When blogs first came out, no one really knew what they were for. They were supposed to be diaries, but diaries are meant to be private so why put them online? And if you did put one online, why would anyone want to read it?
And if someone did want to read it, how you could earn money from those viewers?
Today, the answers to all of those questions have become clear. Blogs can be about anything, not just your daily life. Make it interesting, and people will stop by to read it. Implement ads carefully on that blog, and you can make money out of your popularity.
But now that the blogging world has matured a little, it's become clear that blogs have uses beyond the ad revenue that they can bring in. They're important for search engine optimization. They can provide a focus for a community. And they can help to support a commercial site as well.
That happens most effectively when you're also using social media. Bring together a commercial site that sells your products or services, a blog that reveals who you are and attracts an audience, and a Facebook presence and Twitter timeline that keep that audience engaged and interested, and you're on your way to a winning Internet business.
But you're not there yet, of course.
The products or services you sell on your commercial site still have to be good enough for people to want to buy them. Your blog has to be interesting enough for people to want to read it, link to it and tell their friends about it. And your tweets have to be regular and personal enough to allow potential customers and readers to feel that they're in touch with you, that they like you and they'd like to do business with you.
None of these things is difficult any more. They take time and they take effort, but they don't take massive amounts of specialized knowledge or great technical skills. Get your blogging, selling and community-building right, and you'll have everything you need.
The no longer needing any specialized knowledge is the really great thing to me. If you're the creative type instead of a techie you can have a pretty good looking blog up and running in an extremely short period of time with very rudimentary skills. I don't even want to get into all the free stuff available for WordPress.
Great Post Joel! On point! I just started my blog this year and im trying to build my content up for this month with a few of my friends. Then ill be trying to build my community by February. This post truly makes sense! Thanks for the words!
I have just recently stepped out of my comfort zone and started to write blog posts for our business. I was a bit afraid of putting my thoughts and ideas out there for others to judge but, just like everything in life, it gets easier every time that you do it. I keep trying to remind myself that the idea of the blog is to provide great information that people will find useful and to have fun with it. Courage is after all something that we must learn and re-learn every day of our lives.
I'm really not sure what you're getting at Joel - it's not as easy as you say it is though not as difficult as it was once. Anyone can go to Wordpress and start blogging - the trick is still to get people to read it and, more importantly, get people to purchase something - that's not so easy no matter how many social sites you use - that's the tough part - and setting up the tools to sell stuff so it doesn't look too amateurish is also quite the feat with technical savvy!
http://www.wizetime.com
Joel,
You taught me that all this is true. I have several related sites. I also have a blog. When I blog, traffic really picks up.
And, ... you are right. People do not come to my blog to read an encyclopedia. They want attitude, and facts. They want an opinion. They want answers/links to their questions.
I monitor all this on google analitics. It is real.
Oh by the way, I do not sell anything on my sites except google adwords.
I learned all this from you!!
Thank You!
Hi Joel, remember me, bruce here, you really taught me what is the purpose of blogs and what they are for,
i've also a blog which i've designed according to your instruction and now it is growing well.. here is the blog
Well, content is still king, so no matter how great your software is, you still need to get people to read your blog. Yes, the blogging platforms of today have become very powerful and offer a robust tool set that allows you blog to get noticed. Once someone finds your blog, you need to capture their attention and keep them coming back.
Joel, thanks for your enthusiasm in keeping the internet marketing rookies and experts informed, educated and updated. I remember when I stumbled upon your website couple of years back. Its long time since and your innovative ideas and thoughts help marketers like me keep up with the times. Now I have several blogs (for lead management, distribution and tracking software business) each focusing on a specific service and customer segment, which produces great results. Keep up the good work!
Hello Joel, Thank you for the post.
When I received information from you in my mailbox, I have to stop everything to focus on it as it is always really valuable. I have started a blog as well and am still brainstorming to make sure the content I'll have will be of other's interests. It is just the beginning for me but thanks to your knowledge and you willing to share this knowledge I have the intention of making it a great blog with good content.
If I don't have a blog for an article I link a comment here text to a forum on my website. I'm always looking to open my big mouth on blogs so I figured I'd better give my readers a chance
Rick
I've been blogging for awhile and have just recently launched a new online business that is on WordPress so there's a blog attached to that.
I agree that blogging is an excellent way to generate traffic and the social media aspect is also productive if you take the time to update your followers on your product and the latest posts to the blog.
I'm still trying to do good stuff ... :)
Hi Joel,
Thanks again for your info and heads up on blogging. I stepped out of my comfort less than a year ago and started blogging my taxi cab stories. I will be combining my Web/Blog with my capture page shortly. It's all about the List, right Joel?
Happy Mileage
Getting off the "make money" subject, blogs can also just be a whole lot of fun. I've created a blog for family and friends that will become a legacy of stories, photos and videos for my daughters once I'm long gone. I've included many of my thoughts and hopes for them and other things deep in the earlier posts.
My personal blog is all about me and if you want to know what kind of a wacky guy I am you can drop by and you'll know pretty quickly. So don't forget, blogs are a great way to earn money but they can also be a great stress reliever and a whole bunch of fun!
Back to the point of Joel's website, I do make money from this blog and even made it to the homepage of CNN.com because I had posted a photo of me as a kid holding my brand new Farrah poster.
Blog's can be what you make them.
The internet is constantly changing and we need to keep up with it to use all the opportunites that it has to offer. I still think that blogs will continue to evolve and into what-- nobody knows.
I've just recently started following your blogs and have one of your ebooks on adsence. I have a blog on my website but haven't built up a good following yet and get almost nothing out of my adsence ads. I won't give up. I'll just keep plugging away and maybe it will happen one day. I actually enjoy writing on the blog more than I enjoy putting stuff on my website. I don't sell anything either on the blog or the website. I just provide info.
But I do not like making regular Twitter posts.
I like blogging...but I feel like I can waste lots of time on Twitter or FB without any evident results.
I just don't have the patience for it. As a marketer, I know this is just plain wrong. Guess I need to outsource it. If you don't like doing it, outsource it, right?
Rhonda
www.kidsawakening.com/blog
Nice post. I liked how you described the interaction of sites, blogs and social media and how they work together. social media --> engagement w/ a personal touch and keeping in touch; blogs --> more about you, your thoughts on your topic, link bait; site --> products and services. Like Brad, I have just been blogging to share information, I do a lot of web work for clients so I feel like I have good info to share but I haven't taken the monetization or list capture step yet.
If you can't get content online quickly and easily, you don't have an online business. A blog is the fastest and easiest way to get content online. Blog function as light-weight content management systems so you can quickly get ideas and programs up and running without having to engage with lots of staff or designers.
Great article. Some might be interested to know that the word blog was created as a shortened word for web log, and it is still used mostly for that purpose. And that fits right in with this idea of social networking. People log things about themselves and things they are interested in.
I believe that today, a blog is our most important tool in personal branding. If you are good at what you do, you're probably telling various stories over and over again. So why not write about those kind of things in your blog for everyone to see? I have really only been blogging myself for the past year or so, and I have already received so many referrals and positive comments from that source. Great insights Joel!
I love blogs that are used with a business site. I think it should be another key way that a business can communicate that they are normal and regular people. It is a way to give visitors a chance to Know, Like and Trust you. And we know that people love to buy from someone that they Know, Like and Trust.
Peter Brissette
Cost Reduction Consultant
hi Joel,this is greater post..
Hi Sir Joel and Sir Dan!
Thanks super much for all that you taught me. And please extend my deepest gratitude to your team members there at Infomedia!
You all are not only changing lives but leaving legacies in us! You give us hope in realizing that, hey, it is okay to dream and dream big again!
And yes, we are trying to do good stuff!
God bless you all and your families always!
Liza Amarga
Cagayan de Oro, Philippines
Hi Joel,
Nice article, but i am not sure where will this end. The contents and information on the net is accumulating exponentially, and really not sure if blogs will have slow death. New creative ideas are getting launched every now and then.. orkut, twitter. I feel unless the content is really of good quality and in a long term perspective a blog cannot survive long.
Regards
Madhan
It's all about content creation. Creating information that can help a specific group of people: Making people laugh, share new skill, how to etc.
Text based communication still rules in the Internet no matter how the method of delivery has been broaden to twitter, facebook etc. It's still in text form mostly.
To be success in the Internet? You have to write well, or hire one.
Yeah, blogging has almost mature. We need something new and different, I wait for you Joel.
Hello joel
I remember thinking Blogging - what are they on about?
Now as time has gone on I can see they are an essential element to many people, places and businesses.
The internet is constantly evolving and changing.
Thank you for this post
Susan Connors
Australia
thanks,i had downloaded your ebook about"Google adsense",very wonderful!I am from chengdu ,China.wish your blog be better.~~~
Thanks for sharing , it give me a new concept for blog , good .
24 Hour Clinic 24小時診所(門診 醫生 醫務所) : http://clinic24.mysinablog.com
Hi teacher ,
Thank you for grate things you give others for free.
hope, encouragement,humanity sense.
Best Regards,
You're right on about making it personal so people know that you're a real person and not a robot spitting out tweet messages 100x a day. I have those robot/automated ones and they're the most insecure form of communication. I prefer to write each tweet myself ... keeping it personal. Good stuff, Joel!
Janette
Joel,
I came across your AdSense Code book at the local library, borrowed it, read it over several times and implemented many of your ideas on my blog www.theguitarcolumn.com. In fact I kept the book for three months because I didn't want to give it back. It cost me 18 bucks in library fines when I eventually returned it! Now I have the UPDATED e-book version -- you are generous! Thanks a million Joel!
Blogging is all about making easy money online that is not easy in reality.
Joel, your internet newsletter is one of the first that my husband and I ever subscribed to and are still getting, because you continue to add value. The first blog I created was to support another site on line. Seemed like it took forever to think what to write in that first post. Today the original site it supported is history, but that blog is still going. It now comes up with an indented listing for two different search terms that I am aware of, has the #1 and #4 positions respectively on the first page of google, and is producing sales. It is a site I am very passionate about, and according to my analytics, is now generating traffic to another blogsite. It is exciting to dream of the path ahead. Thank you for keeping that dream alive!
I think thats quite true i have got from this post about blog. Blog is for search engine optimization for nowadays for making money and one can focus for community too. Its used for personal or individual thoughts or writing too.
Nice article but I liked more of your adsense secrets, which was very helpful. Thanks and keep writing more.I'm always waiting for your new articles and your episode on next millionaire is great and mysteriously enjoyable.
It is a very good articel and we want to improve it
you should have to write more about it
we shall be very thankful for this kindness