The document discusses growing a business online and provides strategies and lessons learned. It includes: 1. Various ways bloggers can make money online through advertising, affiliate relationships, and monetizing influence through consulting and speaking. 2. New sources of funding explained through an "ABCs" list including angel investors, crowdfunding, friends and family, and multiple income streams. 3. Profiles of successful bloggers including Kathryn Finney of Digital Undivided and Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes, highlighting how they differentiated themselves. 4. Lessons learned around building a network, prioritizing people over terms and valuation, and that money buys freedom but not happiness.

1. BlogHer
The ABCs of Growing Your Business
Elisa Camahort Page, BlogHer Co-founder and COO
@ElisaC

2. BlogHerPhoto credit: BlogHer ’13
BlogHer is an unstoppable community, network,
and media company, where more than 100
million engaged, influential, info-savvy (mostly)
women come to seek and share opinions and
advice.
Who is BlogHer
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3. BlogHer 33
1. Bloggers making money
2. The new ABCs of funding
3. Who’s doing it?
4. Why people give you money
5. No one gives you money because…
6. Figuring out what you want
7. My top lessons learned
AGENDA .

4. BlogHer
1a. Making money ONLINE
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Examples:
Advertising: CPM, CPA, CPC
Affiliate relationships
Sponsorship
Subscription/Productization
It’s a NUMBERS game

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1b. Making money BECAUSE OF online
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Examples:
Consulting
Freelance and Publishing
Brand Ambassadorships
Speaking gigs
It’s an INFLUENCE game

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2a. THE NEW ABCs
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A: Angel investors
B: Bootstrapping and Bartering
C: Crowdfunding
D: Debt
F: Friends & Family
G: Grants
I: Incubators & Accelerators

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2b. THE NEW ABCs
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L: “Lifestyle Business”
M: Multiple Income Streams
N: Non-Profit vs. For-Profit
P: Preferences
R: REVENUE!
V: Venture Capital (VC)
Y: YOU are a sales person now

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KATHRYN FINNEY: is the founder
of The Budget Fashionista, a
highly- influential fashion blog, but
has become the leader of a
movement by founding Digital
Undivided.
HER DIFFERENTIATION:
Kathryn saw a gap in African
American women start-up
founders, and decided to fill that
pipeline. Because it’s good
business. Like BlogHer, it is a
mission-based, for-profit company!
Photo Credit: Tanzie Johnson
Kathryn Finney – Digital Undivided

9. BlogHer 9
ELISE BAUER is the creator of
Simply Recipes, one of the most
popular and highly-trafficked food
blogs, reaching more than 8
million unique visitors each
month.
HER DIFFERENTIATION:
It’s in the name: Simply Recipes,
and amazing SEO, and
community ethos combine to
create the #1 food blog on the
Internet
Photo credit: Ree Drummond
Elise Bauer – Simply Recipes

10. BlogHer 10
MONIQUE KILGORE, the creator
of Divas Can Cook, has more
than 1 million monthly page views
and 235K YouTube subscribers.
HER DIFFERENTIATION:
Monique focuses on video, with
each of her videos reaching tens
of thousands of viewers. Are you
creating video yet?
Monique Kilgore– Divas Can Cook

11. BlogHer 11
Diane Cu – White on Rice Couple
Diane Cu along with partner Todd
Porter, is a professional
photographer, food stylist, and
cookbook author, making a living
doing all of the above, but
crediting their blog for taking them
this far.
HER DIFFERENTIATION:
Sticking to her guns on the value
of her work, but also sticking to an
authentic believe in abundance.

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4. WHY PEOPLE GIVE YOU
MONEY
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• People give money to people
• Because you have pent-up demand
• Because you need to scale
• Because you know how you’ll *spend* the
money!
• For new products, hiring and markets
• To MAKE money

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5. NO ONE WILL GIVE YOU
MONEY BECAUSE*…
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• You’re tired
• You want to hire people to off-load tasks
from yourself
• You want to do a better job of everything
you’re already doing
• You’re soooooo close to where you want
to be
*OK, maybe your mom and dad will

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6a. FIGURING OUT WHAT YOU WANT
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Who do you want to be beholden to?
Yourself
Family
Customers/Users/Partners
Employees
Investors
Bankers

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6b. FIGURING OUT WHAT YOU
WANT
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How hot is the fire in your belly?
Will it kill you if someone beats you?
Do you believe you are delivering
something no one else can or will?
Are you willing to work hard, no, make
that really really hard?

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7a. MY TOP LESSONS LEARNED
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CO-FOUNDERS ROCK

17. BlogHer
7a. MY TOP LESSONS LEARNED
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CO-FOUNDERS ROCK
What to look for in a partner:
Complementary skills
Able to have the tough conversations,
not just the fun and easy ones
Carrying the weight equally

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7b. MY TOP LESSONS LEARNED
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BUILD YOUR NETWORK
Affinity Groups AND individuals

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7c. MY TOP LESSONS LEARNED
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THINK IN “THIN SLICES”
Thin slices of attention
Thin slice mentoring
THINK MVP FOR LIFE
Minimum Viable “Product”, as applied to
you, and the bar you set to ask, to offer, to
put yourself out there

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7d. MY TOP LESSONS LEARNED
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PRIORITIZE:
PEOPLE
TERMS
VALUATION
In that order.
Source: CATERINA FAKE, FLICKR, HUNCH AND FINDERY CO-FOUNDER

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7e. MY TOP LESSONS LEARNED
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MONEY DOESN’T BUY
HAPPINESS, BUT IT DOES BUY
FREEDOM

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7f. MY TOP LESSONS LEARNED
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ASK YOURSELF:
What is the WORST that could happen?
ANSWER THE QUESTION:
In detail
MAKE YOUR FEAR CONCRETE,
NOT ABSTRACT

23. BlogHer
Most Powerful
People in New
Media
America’s
Most Promising Startups
2011 Award
Winning Women
Elisa Camahort Page
@ElisaC
Thank you.