Even though the information is mainly about what happens to this blog as a result of the tactics I use, the ideas should be transferrable to any other blogging platforms or even a traditional website.
When you start the site you will, no doubt, have a good idea exactly which topic you are going to delve into, if not - you're not ready to start.
You should start off by doing a little mind-mapping or brainstorming to organize your thoughts. Don't just go off half cocked without any direction.
Think of building your presence on the web as building a house. You need a really strong foundation, it holds up everything else. So the first thing you need is a plan. That's right, a plan.
Planning Your Blog
Discover How To Make Money follows a step by step approach. A methodical approach will pay off and Planning Your Blog is Step 1.
Let me be crystal clear!
You are going to plan a blog, right from the start, with the intention of making money. No screwing around about it - it's about getting paid for your efforts so it should be the Number One - A1 - Top of The List - Goal! Making Money On The Internet!
Having established your number one priority you'll need to set a few ground rules.
How Much Money Can I Make On The Internet?
So, how much money do you want to make. Notice I said "WANT" not "NEED". If there is one attribute you have that will make you successful, it will be your desire.
Desire means I WANT - Not, I'd like to!
Write it down... how much you want to make every month from blogging, don't be too conservative either, be realistic, and I'm talking about the end result.
Just to keep the discussion here reasonable I'm going to pick an income for you as a target. I've decided that income is to be based on the latest median income levels in the U.S. reported in wikipedia for the 2007 calendar year. Hope it's ok with you but hey, shoot higher if you want!
So the desired income will be $50,233.00 per year which is $4186.08 per month. I'd never go with an exact figure so I'll make the target $5000.00 US dollars per month. So that'll bring it up to $60,000.00 per year.
Who wants to be median or in the middle or mediocre or whatever, so I'm kicking it up a notch.
How Long Will It Take To Make Five Thousand Dollars Every Month?
You also don't want to take ten years to get there, so I'm going to make a timeline. I don't think it should take any longer than 24 months to get there so I'm going to set up a spreadsheet and lay it all out, month by month.
I also realize that it may take a few months before there's any income at all so I'm going to do some serious research to see the monetization models and how they can pay.
To decide on a timeline you obviously must take into account the amount of commitments you have on your time. If you work full time, maybe a couple of hours a day is all you can do.
This timeline is totally your decision but you should map it out and follow it. Make it your Religion!
You may be happy getting to $2500.00 a month in 24 months, these decisions are yours to make.
Plan, Record, and Track Everything
The point here is to decide exactly what you want, when you want to hit certain milestones, and the actions you must take to get to your goals.
The best way to do it is to set it all up in a spreadsheet, and start mapping out your plan.
You will also have to track everything you do on your journey right from the beginning. Your going to collect information and statistics on a myriad of metrics which will indicate your effectiveness.
So the two items I've mentioned form your goal and the third item is your roadmap. These three pillars will form a foundation you can build from, they will give you purpose and a method of keeping track of your progress along the way.
Jim
How To Find A Money Making Opportunity
