When I started this blog nearly 2 years ago now, I wasn’t 100% sure where it was going to go and what I was going to do with it. Things grew slowly, as I’m sure you could image. After all, I’m not exempt from the standard track that nearly all blogs take.
But after a short period time, there is one thing that you can be doing that will quickly differentiate you from the pack. And that is, being consistent in your content production. You see, there are literally millions of new blogs being published to the web each day (not sure of the exact number). And most of them following the same pattern – they launch, the owner goes through this honeymoon phase with the blog and produced a lot of content in a very short period of time, but then… well… then you know what happens.
I would say that within a month or two, the blog owner exits the honeymoon phase and then reality settles in. The blog all of a sudden becomes work. Then the work all of sudden starts to interupt everyday life. And then before you know it, instead of posting 3 new articles a day, the blog owner is lucky to get one new article a week. Then it’s one new article per month… and so on.
Running your blog like a business
Scheduling content production
In order for your blog to be successful, as it is with any business venture, the blog has to be treated like a business. This means, blog posts must be scheduled. And if not scheduled, then somehow, someway, “x” number of articles per day, per week, whatever, have to be produced. There is no option in this – after all, your blog is a business.
The layout and design of your blog matters
Every single detail of your blog has to be taken into consideration. From the colors of the theme, to the exact pixel width or padding of an element. I’ve spent literally hours before adjusting one element until it was just right. And then, within a few days I might realize it wasn’t quite right and then I would change it.
The point here is that if your blog is your business, then you need to treat it as such. Just like a store owner wouldn’t neglect the front facing store front, nor the layout, design, look and feel of the store once you walk in the door, so it is with your blog.
Treating your blog like a business will produce better results
I’m fully convinced that if you are wanting to earn revenue from your blog and turn your blog into your business, then the only that’s going to happen is for you to start thinking of your blog as your business.
It’s a bit strange, I know. After all, thinking of a blog as a business is a bit of stretch because the barrier to entry for blogs is so menial. Anyone can start a blog today with literally no money out of pocket. But that’s also the very thing that works in your favor as someone who wants to make a business out of their blog.
By being consistent with your content production, paying attention to every detail, considering every aspect of the color and design with the intent of making visitors feel more welcome, testing ad placement and revenue streams, and many more that I haven’t even mentioned, are collectively the things you can do to start turning your blog into a business.
And the best place to start is in your mind – deciding today that your blog IS your business. I promise you… it’s a game changer.