How to turn your blog into a business
Your food blog is starting to get serious recognition: Page views consistently reach into the hundreds, if not thousands, for new posts. Now you’re thinking, “How soon can I quit my job?”
Writers looking to turn a blog into a money-making business have a big job ahead of them, but it can be done, if you remember the No. 1 rule: Audience is king.
Build your following
Being savvy in your field is crucial to growing your following, but you don’t have to start out an expert.
Pat Flynn is the founder of Smart Passive Income, a blog that recommends resources for building an online business. His FoodTruckr blog is about starting and growing a food truck business. He had no related experience but provided what was key: “Information other people are looking for.”
After strong content comes audience connection. Start an email list, Flynn says. Harness social media and interact with followers — reply to tweets and thank readers who compliment a post.
Christian Senger of Charleston, S.C., spent several years building his blog, Holy City Sinner, which features news, resources and event listings for the city. Senger says he could have monetized sooner but focused first on his fan base. It worked. Holy City Sinner was voted best local-interest blog for the past three years by Charleston City Paper.
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“The more people you have viewing your blog,” Senger says, “the easier it will be eventually to sell and market.”
Monetize your content — but keep readers’ trust
• Affiliate sales: Bloggers can turn to affiliate marketing companies to gain commissions from referrals or sales. Commissions may be set dollar amounts or a single-digit percentage of sales.
When a reader clicks a link to buy a product via Flynn’s Smart Passive Income blog, he typically earns a commission. Affiliate programs account for most of his six-figures-a-month income.
• Advertising: One fast, easy advertising option is Google AdSense. Income is based on clicks and impressions the ad receives. You’ll need high traffic to get meaningful income, because 1,000 impressions can equal just a few dollars.
Sherry and John Petersik made money through advertising in the early days of their blog Young House Love. But it was a “super-slow build,” Sherry Petersik says. The DIY home project blog’s first money — 12 cents from Google AdSense — came more than a year after its 2007 launch. Soon after, they sold ads directly to businesses for a guaranteed $25 to $30 per month.
John Petersik says it’s important to be transparent. Young House Love has a disclaimer section that explains how the blog makes money, and posts disclose whether they contain monetizing links.
• Sponsored content: These are ads that may appear to be regular content.
Senger, who makes money from banner ads for area businesses, is cautiously considering sponsored content. It could mean higher income and money to improve his blog. But he’s worried that extra coverage for paid advertisers could diminish his credibility. He says he’s willing to turn down opportunities that aren’t a good fit for his audience or businesses he’s not comfortable promoting.
“In the end,” he says, “I have to stay true to what my blog is about.”
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Credibility isn’t the only concern. Bloggers are required by law to disclose if posts are sponsored and differentiate them from other content, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
• E-books: Bloggers can publish and sell e-books through sites such as Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon takes a cut of your earnings) or self-publish.
Another of Flynn’s websites, Green Exam Academy, provides resources for people to study to take LEED architecture exams. From it, the former architect created an e-book, which sold more than $7,000 in copies in its first month of release.
“Really understand what the major pains and problems of your audience are,” Flynn advises. A book helps “solve that pain.”
Don’t quit your day job — yet
It wasn’t until about 2½ years after launching that Young House Love earned enough money to support the Petersik family. And such success is rare: A ProBlogger survey of 1,500 readers found just 13% earning over $1,000 per month from a blog.
It takes time and dedication to keep a blog updated and lively, Sherry Petersik says, especially in the face of competition from other bloggers.
The Petersiks stepped back from working on the blog full time in 2014 after “seven years, 3,000 blog posts, two best-selling books, three renovated houses and two children.” In June, they launched a podcast on design.
“Do what you're passionate about,” Sherry Petersik says, “and if the money comes in, that’s a bonus.”
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Steve Nicastro is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email:Steven.N@nerdwallet.com. Twitter:@StevenNicastro.
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