Something I’m getting asked on a more regular basis is ‘How did you become successful while some of us are still struggling to earn money online?’
What my answer will always be to this question is to tell them that you have to produce the right blog strategy for yourself, before you do anything.
You have to come up with a rock solid plan. This plan will help guide you through the necessary steps you need to take to make your blog successful. Having thoroughly planned your step-by-step approach you will be in a position to move things forward in a systematic, planned, coherent way. You can’t run a successful blog without a strategy – period.
Contrary to most peoples’ expectations, blogging requires a lot of work, time and effort. Your starting point should be to create for yourself a blogging strategy. You need to be strategic about your blog right from the start.
You have to take into consideration the following:
Your Vision – Knowing what you want and why you want it is what makes the difference. Your first step is to identify who you are. What is your blog about? What is your reasons for wanting a blog? What do you want to achieve? Before you can get what you want, you first have to plan strategically. Put in the thinking time and planning at the front end. My goal here is to encourage everyone to think about your dreams for your online business. Really capture for yourself what it is you’re about to build.
Your niche – A blog is something that takes time, dedication and effort. That means that the topic/niche you choose for a blog really needs to be something you’re at least interested in, better still that you are passionate about. If you’re going succeed, you are going to need to bring a unique edge to your niche, something which sets you apart from the rest and something which will attract you a loyal readership.
Your Goals – You can’t just begin your blog, start posting and then sit back and hope for the best. Without goals, it’s difficult to grow and profit from a blog. How do you know when your blog is successful? What do you want your blog to accomplish? Only you can decide how to set your goals. The important thing is to define your measure of success, set a goal, and stick with that goal for the long term.
Your content strategy – What should you blog about? How often should you blog? With the rising popularity of video and audio online, you need to decide what type of content you’ll be creating and sharing. Will you be mixing the type of content between audio, video and text? What topics and subjects will you cover?
Your monetisation strategy – Decide whether you want to earn directly from your blog, or indirectly. I want you to know that earning money indirectly through blogs can be very beneficial. Keep in mind that it doesn’t always matter “where or how” you generate the revenue, the fact is that you are generating it. Whichever way you go you have to determine which methods you will be using and what you have to do to make it work.
Your marketing strategy – It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of writing a blog you’re passionate about and having an outlet to share your thoughts but one of the most neglected aspects of being a blogger is what you do off your blog and not on it. That is, how you reach out and drive people to your site in order to grow your audience, grow your traffic and generate income from this. You have to put as much time and effort into marketing your blog as you do blogging.
Measurement Strategy –You’ve got an active blog with great content. Is all this work really paying off? A measurement strategy takes into account the goals you’ve established when you developed your strategy and decides if you’re meeting them or not.
It is a strategy that should be carefully planned and implemented. You don’t want to hurt your chances of building your blog properly at the beginning.
