A reminder that blogging is not a business

There are numerous bloggers who have it all wrong. I read posts where people lament how difficult it is to make money with a blog. I see dead blogs from people who’ve given up. And I feel like I hammer this point time and time again, yet it is a one-man battle against a raging sea of entrepreneurial ignorance.

The blunt and unfiltered truth about blogging for money is as follows: Blogs don’t make money

Businesses generate revenue. Blogs are not businesses. All those bloggers who have failed to make money, who have been trying desperately to make more than a few bucks from all their quality blog posts… they all fail because they’ve missed one VITAL point.

that blogging is not a model for business…..

Here are the steps most bloggers seem to take:

1. Get an idea that sounds fun.
2. Start a blog.
3. Write extensively.
4. Scratch head because few people have seen what you’ve written.
5. Get the bright idea to make some money with it.
6. Throw Google Adsense all over the damn place, plus any other ad you can possibly scrape up. Use up all available white space and just PACK it with ads and affiliate links.
7. Read blogs by people like me, get some ideas, never implement them, keep dreaming about
8. making money from blogging, rinse, repeat.
9. Write further. Check Adsense. Wow, you made a dime. Let’s celebrate.
10. F**k this. This is too much work for no pay. The gurus are lying, they’re all scammers, and everything sucks.

Sound familiar?

Here is the mistake: That blogger thought that the blog was the business. That if you build it, they will come. No, sir. That just isn’t true.

The time has come to stop putting banners all over your blog and watching the money come in. They’ve been over a long time. Because everyone is trying, very few people who start out today will reach that position. Even some of the big sites are looking a little desperate, if you ask me.

You might think I’m shooting myself in the foot with this post. After all, I blog about making money as a blogger, right? Why would I say it is so damn hard?

because a very strong online business can be built on the basis of blogging. The trick (if you even want to call it such a thing) is simple: Have a business backend to the blog.

[quote=”A blog with a business backend (i.e. products to sell and a method to sell them) is the key to a six-figure income as a blogger”] [click_to_tweet tweet=”A blog with a business backend (i.e. products to sell and a method to sell them) is the key to a six-figure income as a blogger”] [click_to_tweet tweet=”A blog Blogging Doesn’t Help Me Make a Living! Nope. I don’t. I actually don’t blog very often. I only published 15 blog posts last year.

Most of them weren’t even original and were revised and updated posts written earlier. Clearly, blogging isn’t the focus of my actions.

And while I don’t get into income reports for these reasons, I will say that the Blog Marketing Academy has generated over six-figures per year for almost every year it has existed (over 10 years now). And last year, gross income grew by 10% over the year previously. This is despite me publishing only 15 posts.
Clearly, blogging is not how I make money. It is the business machine which sits under this blog which does all the work. All of it is based on a company that offers solutions in exchange for money to a market. Online coaching and training combined with a membership site model constitute my fundamental business model. Blogging – this blog – is merely a marketing medium. However, there are a lot of things going on that are hard to see if you just read this blog. You will find that this is the case with most blogs that are generating good revenue. Most of the time, they actually have a business there selling real solutions. Sure, they may make some money with affiliate marketing (I myself generate about 25% of my income that way). Others may use banner advertising, but that’s not much of a business model.
You don’t have a business if you don’t sell anything. If you’re already generating income online, then you already know this.

If you’re trying to use a blog to make money and aren’t selling anything there, then this message is primarily for you. It is time to abandon the outdated set of guidelines now that 2019 has arrived. We are not “finding a niche” when you first start out. We are establishing a product-market fit and locating a MARKET. For more information on this, I highly recommend reading my guide on selecting a niche correctly. You can also grab a spot in my free workshop on niche selection.

You don’t start building a blog right away when you first start out. No, instead you work on the foundation first. You can catch my 14 step plan to launch a brand new blog here. There is a reason why building the blog takes place after step 12. You can also learn about the mechanics of the business machine which sits behind the blog… by seeing the exact business model.

You don’t have a business if you don’t sell anything. Blogging is not its own business. It is merely a platform for advertising. And as long as we understand that at the beginning, you’ll be a-OK.