Upload
gardenbloggersconference
View
89
Download
3
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
January 2012
-Brand new blog
-Year old Facebook page
-No prior Social Media, writing or HTML coding experience
January 2015
-25,000+ Blog followers with 300,000+ monthly page views
-425,000+ Facebook likes
-More than three dozen corporate sponsors
-Two book deals
-Freelance magazine articles
-Radio and television appearances
-Blogging pays the bills…and then some
garden-bloggers-conference.com 2
THREE-YEAR GROWTH
BLOGGING LIKE A BUSINESSFive Tips to Successfully Brand, Grow and Monetize your Blog
1. Find your Own Unique Niche
2. Create your Brand – Be Consistent
3. Add a Face to your Brand
4.Treat your Blog like a Business
5. Focus on What Works
garden-bloggers-conference.com 3
FIND YOUR NICHE
garden-bloggers-conference.com 4
- A unique niche will help you stand out among other bloggers in your field
- Choose a niche that you think is possibly up-and-coming
- Can’t be too narrow a niche as to severely limit interested readers, but should be narrow enough that you can ‘dominate’ it
- Focus on something you are passionate about, readers can spot a ‘fake’ a mile away
CREATE YOUR BRAND
garden-bloggers-conference.com 5
-Decide on a ‘company’ name and use it on every platform
-Design a logo and ‘look’
-Add a descriptive tagline
-Be consistent across all social media channels
-Have a presence everywhere even if you aren’t active everywhere
-Add easy-to-find-and-follow links
ADD A FACE TO YOUR BLOG
garden-bloggers-conference.com 12
- Personalize your blog by adding an ‘about me’ tab- Add a photo of yourself to your blog sidebar- ‘Sign’ your blog posts
TREAT YOUR BLOG LIKE A BUSINESS
- Order business cards
- Set up a ‘business’ email
- Open a business bank account
- Design professional-looking invoices
- Considering incorporating
- Consider Trademarking your name
- Track income and expenses
- Expect to regularly put in a full work week
garden-bloggers-conference.com 13
FOCUS ON WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
garden-bloggers-conference.com 14
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket- Pursue multiple revenue streams/diversify!- Don’t worry if what is working for others doesn’t work for you- If something isn’t’ working, try something else
SUMMARY
- There are no set ‘rules’
- Follow your gut and your heart, don’t sell out
- There are no shortcuts or easy ways to build your brand/blog
- Plan on working hard
- Focus on your long-term goals and choose projects that will help achieve them
- Don’t get caught up in SEO or analytics
- Put out a consistently good-quality product and you will attract not only loyal followers, but top-tier sponsors and other opportunities
garden-bloggers-conference.com 16