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is a blog even necessary, atleast initially?

by Kush Sharma
32 replies
Hi,

As i'm understanding IM more and more, I'm beginning to think that blogging may not be required at all.

Just have a squeeze page. Drive targeted traffic to it by every possible means, grow your list, and market products as well as give value from e-mails.

When and at what time is a blog required? Do any of you know any person including yourself who does not use a blog at all, but only rely on squeeze page website and email campaigns?
#atleast #blog #initially
  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Your blog is where you show the world you have something that's worth their time. Your blog should be the foundation of your business. You'll get a lot more signups to your list with a blog loaded with great content.
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    • Profile picture of the author yakim1
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      Your blog is where you show the world you have something that's worth their time. Your blog should be the foundation of your business. You'll get a lot more signups to your list with a blog loaded with great content.
      I disagree with the blog being the foundation of your business. I see the blog being a useful tool to drive taffic in the directions you want.

      The real foundation to any online business is the list. You can lose your blog or the search engines to something that stops you blog from working as it did, but if you have a list you can rebuild very quickly.

      So that is why a blog is not a solid foundation.

      Best regards,
      Steve Yakim
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

        Your blog is where you show the world you have something that's worth their time. Your blog should be the foundation of your business. You'll get a lot more signups to your list with a blog loaded with great content.
        This. Exactly.

        This can also have dramatic effects on the quality and open-rates of your subscriber-lists (i.e. the monetization point of so many businesses): this is evident even by comparing the medium-term incomes produced from squeeze-page-derived lists and lists built from an opt-in on a content-rich blog.

        Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

        I disagree with the blog being the foundation of your business.
        Well, experiences vary. Blogs are the foundation of my successful and growing business, as they are of those of the most successful affiliate marketers I know. They're how I build my lists, after all.

        Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

        I see the blog being a useful tool to drive taffic in the directions you want.
        I look at it completely differently: I see the blog as being the useful (in my case, "essential") tool to which one drives the traffic.
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        • Profile picture of the author yakim1
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          This. Exactly.

          Well, experiences vary. Blogs are the foundation of my successful and growing business, as they are of those of the most successful affiliate marketers I know. They're how I build my lists, after all.

          I look at it completely differently: I see the blog as being the useful (in my case, "essential") tool to which one drives the traffic.
          You said it yourself, you blog is an essential tool not really a foundation. If a list is not your foundation then why is it so important to build one.

          You need to realize what the true foundation of your business is. If your blog gets destroyed for some reason, you can rebuild it in just a few hours. But if something happens to your list, how long will it take your to rebuild that.

          I agree with the usefulness of a blog but it is not the best list build platform. I believe the best sales funnel is to drive traffic to you squeeze page - sales letter - then downsell to your blog.

          Ablog is good for search engine and social traffic but that traffic should be as soon as possible directed to a squeeze page then the product sales letter.

          The problem with your model is that it is an affiliate model and not a product owner module, which make the downsell hard to do.

          You post a lot on list building and I agree with most of your posts, but I guess my question to you is where are most of your sales made because I have a different business model. Is it from your list or from your blog?

          I don't need to use my downsell to drive traffic to my blog. I can do that when I broadcast to my list. The problem I see with a blog is that it can be very distracting because it allows the visitors to go in to many different directions because of all the different distractions on the blog.

          The main idea of list building is to build many highly targeted sublists so every squeeze page I put up builds a specific list for a special purpose. Highly targeting a market is produce quality results.

          Some of my smallest list are the biggest producers. Plus I don't send out regular emails. I send when I have something to say. I don't believe in building a list for short term use and constantly promoting products. Quality content is what builds, know you, like you and trust you results.

          A specific page on your blog can be used to deliver that quaility content. but not sending traffic to a blog home page.

          Best regards,
          Steve Yakim
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          • Profile picture of the author fin
            Domain name
            Email list
            Blog
            Product
            Sales page

            Those are what I would call the foundations of a blogging business. If you are an affiliate then you can use another marketer's product and sales page.

            Why does one have to be part of the foundation and not the other?
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            • Profile picture of the author yakim1
              Originally Posted by fin View Post

              Domain name
              Email list
              Blog
              Product
              Sales page

              Those are what I would call the foundations of a blogging business. If you are an affiliate then you can use another marketer's product and sales page.

              Why does one have to be part of the foundation and not the other?
              I don't have Alexa's business model so I don't know which part of her model produces the most sales. They all contribute but which part could she survive on the best all by its self.

              Best regards,
              Steve Yakim
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          • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
            Banned
            Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

            I believe the best sales funnel is to drive traffic to you squeeze page - sales letter - then downsell to your blog.
            I've split-tested various different kinds of squeeze page repeatedly and always very reliably found the opposite, myself.

            I've said more about this concept, here, and here.

            Clearly I'm in a different position from yours, though, not being a vendor myself.

            Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

            The problem with your model is that it is an affiliate model and not a product owner module, which make the downsell hard to do.
            My experience is that in some ways that actually makes it easier to do: it's generally easier for affiliates (than it is for vendors) to be able to offer a range of different products at different prices, with increased product flexibility, less depending on the continued success of any specific, individual product, and without many of the inevitable issues vendors need to deal with.

            Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

            You post a lot on list building and I agree with most of your posts, but I guess my question to you is where are most of your sales made because I have a different business model. Is it from your list or from your blog?
            It depends how you define the terms "from your list" and "from your blog", doesn't it? Most of the people who buy a product through clicking on a link on my blog have got to that link/page as a result of clicking something in an email I've sent them (which means, of course, that they've been on the site at least once before, because they've opted in there).

            Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

            Highly targeting a market is produce quality results.
            Yes, clearly we agree about that, but in all the niches in which I've split-tested, although I can build bigger lists from squeeze pages, I make more money without them.

            Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

            Some of my smallest list are the biggest producers. Plus I don't send out regular emails. I send when I have something to say.
            Well, I appreciate that we're bound to be handling our list communications differently, you as a vendor and I as an affiliate. Personally, I use broadcasts as rarely as possible, for all the reasons explained here: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post7301227 . That, of course, doesn't make either of us "right", or "wrong": we're just doing different things.

            Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

            I don't believe in building a list for short term use and constantly promoting products. Quality content is what builds, know you, like you and trust you results.
            Yes - we agree about that, too.
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            • Profile picture of the author yakim1
              Alexa, you said...

              It depends how you define the terms "from your list" and "from your blog", doesn't it? Most of the people who buy a product through clicking on a link on my blog have got to that link/page as a result of clicking something in an email I've sent them (which means, of course, that they've been on the site at least once before, because they've opted in there).

              The buying did not really happen until they were sent to a specific page on your blog from an email. the part of your quote is ...

              which means, of course, that they've been on the site at least once before, because they've opted in there.

              ...that I have a hard time dealing with is that your blog can't be the only resource for your list if you value list building so much. If this is so it is not a bad resource its just that there are so many other ways to build a list and if you are not using them, your leaving a lot of money on the table.

              It seems from your statement that your blog is a traffic source. I hope not your only traffic source.

              Just my observation,
              Steve Yakim
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              • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
                Banned
                Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

                The buying did not really happen until they were sent to a specific page on your blog from an email.
                No, this isn't really so: I make plenty of sales from masked hoplinks in emails, too. (I just include some links to my blogs because I like to train my subscribers to visit as many pages on my blogs as possible).

                Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

                the part of your quote is ... ("which means, of course, that they've been on the site at least once before, because they've opted in there") ...that I have a hard time dealing with is that your blog can't be the only resource for your list if you value list building so much.
                No, this is true.

                Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

                It seems from your statement that your blog is a traffic source.
                My articles, published elsewhere, are my main traffic source. My blog, in each niche, is more the traffic target.

                I'd be the first to agree with the view (not stated here, but I think you're implying it, and/or wouldn't disagree with it anyway) that you can run a business with list-building and without a blog, but not nearly so well with a blog and no list-building. But if you're not using squeeze pages (which personally, I don't, after all the split-testing I've done of "with/without squeeze-pages"), a blog or something very like it is what you need to build your list. We may partly even be talking at cross-purposes, and in any case disagree less than it looks, here, Steve?
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  • Profile picture of the author Coby
    You can also gain leads from your blog

    having a blog does a few things...

    1.) give you a place to "interact" with your subscribers
    2.) gives you the ability to reach "new" folks
    3.) gives you a place to put all your "product reviews" so people can check back often or maybe even find you through Google.
    4.) Content syndication - this isn't possible if you aren't creating content
    5.) Allows you to brand yourself/company

    This is just a handful of reasons why you should have a blog

    Cheers,
    Coby
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    • Profile picture of the author sal64
      Originally Posted by Coby View Post

      You can also gain leads from your blog

      having a blog does a few things...

      1.) give you a place to "interact" with your subscribers
      2.) gives you the ability to reach "new" folks
      3.) gives you a place to put all your "product reviews" so people can check back often or maybe even find you through Google.
      4.) Content syndication - this isn't possible if you aren't creating content
      5.) Allows you to brand yourself/company

      This is just a handful of reasons why you should have a blog

      Cheers,
      Coby
      What he said. It all comes down to what sort of business you want build. If you are the churn and burn type, then don't waste your time.

      Sal
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      • Profile picture of the author Kush Sharma
        Originally Posted by sal64 View Post

        What he said. It all comes down to what sort of business you want build. If you are the churn and burn type, then don't waste your time.

        Sal
        is being a churn and burn types necessarily a bad thing? I mean churn and burn till your find something profitable, and then start a blog?
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  • Profile picture of the author Cyber Star
    Squeeze page alone will just give you a list, this people on your list can sign out anytime they want, and this is why you should have something that provide value to them beside your email. Blog will build you a reputation, a customer who also have blog will definitely follow your blog and there are a good chance that their blog is an authority site. It means, as your grow your list and blog, you will also grow your site as an authority site someday.
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  • Profile picture of the author fcf360
    IM business comes down to this:

    Offer >> Landing Page >> Traffic >> Conversion.

    There is no need for a blog. A blog is not a requirement for making money online.
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    • Profile picture of the author archimet
      Originally Posted by fcf360 View Post

      IM business comes down to this:

      Offer >> Landing Page >> Traffic >> Conversion.

      There is no need for a blog. A blog is not a requirement for making money online.

      It really depends on a number of factors, including but not limited to the nature of your business model, how fast you want to make money, whether you have the desire (and talent) to generate valuable content (either writing your own articles or curating) and so on.

      The above formula is often the best place for new IM'ers to start.
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  • Profile picture of the author twister85
    Blo gis required if you have a website or a business platform. it is used to keep the users up to date with your New offers and promotions on the website day to day.

    A blog not only allow the users to comment their opinions about your website but a blog can also be used to promote your products mroe efficiently than a squeeze page.

    But if you only want to market a squeeze page And rather make sales from it then its not essential as it is only a one page website.
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    • Profile picture of the author fin
      I think it's worth it because it's less work for you in the long-term.

      If you don't have a blog you'll always be driving traffic to your sales page, but if you have one people will market it for you.

      I don't see much people sending their readers to a sales page.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    A blog is definitely an important part of the equation. But it's just one part of the machine. A blog is good for encouraging interaction with your list. By allowing comments and feedback it also creates a sense of community and social proof as your subscribers start seeing other people interacting with you. People love to feel a part of something bigger than just themselves. Anything you can do to encourage that sense of community is definitely something you should be doing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Entrecon
    At the very least as you get established it is good to have a base website that helps you establish an identity. If you are applying to different networks, trying to get JV partners, or other business type actions it is nice if you always have the same e-mail address and a website that people can visit and find out more bout who you are. If you add a blog to it or not depends on the stage you are at in your business and the type of business you are in.

    Sometimes I think people misunderstand what a blog is. It is strictly a place for you to post updates. Those updates are driven by your business model and marketing strategy. If you are trying to build a highly engaged community around your brand, then you will probably want to have a blog as part of the mix.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheInfoMarket
    In today's competitive market, you usually need to use a combination of many different marketing strategies and channels to either establish yourself in the first place or to expand what you already have.

    I would say a blog isn't strictly necessary, especially if a blog format doesn't fit your business model. Though, a blog could also be what you start off with and act as the core of your business.

    For many people the importance of their blog would be somewhere in between. The business could survive and continue without a blog, but it wouldn't be making as much money.

    Using only a squeeze page and email marketing, can certainly work. But you really want long-term stability, which is what a blog can give you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anurag96
    Hi,
    You are lacking a lot of information here. A blog is the best way to attract traffic and earn more with your sales page.
    How?
    If you start a blog, regularly update it and let people subscribe to your list. And you can than send your subscribers to the page you are promoting (make sure it is related to what you are blogging) and now, you will earn a lot of money depending on your list.

    A blog is the best way to earn money, today.
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  • Profile picture of the author Henri Lind
    The sooner you start blogging, the more you will thank yourself later.

    Blog is where your readers can connect with you, see you that you too are a human.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikeac
    A blog is not necessary, but it is important for branding and credibility if you are looking to turn this into a solid business, then rather to make some quick money.
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  • Profile picture of the author a1pena
    Initially no its not essential. Depending on your business plan any you really need is a highly converting sales funnel. A blog is something you can invest in later on once you got momentum going and want a community. If your not worried about that then dont invest the time your ROI will not be very high.
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  • Profile picture of the author sabatek
    It depends on how you want to run your business. A blog can provide a long time consistent income where just driving traffic to squeeze page will only produce a result when sending traffic. Having a website and bloging is like owning real estate.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
    Originally Posted by GoonerPride View Post

    Hi,

    As i'm understanding IM more and more, I'm beginning to think that blogging may not be required at all.

    Just have a squeeze page. Drive targeted traffic to it by every possible means, grow your list, and market products as well as give value from e-mails.

    When and at what time is a blog required? Do any of you know any person including yourself who does not use a blog at all, but only rely on squeeze page website and email campaigns?
    It depends on your business model and how you plan to earn revenues.

    For example, someone who is buying traffic and sending it directly to CPA offers doesn't need a blog or even a website.

    I have some blogs, but that's when my traffic is content and viral driven. But for most of the niches I'm in, I don't have a blog because I don't need one. I simply buy targeted traffic and let my marketing funnels do the rest of the work.

    RoD
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  • Profile picture of the author yakim1
    Hi Alexa,

    I'm not really disagreeing with you on the way you build your list. Because it seems that you are using your blog as the list building process, just as a squeeze page is. It is the tool that gets the subscribers on your list.

    Our disagreement resides in whether list building or your blog is the real foundation of your business.

    Since you're using your blog as a list builing tool, it's the list that does your main promotion of products via masked hop links, so your list must be the foundation of your business.

    I just assume that you have never considered what the foundation of your business really is. Your blog is so important to you because it is your squeeze page and losing your blog would be like me losing my squeeze pages, the list building stops.

    But the list would still be able to produce sales until you could replace your blog and me, my squeeze pages.

    That is why I consider the list a solid foundation on which to build your business.

    Best regards,
    Steve Yakim
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  • Profile picture of the author sdentrepreneur
    Blogging can brand you as an expert in your industry. More people are willing to read a blog then be sent straight to a landing page. From your blog, you can have a link to landing page or banner ads on your blog to get traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author MonitorScout
    Yes, Blog is very much necessary.

    If you are in online business then blog is a must, that's all!

    Blog is necessary because of the following:

    Search engine crawler likes it.

    Blog content is the feed to social channel like Facebook, twitter etc.

    It makes you viral.

    Moreover, to the online community blog is something that proves your existence.
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  • Profile picture of the author zeroaffiliate
    There are just too many models of IM out there.

    Having a blog for a specific niche is one of the ways to generate an income. You could also create a info website to promote certain product of affiliate. If you decide to try CPA, you don't need either at all cos you are sending an offer directly to the traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author FunkyKing
    Well this can be looked at from several different angles:

    1) A blog can be very useful for giving something away for free, i.e. some information to the end-user which then gives them a reason to trust you and then buy your product or service.

    2) The second reason is that it can drive traffic because each blog post accident web page which can be targeted at specific keywords and drive traffic accordingly.

    What you really need to be asking yourself is whether you have other ways of generating traffic that will be less time intensive. Writing a blog can take a lot of time because the content needs to be very good, you cannot rely on broken English or spun rubbish.
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