How to Grow a Profitable Blog
McDonald’s has one of the most fascinating success stories in all of business.
It’s not just about how much money they made.
Or that they dominated their industry.
The thing I find most interesting about McDonald’s is that their entire business was built off of an “aha” moment.
One day, Ray Kroc woke up and it hit him.
He realized that he wasn’t in the hamburger business.
He was in the real estate business.
In other words, McDonald’s wasn’t just about selling burgers and fries.
The REAL strategy was charging rent to each franchisee. At massive markups.
Ray Kroc figured out that the real value of McDonald’s was in the value of the land, the location, and the building.
He wanted to be compensated for that. And rightly so.
From then on, McDonald’s exploded.
If you dig “under the hood” of most successful businesses, you’ll find that a lot of them were built on “aha” moments just like this.
When it comes to building your profitable blog, here’s an “aha” moment waiting for you as well.
A “real estate play” you’re not seeing.
But once you do?
You’ll be able to build an online business that throws cash in your bank account on the regular — without spending months (or years) hunched over your keyboard for $50 in AdSense revenue.
You’ll be able to build a business that’ll bring in solid side money to create a nice little savings “buffer” for you.
You’ll be able to build blog that you could even work on full time, without having to downgrade your lifestyle.
Building a blog that works isn’t about picking the “right niche”, or finding an area with no competition.
Like Ray Kroc figured out, it’s about one thing:
How you monetize.
Over the past year and a half, I’ve turned a small Medium blog into a business that’s doing multiple six figures in yearly revenue. And it’s growing.
My friend Zdravko Cvijetic (from Zero to Skill) did something similar.
Today, I’m going to share with you a process for building a blog that generates an extra $1k, $5k, or even $10k+ / month from scratch.
The Truth about Blogging for Profits
99% of blogs and online businesses don’t make any money at all.
And out of the 1% that do?
They’re scraping pennies off the bottom of the barrel.
Thought about selling products on Amazon? Dropshipping? eBay? Good luck finding a niche. And even if you do, your margins will be razor thin.
AdSense pays about $100 for every 10,000 views on average.
At that rate? You’ll be in a wheelchair before you start doing big numbers.
Here’s the fundamental strategy behind many of the highest margin, highest paid bloggers on the planet:
If you can narrow in on an area of life where you’re more skilled than the average person… you can teach people who want to learn what you know.
It’s all about showcasing the steps that worked for you and sharing it — like you were sharing it with a friend.
For example… if you’re in great shape? You can show people your diet and workout plan.
If you’ve got a great relationship going? Show people how you connect with your partner.
We’re all good at something — even if it’s in a weird or narrow niche that you might think no-one cares about.
Maybe you know how to knit sweaters. Or write a cookbook. Or train a dog. Or plan a fun family vacation to Disney World.
All of these are skills that people have paid money to learn through either 1) coaching, or 2) an online course.
And you can do it while staying true to who you are — without having to “fake it till you make it.”
Here’s how we did it:
How to build a profitable blog
Step 1: Narrow in on what you know
The first step is to narrow in on what you’re good at.
What do your friends ask you for advice about? If you had to talk for an hour about a topic, what would you pick? What do you obsess over? What have you done successfully in the past?
Make a list. Doesn’t matter if you’re not the best at it.
As long as you know more than the people you’re talking to, you’re adding value.
Step 2: Don’t worry about things that don’t matter
Most people end up failing because they get blocked by mental barriers.
Things like…
- “I’m not an expert” (you don’t need to call yourself that)
- “I don’t have a lot of money to invest” (you don’t need a lot)
- “What software do I need? I’m not that technical”
Winners take things one step at a time. Don’t think about what curtains you need for you house before you’ve got the foundation built.
Step 3: Leverage “imposter syndrome” to your advantage
Most people have trouble referring to themselves as an “expert” — especially if they’re not one of the best in the world at what they do.
The truth is, you don’t need to be a world class expert to be able to add value to your audience.
In fact, in a lot of cases, it’s better that you’re not.
Think about it — the more “successful” you are, the more disconnected you are from people who are just starting out. The bigger you get, the harder it is to relate to people who are newbies.
Not everyone wants to learn from someone who’s “the best in the world.” Some people prefer to learn from someone who’s just 1, 2, maybe 3 steps ahead of them.
Step 4: Find your “starving crowd”
“I sell ice in the winter, I sell fire in hell,
I’m a hustler baby, I’ll sell water to a well”
— Jay-Z
I love that line.
But I disagree.
I don’t wanna sell water to a well.
I’d rather sell water in the desert. Fire in the Arctic. Ice in the summer.
What types of people would want to learn what you know? What sites are they visiting?
For example, if you want to talk about dog training, make a list of dog-related blogs. If you want to talk about relationships, make a list of blogs associated with dating sites. Make a list of Quora topics related to your niche. Make a list of Medium publications you could contribute to.
Step 5: Hone your point of view
Peter Thiel wrote in Zero to One that there’s one interview question he loves to ask people:
“What’s one thing you believe, that most people disagree with?”
When you’re thinking about how to differentiate yourself, you’ve gotta be asking yourself the same thing.
When it comes to your topic, what counterintuitive points of view do you have? What do you think most people are getting wrong about their relationships, their fitness habits, their diet, how they program an app, or whatever topic you’re looking to teach?
This is important.
Because with all the content out there, more “me-too” articles won’t get you noticed.
You’re a human being with unique experiences, unique beliefs, and unique ideas that make you you.
And if you pepper your content with that, people WILL notice that you’re different from most people in your field.
Because no matter how much competition there is… nobody can beat you at being you.
Step 6: Test your point of view
Once you’ve got a broad sense of what you’re good at, what you want to talk about, and your point of view, the next step is to start testing and seeing if people are responding to it.
First, compile a list of 3–5 broad topics from Step 1 you feel like you could potentially teach.
Then, come up with 1–2 blog posts titles you could write on teach topic to capture your point of view, and teach people what you know.
Something like “5 mistakes people make in a relationship”, “How to knit a sweater in 2 hours minutes”, “How I lost 50 lbs while still eating my favorite foods”, etc.
No need to get too fancy. Just write down what you know.
Step 7: Build an audience
Once you’ve got your blog post titles down, the next step is to pitch them to niche blogs that publish the types of content you’re considering writing.
Best way to do this is by making a list of mid-tier blogs that are popular in your niche, and the contact information of those who manage that blog.
Then, pitch them on guest posting on their blog.
Here’s an example of an email script I used to pitch Jordan Harbinger (formerly at the Art Of Charm) on publishing a blog post on his site:
The purpose of your initial blog posts is to gauge 1) how people are responding to your point of view, and 2) how comfortable you are writing about the topic you chose.
The most effective way to gauge whether people are interested in your content is by seeing how many people sign up for your email list after reading the post.
For example, you could incentivize readers to sign up to your email list in exchange for a short guide related to the topic you wrote about.
Here’s the “call to action” I have at the bottom of every one of my blog posts to get people to sign up for my email list:
Once they click the “sign up” link, readers should be redirected to basic, single web page (which you can easily build for free through MailChimp) where they can sign up to your email list.
Step 8: Uncover what they’re struggling with
Once readers on your email list, your next job is to figure out what exactly they’re struggling with as it relates to your topic.
If you’re talking about fitness, what’s the biggest challenge they’re facing with getting in shape?
If you’re teaching people how to network, what’s the biggest challenge they have with making connections?
When you set up your email list on a platform like MailChimp (for free), you can create an “autoresponder sequence” that automatically sends to each person who signs up. H
Here’s an example of the first email I send my readers (who signed up to learn more about how they can land a job they love) to understand the biggest challenges they’re having:
The more you understand your what your audience is struggling with, the better you’ll be able to create the perfect content for them.
Step 9: Make an outline of what you’ll teach them
Based on their responses, outline the table of contents of a short video course that would help them get past their challenges.
For example, if you’re talking about fitness, you could break down your first video course into 3–4 modules where you discuss diet plans, workout plans, and supplements. The price tag for a course like this shouldn’t be too high, since the main purpose is to test whether anyone will buy (as well as work out any kinks).
You could price it anywhere between $29 — $49 to start out.
Step 10: Sell confidently
Finally, you’d want to sell your course to your audience through an email sequence.
A basic way to do this would be to create a series of 5-emails to launch your product — the first 2–3 emails being free content, and the last 2–3 focused on sales.
For example, when I launched my first course on landing a job you love, my first few emails covered content like 1) why being “unqualified” doesn’t matter when you’re applying for jobs, 2) word-for-word scripts to make connections, and 3) how to overcome imposter syndrome when applying for jobs.
The last couple of emails would be FAQs about your course and an urgency email to push people to sign up.
Call to action
Zdravko and I created a free checklist for building a blog that makes an extra $1k, $5k, or even $10k+ / month from scratch. Plus, you’ll learn how we generated over 50 million readers, grew email lists to over 300,000+ subscribers and built six-figure online businesses.
