Opotiki, New Zealand.
Readers buy into the “Freemium”.
Readers buy the “Premium”.
Speak those 2 phrases 150 times. Now.
Some bloggers piddle in their pantaloons; they have no products to sell. How can they make money blogging?
Here’s how: help readers through your free content. Build your blogger friend network by generously helping bloggers.
Blogging buddies amplify your reach. By promoting you freely. Impressing the pants off of (not literally; usually) readers. Said readers buy into *you*. The blogger.
Now you’re in The Zone. The Selling Zone. Or, since people trust you and trust your advice they consume your advice through:
- your eBooks
- your audio books
- your sponsored posts
- your ads
- your affiliate promotions
- not your products (remember da title of da post?)
As I wrote yesterday, income streams are primarily receiving vehicles. Free content, generously offered, and blogging connections, generously established, set the table for effective monetizing.
The money is made before the product. Or before the eBook.
No Product To Sell?
If you don’t have a product to sell, no worries; you ain’t ever selling a product. You sell yourself. Through free content. Through free videos. Through free podcasts. Through free blog posts, guest posts and blog comments.
Folks buy into the freemium, digging your free content. Folks buy into you. Folks buy the premium.
This is why not having a product to sell has no bearing on how you monetize your blog. Coming from energies of fear, scarcity and confusion, bloggers believe that income streams or products themselves “make money”. Not true. Skilled bloggers who devote years of their lives to helping people for free allow in money through their generosity. The product, service, sponsored post, advertisement or affiliate marketing promotion is simply a different form of content that allows you to receive the money you already earned. No biggie. Just another way to help people, except you receive something called “money” in exchange for these premium offerings.
You Are Not Off The Hook Guys
Eventually, you need to open income streams through which you receive money. Part of the drill.
No big deal though; you have the content to create the product or service now if you patiently created helpful content, learned from pros and built strong friendships with top bloggers through your generosity.
Opening income streams is about packaging the content via effective formatting.
Some income ideas for monetizing your blog via different forms of packaging:
- write and self-publish eBooks on Amazon Kindle via kdpselect.com
- convert those eBooks to audio book on acx.com
- write and self-publish eBooks to sites like Payhip and Gumroad as I do
- offer coaching services based on your skills
- offer freelancing services based on your skills
Or, go the more packaging hands-free route via affiliate marketing.
Or, after you have really built up your blog, open:
- sponsored post
- advertising
income streams.
Product Free and Filled with Glee
I suggest creating online courses to build your authority and to gives readers a valued product. And yes; to earn some coin too.
But as you’ve seen, the money is in the free content and friend network you build through your generosity. Strangers do not find your blog, get their doors blown off by a product, buy it and pad your pockets. It don’t work that way, my little blogging sweet robbins. This is why not having a product won’t hurt you.
The product, or the eBook, sponsored post, advertisement, service, audio book or any income vehicle boosting your blogging profits, all play a small role in the monetizing process.
You don’t miss out on making money through your blog because you don’t have a product to sell.
You miss out on making money through your blog by not:
- learning blogging
- practicing writing
- creating helpful content generously for years
- building strong friendships with bloggers by generously promoting them for years
The blogging dough is in the generous creating and connecting you do over years, ya know?
Helpful products, services, sponsored posts, ads, eBooks, audio books or any income channels are merely receiving vehicles, allowing you to receive the means of exchange called “money” for the generous service and value you rendered for many years.
Folks buy into you, through the generous service you render for months, then years. This is where the real monetizing legwork is, and of course, since most bloggers screw this up, they struggle to make money through their blogs.
The Money Is In Creating And Connecting
No worries if you have no product to sell. The money is in your free content and in your friend network.
Go the affiliate route. Or write a 6,000 word, pillar style post and format it for Amazon Kindle. Don’t sweat the income streams; these are mainly receiving channels.
Focus almost exclusively on generously creating and connecting.
No need to dive into product creation. Go lightweight. Affiliate stuff. Or eBook.
Cut your blog monetizing teeth. Earn some coin. Discover the foundation of every profitable blog; generous creating and connecting.
Practical Tips
- published detailed, long form blog content spanning 1500 words or longer; optimize posts for SEO to drive passive, targeted traffic to your blog
- build relationships with bloggers by commenting on blogs and promoting fellow bloggers on your blog and through social media
- train your mind to focus on the blogging process of creating and connecting versus focusing on blogging outcomes like traffic and profits
Your Turn
How much are you focusing on generously creating and connecting?
Or are you a bit too caught up on monetizing?
Conclusion
Too many bloggers feel intimated by monetizing because they fear the work that goes into creating a product.
Don’t overthink it. Ultimately, opening an affiliate marketing channel is a simple way for profiting.
But people buy into you before they buy anything from you.
Earn credibility. Create detailed content. Build strong blogging friendships.
Eventually, you will prosper through affiliate channels or any income stream you choose.
Focus on the process.
Allow outcomes to take care of themselves.
