Do you understand the power of blogging? 

I wanted to write something to help those that might be confused, or those that simply dismiss blogging altogether.

Trust me there are a lot of people that laugh at me when I say I’m a blogger.

If you are one of those people that scoff at blogging, think it is a waste of time, or don’t even really know what it’s about, hopefully this post will open your eyes to the possibilities and how it could literally change your life.

I figure this would be the best way to put everything together as a single resource for people when they ask me what it is all about.

What is Blogging and Why Should You Even Care?

While many people may have different definitions for what blogging is, I prefer to think of it as a mechanism to channel your creativity and to build something online that means something to you.

Ok, that sounds really inspirational and pie in the sky, so let’s get to the brass tax.

The main reason most people blog is to ultimately make money. Yes, I said make money…and sometimes significant money.

Even though there are many ways to blog, with no intent of making money, I figured the quickest way to your consciousness would be through the good ol’ dollar bill.

I’m pretty sure I have your attention now. Good. Let’s continue.

Blogging is More Than Blogging

Don’t think of blogging as a simple online diary or someone writing journals online about their personal life.

That is old school blogging.

While you could start a blog and write only about what’s going on in your life, blogging today is so much bigger. MUCH, MUCH bigger.

For the purposes of our discussion let’s freely interchange the word “blogging” with “website”. That is how I want you to think of blogging, as starting your own website.

From an even higher level, when most people start a blog these days, they are really starting the central piece of a much larger online platform.

Online Platform? What does that mean?

Well, an online platform is basically your all encompassing online presence. It not only includes your blog, which is typically your home base, but it also includes all of your other online communities (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+). All of these communities serve as your online brand.

On a related note, grab your FREE Blog Detail Checklist by clicking on the button below.

Click Here to get the Blog Detail Checklist

This checklist gives you multiple items you need to check before you hit that publish button. Don’t drive your audience away due to silly mistakes and a lack of attention. Make sure you grab the checklist today!

Money, Money, Money

Ok, let’s get back to the money part. I know that is probably where your attention is now anyway.

Yes, people make money from blogging. Some make crazy stupid money. The beautiful thing is anyone can make money.

You are probably saying to yourself, “yeah, right.”

Here’s the formula. It’s really quite simple. All you need to do is translate what you do in your every day life into something online. At a very high level, that is all it takes.

Let me repeat that…what you do in your daily life could translate to an online business.

How About an Example

Let’s say you are a coach. You know a ton about coaching. You know plays, training routines, exercise plans, strategies, techniques, the mindset needed to win, offense, defense, recruiting, and much more. You live it every day, but most other people have no clue.

What comes easy for you is completely foreign to others.

You could very easily stand up a blog/website (literally in less than 10 minutes) and share this information to the world. There are thousands of people out there that are looking to learn exactly what you already know.

You have expertise whether you know it or not. Even if you don’t feel like you are the top expert or industry recognized guru in your field, you still know significantly more than the next person. This is a huge advantage and will serve as the base for your business.

People are always looking for knowledge and people thirst for convenience. You could deliver both.

How to Do It (At Least a Simple Example)

Since there are so many options we could cover, let’s just pick one and walk through it at a high level.

You have stood up a website and you are sharing all of the wonderful information you know. Your audience is growing and more people are starting to discover your site.

You now have the ability to really provide value to your community by packaging content just for them. In return, you can expect to be compensated for consolidating and organizing all of your wonderful information you know they need in their lives.

It’s a win-win!

Digital Product

Here is the beauty of your new coach blog. You can now package your information into digital products (which really just means PDF files, PowerPoints, videos, etc) and offer it for sale.

That’s right, it is as simple as this:

• Open Word
• Create a document that covers a particular need for your audience – providing value that they could use in their lives
• Save it as a PDF
• Stand up a payment mechanism on your blog and offer your new document for sale (there are obviously more details to this but it really is not that hard to do)

Just like that you can start offering your first product for sale. You can pick any price point you want too. Depending on the value you are providing, you could price it anywhere from $1.99 to $97! Or more.

Here’s the magic. You don’t have to do anything with it after that. It simply sits there available for people to buy. You can even make money when you sleep. There are stories upon stories of folks waking up learning they have made multiple sales overnight.

That is what is called passive income. You make money even when you are not working.

Obviously I’m oversimplifying the work that goes into audience building and getting people to purchase but I wanted to skip to the payoff so you could see the end game.

Our Coach 

Let’s continue with our coach. You could easily put together your digital training package and offer it for sale from your new blog/website. Follow the steps I mentioned earlier, create your downloadable document, put it into your payment processing engine and let it go. Done.

You could offer more for your audience too. Throw in practice plans, pre-season workout plans, weight training programs, and maybe even offer one-on-one consultations via Skype. All of this could be sold for $97 online…and people will buy.

To you, this is just information stuck in your head. It’s easy for you to create this stuff because you know it like the back of your hand. To your audience, this is exactly what they want to learn. It is exactly what they need.

No longer are your athletes (customers) limited to those in your city. You now have the power of the internet at your fingertips.

There are over 1 BILLION active monthly users on Facebook alone. Even getting a very small number of those folks to buy your product could net you a healthy income.

This All Sounds Great in Theory, But Where is the Proof?

If you think this is all crazy and that it really doesn’t happen, let me give you a few real world examples.

• Pat Flynn (SmartPassiveIncome.com) – Famous in online circles for helping folks learn about all of this stuff, he is typically pulling in $70,000-$90,000 PER MONTH. Most of that is from a simple video he posted on YouTube that has an affiliate link to a web hosting company. Go check out his online income reports that he has been posting from the beginning. You can see how he leverages multiple income streams and how his business grew over time.
• John Lee Dumas (Entrepreneur On Fire) – A few years ago he was just a guy learning how to do all of this. He started a daily podcast, simply interviewing entrepreneurs…even using the same questions on every episode. With advertising, online courses, and paid membership communities he has grown it to making over $250,000 PER MONTH.

Or, if you think those are too far out there and do not really relate to you, check this one out.

• Shane and Jocelyn (FlippedLifestyle.com) – Two regular folks from Kentucky. He started an online business for football coaches (sound familiar?) and she started an online business for elementary school librarians. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRARIANS!

They started out making a few hundred dollars online per month. Then it was a few thousand a month. At one point it grew to $36,000 in one month. It was at that time that they quit their jobs and went into it full time.

They recently had a month where they made $140,000. In one month! She is selling downloadable documents and guides for librarians and he is selling football practice and weight training plans, playbooks, and other items for the coaching community.

This is not some “get rich quick” scheme or some crazy plot to dupe people out of their money. This is about making your expertise and knowledge available for people who are actively looking for it.

If there was ever an example of how you could take your current situation, and start to build an online business, look no further than the quick examples above.

Before You Get Too Excited, It Does Take Work

Yes, it will be hard and take time to gain traction, but at least you now know WHY people do it. And hopefully you better understand some of the possibilities that are out there.

Trust me, there are more ways to make money from blogging than I could put on this single page.

The point is, you have expertise that others are looking for. Whether it is cooking, scrapbooking, photography, coaching, mountain biking, or bass fishing there is something that you do now that could earn you money from blogging.

Something else to consider is the fact that you typically pursue your online business based on your personal passions. You love doing it, therefore it doesn’t feel like work when you do it.

You Do Not Have to be a Baller to Make it Worthwhile

You don’t have to make $30,000 a month online to make it all worth it. Imagine if you just made an extra $500 or $1000 a month. Tell me that wouldn’t come in handy with bills and day to day expenses. Even a couple hundred dollars a month could cover gas for your car or a trip to the grocery store.

That would be a massive benefit for any family.

Wrapping it Up

I hope this gives you a little more appreciation for why people blog and understand a little better what it could do for you and your family. I also hope you sit back and think about it for a minute.

Think about what special knowledge or experience you have that you love to talk about. Think about what you truly enjoy doing. Think about your passions. Then, think about the possibilities given what I have told you above.

People are searching for the information you already have.

Even if you don’t make money from blogging, you can still thoroughly enjoy the journey. You will still realize numerous benefits – from increased technical skills and marketability in the job hunt to therapeutic release for your inner creative.

Embrace what you don’t know, give it a try, and see where your passion could lead you.

If you are interested in learning more or want to work with me, just let me know. I would love to help you understand what is out there and fuel your passion for building something amazing in your off hours.

Congratulations! You made it all the way to the end!

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