Blogging For Fries or Blogging For Money?
- ARTICLES |
Picture yourself as a pimply teenager working for minimum wage at the nearby fast food joint. You stand at the counter, with your feet aching, and take orders during your 4 hour shift. The only thing you're thinking about is getting out of there and hopefully snagging a bag of fries on the way out. You do just what you're asked to do and nothing more.
After all, you're only working for minimum wage, why should you put out more than you have to?
If you're smart, you'll start stocking up the condiments, wiping down the counter, and suggesting desserts to the customers. You'll become someone people can count on to do a little extra, with consistency. Why? Because that's what gets you a raise and a promotion!
So let's apply that minimum wage job experience to your blogging experience...
Are you only doing what's expected of you? Are you blogging for fries or blogging for money? You post every now and then with no consistency. You give others the bare minimum and nothing else. You don't go the extra mile and make your blog as interesting and helpful as it could be. You've got the working for minimum wage attitude.
But it's a funny thing, you have to step out and do more... before you get rewarded or compensated, so it's going to feel like you're doing all this extra work for no return. That's a little short-sighted though, because if you do more than what is necessary now, you'll surely reap the rewards before too long, even if you can't see it now.
Here are some qualities that someone looking for a promotion, i.e., a blogger who's blogging for money needs to have:
1. A plan for your blog that incorporates elements of getting new traffic and retaining old traffic, that encourages commenting, allows you to show off your expertise, promotes only high quality products that convert well, increases your rank in the search engines, and makes your blog... well... the best darn blog in town that everyone wants to visit.
2. The ability to focus on your plan and work it constantly. There's no doubt it's going to take some hard work and you have to be willing to commit. Turn down the dial on the all-day/all-night online radio station, 102.overwhelm, and focus on what you want to accomplish each day and why.
3. The willingness to blog often, consistently, with valuable content that helps people. Take the extra time to write each post as if it's going to be the next popular post gone viral. Instead of looking at it like it's a chore, have fun with it. Remember, you're ultimately blogging for money, even if you don't see much of it quite yet.
4. The determination to try something you haven't done before. Yes, it can be scary to write a guest blog post for someone else, toot your own horn on Twitter, offer a strong opinion post, or blog about something you're not exactly an expert on. It will also make you uncomfortable trying different mediums - podcasts, videos, screencasting, interviews, etc. But that's how you find out what people like and want, and what gets others talking and linking to you from their blogs.
5. The nerve to ask questions. If you hit a snag, it might be is a lot quicker to swallow your pride and ask for help. Maybe you want to know what theme or plugin someone else is using. Ask! People will help, they're hardwired that way.
The choice is yours, you can do the bare minimum and get what you've always got - a backache, minimum wage, and a bag of fries or you can take your blog up a notch and do what's necessary to be successfully blogging for real money.
If you like this article, you'll probably like this blog, www.peggybaron.com/blog, where I provide internet marketing insights, case studies, what's working, my own brand of blogging for money, etc. But it's not all about me - active participation from readers makes this blog what it is!
After all, you're only working for minimum wage, why should you put out more than you have to?
If you're smart, you'll start stocking up the condiments, wiping down the counter, and suggesting desserts to the customers. You'll become someone people can count on to do a little extra, with consistency. Why? Because that's what gets you a raise and a promotion!
So let's apply that minimum wage job experience to your blogging experience...
Are you only doing what's expected of you? Are you blogging for fries or blogging for money? You post every now and then with no consistency. You give others the bare minimum and nothing else. You don't go the extra mile and make your blog as interesting and helpful as it could be. You've got the working for minimum wage attitude.
But it's a funny thing, you have to step out and do more... before you get rewarded or compensated, so it's going to feel like you're doing all this extra work for no return. That's a little short-sighted though, because if you do more than what is necessary now, you'll surely reap the rewards before too long, even if you can't see it now.
Here are some qualities that someone looking for a promotion, i.e., a blogger who's blogging for money needs to have:
1. A plan for your blog that incorporates elements of getting new traffic and retaining old traffic, that encourages commenting, allows you to show off your expertise, promotes only high quality products that convert well, increases your rank in the search engines, and makes your blog... well... the best darn blog in town that everyone wants to visit.
2. The ability to focus on your plan and work it constantly. There's no doubt it's going to take some hard work and you have to be willing to commit. Turn down the dial on the all-day/all-night online radio station, 102.overwhelm, and focus on what you want to accomplish each day and why.
3. The willingness to blog often, consistently, with valuable content that helps people. Take the extra time to write each post as if it's going to be the next popular post gone viral. Instead of looking at it like it's a chore, have fun with it. Remember, you're ultimately blogging for money, even if you don't see much of it quite yet.
4. The determination to try something you haven't done before. Yes, it can be scary to write a guest blog post for someone else, toot your own horn on Twitter, offer a strong opinion post, or blog about something you're not exactly an expert on. It will also make you uncomfortable trying different mediums - podcasts, videos, screencasting, interviews, etc. But that's how you find out what people like and want, and what gets others talking and linking to you from their blogs.
5. The nerve to ask questions. If you hit a snag, it might be is a lot quicker to swallow your pride and ask for help. Maybe you want to know what theme or plugin someone else is using. Ask! People will help, they're hardwired that way.
The choice is yours, you can do the bare minimum and get what you've always got - a backache, minimum wage, and a bag of fries or you can take your blog up a notch and do what's necessary to be successfully blogging for real money.
If you like this article, you'll probably like this blog, www.peggybaron.com/blog, where I provide internet marketing insights, case studies, what's working, my own brand of blogging for money, etc. But it's not all about me - active participation from readers makes this blog what it is!