Make Money Blogging: 20 Lessons Going from 0 to $100,000 per Month

Jon Morrow 208 Comments Apr 3, 2014

Make Money Blogging: 20 Lessons Going from 0 to $100,000 per Month

You know everyone thinks we’re fools, right?

To most of the world, blogging is a joke.

It isn’t a career. It isn’t a way to make money. It isn’t a tool for changing the world.

It’s a hobby, a diversion, a fad that’ll come and go. Sure, you can start a blog, but don’t count on it to take you anywhere. That’s just silly.

Try telling your family or friends or coworkers you want to quit your job and make money blogging. They’ll smile politely and ask, “Does anybody really make money from that?”

Yes, they want you to have dreams. Yes, they want you to chase them. Yes, they want you to succeed.

But they also want you to be “realistic.”

If you really want to improve your life, you should get an advanced degree, write a book, or even start your own business, not hang all your hopes and dreams on some stupid little blog. There’s no money in it.

Or is there?

I’m hesitant to say this, but…

This Blog Makes $100,000 per Month

In January and February, we cleared over $100,000 per month in sales. The verdict is still out on March, but if we didn’t make it, we should be close enough.

How?

Well, I’ll tell you. Not because I want to brag (well, maybe a little), but because most of the advice out there about monetizing your blog is complete crap.

For instance, do you see any ads on this site?

No? How about e-books for sale?

None of those either, huh? In fact, you might be hard-pressed to find anything for sale at all.

There’s a reason why.

Over the past six years, I’ve had the good fortune to work with some of the smartest bloggers on the planet. I worked with Brian Clark as he built Copyblogger to a multimillion dollar brand. Neil Patel and Hiten Shah also hired me to help them launch the KISSmetrics blog, and while they’re not big on publishing revenue numbers, they did recently close a $7 million venture capital round.

Combined, I wouldn’t be surprised if both blogs have earned more than $50 million. In comparison, the $100,000 per month I’ve managed to generate is a pittance.

Want to know how much money you could be making from your blog? Find out with our free Blog Profit Calculator.

But everyone has to start somewhere, right?

The reason this blog has made so much money so fast is I learned from the best, and then when I left, I kept learning. Every day, I crunch numbers, read books, talk to experts, and spend at least 30 minutes in silence, staring into the distance, doing nothing but thinking.

It’s paid off. If you’ll take some of these lessons to heart, it’ll pay off for you too.

Because here’s the thing:

You’re Not a Fool. You Can Make Money Blogging.

So, you want to make a living teaching other people what you know? Nothing wrong with that.

Professors do it. So do public speakers and best-selling authors.

Hell, consulting is a $415 billion industry, and what are all those consultants doing?

Getting paid to teach.

Blogging is no different. It’s just the same old models with some rocket fuel thrown in, courtesy of social media.

In fact, we might as well call that the first lesson:

Lesson #1: You’re Not Just a Blogger

You’re an expert, a teacher, a mentor, maybe even an entrepreneur. Your blog is simply a launchpad for all those things.

Look around, and you’ll find nearly all “bloggers” who make a decent income have books, courses, a side career as a keynote speaker, or even software. That’s how they make money. Their blog is just the “freebie” they give away to attract customers or clients.

Lesson #2: Don’t Sell Advertising

Selling ads is attractive, because it’s passive income, but you can usually make 3-10X more money using the same “ad space” to sell your own products and services or even promote an affiliate product.

Pat Flynn, for example, makes about $50,000 a month in commissions from promoting Bluehost.

Here at BBT, we mostly promote our own products, but we’re also in the process of creating affiliate sales funnels for LeadPages and Stablehost, both of which offer hefty commissions (and are great products too!)

Lesson #3: Build the Funnel in Reverse

We’ve all experienced sales funnels.

A company entices you with a freebie, then they offer you something cheap but irresistible, and then they gradually sweet talk you into buying more and more expensive stuff. It’s a tried and true marketing tactic, and you should absolutely build a sales funnel for your blog.

What you might not know is you should build it in reverse.

A lot of bloggers launch a cheap e-book as their first product, and then they get frustrated when they don’t make much money. Here’s why: the real profit is at the end of the funnel, not the beginning.

Selling e-books is fine and dandy if you have half a dozen more expensive products to offer your customer afterwards, but it’s downright silly if you don’t. You’re much better off creating and selling the expensive product first, and then gradually create cheaper and cheaper products.

When you do have some less expensive products to sell, you can offer those to new people first, safe in the knowledge that you have something more profitable up your sleeve to sell them later.

Here at BBT, our products cost $9,997, $997, and $591. We’re working our way down the funnel in reverse, releasing the most expensive products first and then gradually getting cheaper and cheaper. It’s been much, much more profitable this way.

Lesson #4: There’s No Such Thing As a “Cheap” Market

“But Jon,” I can hear you spluttering. “I can’t sell a $10,000 product! My customers don’t have that much money.”

My response: you’re 98% right. Unless you’re selling exclusively to multimillionaires, the vast majority of your customer base won’t be able to afford premium products, but what’s interesting isit doesn’t matter. Often times, you can make more money selling to the 2% than you can to the entire 98% combined.

For instance, our $10,000 product is a year-long coaching program for writers – a group that’s not exactly known for their wealth, but I always fill all 10 spots within minutes of opening the program. Here’s why: I notify 40,000 writers about it. 2% of 40,000 is 800 people who might possibly buy a product in that price range. By only accepting 10, I’m creating a situation of extreme scarcity.

You can do the same thing, even if your list is much smaller. If you have 100 subscribers, chances are two of them might be willing to buy premium products or services from you, and those two will often pay you more money than the other 98 combined.

Lesson #5: By Charging Premium Prices, You Can Offer Premium Service

Feel guilty about charging that much money? You shouldn’t.

By charging premium prices, you can offer premium service, doing everything possible to help your customers get results. For example, with my coaching program, I get on the phone with students every week, review their homework, answer their questions, look at their blog, and guide them through every step of the process.

Could I put that same information in a $7 e-book? Sure, but I couldn’t give anyone one-on-one help at that price, and that’s what people who buy premium products and services are paying for.

Lesson #6: Deliberately Delay the Sale

Another big shift in thinking: rather than trying to push everyone to buy your products upfront, smart bloggers delay the sale.

I first heard this idea from Rand Fishkin over at Moz. They offer their blog readers a free trial to their Analytics and SEO software, but after studying the behavior of their customers, they noticed something interesting: people who read several blog posts before signing up for a free trial stayed customers for two or three times longer than people who didn’t.

I’ve noticed the same thing with our customers. Instead of immediately clobbering readers with sales pitches, it’s much better to give them some content first and build trust before you begin talking about your products and services. Yes, you’ll make less money in the short term, but the long-term profits go through the roof.

Lesson #7: You Are the Bottleneck

Without a doubt, time is our biggest problem as bloggers. Not only are we expected to publish a continuous stream of content on our blogs, but we also have to deal with technical issues, read books and articles about our field, create new products to sell, answer questions from readers… the list goes on and on. The further into it you go, the more clear it becomes that you can’t do everything.

So, what’s the answer?

Believe it or not, I found answers from studying manufacturing processes. If one machine is working slower than others in a plant, it can literally cost the company tens of thousands of dollars per hour. To make sure it never happens, smart plant managers are willing to spend any amount of money to eliminate bottlenecks. They have an unlimited budget, because the cost of eliminating the bottleneck never comes anywhere close to the cost of the bottleneck itself.

The same is true for us, except the solutions are often different. Instead of buying a new machine, for example, we might purchase a new type of software that automates some of our business, or we might hire a virtual assistant or programmer. It can be expensive, yes, but it’s worthwhile if it saves you enough time, because then you can dedicate that time to higher value activities.

Lesson #8: Measure The Value of Everything You Do

What are those higher value activities, exactly?

Well, it depends on your goal. If your goal is to increase traffic, for example, start measuring the visitors per hour invested. Let’s say you invest three hours in writing a post, and it brings you 100 visitors, and you invest five hours in writing a guest post that brings you 500 visitors. The first activity has an hourly rate of 33 visitors per hour. The second activity has an hourly rate of 100 visitors per hour. Guest posting, therefore, is a better use of your time than writing content on your own blog.

Granted, it’s a short-term perspective, not taking into account long-term gains, but it’s still extremely useful to start measuring your time this way. Not just for traffic, but also for subscriber growth and revenue.

Lesson #9: In the Beginning, Creating Content for Your Own Blog Is Silly

I tried to sneak this one under lesson #8, but I think it’s important enough to get its own number, even if it does get me labeled a heretic and burned at the stake. Because here’s the deal:

In the beginning, your blog is like an empty classroom. Standing in front and giving a lecture is silly, because sure, it might make you feel important, but there’s nobody listening. You’re all alone, and you can come up with the smartest, most entertaining lecture in the history of mankind, but it won’t matter, because no one else heard it.

When you first start out, writing content for your own blog is one of the least efficient ways of building your audience. You’re far better off serving a little time as a “guest lecturer” first. In other words, write guest posts for someone else’s audience, impress the hell out of them, and siphon off a portion of their readership for your own.

That’s what we did here at BBT, and it resulted in the most successful blog launch in history: 13,000 email subscribers in 60 days, before I even wrote a single blog post. We had nothing but a coming soon page and an invitation to join our email list. Sounds strange, but I can promise you it’s vastly more efficient.

You don’t have to wait until you get to 13,000 subscribers to start, but I’d advise accumulating at least a few hundred. That way, you have an audience to share your content when you start publishing posts.

Lesson #10: Don’t Waste Time on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.

Here’s another shocker: you know your dream of building up a huge following on Facebook or Twitter and then using it to promote your blog? Well, it’s a dumb idea. Out of everything we’ve tested, building our own social media accounts produced the lowest visitor per hour figure. In other words, it’s quite possibly the worst way you can spend your time.

Does that mean having followers in those places is useless?

No. Facebook is nice because you can advertise to your followers. Google+ can help boost your search engine rankings. Even with those benefits though, it shouldn’t be near the top of your list for things to do. In my opinion, you shouldn’t think about them at all until you hit 10,000 subscribers, and then outsource the management of them to someone else. You can use your time more efficiently in other places, such as:

Lesson #11: Webinars Kick Butt

If you’ve been on our list for long, you know that we do a lot of webinars. Here’s why: on average, each webinar generates $40,000 per hour invested. It’s by far the most profitable thing I do. Nothing else even comes close. If you’re wondering how on earth we make that much money, all you have to do is attend one of our webinars to find out. Everything we do is on display, and you can study it, free of charge.

Interestingly, webinars are also the most effective way to build our subscriber base. When doing webinars for other people, we average 500 new email subscribers per hour invested. It’s not uncommon to gain 1,000-2,000 email subscribers from a single webinar. If we’re promoting a product, we usually make at least $10,000 too.

Translation: webinars kick butt.

Lesson #12: Longer Content Gets More Traffic

You know what else works? Long content.

It might seem strange, but on average, longer content gets much more traffic than shorter content. Not just for us, but for our students too, regardless of the niche, and here’s a post where SEO expert Neil Patel came to the same conclusion. The sweet spot seems to be about 2,000–3,000 words per post. That’s why posts here on BBT are much longer than your average blog.

Granted, content of that length also takes longer to produce, but if you measure the visitors per hour invested, longer content still wins by a mile. Assuming you’re promoting it, of course.

Lesson #13: Promote The Crap Out of Your Content

The problem is almost no one promotes their content enough. And by “promotion,” I’m not talking about sharing your own posts on Twitter and Facebook. I’m talking about blogger outreach– the process of building relationships with influencers and asking them to share your work.

At a minimum, you should spend just as much time on outreach as you do creating your own content. So, if you’re spending 10 hours a week writing blog posts, you should be spending 10 hours a week on outreach too.

Can’t do that? Then scale back how much content you’re creating. Spend five hours on writing blog posts and five hours on outreach. You’ll get better results.

Lesson #14: Ignore SEO for the First Year

Let’s get one thing straight: I’m not against SEO. Far from it. We now get tons of traffic from Google. I just think most bloggers focus on it way too early.

Again, it all comes down to time. When your blog is new, the most efficient uses of your time fall into three broad categories: building relationships with influencers (including guest blogging), creating content worth linking to, and selling your products and services. If you do those three things well, not only will your blog gain traffic and prominence, but you’ll also start getting search traffic without doing anything.

And then you can focus on other things that matter more, such as…

Lesson #15: Your Email List Is More Important Than Anything Else

In analytics, there is a principle called “the one metric that matters” (OMTM). The idea is that you find a single number that accurately predicts the success or failure of your project.

In the case of blogging, that number is the size of your email list. (Not RSS, mind you – it’s dying a slow but certain death.) In my experience, your email list is the most accurate predictor of how much money you’ll make.

Here at BBT, we make about three dollars per subscriber per month – an impressive feat, due mostly to our skill with marketing. The number isn’t important, though. The point is that I can accurately predict our sales based on the number of subscribers. So can you.

If you’re new to this, I would strive for one dollar per subscriber per month in sales. In other words, an email list of 1,000 subscribers should result in at least $1,000 per month in sales, 10,000 subscribers would result in $10,000 per month in sales, and so on.

The more subscribers you get, the more money you make. Granted, your relationship with your subscribers and the quality of your products or services and dozens of other factors still matter, but to drive revenue, focus on email list growth. To make money blogging, it’s absolutely essential.

Find out how much money your blog could be making – and how quickly you could grow your email list – with our free Blog Profit Calculator.

Lesson #16: Start Selling from Day One

How long should you wait before you begin selling? 1,000 subscribers? 10,000 subscribers? More?

Nope. Start selling from day one. Here’s why:

One of the biggest factors affecting the speed of your growth is who you can hire to help you. Because you’re the bottleneck, remember? So you want to hire a virtual assistant and someone to handle all of the technical details as soon as you possibly can, but of course, that requires money. Hence the need to start selling immediately.

Now, a caveat: don’t turn your blog into a gigantic sales pitch. Nobody likes that. You should, however, be offering something your audience wants and needs. Don’t push them on it, but do make it available, and do remind them from time to time that they can purchase it.

Lesson #17: Your Product Ideas Suck

You probably have all kinds of ideas for things you can sell, right? E-books, courses, maybe an iPhone app? Or a service?

Well, here’s the bad news:

More than likely, your ideas for products suck. The good news is you’re not alone in this position. Everyone’s ideas for products suck, including mine. Here’s why:

We all tend to create products we can see people need, but they’re not aware of it yet. We think if we show them the magnitude of their problem we can convince them to buy our product or service to solve it.

If you’re Steve Jobs, you can do that, but I have more bad news for you: you’re not Steve Jobs. You’re a beginning marketer, and as a beginner, you should only be selling products that solve problems your customer already knows they have. If you have to convince them the problem exists, you’ve already lost the battle.

Lesson #18: Surveys Are Dangerous

So, how do you find what problems exist in the mind of your customer? Traditionally, the answer is a survey, but I’ll warn you: surveys are dangerous. Ask the wrong question, and you’ll get an extremely misleading answer. Use that answer to guide your venture, and you can waste years of your life, not to mention possibly going bankrupt.

If you’re a beginner, I recommend asking one and only one question: “what’s your biggest frustration with <topic> right now?” So, in my case, it would be “what’s your biggest frustration with blogging right now?” That’s it. Nothing more. Look for patterns in the answers you receive, and you’ll learn a ton about what products or services you need to create.

Lesson #19: Start with Services, Then Expand into Products

Once you find a common problem, start offering a service where you solve the problem for your audience. The reason is simple: you can start offering the service immediately. You don’t have to create a product first. You’ll also learn more about the problem as you attempt to solve it yourself.

When I started, for example, I worked as a blog traffic specialist. I was contracted with a few different advertising agencies, and every time they wanted to increase the traffic for a client’s blog, they called me. I didn’t just advise them. I did the work myself, redesigning the site, creating the content, everything.

It taught me a ton about what worked and what didn’t. It was also immediate revenue. The first month I offered my services, I made something like $5,000.

After working for more than a year as a traffic specialist, I felt I really understood the problem and how to solve it, so I created my first product: a course located at guestblogging.com. The first month, it generated something like $30,000 in sales, and now it brings in more than $250,000 per year.

It’s a wonderful product, but here’s the thing: I don’t think I could’ve created it if I hadn’t worked as a service provider first. I wouldn’t have had the knowledge or the money. Keep that in mind when you’re deciding what to offer first.

Lesson #20: Teach Others What You Learned

Now, we come to the reason for this post.

Why on earth would the CEO of the company (me) work for hours to write a post like this, sharing all our secrets? It’s closing in on 4,000 words, for God sakes!

Simple:

It’s my responsibility. If people are ever going to respect blogging as a legitimate business model, those of us who are successful have to speak up and share what we’ve learned. None of us works in a vacuum. The only way we can advance our field as a whole is to collectively share what we’ve learned.

And it is a field. There are thousands of people around the world making a living from blogging. The problem is, there’s not a repository, a central community where we can all talk and learn from each other. Over the next few months, that’s something we’re going to change.

In the meantime, could you do me a favor?

Share this post. Not just so it’ll get me traffic, but so other people can see that you really can earn a legitimate income from blogging. Maybe reading this will even help them do it.

After all, isn’t that what we’re here to do? Help people?

In the end, that’s what I love most about blogging: every article we publish, every course we create, every coaching call we do can change somebody’s life. Maybe not always in a big way, but we touch thousands upon thousands of people, and we make their lives just a little bit better. We inform them, we inspire them, we give them the roadmap for achieving their dreams.

And the best part?

We get paid for it. It’s our job.

I just wish more people knew it was a viable career. Let’s change that, shall we?

About the Author: Jon Morrow has asked repeatedly to be called “His Royal Awesomeness,” but no one listens to him. So, he settles for CEO of Boost Blog Traffic, Inc. Poor man. ;-)

Make Money Blogging: 20 Lessons Going from 0 to $100,000 per Month by Jon Morrow

208 COMMENTS

Jason Chesters
APR 03, 2014 @ 12:21:54

WOW Jon! great post, Only read it quickly so I will go over it again later! Lesson 9 is the eye opener! I find it really difficult to give away great content that I have just spent hours writing, but as you say, it’s got to be done!!
Zoe Uwem
APR 03, 2014 @ 12:28:43

Wow Jon! Remarkable post.

These are great lessons and I agree with all 20 points…

This is very timely for me being that I’m just starting out.

Thanks for sharing!
Sonia Thompson
APR 03, 2014 @ 12:29:44

We can do this! Just gotta put the right work in at the right time.

Speaking of which, time to get back to work on those guest posts…after I go read the link about promoting your content
Ruthie
APR 03, 2014 @ 12:51:56

Great post Jon. I totally agreed with everything you wrote here and it’s so nice to hear these things from you. I think you hit the nail on the head!

Thanks for all that you do!
Harleena Singh
APR 03, 2014 @ 12:59:06

Hi Jon,

Awesome indeed

I loved the way you shared everything so well with us – the way you have gone about doing things – it’s surely an eye-opener for me and for many others too.

Honestly speaking, I haven’t really started thinking of earning money from my blog as that wasn’t the aim when I started it, but your post surely motivated me to think in that direction for a change. I guess you need to make a start somewhere, and if you want to do that, you need to lessen down or cut-off a lot of other things you do too.

Thanks for sharing yet another inspirational post with us. Have a nice week
Carol Tice | Make a Living Writing
APR 03, 2014 @ 12:59:32

Jon, you should turn this post into an ebook! So packed with goodies.

The thing I keep saying to my team is, “I know…I’m the bottleneck!”

I’m outsourcing fast as I can, but it never seems to be fast enough. Still working on it….
- Jon Morrow
  APR 03, 2014 @ 20:56:41
  
  An e-book? Nah, but maybe a $5,000 per month coaching program.
  - Marcia
    JAN 09, 2015 @ 15:47:45
    
    Jon, thanks for this awesome post. My question is, what do you think of blogs who ask for donations or claim to sustain themselves by them? (Also books and products). But what do you think about the donation itself and if you´re pro-donation, when is a good time to start asking for it in a blog? Thanks a lot for your time. Hope some day I can meet you Im from and live in Mexico
Esther Litchfield- Fink
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:00:31

Oh my God, this post is orgasmic.
- Lynne from Design The life You Want to Live
  APR 03, 2014 @ 13:13:06
  
  Ha, so true Esther !!
  
  I just had to write and say I LOVED your comment. So funny !
  
  Lynne
- Leanne Regalla | Make Creativity Pay
  APR 03, 2014 @ 14:18:17
  
  Go Jon! Go Jon! LOL!
- Jon Morrow
  APR 03, 2014 @ 21:01:28
- Ash
  APR 05, 2014 @ 07:09:53
  
  Esther while I can’t say the post had the same effect on me, I can definitely agree with your sentiments.
  
  Great stuff Jon. You hit it out of the park again.
  
  I’m honoured to have you as a mentor.
Brian Dean
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:04:53

This is solid, 14 karot gold, Jon. 100k per month from a single blog is absolutely bananas. You’re a living legend, a gentleman, and (based on your 100k monthly revenue) a baller.
- Jon Morrow
  APR 03, 2014 @ 21:01:50
  
  Thanks man.
Debra L. Butterfield
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:05:07

Jon, you always deliver! I’ve printed this out so I can have it handy to refer to as I build my audience/blog. I especially liked the survey info and the info on reverse the funnel. I really struggle with what to charge, but seeing your numbers helps. Tons of info here to digest. Thanks!
Octavius
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:07:57

Great Post. Just the information I was looking for. I just started my blog and I will be following your advice. Thank you !
Arlen Miller
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:08:04

What a raft of amazingness! Thanks, Mr. Jon. You are giving me a shot in the arm—it’s called hope.
Lynne from Design The life You Want to Live
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:12:02

Thanks Jon for this post !!!! I have been in the process of prepping for webinars and learning the techie stuff for how to make an epic webinar happen.

I met Brian Clark last week at SMMW14 and was soooo inspired !

Cheers for all that you do. You are by far one of my faves in this big ‘ol internet world, and your webinars rock out loud!

Lynne Knowlton
- Ash
  APR 05, 2014 @ 07:12:07
  
  Hear hear!
Malhar Barai
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:17:02

A gem again Jon!

The most interesting point for me was about doing more guest posts and then writing on your own blog. That does make lot of sense.
Franck
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:19:01

First, congrats Jon!
Impressive milestone

5 years ago I would not be able to understand this post, as I do, now. It’s pure value, but most (98%) won’t decrypt it.

In case of doubt, do follow these advices.

I did. And I am on my way to 1$/subs/month. Thanks again Jon!
Dan
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:20:10

Wow, this is a great post with tons of data-driven insights that would take me years to figure out on my own. You can earn a good income from blogging, but I’m not sure I want to do it this way myself. I’m more interested in becoming a ghostblogger for businesses.

But much of the advice still applies. It’s tough to figure out a system that doesn’t demand most of your time though, so that’s what I’m working on.
Dave Nordella
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:24:30

Hi, Jon:

I love your straightforward style. To all those that doubt that blogging is a viable business, “This Blog Makes $100,000 per Month.” Hah! Take that, doubters!

I have recently learned the value of outsourcing work to specialists. I used to endure sleepless nights trying to keep up with all the work necessary for building a blog. The right specialists are dramatically cheaper at tasks than I could ever hope to be as measured by the cost of my time and the amount of distractions that I created for myself.

I am becoming much “smarter” as I find time to act based on resolving a challenge as opposed to merely reacting to the same challenge.

I had never considered the value of giving webinars. I had attended plenty of webinars and purchased some products based on same. It hadn’t occurred to me the economic value of giving webinars prior to reading your post.

“I was blind but now I see!”

I will share my #gratitude to His Royal Awesomeness (you) by sharing this post on social media. Thanks for sharing this incredible content. I appreciate your guidance.
- Jayme Lang
  APR 03, 2014 @ 20:16:59
  
  Hi, just wanted to comment that I agree with the straight-forward approach. It’s the best way to learn information quickly, without digging through ingratiated, sugar-coated words to get to the point. I can’t yet afford any of the training, so I find many blogs and pieces of information like this every day. I have to read fast and get through it, otherwise I’ll sit there all day reading through feel-good mush.
Soozi Baggs
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:24:35

I LOVE this post and have shared it as far and wide as I can. I must admit, having recently started writing for the HuffPost, I’ve felt guilty for hardly posting anything on my own blog (just don’t have the time to do both) so your post has made me feel much better for prioritising the guest posting.
- Ash
  APR 05, 2014 @ 07:14:43
  
  Congratulations on getting a gig with the Huff Soozi. That’s an awesome accomplishment.
Jawad Khan
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:45:29

Your Royal Awesomeness, you’ve just blown me away with this post.

It has given me lots to think about. Love your point about ignoring SEO for the first year.

I would, however, love to see a post specifically on your webinars and hw you go about them with your clients.

Carol’s right, turn this into an eBook!

Thanks for such high value practical info absolutely free.
A.K.Andrew
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:47:52

As always, a fantastic post Jon. Have just shared on G+ with the comment that you are simply the best at what you do. I love your style, and the practical advice is invaluable. I was particularly interested in your downplay of using twitter, FB etc to hope to grow your blog, but what you said makes total sense. As someone who is building an author’s platform prior to publication, I’d been hesitant to sell products, but no more. Thanks so much for your inspiration.
Peter Kanayo
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:51:44

Damn John your method beats the conventional and I just have to sit back analyze what it is I can start doing to serve others.

This is the first step am still struggling with.
Peggy
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:57:51

Thank you Jon, I mean Your Royal Awesomeness. I’m printing this out for me and sharing the blog love far and wide.

You sir, are a genius.

Peggy
Andrew
APR 03, 2014 @ 13:58:19

This is a crazily useful post. I’ve retweeted it. Thanks a lot, Jon.
Leanne Regalla | Make Creativity Pay
APR 03, 2014 @ 14:16:51

I’ve been in business over 12 years and I am always the bottleneck!

Great analogy to manufacturing – flashbacks to my previous life on the day I’m finally getting my first post published on my blog.
Ian
APR 03, 2014 @ 14:21:25

Nice post, Jon. Always something new and useful. Thank you.
Michael Feeley
APR 03, 2014 @ 15:12:25

I love this Jon. YOU ALWAYS INSPIRE!

What you say at the beginning is the biggest value for me — ‘I learned from the best …and I keep learning.’

It’s been true in my own life, training, education and with you…Learning from the best.

I knew nothing about Blogging until I met you. Things are happening for my coaching business because of what I learned from you. Headlines — subtitles – formatting — passion and a big mission. My writing has completely improved.

Thanks for your knowledge. This post is another one of your gifts.

My very best – Michael
Kimberly George
APR 03, 2014 @ 15:32:42

Great Post Jon! I laughed out loud at Lesson#17. I launched a product from my blog that resulted in 0 sales. I will definitely use the tips that you mentioned here going forward in my blogging and business efforts.
Kay Fudala
APR 03, 2014 @ 15:40:57

Jon,

Awesome post. Where was this a year ago? SMH.
Lesson #10 rings the loudest for me. LinkedIn and similar platforms are the best for gaining reputation and building a network.
Love #19 and #20 – I know that’s what keeps me going is the thought of serving clients and teaching what comes naturally to me.

Thanks for an awesome post!
Joseph Robinson | Inside Out Wisdom
APR 03, 2014 @ 16:01:59

Kill the Bottleneck!

I’ve been a consultant for manufacturing execution systems and you are 100% correct. Awesome point.

While I still own stock in the software company that helps factories remove bottlenecks, I’m now helping people remove bottle necks from their lives.

Oh dear blog master, thanks for giving me the goods.

Now what was number 8?

oh, and “audience per hour” now that is true genius.

Only thing I could possibly add is go read: The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt

Oh, never mind. I’m going to just write more guest posts and headline hacks. Now, where did I leave that list of “cool kids” and guest post targets?

Ergh, I hate being the slow kid slowing up the works.
- Ash
  APR 05, 2014 @ 07:19:28
  
  Hey Joseph,
  
  Someone else was telling me about the book by Eliyahu Goldratt. I’m heading over to amazon as we speak.
  
  Um … On second thoughts … Maybe not. I have about 5000 posts to finish reading in the next 2 weeks.
  
  My mentor’s a slave driver!!!
Caelan Huntress
APR 03, 2014 @ 16:27:18

As usual, Jon, you make me feel like an idiot.

But in a good way.

Thank you for clarifying all of these lessons. Super, super helpful.
Mark Hermann
APR 03, 2014 @ 16:47:35

Jon,
This post is surely destined for the list post Hall of Fame. Some awesome tips to help stir up the pot of BS excuses most people hide behind and light a fire to finally get people off their asses and into gear. So here’s an unpaid endorsement.

Some time a few years ago I was fed up writing for no one online. I wanted my words to be read and ultimately wanted to be paid to write. So I decided to educate myself on the subject. Here’s what I did:
1. After paying for a few bogus online courses that didn’t do too much for me, I discovered your Guestblogging course.
2. You promised to get your students a guest post on a major blog of their choice. I chose Copyblogger. You made good on your promise. The post did very well.
3. After guest posting for all of 5 posts, my list grew from 4 to 500. Lesson #9? Check.
4. Last year your team contacted me and asked if I was intrerested in ghostwriting for one of your clients. I accepted and got my first paid client. In the first month, that assignment paid for your guestblogging course. Wish to be a paid writer? Check.

Now two other clients have followed.

I just wanted go say thanks in public, Jon. For giving advice that doesn’t suck and actually works!

You rock!
- Jon Morrow
  APR 03, 2014 @ 21:06:05
  
  Thanks Mark. You’re awesome too.
- Ash
  APR 05, 2014 @ 07:24:47
  
  Mark I remember reading your post about Jimi Hendrix on copyblogger. And I loved it!
Serena @ Thrift Diving
APR 03, 2014 @ 17:16:08

This post was so good that I had to sit in my car and keep reading after I left work, here in the garage. Ha! What caught my attention is the funnel analogy and the webinars. Starting with the expensive first, then offering the less expensive. Brilliant. Also, I want to do webinar but am not sure how to get started. But dammit if I’m not going to think of how to move in that direction! Thanks for the kick in the butt, Jon!

Serena @ Thrift Diving
Mellie
APR 03, 2014 @ 17:18:25

These are some great lessons to be learned. Just wish I had the funds to take your course. But may be someday soon.
Austin
APR 03, 2014 @ 17:32:46

Jon,

I love all your posts, all points are solid. Number 9 and 14 are my two big takeaways for our blog.
George
APR 03, 2014 @ 18:07:45

Awesome info, Jon, tons of great stuff here.

So, I’m pretty new to blogging, here’s what I’ve done to get started.

1. I joined your guest blogging course last month
2. Have been working on a freebie for my opt-in page for guest posts
3. Pretty much spend most of my time focusing on those two things – not much time on my blog itself

It absolutely makes sense to start off with selling a service, but how do you go about creating one?

You suggest not posting on your blog until you have a decent amount of subscribers, you also mention how surveys are dangerous for finding what your audience needs – My question is: How do you decide what your audience needs a service for if you’ve yet to build an audience?

In other words, how do you find your reader’s biggest frustration before you have any readers, so that you can start selling your service ASAP?

Who knows, maybe I just sparked an idea for your next post…Or you’ll tell me I’m just a dumb blogger and should already know…Or both
Bryan Collins
APR 03, 2014 @ 18:24:14

A great post Jon. I enjoyed reading it and learn a lot. I was particularly impressed by your take the one metric that matters. I was also surprised to find that spending time on social media isn’t a great use of a blogger’s time.
Corey Pemberton
APR 03, 2014 @ 18:32:45

Jon,

This is insanely valuable. Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to put this together! My only qualm is I wish I had seen this stuff earlier.

Congratulations on your massive success so far, and I wish you even more going forward. You deserve it!

Corey
Judy Hackett
APR 03, 2014 @ 20:21:05

Thanks so much Jon. I have been struggling to ‘get off the ground’ and am devouring your insight and knowledge. You offer such invaluable and proven information and are totally inspiring. I know I CAN DO THIS and will continue to soak up your posts as they come through. I won’t wast too much time now on Facebook and Twitter which I’ve been trying to get my head around. You see I am very new to everything!
Jude
Paul Back
APR 03, 2014 @ 20:26:21

Hey Jon

You know how you talk about blog posts that “stop traffic” well this is it. I couldn’t stop reading as every sentence was something important and it dragged me in.

Not only is this one of the most eye opening posts I have ever read its also a textbook example of what you teach – congratulations.

Paul Back
Larry
APR 03, 2014 @ 20:48:07

Jon Morrow is the gold standard in this arena, and this post encapsulates that. He consulted with me at the launch of my blog, and these 20 principles feel like evolutions of that great advice. My numbers are nowhere near his (frankly, my subscriber list seems fixed lately), but my experience validates the core of what’s here: it’s all about consulting, leading to products (in my case, a bit of the other way around, via a book that arose from my website/blog). If you can afford Jon (I can’t), go for it… provided you truly are an “expert” in a given field, one that other people will pay to listen to. If you can’t, or aren’t (at least yet), just read everything he’s written, here and elsewhere.
- Jon Morrow
  APR 04, 2014 @ 11:16:41
  
  Thanks for this, Larry. I’m actually working on something that might help your subscribers/revenue. I’ll email you about it.
Daniel
APR 03, 2014 @ 21:44:45

Hi Jon –

Good post, well described ideas.

I wish I had enjoyed a positive experience working with you to accomplish these things, but sadly, I just don’t think you get what it takes to make people feel like they’re spending their money with someone who’s interested in them.

I think the most important question you should ask is – before doing anything else – who are these people signing up for my mailing list? What have they’ve accomplished so far and where they’re looking to go? If they’re giving you money by signing up for one of your courses, that goes double.

Glad to hear you’re earning so much money though.

-Daniel
Bree
APR 03, 2014 @ 22:53:10

Jon, it’s so disheartening to read this list. Not for my sake, but for the sake of all the hobby bloggers I know who keep asking me why their blogs aren’t getting the traffic, attention, or sales they were hoping for, and how in the world can I be building my email list before I even start blogging? Am I STUPID or something?!

Time and time again, I have to repeat many (if not all!) these points to them; some learn, some don’t. But the ones who learn will definitely see better results and probably become one of those bloggers who gets paid to do what they love!

I’ll be sharing this post, Your Royal Awesomeness. Spreading the Blogging Gospel, and all that.
Mette
APR 03, 2014 @ 22:58:09

Wow this is the best blog post I have read in ages!
But where can I read more about your products mentioned in lesson #3?
I have just started my business and think you could be a big part of my success
- Jon Morrow
  APR 04, 2014 @ 11:09:02
  
  Start with guestblogging.com.
  - Mette
    APR 04, 2014 @ 14:45:08
    
    Great thanks. I’l do that.
    I have only writte one blogpost on my site so far, so now I’ll go make a coming soon page instead Ang. visit guestblogging.com
  - Ash
    APR 05, 2014 @ 07:38:10
    
    Hey Mette
    
    Just wanted to say that I’ve done the guestblogging.com course and found it to be awesome. I can recommend it highly. It’s excellent to improve your writing skills and your networking skills – the latter invaluable to me as a beginning blogger.
    
    All the best to you in your endeavours.
Brian Zeng
APR 04, 2014 @ 00:55:04

Hey Jon,

this post is really inspirational, truth been told in your post, good read.
otseakemhe pascal
APR 04, 2014 @ 02:47:53

This is a great article jon, it has greatly improve my thinking and i can’t wait to start workin on my site now. keep the great work going jon.
Nikhil
APR 04, 2014 @ 03:05:41

Hi Jon,

These tips are awesome. Your guide for 0 to $100k is great and contains lots of great deals. All these points are pretty important for bloggers to start his journey as a professional blogger. And you are right most of the world thinks bloggers are fools? But we are fools for changing the world.
Thank you for this awesome guide.
Zara
APR 04, 2014 @ 03:58:19

Dear Jon, There aren’t many men who’ve left me breathless – you are one. Thank you!
ronel
APR 04, 2014 @ 05:20:23

Thanks for a great post. I have printed it out as I always like to read my inspirational stuff again and again. I am thinking of teaching a creative writing course to senior school kids, because in my country(South Africa) job opportunities are scarce and education expensive. I want to teach young people that you can create your own opportunities through writing and growing to be an expert in a chosen field. This way they will also improve their confidence in approaching opportunities when it do arise and with the right attitude. I am a real estate professional and writes a blog on aspects which I have noticed my clients are ignorant about. My readership has risen through the year and all my sales last year came from readers of my blog. Thanks again for the information you present so well and with a sense of humour. I still cannot afford one of your courses but I read every one and apply all that I learn. Praise be to Your Royal Awesomeness!
Aqilah Norazman
APR 04, 2014 @ 05:53:20

This is awesome, Jon. Thanks so much! And I will definitely share this.
Martin Edwards
APR 04, 2014 @ 07:03:25

Hi Jon,
As usual a top knotch post full of excellent advice, very easy to understand and follow. Just studying your posts is an object lesson in how these things are done. I, like many aspiring bloggers, am very familiar with the glazed look that passes over people’s faces when I attempt to explain what my plans are! I think the primary problem is that we have been brought up to do business in a particular way. You make something therefore you get paid for it. Most business people feel there is something inherently wrong about a system where you provide huge amounts of valuable content free of charge and without obligation. The peception is that the model cannot be susstainable.
The historical sleeze associated with the worst excesses “internet marketing” and “get rich quick schemes” hasn’t helped either!
The key insights here, in my humble opinion are that:
A. No one is being paid to do nothing, everything you teach depends on the blogger adding value to their customer’s lives in some way. This takes a lot of hard work – just the right sort of work!
B. The value in the guest blogging arrangement works both ways – top quality content/exposure win/win
C. The process works as a filter rather than a funnel. You expose your work to thousands, you hope to add value to those thousands for no cost to yourself but of those thousands there will be a few hundred who need your service and they pay for those things in proportion to the cost to you in terms of time or resources.
The reason this works is because the incremental cost of publishing acceptible digital content is practically zero so the blogger has far more leverage than any writers prior to the digital age.
Having said that, I have possibly also demonstrated another reason why people start glazing over when I start talking about this stuff
Anyway Jon, keep it coming, this blog is absolutely essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how our new digital world works!
Bill
APR 04, 2014 @ 09:42:11

This is all great information from someone who has had connections and still has connections for year. If you never worked at copyblogger you’d have a real job. In other words…you got lucky and the other 1988098804880979 million bloggers out there won’t have your right place right time luck and therefore won’t have your connections and therefore won’t make this kind of money. Your bragging is embarrassing and shameful!

To all the bloggers out there…STOP sucking up to the very small, elite and narcissistic group of self-proclaimed influencers out there. If you all stop treating them like they’re special, they will not longer by special and therefore some of us who aren’t in there secret society will be seen as knowing what we’re talking about too! This isn’t High School, grow up and read someone else’s blog already!
- Jon Morrow
  APR 04, 2014 @ 11:05:01
  
  This comment is makes me sad, Bill. What happened to you?
  
  Something must have to be so jaded.
- Ash
  APR 05, 2014 @ 07:57:15
  
  Bill: I couldn’t disagree more.
  
  I don’t think getting a gig at copyblogger is as simple as “being in the right place at the right time”.
  
  In fact I KNOW it isn’t. Brian Clark isn’t easily impressed and rightly so.
  
  I think it takes years of working your ass off (with little or no reward) to produce jaw dropping, spectacular content that CANNOT go unnoticed.
  
  And anyone willing to perform at such a high level, for so long, will inevitably find opportunities being thrown at them – by copyblogger or problogger, the huffington post etc.
  
  This principle applies to just about anything: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Abe Lincoln, Einstein, Edison, and just about any other successful person I can think of worked their ass off for a large part of their lives before they saw any success.
  
  They weren’t in the right place at the right time. They created the right place and the right time for themselves as a direct result of their grit and sincere effort.
Zara
APR 04, 2014 @ 11:22:20

Dear Bitter Bill,

I’m sure your above critique was motivated by altruistic reasons but may I ask you to reconsider some of your views?

I think you may well be right if you are saying that few of us will have the skills required to attract and service a lucrative and large enough market to earn the sort of sums quoted. Nevertheless, may I just say that Jon has freely given us, not only a system but the commercial logic and reasonings behind that system.

Now, once you and I have taken advantage of that info. (and I am still in the process of launching) then we will be in a better position to either thank Jon or criticise him. Of course, timing is almost everything but with the amount of free flowing, easy to read, writing that Jon provides, which is the hallmark of all good communications, plus incorporating such useful content, then I like to think that if we could follow that example then eventually we (yes, you and I, Bill) would be rewarded with fans and finance.

So, I do hope, Bill, that you are in the midst of preparing an inspiring blog full of up-liftment that we can all enjoy. In the meantime, please accept my kind regards and my wishes for your success in the future. Onwards and upwards!
Zara x.
- adeem jan
  NOV 22, 2014 @ 14:54:55
  
  People who start to blog always thing of making money which tends them toward failure. In my opinion bloggers should choose the topic which interests them. They don’t think about making money. It’s about knowledge, try to learn more and don’t think about money stuff. There are many top blog topics to make money online but you can get success only with the topic you like to write on. Try to choose your topic for the blog. Making money is very easy, don’t think about it much.
Sherice Jacob
APR 04, 2014 @ 16:33:55

Bill hit upon an interesting point (although I disagree with how he expressed it…) Jon, you’re a phenomenal writer, but would you say it’s phenomenal writing alone that got you to where you are today, or your connections with well-known blogs, or both?

Spot-on post though, I’m just genuinely curious…in your experience, have you found it more difficult for people to break into guest blogging since it’s so pervasive among the IM crowd? Is it more-so a matter of who you know versus what you know?

Keep up the good work
Sherice
- Mike@ Gecko Rock Resort
  APR 04, 2014 @ 20:03:28
  
  Success in every facet of life is based on who you know and not what you know The secret is to start connecting with more people, if you build your network wide enough you’ll meet someone who can help you, no matter what it is that you are trying to achieve. Some meet these influential people more quickly by complete luck of the draw, others need to keep plugging along longer. The system works either way, and whether or not it works better for others is irrelevant, all systems in life work better for some than others.
- Jon Morrow
  APR 05, 2014 @ 19:18:56
  
  Connections definitely matter, but I don’t think meeting the right people is a matter of luck. When I was a beginner, I made a list of all the people I wanted to know, and I mapped out a strategy for building a relationship with each of them. It’s no coincidence that, years later, all of them are friends. I made sure of it.
  - Sherice Jacob
    APR 05, 2014 @ 20:16:22
    
    I know you don’t go into *anything* without a plan
    
    I think I’ll try that approach myself, many thanks!
Bobby
APR 04, 2014 @ 16:56:05

This goes against the grain of 90% of what I’ve learned from the”experts” in the last 9 months of blogging. But man it feels right. I’m so worried about short term gains that I’m not building a long term foundation. I’m thinking so small! These lessons are profound, Jon. Thanks!
Mike@ Gecko Rock Resort
APR 04, 2014 @ 19:58:13

Your blog is great and every single post is packed with truly useful and up to date information and tips, but one thing I am finding, not just with BBT, but most “how to be a successful blogger” sites is that the focus is almost entirely geared towards people who want to be a “blogger” and not on how a company can use a blog to drive sales.

I was wondering if you knew of any specific resources that focused less on how to be a successful blogger per se, and more so on how to run a blog that helps make your business successful?

One example is this: since our blog is a sub-domain for my wife and I’s boutique beach resort, nobody seems to want to touch me as a guest blogger. I get the same response every time “you’re commercial and so you’ve got to pay for a sponsored post”…and while yes, we are commercial and not a private blog per se, we’re a tiny family run business and 95% of private blogs are striving to be commercial, whether they’re associated with a company name or not.

I can’t imagine that it’s worth the payoff to actually pay $25-100 per guest post. I mean, sure, if Conde Nast would let us write for them for a hundred bucks that would be one thing, but I don’t think it’s worth it to pay to guest post on a middling travel blog.

So yeah, my comment is getting a bit long-winded here, but how can blogs that are meant to funnel traffic to a business site best gain traction without paying for the right to write guest posts?

Cheers.
- Peter Kanayo
  APR 04, 2014 @ 22:40:37
  
  Mike you will need to target sites like Forbes and huffington post.
  
  Challenging but ll be worth it. Another site I can think of is business insider.
  
  Just take a look at their viral post and pitch them a topic.
  
  It will be best if you contact the editors of the site. Its quite easier that way.
  
  Warm up with them through twitter. And you could hit that big deal
  - Mike@ Gecko Rock Resort
    APR 05, 2014 @ 01:12:22
    
    Thank you for the input Peter.
    
    Our blog actually covers travel tips and insights into expat life along the Oaxacan coast of Mexico, so I am not sure that those sites would be the target audience for our blog’s content even if they were more accessible, which clearly they aren’t.
    
    I mean, of course I’d come up with suitable content for Forbes should they wish to publish me, haha, but honestly we’d be happy with guest posting on even mildly popular travel blogs. The problem up to now, as I mentioned above, is that nobody wants to let us guest post, they want us to pay to do a sponsored post since our blog is attached to our business. If my blog was MexicoMike.com instead of http://blog.geckorockresort.com/then it wouldn’t be an issue, but as soon as anyone sees the name of our business they incorrectly assume we’re loaded
    
    Whereas the truth is that we’re trying to build our blog in lieu of paying for advertising.
    
    Somehow it’s OK to let an aspiring blogger write a guest post, but not a boutique hotel owner who writes a blog to funnel traffic to the main hotel site.
Gagan Masoun
APR 05, 2014 @ 04:23:18

Hi Jon,

I really liked your premium tips. Your guide for 0 to $100k is just awesome. All bloggers should follow the rules of blogging if they are on starting point.

Keep it up

~Gagan Masoun
Sudip
APR 05, 2014 @ 06:34:13

To be honest, this is the first time I am here in your blog. Someone in my FB friend list shared this article and this is really a great and well-documented article for a newbie blogger like me. Thank you.
Ash
APR 05, 2014 @ 08:15:50

Hey Jon,

I really like point #4. There’s not such thing as a “cheap” market.

I agree with your statement “Often times, you can make more money selling to the 2% than you can to the entire 98% combined.” and your following example about selling a $10,000 mentoring program for aspiring writers.

In fact, I’d go one step further to say it’s necessary for a blogger to really understand his/her audience and to know what keeps them up at night BEFORE coming up with a product idea that delivers more value than it costs.

Point #6 about deliberately delaying the sale happens to have this added benefit of giving the blogger more insight into the audience through the way they interact with the blog. i.e. The posts they read, the comments they leave etc.

Once you’ve really understood the audience, it’s a case of demonstrating the potential value the product (in excess of the cost) will bring to the audience in the form of a solved problem. If it’s clear that your product will deliver more value to the customer than they pay for it, then it’s a no brainer for the customer.

I’m guessing you spent a LOT of time understanding your audience and analysing their needs before deciding to launch the mentoring program (product).
LeAllyson Meyer
APR 05, 2014 @ 10:27:02

I am so very glad I found your website and read this post. I am so inexperienced in all this, but I do see that you take a totally different approach to the many others I have read. It is so refreshing. I will go back reread, study and apply.

Thank you,
Santel
APR 05, 2014 @ 11:33:11

Thank Jon for this awesome post. I usually scan the contents on the web but your writing keep me reading every single word you wrote.

I am struggling in generate more income from my online business. I can’t increase my Adsense revenue, even I tried so hard.

Your approach is showing me a new way. I actually have my first Kindle book which I sold only two copies until now.

I think I am going to focus on my first information product or online course and start selling.

I don’t expect to get much as you, but I think I can improve my family by the end of this year.

Thank a lot for sharing this real experiences. I really appreciate it.
Sandeep Khatri
APR 05, 2014 @ 14:35:45

We can do this! Just gotta put the right work in at the right time.

Speaking of which, time to get back to work on those guest posts…after I go read the link about promoting your content
Vikas Kumar
APR 05, 2014 @ 16:35:58

Now, I had a question. I am just 14 years old and I am entering the blog-o-sphere as an intermediate. Now, you may check my blog “theartofvk(dot)com.” I write how to articles mostly and also try to do videos as I am not a native English speaker it get’s difficult for me. When I read post on BBT I find it really interesting but How To articles… umm.. are they nice enough? How To article probably don’t keep people engaging do they? I am recently also trying guest post and on my 5 attempt my article was accepted at Hongkiat.

So in the end I come up with… did I choose the wrong niche? Am I a looser then? Please answer as I will be waiting.

Thanks
Amandah
APR 05, 2014 @ 17:24:50

Awesome post Jon! It’s in my Evernote.

Question for you. What’s your opinion on turning off blog comments? I like engaging with readers and bloggers and having a dialogue with them. But I know some bloggers are turning off their comments. I don’t know about this. Some readers may feel you’re turning your back on them. Others may not care at all.

Also, I think allowing comments on your blog makes you approachable and builds a community. Plus, if you solely build your community on social media networks, what happens when they disappear? You never know, it could happen.

Thanks again for this wonderful blog post. Have a great weekend!
- Jon Morrow
  APR 05, 2014 @ 19:19:48
  
  Like most things, there are pros and cons. Not sure there is a correct answer. Just a personal decision.
John Corcoran
APR 06, 2014 @ 07:04:06

This is excellent advice, Jon. There’s so much that I agree with here, some of which has appeared elsewhere, but this post puts it all together with one neat bow on top.

I will quibble on one point though, your comment about BBT getting 13,000 subscribers before launching even though you “had nothing but a coming soon page and an invitation to join our email list.” As I recall, you also had a freakin’ awesome video on that page as well that just made people yearn to give you their email address, even without knowing a thing about BBT. So that didn’t hurt, either. ; )
- Jon Morrow
  APR 07, 2014 @ 11:37:06
  
  True. I also had Headline Hacks.
  
  Funny thing is, the video didn’t work that well, but HH sure did.
  - John Corcoran
    APR 07, 2014 @ 12:44:10
    
    Really? Wow, I’m shocked the video didn’t work that well. I thought it was great.
    
    I’m not surprised about Headline Hacks converting though. I just had someone email it to me last week, and I’ve been using it for years. I have a copy printed up which I keep under my pillow at night (OK, maybe not… but I might as well.)
Bastiaan
APR 06, 2014 @ 15:44:17

Best post ever on BBT Jon. It open my eyes and showed me which direction to go with my blog.. This one I’ll print, put a frame around it and hang it on my wall :).
Stan
APR 07, 2014 @ 03:16:40

It’s a great post, Jon. I always loved your style, you make everything sound so attention-grabbing. Anyway, I think it’s a very helpful post, meaning that some of those points actually (well, who am I fooling here, most of them) were something new for me. Especially about SEO.
Tilen
APR 07, 2014 @ 04:42:08

Jon, amazing article! I would just add to your #15 regarding e-mail subscribers. The number you described is real if you have a legit database of subscribers behind it (don’t know if you take this here for granted).
- Jon Morrow
  APR 07, 2014 @ 18:15:24
  
  Yes, you’re right, I was talking about a legit email database. More specifically, people who like you and trust you.
Charlie Seymour Jr
APR 07, 2014 @ 13:24:59

If there’s one guy’s email I never throw away before reading and dissecting, it’s Jon Morrow. First I was impressed by your back story and then I was impressed with the quality of your work and recommendations.

Though most of my income is generated by helping others 1) get found online and then 2) engage through video, I do use my blog to attract people to me so they can see the services and products I offer.

Doesn’t fit with exactly the type blog being presented here, but Jon’s thoughts are always helpful.

As always, Jon: thanks for the great info.

Charlie Seymour Jr
- Jon Morrow
  APR 07, 2014 @ 18:14:23
  
  Thanks for the kind words, Charlie.
Maurice
APR 08, 2014 @ 03:01:25

Hi John,

Great article. Just one question about guestblogging. Didn’t google put in on a list of things not to do recently regarding SEO?

Thanks for your great posts.

Maurice Smit
- Jon Morrow
  APR 09, 2014 @ 14:47:56
  
  Nope. They warned people against spammy guest blogging, which is a completely different activity. It confused a lot of people.
ROB MCNELIS
APR 08, 2014 @ 09:51:12

Always blown away by your posts and funnel, but I can’t help but think that there is an easier way. Basically, take everything you reccomend, then only do what is absolutely nessicary for that tactic to work.
Vince
APR 09, 2014 @ 20:26:06

I would really love to see my blogs earning as much as $100,000 a month. I wish I can achieve that. Still long way to go.
Abhishek Tavasalkar
APR 10, 2014 @ 10:00:52

I am learning so much from ‘His Royal Awesomeness’ Jon Morrow and BBT.

You are such of a man who blows away all of my assumptions with each and every post. And yes I’m the bottleneck and I’ve realized it now.

No other blogger can compare to ‘His Royal Awesomeness’ Jon Morrow.

Have a great day Jon. I am a true worshiper of you and BBT. I really Thank God that I’ve found this site very much early in my blogging career.
Stefano
APR 11, 2014 @ 17:21:09

Hi! Great posts and tips. Question: All these points are great considering that the language of the blog it’s english. What about local blogs, like non-english website?
- Jon Morrow
  APR 23, 2014 @ 12:29:07
  
  It’s much, much harder. Guest blogging doesn’t work nearly as well.
  
  If you’re blogging in another language, I would recommend just focus on posting amazing content and then asking influencers to share it for you. You have much less competition, so it should be fairly effective.
Ryan Biddulph
APR 12, 2014 @ 05:36:56

Jon, the 30 minutes staring into silence is the best thing you can do; I’ve traveled the world for 3 years straight and count meditation as my number 1 strategy for prospering
Arun Kallarackal
APR 12, 2014 @ 07:39:57

Epic article! Took some time to go through the whole post. But the time spent was well spent! I must admit that fact!

This article not only shared much valuable knowledge, but also reignited my flair for enhancing my affiliate sales and has inspired me!

Great work Jon, I appreciate the long hours and work you put towards creating this article!

And thanks to Kingged, where I actually found the link to this post. I’ll be Kingging this useful post over there too!

Arun
Leonard
APR 15, 2014 @ 00:35:35

Okay, well I guess I have to be Mr. Contrarian today. Or, at the very least, ask a few questions and play some Devil’s Advocate.

I want to start off by saying I really do like this blog. But I have a problem (or at the very least, a couple questions) pertaining to your blog post, Jon.

1) The first thing is in regards to your statements about creating your own products, promoting affiliate products, and doing unique things like creating courses and webinars.

So…is everyone who reads this blog in the business (or currently trying to get into the business) of helping teach other people to make money on the Internet?

In other words, Jon is an incredible writer, communicator, and hard worker–no question. But you’re in the business of helping other people make money. You’re not, by contrast, a travel blogger. You’re not, by contrast, helping to teach people how to buy their first pet. You’re not, by contrast, an entertainment blogger writing about Rihanna and “True Detective.”

And so, I guess my question here would simply be–would a person who follows your blog about TV shows be interested in paying for a TV-related webinar you created? Would a person who follows your blog about vinyl record collecting want to buy an online course from you? Would a person who follows a travel blog you created want to call you up for coaching lessons?

In other words–isn’t most of your advice squarely aimed at a very, very small segment of bloggers who, more than likely, are trying to teach other people how to make money online?

2) And second, you mentioned that you would recommend people do guest blogging, and not even post their first blog entry until they have 10,000 subscribers. You then said you would completely dismiss social media for now (which goes against what someone like Gary Vaynerchuk thinks, but that’s fine–nothing wrong with differing opinions).

So based on this advice, I would approach someone’s blog and see if I can write a guest post for them.

But because I’m not launching my blog or writing any blog posts until I hit 10,000 subscribers, I can’t point them to a blog I own that contains some of my writing samples, so that whoever I’m contacting can read and get an idea of my writing style.

So….why would someone accept me as a guest blogger? I have no blog where I’ve written similar content on my own platform, and because we’re not focusing on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, I have no social proof of any kind.

Why would someone accept me as a guest blogger, when there’s other people who are contacting them about the same opportunity, but they also have their own platform and potentially followers?

To me, that’s akin to walking into a business on a Monday morning and demanding to see the manager. I tell him I’d like a job opportunity at his company, and when he asks for my resume, I can’t provide him with one (my blog). And when he asks for my references (social media), I can’t provide that either. Why is he going to listen to me?

I suppose I just don’t see why being DEVOID of a blog and social media will make you an attractive guest blogging candidate. I get that you’ll maybe be more focused on finding guest blogs rather than building up your Twitter following, but couldn’t you just ask easily say that we should focus on doing nothing but building followers on Twitter, because you can then build relationships and find guest posting opportunities through the people you meet in social media?

–Leonard
- Jon Morrow
  APR 23, 2014 @ 12:27:20
  
  Leonard, from reading through your comment, it sounds like your main question is this:
  
  Doesn’t this stuff only work in the “make money online” niche?
  
  It’s a valid question. And to answer your question, these techniques DON’T work for everyone.
  
  For example, the entertainment blogger you mentioned. That’s a completely different style of blogging, and it operates by entirely different rules. Usually, the only way to monetize those blogs is advertising, and as a consequence, those bloggers almost never make much money.
  
  But those blogs are really more the exception than the rule.
  
  I have a client who makes a ton of money in the interior decorating space. Most of her readers are moms looking for interior decorating tips. Check her out: http://www.mariakillam.com/
  
  And that’s just one example. I could list hundreds that have nothing to do with making money.
  
  And as for guest blogging…
  
  Popular bloggers accept guest post for the same reasons popular bands have opening acts. It’s a way to extend the “show” without doing all the work yourself.
  
  When an up-and-coming band auditions to be an opening act, do you think the more famous band cares where they have played? Not really. All they care about is the strength of the audition. If the up-and-coming band is good, they get the gig. If they suck, it doesn’t matter where they played or how good everyone else says they are, they get a polite no.
  
  Same thing with guest blogging. If your post is good, you’re in. The editor won’t even look at your blog, most likely. Or if they do, it’ll be a cursory glance just to make sure you don’t have anything offensive on your site.
Yoav
APR 15, 2014 @ 04:51:10

Hey Leonard,

1) Your niche selection is extremely important. You probably won’t be able to make money helping people watch better quality TV. But you could help them lose weight or be more productive and make a bunch of money in the process. Making money is not limited to helping other people make money.

2) You should have an active blog, but you should put a lot more effort into guest blogging in the beginning and when you hit 10.000 subscribers shift the focus to your own blog. Because then the effect of social media, SEO, etc on your site outweighs the traffic you’ll get from guest blogging.

I think that is what Jon meant.
Ann07
APR 15, 2014 @ 11:00:58

Thanks for sharing this post, Abhistek.

This is such an awesome content from Jon Morrow. It inspires me a lot and I hope other bloggers will be inspired too after reading these valuable and effective lessons on how to build a profitable blog. The lessons given are practical and are delivered wisely.

I believe that Jon Morrow is a successful person and that his blogs truly touch someone’s life.

Two thumbs up for their great job!

Best,
Ann

By the way, I found this post shared on kingged.com
Chery Schmidt
APR 15, 2014 @ 19:44:42

Hello Jon, Wow now this article is right on cue, All 20 lesson’s Rock! I got so much out of this one, oh yeh 2 pages of notes HEHE Yes I do take notes, I can ‘t remember all of these goodies after I leave. I think it is a great idea, why not they just may come in handy right.

I also teach others to do the same. Yes tip #20 “” We give them the roadmap for achieving their dreams!

I absolutely loved this post. Lesson #13: Promote The Crap Out of Your Content Now this is one thing that I know gets results. Sites like Kingged for instance getter done.. I did land here today Via this site where I also commented and kingged this post..

Thanks for sharing.. Chery :))
KRYSTAL K.
APR 17, 2014 @ 14:44:42

This article has gotten my mind churning and working in so many new and exciting ways. Thank you for sharing your insights! You deserve all the success you’ve been having on your blog. I can’t wait to start putting these tips into REAL practice (not the “wow-I-feel-so-inspired-for-20-minutes-and-do-nothing kind of practice I so often fall victim to).

Thank you again!
Krystal K.
BLOG & COMPANY
Andy Koehn
APR 20, 2014 @ 23:58:29

Sort and sweet: how do I know if I can monetize what I know? I’m a widower…married again with five kids…and the death of my first wife taught me more than I ever wanted to know. Can this turn into money? (I fear your answer…or lack of one.). Peace off.
- Jon Morrow
  APR 23, 2014 @ 12:11:37
  
  Anything can be monetized. Sounds to me like you might have a good foundation for a parenting blog. Or maybe self-improvement.
  - Adny Koehn
    DEC 30, 2014 @ 21:32:54
    
    It’s taken me this long to reply…but I figure saying THANK YOU late is better than not saying it all. I’m going to look at parenting…though I am far from a perfect parent. (Self-improvement? That’s why I’m HERE.) Anyhow…thank you for the direction. (And I joined SBO. More than I bargained for that’s for sure!) Peace.
Sachin
APR 23, 2014 @ 12:51:49

I found the link to this blog in a post on unbounce.com and I can say with all certainty that coming on to this blog is the best thing I did today wonderful blog and really useful post. Kudos Jon.
Alex
APR 23, 2014 @ 17:18:18

Thanks Jon! A ridiculously useful post! So much here I wish I knew before – but better to learn now than never!
Linda Chow
APR 24, 2014 @ 03:33:35

Hello Jon, the lessons are detailed and comprehensive. Frankly speaking, I have never read a blog post that carefully like today and I really benefit a lot from it. However, I still have a question regarding to this post, that is, if I am not an expert in any field, what kind of blog (topic for blog) should I start with and how to get enough traffic to my blog? I agree with you that we should not sell ads but should sell our own products or affiliate products via our blog. However, if I cannot teach others something and my blog doesn’t have enough traffic, how can I sell my products or the affiliate products to my readers? Anyhow, I will still focus on your blog and hope I will learn more valuable knowledge through your blog.
Ulysses Alves
APR 29, 2014 @ 07:42:41

Amazing comments section! I always judge a blog post by the number of comments it receives from readers, and this post here has a lot and lots of people interested in not just reading, but also in discussing about what you wrote. It’s really an example to be followed. I’ll try to apply tour tips, and I hope my blog also gets to a place where it provides this level of value to my readers. Thanks for sharing those guidelines whith us.
Lynne
MAY 06, 2014 @ 19:28:04

What a brilliant blog, am book marking it so I can read over it again, and yes will share it!
Mihaela
MAY 07, 2014 @ 04:10:41

Wow, that’s a great post. I was wondering how all that applies to someone like me that is a creative. My ideal readers are not fellow artists that I could teach something, but people that love their interior and want to brighten it with some colourful and inspiring art. Thank you so much for you response and I will definitely come back and read your blog more often.
- Alex
  MAY 07, 2014 @ 05:19:41
  
  Just thinking aloud here – but maybe you could put a guide together to help people choose the best art for their homes? Maybe in time offer a consultancy service – I bet there are some people who would pay someone to choose the art for them? I’ve seen that you are a self-taught artist – able to offer courses/consultancy on helping others learn art?
  - Mihaela
    MAY 07, 2014 @ 09:11:45
    
    Great suggestions8 I will have to ponder uppon them. I was thinking to beggin with a free e-calendar. Do you believe that could encourage people to subscribe? Thanks again!
Jessica Oman
MAY 09, 2014 @ 11:35:39

Very useful, applicable and dare I say inspiring post, Jon! I feel I’m ready to systematically implement all of your solutions (and similar ones offered by others) but I often wonder if I would have more success starting a new blog from scratch, than trying to up the ante with my existing blog. It would be nice to have time for both! Great post though, I will be bookmarking (and sharing, cuz you asked) this one.
Peter
MAY 10, 2014 @ 06:20:29

WOW!!! Thanks a lot for your many advice
Olamosh
MAY 20, 2014 @ 11:27:38

Hi Jon,

Thanks for this wonderful post, infact it make my day. Am a blogger, but this articles makes me realise a lot of things.

To be sincere i learn alot and no one will read this article and will not feel inspired to do more in his/her blogging career.

You hit the hammer on the nail directly, all the point you mentioned are great and the explanation are wonderful.

I will surely put all I learn in this articles post to action.

Thanks and have a nice day

I found the link to this post on Kingged and i have also kingged it on kingged.com
Esther Molenaar
JUN 05, 2014 @ 05:02:12

Hi Jon,

Thanks for all this valuable information.

So many insights. Here are two:
“Start selling from day one”. That goes against everything I learned, but it makes sense. Even when you have a small 100 subscriber list.

“Build a reverse funnel”. Also not what I was taught. I was led to believe that you should start, with free, then have somewhat cheap product, before you have your premium product.

Will start thinking about my premium product right now.
Patrick Kihara
JUN 07, 2014 @ 16:17:45

Great content. Just what I have been looking for. I realized that I have been spending lots of hours creating content for my blog but doing nothing when it comes to outreaching and promiting my content.
I guess it is time to write some awesome guest posts.
Thanks.
Gary R
JUN 26, 2014 @ 08:55:54

Great blog post. It get s easier as you learn and get comfortable with your chosen subject matter and style.
Jabo Aguirre
JUN 29, 2014 @ 12:05:29

Thank you very much for this article! This is what I need right now.
Terry Hopper
JUL 01, 2014 @ 07:40:30

Wonderful post. there were so many ideas that I got from you and now I can’t wait to update my comment blog posts. Very well done and thank you so much for sharing such n important post. I also appreciated all the comments you generated from some very experienced bloggers.
Rais Zada
JUL 04, 2014 @ 08:08:10

I am not fully agree with your Lesson #4, as you said, there are only maximum 2% buyers who can spend $1k or more. So to sell product with this pricing you need to be a experienced online marketer, otherwise its hell difficult job to find these 2% clients.
constance k
JUL 05, 2014 @ 23:38:07

Yes I’ve tried surveys and failed in fact I’ve still yet to find someone who had make money taking survey, but I agree with creating a product or service even if you are not experience marketer you can make something
Dustin @ Venture Blend Magazine
JUL 09, 2014 @ 16:57:12

Wow Jon. Simply epic post. Thanks for much!
ezuddin
JUL 10, 2014 @ 02:43:07

i am kinda new in blogging. By reading your post, i feel i can really proceed further with the product that i have. Thanx jon
Sophie Mahir
JUL 13, 2014 @ 08:12:05

Awesome post – I am really inspired and happy to build up my blog step by step the way you have!
David Weightman
JUL 14, 2014 @ 22:24:08

Nice information. Blogging can really lead us to success. With deeper understanding about success in blogging we can afford to have a wealthy life in the future.
yogesh
JUL 15, 2014 @ 04:05:10

thanx for tips you are awesome.
craig
JUL 16, 2014 @ 02:43:16

What an awesome post! It goes against everything everyone else is teaching but it actually makes sense! Great stuff.
Sharmilaa
JUL 16, 2014 @ 05:29:24

OMG! This is such an incredible post.. Thanks so much!
Andrew Walton
JUL 18, 2014 @ 15:37:58

Totally, irrevocably sold on long content! It’s taking a long time to learn everything, I still don’t know what product to offer as I’m bad at getting specific – but my traffic and subscribers are growing. One more step to take along the road.
Valdengrave Okumu
JUL 18, 2014 @ 21:00:03

This is great advice. I am an artist and I just recently started blogging on my site.
I am keen on applying these tips to my blogs.
gaurav vashisht
JUL 20, 2014 @ 04:52:33

I think the domain name also matters as what I think is that shorter the domain name more the traffic is on the website and also the topic of your blog is important and google also preffers topics like blogging, tv shows etc.
Xihla
JUL 23, 2014 @ 06:16:16

Wow Jon.

Thank you for putting something like this together. i have been trying to make money blogging, and this is exactly what I needed to be guided on the right path.

I wish I had found your blog much earlier . . . thanks so much!
Alberto Rendon
JUL 28, 2014 @ 08:25:03

That is right, blogging in the right way will really make money. Thanks for the encouragement.
keyanna Rochelle
AUG 13, 2014 @ 13:51:25

Hi Jon!

Thank you for your advice. I’m definitely interested in applying these techniques to my make money online blog. I currently have Google Adsense on my blog and I offer advertising banner spots on my website through micro job sites. But $100k a month is awesome! I’ll even be happy with $100k a year. If I can get my blog on that level, I could quit my job and work from home. I’m re-reading these techniques tonight and applying them to my blog. Thank you so much!
Adam Dukes
AUG 14, 2014 @ 12:54:46

Excellent post, Jon! Thank you for being open and honest and sharing what to do and what not to do. Really appreciate the insights.
Vinay Kumar
AUG 19, 2014 @ 14:52:46

Thanks Mark. You’re awesome too.
Sammy Kikwai
AUG 23, 2014 @ 13:41:28

These are some of the best I have read in a while Jon. Well, am a blogger in a relatively different online environment – Africa to be precise. Some things just don’t work out over here – ebooks no one buys them, mailing lists, no one joins them and very few people are willing to pay you to teach them anything. Hopefully, over time I will find the right formula to bissect this difficult market.
Glenys
AUG 25, 2014 @ 03:28:15

I love the metrics that you provide Jon, such as how much income one should be able to expect per subscriber per month.
This post provides great advice; lesson #10 is priceless.
Thanks!
Vinay Kumar
AUG 27, 2014 @ 08:41:44

That is right, blogging in the right way will really make money. Thanks for the encouragement.
Alex
AUG 27, 2014 @ 09:18:37

Hi,

This article is like the Holy Grail for bloggers. Thank you for this!

I also wanted to ask you how is this applicable to a blog that has as a mission educating people about science. Any ideas?
Rafia
AUG 27, 2014 @ 14:16:39

This article is really informative. I was wasting my time on social media ads. Thanks for the suggestions
Rhandell Mitchell
AUG 30, 2014 @ 23:56:26

I really enjoyed this post. Since I came online and started my own blog I never really had an identity for my blog. Even now I’m in the middle of restructuring things “again”.

One of the most frustrating things for me since I began blogging was getting more engagement on my blog posts. When I first started I went from nothing to around 200,000 on Alexa in about 3 to 6 months. After that, I had a long hiatus of no content and flew back up past 10,000,000.

Anybody who’s been online for a while has heard the term “VALUE” at least a million times. Yet, only a few of us know “WHAT” value IS. I’ve generated a substantial amount of subscribers over the years, but my relationship with them was lacking, because I didn’t fully grasp the concept of giving value.

I think now that I have finally started to have a better understanding of how to provide value. My new challenge is learning how to differentiate when I’m giving “too much” value, in the case where I should have just packaged up the content and created a product.

What’s your take on deciphering when you have given enough value for free and when it should be sold?
Avoaja
SEP 07, 2014 @ 19:45:17

Well the focus on SEO for new bloggers is crazy, some believe that is all they need to succeed, Guest blogging is a great idea I think I will tow that line
Sanjay Sajeev
SEP 09, 2014 @ 03:05:27

Valuable post indeed.
Writing a post contains 2000 – 3000 words may be a bit difficult to me. But i must realize that nothing can be achieved without hard working. If we write a long valuable content like this, there is a great chance for bookmarking the page. So it is a great innovative strategy.
Garren M.
SEP 13, 2014 @ 01:00:47

Excellent article and very true points! I love spending some time on blog and making sure it is organized, as this will make it easier for visitors to follow. Mine is about creative stories and thoughts of mine and includes a store and chat people can spend some time on as well.
hrmagazine
SEP 16, 2014 @ 05:23:12

Awesome post dude I have found some cool ideas from your post that might help me to increase comments on my blog.
Christina
SEP 17, 2014 @ 13:46:37

Starting now… actually about 10 minutes ago, I changed my approach.
I’m asking the question, focusing on OTHERS and forgetting about FB for a while.
Thanks for all the goodies to work with!
Alonzo Williams
SEP 19, 2014 @ 22:54:14

Keep on Rockin it Jon you’re Awesome. You keep it totally real no hype and provide 100% solid network marketing business value, advice and teaching! Anyone needing to learn more about how to build a network marketing business can find great information on your blog! Very glad to now you my friend. Have Great day and keep on moving forward.
Sean
SEP 23, 2014 @ 15:22:42

Hi

Great post, liked the content some great ideas. It definitely got me thinking. I hadn’t though of some of these tips, so thanks.
damilolaniyi
SEP 26, 2014 @ 07:34:50

After reading through this post, I’m punching the air. Makes sense! But the thing is I write short stories, reviews, articles and the like on my blog. I’ve a little more than 500 subscribers and I’ve read every available material on getting traffic and making money. I only wonder how it applies to me since subscription to my blog is trickling in at a very slow rate Anyhow, this is another great post from you, keep it up!
Hitesh
SEP 26, 2014 @ 08:10:47

This post is amazing. I am a newbie and had no idea about how to proceed. This was an eye opener. I was investing too much in SEO, though I neither had good content nor links with the influences.I am really grateful that you brought out this topic.
Anita Belli
OCT 03, 2014 @ 04:00:09

WOW! Shock at dawn! Turned all of my perceptions upside down! Thak you, your Awesomeness (*bows respectfully*)
Angela
OCT 10, 2014 @ 14:12:56

Loved this post. Will definitely be coming back here to follow your tips. Thanks for sharing this info!
Allan
OCT 11, 2014 @ 22:35:49

Jon, you just rock! I agree that you should be called “his Royal Awesomeness” :). This is the greatest post I ever read about blogging and monetizing a blog. I know some bloggers who are able to make a living 20-30k per year with their blogs but it took them years to build a following and thousands of posts too…
Your inverse funnel idea is incredible. Focusing on the 2% is just wow! I mean I’ll have to read that post again and again because I did everything wrong with my blog.

Thank you so much for sharing this!
Abbey
OCT 22, 2014 @ 04:44:33

Jon, “his royal awesomeness”.

I read your 4000 words post almost without blinking. Thank god, breathing is automatic or I would have forgot to take it

Extraordinary post. Not only I got new insights but it totally change my paradigm.

Hats off Jon
Isabel
OCT 26, 2014 @ 07:41:19

Thanks a lot Jon.

This is one of the best posts about the subject I have ever come across.
Thanks for your insight and for spending your time writing this superb piece of advice.
Favour Femi-Oyewole
OCT 29, 2014 @ 11:21:57

Hello Jon,

I’m impressed about the depth of insight you seem to command in this area. It is true there are lots of sites that means opposite of what they say or write but yours is different. Keep on doing a good job out there.
Alfonso
NOV 01, 2014 @ 11:56:57

wow great post and tips, I will surely put all I learn in this articles post to action. thank you!
CLAY STEADMAN
NOV 05, 2014 @ 16:30:05

Jon Morrow, thank you so much for this post! I needed to hear this stuff. I am looking forward to learning from you in the future. I have been inspired but your writing so far.

I hope you are having an awesome day!

Clay Steadman
Albertus Indratno
NOV 10, 2014 @ 22:42:34

Dear Jon,

You are man of kind. I do blogging since 7 years ago. I didn’t earn much like others. The reason behind i didn’t gave readers value. I pushed them to click my advertising. That’s silly. But, now, i understand that readers need something useful for their life. I called it human to human approach. Not human to machine, like the way i did. E Since months ago, i read your blog everyday. Just like a breakfast at Tiffany.
John Reynolds Jr.
NOV 16, 2014 @ 11:44:10

Mr.Morrow;
I’ve been a perspective Blogger/writer for some time now, my wife Carly suggested I take up the career as I have allot to inform people of.
I am a very successful entrepreneur and wish to blog about how to build success thru proper moral business ethics; things like Honesty, integrity and moral vigor are things that are quickly becoming the “past”.
I will combine your kind advice with my style & be coming for $100k month sales.
J.R.
Jamie Hudson
NOV 17, 2014 @ 15:19:11

This is what I call a pillar article. Amazing post on blogging and actually making money doing it. This will be extremely helpful for newbies.
Franklin Okeugo
NOV 18, 2014 @ 18:47:26

Legend of Awesomeness! Thanks a bunch
Jan
NOV 21, 2014 @ 01:05:24

So this is really based on when you’re planning to blog about ‘making money online’ I guess… because lesson #10 “Don’t Waste Time on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.” is so not true when you’re blogging about travel, recipes, photography, viral topics, news….. and a whole lot more.:P
adeem jan
NOV 21, 2014 @ 13:14:42

This is a really interesting post Jon. What you’ve listed here are the “tools of the trade” so to speak. Every type of business has a list of things specific to that business that must happen in order for their to be income produced. If that list isn’t followed, then you have a hobby, not a business.

Many begin blogging for fun and then realize their might be money to be made. Others use their blog as the means to an end, a hub of activity to attract customers and traffic to their main event.

Regardless of the reason for the blog’s existence, once you decide it is for business and not just a hobby, you must learn to treat it as a business and learn every step to do it effectively.
Adam
NOV 21, 2014 @ 18:37:45

Great post Jon, keep up the good work i also started blogging awhile back and never intend to stop just too much fun keep up the good work within the blogging world.

To Your Success

Adam Rance,
Amby Felix
NOV 25, 2014 @ 16:20:46

Thank you so much for this post! I am one of those people who decided to blog full time for a living and am loving every thing about it regardless of the lack of time, social life or sleep. I truly believe that we have an opportunity to do what we love for a living. I will definitely start guest posting more often (I’ve only done a few).
eCash Kenya
NOV 28, 2014 @ 02:10:13

I agree about foregoing ads and instead selling your own products in those ad spaces. This might however not be applicable to bloggers who are still new and running the ropes, and to blogs that are still in their growth phase.

After having some time to build a community and learn what your readers like to learn, you can then create your products and link to them from banners on your sidebar.

Thanks for this amazing tips
Nick F
DEC 01, 2014 @ 07:02:54

I didn’t even finish reading the article and I felt obliged to subscribe to your mailing list. You opened my eyes with your lessons. They are pure gold!
Sumit Thakur
DEC 02, 2014 @ 09:10:00

I like when said no SEO for one year, It is rare when someone gives statement like this. I also admit it that creating relationship is what matters the most.
Rest tips and tricks are just being impatience
Thanks for sharing such a nice post
Mi Muba
DEC 03, 2014 @ 01:37:56

Hi Jon

Your every point is the voice of my heart. The only difference is that you heard it before me and that is why you are earning 100k dollars and I am still a struggling blogger.

But the positive aspect is I haven’t fail as yet and will never fail till I am struggling. Isn’t it?

I think there are two types of people in this world. One type is of those who think they know and other type is of like you who really know and can tell others what they know.

Selling services first and then creating a product is an amazing idea which I never read before. I can enumerate several others from your post but don’t want to repeat all the points you mentioned. It will be just like the reproduction of whole post.

And thanks a lot for sharing this post and once again thank you for helping me conceive an idea for my next blog post.

To be very frank every week I get a new idea of my post after reading your post here.
Lindsey Hayward
DEC 06, 2014 @ 13:00:11

Holy smokes, this was awesome. I think it even merits the title of H.R.A., personally.

As a new(ish) blogger, it’s a little intimidating to see such a great post, yet realize it kinda goes against SO much you’ve learned thus far. At this point, I seriously feel like a deer in the headlights. But I have a question…

If you’re a total newb to the blog world yourself, what service could you possibly offer someone else? I’m sure I could be a pro hand holder, but the idea of trying to tell someone else how to be successful when *I* don’t even feel like I’m there seems far fetched.

So what’s a beginner to do?
ling | business-soulwork.com
DEC 26, 2014 @ 22:19:37

really great article, thanks Jon. I particularly like #1 – it’s the mindset shift that we all need to step up and “play” at the level to generate substantial revenue. Reversing the sales funnel is also very smart and makes a lot of sense. It’s easier to make one $3,000 sale than making 300 $10 sale – although putting a $10 product out there is less scary than selling a $3000 service – again, it’s all about the mindset.
Dennis Simsek
DEC 29, 2014 @ 00:17:00

Plain and simply brilliant. So many bloggers including myself have made leaps toward creating more and more content in the beginning, when in fact many top bloggers spend most of their time diving through other sources to generate that traffic, that moves to leads, and eventually profits. Great post.
Ankit Prakash
DEC 29, 2014 @ 08:34:27

Jon, as always a wonderful post.
Loved your thought on blogger: “You’re an expert, a teacher, a mentor, maybe even an entrepreneur”
I remember a lot of Internet entrepreneur, were bloggers few years back and had started their career as blogger.
Rocky
JAN 01, 2015 @ 13:20:22

What would you suggest to someone who has a blog that is in a very small, niche field? How does one gain a bigger audience and what types of products do you suggest selling?

Thanks for the informative post though. I definitely picked up a few important pearls!
Bonire
JAN 02, 2015 @ 06:39:54

Thanks Jon
This is one of the greatest and most inspiring articles i have ever read online.
I however seem to have one challenge to over come.
This is has to do with what specific niche to settle for because, i am only about starting out and blogging is going to be my major occupation and source of livelihood.
The niches i have in mind and passionate about is making money online and self improvement.
Dee @ The Kitchen Snob
JAN 05, 2015 @ 12:52:18

I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this one. I was blown away that you don’t have ads on your site. I have ads on my site and I’m reading along thinking your advice is to forget the ads and sell products. As a food blogger, my mind goes to e-cookbooks, actual hold-in-your-hand cookbooks, books on how to start a food blog and how to do food photography. But according to this post, those I should sell later…the cheaper products. I can’t think of what “services” I could offer, other than offering to come over and cook for them (not happening) and I’m not quite an expert at offering services of personally coaching someone’s food blog. Maybe I’m just too green for that Am I missing the point?
- Brooke
  JAN 07, 2015 @ 00:40:23
  
  Dee, I’m in the same boat. Tried Adsense and it didn’t work out. Still wondering how to maximize my potential…
Brooke
JAN 07, 2015 @ 00:37:43

Loved this article. I do get caught up with wasting time sharing to Twitter and Facebook and not seeing the traffic. I had my 1st Blogiversary in Nov 2014 and am getting a lot of positive feedback but not seeing the traffic. How do you get on some guest blog spots? We have an 1820 Farmhouse and do most of the work restoring the house and also I have a passion for cooking so I do a lot of food presentation and recipes. Love to hear what you think at BeFedAgain.com
Thanks Again for this article.
Luis Peres
JAN 07, 2015 @ 08:07:24

This is fascinating. I´ve been working in illustration for a couple decades now but i always lacked promotion skills over the web i guess. I thought that blogs were dead and gone and facebook and twitter was all that mattered nowadays but now i can see i was wrong to ditch my own personal blog for which i haven´t posted a single thing for five years or so…but even without posting i noticed today that i have around 25.000 visitors and people keep coming back… i definetely need to start paying atention to my blogs…

I have another about oriental movies that has reached about 300.000 visitors and i havent posted anything in it for a year or so…
Ive been so busy working in illustration through my site that most of the time there´s no room to work on anything else but after reading your text i think i need to find some extra time asp to go back to blogging….thanks.
Wendy
JAN 09, 2015 @ 20:57:46

You brought up some really good points in your posting. I’ve been a blogger for @ 12 hours now and I’m thankful to get glimpse of the full scope of the blogging world. Your posts informed me on the importance of “guest posting”. I have not even heard of that. Thank you and I’ll be out on other blogs posting.
The Happy Creatioms
JAN 11, 2015 @ 04:51:09

Great post,I’m going to follow your advices!I think I need to start making money just to have you as my mentor:)
Thanks
Daniel Daines-Hutt
JAN 11, 2015 @ 22:45:27

Great content Jon,

Came here after listening to you on Content Champion, great interview and great article!

That calculator must be broken i’m not seeing those blog returns yet!

Daniel
Willson John
JAN 12, 2015 @ 23:03:48

WOW Jon! great post, Only read it quickly so I will go over it again later! Lesson 9 is the eye opener! I find it really difficult to give away great content that I have just spent hours writing, but as you say, it’s got to be done!!
Salah Farid
JAN 14, 2015 @ 02:30:47

Thanks for sharing all this useful and relevant information Jon. The most interesting and surprising lesson was the one where you mentioned that spending a lot of time on social media outlets doesn’t really help. I also specifically liked how you set the tone about the fact that you’re not just a blogger and that you’re an expert…etc. This is some confidence needed to be successful in anything.
Ali Iqbal
JAN 14, 2015 @ 06:25:10

This is awesome post. More energy for new bloggers and monetization methods. The ultimate way to earn from blogging is to have something your own to sell. starting from cheaper and at discounted price is also good to penetrate in this market.

Blogging pays well if done correctly.
Charlotte
JAN 20, 2015 @ 07:55:36

Brilliant! Love your writing and love this website. It’s really a gold mine on the internet. Thanks for sharing!
Anil Agarwal
FEB 08, 2015 @ 08:28:15

Mind blowing stats Jon. I couldn’t believe you made such a huge profits from one blog.

I personally like all your posts (writing tone especially), and I’m also part of some of your premium courses. You ARE a true leader Jon. You share what you follow.
Sarah
FEB 10, 2015 @ 07:08:45

Hi! This was hands down one of the most helpful posts I’ve ever read about how to make blogging a realistic career path. I love how honest and open you were in both suggesting the good but reminding me of the bad choices out there, some of which I know I would/have made. I found your blog after hanging my head from another post on yet another site saying to forget about blogging as your source of income. Completely ignoring that advice and seeking out some that matched my determination, I found yours and so glad I did! Thank you again for this awesome post – it’s officially made it into my favorites bar to come back to.

Congratulations on your blog and so glad I found it!
Nader
FEB 13, 2015 @ 12:17:26

These tips are worth WAY more than gold… Way too awesome man. I’m printing this and keeping it as a part of my study notes for blogging. I can’t seem to find a post that I don’t want to read again and again. I admit though, I’m one of those bloggers who started off writing an ebook that didn’t make a dime. I’ve got a lot to learn!

Thanks Jon! Keep being awesome
Me
FEB 17, 2015 @ 19:14:08

I think you have made very important point. However, there is a need to distinct between 1) a blog which will be a business, and 2) a business which has a blog.
Your case seems to fall under 2. You do not want to blog, you make money from the blog, it is just a way of marketing.
My blog is a blog for blogging. To express my thoughts, and maybe make money as a side effect. There is a huge difference between those situations, and the differences lead the use of ads, guest posts and so on.
I will be happy for your reply.
sharad gupta
FEB 20, 2015 @ 23:26:26

It is superb post.
Nice guide to make money from blog.
Bloggers need both patience and strategy to be successful .
Peyton Helm
FEB 26, 2015 @ 23:49:03

This was amazing! These tips are going to help me out so much.

Thank you!
Peyton
Jon Morrow
APR 04, 2014 @ 11:07:39

Click the “Resources” tab up at the top.
Donna DeVane
AUG 11, 2014 @ 09:51:22

You’ve answered a lot of my questions about blogging. I just got started a month or so ago and found your blog through a Google search. I will put these tips into action. Thank you,
Donna Devane