The Question You MUST Answer To Be Successful As A Blogger

16 | Posted In Blogging, Marketing by David

Why do you blog? What’s your offer? Why should I pay ANY attention to you whatsoever?

Do you have an answer for this?

There are a number of differences between hobby blogging and professional blogging. In my view, many of the bloggers trying to make money in this medium are running things like a hobby blogger and expecting money to pop out of it. And that’s not going to happen.

With any product you evaluate in real life, you’re going to immediately evaluate it based on this simple question: What’s in it for me?

The answer to that question is developed by creating what is often called a value proposition. All that is is marketing-talk for answering “What’s in it for me?” for your customer.

You can use this simple table to help brainstorm a value proposition:

Your Offer Helps Whom To Do What By Doing What
DavidRisley.com Bloggers Make More Money Show how to apply solid business and marketing principles to the world of blogging.
— — — —

I went ahead and filled in a short and sweet potential value proposition for this very blog.

Can you answer that one for YOUR blog?

When you look at your blog, does it clearly answer for new arrivals:

  • Who is the blog for?
  • What it can help do?
  • How does it do it?

In short, what is the value proposition for your blog? This is all over and above the other obvious necessity to answer this for any product which you create. Many bloggers, though, fall short of thinking of their own blog AS A PRODUCT. Just because there is no money changing hands or your audience to read the blog doesn’t make it less of a product. And like any product, it needs a value proposition otherwise it will forever fail to gain traction.

This blog has “Six Figure Blogger” clearly emblazoned in the header. I also offer the Blueprint report in the header which is clearly about six figure blogging. What this does is clearly and overtly tell new arrivals what this blog is about. Who does it help? Bloggers. To do what? Make money. And this is important because my name and picture isn’t going to mean anything to new people.

Can you develop a value proposition for your blog?

And, if not, what adjustments can you make to your blog and content in order to give it a clear value?

What are YOU going to do to tell your readers what’s in it for them?

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  • http://www.assembleyourlife.com Amanya Jacobs

    “What's in it for me?”-I've heard that question abbreviated as WIIFM. You've written a great reminder for every blogger, both starting out and experienced, that WIIFM is the question you can't lose sight of. Thanks.

  • http://virginbloggernotes.com/ virginbloggernotes

    Thanks to being in the Blog Master's Club, I'm pretty much on top of this question :) That said, being 97.3% clear in my brain doesn't mean it's translated to that degree on the blog yet. Work in progress . . .

    Have a great weekend, Dave!

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

    Mmm, that's one heck of concise example. I struggled a lot with this in the beginning, because I want to infuse some mystery into my blog.

    I have changed that and switched to my new tag line “Spread your influence”.
    It's still not clearly as yours, but it fits my style – I want my blog to be more like a emotional experience than just a “blog”

  • kiesha_WeBlogBetter

    I write my blog for bloggers, to help the create a better blog that stands out from the crowd. I do that by writing posts that provide them with creative tips. I do this because I believe everyone can really succeed if they would allow their true personality to shine through instead of trying to imitate someone else. I want them to not just think outside the box – but to actually realize that there is no box to begin with.
    I'm in the process of creating my own product that will help begins get started and provides some of those insights I wish I had when I first started. I want people to benefit from the lessons I've learned.

  • Sally_Neill

    I really liked this post, over the past few days I have been thinking about what I want my blog to do, those simple 4 questions really helped me to define my reason for blogging. Such a simple exercise but proved to be very worthwhile for me, Sally :)

  • http://www.superawesomedating.com IamDavid

    simple but brilliant. I would also add that your answer should be concise and focused. If its not, if you can not explain why your site exists in one sentence it might be best to rethink what your doing.

  • http://www.yournetbizwealthcreation.com YourNetBiz Mentor Ana

    Many bloggers I know start a blog because they are told they need to, it's a must for their business. But without understanding why it's a must or knowing what the goal is, it always ends up a waste of time.

    As David said, simple but brilliant.

    Best,
    Ana Hoffman

  • http://techhub.shirleyszone.com/ Shirley Osei-Mensah

    Really really great point there, David. I think that what you're saying is true cos if you see your blogging as a hobby then you won't make money from it cos you will approach it with a hobby attitude but if you regard it as a business, you will approach it with a business attitude.

    That's what I think :) .

  • http://www.mikeroosa.com Mike Roosa

    I really have no idea why I'm blogging. I thought it sounded like something fun to do then I got hooked!

  • http://www.websitebegin.com Joe Boyle

    I'm offering assistance. I want to decrees world ignorance. Making money is optional… Good post, David!

  • http://www.webtrafficroi.com ZK @ Web Marketing Blog

    Certainly these questions will lead us in the right direction and we will never lost.

  • http://www.webtrafficroi.com ZK @ Web Marketing Blog

    So its a time to get the answer my friend …

  • http://profittrek.com/ paulgermana

    You’re right David these are the important questions. The real way to make money blogging is to post everyday and get interactive with other niche blogs. The best way to do this is to take the title of your post, make a Google Alert from it and opt to monitor it as a feed in Google Reader. (free tools for all Googlers) Be keyword conscientious in selecting titles and categories, so that Google Alerts can only send targeted results in Reader. Then you’ll receive the posts of other blogs in the same keyword niche, where you can leave keyword anchor text backlinks to your daily posts. Say something smart and helpful to instantly attract visitors to your blog. Then, making your RSS and Optin or blog registration visible on your blog will entice visitors to subscribe. At this point a special relationship between RSS and Optin takes place, causing rapid growth of your optin list. If you don’t have an auto responder, use the Subscribe2 plugin for WordPress. (or any of the many optin widgets) There are ways to automate this, but never sacrifice content quality.

  • http://www.newbizblogger.com Michele – NewBizBlogger

    It's so strange that I just happen to be reading your post at this point in time. I just recently got VERY clear on who my audience is and what is my intention is with my business blog. Also how can I bring value to this target market and at the same time make it into a business for myself.

    Sometime I think you create something and over a course of time it grows into it's own beast as you begin to see not only what you have to offer, but what is NEEDED by your readers…let them tell you what they need and listen.

    Thanks for the great post David!

  • http://www.bmwcars.cc Gary Sheldon

    Very interesting comments! Could you explain the differences between hobby blogging and professional blogging a bit clearer. Thanks :-)

  • http://www.memorybits.co.uk/ usb flash drive

    I really the last few days I want to blog about my thinking liked this post, the simple 4 questions really helped me to define my reasons for blogging. Such a simple exercise, but to me too, proved worthwhile for Sally