How To Make Money Blogging With A Business Mindset

Do you think your blog is a business?

Do you have a business mindset?

Are you looking to know how to make money blogging?

Making an income online and having a business mindset go hand in hand.  Today we are going to explore how changing the perspective on the way you perceive and manage your blog, could make the difference between making that online income or not!

Image courtesy of iosphere at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Most bloggers (bar a few) want to earn money from their blog.  There seems to be an expectation that you can set up a blog, post some great content, share on it social media and WHAM….you are making $$$$$.

This wasn’t quite the reality for me, and I’m sure if hasn’t been for most of you either.

The reality is that blogging is a lot of work!

Yes it is fun, and yes it is great to be ‘working’ on social media, but at the end of the day, if you want to have a successful and profitable blog, then you need to put the hard work in.

So let’s ask that question again…… “Do you think your blog is a business?”.

Perhaps at this point you are shouting a resounding “YES”.

Maybe it’s “Well possibly it is???”

Or maybe you are thinking …”How the heck can it be?”

Blogging may not be your full time job, but let me tell you this.  If you want to know how to make money from blogging, then you need to be wearing your business hat.

A blog that is a business needs to be treated as such!

What is your business strategy?

All business’ have a strategy and your blog shouldn’t be any different.

So you started with the intention of making money.  How are you going to do this?  Is it literally going to fall into your Paypal account by magic?  I didn’t think so!

Any income that is going to be earn’t through your blog, will have come from a structured strategy.

This strategy is your blog’s business model.

I love the ‘Make money blogging mindmap‘ by Darren Rowse.  Darren clearly lays out a variety of ways in which you can make money online, but the key is refining which strategy you are going to take.

Having a business strategy will separate the blogs that make money and the blogs that don’t.

Take your blog’s business seriously

Anyone who is in business takes that business seriously.  If you don’t, it’s unlikely to be successful.

What does a serious blog owner do?

• Set goals
• Reviews progress
• Takes action
• Engages with readers (customers)
• Knows what income strategy fits their audience

Without a clear purpose, review of it’s actions, engaging with your readers and building connections, your blog is going to lead a a very lonely existence.

How will having a business mindset help your blog?

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Once you know what it is you want to achieve and a strategy has been formed, you suddenly have direction.  A blog is an ongoing journey, the roads are long and windy and they never ever end!

Knowing what your intentions are for that journey will help you focus, stay awake and stay in control.

It’s quite easy to see the blog owners without strategies.  The post updates start to become infrequent, the content starts to become sketchy, the love and the passion starts to fade.

The reason?

The blogger has not set a distinct purpose for their blog and they have simply run out of ideas.

A business owner does not to risk running out of ideas.  If they did, their business would crumble.  Treat your blog like a business and keep it strong.

Do you have a business mindset?

Mindset is incredibly powerful in all areas of our life.

If you wake up in the morning and think “Ah, today’s going to be a really bad day”…what do you think will happen?  Yup…it’s going to be bad!

Turn things around and start the day with a positive mindset and that day is going to be a whole lot better.  Ok, so it might not be perfect, but your attitude to the day will have a huge influence on your thoughts and feelings throughout it.

So…do you have a business mindset?

Are you committed to working hard at your blog and not treating it as something to do, if and when you get around to it?

If you set out in business, you are in control of the process.  YOU….no-one else.  No-one else is responsible for your blog’s shortcoming’s and no-one else is responsible for moving it forward towards success.

Blog’s don’t just suddenly start earning money, and if this is you intention, then you might need to seriously think further about it.

Rather think about what your goals for your blogs income is.  Think about how you can make that happen and formulate a business plan.

There are certain things that you need to be incorporating into this business plan to make a profitable blog.

• How to generate traffic.  Traffic = readers and readers = potential sales.
• Writing valuable content that is going to be shared by others.
• Networking on your blog, other’s blogs and in social media platforms.

A business owner will look at their task list and work out how they are going to achieve their tasks in the most efficient manner.

How are you going to achieve these tasks?  Have you even thought about it?

Are you keeping yourself accountable?

Let’s think for a moment what happens in your work place.

I’m guessing that you have to arrive on time, leave only when your hours are up, be presentable and achieve certain tasks in a day.

Now think about what happens when you work on your blog.

You may be working on a laptop, likely in your own home rather than an office environment and have a thousand and one distractions around you.

Are you keeping yourself accountable to working on your blog, like you would if you were working at your 9-5 job?

If the answer is NO, then you are unlikely to be seeing your blog as a business.  Business owners know that they need to complete certain tasks, there are no “If’s” or “But’s”.  The job needs to be done!

Think about the approach that you take with your blog and the jobs that you set for yourself.

If you don’t do the jobs you set, what is your response?  Are you actually making yourself accountable to your business?  How do you expect to make money blogging if you are not even keeping to task?

Successful bloggers will have kept their accountability and that’s what has made them stand out from the crowd.

Bloggers like Pat Flynn at Smart Passive Income are known for their accountability.  In fact, Pat even keeps himself accountable to his readers by producing a monthly report outlining what he did, what worked, what didn’t and what income he made.

This is what Pat has to say on his blog:

With this blog, I want to be as transparent as possible with everything I do online. My businesses, my strategies and my income – it’s all out there for you to see.

Pretty awesome right?

I’m not suggesting you do what Pat does, but it goes to show how having a business mindset and keeping yourself accountable helps you achieve that online income you are craving for.

I am often being told by friends and family, not to worry so much about my blogging and don’t stress so much.  I often hear things like

“Does it really matter if the post doesn’t get written this week?”

“Do it when you have the time, put your feet up and relax for once”

“Why not watch a bit of tv and do it later!”.

The thing is that whilst I love my friends and family, they don’t really understand the concept of business blogging.  They don’t see a shop front, an office location or a pay check!  They see a ‘hobby’ and one that I become far too engrossed in.

But let’s think for a moment here…….

If I started up a business, a tangible one that they could actually see, do you think I would receive those comments?  I seriously doubt it.

Everyone knows that a business is hard to set up, and the first few years are the hardest.  It is those times that you have to put in the hard yards with often little or no reward, but it sets up the foundation for later on.

I treat my blogs like a business.  I make sure that I am accountable to myself for what gets done.  I schedule in “time off” just like you would in any other job, but I also make sure I have my hours and tasks that I need to achieve in that time.

I’m certainly not perfect, but a business mindset is what I strive for because I have the bigger picture in mind.

Your turn:

Let’s ask that question once again.  Do you think your blog is a business?

What would your response be for how to make money blogging?  Would you be wearing a business hat?

Please share your thoughts below.