Are you interested in making money from your blog? If so, this blog idea will help you get on track and save you a lot of time and stress too!
Firstly, if you want to succeed with any business, you need to make sure you using the correct strategy for what you want to achieve. In my experience, most bloggers are doing the exact opposite! They are copying an ineffective blog model.
For example, they see the top social media and business bloggers and copy their approach; unaware that most of those guys make their money from speaking at events, consulting and offering training etc – NOT online. Or, they copy the get rich quick guys, with the photoshopped bank statements and promises of instant wealth.
The answer?
The answer is to look at the people that DO MAKE MONEY online and study their business model! Here’s a great place to start; based on someone, who’s building (literally) an empire online.
Check out what Leo Laporte does
For those of you who don’t already know, Leo Laporte is the founder of perhaps the leading provider of niche podcasts and video casts in the world – These all come under his TWiT network. Leo Laporte makes the vast majority of his income online and he does so using a model that’s there for all to see (and learn from).
Leo’s online income comes from sponsors that include blue chip organizations like Visa and Ford. He also has a ton of advertisers, people that tend to keep on advertising with him – eager to stay part of Leo’s TWiT network. The top people in technology queue up to be guests on his shows, knowing that a mention from Leo is enough to help THEIR business / brand grow.
So, what’s Leo Laporte’s secret?
Simple: He works REALLY hard producing valuable content, in an area of business that he knows extremely well. Because of this, he has a huge (and growing) audience. Not only that, it’s a highly targeted audience of people who trust what Leo says. It’s a community. (this is an important distinction, which I will explain in moment.)
That is pure gold dust for advertisers!
I’ve been in marketing for over 20 years and in my experience, the people that do well financially in ANY area of business, including blogging, are not those who waste their time looking for silver bullets – the one killer idea that will make them a million overnight. The people who thrive are those who get rich S-L-O-W-L-Y!
Here’s what I see the guys at the top of their game (including Leo) doing time and time again:
- They build a robust business on a strong foundation – not a series of failed get rich quick attempts. This gives them longevity and credibility.
- They focus on value, so they produce non-generic content (or posts), that people will want to read and share. This helps them grow a targeted audience.
- They guard their reputation and earn the trust of their audience.
- They then turn their audience into a community.
- Finally, they market to that community.
This is not the kind of get rich quick post that will go viral, because it’s message is not one of instant wealth or money for nothing. And in honesty, that’s my point. The reality is that it takes time, intelligence and work in order to genuinely earn a significant, predictable income online.
I would love to hear what you have to say, so please take a moment to share your feedback with a comment below.
Photo: Jeff Belmonte
Great points Jim! As a devoted TWiT fan, I agree. Certainly AdSense and Corp assocoate links to Amazon is not going to lead any blogger to millions $$. I’m just at it as a value added service and self-education by allowing me to reflect on what I’m doing which can sometimes change how I manage my patients.
Hi Robert. So long as your blog does what’s required to get the results you want, keep on keeping on!
Great post Jim. Community truly is the name of the game when it comes to online. Leo seems to concentrate less on serving the masses, but rather serving the niches really well. He reaches the “masses” through a variety of shows, and no one shows tries to be all things to all people. He is a model for correctly earning returns on the Internet.
You make an excellent point there Michael, regarding how Leo reaches the masses, through a series of well picked niches.
Wish I’d thought of that when I wrote the post!
Be bold & be prolific. These are Leo’s two biggest secrets to success that I can see. These traits of Leo’s success are not at odds with Jim’s post, as Jim is very correct: The secret to Leo’s success is his community.
I am of the opinion that Leo’s prolific nature and his boldness are the core catalysts of his community, his niche, and thus his success. What do you think, Jim?
Building a successful community is always the start of a great business or any other marketing endeavor. Today’s marketplace makes community more visible, as in regular blog readers / commenters, Twitter followers, Facebook Fans, but even before this social media world, community was critical in business.
The people who gathered at the general store, frequented the same dinner, met while changing their oil, and referred friends and family. Just pondering.
Julie | Resume Services´s last blog ..Maximizing Your Energy Levels
Leo Laporte is a big phoney!!
Nothing but a paid Google fan boy. Where is he making his money? Easy, support and praise Google on everything they do. That’s the way to make money Leo.
Very clever, and phoney guy.
Just a Google fan boy? Not that I have seen. I have experienced Leo become a “Fan Boy” of a HUGE amount of items. Leo is (respectfully) a shiney object personality. Meaning if it is shiney and cool, it dazzles him
.
Now, that helps us as he PLAYS with a ton of tools (software, hardware, services) and he will stick with something until either something BETTER comes out, or he feels the need to get off the big train and ‘eat the dogfood’ of something else.
Why does he like Google? I am guessing (I don’t know Leo personally), but I imagine it is the same reason MILLIONS of others do, it has the best value (features, up-time, price) of anything out there…
Mike