Monetization

Affiliate Marketing on Your Blog without Being a Slimey Salesman

When’s the last time you saw a blogger selling affiliate products…the right way?

If you can’t remember, you aren’t alone. Nearly every day, I see bloggers promoting affiliate products in a way that makes me feel I’m on a used car lot. It’s a turn off, and it makes me trust everything they write a little less.

In this video from past BlogWorld/NMX speaker Darren Rowse, he talks a little about how to promote products the right way. This is how you make sales, not lose readers!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCzPnVteH4U[/youtube]

To follow up Darren’s video, let me just end this post by talking about a few of the biggest mistakes people are making with affiliate marketing on their blogs:

Avoiding the “sell.” You’re writing about a product because you want to sell it. That’s okay! Your fans aren’t going to get mad and stop reading because you sell something, as long as it is something relevant and you aren’t putting affiliate marketing above actual helpful or interesting content.
Not following FTC rules. Make sure you are disclosing it whenever you use an affiliate link on your blog. If you don’t, readers may feel like you’re being misleading (and you’re probably breaking FTC rules, which you can read more about here).
Promoting products just because you can. Instead of promoting an affiliate product because your readers might want to purchase sometime, promote products that you love and really want readers to buy. Just because a product is related to your niche doesn’t mean you should promote it on your blog.

Affiliate promotions are just one way to make money on your blog. Want to learn more? Check out our monetization track at New Media Expo in Vegas!

Why You Should Embrace Sponsored Posts on Your Blog

Author: elkecarvosso6

The phrase sponsored post still leaves a dirty taste in the mouths of many bloggers. Companies are still learning how to work with bloggers, so you might still get a ton of lame offers, ranging from press releases to requests for free promotion for a product or service that has nothing to do with your niche.

But if you swear off sponsored posts altogether, you could be missing out on awesome content for your blog – not to mention a source of income.

The Negative Connotation of “Sponsored”

If you poll your readers, asking, “Would you like to see more sponsored posts on my blog?” I have a feeling that 100% would say, “No way!” But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have sponsored posts. There’s this negative connotation with the word sponsored. People read that word and think crap that has no relevance to me that the blogger published because they were paid.

Stereotypes happen for a reason. Many bloggers do publish crap that has no relevance to their readers simply for the cash, and that’s a problem for three reasons:

Your readers aren’t getting high-quality content.
The sponsor isn’t getting any bang for their buck since readers aren’t clicking their links.
Companies everywhere see this continue to think this is what bloggers want.

There’s a bit of a revolution with sponsored content happening right now, though. Companies are beginning to realize point number two – that they aren’t getting any benefits from the money they’re spending on on sponsored posts. But it’s up to us bloggers to take it a step farther and educate companies on what we really want. That way, the word sponsored won’t make readers shudder anymore.

A Three-Point Rating System

Whenever I’m pitched by a company, I use a three-point rating system to determine whether or not it is a good fit for our blog.

Is the topic relevant and interesting to my readers?
Am I being compensated for my work?
Will the content be unique for my website or is everyone in the niche posting it right now?

So, for example, let’s say that XYZ company sends me a press release about a celebrity chef for my food blog. They offer to send me to his restaurant for a free meal and pay me for the post. Is the topic relevant and interesting? Yes. Am I being compensated? Yes. Is the content unique? Well, it’s a press release, so probably not.

Let’s say that a start-up offers me access to their new social media monitoring product and payment to post a review of it on my fashion blog. In this case, I’m being compensated and since it’s my own review, it would be unique. But will readers of a fashion blog want to know about a social media monitoring tool? Probably not.

Now let’s say that a third company, 123 Travels-R-Us contacts me to write about their new hotel deals site for my travel blog. They offer to send me a unique post about how to save money booking tickets online, which links back to their site. However, they do not offer any kind of compensation for publishing the post.

So I should say no to all three of these offers, right?

Get the Sponsored Content You Really Want

The answer is no: No, I (or any blogger) should not just say no to the above three offers. As bloggers, when we get good but slightly “off” pitches like these, we have the chance to educate companies about their content marketing strategy and get awesome content for our blogs – all while getting paid!

If a company satisfies none of the point on my three-point system, it’s probably not a good fit and working with them will likely be a huge headache. But if they satisfy one or, better yet, two of the points, we can probably work together. They just need a good teacher!

Respond to the email, not in an attacking way, but in an understanding way. They have a job to do – promote their own company. So tell them exactly how they can better make that happen on your blog.

“Dear Company XYZ, I would love to promote your chef to my readers, as I feel they’d be very interested in visiting his new restaurant. Instead of posting a press release, though, I think you’ll get more interest if I can do a unique interview with him about his food. If that sounds good to you, let’s work out the details.”
“Dear Start-Up, Your new social media monitoring tool looks great, but unfortunately most of my readers are fashionistas who wouldn’t be interested in this topic. However, I am willing to review it as a guest post for such-and-such blog about social media. Does this interest you?”
“Dear 123 Travels-R-Us, I checked out your new site and it looks fantastic! I’d love to promote this to my readers. Attached, you’ll find my rates for sponsored posts, and I also have package deals if you’re interested in sidebar or newsletter advertising as well. If you’re interested, I’m happy to talk to you more about my traffic numbers and audience demographic.”

In all three of these cases, the company might not be interested or they might not respond, but you’re sending a clear message:

Bloggers want unique, quality content.
Bloggers want relevant content.
Bloggers want to be paid fairly.

When you can satisfy all three points, you’ll not only be paid for your work, but your readers will enjoy the post you’ve published. Sponsored doesn’t have to be such a dirty word if the details of the sponsorship are very carefully worked out. The vast majority of readers don’t care in the least that you were paid to write something (as long as you’re honest about that, of course); they only care that what you write is something they want to read.

Are You Thanking the Wrong People Online?

Author: elkecarvosso6

We’re facing an online epidemic; content creators are saying thank you to the wrong people.

It’s a natural reaction to thank any leader in your niche who shares your content via social media or recommends you in a post. If Chris Brogan, for example, retweets your link, you’re probably going to see some traffic and get some new subscribers. I’m not advocating that you stop thanking these people. In fact, a “thank you” is part of what makes people want to share your content again in the future.

The problem is, often we forget to thank the people who really matter.

“But Allison,” you might be thinking, “Chris Brogan (or insert the name of the leader in your niche) is who matters!”

Not really. (Sorry, Chris!)

Why Niche Leaders Don’t Matter

Chris Brogan matters for countless reasons. He’s not a leader in his niche for no reason, after all. The leaders in your niche have also likely achieved this status for a reason – they’ve been around for a long time, they pioneered in the new media industry, they give great advice, etc. They matter because you can look to them for advice, innovation, and education. They matter because they can be role models for you as a content creator.

But sometimes we’re too star-struck about the ways they do matter that we don’t realize there are also ways they don’t matter.

That big-name guru-expert-ninja-rockstar leader in your niche doesn’t matter because in all likelihood, this is not a member of your target audience. If you podcast about fashion, someone who is a leader in the fashion industry probably already knows all of the ten tips to choosing the perfect little black dress that you talked about in your last episode. Or, if you have a marketing blog, that leader in your niche you look up to probably doesn’t need the free ebook about branding you’re promoting.

In other words, they aren’t the people who are ever going to become your customers.

So why do niche leaders share your content? Because they have a similar audience who is hungry for what you’re dishing out. They send lots of traffic your way – and those people are your target audience members. It’s worth saying thank you! But you should care more about saying thank you to the people who will be your customers someday – or those who already are.

Saying Thank You to the People Who Matter

Continuing to use Chris Brogan as an example, let’s say Chris does take a moment to promote something you write, sending lots of traffic your way. Some of those people sign up to your mailing list, and some even buy one of your products.

Are you thanking these people? Because it didn’t cost Chris Brogan anything to send a tweet. It barely even “cost” him any time. But John Doe who spent $97 of his hard-earned money to buy one of your products? If Chris deserves a thank you, John certainly does as well.

Similarly, we should be thanking people who send us emails. This is one of the biggest gripes I have: content creators act annoyed when fans send them emails. I reply to every email I get (or at least I try – sometimes the occasional email falls through the cracks), and I’m happy to do so. Because if I’m getting emails, it means people are responding to what I’m writing online. Even better, people who feel strongly enough to actually send an email are more likely to buy something from me in the future. These people are the backbone of a community. You should be vociferously thanking them for taking the time to email you. It’s like fan mail. How cool is that?

Lastly, are you thanking the people who buy your products? I don’t just mean in a canned automatically-sent email that they get when they make a purchase. I mean a real email or even a blog post that thanks people for supporting you.

Sucking Up Doesn’t Work Anyway

Online, I see people sucking up to the “gurus” in their niches, and it always makes me laugh a little. Come on, do you really think that your behind-kissing isn’t totally transparent. If all you’re trying to do is leverage your relationships with people online, you’re doing it wrong. Build relationships because you genuinely like people, not because you want them to do something for you in the future.

And if you want to actually make money online, you’re focusing on the wrong people altogether by butt-kissing the big names in your niche. Suck up to the people actually spending money with you. You don’t have to stop thanking leaders for supporting you, but if you’re ignoring the people handing you money, you’re doing it wrong.

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How to Use Google to Find Sponsors for your Blog, Podcast, or Web Series [Video]

Author: elkecarvosso6

As content creators, we usually don’t consider ourselves as working in sales. However, if you want to monetize and you aren’t taking a sales approach, you’re going to be wasting a lot of time sitting around and waiting for your phone to ring.

Want sponsors for you blog? Then go out there and find them!

In this video, Gary Vaynerchuk talks about how you can use Google to find sponsors for your blog – and you could use this same technique to find sponsors for your podcast or web series as well. It’s about going out there and grabbing the advertisers you want. Here’s the video:

I’ve used this same technique on some of my personal blogs in the past, and it’s always been pretty successful. Here are a few extra tips I have for contacting people you’ve found via Google:

Contact them the way they want to be contacted. Usually, whatever is listed first or most prevalently is the best way to contact. Sometimes, people just don’t want cold calls, but they are happy to consider your advertising rates if you send an email.

Whenever possible, talk to the person in charge. Calling a customer service number often leads to someone who can’t make advertising decisions. In the video, Gary asks to speak to the person who makes decisions, and that is something you should always remember to do. Don’t waste your time talking to someone who can’t give you money.

Give a few options (but not too many options). When you cold call, you have no idea what an advertising budget looks like for a company. So, give them a few options. For example, I offer very affordable monthly rates, but I also offer packages for larger ads, sponsored posts, and more for people who have money to burn. Avoid too many options (that just gets confusing), but if someone says no to your first pitch, be ready with a follow-up proposal that meets their budget and advertising needs better.

Want to learn more about montization? We have an entire monetization track at NMX that you can check out! For past monetization-related sessions, consider our virtual ticket, or for information on attending an upcoming show, head to the NMX event site.

How to Choose Affiliate Products to Promote

Author: elkecarvosso6

Content creators talk often about the importance of being passionate about your niche…but what about the products you promote? This was one of the topics Missy Ward covered during her session BlogWorld & New Media Expo New York 2012. Missy is the Co-Founder & President of Affiliate Summit Inc., so she knows a thing or two about promoting products. But believe it or not, it still comes down to one tip: do what you love.

The Sacred Bond of Trust

When you don’t love what you’re promoting, it’s hard to create content around it. Your fans are smart; they will smell it if you’re being insincere or simply not that interested in the product you’re promoting. And when they do realize that you’re promoting something you don’t necessarily love yourself, that bond of trust with you will be broken. Those readers will be less likely to buy products you promote in the future…and they might even stop trusting the non-affiliate information you’re sharing.

People read your blog or listen to your podcasts or watch your videos, in most cases, because they like getting their information from you. Fans grow to know you, and if you prove to be deceiving them in any way (or they feel like you are), it can be hard to win back their love.

The Ethics of Choosing Affiliate Programs

Of course, when we’re talking about choosing affiliate programs, ethics also come into play. FTC regulations say that you have to disclose affiliations when you’re making money, and this includes when you’re given a free product to review, even if you weren’t actually paid. When you’re promoting affiliate products, you certainly must disclose this relationship. Being transparent isn’t just a matter of making sure you aren’t deceiving fans. It’s also about the law. Don’t get hit with a huge fine because you neglected disclosure rules.

Making Your Job Easier

Lastly, when choosing affiliate products to promote, remember that when you know and love a product, it automatically because easier for you to tell others about it. I don’t know about you, but my time is valuable and in short supply. When you actually use a product, you don’t have to do tons of additional research; you can simply write/speak from the heart.

Other factors may also come into play when choosing an affiliate product to promote, and of course, Missy talked about other aspects of product promotion as well during her BlogWorld & New Media Expo presentation. To hear the entire session, check out our virtual ticket (if you were at the conference but missed Missy’s session, you can add on a virtual ticket for a discounted price by emailing registration@blogworldexpo.com). But you have to hurry! Prices for the virtual ticket go up soon, so you don’t want to miss out on the current price!

Exclusives - Monetization - Reviews
May 18, 2012

Book Review: Click Millionaires by Scott Fox (Plus a Giveaway!)

Author: elkecarvosso6

Click Millionaires by Scott Fox is the latest book for people hoping to make money online. I don’t know about you, but whenever someone makes the promise to teach you how to quit your job and become an Internet millionaire, I get a little suspicious. As someone who earns a living through virtual work, I know just how much time, dedication, and hard work it takes to be successful. I find that many of the books out there on this topic are nothing more than a step above scams.

This is not the case with Click Millionaires, but that said, make sure you read this entire review before pulling out your credit card. Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book to review.

“The traditional American dream centered on individual financial achievement–where becoming a ‘millionaire’ allowed you to control your own life, afford anything you want, and live on your own terms. But today the phrase ‘Click Millionaire’ captures the revolutionary idea that lifestyle benefits like independence, security, and self-confidence–formerly only available to the wealthy–are now available to anyone who chooses to build a successful lifestyle business online. As you can see from the definition above, money is important to Click Millionaires, but it’s not the only thing that matters to the ‘new rich.’ Money is not the destination on your life’s road trip; it’s just the gas to help you enjoy the journey.” – Scott Fox, Click Millionaires

First, before purchasing any book, I think it’s important to understand the target audience. In the case of Click Millionaires, you’ll find this book helpful if you are a beginner. Click Millionaires gives a great overview of all the ways you can get started making money online. He covers blogging, podcasting, creating videos, freelancing and more – all good options for people unhappy at their office jobs and hoping to get started earning money online.If you are already well-versed in the world of making money online, though, Click Millionaires is not going to be as useful to you.

Scott’s book is great about giving you brief looks at all the avenues you can take for success online, but whatever you choose, you’re going to have to do more research to find out exactly how to optimize your time online. If Scott went into that kind of detail in his book, it would be be thousands and thousands of pages! So be warned – if you decide, for example, that podcasting is the right route for you, you’re going to have to become more educated about it. You can’t simply read Scott’s book and turn into a podcasting millionaire. What is great, however, is that Scott gives readers tons of resources for finding more information. He sets you up for success.

The most valuable part of Click Millionaires is Part Five: How to Find Your Niche on the Internet. Choosing a niche is super important to making money online, and I believe that Scott explains how to do this very well. I also love all the interviews he includes in this book. It’s great to hear about stories straight from the people who’ve found success online.

I don’t agree with every piece of advice in this book. In fact, I think that Click Millionaires makes the same mistake that make “make money online” books and information products make – it sounds too easy. Making money online is anything but easy. Can you do it? Can you become a millionaire online?

Yes, I think you can. But it takes years of hard work and most people will never get there. The people who have become overnight successes online caught lightening in a bottle. They won the Internet business lottery. So be wary of anyone selling you hope. Don’t buy Scott’s book if you think you’ll be lounging on your own private island this time next year. Buy Scott’s book because you realize there is potential to earn money online and you want to learn about some of the paths you can take to do this.

Want to come to your own conclusions about Click Millionaires? This is your chance! Scott has graciously offered THREE copies of Click Millionaires to lucky BlogWorld readers.

How to Win:

Scott talks about making money in niche markets in his book, giving examples that range from a flight attendant who tells work stories via her podcast to a man who runs a message board about raising chickens. He’s also on the Making Money from Your Favorite Niche Market panel for BlogWorld New York. So, to win a copy of Scott’s book, leave a comment telling us: What is your favorite niche site?

Do you have a favorite fashion blogger who inspires you? Are you in awe of the videos your local baker posts about how to decorate cakes? Would you love to be as successful online as a friend who runs a forum for novice gardeners? Tell us about this site and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Scott’s book! Hurry, the entry deadline is May 25, 2012!

(Fine print: Winner will be drawn using Random.org and notified via email. Winner must respond within five business days to claim this prize. You may comment as often as you like, but only one comment per person will count as an entry. Commenting from multiple accounts and other attempts to cheat the system will result in disqualification. Only comments answering the above question will count as entries, though other comments are welcome. Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received. All decisions made by BlogWorld are final. Void where prohibited.)

How to monetize your blog’s images (part 2)

Author: vernitacarden95

A week ago, BlogWorld showed you the first part of a two-part Future of Publishing episode about how to monetize images so that you can make money at home with your blog or affiliate marketing website. This week, I’m showing you part 2 of the episode. The producers felt that it should be split into two parts so that all of the bases would be covered:

Highlights

Banner blindness is worse than ever…
Some publishers get less than one click per 1,000 pageviews…
This means that new advertising methods need to be used…
One of the best is to put the ads in the content, for example, with monetized images.

Future of Publishing brought to you by BlogWorld and sponsored by VigLink.

Beginner’s Guide to Email List Basics

Author: elkecarvosso6

I recommend that every content creator start an email list. So, in this beginner’s guide, I’m covering exactly what you need to know to get started with an email list. Remember, you can also find all of our other beginner’s guides here.

Email Advantages

So why use email? Can’t fans just get your content via their favorite RSS reader? Well, yes, but with RSS, you don’t have the oppotuniry to speak to your fans directly, because you don’t have a list of email addresses. All they get is what you post on your blog – and while that’s a great start, if you want to promote products, talk about what’s going on with your site, etc.

Email is also a way to get your audience’s attention, as long as you don’t abuse the power by sending too many emails (especially too many sales emails). While tweets might go unnoticed, emails stand out.

Email List Providers

You can manage an email list manually, but trust me – if you get more than twenty or thirty people signed up (and hopefully you do), manually sending emails is time-consuming. When you send emails manually, you also don’t have access to analytics like you do with a list service provider.

The three most popular email list providers are Aweber, Mail Chimp, and Constant Contact. There are other options as well, which Kevin Muldoon has pretty perfectly outlined in a guest post for Daily Blog Tips. Personally, I use Aweber, but I don’t like them any better or worse than any other services out there. The point is…subscribe to one of these services. It is well worth the money.

Ah, money. So what is this going to cost you? Each services has a difference cost, but in general, you’ll pay depending on the number of subscribers you have. It’s a great model, since as you get more subscribers you should also be making more money.

Getting People to Sign Up

There are several ways to get people to sign up for your mailing list. Start with a sign-up box on your sidebar, but also consider:

Writing a blog post about your new mailing list or talking about it on your next podcast or in your next video.
Linking to it at the end of every post/show notes
Tweeting about it
Creating a sign-up page on Facebook as one of your tabs
Offering something for free in exchange for people signing up for your mailing list

Once you have people signed up, you also have to make sure you keep as many of them signed up as possible. Some common mistakes to avoid:

Not making it clear what people are signing up for – if they receive a lot more emails than they expect to receive, they’ll unsubscribe in a hurry
Sending too many sales-y emails
Sending emails that aren’t valuable
Being inconsistent
Being too clinical (i.e. not personable enough)

What to Send

So once you start getting people signed up, what do you send?

First, you want to have a welcoming email. This email should include:

A personal thank you for signing up
What kind of email content subscribers can expect
Information on how to unsubscribe
Contact information
Links to your blog and social media profiles

After that, you can start sending emails on a regular basis. I recommend sending at least one email a week but no more than three per week unless there’s something special going on. There are two types of emails you can send. In Aweber, they’re called “follow-ups” and “broadcasts,” but the concepts is the same no matter what email system you use.

Follow-Ups: Emails that are sent to anyone who signs up, based on schedule that starts whenever the person signs up. (For example, the first one might be sent three days after the welcome message, the next three days after that, and so on.) This is evergreen material.
Broadcasts: Emails that are sent to everyone on your email list at the same time (future subscribers won’t see these messages). Typically, broadcasts are used to announce information like special events on your site, products sales, etc.

Follow-ups can take on several forms. Many people do newsletters, with several pieces of content. Some other ideas include:

Personal messages to the reader
Links to archived (but evergreen) posts
Special content only available to subscribers

Occasionally, you should also send a follow up that is more sales-like in nature, either promoting one of your own products or promoting someone else’s product (using affiliate links). I like to do a ratio of three high-value emails to every one sales email (outside of broadcasts).

More Tips

A few other tips about sending content to your list and using email services:

Always include a link to unsubscribe. It’s against spam policies not to do this and most newsletter service providers have it built-in…but make sure the link is noted somewhere so people can unsubscribe if they want.
If you include affiliate links, make sure you disclose this information using FTC guidelines.
Most email service providers give you the ability to split test, which allows you to see if you get a higher open rate using one headline or another or if changes in the email make a person more likely to click links included in that email. Use your ability to split test.
Some advertisers are willing to sponsor emails by placing ads in your newsletter. Again, make sure these relationships are disclosed.
Look at your stats regularly to see which follow-ups are causing the most unsubscribes. It might be worth changing it this message to prevent even more unsubscribes.
Also look at your stats regularly to see which follow-ups are getting the most opens and clicks. You want to replicate this success in the future.
Delete unsubscribed members regularly. These have no purpose, since they no longer get your emails, but some email services count them toward your total number of members, so these will bump up your number for no reason, causing you to pay more.
You may also want to delete members who don’t open your emails. I don’t do this personally, since they could someday decide to open one, but some people advocate this in order to keep your numbers lower and pay less.
Your subject line is like a headline – make sure you write something eye-catching that makes people want to open your email.

Even if you aren’t ready to start sending email content to your list, it doesn’t hurt to at least allow people to sign up. You want to capture those leads so that someday when you do have time to maintain a list, you already have a small list to start.

Got questions about email lists? Post them below and I’ll do my best to answer them!

How to Earn Money Online with Advertisers

Author: elkecarvosso6

Jenny Lawson (a.k.a. The Bloggess) has been posting a series of videos answering some of the most common questions she gets asked – and one video that I think might help you guys is this one about making money with advertisers on your blog. You can also adapt this information if you’re a podcasters or web TV producer as well.

Jenny’s blog has nothing to do with blogging and social media, but I still recommend you check it out. It’s hands down one of my favorite blogs of all time! She’ll also be speaking at BlogWorld New York in June, so if you can’t get enough Bloggess, join us there to laugh with us live.

Jennifer Wilson Shares Niche Membership Site Secrets

Author: elkecarvosso6

Yesterday, I wrote a bit about some questions to ask yourself before becoming a full-time niche blogger. One of the things you have to consider is whether or not you can develop your own products to sell as part of your blog, which is often a more profitable choice than affiliate sales or advertising alone. Recent, Jennifer Wilson from Simple Scrapper sat down with me to answer some questions about a type of product that she’s developed for her niche site – a scrapbooking membership community.

Allison: For those who may not know you, tell us a little about yourself and Simple Scrapper.

Jennifer: I am a water scientist by training, but I’ve always loved writing and creative hobbies. I started my first online publication in 1996, an e-zine on AOL, when I was still in high school. Fast forward to 2008, where I was recently married, relocating to a new city and starting a new full-time position in my industry. I worked full time for 3.5 years while launching my business. I’m now home with my new baby, working 75% time for myself and 25% for the local University. I’m the type of person who needs to keep a foot in both the scientific and creative worlds to be happy.

Scrapbooking seems like a small but crowded niche. How did you initially differentiate your site to find readers and build an audience?

In the beginning (2008), I set out to develop a site that was entirely about digital scrapbooking. At that time there were very few sites in this niche, but I sensed it was about to explode. (It did.) Over the first year, I spent a lot of time further defining my unique offering and looking for specific customer challenges I would address. What I figured out was that people struggle with finding time to scrapbook, with getting over their hangups when it comes to their photos and their memories. I wanted to help those people and thus focus on productivity in scrapbooking. Scrapbooking with your computer (i.e. digitally) became just one of the skills and shortcuts we recommend at Simple Scrapper. Broadening our market to scrapbookers of all styles and approaches was an important decision for the growth of the business.

Why did you decide to build a membership site rather than running a traditional blog?

I didn’t, at first. Simple Scrapper began as just a blog. I knew I wanted to monetize it though, so I focused the first six months on building a readership. Then I added advertising, directly sold to other businesses in my niche. After nearly two years, I saw that this model was not going to take me to the next level (particularly as businesses were cutting back on advertising with this economy). I would need to begin developing my own products.

I launched my first class in August 2010. At the beginning of 2011, I launched a product line that was available individually or by subscription. I also developed a few more classes in 2011. However by the end of summer 2011, I was struggling to keep up with the administration of running a shop with a growing number of products and self-paced classes (not to mention in my third trimester of pregnancy). I didn’t feel my business model (or my lifestyle) was in keeping with my own mission statement of simplicity. I began making plans to convert to the membership model we have now. It was launched in November 2011, just 10 weeks after the birth of my baby girl.

The bottom line here is that I no longer consider a blog to be a viable business model. A blog is an excellent marketing vehicle for building a customer base, a community around a particular niche. However, it is very hard for a blog in “soft” niches to be sustainable on advertising alone.

One of the things a lot of bloggers have trouble with is making money from their readers. How do you build a community when you’re also making money from that community?

It is important to set the expectation that you are a business owner, not a hobby blogger. If you own that title, refuse to apologize for it and accept the responsibility that comes with it, you should have no trouble making money. There is nothing that says businesses can’t fill a market need while being friendly and community-focused. I would even argue that is the best way!

If you could go back and do things differently, what are some of the things you would change?

I wouldn’t have waited so long to begin introducing my readers to the idea of becoming my customers (no longer than six months). I could definitely see some resistance in the beginning, because they had been getting so much for free over the previous two years. I think it is important to have a solid business model in mind before starting your blog, even if it is part of your marketing plan to not launch your membership (or other product offering) until later in your first year.

I also would have signed up for an email service provider from day one.

Thanks for all of your awesome advice, Jennifer! As a way to wrap this up for our readers, can you give us your top three tips for growing a niche membership site?

1. Plan out how all the parts to your program (and your site) integrate, then try to make it simpler. You don’t want users to get lost or frustrated by the experience.
2. Know from the start the content and marketing mechanisms you will use to keep your members renewing.
3. Emphasize (and support) the “community” benefits of your membership, rather than treating this as an add-on.

Head to Simple Scrapper to see Jennifer’s membership site in action!

Affiliate Marketing on Your Blog without Being a Slimey Salesman