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	<title>David Risley dot com &#187; Making Money</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.davidrisley.com/category/making-money/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.davidrisley.com</link>
	<description>Six Figure ProBlogger, Blog Marketing, Make Money Online, Blogging</description>
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		<title>Reality Check: A Blog Is Not A Business</title>
		<link>http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/02/11/blog-business/</link>
		<comments>http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/02/11/blog-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:30:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Making Money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/02/11/blog-business/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today, I’m going to be the ultimate straight-shooter with you. Because this is something a lot of bloggers need to hear BADLY.
There are so many bloggers out there who’ve got it all wrong. I see posts from people complaining about how hard it is to make money with a blog. I see dead blogs from [...]


If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/11/17/bloggers-make-money/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Are Bloggers Just Crappy Business People?'>Are Bloggers Just Crappy Business People?</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/01/29/blog-useful-marketing-offline-business/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Can a Blog Be Useful For Marketing an Offline Business?'>Can a Blog Be Useful For Marketing an Offline Business?</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2007/06/22/starting-an-online-business-despite-information-overload/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Starting an Online Business Despite Information Overload'>Starting an Online Business Despite Information Overload</a></li></ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Today, I’m going to be the ultimate straight-shooter with you. Because this is something a lot of bloggers need to hear BADLY.</p>
<p>There are so many bloggers out there who’ve got it all wrong. I see posts from people complaining about how hard it is to make money with a blog. I see dead blogs from people who’ve given up. And I feel like I hammer this point time and time again, yet it is a one-man battle against a raging sea of entrepreneurial ignorance.</p>
<p>Here is the blunt honest truth about blogging for money:</p>
<p> <span id="more-2187"></span><br />
<h3>Blogs don’t make money. Businesses make money.</h3>
<p>A blog is not a business. All those bloggers who have failed to make money, who have been trying desperately to make more than a few bucks from all their quality blog posts… they all fail because they’ve missed one VITAL point.</p>
<p>…That blogging is not a business model.</p>
<p>Here are the steps most bloggers seem to take:</p>
<ol>
<li>Get an idea that sounds fun. </li>
<li>Start a blog. </li>
<li>Write a bunch. </li>
<li>Scratch head because few people have seen what you’ve written. </li>
<li>Get the bright idea to make some money with it. </li>
<li>Throw Google Adsense all over the damn place, plus any other ad you can possibly scrape up. Use up all available white space and just PACK it with ads. </li>
<li>Read blogs by people like me, get some ideas, never implement them, keep dreaming about making money from blogging, rinse, repeat. </li>
<li>Write some more. </li>
<li>Check Adsense. Wow, you made a dime. Let’s celebrate. </li>
<li>F**k this. This is too much work for no pay. Then, start getting bitter at those who’ve made it. They’re so lucky! </li>
</ol>
<p>Sound familiar?</p>
<p>Here is the mistake: That blogger thought that the blog was the business. That if you build it, they will come. No, sir. That just isn’t true.</p>
<p>The days of chucking banners all over your blog and sitting back while the checks roll in are OVER. Very few people who start out today will get to that position, because the whole world is trying.</p>
<p>So, you might think I’m shooting myself in the foot with this post. After all, I blog about making money as a blogger, right? Why would I say it is so damn hard?</p>
<p>Because blogging can be the foundation of a VERY solid online business. The trick (if you even want to call it such a thing) is simple: Have a business backend to the blog.</p>
<p><strong>A blog with a business backend (i.e. products to sell and a method to sell them) is the key to a six-figure income as a blogger.</strong></p>
<h3>I Don’t Make Money By Blogging!</h3>
<p>My wife, just yesterday, told me that I wasn’t really a “problogger”. She said that I don’t make my money by blogging, I make my money by marketing products online. Well, she couldn’t be more right! As I spell out in the <a href="http://www.blogmastersclub.com">Six Figure Blogger Blueprint</a>, you have to build up a sales funnel, then you place your blog on top of that funnel. The job of your blog is to act as a public face to your business. The blog itself might not make much money. But, the business which underlies that blog can make a SHIT-PILE of money and you’d never tell it just by looking at the blog.</p>
<p>Gary Vaynerchuk didn’t become the $60 million video blogger by just pumping out videos. No, he had a full business backend to what he was doing and the video blog was just a means of promotion.</p>
<p>On a smaller scale, you will notice that this very blog hasn’t a single ad on it. Yet this blog is very likely going to make me a six-figure income this year, all by itself. In fact, that’s a given. It WILL make a six-figure income. I just started this blog less than 2 years ago. Even just in the month of January, this blog has made more money than most people make all year in their 9-5. Yet, I run no ads here. It is because I have a business backend to this blog, and those of you who just rode out my product launch of <em>Blog Masters Club</em> know exactly what I’m talking about.</p>
<p>If you want to start a real online business with a blog, you can make good money. But, do NOT fall into that dwindling spiral of doom of thinking you just write and out pours money. It doesn’t happen. Think like an entrepreneur. Build a real business. Then slap a blog on the top of it.</p>
<p>BTW, that business can be completely virtual. You don’t need a storefront or any of that stuff. This doesn’t have to cost you money to start. But, I’ve never found a business out there that didn’t sell something. I doubt you have either.</p>
<p>If you’re not selling something, you don’t have a business.</p>
<p>Blogging is not a business by itself. It is only a promotional platform. Okie dokie?</p>
<p>The moment you master this concept and get those gears churning on what your ACTUAL business is going to be, the sooner you’ll find yourself finding profits by writing things for your blog.</p>


<p>If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/11/17/bloggers-make-money/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Are Bloggers Just Crappy Business People?'>Are Bloggers Just Crappy Business People?</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/01/29/blog-useful-marketing-offline-business/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Can a Blog Be Useful For Marketing an Offline Business?'>Can a Blog Be Useful For Marketing an Offline Business?</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2007/06/22/starting-an-online-business-despite-information-overload/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Starting an Online Business Despite Information Overload'>Starting an Online Business Despite Information Overload</a></li></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/02/11/blog-business/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>97</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Driving Behavior, Not Conversation</title>
		<link>http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/02/09/driving-behavior-not-conversation/</link>
		<comments>http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/02/09/driving-behavior-not-conversation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:00:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Making Money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.davidrisley.com/?p=2168</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From my observation, I think there is a very important strategic component of blogging that too many overlook.
I preface this whole post by saying that it depends on your intentions. If you want to ultimately make money with your blog, then pay close attention. If you just want to get high comment counts and some [...]


If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/02/12/twitter-conversation/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Twitter is Great, But Take The Conversation Back To Your Blog'>Twitter is Great, But Take The Conversation Back To Your Blog</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/04/22/driving-traffic-blog/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Top 3 Suggestions For Driving Traffic To Your Blog'>Top 3 Suggestions For Driving Traffic To Your Blog</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/05/21/free-versus-paid/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Free Versus Paid? When Do You Charge?'>Free Versus Paid? When Do You Charge?</a></li></ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>From my observation, I think there is a very important strategic component of blogging that too many overlook.</p>
<p>I preface this whole post by saying that it depends on your intentions. If you want to ultimately make money with your blog, then pay close attention. If you just want to get high comment counts and some fans, then this post might rub you the wrong way. Or at least give you another way of looking at things.</p>
<p>So, here it is…<span id="more-2168"></span></p>
<p>If you want your blog audience to do certain things for you, then you need to attract the kind of people who will be wiling to do that. To a certain extent, the content you release on your blog should be designed to cultivate the attitude that you want your audience to have.</p>
<p>In the past, I’ve said that you have to “train” your audience. Perhaps the word “train” brings with it odd connotations. Obviously, every person who reads a blog is a living, breathing human being with their own sets of opinions and background. The idea of “training” them might seem a bit derogatory. But, it isn’t. It is no different than releasing content designed for a certain demographic on a TV commercial.</p>
<p>Here are some examples of what I mean:</p>
<ul>
<li>If you want people to help spread your message on Facebook or Twitter, you wouldn’t want to attract an audience who doesn’t like social media and thinks it is a fad. So, writing posts which rip into Twitter as a fad would be a bad idea if you’re going to ask people to retweet your stuff.</li>
<li>If you want to make money from your blog, then writing posts which bash online marketing and the offering of products on a blog would be counter-intuitive. You would end up creating an audience of jaded people who will react harshly the moment you try to make a buck.</li>
</ul>
<p>I can name a few blogs off the top of my head where the owners have monetary aims with those blogs (to one degree or another), yet the content they publish is going to naturally attract skeptical, jaded people. These bloggers are sentencing themselves to low income from their blogs.</p>
<p>It is easy to drive conversation. It is easy to jack up your comment counts. It is easy to build up a clique of frequent commenters who will cheer you on with everything you post. But, high comment counts don’t make you any money. Getting lots of repeat traffic doesn’t pay your bills.</p>
<p>It is easy to jack up your comments by getting negative or chiming in on controversial topics. This is why political blogs can get high involvement, but often make crappy business models. In some crowds, just by taking the contrarian viewpoint, you’ll drum up comments and cheerleaders. But, it doesn’t pay the bills. And, once again, you’re building up an audience based around complaints. An audience based around negativity isn’t good for business.</p>
<p>Here are the lessons I’m trying to convey today:</p>
<ol>
<li>Think about the kind of audience you want and tailor your content to them. It isn&#8217;t just about attracting people to your blog, but attracting the RIGHT people to your blog.</li>
<li>Don’t chase the almighty comment unless you’ve thought first about how your strategy for earning that comment is affecting the overall vibe of your blog readership.</li>
<li>Large, dedicated audiences mean two things – jack and crap – IF it isn’t the kind of audience which will help you achieve the goals you want for your blog.</li>
</ol>
<p>This is the difference between blogging with a strategy in mind, or blogging for the short-term gratification of your stats and a few back-pats in your comments.</p>
<p>This also makes it clear why it is so important to know exactly what you’re going for before delving in with your blogging. Blogging for high numbers is not the same thing as blogging as a real business. High numbers and high income do not necessarily go together in this business, as counter-intuitive as that may seem.</p>
<p>Anyway, something to think about.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>


<p>If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/02/12/twitter-conversation/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Twitter is Great, But Take The Conversation Back To Your Blog'>Twitter is Great, But Take The Conversation Back To Your Blog</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/04/22/driving-traffic-blog/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Top 3 Suggestions For Driving Traffic To Your Blog'>Top 3 Suggestions For Driving Traffic To Your Blog</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/05/21/free-versus-paid/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Free Versus Paid? When Do You Charge?'>Free Versus Paid? When Do You Charge?</a></li></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>18</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Life As A Pro Blogger [VIDEO]</title>
		<link>http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/01/22/car-trip/</link>
		<comments>http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/01/22/car-trip/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:30:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Making Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Project Updates]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.davidrisley.com/?p=2126</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I’ve just been the video guy lately, haven’t I?  
Well, today I have another one for you. In this video, you’re going to take a little car trip with me.
That’s right, we’re going to hop in the car together and ride down to the post office for…. what else? To see if I have [...]


If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2008/05/25/life-as-a-pro-blogger/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Life as a Pro Blogger'>Life as a Pro Blogger</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/01/21/webinar/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Live, Public Webinar On Six-Figure Blogging &ndash; RSVP Now'>Live, Public Webinar On Six-Figure Blogging &ndash; RSVP Now</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/01/26/blog-masters-club-is-live/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Blog Masters Club is LIVE'>Blog Masters Club is LIVE</a></li></ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I’ve just been the video guy lately, haven’t I? <img src='http://www.davidrisley.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Well, today I have another one for you. In this video, you’re going to take a little car trip with me.</p>
<p>That’s right, we’re going to hop in the car together and ride down to the post office for…. what else? To see if I have any checks waiting for me. <img src='http://www.davidrisley.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>When you run an internet-based business, you do make real money. Most of it comes in online and goes directly into my account. But, some companies send me checks and, for that, I use the PO Box. </p>
<p>I hope you enjoy the video. I had some fun getting a little creative with iMovie. <img src='http://www.davidrisley.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.blogmastersclub.com/proof/"><img title="Picture 1" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="322" alt="Picture 1" src="http://www.davidrisley.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Picture1.png" width="529" border="0" /></a> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.blogmastersclub.com/proof/"><strong>Click Here To Watch The Video.</strong></a></p>
<p>Next week is when the fun starts. Be sure to <a href="https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/404288106">RSVP for my LIVE webinar on Monday</a>, at 8PM EST.</p>


<p>If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2008/05/25/life-as-a-pro-blogger/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Life as a Pro Blogger'>Life as a Pro Blogger</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/01/21/webinar/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Live, Public Webinar On Six-Figure Blogging &ndash; RSVP Now'>Live, Public Webinar On Six-Figure Blogging &ndash; RSVP Now</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/01/26/blog-masters-club-is-live/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Blog Masters Club is LIVE'>Blog Masters Club is LIVE</a></li></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>18</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>#1 &#8220;Secret&#8221; To Making Money Online</title>
		<link>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/12/15/making-money-online/</link>
		<comments>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/12/15/making-money-online/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:17:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Making Money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.davidrisley.com/?p=1932</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I get a little tired of this stuff. I really do.
I’m almost hesitant to even use this as a headline because it just furthers my point. But, this is the very subject line I got in a recent email from an internet marketer.

My readers know that I am always a straight-shooter. So, let’s just deal [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I get a little tired of this stuff. I really do.</p>
<p>I’m almost hesitant to even use this as a headline because it just furthers my point. But, this is the very subject line I got in a recent email from an internet marketer.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" title="Picture 31" src="http://www.davidrisley.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Picture31_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Picture 31" width="445" height="73" /></p>
<p>My readers know that I am always a straight-shooter. So, let’s just deal with this.</p>
<p><strong><em>THERE IS NO SECRET.</em></strong></p>
<p>If there is anybody who hasn’t made any money yet, but yet keep surfing the net, reading blogs and buying products, well guess what? THAT’S the reason you’re not making any money.</p>
<p>The “secret” is taking action. The people who are out there searching for a secret are the people who are trying to make it without taking any action. It won’t work. You might as well believe in the Easter bunny because it is about as workable.</p>
<p>Every single tactic you could possibly think of when it comes to making money online comes down to this simple 2-step process:</p>
<ol>
<li>Build up traffic.</li>
<li>Sell them something.</li>
</ol>
<p>See, it is simple. However, it obviously entails strategy, tactics, and ACTION to bring it to fruition.</p>
<p>Those of us who do make money online already know this. But, some marketers continue to appeal to the bottom feeders who don’t want to do anything yet want to have money just show up at the door.</p>
<p>This marketing will always work, I guess. But, you, as an enlightened reader of my blog (yes, I’m kissing ass a little), you know better.</p>
<p>There is no secret. Only tactics. And none of those tactics will work if you don’t take action on them.</p>
<p>Know and apply this and you’re already a huge step ahead.</p>


<p>If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/03/12/the-secret-to-making-money-online/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Secret To Making Money Online'>The Secret To Making Money Online</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/03/03/making-money-online-2/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Talking About Making Money Online In Order To Make Money Online'>Talking About Making Money Online In Order To Make Money Online</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/01/08/biggest-challenges-to-making-money-online/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: What Are Your Biggest Challenges To Making Money Online?'>What Are Your Biggest Challenges To Making Money Online?</a></li></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/12/15/making-money-online/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>22</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>$2,918 In 55 hours With A Blog &#8211; How It Was Done</title>
		<link>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/12/04/make-money-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/12/04/make-money-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:15:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Making Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.davidrisley.com/?p=1911</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yes, this last Black Friday weekend, I ran a special (as pretty much everybody does) and I brought in almost 3-grand in a little over 48 hours. I thought I would give you the scoop on how it was done. It is so insanely easy, and the marketing behind it is just about as simple [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yes, this last Black Friday weekend, I ran a special (as pretty much everybody does) and I brought in almost 3-grand in a little over 48 hours. I thought I would give you the scoop on how it was done. It is so insanely easy, and the marketing behind it is just about as simple as it gets.</p>
<p>The special began on Friday at a little after 1PM EST when I sent out my first email to the <a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/list" style=""  rel="nofollow" onmouseover="self.status='http://www.davidrisley.com/list';return true;" onmouseout="self.status=''">mailing list</a>. On Sunday at 3AM EST, I sent a &#8220;final notice&#8221; to let them know the deal was coming to a close. The deadline was 8PM EST on Sunday. Why 8PM? Because it would be easy to pop onto the computer after dinner and turn the special off. <img src='http://www.davidrisley.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' />  And why did I send the last notice at 3AM? So that the people on the west coast would be after midnight and I could tell them that the special was ending on the same day (more urgency).</p>
<p>So, in total, the entire promo consisted of 2 emails to the list, and about 15 minutes of work on the site itself. I think I had about 45 minutes of my time in this promotion &#8211; total.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s how it was done&#8230;<span id="more-1911"></span></p>
<p>The deal was 30% off of the yearly membership. There was clear urgency because of the pending deadline. And just to drive that home, I put a timer on the top of the sales page to count down to 8PM on Sunday. I also made clear the money-back guarantee (which is always there). I also made clear that there would be no renewals (no obligation or contract, as some people perceive membership sites). I didn&#8217;t disable renewals so much as part of the deal, but mainly because the refund rates on yearlys seems to be higher anyway (members forget after a year).</p>
<p>Also, the emails I sent to the list were low-key. I was not in sales mode, really. I just told them what the deal is. And by telling them I wasn&#8217;t in sales mode and that I&#8217;d rather be with my family (all of which was true &#8211; after all this was Thanksgiving), it enhances empathy. It is also a pattern interrupt from all the overt marketing people get around Black Friday.</p>
<p>As usually happens, people wait until the last minute. The last day saw over half of the total sales, many of them coming in the last few hours.</p>
<p>Here are the &#8220;take-away&#8217;s&#8221; you should employ in your own marketing:</p>
<ol>
<li>Always employ urgency in your marketing. It drives people to take action. Give them a reason to act and a clear deadline.</li>
<li>Visually show the deadline with a timer. It works.</li>
<li>Give a reason why. Every time I conduct a promotion like this, it is tied to an event (such as me traveling). This time, the event was obvious &#8211; Black Friday. Everybody was in a retail mood (the society more or less trains it into them). Take advantage of it.</li>
<li>Tie a membership site in with your blog. Marketed right with quality content and it will turn into a cash cow.</li>
<li>You need a <a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/list" style=""  rel="nofollow" onmouseover="self.status='http://www.davidrisley.com/list';return true;" onmouseout="self.status=''">mailing list</a>. The reason this promotion was so easy was because I had an established <a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/list" style=""  rel="nofollow" onmouseover="self.status='http://www.davidrisley.com/list';return true;" onmouseout="self.status=''">mailing list</a>. Without it, it would have gone over like a fart in church.</li>
</ol>
<p>So, there you go. A small behind-the-scenes look at a recent promo. Pretty simple stuff, actually.</p>


<p>If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2006/08/14/outflow-equals-inflow/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Outflow Equals Inflow'>Outflow Equals Inflow</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/03/08/what-times-square-can-teach-us-about-blog-marketing/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: What Times Square Can Teach Us About Blog Marketing'>What Times Square Can Teach Us About Blog Marketing</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/01/29/blog-useful-marketing-offline-business/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Can a Blog Be Useful For Marketing an Offline Business?'>Can a Blog Be Useful For Marketing an Offline Business?</a></li></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/12/04/make-money-blog/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>14</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Leverage Your &#8220;Money Posts&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/12/02/money-posts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/12/02/money-posts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:21:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Making Money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.davidrisley.com/?p=1909</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every blog has some posts which are much more popular than others. They have good search rankings and they sit there as constant traffic sources for your blog.
These are your &#8220;money posts&#8221;.
To determine your &#8220;money posts&#8221;, you just need to look at your site analytics and see what your most popular pages are. For example, [...]


If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/04/14/maximizing-blog-revenue/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Tactic for Maximizing Revenue From Your Blog'>Tactic for Maximizing Revenue From Your Blog</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/04/30/put-time-into-your-blog-posts/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Put Time Into Your Blog Posts'>Put Time Into Your Blog Posts</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/01/20/how-to-custom-page-template-wordpress/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: How To Use a Custom Page Template In Wordpress'>How To Use a Custom Page Template In Wordpress</a></li></ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Every blog has some posts which are much more popular than others. They have good search rankings and they sit there as constant traffic sources for your blog.</p>
<p>These are your &#8220;money posts&#8221;.</p>
<p>To determine your &#8220;money posts&#8221;, you just need to look at your site analytics and see what your most popular pages are. For example, on <a href="http://www.pcmech.com">PCMech</a>, I have a tutorial on building a PC as well as a laptop review. Both of these posts each bring in more daily traffic than the homepage of PCMech. I have several other &#8220;money posts&#8221; on the site, however they don&#8217;t do as much traffic as the homepage.</p>
<p>Now, when you have a situation like this, you need to leverage that resource. These posts are bringing in lots of traffic.<span id="more-1909"></span></p>
<p>With Wordpress, you can have special templates on a per-post basis. To do this, you will need to use the <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/custom-post-template/">Custom Post Template plug-in</a>. Install that plug-in, then create specialized post templates. Instructions are available with the plug-in on how to create the post template. It essentially works exactly like creating a page template. Yes, you will need to be proficient enough with PHP and HTML to work with your theme.</p>
<p>What I did was take my single.php file in my theme and create a copy of it. At the top, I put in the necessary PHP comment to mark the template as such. I named the template single-971.php because &#8220;971&#8243; is the ID # in the database of one of my money posts. I then made those changes to that template that I wanted to do for the post.</p>
<p>One of the money posts I targeted was an old review of some registry booster software from Uniblue. The review we did is very popular and brings in quite a bit of traffic. It is also very well ranked in Google when anybody searches for this product. So, using the customized post template, I now have ads for this software ON the review of the software. This simple change brings in <strong>over $1,000/month in affiliate commissions</strong> &#8211; simply by leveraging one of the money posts.</p>
<p>So, in short, this is what you should do:</p>
<ol>
<li>Review your analytics and identify your money posts. Which posts far out-perform the others in terms of incoming traffic?</li>
<li>Install the Custom Post Template plug-in.</li>
<li>Create your custom post template for one of your money posts. Focus on your blog goals and getting people into your sales funnel. If you have an affiliate product which is tightly related, perhaps change that particular post so that it is overtly promoted. Or you can make your opt-in form much more obvious on those money posts in order to put more people onto your list.</li>
</ol>
<p>It is all about leverage.</p>


<p>If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/04/14/maximizing-blog-revenue/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Tactic for Maximizing Revenue From Your Blog'>Tactic for Maximizing Revenue From Your Blog</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/04/30/put-time-into-your-blog-posts/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Put Time Into Your Blog Posts'>Put Time Into Your Blog Posts</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/01/20/how-to-custom-page-template-wordpress/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: How To Use a Custom Page Template In Wordpress'>How To Use a Custom Page Template In Wordpress</a></li></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/12/02/money-posts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>13</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Are Bloggers Just Crappy Business People?</title>
		<link>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/11/17/bloggers-make-money/</link>
		<comments>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/11/17/bloggers-make-money/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:42:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Making Money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.davidrisley.com/?p=1881</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The question had to be asked. In fact, a few of us were even discussing this very question when I was in Vegas for BlogWorld Expo. 
Most bloggers wonder how to make money with a blog. The default answer seems to be to write a lot, build traffic, then sell ads. That blogger thinks he’s [...]


If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/02/11/blog-business/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Reality Check: A Blog Is Not A Business'>Reality Check: A Blog Is Not A Business</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/06/02/bloggers-what-went-wrong/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Bloggers, What Went Wrong?'>Bloggers, What Went Wrong?</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/01/29/blog-useful-marketing-offline-business/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Can a Blog Be Useful For Marketing an Offline Business?'>Can a Blog Be Useful For Marketing an Offline Business?</a></li></ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The question had to be asked. In fact, a few of us were even discussing this very question when I was in Vegas for BlogWorld Expo. </p>
<p>Most bloggers wonder how to make money with a blog. The default answer seems to be to write a lot, build traffic, then sell ads. That blogger thinks he’s building his “business” by writing even more. Problem is, it oftens leads to this….</p>
<p><a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/failure_laptop.jpg"><img title="failure_laptop" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="273" alt="failure_laptop" src="http://www.davidrisley.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/failure_laptop_thumb.jpg" width="495" border="0" /></a></p>
<p>So, the plan is that you&#8217;ll start a blog, write a lot, write some more, get famous and then sell a few ads on the blog. Attract sponsors and cash in, right? </p>
<p>With so much competing noise out there, <strong>this kind of expectation would be like waiting for a blogger fairy to come out and sprinkle some problogger fairy dust on top of your head</strong>. I&#8217;m not saying it isn&#8217;t possible, but that it is an uphill fight for a new blogger who doesn&#8217;t really engage in marketing. </p>
<p>I think this mentality might stem from the days of the old media. In the old media, this is how they sustain themselves. Build an audience, scare the crap out of them so they&#8217;ll keep watching, and turn around and sell the eyeballs to companies who want more customers. </p>
<p>However, there&#8217;s a reason why the newspaper industry is failing. If you enter the blogosphere with this same mentality, you&#8217;re not going to make any money. </p>
<p> <span id="more-1881"></span>
<p>On the other hand, look at almost any business that you know of. What do they do? They sell something. They sell a product or a service. They engage in marketing so as to sell those products or services. </p>
<p>So, why do so many bloggers fail to connect the dots? </p>
<p>Is it because bloggers look at themselves as reporters, so they get into this old media mentality? </p>
<p>Blogging isn&#8217;t journalism. It is distinctly different in that this is a two-way medium where you connect with your audience. </p>
<p>The answer is to think like a business. As I&#8217;ve said a gazillion times, if you want your blog to be a business, then you have to treat it like one. That means: </p>
<ol>
<li>Have something to offer them.</li>
<li>Engage in relationship marketing (be helpful, be trustworthy, be liked, be memorable)</li>
<li>Ask them for a sale. </li>
</ol>
<p>While other businesses are marketing in the paper or the yellow pages, you&#8217;re marketing on the Internet by smartly building bonds with like-minded people via your blog. You build a tribe of followers. </p>
<p>The methods are different, but the strategy should be the same. </p>
<p>Do me a favor. Next time you hear a blogger default to banner ads as the de facto way to make money with a blog, correct them. Tell them David Risley sent ya. <img src='http://www.davidrisley.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>


<p>If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2010/02/11/blog-business/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Reality Check: A Blog Is Not A Business'>Reality Check: A Blog Is Not A Business</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/06/02/bloggers-what-went-wrong/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Bloggers, What Went Wrong?'>Bloggers, What Went Wrong?</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/01/29/blog-useful-marketing-offline-business/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Can a Blog Be Useful For Marketing an Offline Business?'>Can a Blog Be Useful For Marketing an Offline Business?</a></li></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>21</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Blog + Membership Site = More Than Beer Money</title>
		<link>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/10/20/blog-membership-site/</link>
		<comments>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/10/20/blog-membership-site/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:45:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Making Money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.davidrisley.com/?p=1824</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There were two sessions at BlogWorld which really stood out to me as the most useful. One of them had to do with membership sites.
Now, listen to me very carefully when I say this&#8230;
Membership sites are THE BEST way to make money as a blogger.
Period. End of story. Thanks for playing.
A membership site combined with [...]


If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/10/27/membership-site-mastermind/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Membership Site Mastermind is LIVE &#8211; READ THIS'>Membership Site Mastermind is LIVE &#8211; READ THIS</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/02/02/become-a-blogger-doors-closing/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Become A Blogger: Doors Closing'>Become A Blogger: Doors Closing</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2008/12/04/go-go-go-become-a-blogger-is-launched/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Go Go Go! Become a Blogger is Launched!'>Go Go Go! Become a Blogger is Launched!</a></li></ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There were two sessions at BlogWorld which really stood out to me as the most useful. One of them had to do with membership sites.</p>
<p>Now, listen to me very carefully when I say this&#8230;</p>
<p>Membership sites are THE BEST way to make money as a blogger.</p>
<p>Period. End of story. Thanks for playing.</p>
<p>A membership site combined with a nice blog is practically a magic pill for income. That isn&#8217;t marketing hype. It is real.</p>
<p>But, you&#8217;ve got to do it RIGHT.</p>
<p>In the above-mentioned session, the guy talked about how he built a site up from zero to over $100K PER MONTH in about 3 months.</p>
<p>Now, even I&#8217;m not up to that point yet, however I can tell you that one of my sites brought in $8,639.86 while I was at BlogWorld. In about 6 days. While I was in Vegas. It might not be $100K, but it is more than beer money.</p>
<p>This stuff WORKS.</p>
<p>So, it is with 100% trust and pride that I tell you about <a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/recommends/masterplan">Yaro&#8217;s free report</a> on the subject that is pretty much the best free report I have ever read about membership sites and what makes them tick.</p>
<p>His report is called the <a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/recommends/masterplan">Membership Site Masterplan</a> and as you would guess, it is a step-by-step guide for launching a profitable online membership site.</p>
<p>You can download the report from here:<br />
<a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/recommends/masterplan">http://www.davidrisley.com/recommends/masterplan</a></p>
<p>Trust me. It&#8217;s good.</p>
<p>Now, we&#8217;re all smart people. You might guess that Yaro is leading up to something. And he is. He&#8217;s launching a training program next week and this report is designed to introduce you to his teachings. But, take my word for it. This Masterplan report is complete. It stands alone. It is not a gimmicky sales tactic. It is one of the best free reports I&#8217;ve read. He gives a lot of actionable steps.</p>
<p>Most bloggers dislike the idea of selling. Well, a membership site means you only have to sell once, but you get paid over and over again. And essentially, you&#8217;re getting paid to do what you already do &#8211; make good content.</p>
<p>His report is free.<br />
<a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/recommends/masterplan">http://www.davidrisley.com/recommends/masterplan</a></p>
<p>So, go grab it. <img src='http://www.davidrisley.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>


<p>If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/10/27/membership-site-mastermind/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Membership Site Mastermind is LIVE &#8211; READ THIS'>Membership Site Mastermind is LIVE &#8211; READ THIS</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/02/02/become-a-blogger-doors-closing/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Become A Blogger: Doors Closing'>Become A Blogger: Doors Closing</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2008/12/04/go-go-go-become-a-blogger-is-launched/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Go Go Go! Become a Blogger is Launched!'>Go Go Go! Become a Blogger is Launched!</a></li></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/10/20/blog-membership-site/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>12</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Affiliate Marketing 101 For Bloggers</title>
		<link>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/08/04/affiliate-marketing-101-for-bloggers/</link>
		<comments>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/08/04/affiliate-marketing-101-for-bloggers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:36:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Making Money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.davidrisley.com/?p=1680</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Selling products as an affiliate via your blog is an excellent way to make a buck. In fact, you can often do a lot better with affiliate marketing than you can with banner ads. Most banner networks (like Adsense) require that you have a LOT of traffic before you’re going to see any decent income. [...]


If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2006/10/28/promoting-your-affiliate-programs/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Promoting Your Affiliate Programs'>Promoting Your Affiliate Programs</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2008/12/22/ninja-plug-in-for-affiliate-marketing-on-your-blog/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Ninja Plug-in for Affiliate Marketing on Your Blog'>Ninja Plug-in for Affiliate Marketing on Your Blog</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2008/12/23/should-bloggers-feel-guilty-for-making-money/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Should Bloggers Feel Guilty For Making Money?'>Should Bloggers Feel Guilty For Making Money?</a></li></ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Selling products as an affiliate via your blog is an excellent way to make a buck. In fact, you can often do a lot better with affiliate marketing than you can with banner ads. Most banner networks (like Adsense) require that you have a LOT of traffic before you’re going to see any decent income. On the other hand, with affiliate marketing, you do not need thousands of page views per day to make it worth your while.</p>
<p>In this post, I wanted to cover some of the absolute basics of affiliate marketing for bloggers.</p>
<p> <span id="more-1680"></span><br />
<h3><img title="affiliate-marketing" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="240" alt="affiliate-marketing" src="http://www.davidrisley.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/affiliatemarketing.jpg" width="220" align="right" border="0" /> What Is Affiliate Marketing?</h3>
<p>In short, it means you are selling somebody else’s product in return for a commission.</p>
<p>You have an audience for a particular market. So, you recommend a related product which you believe in to your audience. If they buy it, you earn the commission.</p>
<p>When you promote a product, you will use a special affiliate link (unique to you) to link to that product. If the person ends up buying, it’ll be tracked back to you so you get the credit.</p>
<h3>Where To Get Involved In Affiliate Programs</h3>
<p>There are a lot of places out there where you can get involved in these programs, and they generally fall into three categories:</p>
<ol>
<li>Affiliate networks</li>
<li>Advertised affiliate programs</li>
<li>Unadvertised affiliate programs</li>
</ol>
<p>Affiliate networks act as huge marketplaces for affiliate offers. Networks like <a href="http://www.clickbank.com" target="_blank">Clickbank</a>, <a href="http://www.cj.com" target="_blank">Commission Junction</a>, <a href="https://www.azoogleads.com/corp/publishers/apply.php?i=27805" target="_blank">AzoogleAds</a>, <a href="http://www.marketleverage.com/" target="_blank">Market Leverage</a>, <a href="http://www.pepperjam.com/" target="_blank">Pepperjam</a> – and many more – all these networks act as central repositories for affiliate offers. You can sign up for offers which are related to your audience, then promote them. Any commissions which you make will be sent to you by the network as a check or ACH payment.</p>
<p>The advertised affiliate programs are programs that are not part of one of the major affiliate networks, but are still open for public signup. Generally, you’ll find these at the bottom of a sales page in the form of a link for affiliates to sign up. So, if you find a good, related offer for your audience, you can enroll for the affiliate program and you’re off to the races.</p>
<p>An unadvertised affiliate program is one which is by invite only. Often you will find these types of programs set up around major launches by “gurus” in the market. It is driven by the power of personal connections. These product creators don’t want just anybody promoting their product, so they make their program invite only.</p>
<h3>How To Promote</h3>
<p>Use your blog to promote your affiliate offers. Even better, use your <a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/list" style=""  rel="nofollow" onmouseover="self.status='http://www.davidrisley.com/list';return true;" onmouseout="self.status=''">mailing list</a>.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, the weakest method of promoting an affiliate product is by putting links on your sidebar or using banner ads. People are generally blind to banner ads and your click-through rate is going to be pretty low.</p>
<p>On your blog, the best place to promote is the content itself. That is what people are paying attention to. So, you write a dedicated post about the affiliate product and you link to it. A much more tactful (and fruitful) way to do it is to create actual, useful content and then link to the affiliate product as a tool they can use or as a source for additional information.</p>
<p>I also recommend you pick up a copy of the <a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/ninja" target="_blank">MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate</a> plug-in, which will allow you to track affiliate links, shorten links, as well as auto-link certain keywords to your offers throughout your entire blog. Very convenient.</p>
<p>Another great tactic is to create a video offering some useful information related to the product, then at the end of the video you route the viewer to the product. Now, be careful – this is NOT meant to be a commercial! Instead, you’re providing USEFUL content. THEN you link off to the product. Take that video, get it all over the place via <a href="http://www.tubemogul.com" target="_blank">TubeMogul</a>, then embed it on your blog and use your social media profiles to drive traffic to it.</p>
<p>Your <a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/list" style=""  rel="nofollow" onmouseover="self.status='http://www.davidrisley.com/list';return true;" onmouseout="self.status=''">mailing list</a> is going to be a HUGE source of income for you by way of affiliate offers. The conversion rate from a single email to a <a href="http://www.davidrisley.com/list" style=""  rel="nofollow" onmouseover="self.status='http://www.davidrisley.com/list';return true;" onmouseout="self.status=''">mailing list</a> will generally be a lot higher than your blog.</p>
<h3>Some Rules of The Road</h3>
<p>As you’re chasing the blog monetization goal through affiliate marketing, it is important that you keep some things in mind here:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Don’t be a whore</strong>. Seriously, blogging is about useful content, first and foremost. Don’t just promote things for the sake of hoping to hook a few sales.</li>
<li><strong>Maintain Your Honor</strong>. Only promote products to your audience that you actually believe in.&#160; You do not want the reputation of being a person who will promote anything and everything for a buck. Nobody will take your recommendations seriously if you do that.</li>
<li><strong>Foster the relationship</strong>. Ultimately, people will buy based on your recommendation only if they know, like and trust you. So, your primary efforts need to be on building up likability and being worthy of their trust. Provide a lot of value to your readers. Strive to help them and make their lives easier in some way. Maintain that relationship with them. THEN, when you decide to recommend a product to them, they’ll be much more likely to take you seriously.</li>
</ol>
<p>Short of selling your own products, affiliate marketing is perhaps the best way to monetize your blog. When done correctly, you can make a lot of money at it, all while providing value to your readers and having them thank you for it.</p>


<p>If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2006/10/28/promoting-your-affiliate-programs/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Promoting Your Affiliate Programs'>Promoting Your Affiliate Programs</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2008/12/22/ninja-plug-in-for-affiliate-marketing-on-your-blog/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Ninja Plug-in for Affiliate Marketing on Your Blog'>Ninja Plug-in for Affiliate Marketing on Your Blog</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2008/12/23/should-bloggers-feel-guilty-for-making-money/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Should Bloggers Feel Guilty For Making Money?'>Should Bloggers Feel Guilty For Making Money?</a></li></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>The Evolution of Blogging</title>
		<link>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/07/20/evolution-blogging/</link>
		<comments>http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/07/20/evolution-blogging/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:00:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Making Money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.davidrisley.com/?p=1655</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is a guest post written by Nathan Hangen, from Webrepreneur Blog. 
There&#8217;s been a lot of talk lately about blogging as a dead medium. Although I suspect that a majority of this talk spews out of the dying media outlets&#8230;probably as a last gasp effort to destroy the bane of their existence, there is [...]


If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/10/12/3-approaches-blogging/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The 3 Different Approaches To Blogging'>The 3 Different Approaches To Blogging</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/07/09/my-evolution-into-a-six-figure-blogger/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: My Evolution Into a Six Figure Blogger'>My Evolution Into a Six Figure Blogger</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/05/06/make-money-blogging/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: You Can’t Make Six Figures By Blogging'>You Can’t Make Six Figures By Blogging</a></li></ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>This is a guest post written by Nathan Hangen, from </em><em>Webrepreneur Blog. </em></p>
<p>There&#8217;s been a lot of talk lately about blogging as a dead medium. Although I suspect that a majority of this talk spews out of the dying media outlets&#8230;probably as a last gasp effort to destroy the bane of their existence, there is some truth to it.</p>
<p>The thing is, it isn&#8217;t the money making blogs that are dying. The blogs taking a hit these days are the hobby blogs that once flowered the internet landscape trying to share random bits of thought and experience. Years ago, if a hobby blog caught the eye of enough people, it had the potential to turn into a six-figure earner for the lucky blogger. If it didn&#8217;t, the blogger kept going because they enjoyed seeing their words online.</p>
<p>Now, thanks to Twitter and Facebook, these blogs are slowly falling by the wayside at a record pace. The motivation of seeing your posts online simply isn&#8217;t enough for most amateur bloggers.<span id="more-1655"></span></p>
<p>In fact, the New York Times recently stated that as much as 95% of blogs are vacated and left for dead. I&#8217;m betting that these are the blogs of aspiring hobbyists and those that simply weren&#8217;t in it for the money. When people start to blog, they realize that it takes an astounding amount of work to create solid content on a weekly basis. It takes even more effort to get people to read your content, and even more effort to get them to talk about it.</p>
<p>Now, I don&#8217;t tell you this to dissuade you from becoming a blogger. Actually, you should be happy that a majority of bloggers are moving from difficult to manage mediums, like blogs, to more simple methods of communication, such as social media and social networking. This leaves more open space for you than ever before, and if you learn how to do it right, you can create an authority presence in no time at all.</p>
<p>Twitter may have replaced the simple forms of thought exchange, but there is plenty of room to share more advanced methods and techniques. People still want to read compelling stories, be entertained, and be taught how to improve their careers. People still love to read about self-help topics, learn how to get in shape, and see and read about parts of the world they&#8217;ve never had a chance to experience. Although this means that you have to be original to create an authority presence online, it does not mean that you can&#8217;t make it happen.</p>
<h3>3 Blogging Models that You Can Use to Make Money</h3>
<p>So if hobby blogs are dead, what is left? I believe there are 3 specific models that you can use to gain credibility and make some cash online. These are the profitable models that are proven to work even in the ever changing climate of 2009. The key isn&#8217;t so much as knowing which method you want to go, but in having a plan to get there.</p>
<p><strong>1. Authority Blog</strong><br />
When I think authority blogs, I think <a href="http://www.problogger.net">Darren Rowse</a> and <a href="http://www.johnchow.com">John Chow</a>. They are the traditional &#8220;pro blogger&#8221; types. Although Darren has a blog aptly named <em>Problogger</em>, he first did this with his photography website and then later with <a href="http://www.twitip.com">Twitip</a>, his Twitter blog. The common trend with an authority blog is that the blogger knows the material they discuss, knows how to teach others about the niche or product, and keeps a constant stream of content coming. These are the bloggers that use blogging a way to expand their business empire.</p>
<p><strong>2. Publisher Blog</strong><br />
Very similar to the authority blog, the publisher model uses a series of reports, eBooks, and other content to establish themselves as an expert in that niche. Once they&#8217;ve done that, they use the popularity of their blog to create and disseminate digital products. David has done a great job of this with his <a href="http://www.3daymoney.com">3 Day Money</a> course and his <a href="http://www.blogmastersclub.com">Blog Masters Club</a>. <a href="http://chrisguillebeau.com">Chris Guillebeau</a> does this very well to by giving away reports and then upselling to more advanced products. Brian Clark of <a href="http://www.copyblogger.com">Copyblogger</a> fame is another great example. These are the bloggers that use blogging as a tool to drive their business so that they can promote other products and mediums.</p>
<p><strong>3. The Social Blog</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.chrisbrogan.com">Chris Brogan</a> is a master of this. He has worked his butt of to create an empire without alluding to it. He builds relationships and is constantly building others up. He is successful because he works on relationships&#8230;the blog is just the place where they hang out. Social bloggers generally have a great deal of good content to give away, but you&#8217;d never know it because that isn&#8217;t the focus. <a href="http://www.perrybelcher.com">Perry Belcher</a> also does this, although he is more of the Internet marketing type. You could even say that <a href="http://garyvaynerchuk.com">Gary Vaynerchuk</a> used this model to drive <a href="http://tv.winelibrary.com">Wine Library TV</a> and eventually get on television. Now he&#8217;s got a 7 book deal with Harpo, Oprah&#8217;s publishing house.</p>
<p>This list is certainly not all-inclusive, in fact I&#8217;ve left out several dozen other bloggers that I admire primarily because there simply isn&#8217;t enough room to discuss them all. The important thing to know is that there are new bloggers making it every single day. So although hobby blogs might be dead, blogging as a platform certainly is not.</p>
<p>Sure, you could argue that some of these models are hybrids of others and that some of the names mentioned above used a variety of methods to become successful. While this is true, try to think about what they are primarily known for. Although they all do a little bit of everything well, having a primary means of operation helps them to define each project as an addition to the whole. After all, if you want to make a living as a blogger, then you&#8217;ll have to spend your time wisely and plan each and every project with as much detail as possible.</p>
<p>If you want to make a living online, I suggest you study these various models and find out how you can contribute. Identify your niche, plan your attack, and get started. It could take a year or two before the income is steady, but if you stick with the plan then you can become successful.</p>
<p><em>Nathan Hangen is a webrepreneur, social media consultant, and triathlete. He authors the <a href="http://nathanhangen.com/blog" target="_blank">Webrepreneur Blog</a> and is a frequent contributor to Darren Rowse&#8217;s Twitter blog, Twitip.</em></p>


<p>If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...<ol><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/10/12/3-approaches-blogging/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The 3 Different Approaches To Blogging'>The 3 Different Approaches To Blogging</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/07/09/my-evolution-into-a-six-figure-blogger/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: My Evolution Into a Six Figure Blogger'>My Evolution Into a Six Figure Blogger</a></li><li><a href='http://www.davidrisley.com/2009/05/06/make-money-blogging/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: You Can’t Make Six Figures By Blogging'>You Can’t Make Six Figures By Blogging</a></li></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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