@itravin asks – “you’ve gone from blogging to b5 to become an author now, can you do a post on blogger growing beyond blogs”
You know it’s never really been my long term goal to write a book or even to start a blog network. In fact when I started blogging I didn’t even think it’d be more than a hobby! So I guess without going too deeply into the topic my advice would be to go into whatever you do with low expectations but with eyes wide open to the opportunities and possibilities that might present themselves to you.
b5media came about as an opportunity as a couple of other bloggers (Duncan and Jeremy at first) approached me to ask if I’d like to explore what working together might look like. None of us had any real idea on what would come out of the discussion but we all entered into it open to the possibilities.
The book was similar in that Chris and I started out to write an ebook together. This evolved into a ‘real’ book one day when a publisher at Wiley dropped me an email to see if I’d be interested in publishing something with them. It was out of the blue and unplanned but when I began to explore it it felt right.
The same thing was true for me when I started Six Figure Blogging with Andy and even when I started the Job Boards here at ProBlogger. In post situations it came about as a result of someone else approaching me with an idea.
Of course this isn’t the only way – other bloggers are much more strategic and proactive – but my personality and style is perhaps a little more laid back.
So to sum up my approach – work hard, watch, listen, be open and when opportunities that ‘click’ come along – leap at them.
Do you have any tips for itravin on how to extend from being a blogger to explore other mediums and opportunities?
Well put, I do what I do for a hobby and still know that I have great opportunities out there.
Well, I don’t expect to get rich quickly blogging, but I do expect someday earn enough money for living. At this moment I just have one blog: Futbolocura.com. It’s of Colombian Soccer. I love soccer, so it’s easy for me to write frequently about it. I have just 350 unique visits as a daily average, but I expect it to grow. The thing is that as it is a spanish blog, it still has little competition in Google Adwords, so my Adsense doesn’t have high PPC, so my daily earnings from Adsense isn’t so good yet (aprox USD 1 daily). So I am looking for new income streams.
Thank you for all your good information Darren.
I want to go beyond blogging also and eventually write books and do some audio teaching series and eventually I want to do conferences to teach people how to become rich and wealthy. My blog is the start of that
Hey thanks for that Darren.. I have been curious at times that starting problogger as a blog was perhaps part of a bigger plan.. a sort of logical step forward after you learned and earned a lot out of blogging and now taking it to the next level with this blog…
Anyway, that myth is sort of shattered.. :)
It’s just that a lot of bloggers in my opinion are not open to the possibility of growing beyond their blogs. Everyone talks about blogging as a means of financial and career freedom (on a gradual note) but very few do it with an entrepreneurial outlook.. like you said about being open to possibilities.. I might be wrong but that’s how I feel..
One of the ways to avoid this perhaps is to have a preset approach that over a period of time I do want to do a lil’ more than writing on a blog.. simply because a blogger has the potential to grow beyond that and this is the reason I ended up asking this question to you… and thanks for taking the time out to respond.. :)
Once you’ve cemented a decent readership of about 1000 RSS readers or more, you can begin thinking about boosting your presence in the blogosphere and beyond. It’s always great to stay in a little niche and keep powering with great content, but expanding your reach is always a great way to become something more than just a blogger.
After you’ve got a good readership going for your blog, you can start thinking about other avenues. These avenues could involve another website, it could provide a very in-demand service for bloggers and everyday web surfers.
You could think about releasing a series of online electronic downloads, videos, podcasts, ebooks etc…This could be a representation of your ‘guru’ or ‘authority’ status.
These are a huge amount of potential businesses just waiting to be explored, the only problem is finding the time, the proper team and the skilled programmers to work with you – without charging an arm and a leg.
It’s interesting to read about your development as a blogger, Darren.
One other way of going beyond blogging is to get your blog posts published as a column in a newspaper or magazine. When I started my blog in Icelandic, I started writing a column in the national business paper at the same time. That is an excellent combination in establishing myself as an authority and expert in my field.
Now I’m building up readership for my blog in English and the number of RSS subscriptions is growing fast now. The next step is testing some ideas there which I plan to turn into a book in the upcoming months.
This is a question that has to be answered by the Pros, only a small percentage of bloggers are at the stage of growing beyond blogging.
That explains why this post has attracted fewer responses, even though question is really good.
Great question itravin!
Even though I am new, and couldn’t add insight from first hand experience on going beyond blogging to other mediums, I would say moving to other methods of communication is a natural progression. The daily print medium may be shrinking, but I don’t know that a day will ever come when we are without newspapers, and certainly not books. Some people prefer something physical, that they can touch, hold and connect with in a different way than online information offers. To me, the niche topics would have the most potential as there may not be that many books written about that topic in print, or at least not many that are very good. But, all of the comments are correct, from columns, to books, to public speaking engagements and other online ventures, establishing yourself as an authority will bring a varied audience that includes individuals looking to bring your message to a larger mass.
Darren –
Great post. My experience as a growing blogger has been much like yours. I began blogging with a curious stumble, and before long found myself in a full sprint. Some people would call a day in my life “hard work” or label me as “diligent” – I however, just jump on opportunities with curious excitement. If it’s right, the open doors will present themselves.