Darren Rowse just published a video offering you some practical ideas on how you can transition your blog into a business. There are 3 case studies and down-to-earth advice on how you can do the same. What a great project for the new school year!

See more of Darren Rowse at his blog, http://www.problogger.net/

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It looks to me that blogging for income will soon mirror the 2 out of 3 failure rate of new businesses. Actually, I don’t think the majority of new blogs will succeed for the same reason: Poor planning and lack of focus on how it will make money.

This is just one reason that teaching the basics of business to your teens is so important. The common mindset is “Just Do It”. It looks so fun, doing what you want, when you want, how you want. Why wouldn’t anyone want to have their own business or blog?

What happens when they have spent hours and hours buried online, pouring their heart and soul into what inevitable becomes a source of deep discouragement and frustration with no monetary return. Was it really so free? How much could they have had in the bank if those hours had even just paid him minimum wage? The “Build It and They Will Come” attitude doesn’t work any better with blogs than it does with a new business.

There are many that are very public with their opinion that you can’t make money blogging because they tried it and didn’t work, like Daniel Lyons, a talented blogger known for two years as “Fake Steve Jobs” (until Newsweek revealed his identity). In an excellent post by CopyBlogger, Daniel Lyons tell how he only made a little over $1,000 after a traffic spike of 250,000. If you can’t make money with that kind of traffic, he rationalizes, no one can succeed with a blog.

On the other side of the coin, there are many very successful bloggers that share their so called “secrets” and became successful doing just that. But that’s not the only way to succeed. Top bloggers like Darren Rowse with his photography blog will tell you he makes far more with helping those with their camera than he ever did helping beginner bloggers. I’m not sure it’s a secret or not, but there are some essential factors to actually making money with your blog.

CopyBlogger, in that same post referred to above, gives the cornerstone of any successful, profitable blog:

If you want to make money in the real world, solve real problems.

It’s sounds simple, and it really is-but most new bloggers don’t realize this. They jump into creating a blog on whatever suits their fancy. This is a sure recipe for failure.  That is, unless what suits your fancy includes helping others suit their fancy. You must have a plan and direct the purpose of your blog to something that will solve real world problem for your intended readers.

If you would like to transform your blog into a profitable blog, study other great bloggers. CopyBlogger is a must read. Of course you must apply the principles, and work at it like a job, but to make money online you have to make yourself useful. Make sure your vision includes a purpose that has income potential.

I agree and personally need to take CopyBlogger’s hard hitting command to heart:

It’s time for online business to grow up

I love that. When blogging first started, most blogs were personal diaries and people loved (and still do!) seeing inside other people’s lives. Now that Facebook takes care of that in a big way, personal blogs have gone back stage. Everyone wants information that will help them in some part of their life that bothers them, and there are a multitude of ways to serve that up. What can YOU do to help someone else?

CopyBlogger is one of my absolute favorite blogs because it is intensely useful. Take a look at his headlines and you will find yourself wanting to read every single one. (at least I do..) He knows what bloggers need (goes beyond want) and gives practical advice that works. Learn from one of the best, go to http://www.copyblogger.com/no-money-blogging/ . Another excellent place to gain a full blogging education is http://www.problogger.net/.

Do you have a favorite blog or one that has useful information on how to blog? Please share with us in the comments. I’d like to compile a list of great bloggers that share it all and we can all learn from – who do you think makes it to that list?

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Only 2 years ago, Wendy was working on starting a different online business, and decided to blog about all the research she was doing to help others do the same. She discovered that her new blog was more profitable than her other business, so she quit that business and put all her efforts into her blog.  The rest is blogging history.

You can watch a video interview here…

And get her FREE “Better Blogging” Course here.

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