Rule 1 | With an audience, it is about the topic
Write down as much as you like about the mating habits of Tsetse flies, and unless it unexpectedly becomes part of the school curriculum, the audience will be limited.
On the other hand, (with quite a bit of competition), a Love Island blog could have a massive following of 15 to 25-year-olds overnight.
Competition isn’t a negative sign. For the types of blogs that make money, it’s a clear sign that your community exists. It’s easier to have an audience than no audience at all in a competitive market.
With no competition, you can dream of finding a large audience, but it’s a bit like chasing gold pots at the end of rainbows. Eventually, you have to accept reality.
Rule 2 | The size of the audience limits the amount of money you can earn from blogging.
I once read a Neil Patel post complaining about how his audience size limits his growth. I can’t find a post, but you might suggest he’s big enough anyway, and he should probably start taking a holiday or two.
He did have an argument. The size of your audience must be high enough to satisfy your money-making plans. It’s certainly a consideration when it comes to the types of blogs that make money.
We’re not just concerned about making as much money as Neil. It’s just good enough to replace the day job. (Maybe some day he’ll find some other goals, but in the meantime, thank you Neil for all the free stuff). But you do need a fair audience.
Rule 3 | You need to know how you can make money
And what would I mean by that?
Let’s come up with an instance. I practice yoga. It’s a topic on my new lifestyle blog that I’m writing a little bit about. What if it was in my blog all about yoga?
It’s a very common topic, and I’m sure I’ll get some traffic. But selling yoga clothes, mats and yoga equipment or designing yoga courses to make money from yoga are the choices.
Here I’m not an educated instructor of yoga, just an enthusiast. No-going one’s to spend the money to watch me show the dog downwards.
I don’t want to start a yoga apparel company, (been there, got the t-shirt, done that), but I could make money from affiliate marketing. Affiliate ties to yoga brands or just by Amazon Associates make up about 5 percent of transaction.
It’s not a great salary, but for certain people, that might be enough. Everything depends on what you are looking for. Or how ingenious.
It was possible to set up a UK version of Gaia (or a German version, or a Spanish version). Bring together groups of yoga instructors and sell your videos online through a membership platform.
It’s still related to blogging and you can develop this kind of site that works from home. But it’s a big stretch for most individuals who just want to start a blog.
Rule 4 | Write for your audience
Even with the best of intentions, getting this one wrong is too easy. I’m guilty of having done that! Writing for my blog on lifestyle, in particular. I’m beginning to write about places I’ve been to and I’m overcome with nostalgia right away. Instead of writing for my audience, I am writing about the stuff I love to do.
Does this matter? Well. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I’m falling into a pit on my lifestyle blog, where I am writing about some very adventurous things. I need to remember that most of my readers may not have a history of climbing. To show them writing about “I did this” and “I did that” is not really appealing. Writing at all times for your audience is the secret.
The 10 kinds of blogs that make money and the rules for making money
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Rule 5 | Put forth your best self
We have a book in our house which is called The Rules. It is a satirical book about the cycling discipline. “is Rule No 5.”is Rule No 5.
The “I transformed myself and you can too” format works for a blog and it can be very efficient. In fact, they are scarcely effective when you realize that so many of these blogs play fast and loose with the facts. It’s just that it doesn’t cut, “I’ve transformed myself and I’ve had a really bad spell now and I’m back at square one,”
I’m not saying you’re dishonest, but you need your best self to be put forward. What your readers want are solutions and hope. They want to believe that because you have ideas, lose weight, find a perfect mate, get their lives on track, you can solve their problems. You need to tell them how to make this happen.
There is nothing for them in it if you do not give them answers. “This helped me and can help you too must be the format. Knowing someone who with the same problems is only going to cut it so far. To find responses, many people read blogs, so harden up the * and provide them.
Rule 6 | Make it personal
In my book, this rule is controversial. There are plenty of truly effective, totally impersonal blogs. This rule is certainly a possibility!
There are some types of blogs where being personal is important. Take this one for example. I’m writing about my thoughts. I need to bring a piece of myself into this blog to build authority. Prove that I know what I’m alluding to. Demonstrate that I have 15+ years of experience of making money online.
But this blog could be completely different. I could just supply technical tips for blogging in a totally impersonal way and that would also work. It will just be a blog that includes advice and information. I will tell you how things should be set up and leave out my thoughts about what is best.
I assume it can be ignored by Rule 6 #.