5 Ways To Transition Your Blog Into A Business Without Paying For Ads
Most creative professionals have blogs these days, and I'm betting you're here right now because you have one too. It makes sense, because having an online presence is such a great way to connect with a much larger audience than you might if you were marketing strictly offline.
So since you already have this online presence why not leverage your site in a way that makes you even more money on top of your day job or freelancing gig?
This post is for all you hobby bloggers who are looking to upgrade your online space to business mode without wasting time and money.
Today we're going to get into 5 different ways that you can turn your blog into a business, without losing your current followers. There are definitely right and wrong ways to go about it, so let's do this thang!
1. HOST A ONE-DAY PAID VIRTUAL WEBINAR
Since this site is mainly targeted towards beauty and makeup professionals I'll give some examples that relate to that niche, but you can really get SO creative with this one for any niche.
You can offer a private, paid virtual class (I can attest that these do work, since I've attended a few myself in various niches and paid anywhere from $10-200 per class) simply presenting or teaching on a topic that you know well. If you're a makeup artist, why not offer a special one-day only online workshop on bridal makeup tips and tricks?
How To Do This:
Pick your date and time
Choose your topic - make sure it is very specific and targeted, and that it is something your audience is for sure interested in
Create a sales page with a "buy now" button on it
Prepare your teaching materials and set up your workshop - you can do this with programs like GoTo Meeting, LeadPages or even WebinarJam
Keep in mind, if this one-day workshop goes really well, you could then take that topic and turn it into a paid e-book or even an online course.
2. OFFER ONE-ON-ONE COACHING PACKAGES
A solid example of this is when I decided to start offering one-on-one makeup lessons as an extension of my first beauty blog. I started by offering two different - very specific - packages; one for creating a subtle smokey eye for everyday wear with tips for transitioning it into an evening look, and one for creating the perfect flawless base makeup (foundation and concealer techniques) for any skin type.
I created a new page on my blog that outlined the two different packages, with a separate sign-up button for each package.
Now to be honest, at first I didn't receive any inquiries. So I had to reassess.
Why wasn't anyone interested? I took to Twitter to ask my followers and found that most people still had a lot of questions about what exactly they would be getting out of the paid coaching session. It turns out, people like to know exactly what they're spending their money on, go figure. ;)
So, I went back to the page I had created and added in more visuals showing potential clients what they would receive at the end of the session. Aside from the skills they would be acquiring, I would also equip them with a completed face chart with all the products we had used listed (as a buying guide). They would also receive a digital package as a follow-up to our lesson with even more helpful tips and tricks targeted specifically for them.
Make sure you are giving your client something tangible - a result or a plan, and a task.
Depending on your niche you could even figure out a way to offer these coaching sessions virtually through Skype.
3. OFFER A DIGITAL PRODUCT
Chances are if you've been blogging for a while in a specific niche, you probably already have a lot of expertise as well as existing content to draw from. Why not take that and turn it into an e-book? And if you think people won't pay for information that is readily searchable on google or already available in various places on your site, think again. People will always pay for convenience, and you taking the time to package all the info they might need on a specific topic is veryconvenient. Trust me, they'll buy it.
A digital asset like an e-book is something that you can sell again and again with very little effort. Once you have your audience established and you've created your product, you've essentially set up a form of passive income.
4. SPEAKING GIGS
Think about it, as a blogger you're already a writer, a creator, a doer and a maker. You have experience with a certain niche, and people will most definitely pay you to talk about. Now whether or not this type of gig is up your alley is an entirely different matter! While I'm not a huge fan of public speaking (like, give me a bucket I'm about to throw up) a friend of mine and fellow makeup artist regularly gives talks at our local community college to aesthetics students, and was even hired by the organizers of a bridal show to give a talk and a tutorial on stage.
The key with this one is to build relationships. Take to Twitter and start chatting with the organizers of the events you have your eye one (be cool though, spamming will not get your foot in the door). Also join the Facebook groups for those events and subtly draw attention to yourself by joining in on the conversation and offering helpful tips (and once in awhile drop a link to your site).
Note: if you're serious about moving forward with public speaking make sure it's obvious on your social profiles and in your blog profile that you're open to this type of collaboration.
5. CREATE AN ONLINE COURSE
So we talked about digital products above, but offering an online course is very different from offering an e-book.
E-books are quite often read and then forgotten, while an online course uses a few different mediums to get the point across as well as engage the reader/student. In this case, a student of your online course is much more likely to implement your ideas and draw value from your content than a reader of your e-book would.
Online courses are great because you create the content up front and then the whole process of a student enrolling and moving through the course is automated. It's passive income at its best, and takes up a minimal amount of your time in the long run.
6. *BONUS TIP* OFFER AD SPACE IN YOUR BLOG SIDE BAR
If you're open to partnering with organizations that mesh with your brand and niche, consider opening up your side bar to advertisers. You obviously will want to be very careful in terms of who you partner with, as maintaining the trust of your loyal followers is your number 1 priority.
Add a page to your navigation bar that outlines your monthly fee for ad space as well as your sidebar dimensions and style guidelines - you want to make sure that the ads fit in with the style of your site and don't clash with your regular content. Also be sure to include a contact form or email for those interested.
So how are you going to transition your blog into a business? I'd absolutely love to hear your ideas in the comments!
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