Hi there ProBlogger readers and welcome to another update from
ProBlogger.net.
 
The last month or so has been incredibly busy (and productive) for
me - how about you?
 
In this email I want to share my story of the last 12 months and
how I've changed my approach to making money from blogs. Warning:
this email isn't the shortest I've written, you might want to grab
a coffee and make yourself comfortable!
 
*** Times are Changing (at least for me) ***
As I look back on the last 12 months of blogging on my main two
blogs (ProBlogger and Digital Photography School) it strikes me
that I've had a real change in the way I'm approaching my business.
 
Up until 2009 my blog's income had largely revolved around two
things:

   1. advertising revenue
   2. affiliate promotions

While I also had a few other income streams (including a job board,
a published book, some speaking) advertising and affiliate
promotions generated most of my income.
 
Ad revenue made up 80-90% of the total income most months (although
affiliate revenue has grown in the last couple of years).
 
At the end of 2008 I began to realize that I needed to diversify
this model a little. I decided to do it based largely upon the
economy and a lot of talk (and some early warning signs) that it
would impact the amount that advertisers were going to be spending
online.
 
I decided that instead of just relying upon income from selling
(and advertising) other people's products that I should develop
some of my own as an additional income stream.
 
I was very nervous about this new approach and a bit worried about
what readers might think of me charging for information but with
the encouragement of a number of fellow bloggers have added
'products' to my range of income streams.
 
Over the last 11 months I've launched 3 such products:

    * 31 Days to Build a Better Blog 
(http://www.problogger.net/31dbbb-workbook/) (ebook)
    * ProBlogger.com Community (http://www.problogger.com/)
    * The Essential Guide to Portrait Photography
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/portraits (ebook)

In doing so I've realized the power of having something of your own
to sell.
 
For starters it is a great source of income (I'd estimate that the
two ebooks above have generated over six figures in income alone) -
but there are other important reasons too including that it can
help build your credibility with readers and in your niche and can
open relationships with potential partners.
 
By the Way - I recently recorded this video on the topic and shared
it on Twitter (this has not appeared on ProBlogger yet) - 
http://img39.yfrog.com/i/z1u.mp4/%20
 
I have not abandoned advertising revenue or affiliate income in
favor of selling products - however adding products into the mix
has been really worthwhile.
 
*** I've Learned So Much - Including How Little I Know ***
 
However.... while my product launches have been pretty successful
with each one I'm realizing that I could do so much better.
 
Over the years I've put a lot of time aside to learn about blogging
- but I've never really put any serious time aside to learn how to
develop and launch products. As a result I've done them in a bit of
a muddled way that has meant that while they've been profitable -
they've not reached their potential.
 
Over the weekend I sat down to watch some free case studies from
internet marketer Jeff Walker - creator of Product Launch Formula.

I wrote about this experience here 

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/11/30/you-need-to-see-these-case-studies-before-theyre-gone/
 
As I watched them I realized how much I still have to learn.
 
I decided to sign up for Product Launch Formula and have done so
today.
 
This course is not cheap and I know that the vast majority of those
reading this email will not be able to afford to join me in the
course (full details of it are at:
http://www.productlaunchformula.com/?18414)
 
However.... Jeff's case studies are free and if you have any
inkling that you might launch a product over the coming months -
I'd highly recommend that you put some time aside today to look
them over.
 
You do need to do it today though because he's taking them down at
midnight on Monday (US Eastern standard time).
 
You can get free access to the first case study here:
http://www.productlaunchformula.com/launch.php?18414

Also well worth watching is the Product Launch Blueprint video:
http://www.productlaunchformula.com/blueprint.php?18414

Both are part of Jeff's sales process to get you to buy his product
- but both have quality and actionable information in them. I took
a couple of pages of notes while listening to them - stuff I wish
I'd known when I launched my own products this year.
 
Whether you buy Jeff's product or even view his case studies are
not the point of this email. I guess what I wanted to do today is
share with you how I'm slowly changing my own approach to blogging.
 
I've long talked about making money from blogging in two ways:

   1. Directly - where you blog makes money through advertising or
affiliate marketing

   2. Indirectly - where you make money because of your blog

I've always known the power of the 'indirect' methods - but it's
only been this year that I've REALLY known it for myself first hand.
 
*** This is Not Just for A-Listers ***
Last time I talked about this topic with a group of bloggers the
first reaction I got was:
 
'but isn't selling a product just for people who already have a big
audience?'
 
My reaction to the question is two part. Yes, a big audience
certainly helps to make sales - but you can do quite well with a
relatively small audience.
 
I spoke with one blogger this week (and I'm attempting to get him
to write his story up as a case study for ProBlogger) who has a
blog with a few hundred visitors a day who recently launched a paid
ebook. His sales are certainly not enough to retire on - but he's
making over $1000 a month from it - a nice secondary income.
 
The thing I'd say about selling something off your blog is that if
you develop a quality product to sell and partner with others who
DO have an audience you can do quite well for yourself too.
 
I recently had an e-book developer in the photography space
approach me to promote his e-books. I took one look at the high
quality of his product and did an immediate promotion of it on my
photography blog - it sold over 7000 copies in two weeks!
 
All this to say that - yes, it helps to have your own established
audience, but you can also do well when you don't have a big one
either.
 
PS: the  first case study mentioned above also highlights how you
don't need to be an A-lister to make this approach work.
 
*** What Do You Do With All This? ***
The point of this email isn't to get you to buy anything - it's to
get you to think. 
 
You can buy Jeff's product and not make a cent from it unless
you've made some decisions and thought through some different
things:
 
   1. Are you willing to work? - developing a product to sell and
then launching it take a lot of work. Each of the two ebooks that
I've launched in the last year have taken months to develop and
some very very long days around the time of launch. It doesn't just
happen.

   2. Are you willing to look at what you do as a Business? - I
wrote about this a couple of months back - the #1 reason my
blogging grew into a business was that I started to view it as a
business. Note: you may not want your blogging to be a business and
this is totally fine.

   3. Are you willing to make some mind shifts? - many bloggers
find the shift to selling a product a difficult thing to do because
they have certain paradigms that they operate in that they need to
let go of. One of the big ones is that of charging. Another is
developing an email list (I recently wrote a little on how
important this is for me in these two posts:

- http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/10/30/6-reasons-why-you-need-to-consider-email-is-a-communication-strategy-on-your-blog/ 
- http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/10/31/how-i-use-email-newsletter-to-drive-traffic-and-make-money/

*** What I'm Going to Do With All This ***
Let me finish with my next steps:

   1. I will invest some serious time into getting into Product
Launch Formula

   2. I will continue to experiment with launching products
regularly in 2010 (I think 'experimenting' is the way to go - each
one is a learning experience)

   3. I will continue to blog about what I learn - I'm also going
to keep exploring this in the ProBlogger Community forums where
there are quite a few members who are also on this journey.

   4. I will put myself into proximity with others who have more
experience than me in this - it's one of the best ways to learn.

I hope that this email has stimulated some ideas for you. As you
can tell from this email - I'm still on the journey with this topic
and look forward to sharing more of what I'm learning with you in
coming months (and looking forward to hearing more of what you're
learning too).
 
Darren Rowse
ProBlogger.net
 
*** PS - Another Free Resource ***
if you have some time on your hands over the next couple of weeks 
check out this great collection of 'Marketing Bullets' that I came 
across this week. It's totally free, you don't have to give any 
details to access it.

http://www.marketingbullets.com/archive.htm

It's a collection of advice on marketing from Gary Vencivenga that 
the team at http://www.copyblogger.com recommended last week.
 
A lot of is is relevant to bloggers - particularly as you think 
about copywriting and being persuasive. Some of the bullets are 
more relevant than others but it's a resource that I spent and 
hour or so working through this week and took away some great 
ideas from. Enjoy