feel sorry for you or because they think you actually have something worth buying?

Nobody is going to buy from you because you’re the anti-marketer. They’re going to go buy from the people who DO market. Why? Because people respond to good marketing. Always have and always will.

So, while you sit there in your little high-and-mighty dream world, thinking you’re above the tactics of internet marketing, I hope you enjoy having little to no online income. Because that’s exactly where you’re going to stay.

You CAN be a blogger and a marketer at the same time. All the successful bloggers are. The key to good marketing is authenticity and offering real value to the reader. Do that, then act like a man and start telling people, with confidence, that what you have IS valuable.

Quit the propitiation. It is the digital equivalent of hanging a cardboard sign out on your website and begging for spare change.

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  • http://davidrisley.com David Risley

    Not really. What I often see is bloggers who lump all marketers into the same group, then proceed to shun them and do the opposite. Even you seem to be lumping them all into the group of “internet marketing scammers”. Dude, they're not all scammers. SOME are, not all. Most of the guys doing pretty well in the biz are doing it honestly, because you don't last long online if you screw people over longterm.

    It is the knee-jerk reaction against all of it that I am ranting against here.

  • http://davidrisley.com David Risley

    Not sure I'm getting you. I am doing surveys fairly often, plus I get constant feedback from the audience by way of comments, emails, tweets, the Blog Masters forums, etc. So, yes, I am doing it all the time, and when I offer things for sale, trust me, I KNOW I'm doing a service and offering something they need. If nobody needed it, I wouldn't bother.

  • larryelkins

    I'm just at the point of seriously monetizing my web photo gallery site and various blogs. Your post, I suspect, will be invaluable.

  • Dotcomnote

    Excellent point. I don't consider myself a scammer. I only sell to financially challenged people. There are lots of them who are financially challenged and they will buy expensive products for $40 with a monthly continuity instead of searching for the same stuff online for $4. For example, clean colon. What is that stuff any way? I will never buy for myself. But I sell them. For me blogging is a facade and CPA is the real money maker.

  • http://nathanhangen.com/blog Nathan Hangen

    I have no respect for that…

    That's why I hate CPA.

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    their target audiences are totally different, no?

  • http://www.onlinebusinessblogger.com/ BrianJ | OnlineBusinessBlogger

    There's no shame in making money as long as you are either providing or promoting quality products or services.

    I think bloggers who “want to make money” but have a crappy attitude about marketing are like people who “want to win the lottery” but don't buy a ticket.

  • http://principlesoffailure.blogspot.com/ SHerdegen

    David, thanks for this post and for in general, laying it out for everyone.

    I'm still struggling with the focus of my blog and what my goals are, but this is good food for thought.

  • http://twitter.com/SEO_Amigo rexjarvis.com

    Kicked up a hornets nest there didn't you? :-)

  • mkakan

    really hurts but true…

  • http://www.OptimisticJourney.com/ Jarrod@ Optimistic Journey

    This is the true and thanks for sharing David. It might be blunt but some people need to here it plain and simple. It all comes down to the positive attitude that we have. Many internet marketers don't have enough confidence in themselves do what it takes to become successful. Thanks for reminding us David, from experience, of what it takes to become a successful internet marketer!

  • http://twitter.com/Raivyn Raivyn

    Too pissy? No way.

  • Leon Noone

    G'Day David,
    I couldn't agree more. Anyone who imagines that they can earn enough to live on through a blog had better learn how to sell. Having said that, I believe that it helps heaps to learn about marketing too. It seems to me that much so called “internet marketing” is just old fashioned, foot in the door “selling by harangue.”

    Marketing and selling are siblings. They are not identical twins. Marketing a business
    successfully is a necessary prerequisite to selling the products and services of that business.
    “Marketing occurs in the mind” said Al Reis and Jack Trout in their marketing classic “Positioning.”
    It's a good place to start if you're genuinely interested in making money in business. And if you find yourself saying “monetizing” remember how ugly jargon turns readers off.

    Regards

    Leon

  • http://www.vancesova.com Vance Sova

    Hi David,

    What you are saying is tough but true I think.

    I can't stand it when bloggers who have ads on their blog and obviously are trying to monetize are badmouthing internet marketers who are marketing very openly and don't hide the fact that they want to make money selling their offerings.

    This is my first visit to your blog. I saw your post on Problogger and commented there too.
    Didn't agree with that one fully but with part of it.

    I don't have your experience and my views may not be spot on but they aren't set in concrete.
    Just the way I see things at present.

    Vance

  • http://www.i-blogger.info Briesauce

    I like that you don't hold anything back, some people can't handle that. Probably because they take it too personal. But the ones that are taking it personal, are the ones that actually need to listen the most.

  • imranyousaf

    David there is a concept in marketing that is “Pricing Strategy”. Either you set low price to penetrate into market or you have option to set high price to skim the market. Price your product reasonably and then decide your pricing strategy. Too low price will spoil your product but too much high price will also limit your sales. So pricing is all about your strategy to rule in market. You have this article explained very well. I would like to know what is Strategy for your Products so that we have a clear isea? Do you tried both pricing strategies, if yes which one was more beneficial? Share your experience.

  • http://evengrounds.com/blog Julius

    Authenticity and confidence are truly two key factors in succeeding in selling your product or service. You can have good content but if you lack the ability to convince people that your product is worth buying, they won't really notice you.

  • http://www.blogmarketingmix.com Trish Jones

    David, you are so right! I tell people this all the time – “if you consider every offer you receive a pitch fest, you'll never make a dime online” and I'm sure you know, these people just don't … make it online that is.

    I love your down-to-earth approach David and so glad to be one of your new subscribers.

  • heatherporter

    Great stuff David. This reminds me of the similar mindset that the talkers (not the doers) exhibit, meaning “one day I will start a blog” or “one day I will make money online.” You wrote this in a nice “get over yourself” sort of way by stating the simple truth that if you are an expert at something and have great resources, you are actually doing the world a disservice by not sharing. Thanks. I am now a subscriber.

  • http://www.nelleytimes.wordpress.com nelley

    hello Joella,
    I tried to sign up on your site and it says your address is invalid. then tried to contact you via the link on the page and it told me I was from a spam location (I'm onlie at work) and disconnected the contact me section.

  • http://mariamuir.com/ Maria Muir

    Hi David, Would you also apply this with a membership site, or start at a very low price as an incentive but after a few weeks make an increase?

  • http://taylormarek.com/ taylormarek

    Awesome content as usual David. It kind of reminds me of the time Yaro finally took a stand on his blog and said, “Enough!”

    This is a constant battle and always will be. It is a hard mindset to overcome, trust me, I had to do it myself. I originally thought of this as a hobby four years ago but came to the hard realization that it would remain that way unless I took the next step and treated it like a business.

    Keep up the awesome work, you have lots of people behind you. :)

  • http://www.blogswithwings.com Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella

    David,

    I really appreciate you emailing me. What exactly were you trying to
    sign up for? RSS feed or RSS to email? I am a little fuzzy on that.

    My contact page told you that you were spam? How rude! Like I'm not
    having enough problems lately. Please, if you have time send me more
    details. I will look into the contact form and try to figure out what it
    is doing.

    Again many thanks. Is there anything else I can help you with in the
    mean time? I really thought I was a very accessible person and now I
    find that my site is conspiring to isolate me. Oh Pooh!

    Many Thanks & Warmest Regards,
    Joella

  • http://www.freemanlegacyllc.com Ms. Freeman

    Products definitely need to be priced in accordance to their value. I have seen so many eBooks out there that are priced at $7 or $9 and I have no intention purchasing any of them becuase the “publishers” don't exhibit enough confidence in their product that I fear I'll be the new owner of a bunch o crap.

    Another problem I think is going on is that this new wave of bloggers want there product to fly off the shelves in the first few days of its release, so they low ball the price. Then along will come the post,”I just released my product yesterday and it's nearly sold out” or they'll slash the price to $5….LOL

  • http://www.nbdwebdesign.com/ Andy

    Good shout David, this is a common problem for many new online marketers and understandable to some extent. Point well made and another valuable tip from someone that's doing it the right way.

  • http://www.nbdwebdesign.com/ Andy

    Yes Susanna the truth often hurts lol, but most of us have been there so Heyho!

  • http://entrepreneurblogr.com james

    It's you again telling it like it is. good stuff

  • http://www.pinoyblogtips.com Pinoy @ How to blog

    I definitely agree here. It's all about our crappy attitude in marketing that make us broke.

  • http://sitemaster.com.au Frank Warwick

    Well said, I am pulling the proverbial finger out (You can hear the pop from there). Good advice, short, sharp and to the point (I can still feel the sting)

  • http://www.assettracing.org.uk Asset Tracing

    The hell with it! 
    Who would want to be a broke blogger? 
    Ofcourse, we blog for money and for some info.

  • http://www.bes.co.uk/ plumbing

    Opinions are generally accepted but the content of the items in the blog should all relate to a general theme. Unless you have an uncanny knack for wit, humor or cynicism, the majority of your readers will be interested in the content that relates to a specific defined theme or loosely defined area of interest.

  • http://www.bes.co.uk/ Plumbing

    Whenever a viewer on a blog sees a curious ad and clicks on it, there’s money in the bank for the blogger. Depending on the traffic the blog gets, this can add up to insane amounts of cash.

  • http://www.thepadrino.com/ The Padrino

    It’s really simple, it gets you SEEN. The money is just a by-product of the blog. 

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