Guide To Business Blogging V2

Table of Conents

Preface 3
Introduction 4
What is it? 6
Why Blog? 7
Plan plan plan, then plan 9
What Should I Write? 12
If You Built it, They Will Come (NOT!) 14
How do I Make Money From This Thing? 16 A Guide To Business Blogging is copyright 2007 by The
Next Steps 17 Blog Studio. This is an ever evolving guide. As such, it’s
Links and Resources 18 not completely fleshed out, and still a bit rough around
the edges. The advice contained herein has worked very
well for me and several of my clients. That being said,
there’s no guarantee it will work for you.

A Guide to Business Blogging | ©007 The Blog Studio | www.theblogstudio.com | info@theblogstudio.com

Preface:
sphere has become a crowded place, and a good design

has become de-riguer. Note that design means how

something works, not how it looks. I’m not talking about

graphics. I’m talking about layout, content hierarchy, and

usability. Graphics count of course, but you can get by

without them. You cannot get by without design.
What’s changed since the first edition?

The other big changes are media and social sites. It’s

become extremely easy to integrate video and audio

into your blog posts. These are both very effective ways

to build strong ties with your audience. I spend a bit of
What’s changed since the first edition of this guide? A holds up today. What’s more, as sanity has slowly spread
time examining what you should consider in the Plan-
lot! When I wrote the first edition of this guide way way over the blogosphere, the concept of planning a busi-
ning section of the guide.
back in ‘05, business blogging was a new pursuit. Few ness blog has become the norm, not the wild exception

people had heard of blogs, and fewer still of using them it was when I typed this up. In other words, business
Social sites like Digg have also changed the playing field,
for business. The blogosphere was a brash, wild place, blogging has matured. It’s not quite the seat of the pants
especially when it comes to promoting your site. It’s
littered with schemes and snake oil salesmen offering learn as you go free for all it was a couple of years ago.
now possible to go from no traffic to huge traffic in a
reams of contradictory advice. I wrote this guide to give a There are precedents now. As a whole, the business end
very short period of time. I’ll outline how, and point to
top down look at the practical decisions a business blog- of the blogosphere has figured out what works and what
resources for learning more.
ger should make before a post is ever written. I wanted doesn’t.

to give an insight into the planning process I had used to
What hasn’t changed in all of this is the incredible effec-
launch quite a few successful blogs on behalf of myself Design has finally been recognized as a key component
tiveness of blogging for business. To this day, all of my
and my clients. of a business blog. As I say elsewhere in this guide, you
new business comes in via blogging. There are hundreds
can be a successful business blogger without a custom
of thousands of similar success stories out there. I hope
Every word that I wrote about planning and strategy design. But it sure makes it more difficult. The blogo-
this guide helps you to become one of them!


Introduction: encompass a couple of subjects I’m particularly inter-

ested in - branding, brain science, design and business.

My audience grew from a few readers per day to a few

hundred. And suddenly I was getting work enquiries

and requests to contribute to other publications. Some
Why oh why does the world need another book on blogging?
of those guest writing gigs led to more work, which led

to more work... Seven months after I started my blog, I

left my full time job to concentrate on my burgeoning

freelance business.

Why indeed! Why don’t I just put together a list of links Blogging has allowed me to connect with an incredible
What’s more (and this is more important) is that the
to existing articles?” I wonder to myself., not for the first network of clients, suppliers, and collaborators. Virtually
work I’m doing now is EXACTLY the kind of work I love
time. all of my new business comes via my blogs, and almost
to do. By simply sharing my passion for design, brand-
all of it was completely unexpected.
In and of itself, that’s not a bad plan. I’ve included a list ing and blogging, I’ve built a busy practice doing what I

of links to articles for further reading at the end of the I started blogging in October 2004. I built my first blog love to do. And you can too.

guide. (at peterflaschner.com, still alive and kicking today) in an
It was never my intention to blog for business. I just
effort to learn the tools and to simply experiment with
But the articles lack a certain cohesiveness, and a wrote about topics of interest to me. It was a purely self-
design. I decided early on that my audience would be
unifying sense of humour. Most miss or skim the most ish exercise in exploring my passions. Which is probably
my close peers - other designers venturing out onto the
important step in setting up a successful business blog: why my view of what business blogging is and what it
blogosphere for the first time. My posts were basically
planning. can do is a bit different than some others.
tutorials on software and design.

My own experience with blogging has been nothing Conventional business blogging wisdom is full of rules.
By posting a couple of messages on relevant forums and
short of revolutionary. Blogging has completely changed Post X number of times per week. Talk about this, but
commenting on other’s blogs, I began to attract a small,
my business and my life. And I think my experience has don’t talk about that. Allow comments. Don’t allow com-
regular readership. Over the weeks, my focus shifted to
some value. I’d like to share that with you. ments. Keep your posts short. Make your posts long.


directly at peter@theblogstudio.com

I’ve kept this guide as short as I can, so you can read it

and get on with your life. My intention for writing this is

to encourage you to blog. Hopefully, you’ll choose to do

so. If you do, I hope you’ll consider choosing to use some
Write with passion on topics you are passionate about. of the services The Blog Studio offers. We’re here to help

you reach your blogging goals.

About the author:

Peter Flaschner (that’s me) is
My direct experience tells me that a different set of rules So I’ve decided to go ahead and just write this thing. a designer with a keen interest
will determine your business blogging success. This This guide is aimed at a reader who is contemplating in branding, marketing, and
highly simplistic rule set reads as follows: entereing the business blogging fray. If you’re already all things business. His formal
blogging, you may find the content useful, but I’m not training is in marketing and graphic design. Before ven-
Write with passion on topics you are passionate about.
aiming directly at you. Regardless of your experience, the turing forth into the wonderful world of the web, Peter
That’s it. resources and links at the end of the guide will be help- was the owner/manager of a multimillion dollar per year
ful (and dare I say it - fun), chain of sporting good stores. Before that, he worked
We blog people tend to get a bit caught up in the IM-
as an advertising executive on a couple of national ac-
PORTANCE and POWER of blogs. We get all evangelical The version you are reading today is the second edition.
counts. He’s experienced design first as a consumer,
and somewhat nutty discussing the potential blogs have Like software, it’s being released in versions. I do not
then a client, and finally as a designer himself.
for businesses and the people who run them. The reason need to tell you how fast information changes online.
we do this is pretty simple: we’ve seen it work. And like In essence that means that it’s a bit rough around the When he isn’t in front of his computer or meeting with
true belivers everywhere, we want to tell everyone we edges. Some of the sections aren’t complete (probably his clients, you can find Peter hard at play with his two
meet about our brilliant find. never will be!), and the editing still has a ways to go. girls, or riding his ridiculously expensive bicycle.
If you have any suggestions, please send them to me


What is it?

The dreaded question! Ask 100 people, get 100 answers. For the
purpose of this document, a blog is a website that is regularly concepts, you have to live with this one for a bit before it
updated with content, usually around a central topic. really sinks in. Suffice it to say it’s a huge component in

blogging’s effectiveness.

And Business Blogging is?
A Content Management System?
That’s really all there is to it. A blog is a website, just Business blogging is blogging done for business. What
like any other site out there. It usually has some added that means depends on the business you’re in, your
A content management system is a program that allows
functionality, like the ability to send your content out (so goals, and your personality.
you to easily update your website without having to
your readers don’t have to check to see if you’ve updated
worry about mucking around in code. Most CMS’s use One very effective business blog tracks industry news.
the site), an easy to update back end system, automated
familiar word processor like interfaces, allowing you to Another offers commentary on targeted world events.
archives, usually the ability to categorize information.
easily input and format your text. Another discusses a daughter’s teenage rebellion.
A blog can be your only web presence, it can be a second-
Many modern CMS’s include the ability to push your Each of these is a business blog, in that its primary (or
ary web presence, or it can be integrated into your exist-
content out to users who have subscribed to your site. secondary) intent is to achieve one or more business
ing web presence. In fact, using a blog platform to power
This means that your readers don’t have to come to you goals.
your entire web site is easy and extremely cost-effective.
when you update your site. They’ll automatically be
For example, The Blog Studio site is completely powered There are as many business blogs and business blogging
notified when you’ve written a new post. This simple
by Expression Engine, a low cost, easy to use, well sup- strategies as there are business goals. How you acheive
little thing - called RSS for Really Simple Syndication - is
ported content management system. those goals is irrelevant to the definition.
completely revolutionary. Like many paradigm shifting


Why blog?

Because it works.

I suppose this deserves some elaboration. But when you get to
the heart of the matter, blogging just works. Often very well. But is it for me?

A couple of columns over, I wrote “I can’t think of a case

where blogging wouldn’t help a business in some way

or another”. That’s true. What I neglected to mention
• Want to build top of mind awareness for you,
Blogs are a terrific way to promote yourself and your
however is that blogging can carry a terrific cost. It may
your products or your services?
business. Unless you’re a corporate spy, I can’t think of
very well not make sense for all businesses - the return
• Want to show the world you’re not afraid of
a case where blogging wouldn’t help your business in
on investment may be too small to warrant the time and
innovation?
some way or another.
effort involved.
• Want to strengthen and promote your brand?
• Have a product to sell?
• Want to quickly and easily poll your best
How do you determine if it’s right for you? It depends on
• Have a service to offer?
customers?
your business sector, your business goals, your current
• Want to establish or promote yourself as an
• Want to control your own press releases?
marketing, and your future plans. In order to successful-
authority?
• Want to be engaged in a conversation about
ly answer this, we’ve got to go through a series of steps.
• Want to reach an active, passionate consumer
your company?
This is very similar to the process we use in our consult-
base?
• Want to form long lasting, positive relation-
ing sessions. Obviously, I can’t duplicate a 3 hour session
• Want to build an emotive network with your
ships with your readers?
in a couple of paragraphs, but I’ll outline the process I’d
audience?
use to help you determine if business blogging makes
• Want to leverage your existing customer base
sense for you.
to spread your message?

7

Step One: Identify General Goals One of the major ways the
is more precious than money, consider outsourcing the

setup and design of the blog, the creation of new con- blogosphere has changed since I
What are your overall business goals?
tent, the promotion/marketing, or ongoing maintenance.
wrote this guide back in 2005 is
Which of those goals can blogging help you achieve?

the speed with which a blog can
The design of your blog is one of the most effective tools
Blogs are very effective at:
develop traffic. Blog readership
at your disposal when it comes to speeding up results.
spreading a message
has gone way up, and with it, the
Good design is arresting - it graps the readers attention
establishing authority
ability to earn quality traffic. Social
and leads her through your content. With bad design,
connecting groups of interested readers
bookmarking sites like del.ico.us
your blog is just one more not so hot result in a google
networking
and Digg can send HUGE traffic
search. Worse, it may discredit the content itself.
giving a brand a human face

your way. Learn how to use these
reaching a wide audience

amazing resources.
getting exposure
Step Three: Establish Blogging Goals
How important are those particular goals to your overall
Knowing your businesses’ goals, and knowing what
goal? ie how much weight should you give to what blog-
blogs are capable of, we can set realistic online and of-
ging can do for you?
fline targets. It’s important to identify specific, mea- Number of downloads of a white paper
Step Two: Resource Analysis surable goals, so that you can manage and tweak your Number of times an article is referenced by others
efforts.
Which is more valuable to you at the moment: time or
Step Four: Develop Time/Cost Esti-
money?
Measurable goals include: mate
Be honest. Blogging takes time to achieve results. The How much investment will it require to achieve your
Reach (number of unique visits)
exception to this case is where a company has a good blogging goals? How much impact will this have on your
Stickiness (length of a visit)
sized advertising program in place it can leverage to overall business goals? With these questions answered,
Number of comments
create blog visitors. Blogging is one of those tools where it becomes pretty clear whether blogging is a good use of
Number of subscribers to your site
throwing money at it can speed up your results. If time your resources.
Number of subscribers to an email newsletter


Plan, plan, plan, then plan different strategy all together.

Think about this stuff carefully. You want to make your

site as useful for your target audience as you can. But
Take a couple of hours up front to dramatically shorten your learning
you need to balance content and screen real-estate. Make
curve, improve your odds of success, and make the process much
your site too busy, and people will flee. Guaranteed.
more fun and rewarding.
3. Technology plan
This is tricky. This section could be a book unto itself.

Let’s start macro and work down from there.

Blogs use a type of software to manage all the magic that
2. Info plan
Knowing what you’re going to say, how often you’ll be
happens behind the scenes. A blog, like every web site,
saying it, and what other kind of content you’ll want to Other than your posts, what other type of information
needs to be hosted somewhere, ie it needs a home. There
include - audio, video, pictures, pdf documents - will will you share on your blog? You contact info? Link to
are two approaches one can take.
make setting up your blog a relative breeze. This be- your other site? What about a list of your most popular
comes especially apparent when we get to the technologi- posts, or links to various categories of posts? How about The first is to go the all-in-one route. Services like Type-
cal part of the process. links to other sites of interest? pad offer hosting and blog software in one easy to use

(and easy to pay) service. See the resources list at the end
We can break planning down into a number of catego- Your overall blogging goals may influence some of these
for my recommendations.
ries. decisions. If you’re trying to capture your readers’ atten-

tion for as long as possible, you’ll want to make your site The other is to arrange your own hosting, and install
1. Content plan
as sticky as possible. This means including all kinds of your own software (or have someone *cough* The Blog
What are you going to say? How often will you be saying
internal links to other posts. Studio *cough*) do it for you.
it? How long will your posts be? Think this through.

Knowing this up front may make certain decisions easier On the other hand, you may want to get your visitors off Going the roll your own route can be a fair bit less
as you progress. your blog and onto your other site. That will require a


expensive, but is not for the techno-phobic. It’s not hard are open source projects, and are available at no cost. blog design. To understand my reasons for doing so, we

to do, but it does require some specialized knowledge. Others, like Expression Engine and Movable Type have have to first look at the concept of BRAND, then at the

The advantages though are many - integration with your reasonable license fees (usally under $300 for a very importance of layout.

existing site, ability to mix different types of content, the robust, supported system). There are a couple of factors
First, a BRAND is not a logo. It’s not a company’s letter
ability to upload different types of files (podcasts, videos, that affect why you’d choose one over the other. One
head, nor is it a sign on a door. A company’s brand ex-
you name it), the ability to fully customize the look and of the key considerations is your own level of technical
ists in the minds of its staff, customers, suppliers, and
feel of your site... The list goes on and on. kung-fu. Do you want to see all the whirring gears and
prospects. It’s the sum of the experiences one has with
mechanics, or do you want the simple to use control
The biggest drawback to going the all-in-one route a company, and the expectation that certain events or
panel to click through?
relates to your brand. For better or worse, Typepad and experiences will be met.

its competitors (WordPress.com, blogger.com, et al) use If the thought of touching html makes you squirm, go
A blog is a hugely powerful branding tool. If branding
templates that are particularly difficult to customize to with one of the hosted services. WordPress.com and
is important to your company, care must be taken to en-
your branding needs. This alone makes it an untenable blogger.com offer a free basic blog to anyone. My recom-
sure your blog and your brand jive. Failing to do so can
solution in many cases. mendation is wordpress.com, as it will give you some
seriously jeopardize your existing efforts. Why? Reading
features not available on blogger.com, including the abil-
What Typepad et al do offer is a very quick and easy way and responding to blogs is a very personal experience.
ity to categorize your posts.
to get going. It’s intimate in a way that reading a newspaper ad isn’t.

If you know your way around basic html, you can’t go It’s an ongoing experience, re-inforced time and again.
The Blog Studio runs on a product called Expression
wrong with either WordPress or Expression Engine.
Engine. This reasonably priced program is fast, well sup- So design is important from a brand perspective. But
Other notables in the open source Textpattern, or the
ported, and incredibly powerful. We also use a fantatic its also important from a communication perspective.
previously mentioned Movable Type.
open source bit of software called WordPress quite a lot. Non-verbal communications play a massive part of face

4. Design to face or voice to voice conversations. In print or on the
Choosing blogging software can be a bit daunting. There
I think it goes without saying that I have some rather web, its up to a layout designer to interpret and support a
are quite a few options available. Some, like WordPress
strong opinions when it comes to the importance of writer’s intentions.

10

This is hard enough to do in a magazine with a month- can you do to lead your reader to your desired outcome? After determining that blogging makes sense for them,

long lead time. Trying to accomplish the same thing on many make the move to a professionally designed site.
As a blog designer, a lot of my time is spent working out
an ever changing blog is tough. But not impossible. Your
these details. They’re never the same twice, as no two Frankly, this makes a lot of sense. Assuming you do one
investment with your business blog will be significant,
sites have identical reasons for being. simple thing right off the bat. Use your own domain
if not in cash then in time. Investing in a good design
name. You don’t want to get stuck with a subdomain
shows the world that you are serious about your content There are a number of design options available to you.
from your blogging provider. It will make moving your
and serious about your business. These range from full custom design to pre-made tem-
blog later a pain in the rear if you fail to do this now.
plates to some combination of the two.
Design is ultimately about the way something works, not There are all kinds of other benefits to having your own

about how it looks. The look is part of the package, but is domain name. But this one alone is worth it.
Having a professional blog designed will run somewhere

certainly not the whole. The great majority of your site’s between $1500 and $5000.

value will come from its content. With your specific goals
Don’t get me wrong. One can achieve blogging greatness
in mind, you need to determine the content hierarchy.
without spending a penny. In my experience, many busi-
What will go at the top of the page? What gets secondary
ness bloggers start out with one of the hosted options.
billing? What can you do expose archived content? What

11

What should I write?
starts blogging, a frequent schedule makes good sense.

You’ll want to build traffic and your archives. Aim for

three posts a week, for at least 3 months. This will give

you a terrific base to build on, and will allow you time to

develop your style.
Forgive me for saying this, but it depends. One thing remains con-
stant though: write with passion and the readers you want will find Each of us brings something different to our blogging

you and stick around. approach. Some use humour, some stick to the facts.

Some rant and rail. One’s own style takes time to de-

velop. Be patient, and you will discover your own.

Write for readers who skim
Blog content falls under two basic categories: reporting dustry niche will already be full of reporting blogs. There
Readers skim online content. Study after study shows
and creating. are only so many stories to report on, after all. Creating
that online reading habits differ quite greatly from of-
new content is a noble endeavor. It’s the most effective
A reporting blog links to other stories of interest. Every fline reading. Failing to take this into account will only
way to show your expertise and to build a following.
industry has a couple of these sites. They are generally frustrate you and alienate your readers.
The web abounds with tips and rules on The Proper Way
useful, and usually quite easy to manage. The site owner
In order to make skimming work for you instead of
to Write a Blog Entry. Read them if you wish. But don’t
will read a bunch of industry related sites, and link to the
against you, do the following:
best or most relevant articles for that period. pay them too much heed. Write what you like, as often

as you like. Your posting schedule is going to depend on Use short, punchy sentences and paragraphs
Depending on the number and effectiveness of com-
your overall goals. If you want to reach a wide audience, Use humour to hook your readers
petitive reporting sites in your industry, this may be a
you’d be well advised to post a couple of times a week. Use headings and bold important words freely
worthwhile approach. These sites can generate huge
If you want to talk to a narrow target base, you may only Use keywords throughout your posts
traffic numbers. If you know your stuff, and are on top of
need to post when you have something worth saying. Use a professionally designed template
your game, this might be the way to go.

Posting strategies can change over time too. When one
Creating new content is the other option. Often, an in-

1

What SHOULDN’T I write? that blogs are conversations between people. Writing (or
A word on the spirit of blogging:
speaking) in an informal tone is a very effective way to
Don’t write anything you’ll regret. Better - write it, but
Blogging works because it is open and honest. Try
bypass your readers’ B.S. detectors, and to connect with
don’t post it. Read it over the next day, or have a trusted
to lie, cheat, or cover something up, and you will be
the real person.
friend look over it before hitting the post button. Some-
caught. Everytime. Maybe not right away, but it will
thing posted on the internet is around FOREVER.
happen.
This is not to say that you can fool your readers by

adopting fake colloquialism. Authenticity is key, as false
How much personal information you choose to share
Trust is the cornerstone of a blogger’s success. Be
cameraderie will shine through. Write in your own
may well be part of your blogging strategy. In some
careful with your online persona - it’s the only face
voice. Blog readers expect it, and the success of your blog
cases, revealing peronal information may be beneficial to
you have to your readers.
depends on it.
acheiving your goals.

Blog readers read your site to see what you have to say.
Causing a bit of controversy may also be part of your
Not your company. You.
strategy. Causing a stir is an easy thing to do, once your

readership is established.
Use keywords in your post titles
Whatever you do, write with passion. Nothing else will

guarantee your success. Nothing.
Don’t lie - you will get caught. Guaranteed.
Keywords are incredibly important for a number of
Keep on message
What if I’m a terrible writer? reasons. First, they have a direct impact on your search

engine performance. Second, they help your readers
Keep on message - most of the time. We want to hear
Talk it out! Or act it out! Use video or audio instead of
focus. Internet users skim copy looking for key words or
what you think about a subject in your area of expertise.
the written word. Websites like Odeo.com and YouTube.
phrases relevant to their needs. Your keywords will relate
Occasionally though, it can be a good practice to throw
com make it ridiculously easy to create, store, and share
directly to your blog’s purpose. For example, on The Blog
something completely unrelated into the mix. Give us
audio and video online.
Studio blog, I try to repeat the keywords “blog design” at
a review of a movie your saw or a book you read. We
What about tone? least once per post. This helps google identify the gist of
want to do business with people we like. Give me some
my content, and quickly tells new readers what the site
insight into your personality. But just a bit.
There’s a lot of talk about the conversational tone of
it about.
blogs. Part of their effectiveness stems from the fact

1

IF you build it, they will come (NOT!)
You’ll share each other’s traffic, and probably attract

some outside attention while you’re at it.

Guest writing:
Offer to fill in for a vacationing blogger. You’ll be exposed
Instant gratification is one thing I can guarantee will not happen. to a whole new audience.
Business blogging takes time and effort. Odds are it will take a
Existing site:
couple of months before you see any return on your hard work.
Like offline promotions, this is so obvious is gets over-

looked. Have an existing site? But a big fat link on the

home page to your new blog. Instant traffic.

Comments:
Depressing? Well no, not really. Along the way to your signage? Is there a targeted industry publication you

first new contract, you will have made a number of new can place a small ad in? Blogs are big attention getters. There is no more effective method for building targeted
and valuable contacts. You’ll find a network of like-mind- They‘re still new. Tell people you have one, and they’ll traffic than by posting intelligent, relevant comments at
ed people you didn’t know existed. check it out. other sites. When you leave a comment, you usually have

the option of including your site’s address in the URL
Contributions:
You’ll also experience the Whoa! Factor - that’s the point
field. This turns your credit at the end of the comment
where a new opportunity comes up via your blog in a
Submit your best posts to one or more the ‘Carnivals’ into a link back to your site. Write something intelligent,
way you didn’t see coming. This happens to every single
that move around the net. These are open best-of-the- and people will click your name to find out more about
blogger out there.
web collections. Anyone can submit an entry. They’re you.
I’ll outline a couple of strategies for building traffic that great tools for finding new readers (and new writers to
When I was first building traffic to my site, this was
I’ve used to success in building my business blog. follow). Do a google search for ‘Blog Carnival’, and you’ll
incredibly effective at building long term readers.
find tons of info.
Offline promotion:
Forums:
Collaborations:
This one gets a “doh!”. It’s so obvious, yet so often
Many industries have online discussion forums. Post
overlooked. Have an existing newsletter? Have in-store Gang up with another blogger to collaborate on a story.

1

a note informing the forum members about your new one wins.

blog. Be sure to respect the forum’s rules of ettiquette
Search engines use inbound links as a method of deter-
though.
mining a site’s authority (more inbound links = ‘this guy

Email: must know what he’s talking about’). So in addition to

Email is a big gun in your promotional arsenal. First, the clickthrough traffic you’ll earn directly from the link,

inlcude a link to your blog in your email signature. Easy you’ll be increasing your overall search engine place-

and effective. ment.

Join a network
Next, get in the habit of sending an email to bloggers

you respect when you write something particularly good. There are a growing number of blog networks out there

While you can’t expect it, you may find that you get a link to join. These networks offer exposure and recognition.

back to your site from theirs. Don’t overdue it though, In some cases, membership bestowes a seal of approval.

and be sure to thank anyone who links into your site. Do a search for “blog network” for more information.

SEO: Submit stories to social book-
marking sites
Search engine optimization is a black art. Getting into

it is way beyond the scope of this guide. Suffice it to say Sites like digg.com, reddit.com, del.ico.usand others

that search engines like blogs. A lot. Notice that more can send massive amounts of traffic your way. Study the

and more blogs are showing up in search returns? It’s submitting rules before diving in. Some sites don’t allow

only the start. Check out the links at the back for some you to submit your own stuff, others encourage it.

great sites on SEO.
Quality Content:
Link link link: Offer great content, and you’ll build your traffic.

Links are the heart of the web. Use your email to politely
Offer crappy content, and all the traffic building tech-
and respectfully ask bloggers you respect to exchange
niques in the world won’t help.
links. You link to their site, they link to your site. Every-

1

How do I make money from this thing?
been accepted into the program, you can link to any item

in amazon’s massive catalog. You’ll earn a commission

for each sale made as a result of a customer following

your link. The payoff isn’t huge, but with decent traffic it

The big question: How does business blogging make me money? can add up.

Am I going to get rich from this like that guy making a million bucks This doesn’t have the stigma that other types of advertis-
a year from his blog? ing have, provided the items linked to are relevant to the

overall blog.

Indirect revenue:
This is what business blogging is really all about. You
Blogging for business can help you earn revenue in three monthly hosting costs. There are some bloggers earning
may be able to cover your hosting costs and buy a few
ways: large paycheques for their blogging efforts. But they are
fancy coffees with your ad revenue, but you can make a
rare.
Direct revenue: real impact to your bottom line through new business,
Online advertising is beyond the scope of this guide. A word of caution about ads: some think that ads don’t new markets, more loyal customers, and unexpected
However, I want to quickly introduce the concept, and really belong on business blogging sites. It’s going to be opportunities.
throw a caveat into the mix. up to you of course. But consider the potential downside
The potential here is limited only by your ambition.
as well as the relatively small upside.
Putting ads on your blog is an incredibly easy thing to
Passive:
do. Services like Google’s adsense take about 10 minutes Sponsorship is another way to earn direct revenue. Are
Finally, blogs offer the writer an opportunity to create
to sign up for and implement. These link ads earn you a there any suppliers in your industry who would sponsor
new products that can offer long-term passive income.
small commission each time a reader clicks through to your efforts?
Examples include e-books, online training courses,
the advertiser’s site. The payout per link can range from
In addition to ads, you can earn revenue by selling reports, and much, much more.
$2 to $.02 depending on the subject matter.
products. The prime example is amazon.com’s affili-
What’s more, blogging itself can be the catalyst for some
It doesn’t take much traffic for ads to cover your blog’s ate program. Like google’s adsense, you can be up and
of your ideas to morph into products.
running in a very short time. Once you’ve signed up and

1

Next Steps

Ok, so you’re in. What do you do next? The options are frustratingly
vast, and the market increasingly crowded.

This is where I don my salesmans’ hat for the briefest That’s it - salesman hat is now off and saftely back in the

of moments. I sincerely belive that business blogging hat box for safe keeping. In the links section that follows,

can help your business. I also sincerely believe that I can I’ve included some terrific resources if you choose to go

help you identify, plan for, and meet your goals much it on your own.

more quickly than you could do on your own. It’s a mat-
Whatever you choose, I wish you all the success in the
ter of specialization and experience.
world. Blogging is an incredibly rich experience. One

I hope this document will have given you a sense that I learns so much. And in the end, it’s really fun.

know a thing or two about blogging for business. What
Thank you very much for reading all the way through. As
it doesn’t really show is that I also know a thing or two
I mentioned up front, this is an ever changing and up-
about designing beautiful, elegant, fast loading, and ef-
dating guide. If you have any comments or suggestions,
fective web sites. I’d be incredibly honored if you would
please send them to me directly at
consider my services for your next web project. You
peter@theblogstudio.com
can view my latest work online at www.theblogstudio.

com/portfolio

17

Links
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/weblog.php

http://smallbusinessbranding.typepad.com/smallbusi-

nessbranding_blo/

Motivation
http://www.43folders.com

Understanding Social Networking
http://customerevangelists.typepad.com/blog/

http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_us-

ers/
Free Blog Software Blog News
http://www.textpattern.com/ http://www.blogherald.com/
Inspriration
http://wordpress.org/ http://www.bloggingpro.com/
http://www.cssbeauty.com/
http://www.drupal.org/ http://www.problogger.net/
http://www.stylegala.com/

Licensed Platforms Blog Terminology Blog Networks
http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://weblogs.about.com/od/weblogsglossary/
http://www.b5media.com
http://www.pmachine.com/ee
http://www.9rules.com
Blog Marketing and Tips
Hosted Services http://www.theblogstudio.com/blog

http://www.typepad.com/ http://www.divamarketingblog.com

http://www.squarespace.com/ http://www.easybakeweblogs.com

http://www.blogger.com http://www.blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com/

http://www.businessblogconsulting.com/

1

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