You started an online business. You heard that blogs are all the rage, so you added a blog to your site. You did a little research and read many blog posts offering advice and tips for blogging more effectively. They seem to make sense, but when you apply their techniques to your business blog, something goes wrong.
Where Did Your Time Go?
You’re spending huge amounts of time reading how-to advice, you’re spending even more time writing blog posts, and on top of that you’re spending time trying to promote yourself through social media sites like Twitter or StumbleUpon.
Um… when, exactly, are you supposed to run your business? Because even if you were a writing whiz (and let’s face it, most of us are not), between the research, the blogging, and the social media promotion, there’s not much time for anything else.
Shouldn’t you be so busy running your business and making money that you hardly have time to blog?
But that’s not all. Where is that increase in sales you expected from blogging?
Where Are Your Sales?
Think back over all the blogging advice you’ve ever read (except from Remarkablogger, because I’ve been preaching this particular message for a while). What did the advice of the blogging “gurus” promise?
- you could increase traffic.
- you could increase RSS subscribers (when most of your customers don’t even know what RSS is).
- your writing would improve (but to what end?).
- you could get traction in the newfangled social media madness.
But there’s one thing it didn’t promise. The gurus missed something, something vital.
The Blogging Gurus Missed Something
The “gurus” aren’t showing you how to increase sales.
Take just a moment and let that sink in. The blogging “gurus” (and their name is Legion) missed something that is utterly vital to business success. How can this be?
You might think I’m going to say there is some mysterious, hidden secret, the blogging “gurus” are missing… but I’m not.
The Truth
The answer is not shocking or surprising in the least. In fact, there’s a perfectly ordinary explanation for this. Are you ready for it? Here it is:
The blogging gurus aren’t running a business, they’re monetizing a blog. The difference may not seem like much at first–after all, if you’re monetizing a blog, doesn’t that mean your blog has become a business?
Yes… and no. You see, a monetized blog is an entirely different kind of business. It requires different allocations of time and effort. And the results it needs to achieve are completely different than that of a business which sells products and services and which is marketing itself with a blog.
Monetization vs. Selling
The advice of blogging “gurus” isn’t getting your business anywhere. A monetized blog is an end unto itself. A business blog, however, is a gateway to your products and services (that’s why we call it Gateway Blogging–clever, yes?). A business blog needs to achieve an entirely different purpose altogether: it needs to increase sales. Knowing the difference between monetization and selling is crucial.
If this is so obvious, why isn’t it being shouted from the rooftops? Again, the answer is not at all surprising. Put your tinfoil hat away, there is no conspiracy. Here is the simple explanation for why this has happened:
Many of today’s blogging experts began their blogs as blogs, not as a business. That’s why the two paths are different right from the start.
Many people start a blog and then look for ways to make money from it. That is what’s commonly described as blog monetization. A business has a model for making money right from the beginning, usually by selling a product or service. No wonder the blogging “gurus” have completely missed the boat on this one.
We Have the Answer (What a Surprise!)
Heh… I couldn’t resist a little tongue-in-cheek humor here, but that’s only because it’s true–I just don’t want to come off with too much attitude. But really, Greg and I think we’re onto something, here. I’m not going to try and sell you anything now. I just want to tell you a little bit about what we’re doing: we’re creating the web’s first combination business school and blogging school. Gateway Blogging will be an online learning place unique to the web. We are tremendously excited about it. Combining business with blogging? Why, that’s the most common sense thing you’ve never heard of.
Learn More by Helping Us Get Started
If you want to learn more and even have a valuable hand in shaping what Gateway Blogging becomes, please sign up to be an alpha tester when the time is right. Alpha testers will be given special pricing consideration when the site goes live with a paid membership model. Just fill out the quick form below, and feel free to ask us anything in the message box:
21 Comments
Thank you for saying it, because this is one big pet peeve of mine.
Client: “My blog has XX subscribers! I’m so excited!! I have to invest lots of time increasing that number even more!! Can you help me?”
Me: “Sure… but why do you want to do that? How are those subscribers helping you earn money?”
Client: “They read our blog! Isn’t that cool?”
Me: “Um… yes, cool. Does reading pay you well?”
This is an absolutely brilliant post! Blogging for business and monetizing a blog for online marketing traffic are two very different things and it’s about time somebody said it!
Maria Reyes-McDavis
Can I just say, that image is cracking me up in a major way.
Awesome post and it’s the awful truth. Most of the A-listers have never run a business outside of a blog, so they’re clueless as to how to help business owners properly use their blogs.
I love it! Sometime people get so swept away with the tactics they forget the strategy - more importantly they forget to ask the important question “Where’s the money honey?”
‘does reading pay well?’ - classic
It’s almost as bad as client asking me to help them get more traffic - “To what end?” I sometimes ask. They look perplexed, then I gently inform them that their site sells nothing, offers nothing and converts like a … well, you get the picture.
- JB
This is so true! I’m only now starting to (hopefully) integrate sales into some of my blog posts. However I’m sure there’s a very fine line between being effective and being overly pushy. Of course you don’t want to cross the line and turn off your readers. On the other hand… in my case, I am blogging in the hopes of attracting new customers, showing my expertise, etc.
So, I signed up as an Alpha Tester above, because I’d definitely be interested in tips for doing this the Right way!
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I figured this one would strike a nerve.
James, what people often think is that if the traffic’s high enough you’ll get everything else you need. Their argument is that it’s a numbers game. It is, but some numbers are more highly qualified buyers than other numbers.
Diva, I still smack myself that nobody else is saying these things. I have this all to myself for now. Business blogging is still in its infancy and there is so much more to it than meets the eye.
Sonia, stock photography is worth the money for the professional look.
RT, what you say about most A-listers is true, and that’s fine with me. I just think about all that money they’re leaving on the table for me.
James B, yes! So much blogging advice is all tactics and no strategy–or the wrong strategy for a business.
Selene, check out this post I wrote last year at Remarkablogger: The Secret to a Successful Business Blog: Sell without Selling. I think you’ll find it helpful.
Michael, as partners in this project we have a mutual admiration party going on here, this one my friend, you knocked it out of the park. Great post!
In my experience seems like the gurus lull us into a sense of mediocrity and when that happens we stop asking the tough questions. We think…
Often it never dawns on us to say, “Well that did not work, must be something wrong with the system, assumptions, or tactic.”
We need to question everything, even the stuff we assert here on Gateway Blogging. The great journey in business is to “Find your own voice.” and then shout it from the rooftops. When we get caught up in the gurus ether - it is easy to loose perspective.
James Burchill, I love those questions you ask your clients. Sage observations.
Selene, online or offline it is all about the “relationship” and letting people get to know you enough that they “know, like, and trust” you.
James Chartrand, years ago I had almost 1,000 visitors a day, all the wrong market that were coming as a result of doing a search. This revealed I had targeted a keyword used by people who had a mindset that was a total mismatch with what I was really wanting to achieve. Less is more, especially when they are well qualified based on a felt need.
Great discussion one and all.
I guess this post proves I’m not a blogging guru. Thanks for that… it’s a load off my mind.
Brian’s not a blogging guru? Man, I’ve been reading his site all wrong, and as a result, my writing’s been improving all over the place due to a misunderstanding.
I don’t have a product, per se. If I did, it would be me - and my readers aren’t my customers. They’re my credentials. My ’social proof’.
But what they give me more than anything else is feedback that I can work into my own understandings of the music business online, and that can feed into my teaching and research.
So I guess my question for the reluctant blogging gurus - Michael, Brian, all of the Chris-es - I wonder what proportion of your readers are business people who blog and do more business as a result - and what proportion are bloggers that want to be better at blogging.
I find myself pretty squarely in the latter camp - and consider you all Gurus even if you shun the term in deference to the former bunch.
So… you keep on with the sales training, and I’ll pick at the crumbs of Better Writing that fall from the table from time to time…
@ Dubber - While you didn’t mention James in your… oh, wait, that was reluctant blogging guru, and I think I fall squarely into the throw-myself-into-it-or-die group. Understood.
I would say that it’s probably a 60/40 deal in favor of the business bloggers who blog, though I’m taking a wild guess. But both groups learn equal value from what we blog about, despite coming from different worlds.
Huh… and we have a Better Writing category, too… look at that…
Very good question, though, all jests aside.
Greg - that whole self-blame mentality is how gurus have always been able to manipulate followers. Think about that awful “Secret” claptrap: if bad things happen to you, it’s your fault, because you were sending the wrong energy out to the universe or whatever. On the other hand, we’ve all seen how well people listen and follow instructions. If I could say I’ve achieved any success online at all, it’s because I take great advice, not give it.
Brian - Thank goodness. You are a whole different breed entirely. And I thank you for that.
Andrew - You know what you’re about and how it works and that’s more than most people have. Is my audience made up of businesspeople or bloggers? Mostly the latter, but it’s the former I’m after as clients for my blog consulting services. Helping bloggers grow a real business “backwards” out of their blogs is something we’re going to cover in the Gateway Blogging program.
I’m with Brian. We need a name too!
My blog makes me the best “super affiliate” for my own products. Even though big names have mailed for my products, the blog beats them all handily in sheer sales.
Since product creation, monetizing your list, selling with direct sales copy and everything else about making money with the attention you get on the web, whether with a blog or a static html site, has been covered well since 2000, we’ve found people want to know more about traffic, not as much about what to do with it.
Even though most people have no products of their own, when surveyed by us several times, their biggest concern is traffic.
Good blogs get that in spades. We’ve since added training to help them with product creation and pushing their traffic to a funnel that is effective and profitable because of the argument you make above: traffic alone doesn’t equal a business.
Most people shouldn’t even THINK about trying to be like Arrington or other pure bloggers. They are setting up for disappointment. But that’s just what they think they want: a monetized blog with no business behind it.
Jack - Anti-gurus?
Traffic creates possibilities, but I get the sense that most people wouldn’t know what the possibilities are beyond advertising.
Take one of the world’s most popular blogs ever, Boing Boing. They’ve progressed beyond simple advertising. What was once a simple blog is now a series of products/properties. They did this by segmenting the audience and extending the brand. They’ve become a media property. They’re practically the New York Times for Generation X.
Great post, again
For me, I see myself as another working business person sharing what works for me or ideas I have. Yes, I have written about “blog monetization”, but my own blog is not about that. In my case my business came first, a blog is one tool to serve my business. Michael, I would say you *do* give good advice, who is being humble now? 
Thank you! I was not ever to quite articulate why blog monetization did not quite click with me but this post had me saying “Yes, that’s it!” There is nothing wrong with blog monetization if that is your strategy. However, as you pointed out not everyone is in this game for the same reason. I started a business and have grown that business. I started a blog as a creative outlet but then realized that I needed to connect the two without diluting the value. This is the missing link. Thanks for helping me to see the forest, those tree branches were really starting to irritate me.
As I’ve always said, a blog needs a primary GOAL.
Monetizing a blog is one goal, and although a few bloggers do it well, most business owners and solopreneurs are much better served by using their blog as part of their business strategy, whatever that may be. Hey, this isn’t one size fits all
I make a few bucks from my blog, and that’s OK, but my goal is to sell more consulting and speaking gigs by positioning myself as an expert. It’s working for me.
@Chris - Thanks for the kind words. We both write about these topics and we’re often of the same mind.
@Karen -
Those words are music to my ears! That’s how I know we’re on the right track here. I can’t think of any other clichés at the moment, so I guess that’ll do for now.
@Ted - Yes! The blog is part of the business strategy! Blogging the business reaches goals, but “businessing the blog” is the tail wagging the dog (there, I knew I could fit in another cliché!)
Michael,
You made an excellent point about the gap between these two blogging goals.
The same point about the differences between problogging (like Dan Rowse) and business blogging - blog from the CEO of the company I stressed in my recent e-book “The New Rules of Business Blogs”. You are welcome to check it out in my blog at http://www.positioningstrategy.com. Please feel free to post it on your blog or pass the e-book to whomever you believe might benefit from reading it.
I haven’t really look at my blog as a business. This post is making me think. I’m not blogging for the fun of it. I really do need to build a source of income.
I’ve done all the traffic promotion things and sunk untold hours into making maybe $100 a month. I’m reaching the burn-out point after a year of this. I’m getting decent traffic to my blog, and lots of people are clicking on links, but they don’t buy. Obviously something is wrong.
I signed up to be an alpha tester as a monetized blog. But maybe I need to be thinking more about a business model. Hopefully this program will help me with that.
you totally nailed the problem!
Dr. Wright
http://www.twitter.com/drwright1
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