How to Create Business From a Blog

July 30, 2008 · Comments

lemonade stand This post was a request from Eric.

How to Create Business from a Blog

First, let’s agree that there are many ways to create business from a blog. I’ll cover a handful to start. You’re very welcome to share more advice and ideas in the comments section.

Straightforward Sales

Blogs are a wonderful piece of software to use as a home base for several kinds of website projects. For example, I believe Chris Pearson used a Wordpress blog to build his DIYThemes.com site. There, he’s selling a beautiful theme called Thesis for $87. That’s one way to create business from a blog: a simple sales platform.

Affiliate Marketing

Another way is through Affiliate Marketing. For example, go back and hover your mouse over the URL for the two links to Chris’s latest project. You should see this: http://diythemes.com?a_aid=t4ag3 . That part after the ? is an affiliate code. Some sites don’t really divulge that they’re doing affiliate marketing. Others make disclosure very vital. Now that you know to look for it, you might look at other blogs you read and see when they’re slipping you an affiliate tag here and there.

Want to learn more about Affiliate Marketing? I’ve been reading Revenews, and I also plan to attend (and speak at) the upcoming Affiliate Summit event in Boston in August 2008. One reason why I plan to attend is to understand this space more, because I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about the variations on the theme. Affiliate marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry, so there’s something there to consider.

Lead Generation

Blogs are a great way to establish thought leadership, and further, to encourage lead generation. For instance, a lot of what I do by writing this blog is share with the world at large what I know about social media and how it might apply to your business. My primary goal is to give you as much information as I can possibly share, so that you can likely run off and solve most things on your own.

My secondary goal is to encourage you to contact me, should you have business needs. I work with CrossTech Partners to help me fulfill larger projects (such as building Market Relationship Management platforms and the like). This blog often starts conversations with people who need next-step help. And that’s great. It’s another value, and another way to create business from a blog.

A great person who gives in abundance with her blog is Liz Strauss. She derives some amount of leads from her thoughtful and meaningful efforts, too.

Content Marketing

He could tell you this every day, but Brian Clark has been praising the value of content marketing since 2006. This is basically how the Financial Aid Podcast brought millions in revenue to Christopher S. Penn’s Student Loan Network. There’s nothing shady about it. Chris creates great podcasts and blog posts and uses the trust earned through information sharing and helping others as one way to drive sales of his primary product: student loans. He’s the only student loan guy I know who gets profiled by BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, and all kinds of other press.

See also Gary Vaynerchuk, the only wine seller I know who has a Hollywood agent. He’s that cool.

Content marketing is essentially doing great things with content but with a goal that this work leads back to a sale on top of being useful and interesting. To me, this is where it’s at right now. If I were looking to build even more business, and I might just do so, I’d blend content marketing with a mix of my own products, and perhaps some well-chosen affiliate opportunities, and start from there.

By the way, content marketing has the added benefit of helping you with organic search engine optimization, meaning it helps people searching for things find it easier.

Other Opportunities

There are lots of other ways to make money from a blog. I’m definitely not qualified to talk about search marketing, for instance, but this article by Paul J. Bruemmer looks like a useful starting point. There are also projects like Ted Murphy’s Izea, which covers pay-per-post and Social Spark. I’m not versed enough to talk about any of these, but maybe Ted will stop by and talk about his, or you can swing by the IZEA blog.

The web is an interesting place to make money these days, and there are many ways to take a swing at it. Be open about what you’re doing. Be helpful. Offer value. And maybe something will come of it for you.

**Update: I’m not sure how I forgot Darren’s and Chris’s book – ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income . (And yes, that’s an affiliate link). ;)

Your Ideas

If you have some other great ideas for creating business from a blog, let’s talk about them in the comments. Some will be promoted to the main post via updates, so please fill out your URL when you comment, so I can give you credit if I use it in the post.

What do you think?

The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.

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ChrisBrogan.com runs on the Thesis Theme for WordPress

Thesis WordPress theme

Thesis is the search engine optimized WordPress theme of choice for serious online publishers. If you’re a blogger who doesn’t understand a lot of PHP, Thesis will give a ton of functionality without having to alter any code. For the advanced, Thesis has incredible customization possibilities via Thesis hooks.

With so many design options, you can use the template over and over and never have it look like the same site. The theme is robust and flexible enough not only to accommodate a site like ChrisBrogan.com, but also to enable the site to run far more efficiently than it ever has before.

  • You're such a terrific contributor, Chris! Missed you at Mashable in Austin tonight.
  • Ed
    Chris, thanks again man.
    I appreciate the trustworthy,
    straightforward information you take the time post.
  • Thanks for this post, as many of us are figuring out best practices for making money with a blog. Please keep sharing your tips and your journey.

    Your approach to sharing your social media expertise is very educational.

    Educating other is really the best way to serve and come alongside clients and business partners. A couple days ago I signed up for Brian Clark's http://teachingsells.com course. He's only taking new members through July 31. As a new student, I don't yet have a testimonial, but his approach and the quality of his writing is superb. So for making money with a blog, Teaching Sells!
  • Stu Opperman, APR
    Chris -

    Not sure if this post is at least partially the result of my earlier e-mail or just a happy coincidence, but I'm one of the many who truly appreciate your insight and willingness to share valuable information that makes us all better professionals.
  • This is a good one Chris. I have a blog that I started just as a journal or watercooler type thing. I am now getting enough traffic that I think I can start to monetize it. Any thoughts on that.
  • While I was at Ogilvy, I preached an idea which I would sometimes call organic partnerships. Connect a content creator with a business or initiative in an organic way, so that the creator of the show is passionate about incorporating that business or initiative organically within their show content. To a certain degree, I think about it as a new type of sponsorship.

    We've already seen some baby steps towards something like this via Rocketboom and IndyMogul, but the integration still isn't as seamless as I think it could be. Since leaving OPR, I've been trying to adopt this model for my own show (shameless plug!) Reservation, and have just started to have success with it, which you will see the fruits of in Season One. If I can make it work the way I think it can work, then it will be something that goes beyond creating business from a blog (or web show, in our case) and monetizing that. To me, it's so much more than just about business or money.

    But I suppose I'm a little strange like that.

    Matthew
  • @Sherry - It's a long ride from Boston to Austin, but sorry I missed you. : )

    @Ed - you're a good guy. Thanks for the kind words. Great talking with you on the phone the other night.

    @Dana - I don't know if you can trust that Brian Clark guy. he wants to help you to make money. : )

    @Stu - if you click the link at the very top of the post, you'll see the very first request was from Eric. When I went back to FB and saw your question unanswered, I laughed because I feel like I partially answered you with this post.

    @Cody - honest opinion? Keep that blog conversational. Launch something new if you want to make cash. That blog is very "chatty," which probably won't sustain you in the longer term.

    @Matthew - you're unique from some of these folks because you're currently creating entertainment and looking for new models to support it besides standard ads. Tim Street and I were talking the other night and we both concur that sponsorships (over ads with PPC) is the way to rock video right now. But then again, I know what Tim asks for every video. : )
  • I can speak for the affiliate aspect. My sister & I created a website which was $100 investment for the year + time. Using the affiliate program we sold $15,000 worth of product which translated into 15% of total. Our focus was providing customer service & resources first. People in are niche were asking 'how can we make sure you get a commission'. So I think that if you're helping people, providing a product they need & truly care - the affiliate model is a great thing!
  • Oh man awesome..people should learn this How to create business from a blog...its interesting as well as informative
  • Chris, love your work. I see a potential way to eventually make money from blogging, without selling something, is to establish your online voice in the community you live in and foster a reputation for being good at whatever you're trying to do (ie, entertain, advise etc). As more and more people become interested, particularly those in the media, the potential to make it a full time venture increases - if that's what you want to do. You can choose to run with the pack, or dare to do something different... I'm really only starting to find my online legs, but some of my peers are doing things that are destined for greater success.
  • @Cookster - so wait: how do you make the money in your model?

    @Connie - Love it. Thanks for the sharing.

    @Sachin - thanks.
  • @Chris - I'm thinking collaboration with media groups / businesses that want to jump on your rising star - partnerships, syndications, etc... trading on self established celebrity status as in the Perez Hilton model. It's a long road and requires you to not only be good at what you're doing, but to work hard selling yourself. By the way, I don't consider myself to be in the 'rising star' category by any means, but it's something to aim at.
  • Hii im james i want to know more about it .
  • Hi Chris,
    I'm not quite sure whether this fits, but I see another way to create business from a blog is to talk about what business you already do and what problems you already solve in ways that offer readers answers to problems they're also facings. Then, of course, the generosity of showcasing the work that other folks are doing and the value you see in it can show a lot about who you are and how you are as a leader and team member -- qualities people care about when choosing someone to add to a project.

    Great stuff here. I'm about to email this post. :)
  • Chris, thanks for the mention in this post. You can definitely make money on your blog with IZEA properties like http://www.socialSpark.com. Many of our bloggers make a thousands a month and we deliver an effective CPM of $20 on average.

    Our core focus is on sponsored content. Essentially an advertiser will pay a blogger to write a post on their own blog, we call them "opportunities". IZEA has a strict code of ethics that requires bloggers to disclose their relationship with the advertiser. We also allow the blogger to give their 100% real opinion and still get paid (even if they don't like the product).

    You can read about the code of ethics here:
    http://socialspark.com/code_of_ethics

    If you want to see what an advertiser opportunity looks like check this out:
    http://urlbrief.com/2a158f

    I would be more than happy to dive deeper into sponsored content if you are interested in a follow up post. There are many mistakes that both advertisers and bloggers commonly make.
  • Thanks for the run-down Chris. I've been reading a lot about affiliate marketing and making conversions using blogs for the past year or so and I am incredibly jealous of your trip to Affiliate Summit. Hoping to win the lottery (a small one at least) so I can attend too.

    One guide that I think is useful is Yaro Starak's "Blog Profits Blueprint" - http://blogtraining2.cachefly.net/blog-profits-... - You can also get it and the audio version from signing up for his newsletter here: http://www.blogmastermind.com/ - Starak has some great ideas about using blogs to make money and he describes some of the ways he does that in the linked content.

    have fun in Boston!
  • Chris,
    This is great! What a comprehensive list - I always appreciate your posts. I learn something every time!
    Thanks!
  • Chris,

    there's another way that blogs are very helpful. If you have a long sales cycle, say 8 to 18 months, and you are a start up that is selling a new idea, blogs are an excellent way for prospects to stay engaged with you, without your having to pester them all the time or having to pay for a large sales team.

    Seth Godin actually articulates the idea very well in his blog today about dentists marketing. If your tooth doesn't hurt, how does a dentist market to you in a way that when you have a tooth ache you think of them and go to them. That is another role blogs fill for me and others in that situation.

    Seth's blog: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/07...

    Andy
  • Chris,

    Great post, as always. Would love to hear how your thinking evolves on affiliate marketing. I'm also in the process of learning about it as we begin to think about a program here at Hubspot.

    Seems like an area with lots opportunity, but there are many ways of doing it, and you need to pick the right one.

    Rick Burnes
  • Awesome starting point for this discussion. The main reason I set up a blog for RealCash Bancorp Inc. was to create a site filled with pertinent real estate information for the Canadian consumer/agent. My hope is to create a site so "sticky" that I would become an "expert" if you will which will translate into more business for our real estate commission advance business...I hope!

    Karim
  • My blog has opened so many doors to me that I can't begin to talk about them, and I have never had a single ad or affiliate. It is all about branding and visibility and leads.
  • I covered this a while ago: Create a Business Out of Your Blog and Make Real Money. I'm sure it'll make for an interesting comparison to your post, Chris. Great idea for a post! ;)
  • I like and use most of those ideas, I think no matter how you monetize a blog, the first priority is always good content that gets and brings traffic.
    Thanks Chris,
    JR
  • nanda
    my blog has opened, its all about "writing"...
    like story,sains,experience an many more...
    so how i can make real money from my blog?
  • Money from a blog about writing? Sell books about writing as affiliate links. Sell writing services. There are ways for sure. Useful things tend to make money.
  • Yor blog post brings up an interesting point. If the objective is to make money, which strategy from those that you discussed would generate the highest revenue in the least possible time. It would be a great experiment to see. I just started a food blog -- Jane Spice. It's a food blog on how to incorporate spices into every day cooking so you can have flavor and make taste. Like everyone would like to have my blog stick.

    Here are my questions: Is a niche more effective then a broad category.
    Which strategy ensures a blogs survival in the long term.
    Thanks, Ursula
  • Daniel Mittleman
    "**Update: I’m not sure how I forgot Darren’s and Chris’s book - ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income . (And yes, that’s an affiliate link). ;)"

    Hey Chris, just so you know. I went to buy this book you recommend (and are doing affiliate sales with). When I click on the link to go to Amazon, it takes me to this URL:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470246677?ie=...

    which appears to have your affiliate info. But then when I log in to my Amazon account for one click and return to the book's page (nothing fancy, just following Amazon's natural path), it takes me to this URL:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470246677

    identical looking page, but all affiliate info is stripped.

    I am getting the book, but I am not at all sure you are getting your cut.

    danny
  • Chris, thanks man.
    I really do appreciate the opennessand straightforward information you've taken to post this
  • @cookster Wanted to just say I entirely agree with your model. Even if you're not necessarily a rising star in the grand sense, if you can establish authority or at least expertise through your blog, and can leverage that to make effective and worthwhile partnerships with companies that complement your own business, it's perfect. For instance, I do marketing strategy, and I have a few partnerships with some PR firms, because often they'll get in jobs that need some of the strategy expertise (and of course vice versa) and when the partnerships first started out, some of my blog postings added to their perception of my "expertise" (at least this is what they told me. So yes, while Chris asks a good question about where your money is exactly coming from in this "business model," and indirect money source ain't so bad! :)
  • I agree that you need to focus on the business aspects and have a good blog platform. I bought the Thesis theme that you mention at the beginning of your article and have been very happy with it. I highly recommend it for anyone that is serious about blogging.
  • This blog is really nice and informative. We are pleased to know this blog is really helping people.
  • Big League Players Club
    This blog Is very informative , I am really pleased to post my comment on this blog . It helped me with ocean of knowledge so I really belive you will do much better in the future . Good job web master .
  • It's nice. I learn something at this site every time!
  • In actual fact very good site...successes are in advancement
  • thanks for this information, nice article.
  • I particularly like the 'ocean of knowledge' statement above. Seems like this has turned into a link-building entry... Probably time to turn the comments off. But until then, I'm trying to get Internet Marketing links... So here goes...
  • Well done Chris on this post.

    You are the man on social media!

    All the best,


    Christopher Hire
  • You Can Get The Word Out About Your Business With A Blog

    A blog is a great way to inform everyone about your business. A blog can give a more personal face to your business. Your blog can be a place to have information about how to use your products. Blogs are great for getting the word on new things in your business, specials you might have or just news about your business. Blogs are also great for telling how to use your product, readers can even comment and ask questions. Your Blog Is Quick And Easy To Have A Web Presence

    Search Engines Like Blogs
  • Thanks for the advice Chris, this should really help with our new blog.
  • Its amazing the power a little bit of unique content can have on any website, its not just about the long tail search terms though, in most cases it can also make your business more approachable; i've found people more likely to post a question via a blog post comment than contact me directly through the business contact page!
  • Thanks for sharing your ideas!

    I will definitely be checking back regularly.
  • CJ
    Great information, Chris. Very simple and straightforward as to how to make a smart profit online.
  • Here are 3 things that I've seen blogging do for people.

    1) Developing your writing skills as well as helping you with your overall professional development.

    2) Making your self into a thought leader and industry expert

    3) Getting speaking engagements

    Making money or generating business from these things is indirect, but Blogging can help you in each of these areas. From there business opportunities will present them selves because people want to work with industry experts who are out there speaking and helping.

    http://twitter.com/franswaa
  • Nice article had open a new door for me to earn extra from my blog.
  • jakedangerlarson
    I have been following your blog for a while now and just came upon this older one. I am working in Nashville to start a web marketing consulting business for bands. I am starting with my blog. I work in the music industry now and am baffled by the lack of knowledge in social media and web marketing. I am no expert at this but I have a great interest and am learning fast. A few weeks into the process and I have 9 clients and a radio interview scheduled in december! Thanks for all the good work. You are an inspiration and I honestly wouldn't be doing so well so soon without your advice.

    Thanks!

    Jake "danger" Larson
  • BonnyLin
    Hi Chris,
    All's true. I myself am blogging to *share & teach* how to develop one's own
    intuitive, or psychic abilities.

    Looking forward to reading your next post!
    Blessings ~
  • Excellent information indeed
  • Thanks a lot for the wonderful info
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