The way you make money from your blog can be broken down into a cycle. Because it is unsafe to keep one income stream, you should always be willing to branch out and create more income streams. That is what this cycle is all about, proper repetition and diverse income streams.
If you read part one of this mini-series, you will find that I, and 6-figure blogger David Risley agree that the way to make money blogging is by selling products to your audience. Not affiliate products, but your own products.
I do recommend you go back and read the first part, as I’m jumping right into the main point here. It’s really an interesting read.
The Cycle of Making Money Blogging
I’m going to finish explaining this cycle by talking about the last 3 parts of it: developing, selling and reviewing what you have done. This stage of the cycle is the more exciting part where you actually create your product. I recommend you don’t go too far into this stage without having fully completed the first half.
4. Developing Your Product
You have been developing your product since the first step, but you didn’t always know you were. That is, you were getting your blog ready for a product you may have one day. Now that your blog is ready for a product and you have an idea in mind, it’s time to begin working on it.
A product can range from a variety of things, and match accordingly to your niche. So, it’s hard for me to really go into too much detail of the things you should do. However, every product has the same, basic needs for success (meaning: plans you should be developing while creating your product):
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A marketing plan
Sometimes, the best marketing plans come out when you actually have a product created. It’s easier to come up with a sales pitch, and decide what sort of audience could use it the best. But when you come up with your marketing plan isn’t important. As long as you have a decent plan to spread the word about your product, you should get some sales (if your product is useful enough).
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A sales page
Your sales page cannot be your Twitter account! Making a sales page is easy! All a sales page is, is a page with any information about your product. It can be as simple as Marko Saric’s sales page for his Twitter marketing eBook, or as information jam-packed as our Blogussion Theme sales page is. As long as your potential customers have a place to go and get information about your product, you should see a few sales.
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A support center
A support center for any product you have is an absolute must! Problems arise for people who buy your product, and the extent of their problems depend on what you are selling. They need somewhere to go if they do experience issues, so always have a great support center on your site for their issues (no, the comments section in your blog is NOT suitable for this).
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Pre-launch hype
Do whatever you can to create some interest in your product beforehand. Hint at some of the cool things that will be included in your product, and do whatever you can to get as many people as you can excited. Even if it’s just two or three people, that number can change very quickly with just one satisfied customer. Remember: pre-launch hype can be just as important as post-launch.
What would you add to this list? Besides the actual product, what are some other things that are important to develop at this point in the cycle?
5. Sell it
This is undoubtedly the most exciting and nerve-wracking part of the cycle. At this point, you are ready to sell your product. Everything is ready to go, and all it takes are a few clicks to launch.
But it’s not as easy as just making a few clicks. If you want to see sales coming in, you have to use every resource you can and carry out your marketing schemes efficiently and effectively. This is where your blogging buddies come into play and your networking skills need to shine.
Once your product is up for sale, it should be up for as long as your blog is around. So, keep that sales page visible and bring up to your readers that you have a product for sale. The beauty of having a blog product is that it will sell many times over a period of time.
4 months later after launching my first product, I am still having days where it sells multiple copies and earning hundreds of dollars a day. Then there are days where I don’t sell a single copy. That’s just how it works, but the fact of the matter is that you are making money even months after your initial release!
That is what passive income is all about. If you can get a few products selling on your blog, then you have the opportunity to bring in some serious money.
6. Review the Journey
The last stage of the cycle, the reviewing part. If you make it this far, then I want to wish you congratulations in advance. Creating a product is not easy, and getting to the end of the cycle is a true accomplishment. Even if you didn’t earn as much as you’d like.
Whether or not you make serious income from your product doesn’t have to matter (that is, if you’re truly optimistic). There are more a product brings to your blog than just money:
- The traffic a product can bring in is immense. If you have enough hype built around your product, you can keep an everlasting chain of traffic coming to your blog. That’s why the Blogussion Theme sales page is the top visited page on Blogussion everyday, I have created enough hype to keep traffic and sales flowing to it.
- The potential for expanding your blog into something more will become a possibility when you launch your product. Blogussion now has a discussion forum which is being prepped for a public launch this summer (currently being used for support), and the release of just this one product has given me hopes for more later. Imagine what it will do for your blog.
- The readership of this blog has increased without a doubt. More and more customers stick around the support forum and even the community on the blog, waiting to hear something about the future of my product. Can’t the same happen for you?
- The confidence I have in myself has increased dramatically. I believe more and more that I can create larger sums of money from Blogussion from just this one product, and every sale I make makes me prouder and prouder.
So even if my product flopped, it still would have improved the community in some ways, and even restart the cycle by preparing it for another product launch.
Restarting the Cycle
Once all 6 steps have been completed, you will be back to where you started for your next product launch. You should find that as you develop more and more products, it will become easier and take less time. It can even be more rewarding if you make your product better than the last.
Do you think this cycle is accurate? When I looked back on how I developed my blogging product, I can say that I went through all 6 steps and am working my way through it again. If you have a product of your own, look back and compare your process to mine. How are they alike? How are they different?
22 Discussions
You were definitely right. I liked part II
You make this whole thing sound so simple. Basically, write awesome content, get a lot of readers, build the perfect product, sell it, and start the cycle over again. That is the bare bones of what I got from the two posts.
The thing that gets most people is either writing awesome content or sticking around long enough to build readership.
Patrick Toerner´s last blog ..Picking the Best Domain for SEO
Awesome dude.
It isn’t simple, but hopefully by making it sound so easy you will get a little more motivated to do it.
That’s basically the jist of what I’m saying, yeah. You just need a community to work with, that’s it.
Hey Alex! Along with your marketing plan in stage 4, you should set up an affiliate program and pages to help your affiliates promote your product. Then you should reach out to other thesis users with primarily thesis audiences and introduce them to your affiliate offer. I know you have an affiliate program setup but it only consists of a page and a link. There’s a lot more you can do with this to sell this theme and your future themes. I’ll leave a link to a kid who is a pro at this with your permission. Not an affiliate link, or anything, but just a link to his affiliate page. Let me know!
Nick Tart´s last blog ..Interview: King Sidharth, The Outlaw Entrepreneur
I was thinking just that. And also give your affiliates some tools to promote it. Great point man!
King Sidharth´s last blog ..Why ‘King’ Sidharth – the Secret Behind ‘King’
Sales pages are easy? lol I work my page to death. ha!
Just curious to know what other projects you’re working on besides the forum. eBook? Other products? It sounds like you’re building up a great base and I’m happy for you. I’m currently working on my next eBook. A short one that is all about one thing… Saving money!
Hi Alex, long time no comment for me
Anyway, I liked how you broke down the steps into making money with your own product. What you’ve written really reflects to the process that I’ve had when I created my own product.
Save for one thing. I just agree with Richard Scott (comment above) when he disagreed about sales page being easy to make. Well technically, it really is. But when we talk of a brilliant sales page that can convert into actual sales, it’s so hard. That would explain why renegade copywriters are making huge sums of money from just one sales letter copy – because sellers see the value of having an effective sales page.
About the selling parrt… spot on. It truly is a nerve-wracking ordeal
Liane´s last blog ..The Blogging Blunders (Free) Report Release!
Alex – I agree completely about creating a product. I saw a significant difference in the way Blogussion’s traffic and attitude changed once your very awesome theme was produced and sold.
I have recently been working for an organization who has a very tangible service. The marketing strategies are so much easier to put into place and far more successful.
If you want to succeed online you have to have tangible products that can be sold. Otherwise its hard to convince yourself and others you really are a business online worth checking out.
Seth W´s last blog ..In the News April 19, 2010
Hey, glad to see you see you back. I hope you will write again for Blogussion. I’m a fan of your writing.
Gautam Hans @ Blog Godown´s last blog ..Why you Should Become a Niche Blogger
I love seeing what Blogussion is doing and what Alex will think of next. There is a chance that in the future I will be submitting guest posts. Thanks for the warm welcome back!
Seth W´s last blog ..Gospel Sing & Spaghetti Dinner
Yeah, it’s great to see good ole “Seth W” again! I hope you’re doing well, man, and I’ll see you around!
Nick Tart´s last blog ..Interview: King Sidharth, The Outlaw Entrepreneur
Look who’s back! Welcome Seth!
Thanks guys! I’ve been keeping track of everybody and following their progress. I’m glad everyone’s doing good too!
Not blogging for a couple months has definitely given me some great perspectives about where and how to spend your time.
Seth W´s last blog ..Senior Center Celebrates Earth Day
Great post! I am very happy to read this second part. The pre launch hype is one of the most important thing in launching a new product, just that you have to have a large audience before this.
Thanks a lot for the great post.
Onibalusi Bamidele´s last blog ..The one lesson the Holy Spirit taught me about blogging
Wow you completed this circle in really nicely manner and we really appreciate this.
Good Job Alex. Got few ideas with your these two posts and let me note down these.
Web Marketing Tips´s last blog ..Thesis Theme 1.7 and Thesis Bonus valued at $477
Currently I am consumed with trying to come up with as many ways to hype my new product line, soon to be introduced. I swear my brain is in over-drive and smoke is streaming from my ears as the gears of my brain grind overtime with the effort of it all!
Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella´s last blog ..Is A Wordpress Framework Theme Right For You And Your Blog?
I particularly found the points about the sales page and the pre-launch hype very interesting.
Julius´s last blog ..The Challenges of Blind Internet Users
I think support is very important for themes, but as for ebooks, I don’t think there is any need of support. after all it is just an advice like your blog articles. How can you provide support for that?
Gautam Hans @ Blog Godown´s last blog ..Content is the Real Superstar
Nick has a point, an affiliate program is essential, and there is a LOT that goes into a good one. I too know someone that could be of great service in this area if you’re interested.
Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..UPDATED: @DennisEdell It Is! TWEET TWEET!!
Great article with this one too, Alex
. I think in all the hardest part is going to be marketing the product. But I think with some experience in marketing and also having a strong network of people in your niche will help get your product out there 
.
Great article again
.
Shirley´s last blog ..An Ultimate Guide To Getting And Making Use Of Traffic From StumbleUpon
How to make our “products” uncrackable and unhackable? This is a serious problem cause I got many paid ebooks freely.
Reza Winandar´s last blog ..5 Types of Comments That Attract Attention
What is the best way to get started with a good affiliate program for my blog?
Very nice , It should also include the different ways to increase the on site otpimization , which is a major step in completing your cycle.
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