ProBlogger: How to Create Products and Sell Them on Your Blog |  |
| How to Create Products and Sell Them on Your Blog Posted: 27 May 2020 08:23 PM PDT The post How to Create Products and Sell Them on Your Blog appeared first on ProBlogger. |
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ProBlogger: 9 Blogging Hurdles I’ve Faced as a Blogger and How I Got over Them | |
| 9 Blogging Hurdles I’ve Faced as a Blogger and How I Got over Them Posted: 21 May 2020 06:00 AM PDT The post 9 Blogging Hurdles I’ve Faced as a Blogger and How I Got over Them appeared first on ProBlogger.
This post is based on episode 57 of the ProBlogger podcast. Today I want to talk about nine hurdles I've faced as a blogger, and how I got over them. While you may never have to deal with them all, chances are there's at least one you've either faced in the past or will face in the future. And so hopefully you'll be able to get over them (or perhaps around them) without them slowing you down too much. So let's start with the first hurdle I faced… 1. Not understanding the technologyWhen I first started blogging back in 2002 I was a technological Luddite. For the first three months I didn't even know how to make text bold. At that point all I'd really done online was email, a little bit of search and some IRC chat – none of which were particularly technical. But I had no experience in coding, registering a domain, setting up a server or designing a website. So I started by using a free blog platform. Back then it was either Blogger or Blogspot (I can't remember which), which is now Blogger and owned by Google. It handled all the hosting, and provided WYSIWYG I could use without needing to write any code. In a way I was outsourcing all the design work so I could concentrate on writing content. These days I'm much more technically savvy than I was back then. But I'm still not an expert at some things, and so I outsource them to people who are. And if you're not overly tech savvy I suggest you do the same. Don't let technology get in the way of you realising your dream or fulfilling your goals. Chances are you'll learn how a lot of it works as you go along. And there are plenty of people in the blogging community and on YouTube who can teach you what you wish you knew. Just keep in mind there will always be new stuff to learn. But you don't need to learn it all at once, and some of it you may not need to learn at all. All that matters is that you can keep doing what you're doing. 2. Being scared of looking sillyGiven that I didn't even know how to bold a piece of text, you've probably guessed that my blog wasn't exactly a work of art. Compared to other people's blogs it looked pretty awful, and I was worried that it might make me look a bit silly. And it was the same with my content. I'd never had any formal training in writing, and compared to what other people were writing my content seemed quite amateurish. Fortunately, I got past my fear of looking stupid and kept working on developing my blogging voice and skill set. And over time that fear of looking stupid began to subside. One tactic I used to get over that fear was to change my focus. Instead of worrying about what I didn't know (and how that lack of knowledge looked on the page), I started focusing on trying to solve problems that I knew people were having. And when people realise you're trying to help them, they're more than willing to forgive the fact your blog isn't a work of art and that you're not a complete expert on the topic. So just as you shouldn't let technology hold you back, don't let the fear of looking silly hold you back either. If your heart is in the right place, and you're generally trying to help people, no-one will care how you're doing it. 3. Lack of focusAs I mentioned in a recent post, my first blog was about churches, theology and spirituality. At least to begin with. As time went on I started talking about my other interests – movies, politics, photography, life in Australia, and eventually blogging itself. The more topics that I wrote about, the more I enjoyed blogging. Unfortunately, I also got more pushback from those readers who didn't share my eclectic mix of interests. So I started to niche, creating a new blog for each topic I wanted to write about. They gave me a chance to focus on a particular topic, and get a feel for what it would be like writing about it for the long haul. Out of the 30 or so I started, only two remain – ProBlogger and Digital Photography School. But starting the others wasn't a waste of time because they helped me figure out what I wanted to write about (and what I didn't want to write about) long-term. If you have a general blog, you might want to give niching a bit of thought. It can make it easier to monetize your blog, as well as find a readership for it. Of course, some bloggers do very well as generalists. But most successful bloggers have a particular focus. 4. Blogger's blockI went through my first bout of blogger's block a few years after I'd started blogging. Up until that point it had all been relatively easy. But then my creative juices suddenly stopped flowing, and I found myself staring at the screen wondering if I'd ever come up with another idea to write about. It was soul-destroying stuff. Fortunately, that particular bout only lasted a week or so. But I've suffered numerous bouts of blogger's block since then. But they didn't all have the same symptoms. Some had me thinking, What should I write about? Some had me stuck at the writing stage, which I guess was writer's block. And some had me blocked at the point between writing a draft and publishing it. (I still have dozens of unpublished blog post drafts.) So what do you do when you're suffering from blogger's block? I always try to work out where the blockage is, and then come up with a way to allocate more time, creativity and energy to that particular area. For example, if I'm struggling with ideas block, I'll see if I have a list of ideas I've brainstormed earlier. If I don't, then I'll get away from the computer (and the dreaded blank screen) and try to brainstorm some. (For more ideas on how to beat blogger's block, check out this post.) 5. Blogger's burnoutSimilar to blogger's block is blogger's burnout. And it's something else I've suffered on and off over the years. Remember how I said I've had around 30 blogs over the years? Well, at one point I was running 20 of them at once, and trying to publish new content on them all every day. As you can imagine, it was a recipe for disaster. The quality of my blogging suffered, and so did my health. And the only way I could keep blogging was to scale everything back. I went from 20 blogs to just two – ProBlogger and Digital Photography School. Having so much more time to devote to those two blogs meant the quality of my posts improved almost immediately. And so did my health. More importantly, I now had the time and the energy to sustain them both. The truth is you don't need to have multiple projects on the go. You don't even need to publish every day. You're far better off taking the time to produce quality content. And your body and your mind will thank you for it. 6. Personal attacksBlogging is one of those mediums where you need to keep putting yourself out there by sharing your ideas, your experiences, your story, your photo, your voice and your videos. And some people will feel the need to provide feedback on what you're doing. If you're creating content that helps people, most of that feedback will probably be positive. But no matter how positive and constructive your content is, chances are someone will attack your ideas. It may even get a bit personal. Unfortunately, it's all part of blogging and putting yourself out there. So how do you deal with these personal attacks? To start with you may need to develop a slightly thicker skin so they don't feel as much like an attack. Of course, that's easier said than done. But over time you'll become better at ignoring them. Try to stay positive, not just with your blogging but also with your responses to people's feedback. Again, that can be easier said than done, but you should still try. And remember: sometimes the best response is no response. And finally, try to surround yourself with positive people – online and offline. 7. Lack of readershipWhile you don't necessarily need millions of readers to be a full-time blogger, pretty much every monetization strategy relies on you having at least some people reading your blog. And the more readers you have, the easier it is to make money from your blog. Which can be really frustrating when you're just starting out. I remember the early days of blogging where I almost lost hope. I'd spend hours writing great content every week, and then look at the stats and realize hardly anyone was reading it. We've talked a lot about finding readers on ProBlogger, so I'm not going to dwell on it much here. But what I will say is that when it comes to building your readership you need to take a long-term view. Keep producing great content and your readership will increase. You just need to hang in there. 8. Choosing the right monetization modelOf course, having lots of readers doesn't guarantee you'll have a profitable blog. You also need to find the right monetization model for your blog. And that can take time. I've talked about my experiments with different monetization models in a recent post, so I won't go into too much details here. But I would like to say a few things about it here. Always be thinking about other income streams, even when the one you're using is working really well for you. At one point I was making good money from AdSense. But I realized the economy was changing, and that it wasn't going to last forever. And so I began experimenting with different types of affiliate promotions, as well as creating my own products. As it turns out that advertising model didn't disappear. But it has certainly changed, and it definitely good to have these other income streams working for me. The other thing to remember is not to overboard. You need to balance the needs of your readers with your need to monetize your blog. 9. Time managementWhen I started blogging I was working three part-time jobs and studying part-time. I was newly married, and trying to keep my social life going as well as some voluntary stuff I was doing. My life was very full. When I became a full-time blogger I was able to give up some of those part-time jobs. But even though I was no longer juggling multiple jobs, I was still juggling multiple blogs with different income streams and lots of reader requests. Now I have a wife, three kids, two relatively successful businesses and a team of people I outsource to. So I still have a lot of balls I need to keep in the air. And so time management has become vital for me. And it's something you should work on too. For me it's a matter of working out my goals and my priorities, deciding what I must do to reach them, and then getting organized and being disciplined about doing it. Your time management strategy might be completely different. The most important thing is to find the one that works for you.
What hurdles have you faced as a blogger? And how did you manage to get past them? Let us know in the comments. Image credit: Jeremy Chen on Unsplash The post 9 Blogging Hurdles I’ve Faced as a Blogger and How I Got over Them appeared first on ProBlogger.       |
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ProBlogger: A Tour of My Home Live Streaming Studio | |
| A Tour of My Home Live Streaming Studio Posted: 20 May 2020 04:48 PM PDT The post A Tour of My Home Live Streaming Studio appeared first on ProBlogger.
This year I’ve attempted to do live streaming Q&A sessions on the ProBlogger Facebook page on a weekly basis. I have noticed that each time I do go live, I’m getting more and more questions about my set up for live video – whether that’s about what camera I use, my lights, workflow process or the software that helps the whole production. My set up has evolved over the last few years. Then, late in 2019, we moved into a new home which further pushed me to tweak my set up. In our old home, most of my streaming happened from my desk but my new office has more room, so I wanted to create a ‘mobile’ video set up that would enable me to stream from different parts of the room. I purchased a small mobile lectern and began to build my studio on it. While I’m not sure it will ever be complete – as I’m constantly thinking about ways to improve – I decided recently to create a behind-the-scenes video of the set up. Live Streaming Gear Mentioned in This Video
Update: New Background LightsSince filming this video I’ve also added a couple more lighting elements. I wanted to add a bit more color and interest in the background, so I picked up two options:
Initially, I picked up some light strips for behind the TV in our living room but loved them so much that I decided to get some hue lights for the office too. I got some Hue Play lights which now sit behind my monitor and a couple of globes to go in lamps on my desk. I will use them as background lights in my videos but also am just enjoying having some backlight behind my monitor for when I work. Here’s is how they look (excuse the lower quality iPhone photos please).
And here’s my latest Facebook Live where you can see those Hue lights in the background.
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ProBlogger: The Future of Written Content (and Why It Has One) | |
| The Future of Written Content (and Why It Has One) Posted: 14 May 2020 05:00 AM PDT The post The Future of Written Content (and Why It Has One) appeared first on ProBlogger. |
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ProBlogger: The Pros and Cons of Having Multiple Blogs | |
| The Pros and Cons of Having Multiple Blogs Posted: 07 May 2020 05:11 AM PDT The post The Pros and Cons of Having Multiple Blogs appeared first on ProBlogger.
This post is based on episode 188 of the ProBlogger podcast As you probably know, I have two main blogs – ProBlogger and Digital Photography School. And I'm very fortunate to be in a position where I could devote all of my time to either one of them and still earn a full-time income. But while are definitely benefits in having two well-established blogs, those benefits come at a cost. So this week I want to talk about both the benefits and the costs of having multiple blogs so you can decide whether it's worth doing. But first, I need to talk about how these two blogs came to be, and about the other blogs that were discarded along the way to get to this point. My first blogIn 2002 I started The Living Room, where I blogged about my experience of being involved in a new church (which was also called "The Living Room"). And on that blog I talked about the history of the church, as well as other aspects of my life – life in Australia, politics, television, movies, sport, blogging, photography, getting married, and so on. Now back then it was okay to cover multiple topics on the same blog, which is why I did it. And at the time my readers didn't seem to mind, either. But as blogging matured, and people started focusing on specific niches, things became a little tense on The Living Room. A lot of my readers wanted to learn about specific things (the church, photography, blogging, etc.), and weren't really interested in anything else. I felt compelled to serve everyone's needs, which meant I often had thoughts along the lines of, Well, I wrote about blogging yesterday, so I can't write about it again tomorrow. I'll need to write about another topic to serve my other readers. I started to feel constrained, and that I no longer had the freedom to write the way that I wanted to. So I looked at the categories I wrote about on The Living Room and started new blogs based on some of those categories. The rest of my blogsMy first niche blog was a camera review blog I started in late 2003. It was also the first blog I made money from by putting some Adsense ads on and referring people to Amazon with affiliate links. It worked really well. So well, in fact, that I tried to replicate my success by starting a camera phone review blog. (This was back in the day when phones with cameras were just coming out.) I even started a blog where I reviewed printers, thinking Well, they're kind of related to photography. I even started a blog on the 2004 Olympic Games being held in Athens. And then I created ProBlogger and started talking about how I made money from my blogs (and how others could make money from theirs). At this point I had four or five blogs going. The camera review blog was making good money, and the camera phone blog was doing okay. But ProBlogger completely took off, largely because it was the only blog devoted to making money from blogging at the time. And when I announced I was making a six-figure income from blogging, that became big news and a lot of other blogs linked to it. It was the tipping point for ProBlogger. A few months in, it had a sizeable audience and was making a bit of money. And I was experimenting with different ways to monetize it, which I've talk about in a recent blog post. But the number of blogs I was involved in quickly grew when I started a blog network called The Breaking News blogs with some friends over in New Zealand. And by 2005 the number was up to around 30 blogs. A reality checkBut out of those 30 or so blogs, only three were doing well. ProBlogger was doing exceptionally well, the camera review blog was doing well, and the camera phone blog was doing okay. (My Olympic Games blog did really well during the event, but then quickly died away.) But while the review blogs were going reasonably well, I wasn't enjoying writing for them. And if I wanted to keep blogging then I really needed to find a way to enjoy it. At this point I was starting to make a decent income from ProBlogger, and so I decided to kill off some of the other blogs so I could focus on it more. The first thing I killed off was the Breaking News blog. This freed up a lot of my time, which I used to grow ProBlogger even more. And in 2006 I killed off the camera review and camera phone blogs. That was a big risk, because at the time those two blogs were my main source of income (around $100,000 a year). But they were killing me. I'm neither a techie nor a review kind of guy, and so they were kind of soul-destroying. I wasn't overly satisfied with the quality of the posts, either. So I went from reviewing cameras to blogging about how to take better photos – something I was far more passionate about. And I knew I had a better change of building an audience with a 'how to' blog more than with a review blog. But as I said, I had ProBlogger to fall back on while I was setting up what would become Digital Photography School. It would have been much harder to establish them both at the same time. So even though your goal may be to have multiple blogs, you may want to focus on them one at a time. (That being said, you should definitely grab the domain names and social media accounts as soon as possible.) The slow road to successThe first year or two of Digital Photography School were tough. I naively thought it would grow as quickly as ProBlogger had, but I was wrong. The people who read my original photography blog weren't interested in the new blog. And hardly any of my ProBlogger readers were interested in it either, which was understandable. I had to work really hard on writing content and growing the archive, along with growing its traffic by writing sharable content, networking, writing guest posts and collaborating with other bloggers. And back then I was doing pretty much all of it – the writing, the promoting, the comment moderation, the partnerships and the monetization. I almost gave a couple of times because it wasn't growing as quickly as I wanted it to. Still, it was growing. And I realized that if I could grow it by 10% a month (or even every two or three months), it would eventually have a significant amount of traffic that could help me generate a significant income. And that's exactly what happened. Digital Photography School is now around eight or nine times larger than ProBlogger. And while I still put a lot of time and effort into ProBlogger because it's a personal brand (which I'll talk about soon), my main business focus is Digital Photography School. The pros and consNow, let's talk about the benefits and downsides of having multiple blogs. The first benefit is having the freedom to write about more than one topic. We generally write about things we're passionate about. And chances are you have more than one passion in your life. Having multiple blogs allows you to write about each of your passions without 'muddying the waters' or feeling you have to write about a certain topic just to maintain a balance. The second benefit of having more than one blog, at least from a business perspective, is you can diversify your income. Having multiple income sources is always a good idea in case one of them suddenly dries up. And like every other business venture, there are no guarantees that your blog will last forever. Out of the 30 or so blogs I've had over the years, only two of them worked out to any extent. But as you now know, ProBlogger and Digital Photography School grew from other blogs I'd started earlier. So another benefit of having multiple blogs is you get to try out different ideas and see which ones have potential and which ones will probably never work. But while having multiple blogs can be beneficial, there are also some drawbacks. The first is having to spread your focus and attention across multiple blogs. When I was writing content for my 30-odd blogs, the quality of that content wasn't great. In fact, most of it was pretty boring. A lot of the time I was just rehashing news from camera and printer manufacturers and trying to get as much traffic and as many AdSense clicks as I could. It wasn't interesting, wasn't meaningful, and wasn't really useful to anyone. Another drawback from having multiple blogs is the risk of burnout. When I had those 30 blogs I was working 12–16 hours a day writing content for them. (I was trying to write new content for them every day, which wasn't realistic.) Reducing the number to just two really helped in terms of my work-life balance, my health, and my passion for what I was doing. And of course, it's hard to create good content when you're feeling burned out. So you end up writing not only less content but also less valuable content, which can do more harm than good. How to decideUltimately, whether you should have multiple blogs or not comes down to your goals and what you want to achieve. If you want to build a business empire and become a billionaire, then focusing all your efforts on one blog and growing that business might be the way to go. I sometimes wonder whether I could focus solely on ProBlogger or Digital Photography School and make it an even bigger business. And there's a good chance I could. The thing is, I don't want to be a billionaire. Nor do I want to have a business with hundreds of employees. I simply wanted to create something small that's meaningful not only to me but also to my readers. And I like to think I've done that – twice. If you do decide to have multiple blogs, I strongly suggest you launch them one at a time rather than all at once. It will allow you to focus on each one as you build the systems, procedures and perhaps even teams you need to get it running relatively independently. (Yes, as your blog gets bigger you will probably need a team of people to help you. It's the only way you'll be able to scale it to any extent. My first writers were guest writers, but I soon built a team of paid writers to help create the content. These days I have people who look after various aspects of both businesses including emails and customer support, design and tech, and even managerial work.) One of the best things I ever did was to make Digital Photography School a non-personally branded site. While I may write the occasional sales-type post, 99% of the content is written by a team of writers and edited by someone else. Which means I don't need to do much personally to keep the site running. ProBlogger is a different story. My face is on the front page, and you see and hear me in videos and on the podcast. It's branded much more personally, and so I need to do a lot more to keep it running. I enjoy it, so it's not a problem. But it would be much more difficult if Digital Photography School was personally branded as well. Branding is something you should consider if you're going to set up multiple blogs. Personally branding them all means you will have to do a lot of the work yourself, which means you won't be able to scale it as much as you would a blog that isn't personally branded. Having a blog that isn't personally branded also means you will have a much better chance of selling it (if you ever decide to). Finally, if you're going to be running multiple blogs then you need to establish timetables and routines so you know what you should be doing at any given time. I'm not the most organized person, and I'm not great with diaries and the like, so this is something I've really had to work on. And I'm just talking about writing blog posts. You also need to arrange times to write newsletters, have team meetings (if you have one), record podcast episodes (again, if you have one), run Facebook Live sessions, and so on. Not only does it help you keep them going, it helps your readers predict when new content is coming. Over to youI hope what I've talked about today has helped you decide whether to have multiple blogs, and how to get them all up and running. Do you currently have more than one blog? Are you planning on having more blogs in the long term? What will they focus on? Let us know in the comments. Image credit: Jason Blackeye The post The Pros and Cons of Having Multiple Blogs appeared first on ProBlogger.  |
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