Many bloggers start out with the intention of simply writing about what they love. Of course, over time, a blog can start to generate money and can evolve into a fully-fledged business. So, how does one achieve this?
Turning your blog into a business is not something that you can really do overnight. Many bloggers work on their blog for years before they even start making any money from it. However, there are some ways that you can speed up the process and start to gain a bit more traction on your blog.
In this guide, we are going to offer some tips to help you turn your blog into a business. Get started on this project using these tips.
Find Your Niche
Before you even think about turning your blog into a business, you need to find your niche. Some bloggers just blog about whatever is on their mind at the time and while this can be engaging, it isn’t always the best route for a new business model. If you want to succeed in the blogging world and start to generate money from ads or product sales, you need to find your niche.
Some of the most common niches that are successful include food blogs, beauty blogs and fashion blogs. You can also consider focusing on interior design or sports as these can also help to generate a lot of revenue. If you have a business idea in mind, consider how your current niche can be adapted to allow for this to integrate naturally.
What Kind of Business?
The next tip that we have for you is related to our previous point. You should know that there are a few different ways that you can turn your blog into a business, and you need to know what works best for you. The most common route that most bloggers take involves generating revenue from ads onsite. This can come in the form of ads appearing on the blog itself or in the form of sponsored posts. The more posts that you do, the higher the revenue but does this lose the integrity of the blog? The answer entirely depends on the audience and how you frame these posts. Make sure to consider this carefully.
An alternative to creating sponsored posts or pop-up ads is to create a new business and transforming your blog into an e-commerce site. Perhaps you have a product or service that you could offer on-site. If you already have traffic coming to your blog, you’ll be able to reach customers in no time at all. This will only work if you have something to sell so think it through and consider this for your new business opportunity.
Reaching Out and Generating Leads
If you want to turn your blog into a business, you need to make sure that you are reaching out. You might already send out a monthly newsletter to your readers but how effective are these? Do they get opened? Are links clicked? Do you have the facilities to measure this performance?
If you want to turn your blog into a business, you need to up your email marketing game. The good news is that bloggers who work on WordPress can use a plugin to make things a bit easier. The WordPress email plugin allows you to build your list and engage your visitors. You can also use in-person events and strategies to attract email subscribers. Here are some of the ways to do that:
- Networking Events: Attend topical conferences and meetups to connect with potential subscribers and exchange business cards.
- Guest Speaking Engagements: Give presentations or talks at relevant events, and collect email addresses from attendees who are interested in receiving more information.
- Co-marketing Partnerships: Collaborate with complementary businesses or influencers to promote your blog, encouraging their audience to sign up for your email list.
- Use QR codes: Use a free QR code maker to generate quick response codes, print them, and add them to you business cards, flyers, and other promotional materials you can give out at live events. When scanned, these could take your potential customers to your landing pages with a promotional offer in exchange for a newsletter subscription.
The more engaged visitors you have, the more leads you can generate. It is important that you use this plugin to reach out to these people in order to grow your business.
Use Social Media
The next tip that we have for those who want to turn their blog into a business is to use social media to your advantage. Not only can you send your social media followers to your new business blog, but you can also generate leads using Facebook or Instagram ads. While spending money on social media ads might not be within your budget, you’ll be able to afford this a bit more when you start generating money from your blog.
It is important that you are considering the switch from a personal blog to a business website. This can affect the kind of content that you are creating on social media channels. Many bloggers find it hard to establish a balance between these two things. It might be useful to create a new social media account to promote your new business. Of course, you’ll need to start from scratch when you do this. So, use social media but think through the decision carefully.
Have You Tried SEO?
Finally, you should consider boosting your new business blog with search engine optimisation. Some bloggers are already aware of SEO and are very good at creating keyword rich content, but this angle isn’t for everyone. If you have recently decided to turn your blog into a business, you should learn a bit more about SEO and how it works.
Some of the main points to learn more about include keywords, meta descriptions and SEO titles. If you can nail the meta description, you can get customers to your page. If you are switching from a personal blog to an e-commerce site, the meta description will be even more important. You can find plenty of guides online that will help you understand SEO a bit more.
Get Started
It is never too late to turn your blog into a business so make sure to get started today. Whether you are planning on selling some products or a service or you are just trying to monetize it, you should use the tips that we have given you.
You might find that you need to think about the design of your site in a new way. Consider switching to a business theme that can help you sell products and services. Every WordPress theme supports Posts, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to blog.
Make sure that you understand the importance of SEO and of generating leads through email marketing. Use any plugins that are available to you and you’ll notice the difference in no time at all. We wish you all of the luck with your new business venture.
One Comment