How I Reinvented My Blogging Business [Update]
This is a follow up story for Let's Reach Success. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 4 years ago, check it out here.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to! Has the business been growing?
It's been 4 years since I did an interview for Starter Story, here's what has changed since then.
Blogging has always been my favorite business model and the thing that worked well for me. But I left it behind to focus on creating and selling courses, which is no easy thing.
In fact, it's a whole different game and it requires a specific set of skills. And yet, even if you have the best product out there, you might not make many sales.
I was imagining 5-figure launches, programs that transform lives (because it's all about the impact, after all), but that wasn't really the case.
I still have my courses, and created more, as well as different trainings. I do believe that's the best way to work with me on a deeper level and really master a topic (such as blog sponsorships, for example, which is what one of my programs is all about). During the pandemic, business was going well.
Passive income was coming from different places, and I had the time to focus on digital products. I did a lot, learned a lot, but ultimately it didn't become my main income stream. It still might one day, but I had to re-assess everything.
Especially as income got lower in the last 2 years, to the point where I started getting worried. While that has been the case for many other bloggers and big and small businesses, it was also my fault, because I left what was working behind, and that's blogging.
The traffic decreased, the ad revenue too (although that was mostly based on outer factors, such as economic uncertainty and advertisers having less budget), clients for blog sponsorships were nowhere to be found, and things were slowing down.
In times like that, it's time to test if you're really meant to be in business and want it bad enough. For me, it's a full body YES. I never considered quitting in any way, I also never considered going back to freelancing (which was my first ever income stream, but which I happily replaced with full-time blogging years later).
It was time to re-assess everything. I had to admit digital products were taking too much of my time and focus, and giving little to no ROI. So I went back to blogging.
I did a massive content audit on my site, which included updating and republishing hundreds of old blog posts with the goal of optimizing them better and ultimately, ranking them better. I also became more strategic, went back to things that have always been working (such as creating optimized content consistently), doubling down on Pinterest, updating some lead magnets, adding the blog to more sponsored networks and forming relationships with brands (ones I've already been working with but also new clients) so we could collaborate on sponsored content (which has always been my main income stream).
I got passionate about blogging again, started seeing the traffic grow, with that also the ad revenue increased and the income from sponsorships. This took 8-9 months, though, during which time I was updating old content, and just taking care of all the aspects of blogging that I neglected in the 2 years prior to that.
I also decided to take my business more seriously and bring some company culture, have meetings (even though it's a one-man business) weekly and monthly and quarterly, set specific metrics each month and track them weekly to make sure I'm on track. This allowed me to get a grip on my business (it's based on the framework from the book Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business) and focus on the metrics I actually wanted to increase, while leaving less important things behind. With this, I became more productive, I built more discipline, and I was just showing up for my business in a different way.
I also created something I've never done before - a membership and community for bloggers where I could share all the newly discovered SEO strategies, content audit plan, reveal what's happening behind the scenes (including publishing detailed monthly income reports), as well as create video trainings monthly, share PDF files, reveal the exact things I do to monetize my site better and grow the traffic, talk about what's happening in the SEO industry, and connect with people. That's Fearless Bloggers, and it's something I'm so proud of.
One member said this is what the blogging community was missing, and I feel the same way. It helps people stay motivated to work on their business month after month, it gives them a realistic look at what's going on behind the scenes of a blogging business, I share any new strategies I test or things I learn, and I just help people grow their blog income and traffic sooner and provide accountability.
I love showing up in the membership monthly, and it motivates me to take my business to the next level so I can motivate members.
Revenue in the last months has been higher than ever, because I'm taking different action than ever. It makes me happy to know that with so much financial uncertainty out there, with big Google algorithm updates and lack of clarity as to where the future of search engines is going, with big sites being hit by updates often, and with AI changing the industry, it's still a great time to be a blogger and you can earn a lot.
I've also started a second blog which I monetized this year and I'm excited to see where it takes me. Most importantly, I'm having fun along the way and am inspired to keep going so I can learn more about blogging and share it with people so they can grow their business too.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
