What Popular Bloggers Got Wrong - And How You Can Get it Right
Photo by 416style.
I am always the first person to advocate studying blogs you admire to learn their techniques. I’ve dedicated a lot of time to spreading the word about blogs that are doing things right, and how you can emulate them.
But in this post, I want to talk about how we can learn what no to do from the evolution of popular blogs. Because they’ve learned from their mistakes, we have the opportunity to learn without ever having to make the same mistake they did. I’ll show you how, here.
This set of stages shows how the business-side of many popular blogs has evolved over time:
Stage 1 - Begins with fixation on advertising income. Provides the initial excitement of earning some income for blogging. Then the blogger realizes it scales poorly: most blogs reach a natural ‘growth cap’ where traffic begins to plateau at its maximum level. Without more traffic, advertising income can’t keep growing. It’s also inconsistent - a Google pagerank reshuffle or the loss of a major advertiser throws the blogger’s earnings into disarray. Ad-blindness decreases the return you can provide to advertisers. So, the blogger moves on to stage two.
Stage 2 - Focus shifts to affiliate income. By the time Stage 2 is reached, the blogger has developed a large audience of fans who trust what he or she says. The blogger begins to experiment with affiliate recommendations and is surprised by the results. The blog’s earnings begin to increase again. This is a long stage for many blogs, as the negative effects can take some time to manifest themselves. Eventually, affiliate sales slowly drop, and some readers become disenchanted with the blogger. There is only so much selling they can take. Earnings are still good, but no longer growing. The blogger begins to wonder what would happen if they sold their own work, instead of someone else’s.
Stage 3 - The blogger begins to sell their own work through the blog: freelance services like consulting, design or public speaking, or products they’ve created, like eBooks and online courses. These sell much better than affiliate products, because the readers are already fans of the blogger, and the blogger keeps 100% of the earnings. While selling these services and products is highly profitable, it’s also much more rewarding than selling other people’s products through advertising and affiliate marketing.
Stage 4 - Selling services and products is so much more effective and rewarding than advertising and affiliate marketing that the blogger scales back significantly on their stage 1 (advertising) and stage 2 (affiliate marketing) efforts. Many blogs remove all advertising and no longer sell any products other than their own. They know their efforts are better spent creating and selling their own products and services. Many wish they had focused on creating the ideal conditions for this from the beginning.
There are several blogs I follow - and you may follow too - that are just beginning to enter, or are already in Stage 4 at the moment. Yaro Starak, someone whose business strongly illustrates the transition across four stages, recently wrote that he would be scaling back on affiliate marketing pitches, suggesting that “If you’re focusing too much on selling, then you’re slowly destroying your business because you’re destroying trust.” Copyblogger also evolved through the four stages I outlined, and now no longer displays any advertising for products not released through the blog. Darren Rowse was recently floored by the success of a $72,000 eBook launch and is focusing much more on his own products than affiliate marketing and advertising, once the core of his business.
I could fill this post with other examples, but these are just a few you may know. Blogs that once based their core business model around stage 1 (advertising) and stage 2 (affiliates) can’t shift away fast enough. The ‘mistake’ I mentioned in the introduction to this post is that they poured so much time and effort into stage 1 and 2 methods in the first place, and didn’t make the switch earlier. Of course, this kind of ‘mistake’ isn’t a real mistake or failure, it’s part of the learning process inherent in running a business. We keep trying new things until we find the one that works, and sometimes we dedicate too much time and too many resources to the wrong strategy.
Why this is important
If you’re a relatively new blogger, or still don’t believe you’ve met your goals for the success of your blog, you’re actually at an advantage. You can follow the example of the popular bloggers, but skip the wrong turns. You don’t have to spend months wrestling with AdSense, Clickbank and Amazon referrals without real rewards before making the leap into Stage 3 - selling your own services and products. In the time other bloggers spend pitching affiliate products to their readers and expending the trust they accrued, you could take a different path - growing trust slowly and surely over time by providing great value and treating readers with respect. Over time, you allow that trust to flourish until you’re ready to share the services and products you’ve created for your readers.
In many ways, the trust your readers have in you is like a stock portfolio. Expend it as soon as you get it and you will probably lose trust over time. Hold on to it over months, or even a year or two, and it will grow, and grow, and grow. By the time you’re ready to launch your ‘Stage 4′ business you will be a mile ahead of others who sunk time and effort into stage 1 and 2 only to later decide it wasn’t the right path for them.
If you feel like you’re currently stuck in stage 1 or 2, consider moving on to the next stage now. Switch your focus away from advertising and affiliate marketing and towards growing trust will be rewarded in the long-run. If you’re yet to experiment with any kind of monetization, you’re also in a strong position - you have the choice to get it right from the start.
Which stage are you in? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments.
Skip to Stage 4
I think this idea is so important that I’ve written an eBook on how to create your own Stage 4 business selling freelance services, like creative skills and consulting, through your blog. It’s called The Blog Business Funnel and will be released within the next few weeks. If you’re interested in this business model, you can sign-up for a $5.00 discount code for the eBook below. You’ll also get a bonus post sent to you called ‘The 2 Secrets to Making Any Project a Success’, which will never appear on the blog. Feed readers, click here to access the discount code sign-up form.
To getting things right,
Skellie
I’m slowly moving over to stage four. I’ve moved all my product reviews over to a separate site which I’ll be developing as I learn a lot from writing them and I enjoy the income it provides.
I am planning on making my main blog exclusively about selling my own stuff. I released my first guide last month and have made $200 in sales. Its little, but gave me the confidence to create big products.
I can’t wait to see the finished product. I know you are going to rock this launch.
- Jade
Hi Skellie,
Great post, thanks. Stage 4 is ideal - yes. And, would you agree that some simple affiliate marketing for products that have proven extremely valuable to new bloggers helps supplement while we work on getting to stage 4? I understand you’re trying to keep us focused on stage 4 - creating and selling our own value - and in the interim, affiliate products that guide us as we go can be good. Would you agree? Are you being a ‘purist’ in your guidance to skip to step 4? I do appreciate your insight and reflection of the lifecycle of successful bloggers!
Cheers ~
Melissa
@RIVERFORK
I agree with you on Stage 4 being the ideal stage.
However, as a new blogger who did try this method, I can tell you personally that the temptations of making at least ’some’ money from your blog is too great.
I constantly found myself thinking about how much money I could be making right now’ if I had just added that ad, sold that product, affiliated that link, etc. This turned out to be the “real” time waster, my constant thinking of this.
I solved this issue, by:
1- adding a Google Adsense bar only on the right side of my blog, so that I would have to worry about “I could make this much, or this much, or… etc. etc. etc.”
2- I only show people the products I use myself, and since I’m a minimalist they are few. I don’t get affiliate earnings from these products, it’s just products that I think anyone can benefit from by using.
I never check my Adsense account now, and if it’s doing good, then great, but at least I don’t have that nagging voice in my head anymore. I also don’t feel like I’m scamming my readers in showing them the products I use myself.
So… skipping to stage 4 is a great idea. But I’m guessing the real problem this solves is ‘wasted time’, which as stated will be wasted on worrying if a system (no matter how small) is set.
The real answer is setting up a system that you never think about, never worry about, and completely back up and support 100%. Then you’ll find the freedom to focus on what you really want like me…. stage 4.
This is why I read still read your blog, while I unsubscribed from all other Yaros and Darrens and Brian Clarks. Your observations cut a few layers deeper than others.
Cheers!
ari :-)
ugh! Sorry about typo in my comment. I need to go to bed.
ari
Skellie, thanks for that. This post came at a very good time for me, and also made me chuckle.
As a new blogger I’ve been working for months on establishing myself, finding a voice, getting into a rhythm. I’ve spent absolutely no time monetizing my blog other than reviews with Amazon links, which don’t appear to do much anyway.
And as a writer it has always seemed natural to me to create my own products. That’s why I self-published years ago. When I started blogging I thought I would give it a year to build an audience and credibility, using my 30-plus years experience in my niche to build on. This keeps blogging enjoyable every day.
On the other hand, I have to laugh because like a lot of solo entrepreneurs, I came into blogging looking to expand my client base (which it does) and bloggers apparently are now going to try to become solo or small entrepreneurs by adding “real world” services to their monetization mix. Good one!
I’ve gone through something like this process on different blogs… the first one I started made (and makes) almost all its money from advertising, with a few very occasional ebook sales (my first attempt at an ebook, and not really worth doing much more with!)
Where I blog on Aliventures now, I’m making revenue from affiliate sales (I don’t tend to publish these to the blog itself unless they’re very relevant — I just put them as pages on the site, collated on a “Reviews” page and link to them if I ever refer to that product). I do have ebook plans and more in the works, though, so it’s good to know I’m heading in the right direction with this!
Wonderful post, but about a year too late for me! Having been through all those stages, I am now fortunate to be at stage four, but it was hard work!
Wish you’d written this in 2008!
Yeah, I’ve been through some of these stages before. I’ve been thinking about creating my own product/ebook. While this is a worthy pursuit, it may not see returns until you earned that trust and built up a community around your blog or in whatever particular niche you find yourself in.
As always, thanks for sharing! Looking forward to your upcoming work. Cheers!
-Mig
great article, although, its a bit of a shame you ended with a push for your ebook, it made the whole post feel a little like it was conjured purely to plug your ebook. That said it you make valid points as always.
I think it also depends on the genre of your blog. My most lucrative blog (I use the term lucrative loosely because I ain’t exactly a millionaire) is my road cycling blog. Here I do offer some reviews with affiliate links but I only for things that I actually use and believe in. I think when or if people buy the things that I promote, they see that I was right to promote them as they are genuinely good products. This hopefully keeps them coming back.
Sadly, as much as I would love to write an ebook, I’m not sure a cycling ebook would be too well received but perhaps I’m just being narrow minded.
Keep it up.
It is a matter of priorities!
What is really important to us?
How to get rich fast or how to connect and build trust!?
I agree — and in fact decided against both Adsense and Amazon Affiliates when I launched my blog thanks to your advice.
What’s ironic is that most people think you need to have advertisers to be a real blog, like that’s the measure of success they judge you by.
I was just studying some of the same principles for an upcoming blog post and you’re right on the money with this one. I like affiliate marketing because it allows me to promote good stuff and products that my friends have created, but it does burn trust.
Affiliate marketing always requires another product and another sale whereas creating your own products allows you to scale any way that you like.
Hi Skellie — it’s nice to have you back after your hiatus. Seems like you’ve done some thoughtful thinking.
Though I have a natural aversion to salesmanship, I do see the need to write my blog with a market in mind. I never had the desire for Stage 1 and I’m only mildly flirting with Stage 2 (I think this is viable in tactful, limited doses).
Stage 3 is definitely my target, but I’m nowhere near that yet. Part of me has trouble seeing my blog as yet another how-to resource.
Like you, I also blog about independent publishing (ie blogging), but honestly I’d rather be doing the independent publishing myself (say, on niche sites that do have ads and affiliate revenue models).
Then my blog could be a place where I share my experiences and build my thought leadership and brand without the pressure to ever have to sell anything. As people get to know me through my blog, they would hopefully find value and spread the word about my other sites.
Excellent advice Skellie. I pulled nearly all the advertising of our humble blog offering and have been very happy every time I check it out because it looks so clean and uncluttered (I hope)
Already sell one eBook with plans for another one well advanced. Just have to get rid of this dose of writers block and I will be up and atom!
Ps, is there a typo in para 2 . No or NOT?
Cheers
I agree with this post…to a point. I think it greatly depends on your niche blog topic on how you can have success over time through different monetization methods.
Darren still makes (and will for sometime) a large portion of his income through Amazon and Adsense on his photography blog. While he does see nice spikes in income with ebook launches, the other revenue streams are constant and reliable.
I think the key to making money through your blog is actually diversification of income streams through testing out what works and what does not.
Skipping to Step 4 will not work for all blogs in all situations…while it may work better in informational product niches like marketing and blogging, it may not work as well for niches that are heavily product based. Moving into areas such as forums and other online resources may be a way to expand reach and gain more traffic as you increase the portfolio of the site.
While I agree with a lot of what you have said in the article…there is and will never be one solution fits all formula for making money through your blog. There are far too many variables to consider and often times…you can make different methods compliment each other rather than compete if you plan it correctly.
I have been juggling with Adsense and Affiliate products on a couple of my blogs and the revenue isn’t reliable or stable. I am at the threshold of Stage 3 which is perfectly described by you in this blog. This post is really inspiring to me as it certifies that I am moving in the right direction.
V interesting, and it makes me feel great about the fact that I’ve avoided the first few phases for the past year (meanwhile procrastinating on launching my book through my blog). Maybe I’ve done things the right way after all - I thought I was just being lazy. Of course I still have to get that book out there …
You make some very valid points, Skellie. However, for someone just starting out and building an audience, skipping straight to stage 4 isn’t an option. You need to build a great deal more trust with an audience to sell them your own product than you do to presell an affiliate product. And that ‘preselling’ is key. Anyone who is trying to ’sell’ affiliate products or services is going about it the wrong way - no wonder their visitors become frustrated. The job of the affiliate is to presell, not sell - let the merchant do that. If preselling is done well, visitors should never be frustrated by it because they derive value from it.
Finally, both Yaro and Darren still sell banner ads on their blogs, as do John Chow and Shoemoney. If stage 1 doesn’t work well, why do they persist?
There are benefits to 1 & 2, like puting food on the table, and gauging what people are interested in.
Writing an affiliate review isn’t necessariliy about making a sale, but attracting an audience of buyers. What I have always tried to do is add value by expanding on the content being provided by a product launch, say for instance with some of my SEO articles.
Writing honest reviews that actually get seen can help springboard a product lanuch
Covering news has a benefit - links, traffic & subscribers (thanks for the link) sometimes more than 2 years after the fact if you get lucky on a big story. That can be channelled in other directions.
I don’t think jumping to 3 & 4 is necessarily the best option unless you have a specific business interest you want to persue.
Another great post Skellie! I think many write blogs just to increase their personal value - i.e. to show their knowledge and experience with others. So, for those I think they naturally or unintentionally go straight to stage 4. This may indirectly lead to a new/better job or more business, whatever business you do. When I started my blog, I never even thought of making money directly from my blog for ads or sales. In fact, i rarely plug my services on my blog. But being an independent consultant, I think my blog has provided me with a little more exposure and sent a message to my prospective customers that “this guys knows a thing or two”, and that has been a huge boost for my credibility and business. I think blogging can help increase your personal value and that is an asset in business or work.
This hits home for me - great observations! I spent 2.5 years in stage 1 and 2. Some of the blogs I created during that time are still doing well, but never provided me with the personal fulfillment I was seeking.
Nonetheless, I learned a lot about blogging throughout the process. My latest blog started in stage 3 and is rapidly moving toward stage 4.
Thanks again for the inspiration and direction,
Steinar
I’ve got it “wrong” for most of the time spent on my own blog—that’s like over a period of 2 years?! *gasp*.
Yeah, I’ve been through the excitement and hope of making an online income through Stage #1 with adsense (only made like Eur$27? in 1 year), stumbled across Stage #2 with (had some success with 1 of the 2 ebooks — Leo’s The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life — that I have on my blog), and went up to Stage #3 with my own ebook, in December 2009.
Results weren’t *spectacular* though. :)
So, in Jan 2010, I just did up 4 sites (blog/business) which amazingly brought in decent income (without having gone into offline marketing yet). I think I am in Stage #4 for those sites right now; the marketing of own products and services. Let’s say that one of them is dealing with wholesale BBQ in Singapore, and the other 3 are to help expand the reach for my parents’ SOHO business.
It’s Feb 2010 now. Working on my 5th. Will be up on my blog shortly.
Alrighty, back to work. ;)
Thanks Skellie. I’ve always read your posts and found them valuable. Recently I started my own blog and I’ve been trying hard to adhere to doing things right…and then today I found this blog post and that made me happy too. So thanks and keep up the great work you do.
If you are a niche blogger who is not blogging about MMO, you can do well with AdSense without ever selling your own products or do any affiliate marketing. The people you have mentioned are all MMO bloggers.
-Kai Lo
Twitter @lomak1985
Awesome thread. Always informative. As a blogger, posts like this really provide insight as to what elements work and what don’t, and more importantly it makes you reflect as to what you deem to be important for your own blog site.
I started my blog up in 2007 but have been extremely random with it. Never thought of affiliate marketing or been fixated on advertising income. I think i’m close to stage 3, where i’d like to sell my services (or) knowledge with others. I have a company site apart from my blog and that’s were i earn all of my moolah - so duplication is silly to me.
What i’ve done wrong with my blog is simple:
1. I never really took the time to define myself in my niche and never thought about the future (now tied in with social media, twitter, etc etc)..You influence elsewhere does wonders!
2. I tied in a blog with my company site, but never really blogged there. Instead i have been blogging on a subdomain for the past 3 1/2 years..
Not everyone is looking to be a fantastic blogger, so i really feel that one should blog and have fun also! I will say that i’ve realized that by “defining” myself and having a strong voice (backed up with knowledge and opinions) I will be able to get more out of my blog and readers..
Thanks for the post, good to know what others think here..
Great post, I was wondering if adsense was even worth a try. I don’t think I will even mess with it now.