Pedasi, Panama
I read about one blogger who earned millions through an agency with roughly 10-20 posts on their blog.
I recall another blogger who made $30,000 monthly by publishing 2 thorough posts daily for years.
I remember another blogger who published 400-600 word posts for 15 years. He made $30,000 on some days at his peak.
Even though I advise you to not make income claims I share these tangible figures to reveal a sneaky blogging mistake.
Most bloggers make the error of believing that blogging success is one strategy and no other strategies without considering how much pro bloggers make per transaction.
When you try to force blogging success through one strategy you blind yourself to many other strategies for succeeding. Or you fix yourself rigidly instead of flexibly changing approaches based on:
- what you love doing
- what you do well
- what your readers want
- what intuitively feels right to you
Making matters worse, you never investigate how bloggers charge or set rates in relation to the content strategy. Perhaps an agency billing out 10 grand per client can grow a thriving business based on 30 in-depth posts but an individual blogger selling a $100 blogging course will discover an identical approach leads to failure. Individual bloggers with open-minds quickly realize how genuine blogger outreach and publishing a higher volume of detailed, non-pillar style posts usually net the highest profits.
The Breakdown
The individual who netted agency millions bills out likely thousands for services rendered. The $30K a month blogger sold 3 dollar eBooks. The “$30K on top days” blogger outsourced a $10K program for big ticket entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately, almost no top pro blogger explains in vivid detail how their income specifically materializes in relation to their:
- content strategy
- marketing strategy
- blogger outreach strategy (or lack thereof)
Bloggers mistakenly believe that 10 dazzling posts net millions. But would writing 10 dazzling posts net you millions if you sold a 99 cent eBook? Why did the guy who wrote 3 dollar eBooks publish almost 400 in-depth posts each year for a long time? He understand that scaling for selling 3 dollar eBooks meant publishing quality content in great quantity. Meanwhile, the blogger who bills at thousands of dollars per clip can focus almost exclusively on publishing 10, 20 or 30 pillar quality posts without giving much thought to quantity.
The guy who made millions with 400-600 word posts understood how publishing a high quantity or lesser quality content meant investing significant money in outsourcing a process yielding big ticket gains. He invested thousands of dollars to hire someone who recruited people to his team. Each recruit netted him $10,000.
Sneaky Mistake
This sneaky blogging mistake confuses bloggers who erroneously believe: 1 size fits all.
Millions of sizes fit millions of bloggers based on their:
- passion
- skills
- experience
- monetizing strategy
- reader preferences
- reader problems
For example, I have most fun creating a mix of SEO-optimized content combined with shorter-form, non-optimized content. My readers tell me that they most enjoy reading both long form and short form content on Blogging From Paradise.
My blog will never be 10 in-depth, SEO-optimized posts because:
- I do not enjoy writing 10 posts and calling it a content publishing career
- my readers want more
- I am not billing out at thousands per client; I sell a $200 blogging course, a $100 blogging course, $20 eBooks and $10 eBooks
If I sell courses and eBooks ranging from $10 to $200 per sale it makes sense to publish a high volume of quality content versus publishing 20 or 30 hefty, pillar posts.
News companies volume publish content because news companies make money on advertising income. News companies get a few pennies, or a buck, or 5 bucks per ad click, not $5000 per ad click. Organically, it makes sense to volume publish content to maximize earnings potential based on low yielding income per click.
Individual bloggers cannot volume publish content like a corporation with 100’s of contributors but can:
- volume publish high quality content (not pillar style)
- engage in blogger outreach generously
to find a strategy that maximizes their blogging profits.
They Already Own those Keywords
Neil Patel and a few other high level bloggers already own high-competition keywords.
Does it make sense to grow your $10 eBooks into a pro blogging career with 30 blog posts designed to try to beat him for those keywords?
Lesser known bloggers already locked up a high volume of low competition keywords. Does it make sense to only compete with them for those low comp keywords to sell your $100 course? Or does it make more sense to SEO-optimize some posts and to engage in genuine blogger outreach for 2-3 hours daily?
Perhaps you gain a few sales through low competition keywords on Google but your 100’s of quality posts combined with your 50 close blogging buddies promoting those 100’s of quality posts positions you to thrive with your:
- lower priced courses
- eBooks
- ad revenue
Publish quality content first. Hit 1000 to 1500 words for most posts. But leave your comfort zone to publish a high quantity of quality content to:
- target traffic
- scale
- leverage
- maximize blogging profits
Think quality plus quantity. Don’t run a content mill of thin content. But don’t be afraid to build a large, loyal blogger friend network. Don’t fear publishing targeted content not optimized for SEO because 20 loyal blogging friends outperform Google in terms of effort, credibility and referral business.
The business world thrives on human connections, personal referrals and genuinely loyalty not algorithms spitting out search results.
The business world thrives on human connections, personal referrals and genuinely loyalty not algorithms spitting out search results. #blogging Click To Tweet
Drive:
- Google traffic
- organic traffic through your blogger friend network
- organic traffic through readers who follow your blogger buddies
Think through Your Content and Monetizing Strategy
What do you sell?
What do you charge?
How should you publish content based on your monetizing strategy? How should you network based on your monetizing strategy?
SEO-optimize all posts only if it makes sense based on your monetizing strategy.
However, pay close attention to how SEO advocates make their money to discover the rest of the story. Someone who makes $5,000 per transaction needs far less highly targeted traffic and far fewer blogging friends than someone who sells a $10 eBook based on simple business logic. Pay particularly close attention to the news media income model (and billionaires who own these empires) to better understand how hyper-targeting a high volume of blog traffic is the way to go pro based on $10 per sale or 30 cents per ad click.
Never sacrifice:
- targeting
- content quality
in a mad dash to volume publish content.
Focus on creating highly-targeted, quality, detailed content each time you publish a blog post.
But never rely on Google alone to:
- sell your $5 eBook
- boost 10 cent ad clicks
into a professional blogging, full-time career.
Practical Tips
Consider your personal monetizing strategy.
Build your content campaign based on your income strategy.
Target all content for your ideal reader. Add details to publish quality content. SEO-optimize posts to drive Google traffic but unless you run a big ticket business billing out at hefty rates, increase blog post quantity (without optimizing all posts) and engage in an aggressive blogger outreach campaign to maximize blogging profits
Making blogging friends introduces you to a new, prospering blogging world completely outside of Google and its tendrils of influence. Loyal, loving blogging friends can achieve what Google cannot.
Run all professional blogger advice through your personal blogging filter to figure out what works best for you and your readers.
