How to Monetize a Blog
I read that sleep and dreaming are when all our thoughts from the day get organized in our brains. I dream in Periscope, Instagram and Twitter mode, which means that while I’m asleep I’m putting together all the connections I made during the day and figuring out how they fit together, the big picture, I mean. Crazy, huh?
Stepping away from my creativity to focus on business is unnatural for me, and it hurts my brain. It’s not that I didn’t have incredible jobs before I had babies, but it’s taking a while for that business brain to come out of cold storage. Fortunately, every connection I make in town brings renewed energy and a stronger desire to get Aspen Real Life where it needs and wants to be, and I am waking up.
Most of the world has caught on that bloggers play an integral role in polishing brand names and is enlisting bloggers to spread the word. Aspen is a bit behind.
So how do you monetize a blog? I love being tapped into my community and sharing the love by bringing business to noteworthy organizations, but there’s no way I can keep up this workload without being paid for my precious time. So first I need to grow my numbers back to where they were when I left the blog in 2013, at over 10,000 unique visits a month. Then I’ll create a beautiful media kit and approach the companies that want to put their brand in front of our highly affluent audience.
In my research, I found an industry perspective that puts it all in context. Companies are often excited about hiring a blogger right up until it’s time to pay the bill, treating it like a nothing job for nothing pay, until they compare it with the cost of a full-time employee, or try doing the daily blogging themselves. The argument: top-tier bloggers closely tied to your brand should be paid well, with clear expectations on both sides.
For those confused about the difference between a blogger and a journalist: bloggers write from the heart about things they’re passionate about, without media intervening and shaping the story. Good bloggers are community builders, marketers, advertisers and PR people for their own blogs. They wear every hat, in effect acting as the CEO, CFO and CTO of their sites, and that combination of social media know-how and the ability to put it to work is invaluable to companies.
When I talk to people in the mountains about social media, they hold their heads in their hands, trying to figure out how to fit in their true passion along with the labor of being social. It’s not like I can’t relate. Just seven years ago, I too was wondering why anybody would want to waste their time on Facebook. As for Twitter? The simplest of social networking tools was beyond my comprehension. But I’m telling you, when you dive into social media heart and soul, you soon see the benefits, and then, if you’re like me, you run with it until you reach the top.
