Building an online business is not an easy thing to do. Just like any other business, you have to plan it carefully. Oftentimes, plan revisions are made - and not just one but many. As a result, only a few end up with a successful business because only a few really care about building a good business model.
Now, onto the topic. Can blogging really be a good business or is it good only in making some extra money along the way? Before we answer that, let us first see what my criteria are for a good business.
- It must be a system capable of running without much supervision
- It must generate positive income
- It must be scalable and flexible
- It must meet the needs of a particular niche
- It must be legal
As you can see, my criteria are pretty simple and easy to implement in a business. Now let’s see if blogging as a business meets them.
Can a blog be legal?
Yes, of course it can and it must. Plagiarism is not an option in blogging - be it a business or not but sad to say, many bloggers still plagiarize other people’s work. For a blogging business to be legal, it must either provide original content or be satisfied with articles submitted to article directories. The first option is more expensive but is more likely to gather more readers than the latter.
Can a blog meet the needs of a particular niche?
I think it can but that pretty much depends on how the blog is organized. I’ve seen bloggers write all sorts of stuff and still expect to make good money out of it. Thing is, a blog made for business needs to have focus in order to satisfy the needs of a select group of people.
Can a blog be flexible and scalable?
This is easy - YES. For a blog to be scalable, all you need to do is add another category/topic in it and bingo, you have another set of related articles to offer. If you need more webspace and bandwidth, just upgrade your web hosting package and if you need to output more articles, just write more. The latter is even easier if you pay people to write for you. As for flexibility, a blog can be as flexible as any website on the internet.
Can a blog generate positive income?
This is where things begint to get nasty. It is true that blogs can make money but making money is different from generating positive income. Many pro-blogger wannabes fail to bill themselves for the time they spend writing articles for their blogs. The expenses grow even further the moment you start hiring writers, researchers and web designers. Add to that the utility bills you have to pay and in the case of a serious blogging business, the monthly rent for your office space. Even so, it is still possible to generate positive income with blogging.
What are the ways for a blog to make money? Well, the more common blogging business do the following:
- Join an Ad Network and make money through PPC
- Sell Ad Space either directly or through an ad broker
- Join an affiliate program and sell products related to the topic of their blog.
A few get even further by building a subscriber list and contacting them if they have something new - either just to show off or to sell. As you can see, making the money is easy. The question is if the money made is enough to cover all expenses incurred and make a positive income as well. This I guess depends on how many regular readers your blog has. The more the merrier they say.
Lastly, can a blog be a system that runs without much supervision?
I think the answer to this question depends on how the blogrepreneur (yah, I just coined that term) approaches it. Starting a blog is easy but making it into a system that sends money your way is another story. If you hire people for your blogging business then it can quickly become a system just like any other business. All you need to do is specify who does what and make sure someone is accountable for somebody else. That should keep the business going even if you do not check it on a daily basis.
However, The problem pops up if you’re some sort of a one-man-band in your blogging endeavor. Without self-disciplines, you’ll find yourself breaking down sooner than later. It is still possible to make a system even if you’re doing it all by yourself. The fun with blogs is that you don’t have to write a lot every day. Writing one article a day can be enough for most blogs to keep its readers interested and as a tip, here’s what I do.
“I write as many articles as I can in two days and schedule them for posting on my blog.”
If I write 5 articles on Monday and schedule them to be posted on a one-per-day schedule, then I’ve pretty much met my quota for the week. That way, I work on my blog only once a week and let the wonders of wordpress do its stuff.
Now, what’s my conclusion on this? Well, depending on how the blogrepreneur (there goes that term again…) approaches the subject, a blogging business can be a good business. After all, I think just about anything in this world can be turned into a business, it’s just a matter of doing it right.
Happy blogging!
