Guest post by David Risley, of David Risley dot com.
What I’m about to share might be a little bit counter-intuitive for many, so I ask that you stick with me.
What if I were to tell you that blog posts really aren’t all that important?
OK, Mr. crazy man. Stop yanking my chain.
However, I’m quite serious and I’m saying this to you as a full-time, professional blogger who makes his living completely online.
The simple truth is this: Poor bloggers spend most of their time writing blog posts. PROBloggers spend most of their time on what actually matters – business.
Blogging Isn’t A Business
I’ve been quite direct about the fact that blogs are not businesses. I believe that so many bloggers get so hung up on their medium that they haven’t stepped back to look at the big picture. A blog is a promotional medium and a communications platform. And in order to really monetize a blog, you have to ask the question: To what end?
What is your real product? What is the thing that you can provide to others in exchange for some of their money?
See, what we do with blogs is nothing new. The platform is different, but it is essentially human communication and we’ve been doing that ever since the days men were writing on caves.
Then, people developed economies. Some people create things that others can use, and others buy it. Then, people learned how to use the art of writing to promote those products. Thus, people had the power to mobilize crowds of people into certain things. Economies got bigger. Media expanded the reach of promotions into TV, magazines, etc. The Internet then revolutionized the way we communicate. Now, any of us has the power to create and mobilize groups of people from the confines of our bedrooms.
All that being true, the rules haven’t changed. People still spend money on products that they need and want.
Want to Actually Make Money? Then, Answer This…
So, I ask you: What is your product, really?
Your product should be something which is valuable to your audience which they will be willing to fork over a little money for. When you have that, your blog is a promotional medium for an actual business.
Most bloggers today operate in a dream world of made-up business rules. They try to make money with their blogs when they have nothing to sell. They’ll try to monetize the eyeballs only by littering the blog up with banner ads to sell other people’s stuff. It doesn’t take long for most bloggers to realize what a freaking difficult way to monetize a blog that is!
So many bloggers seem to think of their blog as a newspaper. Newspapers are monetized by ads. Guess what? Newspapers are disappearing left and right last time I checked. The model is limited and broken. So, why try to perpetuate it in a completely different medium?
No, the REAL answer to full-time incomes from blogs is to answer that question: What is my product? And if you don’t have one, you need to create one.
In other words, build a real business, then slap a blog on top of it. :) Treat the blog, not as a newspaper, but as a promotional vehicle for an actual business. This isn’t to say all you do is pimp your products. On the contrary, you provide really great content in order to build the relationship up with your reader. However, you do it with the aim of converting into a sale of your own product.
So, Blog Posts Aren’t That Important?
Now, let’s come fill circle back to my original point. Blog posts aren’t really all that important?
Here’s my point: Blog posts are not your product. They won’t get you paid. So, spending all of your blogging time writing more posts isn’t getting you anywhere – IF you want to turn your blog into a revenue producer.
My suggestion is to regroup. Take whatever time you have available for your blog and divide it up. Spend part of the time thinking ahead by producing assets that will help you grow your business. Products to sell, content to use to build your email list, etc. Schedule this into your routine. Then, use the remaining time to write blog posts.
If you have a readership and still aren’t making much more than a few bucks per month from your blog, then something is wrong. And the answer is most likely to be found in the question, “What’s your product?”
David Risley is a professional blogger, which basically means he sits and types a lot and manages to earn a living at it. His blog is the Confessions Of a Six Figure Blogger, and you can follow his escapades on Twitter.
You said: “Treat the blog … as a promotional vehicle for an actual business. This isn’t to say all you do is pimp your products. On the contrary, you provide really great content in order to build the relationship up with your reader. However, you do it with the aim of converting into a sale of your own product.”
As a copywriter and consultant, the “product” at the moment is me–and the services I provide to help visionaries and conscious creators to get their messages out to their perfect customers. So, the blog is something I realize is a promo tool, AND you really hit the mark when you talk about “great content to build relationship with your readers.” Marketing is all about making the connections and building the relationships in a respectful way. AND to fully serve people, the next step is to sell something — ideally something in addition to services. Thanks for the affirmation of the importance of content as relationship-building. And the products are coming! Really!
Hummm – Interesting perspective, but I am not sure the questions asked are precise enough.
Mind you, it it really good to question the primacy of the blog post in the money making chain,
however,
Asking “what is your product?” is only special case.
Maybe the question “What are you selling?” resonates better…
…It doesn’t have to be a product.
And the exchange doesn’t have to be monetary either…
FredInChina
I was in the middle of reconsidering the direction of my blog that I came across your post. Timely, I’ll say. What you’ve prompted me to do, David, is to utilize what I have (my blog) to optimize my freelance career (designing and social media consultation). There’s more than blogging currently in my life, clearly. Sometimes it’s advisable to slow down and reconsider our next steps & strategies – which is what I’m planning to do at this very second.
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
I have to respectfully disagree. Although you post is well written. It has one thesis, and that is to get people to start thinking what they have to offer the world instead of just writing.
I have the reverse philosophy. Using your intellectual capital by writing and creating things online of value to people, is a very effect way to earn a living. Most people surf the web all day and read, rather than buy.
Blogs are traffic magnets. Write interesting things and you will get traffic. Be patient.
On the other hand many people I know have a business idea and a 10 page website. This will rarely get traffic.
What you need to do is write and start a community and a buzz, then no matter what your business idea is you will start the ground running.
I have a blog that made around $14,000 last month and the reason it did that was because I spent a lot of time on content creation (or at least, I paid people to spend time on it).
Your thinking is far too narrow here David. I’m glad Darren didn’t write this post as I don’t think I’ve ever disagreed with him, but really think this post misses a few things.
Sure, thinking of your blog as a business if you want to generate an income, but to get to the point where you can make money from your blog your main focus has to be on your content and traffic generation strategies. No exceptions.
Paid reviews?
Affiliate links?
Getting people to subscribe to a feed which has ads on it?
I could go on and on about the flaws here.
You seem to be forgetting that your blog posts are what enable you to make money from your blog. Sure, having your own product can be one of the best revenue sources out there, but it’s your great posts that convince people to follow you and buy something from you in the first place.
– Glen
P.S. normally I would just leave a post like this and not leave a “negative” (trying not to be) comment but I just hope people don’t follow your advice too blindly. There are far too many good writers out there that should be putting their work out to the world and focusing on it.
Very interesting post, and I certainly agree with you. While many are able to not have their own product and make money from AdSense and affiliate marketing (and I know people doing this who make 7 figures a year doing this), when you have your own product, you are able to set the price, have your own affiliates, and make a ton of money, because the money is much better than you’ll earn with most other products.
The conversion rate on a product might even be better for a lot of people than Google AdSense.
However, it is very possible still to not have your own products and refer other people to products you recommend, and depending on the price the pay actually might be a lot better, and if you build up credibility people will buy it as if it your own product. Site-Build It! is a great example of this.
Certainly having your own product is a very smart move. Much better paying than just writing regular posts and slapping on ads, especially since the income from products is passive; if you just don’t update the site, people will still buy the product, however, if you have ads, no one will want to read your site, and you won’t make anything. Pat Flynn from greenexamacademy.com and smartpassiveincome.com is a very strong example of this. He doesn’t update his Green Exam site much anymore, however, because he has his own product, he makes $30,000 a month from having his own book. Of course, it’s better to keep posting, but just one product can turn into literally millions of dollars.
sorry if you don’t mind, what is your product btw???
(will like to know any product that you had before your blog became popular too)
This is the direct truth David, and we all need to hear it. This post hits home for me because I’m coming into that realization more and more everyday. There is so much importance in creating a product, which I am working on. Thanks for the advice David!!
As for your newspaper comparison, note that while printed papers are failing, all have gone to on-line editions and many to local, micro blogs to report on news. and guess what, they have posts — with content.
yes, always re-evaluate your blog and treat it as a biz, but you need somethng besides ads for your readers!!!
Deliberately provocative perhaps? But couldn’t agree more. Some tend to believe Good Content = Big Dollars.
While good content may help to an extent, i am of the view that you need Good product to market, and that good product need not be your blog post. Rupert Murdoch comes to my mind. If News Corp couldn’t monetise their content with the kind of content, credibility and cloud they have, I wonder what really makes these Poor bloggers think they can make money off their divine (and mostly plagiarized) posts :)
David, and Darren – I’d have to agree with Glen here. I find the message rather conflicting. You say that blogging isn’t a business but turn around and ask “what’s your product”. Your content is your product if you are blogging, you can do just as much with high quality content as you can with whichever “product” you are using.
I really do appreciate the effort in the message here, personally I felt like it is a little off however. It seems like the message should be “Blogging Doesn’t Have to Be Your Only Source of Income.”
I would have really liked to see you expand upon the subject in more than 3 headings. I feel like we were left with too much fill-in-the-blank space here to take away a message that give’s you an action to take. I don’t want to ask myself what my product is, I would rather ask myself what my readers with the $ in their pockets want for a product. I’m guessing they want high-quality organized content. You could put all of that blogging time into an organized space (ebook/pdf report) to sell to them.
I like that you remember to look at the big picture.Thanks again for the post, hopefully this comes across as feedback and not a bashing. See ya around
Clout, not cloud. Just noticed the typo. Sorry :)
I’m thinking that there is some weight to your ideas here but as a romantic thinker I have to believe that some people come to read what we, as bloggers, post because they enjoy our point of views and the messages we spread. Don’t get me wrong though I absolutely agree with the fact that putting in hours and hours and hours of content creation only to make a few dollars is tough. If you are blogging, odds are you enjoy what you’re talking about, shouldn’t your “product” stem from that as an extra or after the fact..if that’s the direction you choose to take. Kudos on the article nonetheless, you’re point of view definitely is a valid one and we all want to make the most out of our time.
The newspaper analogy doesn’t work . Newspapers are certainly not limited or broken it’s just that a new medium is making them obsolete but if you check with the newspapers that have gone online you will certainly see that content is still king for them and they still monetize it in the same ways.And they are still making money.
As bloggers we definitely need to discover what our product is but without the content, traffic and community the product won’t do as well.
Fantastic thing to think about. I like the idea that “the blog isn’t the product” because there are many people who do not offer anything (product or service) and wonder why they don’t make any money from their blog. It actually came to me yesterday how I can change my blog around and make more money than I initially thought! Your post hits the nail on the head…and perfect timing, too. Cheers!
You did offend a lot of people as soon as you mentioned “Poor blogger” term in your article :p
Re: Glen
I agree with you, however the point of this post is not how to build an audience. I never said not to create content. As bloggers, that’s what we do. However, when it comes to monetization, it isn’t the end-game.
Sure, you can make money with ads. I have for some time. However, I didn’t really create a fully secure income stream until I created my own products. My personal blog would make very little income if I depended on ads, however it makes a six-figure income all by itself based solely on the fact that it has a business back-end to it.
I will pit a blog with a dedicated following and products to sell against a blog with paid reviews and affiliate links any day and twice on Sunday. Limiting one’s thinking to advertising is what causes most bloggers to give up in total frustration and conclude that monetization is too much of an uphill fight.
So, Glen, perhaps you misunderstood my post when you decided to disagree with me. But, I don’t back down. And, I believe people would be much better off if they do follow my advice.
Simply put: YES, content is important. Building an audience is important. However, it isn’t the end-game. Focus on creating a real business behind the blog and all of a sudden this model makes a lot of sense.
Re: Nunzio Bruno
Of course you need to enjoy writing. Your view is not romantic. :-) It is just a matter of intentions. If you’re wanting to make money, the approach is different than if you just want to share your thoughts. Very different ways of going about things.
Thought-provoking post, thank you. And interesting conversation too.
It seems somewhat chicken and egg and dependent on your intentions with your blog. If you plan to monetise, sure, you have to sell “something”. Perhaps that starts with content. Perhaps it starts with a specific service or physical product. Perhaps the content develops to the point where it can begin to drive sales of a “thing”. But you have to have something other than stuff to sell.
As a communications platform, it puts your product in front of people. But I feel that people won’t come if there is nothing else to compel them to other than a product, and they may be reluctant to buy if they don’t trust you. One top way of earning trust is writing content that people relate to, over time, proven.
My favourite blogs, this included, and Glen Allsop’s (not sucking up) are that because of the writing–and I’m mighty envious I have to say. I love reading them and look forward to the posts.
Whatever you sell, if you have poor content your sales will suffer.
I had no intention of monetising mine and wrote for the sheer joy. But the good content attracted interest and then I began to learn that I could make something of that. I never knew of professional blogging until 4 months ago. But I had content that I had built over 18 months that I knew was well liked and suddenly, slowly, realised I could make something of it. And it’s working. There’s no way I could have done it in reverse.
But, I am open to the idea that you can create the product or have a separate business, eg. Itty Biz, and write great posts on a fantastic blog relevant to the business and drive more sales.
Re: Gayle Pescud
Thanks for the comments, Gayle.
Yeah, totally. Great content is always important. The point of this post is to say that most bloggers stop right there – with the great content. They never extend into the realm of actually offering something for money, even though they proclaim they want to make an income. So, I’m just trying to open eyes. :-) Get people thinking.
What a dividing post, I’m lovin’ it !
I see the truth in your words, but I can also totally understand
Glen – if you’re just advertising without putting real effort into your post, then there’s real value in that for the reader.
I love my content, and I’m in the process of starting my own products soon – but I will ALWAYS make sure that my content is outstanding and kicking ass – it’s art to me !
But that’s just my opinion, to each his own.
I agree with Glenn, saying that you can’t make decent money from blog posts alone is just wrong.
I will concede that some niches don’t monetize well with traditional ad networks such as Adsense and maybe don’t have related affiliates. If that is the case then maybe having your products is the best method to making $$.
For others such as personal finance (mine) Adsense is king. Which of course is not to say you can’t also have your own products.
I may be wrong but isn’t the content not important, because most blogs are not really saying anything original or truly helpful, but are mere copies of each other saying essentially the same thing. Everybody is doing internet marketing and is desperate to climb over everyone else in a fight for airtime and authority coolness dominance. It’s like a giant pyramid scheme, internet marketers, teaching others to become internet marketers, teaching…
Its kind of like music, someone comes up with something original, and everyone copies that idea trying to replicate it to get a piece of the pie. No one is actually doing something they believe in, or actually trying to help anyone else, its just a giant clone factory, creating a noisy, messy landscape.
I may be a romantic, but I look at the internet as a way to broadcast to the entire world ideas that can impact and help the human family change conditions for the better. Global communication across all borders, is a gift we are overlooking in my opinion. The problem is, that the audience is asleep or forced into imposed selfishness through the burden of usury and debt, rendering most unable to think of anything but their own survival, let alone care about and uplift others.
“Turn a people against themselves, and they’re easy to contain”, Caesar
David, David, David. You really struck a nerve in me but that’s your style. You put simplicity into your work yet you provoke us to act! Nonetheless, new to the blogging game, you have some good points here.
I don’t have anything to offer.
I actually don’t have anything to sell.
Then why do I have a blog?
Honestly, I don’t know. I just want to write for the purpose of writing and then learn from there if I have anything to offer.
Still too early to tell as blogging is still new to me.
Great article BTW, they always strike a nerve in me.
David,
I appreciate you sharing your perspective. Given your success I won’t argue with your reasoning. I would say however, there’s maybe more than one way to skin a cat.
True a blog is just a medium, but so is television. I know there are some shows I love and others I can’t stand. I don’t watch the shows I can’t stand, I change the channel. So it seems to me content does matter.
Now there is a lot of truth in the statement that blog posts aren’t paying the bills, at least not directly. But there are a lot of ways to monetize and ad revenue is just one.
You’ve been around the block more times than I have so I don’t need to spell it all out, but you get my drift–if the content is good, and keeps people tuning in, you can get the revenue.
I’m always eager to get your perspective. Thanks.
I am with you Riley,
As I write this I actually working on one of my products right now.(well I’m taking a 10 min break to read) but I’ve been blogging for three months now and I understand what you mean.
What’s my product? guys answer that question quick, so you can monetize your list.
David, you hit it on the head with “what is your product?” It’s what I have been trying to figure out for the past year on my http://thisoldbrain.net blog. A lot of writing, no money. My focus has never been entirely clear, even to me.
Back to the drawing board.
I agree with you David, for my businesses especially. But I do perform some consulting work on a site that is strictly for ads and adsense, and while he isn’t 6 figures yet, he probably will be by the end of the year. The difference is, it has taken him 3yrs to get there, writing posts 7 days a week. My business plan doesn’t allow me to wait 3 yrs to get there.
The problem seems to exist that these people selling courses to teach you to make “big money” fast with ads and affiliates is the way to go, but I disagree completely. And even if that were the case, there is much more to making money that way than just throwing content out there….
I’m glad some one summed it up so well. Rather than being bloggers we need to be the producers or products and stop selling other folks STUFF. After all didn’t many of us get into blogging to stop making the boss richer and to make money for our selves- I know I did.
Looks like a lot of us got caught back up in the trading time for money mentality, when we should be trading money for OUR product.
Very well said David, thanks for the redirection of our actions! :)
I feel, we should promote our blog first to promote any product. For this, we need to have well written post consistently delivered.
Good post and I feel that, from someone not making money online at all yet, too many people feel they want to make money yet feel “good” just writing blog posts and hoping some day to make money selling something when in reality they are scared to ask their readers to buy something just yet.
It’s funny how that works. I have to agree also. And I don’t see how others could really argue the point that there does have to be a business behind the blog in order to make an real good money. Putting up ads can work but selling real products is what can make all the difference.
Writing blog posts is great but isn’t going to make you money for the most part unless you know something I don’t, which you probably do.
What does everyone think, honestly?
I agree with Jarlin Paul. I have a blog with a PR 2 currently and as few visitors as 20 per day. Will I be able to monetize it with a really stellar product with just 20 uniques per day? I am sure the answer is a no-no. I believe the product will find a following only if I have build a considerable fan base and to do that, I need some good quality posts on my blog to lure my customers. I am sure problogger with its huge fan base can now do it without much of a problem.
I don’t know how you make money from your blog, you don’t really have any product on your blog. Personally, i write articles and have my buisnesses listed on the sides of my blog. In some cases, i get to add a link to an opportunity in my blog but you ain’t doing any of that. You seem to be contradicting yourself.
John
http://www.123internetbiz.com
TV shows make money without offering a product. Now granted they have merchandise but most shows make money purely from advertising.
Now of course TV advertising and internet advertising is a little different because TV advertising is more about branding whereas internet advertising is about conversions.
I dunno, maybe I’m missing the point hopelessly but this post depresses me somewhat.
It already feels like the Internet is swamped by mostly average at best products. It seems every other person is rushing to get an e-book out there telling other people how to make money on the Internet.
I feel like we are in some huge pyramid scheme that could fall over at any time and I’m really worn out hearing people brag about how much money they are making with their blogs.
In 2008 I earned $29k. Last year was better and this year will be much better.
Life coaches on the whole don’t make much money. But the HUGE upside is a love what I do and if more people focused on what makes them happy rather than how to rush another product to market we’d all be better off.
Maybe I’m just an old cynic, but I’m more impressed by people telling me about the dreams and aspirations than how big their bank balance is.
I like your fresh perspective on blogging, David.
While I’ve had my blog for over 2 years, ad sales have plummeted, and I find myself doing a lot of free writing in the hopes that great content will (fingers crossed) bring in traffic that will increase ad dollars.
While I can see other bloggers’ points about peeling it back to a product, I can relate to what you are saying. I write about style–for free. If I could incorporate eBooks, seminars, consultations, I would be able to generate income. I’m selling style expertise, not just free content.
Thanks for the great spin on blogging. It’s gotten my wheels turning!
i think this blog started great but didn’t end well.
I think it does have a important point, that most bloggers or wannabe spend too much time writing, while with little time spend, or the expertise, about the business aspects. That is, promotion, marketing. (this certainly applies to me)
Though, the post didn’t expand well or express well on this idea, i think. It started to suggest that most bloggers don’t have a product. Well, the writing is the product, and to sell that product, one really should spend i think at least 1/3 of time on writing and acquiring expertise about the subject area he’s writing about.
But i think the the post hit a important mark. That is, for bloggers who aspire to sustain a living by blogging, one should think about their blog as a business, not just writing + ads.
Very interesting post and definitely food for thought.
Someone asked me recently what I wanted for the future of my website, and I was stopped in my tracks. I didn’t have an answer. I realized that I was writing for the sake of writing (not necessarily a bad thing) and that I didn’t have a vision of the future.
I think there’s value in writing just for the sake of letting others read what you’ve written – to share information. But that’s only valuable if you know that’s your goal. Thinking about the goal is important.
You’ve given me lots to think about.
It’s great advice!… I have been blogging for the best part of two years. I have links, followers & subscribers but no cash!…
I think its time for me to plan an e-book for sale and see how that goes…
Thanks
:]
I could not agree more. A blog is not a business it’s a medium. Finally someone has the chutzpah and the insight to say it.
Glenn,
That’s an arrogant attitude. You’re always talking about how much money you make, but I don’t see you building a business…I see you building a variety of separate platforms.
Does it work? Sure…but not everyone wants to contribute to the world by selling ads for the rest of their life.
I think what David is trying to say is that you can’t just write a bunch of posts and then expect money to come in…it just doesn’t work like that. You know that, because you write about how to monetize quite often.
And quite honestly, people will RT anything as long as it comes with social proof, so let’s not pretend that content is everything, because it’s not.
Tim Brownson,
I know what you mean…I often feel the same way. My charge then, is to not get sucked into the mmo niche and instead, create somethign real that has value over time.
I’ve watched a lot of my friends (not David, he was in the game before I joined it) get caught in that trap, and although some of them make a lot of money doing it…I wonder why they allowed themselves to get sidetracked.
Keep up the good fight man, love what you’re doing.
It’s certainly true for all the online make money or people who are peddling coching programs, or ebooks, etc. For them they need a product. But that is not true for lifehacker or techcruch. For them blog is the product.
Bad advice that doesn’t apply to many blogs, from someone who has made a name for himself by being provocative.
If you have the right niche, and can write with passion, and write what people want to read, you’ll build an audience. And with that audience will come advertising revenue.
People don’t have as much of a reason to read newspapers any more, hence other mediums becoming more effective.
Give enough people a reason to read your blog, in an environment that works for advertisers, and you’ll make money from advertising. There’s no need to get into ‘making products’ at all.
This post is more of spam than anything else. Why is this appearing on problogger?
The author fails to make a point. He just wants to tell the world he made money out of blogging and he got there by building some kind of asset and email list.
Darren, this isn’t what you’ve been teaching us. Since the time I’ve started reading problogger, in between each and every line you’ve written, you’ve insisted on loving what you do and writing about subjects you are passionate about. You’ve told us to do things, and do them properly. You’ve said yourself that content is king and everything else is next.
Many of us here blog, because we love talking about our favorite things. I come to problogger to listen to tips and advice from other bloggers who run blogs that post content and not sell products. When did this place start becoming an actual how-to-make-money-blog? If the man who wrote this post invested his time in buying stocks or dealing real estate, he could have earned more money. Someone tell him about it.
Even if the author here explained how he went about making money, I would have understood why you asked him to write a post. It would have been a wake-up call for many and provided a good example of someone becoming successful and achieving his goals by following a method.
I think Darren has to screen guest posts more closely as rubbish is beginning to filter through as well.
I think the number of guest posts these days are on the rise. Surely, many of us here want to listed to Darren and other bloggers who’ve achieved ‘blogging goals’ than a man who has made money, and wants the world to know about it.
Hi David,
I can see the reason for the mixed reaction you are getting to this post in the comments.
While your intention and advice towards the end of the post is good, the first half to two thirds of it seems a bit controversial and full of assumptions as to what most other bloggers think.
Of course that is only my impression. A bit of controversy is always good.
What is confusing is that you seem to be saying both that posts aren’t important and that they are.
I think that if totally everything that is done on a blog is carefully calculated and aimed at extracting money from its readers it will inevitably turn some of them off.
Having an opt in form and getting people to opt in is indeed a great idea but making the blog into a big squeeze page would be too much I think.
Here is a sentence with which i completely agree and which is the reason why I’m glad I read your post (the first work of yours I think I’ve ever read):
“My suggestion is to regroup. Take whatever time you have available for your blog and divide it up. Spend part of the time thinking ahead by producing assets that will help you grow your business. Products to sell, content to use to build your email list, etc. Schedule this into your routine. Then, use the remaining time to write blog posts.”
Take care,
Vance
Yes I definitely agree, and that’s the very reason I had to create two blogs: one for my musings and the other for the real deal. Thanks for the tips.
David doesn’t really hold back does he, I can respect that. I think more people need to tell it like it is, as long as it’s not meant as a slap in the face.
I liked the post, but at the same time I can understand why it’s getting a mixed response.
Wow – two major schools of thought developing here, and perhaps that is why there is a lot of disagreement. I can understand both schools of thought, though.
On the one hand:
This post seems a little contradictory to the message and advice in 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, since so much of that talks about content and promotion, and not much on selling…
If we should all just “slap a blog” on top of our info product, we should stop buying info products that tell us how to build great blogs.
On the other hand:
I get what you are saying, and agree that if your goal is to make a lot of money, that needs to be really clear from the way your blog is laid out and promoted.
What you may have left out is that once you have your product, the content on your blog will either sell it or bury it.
But anyway, obviously a great post as it has really inspired some talk. :)
David, one thing i want to ask, if we consider internet traffic as 100% then how much are buying things on net? I think %age of such people are more how just read blogs. So in my opnion, alone creating your product is nothing. Though just blogging will earn you a lot as comapre to creating a product and then blog about it.