Talking About Making Money Online In Order To Make Money Online

40 | Posted In Blogging, Make Money by David

One of the most common confusions any new blogger asks themselves is… What should I blog about in order to make money?

Many of the times, the conclusion ends up as follows: The people making good money online are the ones who talk about making money online.

It leads to a huge catch-22. It leads to skepticism. But, is it true?

Why Its A Myth

Money on computer screen In my opinion, it is a myth. My own experience tells me it is. I was making a six figure income as a blogger in the technology market – WELL before I ever uttered the first word about blogging for money.

The problem is that people looking to make money often have tunnel vision. Because they’re interested in making money, they read other blogs about making money. And who is going to talk about how much money they make? Yes, people trying to gain credibility in the market. It just makes sense.

I never talked about my income as a blogger until I decided to enter this market. Bloggers in other markets don’t go around talking about their incomes, so it never crosses anybody’s radar.

The whole thing leads to a false impression that only “make money” blogs have the potential to make money. It looks like circular logic, but it is only because those are the blogs you’re paying attention to – not because those are the only blogs making an income.

If you were interested in making money as a blogger, chances are you would never read PCMech.com. And that just proves my point. :)

The Reason The Market Works

The “make money online” market is just one market of many. It happens to be a good one, however.

In the Six Figure Blogger Blueprint, I go into more detail about what makes a good market. In short, the criteria are:

  1. An emotional push/pull toward increased pleasure in life.
  2. An emotional pull away from a fear.

Any market with financial viability has to have core emotional drivers that will drive the prospect into action when it comes time to sell them something.

For all of us, making more money translates into freedom, power, ability to increase pleasure in our lives. It goes right to the heart of the matter in terms of a viable market. Same with markets like health (a pull away from the fear of having health issues), dating (the push toward a life partner, which is an emotional need), etc.

Many times, hobby markets can work well, too. Sometimes, the audience is smaller, but for people who practice the same hobby, there is an emotional desire to fulfill those goals.

News blogs don’t work because there isn’t an emotional need to help with them. Blogs on news, politics, celebrities – these types of things are inherently hard to monetize because they lack core emotional drivers into any item you can help them with.

Remember, a MARKET is any collective group of people, united by similar goals, who are looking for solutions, and are willing to pay for it.

So, it just so happens that “make money” is a good market for the same exact reasons any other market with core emotional drivers is a good market. But, it certainly isn’t exclusive.

Finding YOUR Market

Let’s look at that definition for a market one more time…

A MARKET is any collective group of people, united by similar goals, who are looking for solutions, and are willing to pay for it.

So, start out with a list of your passions, interests, areas of expertise. If you aren’t an expert in something, you can still enter the market if you are indeed highly interested in it. You will need the high level of interest to drive yourself to learning more as you go.

Now, with a prospective subject in mind, ask yourself:

  1. What are the goals/fears of this market?
  2. How can I help them with that?
  3. Are they looking for solutions?
  4. Are people buying solutions in this market?

The answers to these questions will be based on gut feelings mixed with your own research into the market.

The most common mistakes I see bloggers make is:

  1. Blogging about whatever is interesting to them and then looking to magically make money from it after the fact.
  2. Entering a market where there is some interest, but they’ve never evaluated whether the audience is looking for any kind of solution that they can provide.
  3. Looking for a market where there is nobody doing it. In reality, if there is nobody in the market, there is probably a reason for that. Having “competition” is a good thing.

Lastly, I’ll end off with this comment…

Do not get into a paralysis over this. Market selection is not an exact science. I’ve had people email me asking my opinion of a market, as if they think its going to result in a magic payday just because I say it would be a good idea. No!

You can enter a good market and still screw it up if you don’t do the right things to get off the ground. It is also very possible that you could enter a market and not totally know if it’ll work when you start out. The trick is to do SOMETHING. You judge the market with some of the above criteria, do some basic research, and if you think it might work, give it a try. You can always change your mind. It isn’t as if you’re stuck with any blog you start for the rest of your life! :)

But, if you are interested in making money as a blogger, begin to think of your topic selection as a MARKET. Judge it accordingly. You’ll get better results.

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  • remarkablogger

    This is all John Chow's fault. :-)

  • http://www.dotcomnote.com/ Dotcom Note

    There are only three niches – make money, health, and energy. I concentrate on health niches. As I'm not a big pharma with millions in R&D, my focus is supplements.

    But you know supplements are darn cheap in Walmart and you really cannot make big dollars unless you're a large supplement company.

    So, what is the solution? Affiliate marketing with supplements. Most supplements are scientifically unproven and FDA has relax rules.

    There are millions of financially challenged baby boomers with extra money. These people believe in an often false notion called “you get what you pay for”

    So, here is your demographics. Sell the same supplements, re-branded, for $40 with a continuity program. An affiliate marketer's dream come true. Drain these financially challenged people to accumulate wealth. I love this capitalism.

  • http://robbsutton.com/ Robb Sutton

    You make a great point that only bloggers that blog about making money talk about income online.

    One of the most profitable bloggers I know does not have a blog in this niche. Instead, he makes an absolute killing and no one knows about it (except for the ones involved). He just has no interest in blogging about anything else.

    I also think you have to have a successful blog outside of this niche to actually be successful inside of this niche. There are too many bloggers out there trying to give advice on something in which they have no experience or want their readers to go on the 'journey with me as I make an income online' which usually just fizzles out.

  • http://hotblogtips.com/ Keith Bloemendaal

    It is unethical to write about making money online if you haven't ever done that. It is obvious to those that read these MMO blogs, that they are “fly by night” and they will be gone before you know it.

    I make my money from product site(s) not from blogging about blogging. But I enjoy sharing what I have learned over the last couple of years, and will monetize that site too eventually.

    Honestly, there are so many great ways to make a living online, people should look at more of their own experience in 9-5 world, and try to use that in “online” world.

  • http://davidrisley.com David Risley

    Only 3 niches? I don't think so.

  • http://twitter.com/marsdorian Mars Dorian

    Very interesting article. Your style is always straight to the point. I like that.
    Although I think that niche/market selection is more for average people.
    If you're over-the-top, and know how to market yourself, you can dominate any market with your captivating personality.

  • http://www.johnpaulaguiar.com John Paul

    I don't care what your blog is about, losing weight, making money, how to save money, etc.. as long as what you say is tru then blog about it.

    Like Robb said, to many people giving advice on things they have no clue on. If you make money online and want to blog about it, then go ahead, but show proof and give all the details, because once you put it out, people will follow it, and you have to be responsible for that.

    JohnChow is one in a million,,lol You would think with the in your face “I make more money then you” would turn people off.. but nope, they keep coming back for more..lol

  • http://www.babystepstofluency.com/ Fiona Verschoor

    Honestly, in my opinion the only reason people think you have to talk about making money is because they actually talk about it. Other niches can be much more subtle and don't really talk about money at all – who knows how much they earn.

    As long as you have a niche in which people are willing to spend money (personal finance blogs, for example, would be a bad example), you can make money.

  • http://andbreak.com/ Julius Kuhn-Regnier

    Interesting point there David. I think bloggers are truly the only people who really talk about making money online. I have never heard people who are not bloggers talk about it.
    I am not trying to make any money at the moment to be honest. Making money was my motivation at the beginning but now it's not as important to me anymore. I think once you let go of trying to make money it will be a lot easier to make money.

  • http://twtrcoach.com TwtrCoach

    This is an interesting article David..

    One of the questions I ask myself is 'When Are You Really Making Money Online?”

    I can sell something on eBay or Amazon and make few bucks.. but does that mean I know how to make money online?

    And I might make some Affiliate sales that brings me $100.00.. does this mean I know how to make money online?

    In a way I also agree with Robb you have to be able to back up your claims in some way.

    The day I am able to replace my income from my blog with the income from my day job, then I know how to make money online. Until then it is a fun hobby that brings occasional rewards as a results of my efforts. But hey.. I don't mind having fun and make some occasional money.. So can't blog about making money, but I can blog about my knowledge and share my values… and show gratitude to those who share the same passion…

    Cheers.. Are

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

    I have this rule:

    If you blog about making money, you better be making some MF $ as a blogger. That is, unless you're doing the Caroline Middlebrook approach, which is taking us on a journey. The difference there is not acting like an expert if you aren't.

  • http://www.mikeslife.org Mike CJ

    Interesting. I sort of stumbled into a similar business model to yours, where I have an MMO blog and also a blog in another niche (travel). And I'm beginning to think it was a really good choice. There's a lot of cross fertilisation of ideas, and it gives great credibility.

    Also, in terms of income my MMO blog goes from riches to rags and back again all the time, where the travel blog just keeps churning a steady and growing income.

  • http://www.mikeslife.org Mike CJ

    Just posted something similar Rob, and then read your comment. I really need to get into the habit of reading the comments first!

  • http://evengrounds.com/blog Julius

    I agree that oftentimes I would find blogs that focus on how the writer made money online. But as we saw in your post, there are a lot of ways where you could 1) help people and 2) make a decent amount of income. I think the step of examining yourself, your interests, and the skills you can offer is very important. Through this, you will know which market to focus on.

  • http://twitter.com/bluepop13 Eric

    Good point made here.

    Find your market and write about that. I'm not shooting down any products (especially yours at all) here but I also strongly feel that if someone spends enough time online learning about blogging and how to be a better blogger in their own niche that after a little while, they'll learn the ropes enough to start making money without buying products that each how to do it.

    Of course, for those wanting to learn much faster and from someone who's got the experience, those products (yours included, I'm sure) are great and offer good solid advice. Still, even at the point of them buying the product, they have to actually implement what they learn in order to make it work and make mistakes and learn from those in order to do anything decent.

    This is just my two cents, what do you think?

  • cominback

    The myth is that you can only make money helping people who want to be healthy wealthy and happy… Even the oddest, unthought of niches can be goldmines if properly assessed and attacked.

  • vmosso

    And then…. We find the confusion of the “Internet Marketers” now having blogs about all the ways to make a million… and all the tools they will sell to you in order to make that million in a fast and easy way….
    And the Affliate Sales millionaires that will blog about turning your PC into an automated 24 hour cash machine… and they post and blog about all the new software programs that you just have to have to be rated number one in Google….
    So, whats that? Are they MMO bloggers? Are they Internet Marketers? Are they Affiliate Sales coaches?
    The muddle of conglamorated titles is getting very muddy, and to some I suppose very confusing!
    Oh for the good ole days of just throwing out a nice journal type entry on 'Blogspot.com' talking about whatever suits me that day… pushing the publish button, and thinking of myself as a Blogger!

  • thedebthawkcom

    David,

    If someone is teaching about how to make money, and they aren't making money using their methods, they should be ashamed of themselves. They are fakes and phoneys.

  • http://www.melvinblog.com/ Melvin

    seriously I agree. I mean, if you follow John Chow's blogging model, which a lot of people surprisingly do, no question you'll fail!

    chow is just lucky that he started in the right time..

    peace.. :)

  • remarkablogger

    I wasn't being serious at all. Chow is not “just lucky.” Chow is smart and
    he was not the first person to ever do this. Chow has the winning difference
    and it has nothing to do with his niche. If you can figure out what that is,
    you can do the same in your niche.

  • http://davidrisley.com David Risley

    Well, that's not really true. Again, I think its just because that's who you pay attention to. The “make money online” thing has been around since the Internet started – before blogging was around as a word.

  • http://davidrisley.com David Risley

    Yeah, honestly I think anybody in this niche who doesn't also have a blog in another niche is faking it. :-) Ok, perhaps not literally, but it seems to work out that way so often. I've got a tech blog. Darren has a photography blog. You, the travel blog. Robb, the biking blog. Even Chow got his start in tech.

  • http://davidrisley.com David Risley

    Just because somebody has a blog doesn't make them a blogger, in my eyes. Many people use blogs in ways completely different than I do. Many internet marketers are now using blogs simply as ways to pimp JV deals or as part of their launch sequence, so they can use comments as social proof. It is just another marketing tool to them. Nothing wrong with that, but if you don't consistently also provide free content, then you're not a blogger (at least in my eyes).

  • http://davidrisley.com David Risley

    There are sure plenty of those.

  • http://BrandonBlogs.com/ Brandon

    Very interesting, never thought about it like that. Thanks David

  • http://www.mybloggingfortune.com/ M.M. Daniels

    The problem with the money making niche bloggers is that they start a blog and expect to make money in a few days and when it is six months later and they still aren't making a pro bloggers salary they give up.

  • http://www.igniteliving.com/ Charlie Pabst

    Yeah for real. I can think of about 10 niches INSIDE the health category off the top of my head.

  • http://nofeejobsfromhome.com/ Tommy – no fee jobs

    Good post.I think you need to have several small niche sites instead of one “big site”.This way you can easily see what works and what doesn´t.

  • http://www.nextlevelblogger.com/about Christian Russell

    Yeah Chow gets a lot of flack but he's stayed true to his word and built a seriously effective blog around it's intended purpose. It's easy to write off pretty much any successful person as lucky. It's not really a helpful way of looking at it though. The fact is that when a blog works, there is usually a good reason for it. Luck doesn't cut it. Luck gets you a little scratch here and there, but John Chow has been on top of his niche for years. That's not luck. That's skill.

  • http://www.nextlevelblogger.com/about Christian Russell

    I've done fine in real estate for years. There are way more than three, dude!

  • http://www.nextlevelblogger.com/about Christian Russell

    I'm just waiting for the “I make money blogging about bloggers who blog about making money blogging” blogs. Where are those?

  • makeMoneyOnlineDotPk

    very interesting post, thanks for sharing this.
    i wan to read more comments on it, that would be very helpful, so i have bookmarked and waiting for more comments.

  • http://www.AffinityClick.com/ Marie Prentice

    I think another interesting angle about blogging about topics that interest you and you are experienced in is that if you are not doing this, you run out of things to say pretty darn quickly and spend most of your energy doing extra research on your topics or regurgitating what you've already said but just with a different angle.

    Marie
    http://www.affinityclick.com

  • camelia123

    You got a really useful blog I have been here reading for about an hour. I am a newbie and your success is very much an inspiration for me.

  • camelia123

    You got a really useful blog I have been here reading for about an hour. I am a newbie and your success is very much an inspiration for me.

  • http://www.easyrecovery.co.uk/ data recovery

    Making money online is not a tough task only you have to be updated yourself about the market trends.

  • http://www.make-money-youtube.info Make Money on YouTube

    John Chow is an asshole. I hate him!

  • http://activationcodes.info/ Activation Codes

    this is me one year ago, lol,

  • http://www.makemoneyonlinehowto.net make money online

    Thanks for the nice writeup!

  • http://seo.extreme-online-business.com/ work from home

    There is no doubt that this is really a nice share and i will come back surely to read more. Thanks