Mario Armstrong: From Free to Fee (Blogalicious Conference 2012)

From Free to FeeTurning Your Passion into a Business 21 day challenge to more revenue Mario Armstrong 1

Mario ArmstrongDigital Lifestyle Expert 2

Lets get one thing straight: STARTING RIGHT NOW, YOURE NOT JUST A BLOGGER.3

Youre a media company. By the end of this hour, youll know exactly what I mean.4

START THINKING OF YOURSELF AS AMEDIA COMPANY Tell YOUR why, not the what Tellingme you are a fashion blogger or cover entrepreneurship doesn’t say anything about WHY – and I don’t know what YOU bring to the table. Itell people “I’m all about inspiring people to better their lives by showing them how technology can help them achieve their goals I wouldn’t say “I blog about tech”

If CONTENT is KING thenSPONSORSHIPS sustain the kingdom!Great content is expected but not automatically financially rewarded!

FIRST, I WANT TO ASK YOU AQUESTION! Whats the #1 problem you face in running your blog? - Traffic - Monetization - Technical challenges - Time (I need more hours in the day) 7

16 ways to generate revenue Online EventsE-books  (webinars, live streaming)Public Speaking Offline EventsConsulting  Sponsored meetups, conferencesSMT’s Liveblogging specialsTwitter Chats Paid TV/Radio contributorBooks (e-books & paperbk) Blog contributorVideo blogging BlogTalk RadioDevelop products in your Adwords niche (i.e. MAM patent) Webinars 8

Your plan will take you to the next level:. the media company Today were going to walk through the kinds of things your plan should include, plus some examples from my life and my business.

My Story Just a few years ago I was like many of you. I knew my passion, what I wanted to spend my days doing.1999 1999-2007 2005-2007 2007-current CurrentRadio Show Full Time job, Nicole quit to start Both full time on theIdea working passion on building the business Still playing recession side business, develop catchup pricing models, AOL $250K was “You Work 9a-5p -- Chasing passion infrastructure, supposed to be a TAXES!!!! Ohh yeah shoe-in, we spent $ You make history by working for started & a $52,000 payment from 5p-9am” FREE generating very on legal fees & signed – WAKE UP CALL Mario Armstrong (5am winter small revenue it, but on the way to mornings on the mtng where they Grown to 8 staff ABC2, WEAA etc.) were going to sign. members They called & said no go, there was change in Mgt. To make it worse the Recession hits

AND WE’VE BEEN THERE: Maxed credit cards, had a 2 year old son to take care of and we were flat broke! This was the defining moment - keep going or quit! Many tears and a lot of pain!

S&%T GOT REAL!When I was collecting change to scrape up enough to buy gas, it was a very real bottom for us!

That’s proof that a huge part of your plan needs to be around how to make money.But generating revenue goes hand-in-hand with increasing your audience and exposure. So we’re going to talk about both, and you’ll see why.

WHAT THEY DON’T TELLYOU ABOUT FOLLOWINGYOUR PASSION:Its harder than you thinkYoull want to give upIts going to take timeInner Demons await – Beware the DREAMKILLERYou have to SELL. (But really, selling is helping other people improve their lives - with what YOU have to offer)

Let’s make money $$$$

16 ways to generate revenue Online EventsE-books  (webinars, live streaming)Public Speaking Offline EventsConsulting  Sponsored meetups, conferencesSMT’s Liveblogging specialsTwitter Chats Paid TV/Radio contributorBooks (e-books & paperbk) Blog contributorVideo blogging BlogTalk RadioDevelop products in your Adwords niche (i.e. MAM patent) Webinars 16

Public $peaking Great way to generate a buzz After buzz building – start charging Don’t be shy with your fees Starting out ask for $1000-$2000 We went from $500 to $2000 to $5000 to $8000 to now $10,000

Online Events – Live streaming 18

Online Events – Live streaming stats 997,621 minutes watched 75,931 unique views 22 sites and blogs carried the Livestream Huff Post, The Root, Politic365, SocialWayne, BlackPlanet etc… 19

Online Events – Live streaming Give your content away for free to top tier sites Charge sponsors for the COMBINED reach Not just your reach, which enables you to sell big 20

WEBINARS1. Free:Do for Freeto buildcredibility2. Charge:Work with asponsor, whopays for yourtime

TWITTER CHATSUse your expertise,not selling theirwaresThey pay for yourtime and reach

Real-time Publishing sponsoredLive Blog!Take advantage of a live event that has an audience to provide your take: news, a TV show, festival, conference, whatever. There are tons of possibilities. Most people pre-write a post or talk about it after the fact - dont be most people!After all, why just live tweet your thoughts for Twitters sake? Youre just sending that money (traffic) to Twitter. Live blog and tweet thoughts w/links to your site so you can take advantage and build your network at the same time!

TV ContributorIdentify local networksPitch topics that are timely i.e. Back to School, Holidays, News Events no product placement or pitching brands that pay you $ for other workStart as a guest (learn, learn, learn)Grow from there 24

Paid BloggerBlog for a brand!Identify the brand!Researchfor theunique opening!Find a contact(use social graph)Begin dialogue

Mobile Video… Socialcam appMake sure to cut through all the clutter so theyhear you.Its time to get creative!

Mobile VideoUse video to augment blog postsDon’t tell me SHOW meBuild community of followers, share to all socialEmbed on your blogUse their API to curate & post on your site

What I learned from my #Socamshow12k on twitter BUT 1.5m on Socialcam (find ur home) Analytics too!

This kind of diversification is hugeRemember, youre a media company.Because when it comes time to pitch a sponsor, you want to give them everything youve got!The more assets you have, the more places you can include them.

We have the tech for lots of things.But not for you to clone yourself.I dont think?

So how do you scale YOU?Play to your strengths Outsource your weaknesses & & reinvest $ in the biz

21 DAY CHALLENGE -Start with ahealthybreakfast

21 DAY CHALLENGE5 steps:1. Writedown 3 most repetitive tasks (life or biz) then figure out how to outsource, automate, consolidate2. List at least 5 new ways to generate revenue3. List 3 new ways to expand your audience reach4. Develop a list of at least 15 brands you’d like to work with5. Develop a 90-day plan w/specific deliverables

Find YOUR inner-kidTrampoline YOUR DREAMS 34

Thank you@MarioArmstrongWeb: www.MarioArmstrong.com@MarioArmstrong/MarioArmstrong 35

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Mario Armstrong: From Free to Fee (Blogalicious Conference 2012)

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Mario Armstrong: From Free to Fee (Blogalicious Conference 2012) Presentation Transcript