5 Steps to Creating an Effective Blog
There are many different ways that people that want to be their own boss can use the internet to make a living. One of the most famous is the career of blogger. Starting a blog may seem simple enough. You just need to start typing out articles and post them online, right?
However, just because you have a blog does not mean you will make any money from it. The internet is currently filled to the brim with content. There is more content on the internet than any one person could consume in their lifetime. If you want to actually make an income from blogging, you have to be more strategic about it these days. With that in mind, below are five steps you can use to create a blog that is actually effective.
Find a Niche
Blogs were once a novel idea ten years ago. Those days are long in the past. According to WPVirtuoso, there were 150 million blogs on the internet in 2013. Today, that number is likely to be much higher.
If you want to be successful these days, you need to carve out a niche that isn’t already being met by much more established blogs. However, choosing a niche isn’t the same as choosing an obscure topic. There also needs to be a market of consumers interested in the topic that want to buy related products.
Develop a Buyer Profile
However, simply having a good topic is not enough to launch a successful blog. The purpose of a blog is to create income by influencing readers to click on links to buy products. With that in mind, you have to get inside the heads of your potential audience to make your suggestive selling much more effective.
Create a generic profile for the average consumer who would be interested in the products promoted by the blog. You should know their average age, ethnic background, likes and dislikes. That way you will be able to more successfully target that audience and convert them into paying customers. According to statistics, 53.3 percent of blog readers are between the ages of 21 and 35.
Craft Content that Engages on a Routine Basis
The content of the blog is of course what hooks readers in. Try to craft quality content that your target audience will enjoy. Try to make it engaging. You should consider including videos and images to help make the content more palpable and interesting. According to Jeff Bullas, blog articles with images get 94 percent more views on average. Engagement also means making sure you update on a routine basis. If you don’t, you will lose your audience.
Create a Mailing List for Your Blog
Still, despite your best efforts, certain readers may eventually drift away from your blog. That of course means fewer profits. There is one method you can use, however, to help retain that business. Set up a mailing list that can update readers regarding blog updates via email. That way, they will be reminded of your blog even if they had forgotten about it previously. Email marketing, of course, has its own rules and regulations you must conform to. If you need help on how to advertise your blog legally via email, seek out the advice of an email marketing consultant.
Insure Your Company
You may be your own boss as a blogger. However, you are in a technical sense becoming a small business owner. With that in mind, you need to insure your company. Investigate different business insurance plans customized for the needs of a full-time blogger. For example, you may run into trouble with copyright infringement accidentally. Such insurance coverage should help shield your from the negative impact of facing a copyright lawsuit.
Overall, there may be an endless number of blogs, but blogging can still be a very lucrative career if you know what you’re doing. Put in the extra work and research to help insure that you can indeed make your blog into a full-time career.
