This is a guest post by Andy Hayes.
I’ve been running an online business for about 2.5 years now – not long enough to identify any serious trends, but long enough to have messed up plenty of things. Thinking about the 1,000 Blog Challenge, I thought I’d share a few things I’ve found that weren’t in that “make money online” brochure.
Overnight Success?
Here’s the deal: blogs are just like any kind of business in that you don’t open the door and have people throwing fists full of bills at you. Hard work results in that, but it takes time to get the traction and get the attention you need.
The latest buzzword on this topic has been the idea of overnight success. Many of the world’s millionaires, such as Richard Branson, have noted that at one point in their career they were considered an overnight success. That’s because you didn’t notice all the stuff they did to get there.
Someone mentioned this to me at a conference I was speaking at this year, and it was all I could do not to roll my eyes. I’d encourage you to read up on three gentlemen who certainly know a thing or two more about overnight success (and the lack thereof):
- Chris Brogan: What it Takes to be an overnight success http://www.chrisbrogan.com/what-it-takes-to-be-an-overnight-success/
- Seth Godin: Overnight Success? http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/05/overnight_succe.html
- Chris Guillebeau: 279 Days to Overnight Success http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/overnight-success/
[Todd here, couldn't agree more with all these picks. A big thanks to Chris who also shared his ideas on the recent article here 16 Money Making Tips from Some of the World’s Most Popular Bloggers]
Most Important Skill to Running an Online Business?
This is a question I get a lot. What’s the key to success online? It’s a loaded question, because you can’t succeed with just one skill – you need passion, blood, sweat, and probably a few tears as well.
I think the one skill, though, that everyone needs and that we all could do better is marketing. You need marketing to know who your target audience is. You need marketing to know what kind of website design will appeal to your target audience. You need marketing to know what kinds of problems your target audience has, and how you can fix them.
If marketing is your weak point, go to the library. Seth Godin is a personal favourite on marketing, as well as Dan Kennedy, but make sure you expand your scope to books that talk about persuasion, advertising, and psychology, not just books about Adwords and Facebook.
Old School Business Rules Apply?
Sometimes, us virtual folks start thinking that old school business rules don’t apply. There are lots of those, but the one I’d like to talk about is CASH. You know, the stuff you use to pay your bills.
I don’t have the latest statistics handy, but pretty much the number one reason any business fails isn’t knowledge, or talent, or effort. It is running out of money. No matter how good your stuff is, if you aren’t able to last long enough to get it in front of paying customers and convince enough of them to buy, you’re done.
There is lots of talk in the blogosphere about monetization and how you should monetize and when you should monetize. Everyone’s situation is different so I’m not going to get into that here, but be sure that you do think about this from the beginning. If it doesn’t make money, it’s not a business, it’s a hobby.
Get Some Fresh Air Sometimes
Lastly, I’d like to encourage you to shut that laptop lid, put away your smart phone, and go outside. Get some fresh air. I say this for two reasons: one, because when you focus too hard sometimes it is easy to lose your focus on what’s important. And two, because you need to go out and meet some people in the flesh. Network with your peers. Talk to people who would be ideal customers and find out their pains, their wants, their needs. Life online is great, but the real world these days seems to be underrated.
What are your marketing strategies? Share them below or in the forums.
Andy Hayes runs Sharing Travel Experiences http://www.sharingtravelexperiences.com, a travel lifestyle magazine. He also owns Travel Online Partners http://www.travelonlinepartners.com, a resource where you can download guides and tools to help you market your travel business online. You can connect with Andy on Twitter here @andrewghayes
About Guest Blogger
Thanks for sharing your ideas with us. My blog is still a hobby at this point (it’s less than 5 months’ old and I’m still in a learning curve phase), but I do look forward to transitioning it to a business in the near future.
Until then, I need to follow your advice re: ‘getting some fresh air’. I feel like I’ve been over-focusing on what I’m doing and losing sight of what else is important–eg, time with friends/family and time out in nature, which I also enjoy.
Perhaps I just need to step away and take a break sometimes. I thank you for the reminder (and the other info)!
Good luck with that transition. It’s a bumpy road.
Lots of fresh air definitely helps.
If anyone has yet to subscribe Blogcast FM is a really a great podcast about blogging and one of the themes in every interview is the time it takes to grow a business. A lot of things that seemed to explode overnight were after years of numerous failures.
Thanks for the new podcast Ayngelina. I’m partial to Internet Marketing Podcast, Copyblogger’s podcast, and Smart Passive Income podcast. As you can tell, I’m making the most of my Iphone and travel downtimes
I also prefer podcasts. Another I like not mentioned is The Rise to the Top. (It’s a video show, but you can also just listen
).
No doubt that marketing is one of the main building bricks of a successful blog. Since as a blogger you have more or less no expenses, the competition is huge and it is difficult to be discovered by the public.
But I think that marketing goes hand in hand with persistence. Even though you have no visitors, you need to keep writing quality posts on a regular base.
You can be lucky that one great post is picked up and tweeted around by a major blogger but if the rest of you work is crap or you don’t write for the next three weeks you’ll lose most of the traffic.
I like to compare this with music bands.
Lots of them stick with a fan base between 100 and 1000 fans (and are happy with it)
Some make a catchy tune and are played on the radio, but when their second and third single fails to become a hit, they disappear again.
And then you have the Rolling Stones and the U2s who keep writing hit after hit after hit and remain known for the rest of their career. They also have great marketing by the way.
This is a great lesson: look at your contemporaries and peers and idols IN OTHER NICHE MARKETS. Music has evolved so rapidly, but some have come out on top. Why? (Yup – good marketing is a common theme, amongst others.)
I agree with you on persistence, but you also need to be able to recognise when you’re doing the wrong thing, and to stop/change. The magic happens when you are able to tell whether you truly are doing the wrong then, or you just haven’t pushed the right thing hard enough/long enough.
A good friend of mine is a web site designer and creative director for a marketing agency in NY. It is really amazing the quality of thinking that goes on about websites, business models, money streams and price points that puts the beginning blogger to shame.
His advice to me when I opened my blog up to a wider audience was, A) Establish your authority b) determine what makes you different and push on it, Hard and Relentlessly
Thanks as always Andy! You always have great stuff. I think one of the underlying themes here is perseverance. This is really hard work. I’ve never made much money doing this and I cringe to think of the amount of hours I have spent already.
To expand on Andy’s idea of marketing, you have to know what the product is you are trying to sell. I think that is why Todd’s idea about a pitch is crucial because it defines what you are all about and what you are trying to sell.
The co-author of my book “Why Your Website Sucks”, Kelly Erickson, has a splendid way of words with this concept. She says “Nobody is as interested in you, your business, or your website as you are.” In other words, tell me why I should care.
So true Andy
I have a hard enough time getting my wife to read what I write! Let alone someone stopping by for a few seconds on the internet. Catching that reader is a healty mix of marketing, persuasion, good design and content all wrapped up together will a nice bow of voodoo.
You and me both Todd! I am lucky if I get my wife to read my stuff either. She might click on my stuff in her Google Reader after her crafts and mommy blogs! Maybe my first challenge for the Travel Blog Challenge is to get her to read my stuff first!
Thanks for the great info Andy and Todd! As a newcomer tackling a huge (especially technical) learning curve, it seems tough enough to balance the social media/marketing aspect with writing let alone taking the time as you say to get some fresh air. But as someone who comes to this as an anthropologist/documentary filmmaker/traveler that is precisely what i need to do to fuel the rest! Thanks for that reminder and the other great tips.
I can attest that getting out from behind the laptop is very very important. With a full time job, a lot of traveling, 2 websites (now with the TBC) and WAY too many projects ongoing or in the wings it can be a lot to manage. When you love doing something it’s easy to waste time because you are enjoying the wasting of time. It’s one of the challenges to doing what you love, knowing when to do other things that you love too.
Always love reading Andy’s articles as he provides a balanced perspective, a little ass kicking and some practical advice along the way. And yes, marketing is key and something many of us can improve on. Really value the last point – turn your laptop off, get some fresh air and spend time with people.
Makes me smile to think of Andy giving a good ass kicking
My marketing strategy will build in 2011, so I don’t have a great one yet. But I think the most important skill is Tenacity. Never give up. Keep trying!
This is a very informative and helpful article! I am new to the blogosphere and would classify my site as a hobby still. Someday I’d love to make the jump to an online business. I’ll keep checking back here for more advice. Happy New Year!
The great thing about blogging is that it only costs like $12 a year and $20 bucks a month to host!
Hence, we’ll never run of money! Whooo hoo!
Best, Sam
Ha! That`s right Sam
Althought there is money to spend if you quit your job (NOT recomended until your at the edge of going full time) and of course all the fancy bells and whistles that save you time!
Or you coudl use blogger or WordPress.com and do it all for free…whooo right back at you.
Great advice Andy. It is hard to believe that you have only been running your online business for 2 1/2 years! I like what you said in one of the comments, “recognize when you are doing something wrong” Persistence is important, but if things aren’t working it is important to make a shift. Thanks for all the links and the podcast info. I have to say, I don’t listen to podcasts, but I guess I should start. I will check out all the suggestions above.