I was having a chat this morning with one of my buddies who is one of those successful Bloggers/ Internet Marketers who many of us (at least I am) are striving to emulate. I called him up because this blog (Making Money Online Dot Com) has been live for about one month now and yesterday was my best day (as far as profits go) for this particular site.
Just yesterday alone, this site earned a whopping $148.97. $145.20 came from 3 different affiliate product sales, and $3.77 from Adsense. Not a bad day at all for being such a new site. Unfortunately, as of me typing this… the site hasn’t made a penny yet today, but the day is not over yet.
The reason I am sharing this information with you is because of something my buddy told me when I first decided to start this blog. He gave me a very encouraging tip that I think a lot of the newer bloggers who aren’t making money online yet will really appreciate.
He said, “Build it, and eventually the people with the money will come”. When he first said it I chuckled, as it reminded me of the line from the movie, “Field of Dreams” where a voice keeps whispering to Kevin Costner’s character, “Build it and he will come”.
He explained to me that building a successful blog comes in basically 3 phases:
PHASE 1
When you first start out blogging you really have nothing but some (hopefully) good content. The next thing you need to do is market your site and build up your reputation, and the best way to do that is by networking with other bloggers in your niche. There are many ways to do that like leaving useful comments with back-links to your site on other blogger’s websites, as well a Guest Blogging. There are lots of ways to build traffic, but I am not going to go into that in this post. The key point here is to get your name in front of everyone you can.
PHASE 2
Soon your traffic will start to grow slowly, and hopefully your reputation. Here you will start to see some money, but the big money won’t start coming in just yet. The reason is that most of the traffic you are generating is from other bloggers in your same niche, many of whom are just starting out like you and don’t have a lot of money.
Traffic will continue to grow as more and more people learn about your site through word of mouth advertising, and you should start getting some organic search engine traffic in this phase as well. The key here is to not get discouraged that your aren’t making a lot of money yet, and to continue to do what you have been doing, as this phase can last for quite some time.
PHASE 3
This is the phase where the big money comes. Eventually, you will have built yourself an “Outstanding Reputation” as being an expert in your niche, and 95% (just a made up percentage, but probably close) of the bloggers that were around when you first started will have thrown in the towel… leaving you to shine with your other friends who have stuck it out. Now your name is everywhere and all the new bloggers are looking up to you. Your subscriber lists are all off the charts and anything you recommend sells like hotcakes!
I know it sounds a little oversimplified, but it absolutely makes sense.
So my question to you is…
Are you going to be one of the ones that stick it out to the end?
I know I am!
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Benjamin Cip on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 12:10 pm
Hi Doug, I do really enjoy reading your blog. Where did you get your current theme? Was it a free one or you made it designed by someone? Concerning your post, that is interesting to post daily earning, and it makes me want to know how much money you’ll make by months! By the way, since how long you does your site exist? Did I read well when you wrote that your site is only 1 month live? And you are already making money! It’s really promising! It’s quite strange but I don’t see any adsense link on your blog… but yet, you wrote that you made some adsense earning…
Doug Dillard on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 12:26 pm
Hi Benjamin… That is a lot of questions in one comment
You can read how I created the theme here: http://www.makingmoneyonline.com/ready-to-go-making-money-online-wordpress-theme/
Adsense ads can be found in the middle of the post above, at the bottom of the post, and in the bottom right sidebar.
Yes, the site just went live 1 month ago. As far as monthly income, the only reason I wrote how much I made that day was because I wanted to let people know who are starting out and struggling, that it is definitely possible to make some money. Before that day the site hadn’t made any other significant amount of money to speak of yet.
TechZoomIn on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 11:24 pm
That’s great you earned those in one day.. I never tried affiliates, but i have a strong feeling that who will buy from our site.
The title was absolutely right in some or the other way
The Gooroo @ Finance Advisory Stop on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 4:35 am
You’ve said everything exactly as I would have. Too many bloggers join the business, only to quit within weeks. Why? Because they didn’t make money. Sorry to those bloggers, but money will not come within weeks. Blogging is like the battle of the fittest. Thou who can continue to blog (update their blog regularly, while delivering value) WILL succeed.
Extreme John on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 9:33 am
I actually like this article the way that it is, so if you consider it oversimplified that means it’s perfect for me.
Once I decide how to use my site to make money I will get rolling with it, for now it’s just a good time.
Doug Dillard on Mon, 20th Jul 2009 1:17 am
Thanks John. I do like things oversimplified myself
Developerholic on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 10:05 am
Wow! congratulations for the affiliate sale. I never earned anything from affiliates before
But I guess like you said, I have to built it for people to come
Doug Dillard on Mon, 20th Jul 2009 1:16 am
Thanks. Yes, you definitely need to build it for the people to come
Rahul on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 8:20 pm
Such a inspirational post.
Trey - Swollen Thumb Entertainment on Sun, 19th Jul 2009 2:41 pm
Hi Doug, I must say that the title of this post was a little misleading, because at first, I thought this was going to be a post about selling your blog.
I think that in order to get through to some of these new, impatient bloggers, the process has to be simplified. It’s one thing to tell someone that it will take patience, but they never quite seem to understand what that means. Yes, it is true that some blogs skyrocket to the moon immediately, because they just happen to be the right message, at the right time, presented in the right way. This is a rarity though, because most blogs take months or even years to get to that superstar level. And with so many people entering the blogging game, it’s becoming more difficult to make an impact on your readers.
But you’re right. If you keep providing value in your articles, consistently, and regularly network with other bloggers, you will eventually be successful.
Doug Dillard on Mon, 20th Jul 2009 1:15 am
Couldn’t agree more Trey! Thanks for stopping by and leaving the comment.
iWrite2Know on Mon, 20th Jul 2009 4:16 am
We liked the way you defined the three distinct phases. Very interesting! However I believe that in the first 6 months one should build upon a good archive. Thereafter start advertising and promotions. Finally, start making money – Wait for those who have money.
From the desk of iW2K team
SEO Writer on Fri, 31st Jul 2009 1:44 pm
Well, for being a young blog with a few cool dudes with experience. I have to say that this post makes me feel good about what I’m doing. If this is true and everything works then I was doing everything right and was doing without having had prior knowledge about how to make a name for myself. Thanks for the post. I could not have agreed more on phase 1.
tony