Blogging Success According To My Favorite Guru!
December 17, 2008 by BloggerNewbie
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How in the world did I land in the blogosphere you ask? Well, funny you should ask.
I was searching the internet for “how to make a living online”, not the fast buck but the career type venture. I tried one scam after another for a year or so. Ahh, the scam artists paints a pretty picture. After being stung a few times
, I became a little more cautious. I scrutinized every detail of every claim!
I landed on some sales page that discussed blogging. I survived raising three daughters who were all teenagers at the same time. I will investigate most stories. I understood blogging a little. But, this character wanted to sell me some secret that would allow me to gain entry into the blogosphere.
Of course I googled his name. Surprise, yet another scam! I was getting very discouraged. Why do 9 out of 10 (more like 99 out of 100) ventures all have to be scams? Forget this internet business stuff. I’ll think of something else. After all, I am an entrepreneur at heart.
I researched blogging a little further…
I went to the website of Darren Rowse – ProBlogger and I was bit by the blogger bug. I got it and I got it bad. I never looked back.
I was so excited, I worked on my site for hours every day into the wee hours of the morning. Yup, I was going to make some serious money. Now you know. I started blogging for the money. I am not afraid of hard work so I knew I could do this. I bought my copy of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income.
As many of you are aware, I am at the 6 month point of my blogging “career”. This is one of the checkpoints in my business plan. At 6 months, I evaluated the progress of my goals to date. Am I where I want to be, where I thought I would be? Do I need to re-evaluate the plan and adjust?
Being that I had very little knowledge about blogging, my business plan was somewhat vague. I know how to run a business and how to write a business plan but blogging is a little different then what I am used to. After 6 months I do have a much better grasp on the reality of blogging.
I originally thought that all I had to do was write a few good posts, put up some ads and wala – I’m in the money. Doesn’t quite work that way. I am happy to report that I am not in the blogging business for the money. It is simply a love affair. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to make money at blogging but that is secondary.
I am in the process of revising my business plan. I went to my favoirte Guru for some advice. I asked Darren Rowse the following questions:
- Do you think a blogger can make a living with just AdSense type ads?
Yes – it’s possible. It really depends upon the type of blog that you start as to what type of monetization works best. Some work great with AdSense, others do better with affiliate programs, others better with direct ad sales. The key is to experiment and see what works best.
- Do you think a blogger can make a living with just one blog?
Again – it’s possible and many bloggers do it – but not all do. Some bloggers take the approach of building a few smaller blogs rather than one big one.
- What do you consider the top 5 picks of Social Media?
Depends a lot on the type of blog you start. The key is to find out where your readers (or potential readers) hang out in social media and join them there. For me that’s been Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn and Digg mainly.
- If you could only pick one avenue or company for monetizing your blog, what would it be?
Really tough question. I’ve made more with AdSense than any other ad network but it depends upon the blog. It’s a good starting point and can work well but in the long term on a successful blog direct ad sales will probably work better.
- What do you consider the one thing that contributes to your success?
Staying at it for the long haul. Posting something every day for 6 years has not been easy but it’s paid off.
I had questions from the answers too but that will have to wait another day. The one big message I received from this interview is – patience. You need patience and time to nurture your blog. 6 months is not a significant amount of time to invest in a blog.
You need to test your advertising plan just like any other business. You don’t necessarily know what works until you try it. What works for you might not work for me. It also takes time and patience to build your social network. Again, the same advice applies to the typical brick and mortar business. Thank you Darren, for your wisdom and advice.
Is Darren’s advice an eye-opener for you? Are you more motivated now knowing that success is possible?
Toodles – Blog Happy!
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“I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and
an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen…”
- Frank Lloyd Wright
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Dee:
Woo-hoo!
Great little interview. Good on you for taking the initiative.
It’s nice to see that sage advice. Provides some confirmation and a thing or two to think about.
Great job!
George
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George,
Thank You, yeah it was good to get some confirmation on some of the things I was learning on the way. There are so many questions and often I feel a little uncertain. Good to know we are on the right path. It’s all gooood!
Great interview! Patience definitely is key, isn’t it.
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Good for you with the interview! I really like the way Darren Rowse takes the time to answer people who email him. I can’t even imagine how much email he must get.
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Alicia:
Like Darren says, you have to be in it for the long haul. We all want to get rich quick! Some of us want an extra few hours in our day too but that isn’t going to happen either.
Kim:
Thank you. I was so excited when Darren answered my email and right away. The amount of email he must get in a day has to be too much. “I” get too much email and I am sure I don’t even come close. Just goes to show you that Darren remembers where he came from. He was a BloggerNewbie once too, we all were! Someday when I’m a rich and famous blogger I will remember this day!
Thanks for sharing this with us Dee! It’s encouraging to hear the advice from “the big dogs”. Great advice for everyone, as they look to the coming year and setting goals for 2009!
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Great article
Posting everyday for 6 years is amazing isn’t it!
Rachel:
I am big on planning and goal setting. The new year, my favorite time. Now I have a few suggestions to work on.
Sarah:
I guess it’s amazing. I think Darren posts more than once a day. I don’t know how he does it. He has more than one blog too. Not to mention a hundred other things going on. I need to quit my job!
I was going to say what Kim said: It’s amazing how responsive Darren is to email. If you do a follow-up interview to ask the rest of your questions, you can ask how he keeps up with email! I’m glad you found ProBlogger before becoming too discouraged.
I found that most of things I’ve done on the internet were not scams. I did have few disappointments. There were several opportunities where the work didn’t equally the payout, but I’m finding if you just keep it simple you will be okay. Things I like to ask is where does the money come from? Who is controlling the distribution of that money?
This interview is really helpful. I’ve only been blogging for a few months and I never blogs or written before so I know I have a ways to go. The important thing is I enjoy what I’m doing and at the same time giving my website (attached to the blog) some exposure.
I too have been disappointed by internet scams – very frustrating.
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Hunter:
Thank you. That would be a great question too. Have you read Darren’s post about batch processing his workflow? I implemented a great deal of advice from that post.
Clarence:
Thanks for the encouraging words and advice. It does get very discouraging when you are willing to really work for success but all you can find is get rich quick scams. Mostly its the host that is getting rich quick.
Carla:
I think Darren makes it very clear that blogging is a long term investment. Your enjoyment of blogging will show and will keep you around.
First time visitor but congrats on getting the Darren Rowse interview.
Plus, I notice that you have an Alexa rank of 157,000 and that in 6 months. That’s worth another congrats. I know many people put no stock in it, but I think it does a fair job of ball-parking a site’s traffic/value.
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BusinessX:
Thank you. Darren was very helpful.
Thank you again. There are so many different issues to learn about in regards to blogging and the internet. I need to find a good resource that explains the different rankings, what they mean and how they are arrived at. Any ideas?
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Great Interview, Thanks Dee!
Its nice to get small bites of advice, some interviews I’ve seen are pages long and I lose inerest very quickly. Nice and short, the key to sucess
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Ciara:
Thanks. I agree with the short and sweet for the most part. If you want to read several blogs, who has time to read a book at each stop?
Dee-
I know I am late to the party on this post, but was curious how you felt you did in relation to the 6 month goals you set, and what are you adjusting in those goals for the next 6 months?
Matt
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Matt:
There are two areas that I am making changes in for the next 6 months.
My 6 month goal of income was so far out of the ballpark I couldn’t even smell the hotdogs!
I originally signed up for every monetizing outfit there was. I changed that plan and narrowed my income avenues down to a manageable number.
The other change is social media.
Again I signed up for every network out there and I have decided to focus on probably a half dozen rather than, you know, 20 or so!
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