(Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes)
“It’s impossible to earn money on the internet with a blog.” There’s too much competition. It’s a Good Old Boys club. Only the MMO people can make money, and they’re all scammers.
There’s another batch of articles making the rounds, all off which – essentially – complain about how hard it is to make money on the internet. (If it was easy, everyone would do it)
The characteristic these writers share is some sort of deep and abiding skepticism and bitterness, which comes through in all of their words. They also seem to share some weird sense of entitlement… inducing anti-attraction. As if people should pay attention to them, just because they deigned to pound on their keyboards.
To wit: reading about how it’s impossible to make money on the net (or anywhere) is boring.
Naming names is pointless. Never wrestle with a pig, right?
But the subject of making money is worthy examination in detail. There are several models, but only one of which I am entitled to speak of with some authority.
Authority model
Let’s start with the Authority model, which asserts that people perceiving you to be an authority will give you money.
Well, it’s true. It’s even better: the amount of money they give is a precise measure of their esteem of you as an authority. And that’s a good thing.
It turns out learning to be an authority is simple to understand. It’s a formula even, which I give you in the following 5 steps:
- Write a lot of stuff that is factually accurate that is useful to at least one other person besides yourself.
- Write like you were explaining it to your mom, or your dad, or your bratty little sister, whoever it is that’s some person requiring some sort of emotional engagement. Do not write to your professor (which is, of course, a bored TA grading the paper and not the professor).
In a pinch, you can just write and see what happens.
For example, after a year of writing, Alexa now tells me I’m writing to 45-54 year old women with some college education who work from home. Hookay, then… maybe I better find out who these ladies are… and how I can help them. Which means, find out what they want to buy.
- Master basic SEO and don’t worry about the rest when you’re starting. Basic SEO is title element, article title and meta-description. These are hard enough to do well, it’s worth spending some time learning the craft. Learn the more advanced SEO later.
- Write a lot of stuff. A lot. Then write more. Write every day if you have to.
Be promiscuous.
Be as accurate as possible if you want people to esteem you as an authority.
- After you write 100,000 words, start promoting.
Promote promote promote.
Promote until the keys fall off your keyboard and your fingers are bleeding.
Then go all Jimi Hendrix and super glue your finger tips and promote some more.
Really important: After writing a few hundred thousand words of useful, factual articles, you will, in fact, be an authority.
BUT…
Your authority is based on what you have written.
Exceed your authority at your own peril.
If you follow these guidelines, and work like a madman for a year, you ought to get around 300-400 hits/day with Alexa ~50k. That’s the extent of my (provable) authority.
If you have a head start with domain expertise or mad writing skills, you should be able to do much better.
Above all, learn to connect with people while you’re learning your fundamental skill set.
Which we need to talk about next…
Fundamental skills
You need 2 fundamental skill sets:
- Writing & blogging, website maintenance & operation, promotion. These are the skills everyone writes about. Old news, old hat. But there’s more.
- Domain expertise. You need to be good at something marketable – other than writing and blogging. Unless you want to compete in this arena (as I am).
I round out my how to blog material (i.e., articles such as this), with a good mix of WordPress programming and code development into the stream of text pouring from Website In A Weekend. This is domain expertise independent of blogging. And it brings in search traffic.
Ok, this is doable. I’m doing it, you can too.
What about you?
But it’s really late early in the morning, so let’s talk about you.
- Are you using an Authority model?
- If so, what is your domain expertise? Do you know it? Are you building it?
- If not, leave a note about another model.
Would you like more? Send me a letter...
{ 59 comments }
I think my way (or at least, the way I’m trying to do it) is similar to the authority model. Except that I’m approaching it as a student and looking to build my authority there, and that I want to start earning much sooner than the 100k words mark.
My ‘Domain of expertise’ centres around 3D Lighting, Texturing and VFX, so far I’m loosely touching on those so I think I need to do a little more tweaking with the sort of content I produce. Fun though.
Heather´s last blog ..Overload; Here’s Why You Stop Listening
Heather, I think you can monetize quicker than I did. Almost sure of it.
I’m going to stand on my claim of writing 100,000 words before you get much traction. I know others that haven’t, but they have experience from previous ventures, and that counts!
Starting now will put you in a better position once you get traction.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..“Dumb it down” they say… No! I say, “Smarten it up!” (Saturday Morning Surfing)
I think it helps that I’m not in the blogging niche really; Not to say that there’s no money to be made there, but it seems to be where a lot of people gravitate (possibly a good thing if you do become an authority, because then you know that people are Willing to buy).
It’ll be interesting to see what happens though. That reminds me, I have pages to design, suppose I could start that today lol. As a question, how worth the money is Thesis?
Heather´s last blog ..Overload; Here’s Why You Stop Listening
Heather,
You are in an interesting and seemingly underserved market so I think you could grow quickly. I’ve always had trouble figuring out what your site was about partially because your header graphic is really hard to read.
As for Thesis, I say don’t waste your money on anything else. I had the hang up on paying so much for it but I went through 3 $30 themes trying to find one that looked right and did everything I needed. Thesis is so easy to customize and if you can get skins for free that make it a totally different look until you figure out what design you want. It’s been one of the best investments I’ve made and I use it on all 12 sites I run.
Erica Cosminsky´s last blog ..Modern Uses of Transcription
Thanks Erica; that reminds me, I still need to fix that Header! (its been on my to do list for the better part of a month now)
I was looking at it as a possible alternative to Atahualpa, which is free and very customizable though you’re left to your own devices with the pages.
Heather´s last blog ..Overload; Here’s Why You Stop Listening
RE: Thesis, I got it for purposes other than GAB but had it not been for these other plans (;)) I’d not have moved away from Atahualpa (which you already have anyway, clever girl)
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..Wednesday Warmer: I love living life, I am happy!
Lol, thanks El
Just wondering if it’d be better for things like profile and product pages.
Heather´s last blog ..Overload; Here’s Why You Stop Listening
Dave,
I totally agree with you that your authority is based on what you write and to the same degree what you are doing in social media these days. After more than 8 months of blogging about the day to day of running a transcription company with 30+ contractors, and guest posts on my HR experience, etc, I have been getting 4 or 5 calls a day from colleagues asking advice on what they should do with their contractors/employees or asking me if I’ll just handle it for them. So I decided to start an ecourse on it and charging for coaching on managing virtual teams.
Anyone that says you can’t make money online is a fool. I sent out 3 grand worth of invoices today. There are 2 things holding them back from making money online. 1) Impatience- because it doesn’t happen overnight or 2) Ignorance and a lack of desire to learn.
I taught my mom to use Wordpress to post her blog… It took me 3 years to teach her how to text and 2 years more to get to stop calling it emailing. If she can do it anyone can. (And she’s not old either so that’s no excuse.)
I think the hardest thing for people getting started is realizing what they love and that other people will pay them for the knowledge that comes so natural to them.
I’ll add one more thing holding them back: Arrogance.
Charge a lot for the ecourse. It will cost 1/10 what it will cost people to learn it on their own.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..How to WPTouch Your Way to a Mobile Friendly Wordpress Blog
My expertise lies in SEO and web design, so probably one of the most saturated discussion subject out there. I think the “niche” I chose and have experience in should help me set myself apart.
I will try to write more often, but I lack the time and writing expertise (although I noticed the more you write the better it gets).
Tom@NetAccountant´s last blog ..Changes afoot: new design, blog name and more to come
Tom, I”m convinced there is huge opportunity in both SEO and web design.
For SEO in particular, I see a lot of talk, and almost nobody showing numbers. Or how to get those numbers and what they mean. That’s valuable information.
We design: so many do it so poorly. I see a lot of people mistaking HTML and CSS ability for “design skills.”
Opportunity!
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..The Starfish Principle – Trying counts as success
Tom,
I am sending a guy named Kirk your website info. He is setting up a site to help accountants make their own websites without paying a fortune. They fill out a form and then lets them pick a theme, etc. SEO help may be a good fit for his site.
Erica Cosminsky´s last blog ..Modern Uses of Transcription
Hi Erica,
Thank you, that is very kind. I hope to be able to repay the favour one day
.
Tom@NetAccountant´s last blog ..Changes afoot: new design, blog name and more to come
I’m following the authority model, and I’d add one tweak based on my own experience: You said, “write a lot stuff”. Good advice. To make it great (IMHO), I’d make it: “write a lot stuff with a purpose”.
Since we’re looking to make money in the end, it makes sense to start with that end in mind, right? If one is smart, those 100000 words equal 400 pages of content for information products.
Each and every post does not need to go into the products like this, but if you at least consider writing something once, and using it in a product you will sell, it makes sense to make the post really good, doesn’t it? This again, increases the quality of your posts, making the blog more likely to attract more subscribers.
I haven’t been this strategic with my blog, but this is what I’d tell myself if I timewarped 10 months back. Oh, and I’d also advice myself to figure out the domain expertise. With that, I’m drifting a bit.
Antti Kokkonen´s last blog ..Choosing a blog topic – Lessons from Mashable vs TechCrunch
Antti, I like that a lot. Writing with a purpose is what I did here as well, thank you for reminding me of that.
I was pretty strategic about generating content when I started out, just didn’t realize how important the sales and marketing side was. (Very)
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..7 Excellent Tips for Handling Content Robbers (’cause you cain’t shoot ‘em)
I am so glad I subscribed to your feed! This post is great.
First off, all of the TAs are gone due to budget cuts. This effectively lowered my GPA by .5 I am sure
Second off, you don’t think any promoting before 100,000 words? I wanna feel like I am blogging to someone the entire first year.
Third, I need to spend some time figuring out my domain. Thanks for the great post.
Patrick Toerner @Young Entrepreneur´s last blog ..How to Find a Profitable Keyword for Your Minisite
This is what worked for me, and I can tell you why: that first 100,000 words was a “platform” of solid material I can now stand on. I put no pressure on myself to acquire readers, generate traffic, whatever. That allowed me to focus on learning WordPress and learning how to write efficiently and accurately.
And I don’t like self-promotion. =)
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Why Are You Here? How Did You Get Here? And What Are You Going to Do About It?
What is my expertise? Hmmm, let me think, which hat am I wearing today?!
I guess with Give A Brick my only expertise is being lovely. I say that because, being a charity, we’re not really selling anything other than ourselves and the stuff we do to support people. It’s about relationship building and if that counts as an area of expertise, I like to think I’m pretty good at it. Sorry, just read that back. Does that sound big headed? It’s not meant to
Do you know how some folk just like being around people? That’s me
I love to talk and whilst you’ve talked before Dave about how relationship building just for the fun of it isn’t going to earn you any money, I suspect that we might be the exception to the rule. Without exception, every single person who has very kindly given a brick has been someone who we’ve built some kind of relationship with.
But that does tie in with your discussion of authority because like you said, “your authority is based on what you have written” which means that if I’m grumpy and mean, people are less predisposed towards giving a brick
As for my other hats, still working that out in the wash and this comment is already too long so I’ll save it for another time
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..Wednesday Warmer: I love living life, I am happy!
Relation building skills are critical in this business!
So you’re on the right track in my opinion (for what that’s worth).
Funny you should mention the length of this comment… turns out this article resulted from a comment I made on the Third Tribe forum… which now reminds me I was supposed to use question I answered as an inciting incident and do a little Third Tribe affiliate promotion. Except I forgot my affiliate details too. That’s what I get for starting writing at 10:30 pm on a midnight deadline!
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..How to WPTouch Your Way to a Mobile Friendly Wordpress Blog
Thanks for the vote of confidence
Slightly concerned that my lovely hat is a bit wobbly today though 
As for Third Tribe, stick the link in here when you find it. Job done
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..1 Minute Motivator: How to avoid an argument
Dave,
What I stumble over and around – besides what the heck is my niche – is what (and how much do I know). I actually think I do have a lot of ad hoc blogging knowledge picked up here and there without any organized focus. What I am getting from you is a clear and logical framework about what is important and how it fits together. I’m definitely not feeling arrogant or cocky. I still think my biggest problem for the moment (since you are solving all my technical ones) is SEO. I know what it is. I know the tools – or at least the basic ones. What I miss is the eureka moment to make it work right. So far I seem to be missing the meat.
Not sure there is a “Eureka!” moment. I sure haven’t had one. My strategy is to focus on the basics, which means easy tactics. Get the headlines, title elements and article quality right, let Google sort it out.
You mean there is not Eureka moment!
This is an interesting article. I am an avid reader of Problogger and I am reading lots of other random blogging sites, but I still feel lost. What is Alexa? How do I learn the basics of SEO? Every time I think I’ve found a good source I read it and am left with more questions. Is there a good article on Blogging for Money for Dummies? I feel like I should start over.
Martha, you have what appears to be an amazing story to share. Work on your story telling first priority, and pick up all the rest of it as you go. It will happen.
Fine post young man! Authority…I don’t have that yet, but it is still what I’m selling myself with. It’s not the authority of an established professional with lots of experience to back it up. It’s the authority of the peer who just took the next step and succeeds, or fails, or at least makes a bit of progress. In any case, it’s still helpful and hopefully inspiring.
Carlos Velez´s last blog ..How I Got Darren Rowse To Record A Video Message For The Pre-Writing Challenge
That’s what we’re both doing, for sure.
Expertise doesn’t matter. Proof matters.
I’m an authority blogger, and I blog about writing well.
I really appreciate everything you said in this post. It’s exactly what I’m doing, and I’ve got to admit that a significant part of my confidence to do that comes from the support you’ve shown me, Dave. (And much, much more from the great support I’ve gotten from Carlos.)
If your numbers hold for me (and I stick to my current posting schedule), that should have me starting to monetize sometime in June, which is right on schedule. Awesome.
Aaron Pogue´s last blog ..Manage Your Metaphors
Feels good, doesn’t it?
Great article on metaphors.
Thanks for saying so. That was probably my favorite product of the Pre-Writing Challenge. I hated having to wait two weeks for it to go live.
Aaron Pogue´s last blog ..Manage Your Metaphors
You called it Authority model… Honestly, I’m unsure if I’m doing it that way. What I know is I’m doing almost all of those steps you mentioned above except the way how I write (you noticed it, right?). My domain expertise? Well, I think it’s not related to blogging, but something I can leverage to come up with higher quality articles.
Bert Padilla´s last blog ..Google Page Rank Update March 2010
Bert, from what I can see, you’re going after advertising model. Which (I’ve read) works really well in your technical niche.
Looking forward to your leveraging up.
I follow what you called the authority model. I learnt of this model very early in my venture online from the Affiliate Mastery Course. I tried it with my first static website. When I started my blog I stayed with the model because I found it more suitable to what I want to achieve with my marketing blog and that is help online home based entrepreneurs better use the internet to market their businesses.
Home Business Marketing´s last blog ..A Dozen Helpful Tips For A Successful Business Blog Marketing!
I like this model a lot because I can look back over my work and “know what I know.”
Convenient!
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..How to Practice Blogging Like a Master – You can do this
My area of expertise in the offline world is Finance, hence, why my domain of choice is the most coveted and most talked about in the sphere. Needless to say that it is MMO and everything else related to that topic. Fierce competition I have to admit, but implementing the authority model you have suggested, then there is but reason to stand out with the rest of the pack. You just have to get it done, and not procrastinate by putting another thing on your to do list. Action, take action, and more action.. Good stuff Dave
I’m convinced a person can make a decent living at this by simply showing up every day, and taking action that produces results.
Johnny B Truant (IIRC) wrote a screed on Copyblogger about how all these make money schemes never work.
Thing is, I believe a lot of them actually *do* work, as long as you do every single step of their method, exactly how they tell you. My belief is most people won’t do that. They part of it, then quit in disgust because, surprise surprise, it’s hard work.
I got this notion from one of the more successful internet marketing people I’ve read. More about him in the future (I buy his stuff… if anything, I _don’t_ promote it because it gives me that feeling of having an edge. Heh.). In any case, his assertion comes from his own experience wrestling with these course, and it squares with mine.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..How to Practice Blogging Like a Master – You can do this
A lot of the MMO sites actually have great content. The problem is that most of them, as you stated, require work!
Bloggers looking for a shortcut to success will surely be disappointed!
Gabe | freebloghelp.com´s last blog ..5 WordPress plugins to help organise your blog
Gabe this is so true! So I don’t mind when people hate on them, because they just removed themselves from the race.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..5 Foundational Plugins, Critical Infrastructure for Your New WordPress Blog
Thanks Dave. I feel like a lot of the advice given to new bloggers is that you just work on good content and the rest will come. I used to be a professional journalist, so I feel pretty confident in my writing skills, although, I’m still getting comfy with my blogger’s voice. But I just feel like a fish out of water with the rest of it. Thank you for the vote of confidence! I know it takes time. Patience has never been my strong suit.
Martha´s last blog ..Just like the birds and the bees, parents should talk about race
Martha, if you hang out here too long, you’re in danger of being “smartened up.”
You’ve been warned… =)
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..“Dumb it down” they say… No! I say, “Smarten it up!” (Saturday Morning Surfing)
Excellent! I am a sponge.
Martha´s last blog ..Just like the birds and the bees, parents should talk about race
@Dave: 1 – I run several sites, among them some blogs. I think that anyone with very basic skills can make money online. Instead of discussing if “it’s possible to make money online or not”, the discussion should be centered around “how much money can be made”, IMHO. For some people “making money” means getting some extra income for a coffee with friends, for others it means making enough for a living, while others may dream of becoming rich quick. Therefore, first of all, it all boils down to avoid setting unrealistic expectations. If you’re about to start blogging for the first time, don’t think about the money, please, focus on learning the ropes, enjoy the process. Learning also has a cost, in time, and in various cases, in money, then just understand that by starting a blog you’re indirectly earning money. If you don’t focus on money, you’ll be on the way to earn it, before you even know it, believe me. As a side note, bear in mind that for a person in a developing country $200, for example, can be a lot of money, same for a teenager in the US (there’s lots of them blogging), or for a stay-at-home-mom who needs $$$ to pay the bills.
2 – Regarding the authority model; I totally agree with this. Be it products, services or ideas, you should establish yourself as an authority, and if possible “the authority”. People tend to respect “the experts”, this is hard coded into our genes, I guess. You don’t only build authority through intelligent posts, you can also do it through serious customer service, by being there to support your clients when they need your expertise, whatever their problem is.
@Erica: I also highly recommend Thesis. I’ve spent money in cheaper themes which finally didn’t suit my needs, and I have spent countless hours modifying free themes. So, if you want an out-of-the-box solution, choose Thesis, and no, it’s not expensive. You can start by experimenting with some other themes, this will be good to hone your basic css, html, etc, skills but as soon as you can get Thesis, do it, you won’t regret it, believe me. I use it for all my blogs.
I really can’t add much to this comment, except “Thanks!”
Totally agree about the $200. It’s going to be a lot of money for a lot more people if this economy doesn’t pick up soon!
Hi Dave.
What a timely article. I am considering getting a second domain and trying a blog with an actual niche. The one I write now is all over the place, to say the least. That one would turn into a personal blog maybe..not sure what I would end up doing with it, but it won’t “die” as its my baby… my first ever blog carried into the big, scary world of self hosting lol
I think this article will go into my bookmarks and be read if/when I reach a decision on what I know enough about and care enough about to dedicate an entire blog to.
On an off topic note, are you the one I am supposed to be bugging about a plug in that is in development? (My memory is like a sieve!)
You should. Stop by after you get it set up.
This stuff isn’t all that hard, but it’s a lot of work because there is a lot to do, it takes time, and the competition is stiff.
In short, though, if you have a “good idea” and you hesitate, just go for it. You won’t know how good it is until you try it out.
Got it!
Have to get more promiscuous! Actually have no frikken idea as to how many words I have published to date and now you’ve got me going … put that on my list of things to do, get the stat. I think I have a lot of posting to do yet!
Thank you for yet another great post.
Valentina´s last blog ..Five Basic Steps to Online Networking
Try the WordPress GeneralStats plugin. Get a count once in a while, then disable Check again later. &c.
Enjoyed the article! I don’t know that I would have termed it an Authority Model that I’m using – just an “I’ve been there and done that and learned some things – now it’s time to pay it forward” model. Actually, I think it’s my own expectation that I’m supposed to be some authority figure and have all the answers that’s holding me back. The image that I carry of the fount of knowledge that I “should” be in order to generate “valuable content” is intimidating! I’m working through it, and have done a few exercises in thinking over the past week to clear up my focus. I’m now writing to about 5 people instead of trying to write to the masses. It’s easier that way.
100,000 words, huh? I can do that.
Wendy (wdaunheimer)´s last blog ..Is the Work You Love Already in the Job You Have?
Wendy, your concern is not misplaced!
I’m really careful to stay within the bounds of my “authority,” whatever I understand that to be.
One reason I like writing all this stuff out is that I can look back on it and state, with authority, “This is what I did, and that’s how it worked out for me.” Anyone giving me a rash about that, well, I don’t pay them no never mind, as we might say down home.
However…
I take a lot more care attempting to explain what anything *means*. Meaning is a whole different story.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Are Your Rituals Serving You? (Manage your context for productivity)
Interesting post! I think Im using the authority model but kinda have with variation wherein I put a spontaneous view on most things rather than “expert” type of insights. I know sometimes it hurts my blog that I speak from myself, but I just love doing that.
Melvin´s last blog ..April Fools Pranks, Are you one of those fools?
Adding your own impression is excellent. Anyone can write out a list of features.
Hey Doc,
The other night at dinner when I said “think outside of
the box,” your quick retort was, “there is NO box!”
Thanks for being my web support bra.
You’ll be happy to know that I have a sign up sheet
for my fans at WonderCon this week-end so
I’m collecting emails to drive more traffic to my
2 sites, http://www.voalamo.com and http://www.planetcheck.com.
As for rituals, I’ll stick to drinking my uber charged,
Blue Bottle bean gravy.
Mo, great to have you stop by. You have a great start, we’ll get everything moving faster now.
Egads…100,000 written words? That is approximately 333 posts at about 300 words each. I better get moving as I’m only at 99 posts right now.
PS: I don’t wanna be the clueless lady leaving on CL when it doesn’t contribute to convo so off it goes with this comment.
Michelle, it’s absolutely worth it!
You will build an incredible archive. In the future, you’ll be able to dip into this archive for helping other people, and for helping yourself.
Many of my articles from last year were written as I was learning WordPress technology. I refer back to them constantly.
You will find the same convenience as you continue to build skills in your VA business.
I’m crackin’ up, Dave.
Darned near spot on: “For example, after a year of writing, Alexa now tells me I’m writing to 45-54 year old women with some college education who work from home. Hookay, then… maybe I better find out who these ladies are… and how I can help them. Which means, find out what they want to buy. ”
I’m 58 and just found and subbed to your website. I am looking forward to working on the “website in a weekend” when I have my own domain.
All the info on this site is top notch. Also, kind of a hoot, because I see folks I follow already (like Kelly Diels).
[Course it doesn't hurt that you look *hot* in the photo on the sidebar. (Oh cr*p, did I say that out loud?!)]
Seriously, you have great content, with solid value, written in a way that a non-geek can understand. Thanks.
Trece´s last blog ..Why I want to marry Bobby the lawnmowing boy
Trece, thanks. I’ve a stupendous amount of material backlogged right now, and seem to be adding more every day. I keep trying to cut back on posting, but the frequency seems to creep up.
Not sure what I think about that.
Glad to have you aboard. Things around here really are starting to pick up speed.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..How To Publish The **** Out Of Your Blog Post
Fantastic post Dave, thanks mate, succinctly summarises what other blogs take 28 pages to explain. Nice!
I like your eclectic mix of tech and advice.
Your Blog reminds me of a point not mentioned too much here and that is to make sure the personality shines through. Yours certainly does and it makes it easier for me to subscribe with no hesitation…
Alex´s last blog ..Dude! Where’s my Drive?
Alex, thanks for stopping by.
In many respects, I’m just getting started here…
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Hostest With the Mostest – Being a good neighbor on shared hosting
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