To summarize an hour of dialogue, you should at some point have a product that your readers will want. You should give a lot of free content away, but even when it comes to content, you can charge for some amount, and if your content is good enough, people will pay for the premium stuff. "You can tell them about ninety percent, and they'll pay money just to get the final ten percent," so they know they have the whole picture, Clark says.
Making money blogging will not happen overnight. Sometimes it may seem like this is possible, but in reality, it takes a lot of work. "Build something that is real and something that matters to people," Rowse advises. He shared a story about how he launched a product one day and literally watched the sales roll in. It was as if he had hit a button, and the cash just started flowing, but then he realized he had been working hard up to that point for over two years, promoting the blog, writing two posts a day, doing SEO, press releases, etc. It wasn't overnight.
You're not scalable, meaning that as your audience grows and more people want to connect with you, there will be a point where it just becomes too much. You have to set boundaries, otherwise you will have no time for yourself and your family.
Eventually, you're going to have to "get real" about how many meaningful connections you can make in a day, Simone says, adding, "That's part of growing up in social media.”
When they say "no one actually wants that much authenticity," they mean that nobody cares about what you did last night, who you were with, what you had for breakfast, etc. In other words, don't show everybody everything about yourself, because you're not writing for you. You're writing for them. Be who you want to be for your audience.
Ultimately, you're blogging and using social media to sell, but you can't just go around selling to people, because they won't have it. It just doesn't work. You have to make them want to buy. "You're selling yourself," says Clark. If you provide enough value to your audience, they will want to buy what you have to offer if it expands upon the value you're already giving them. "The content is the marketing," he says.
Just having a blog is not a business. If you want it to be a business you have to treat it like one, Rowse says. This is basically an extension of number 2.
The most important of the seven points is that no one is reading your blog. As Simone says, there are hundreds of millions of blogs, and that includes blogs on your topic. You have to write it in a way that is fresh, and either entertaining or informative. The good news is that you don't need "monster traffic". You just need a good, steady core audience for advertising to do well.
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts
I have been following the emergence and ultimate convergence of Internet and TV. The real crux will be content ownership and some sites made deals a year ago to produce shows for them. The ultimate switch will be similar to when the traditional networks lost eyes to cable channels. One misconception IMHO is this over 30 under 30 idea. Using age to demonstrate adaption trends is short sighted and frankly offensive. It puts into the social consciousness a sort of age bias that those over "40" already struggle with. It reminds me of an earlier decade belief in not trusting someone over 30. Not good relationship management.
Posted by: Judith Copeland |
September 29, 2010 9:02 PMthe problem with clicker is everyone already knows where to get the legal main content. Theres not too many places you can get ABC , FOX, NBC .. etc. They aren't solving a real problem. The real problem is finding all the places that I can find it outside of those channels if you know what I mean.
Posted by: guest |
September 29, 2010 9:55 PMGoogle TV has the opportunity to be a transformative milestone in the realization of TV convergence. Google’s Android platform in every user’s home will be open to developers, including Clicker, to run apps that will be able to engage viewers in unprecedented manners. Leaned-back couch potatoes will be offered opportunities to lean-forward and curate their converged media, share, learn take actions.
Closed captioning of both broadcast & online video will be a significant basis for converged TV experiences. Congress has passed, and the President will soon sign, directives to the FCC to have U.S. commercial broadcasters include these time-coded transcripts in all broadcast video content offered online. These metadata can be used by semantic engines to derive highly granular dynamic understanding of the content and better present viewers with powerful recommendations.
Posted by: R Macdonald |
September 29, 2010 9:59 PMWell if Google starts working on it, there's a little chance for other companies unless they can come up with a real innovation and withstand the temptation of selling it out to google. As for online TV, I really hope that they find a smart compromise between producers protecting their content and users wanting it all for free.
Posted by: essay_writing |
September 30, 2010 1:45 AMThe switch from TV over the internet was always going to happen. It will be interesting to see how many peple embrace this change!
Posted by: Dom |
September 30, 2010 2:01 AMIt is expected of Free TV channels to set up their own channel over the internet as others are well gearing up for this. Me for one will use Internet TV if that will be free (for Free Channels) but won’t even pay a dime for Pay Channels since I do have it on cable. Kill the cable first before expecting users to pay for Internet TV.
Posted by: Steve Jobs |
September 30, 2010 8:46 AMIf there is a labeled group that I must fall into then I would be a 'Cable cutter/never'. oh well, like politics two groups do not define the nation's opinion.
I have been cable free for years. Lost the privilege one year and the spell was broken. I watched what I could get/receive from the roof antenna. Then the internet was suddenly quite a resource as I discovered people uploaded their season long DVR recordings and shared to many public sites. These hard to find sites called for registration or a number of uploads to contribute.
Further research found major television companies sharing episodes and highlight reels. Then I heard about a young Hulu.com from a programmer friend who built a major tv site's app and then the Hulu.com app. Nice. This was free with registration and you could setup subscriptions and just scan your queue for what's new.
Another great value is in sites like CastTv.com where we have a resource of shows found all over the web and they simply link you to the sites with the episodes. No fee. They even monitor when a program reaches the end of a season and goes to DVD or the producer earmarks an episode(Ex: Star Wars The Clone Wars to a paid format only).
The tv community is on the move to the web and more will follow as Cable tries to compensate with fees and threatens stations with new contracts. Then we have companies supporting the community with $150 Blue Ray players and $99 Apple Tv that are pushing those internet shows to the front room television directly from your computer. We can get it all in HD quality on youtube, International tv stations, netflix, news shows and old tv series (VHS recordings salvaged and uploaded) that have been forgotten. All of this uploaded and available for the international viewing audience.Posted by: Eric |
September 30, 2010 12:43 PMthis concept is going to rule the future generation TV.
Posted by: san diego zoo |
October 3, 2010 12:38 PMWatching TV in the internet would be a big favor for people who spends most of their time facing their laptop or PC because of their work. Now they are able to enjoy and relax a bit watching their favorite TV show while using their unit.
Posted by: satellite t.v. for p.c |
October 11, 2010 11:58 PMI have been following the emergence and ultimate convergence of Internet and TV. The real crux will be content ownership and some sites made deals a year ago to produce shows for them. The ultimate switch will be similar to when the traditional networks lost eyes to cable channels. One misconception IMHO is this over 30 under 30 idea. Using age to demonstrate adaption trends is short sighted and frankly offensive. It puts into the social consciousness a sort of age bias that those over "40" already struggle with. It reminds me of an earlier decade belief in not trusting someone over 30. Not good relationship management.
Posted by: Judith Copeland |
September 29, 2010 9:02 PMthe problem with clicker is everyone already knows where to get the legal main content. Theres not too many places you can get ABC , FOX, NBC .. etc. They aren't solving a real problem. The real problem is finding all the places that I can find it outside of those channels if you know what I mean.
Posted by: guest |
September 29, 2010 9:55 PMGoogle TV has the opportunity to be a transformative milestone in the realization of TV convergence. Google’s Android platform in every user’s home will be open to developers, including Clicker, to run apps that will be able to engage viewers in unprecedented manners. Leaned-back couch potatoes will be offered opportunities to lean-forward and curate their converged media, share, learn take actions.
Closed captioning of both broadcast & online video will be a significant basis for converged TV experiences. Congress has passed, and the President will soon sign, directives to the FCC to have U.S. commercial broadcasters include these time-coded transcripts in all broadcast video content offered online. These metadata can be used by semantic engines to derive highly granular dynamic understanding of the content and better present viewers with powerful recommendations.
Posted by: R Macdonald |
September 29, 2010 9:59 PMWell if Google starts working on it, there's a little chance for other companies unless they can come up with a real innovation and withstand the temptation of selling it out to google. As for online TV, I really hope that they find a smart compromise between producers protecting their content and users wanting it all for free.
Posted by: essay_writing |
September 30, 2010 1:45 AMThe switch from TV over the internet was always going to happen. It will be interesting to see how many peple embrace this change!
Posted by: Dom |
September 30, 2010 2:01 AMIt is expected of Free TV channels to set up their own channel over the internet as others are well gearing up for this. Me for one will use Internet TV if that will be free (for Free Channels) but won’t even pay a dime for Pay Channels since I do have it on cable. Kill the cable first before expecting users to pay for Internet TV.
Posted by: Steve Jobs |
September 30, 2010 8:46 AMIf there is a labeled group that I must fall into then I would be a 'Cable cutter/never'. oh well, like politics two groups do not define the nation's opinion.
I have been cable free for years. Lost the privilege one year and the spell was broken. I watched what I could get/receive from the roof antenna. Then the internet was suddenly quite a resource as I discovered people uploaded their season long DVR recordings and shared to many public sites. These hard to find sites called for registration or a number of uploads to contribute.
Further research found major television companies sharing episodes and highlight reels. Then I heard about a young Hulu.com from a programmer friend who built a major tv site's app and then the Hulu.com app. Nice. This was free with registration and you could setup subscriptions and just scan your queue for what's new.
Another great value is in sites like CastTv.com where we have a resource of shows found all over the web and they simply link you to the sites with the episodes. No fee. They even monitor when a program reaches the end of a season and goes to DVD or the producer earmarks an episode(Ex: Star Wars The Clone Wars to a paid format only).
The tv community is on the move to the web and more will follow as Cable tries to compensate with fees and threatens stations with new contracts. Then we have companies supporting the community with $150 Blue Ray players and $99 Apple Tv that are pushing those internet shows to the front room television directly from your computer. We can get it all in HD quality on youtube, International tv stations, netflix, news shows and old tv series (VHS recordings salvaged and uploaded) that have been forgotten. All of this uploaded and available for the international viewing audience.Posted by: Eric |
September 30, 2010 12:43 PMthis concept is going to rule the future generation TV.
Posted by: san diego zoo |
October 3, 2010 12:38 PMWatching TV in the internet would be a big favor for people who spends most of their time facing their laptop or PC because of their work. Now they are able to enjoy and relax a bit watching their favorite TV show while using their unit.
Posted by: satellite t.v. for p.c |
October 11, 2010 11:58 PM
ABC <b>News</b> for iPad adds 2010 Election Results | iLounge <b>News</b>
iLounge news discussing the ABC News for iPad adds 2010 Election Results. Find more iPad news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.
Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media Secrets
Pssst. We've got something important to tell you about a new tool that can totally transform your business. In terms of upfront investment, there is no cost,
BREAKING <b>NEWS</b>: The Hobbit Stays In New Zealand | Hobbit Movie <b>News</b> <b>...</b>
The night is darkest ere the dawn... and dawn has ever been the hope of Men! After days of closed door talks between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and.
atlanta property management
ABC <b>News</b> for iPad adds 2010 Election Results | iLounge <b>News</b>
iLounge news discussing the ABC News for iPad adds 2010 Election Results. Find more iPad news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.
Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media Secrets
Pssst. We've got something important to tell you about a new tool that can totally transform your business. In terms of upfront investment, there is no cost,
BREAKING <b>NEWS</b>: The Hobbit Stays In New Zealand | Hobbit Movie <b>News</b> <b>...</b>
The night is darkest ere the dawn... and dawn has ever been the hope of Men! After days of closed door talks between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and.
To summarize an hour of dialogue, you should at some point have a product that your readers will want. You should give a lot of free content away, but even when it comes to content, you can charge for some amount, and if your content is good enough, people will pay for the premium stuff. "You can tell them about ninety percent, and they'll pay money just to get the final ten percent," so they know they have the whole picture, Clark says.
Making money blogging will not happen overnight. Sometimes it may seem like this is possible, but in reality, it takes a lot of work. "Build something that is real and something that matters to people," Rowse advises. He shared a story about how he launched a product one day and literally watched the sales roll in. It was as if he had hit a button, and the cash just started flowing, but then he realized he had been working hard up to that point for over two years, promoting the blog, writing two posts a day, doing SEO, press releases, etc. It wasn't overnight.
You're not scalable, meaning that as your audience grows and more people want to connect with you, there will be a point where it just becomes too much. You have to set boundaries, otherwise you will have no time for yourself and your family.
Eventually, you're going to have to "get real" about how many meaningful connections you can make in a day, Simone says, adding, "That's part of growing up in social media.”
When they say "no one actually wants that much authenticity," they mean that nobody cares about what you did last night, who you were with, what you had for breakfast, etc. In other words, don't show everybody everything about yourself, because you're not writing for you. You're writing for them. Be who you want to be for your audience.
Ultimately, you're blogging and using social media to sell, but you can't just go around selling to people, because they won't have it. It just doesn't work. You have to make them want to buy. "You're selling yourself," says Clark. If you provide enough value to your audience, they will want to buy what you have to offer if it expands upon the value you're already giving them. "The content is the marketing," he says.
Just having a blog is not a business. If you want it to be a business you have to treat it like one, Rowse says. This is basically an extension of number 2.
The most important of the seven points is that no one is reading your blog. As Simone says, there are hundreds of millions of blogs, and that includes blogs on your topic. You have to write it in a way that is fresh, and either entertaining or informative. The good news is that you don't need "monster traffic". You just need a good, steady core audience for advertising to do well.
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts
ABC <b>News</b> for iPad adds 2010 Election Results | iLounge <b>News</b>
iLounge news discussing the ABC News for iPad adds 2010 Election Results. Find more iPad news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.
Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media Secrets
Pssst. We've got something important to tell you about a new tool that can totally transform your business. In terms of upfront investment, there is no cost,
BREAKING <b>NEWS</b>: The Hobbit Stays In New Zealand | Hobbit Movie <b>News</b> <b>...</b>
The night is darkest ere the dawn... and dawn has ever been the hope of Men! After days of closed door talks between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and.
ABC <b>News</b> for iPad adds 2010 Election Results | iLounge <b>News</b>
iLounge news discussing the ABC News for iPad adds 2010 Election Results. Find more iPad news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.
Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media Secrets
Pssst. We've got something important to tell you about a new tool that can totally transform your business. In terms of upfront investment, there is no cost,
BREAKING <b>NEWS</b>: The Hobbit Stays In New Zealand | Hobbit Movie <b>News</b> <b>...</b>
The night is darkest ere the dawn... and dawn has ever been the hope of Men! After days of closed door talks between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and.
