Make Money Blogging By Helping First
What would you say to this…
Tutors Make More Money Than Lawyers!
Silly right?
That’s what I would have said before I read an old article in Smart Money magazine as I sat waiting at my doctor’s appointment a few weeks back. 
Since my doc assumed I had all day to sit around, I was stuck reading thru old magazines like Good Housekeeping.
I know sad, but don’t judge me, when you are that bored even good housekeeping will work lol
Then I saw my chance to grab the Smart Money magazine and that’s when I read the article about how tutors make more money than lawyers because they are in such demand now with all the kids falling behind.
Tutors make more because they are helping people.
That got me thinking about how this can apply to blogging.
“to get what you truly want, you must help people get what they want”
If you want to make money with a blog for the long haul you MUST help as many people as you can succeed with their blogs first.
You must sell YOU… selling you gives you full control of your product with no surprises in the future.
With all the changes with Google lately, making money the old ways can get difficult…
Selling ads on your blog isn’t controlled by you.
Selling Adsense is most def not controlled by you.
Do these things work?
Yes of course, but how long will they work? How much tweaking and changing and updating are you doing to stay ahead of all the changes that come up week after week?
When you sell you, none of these things are an issue.
Here are 4 ways you can sell YOU and make money blogging now and long into the future.
Sell Consulting
Once you start to see some results with your blog in a certain area, then you can start to offer consulting services to your readers.
– If you driving big traffic numbers, then offer how to get traffic help.
– If you are getting good ranks, then offer SEO help.
– If you have learned how to kill it with Social Media, then offer SM help.
You can consult people on anything you want, as long as you REALLY ARE seeing results in that area.
How you deliver that consulting is up to you. For me I use Skype calls and they get recorded for the client has the option to go back and listen again if needed.
Be creative with what types of consulting you can offer, just make sure it is for something that is helpful to your target audience.
Sell Services
Selling services works the same as selling consulting, but now you are selling something that you can do FOR your clients.
What are you good at?
– Good at design? Sell blog design and graphic design services.
– Good at SEO? Sell SEO services.
– Good at writing? Sell article, press release and blog post writing services.
Again once you think about what you know and can do you can come up with many services you can sell that fit your target audience perfectly. Example, I know blogging, so I offer a blog review service.
Sell An eBook
Want to sell what you know in a more hands off way?
Selling an eBook is a great way to share what you know, that is setup/written once and can be sold on auto pilot for a long time into the future.
One thing I will say is when writing an eBook, make sure to be clear and descriptive about what your teaching.
I should be able to read your eBook, and take action with the information you shared with no added guess work involved.
A BIG benefit to selling eBooks is you can now sell them on Amazon and Kindle.
Again, make sure your eBook is targeted to YOUR audience and fixes an issues that are having if you want to make money blogging for a long time to come.
Sell Your Own Product
Instead of just selling an eBook, why not sell you own product?
This can be an information product like a course or a membership site or even an app or plugin.
– Have an idea for a WP plugin?
– Have to much information to share in just an eBook? Then develop a full blown product like a video training course.
– Set up a membership site and share what you know now and what you will know in the future with your customers.
Selling a product is just like selling an eBook, service or consulting, the only difference is how you are packaging and presenting it to your readers.
The Wrap Up
How you decide to SELL YOU, is up to you, all 4 strategies I shared work.
Some people like a more hands on and will sell services and consulting. Some people like a more set it up once and that’s it.
They all work, they are all selling YOU a product you control and will always have full control of.
Now I am not saying that selling ads or selling Adsense won’t work, but if the majority of your income is coming from ads and Adsense alone, then you need to re-think your blog business model Right Now!
If you want to make money blogging today, tomorrow an long into the future then be the Tutor and help.
What you say? Let me know your thoughts in a comment below 🙂
Fantastic post. I agree that if u try to take before u give then u will never succeed in the long run. Also, as far as consulting with your own knowledge or product you are right on the money. I read a post in Affiliorama last month that said if what you know is more than the person listening to you, then your knowledge has value thus it is worth money. After all, you don’t need to be Carlos Santana to teach someone how to play the guitar! I think this is one of the best practical posts I’ve read in a while.
Comment by MJGottlieb — April 26, 2012 @ 6:09 pm
Thanks MJ and I like what you said “you dont need to be Carlos Santana to teach someone how to play the guitar”
Once you have success in a specific area, then you will know more then many people around you, so it is worth selling.
Comment by John Paul — April 27, 2012 @ 6:07 am
A very wise person told me not too long ago, “you can’t teach what you don’t know.” Well those weren’t his exact words, but that was the message. Sometimes we get excited about a fantasting idea and get ahead of ourselves. That’s where I was at. In the meantime I had dismissed what I was already darned good at.. helping people solve someof life’s most complex problems. What I’m getting from this post is that you have to be reasonably knowledgeable about your new idea in order to offer people value. And if you’re not, then the best advice you can take is to take the time to master the craft… and there’s nothing wrong with using what you’re ALREADY good at in the meantime. Thanks for sharing, John.
Comment by Rodney C. Davis — April 27, 2012 @ 8:44 am
Rodney that is exactly it.. know enough to help people. You dont have to be a guru, but your do have to know enough to help people do well.
Once you learn more, then you can add to what your teaching and charge more for it.
Knowing and having the proof to stand on that what you is something you know works is what its about.
Comment by John Paul — April 27, 2012 @ 9:42 am
What a wonderfully motivating post John Paul. I’ve been thinking of doing exactly what you’re suggesting but I keep pushing it to the back burner. When you said that “Tutors
Make More Money Than Lawyers!”, I really sat up straight and paid attention. I used to be a teacher and I’m constantly helping people (lots of times without getting compensated). One of my marketing friends has been gently nudging me in the direction of creating my own product. When you talk about creating a product that I can put “on auto pilot”, I realized that I’m just a little nuts to keep doing what I’ve been doing. Thanks for the wake-up call!
Comment by Sherryl Perry — April 27, 2012 @ 2:25 pm
I’m glad the post motivated you to take action.
Nothing wrong with helping for free, since that will lead to more money, but there is also nothing wrong with making money at helping too. 🙂
Comment by John Paul — April 27, 2012 @ 2:37 pm
John, what an insight or epiphany ; either way great post as always. Sadly, I have 1 ebook 3/4 the way completed, 1 unworked idea for a training and consulting services that I am putting together. After reading through your post I am debating what to complete first… Then it dawned on me; finish something then move on to the next project.
Comment by Beau Steed — April 27, 2012 @ 9:53 pm
Beau, that exactly what you need to do.. finish what is closest to being done then move onto the next.
Comment by John Paul — April 28, 2012 @ 6:02 am
Thanks for the good tips provided here! I agree that we have to
have an action plan in place before making the offer and we should
be sure about it…
Comment by Becca — April 29, 2012 @ 4:28 pm
Know what you want to do before you do it and know what you do
before you try to sell it 🙂
Comment by John Paul — April 30, 2012 @ 12:18 pm
Great stuff, as always. Selling ads or adsense is a old way to make
money blogging and I don’t think if I am going to use adsense on
any of my business blogs. Affiliate marketing and selling your own
products are the best ways to make money in the long run. Keep up
the good work, John.
Comment by Devesh — May 1, 2012 @ 9:22 am
They still work, but they take so much up keep and learning to make
any money. Not the best way to make money. Glad you liked the post
Dev 🙂
Comment by John Paul — May 1, 2012 @ 1:12 pm
interesting and very useful post, selling services is one of the best things we can do to make more money and increase our online presence.
thanks for sharing
Comment by James W — May 14, 2012 @ 10:41 am
Hi John, Great ideas of self-selling potential. It’s hard to say I
have good result so far on make money from a blog, but I like your
idea of “help as many people as we can first” then look at what
point we good at. I think that is very important especially when we
are in the world of anonymity. Doing what you have advised can
bring online credibility to us. Thanks,
Comment by Okto — May 22, 2012 @ 12:46 am
Hi John, Great ideas of self-selling potential. It’s hard to say I
have good result so far on make money from a blog, but I like your
idea of “help as many people as we can first” then look at what
point we good at. I think that is very important especially when we
are in the world of anonymity. Doing what you have advised can
bring online credibility to us. Thanks,
Comment by Okto — May 22, 2012 @ 12:46 am
Okto I’m sure you will start to see some income coming in. Just
keep doing what your doing and take some advice from this post to
help 🙂 You can never go wrong with helping people.. do that enough
and in the end the money will come.
Comment by John Paul — May 22, 2012 @ 7:59 am
Okto I’m sure you will start to see some income coming in. Just
keep doing what your doing and take some advice from this post to
help 🙂 You can never go wrong with helping people.. do that enough
and in the end the money will come.
Comment by John Paul — May 22, 2012 @ 7:59 am
TY Anna.. glad you like the content.. Hopefully you get your book re-written and HIDE the drive 🙂
Comment by John Paul — August 30, 2012 @ 2:55 pm
Hey, this is definitely the best one I’ve read so far. Focusing on ad revenue alone is a losing strategy. Selling yourself as a brand is simply the best option. thanks again.
Comment by Ildefonso L Baerga — May 5, 2013 @ 10:54 pm
Like anything else, don’t put all your attention “eggs” into one basket 🙂
Comment by John Paul — May 6, 2013 @ 4:55 am
Interesting article. I think work not just sales is much easier when you are selling yourself. You give people the things that makes you unique and most probably really enjoy doing.
Comment by Alexandra Petean-Nicola — December 17, 2013 @ 6:11 am