How do you make money from business blogging? This is a question I was recently asked by a friend. It seems like a straightforward question, but the answer is complex.
Most blogs aren’t profitable, but people devote a great deal of time and energy to them. There must be a good reason, no? You need to understand how to use business blogging to suit your business goals.
Things have changed in the blogging stratosphere, rapidly. Let’s review how it all started, because it’s revealing.
According to NYMag, the first business blog was created in 1994, Links.net. Do you remember Altavista, Webcrawler or AskJeeves? In case you don’t, that’s how early adapters searched the internet. And then Yahoo launched in 1994 and utilized man-made descriptions with each URL. This was a game changer for many. Here are a few key dates that led up to business blogging:
- Four years later, Google Inc. was founded, offering backlinks and granting authority (i.e. search return results) on quantity as well as quality.
- In 1997, the first recognizable Social Media site, Six Degrees, was introduced, according to SmallBizTrends. They later launched the TypePad platform, bringing blog creation possibilities to everyone.
- And in 1999, the first popular, free blog-creation service was introduced.
So now we have blogging, more sophisticated search engines, social media and a free blog creation service. Google turned this into a financial advantage by introducing AdWords in 2000, and AdSense in 2003.
All seemed to be primed and in place for 2004, when advertising on U.S. political blogs became more powerful than direct-mail appeals. What does all this have to do with making money from business blogging?
Depending on your blogging goals, there are primarily two ways you can make money: directly or indirectly.
First, What Are Your Blogging Goals?
A word about blogging goals. This is an important step, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it, again. Your blogging goals are directly related to your business goals, and how much time you want to spend blogging.
For example, is it your long term goal to be a full-time writer/blogger, or is a blog a fantastic tool you will use to help you get found, get known, and get clients? If you haven’t already, be sure to identify your goals. (Here is a recap, if you missed previous posts on goal setting.)
In my next post I’ll share information on ways you can earn money directly with a blog.
In the meantime, if you need help with identifying your blogging goals, let me know. Send me an email, or give me a call.
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