[tentblogger-vimeo 24965851]
One of the most important things that I counsel every blogger that showed any interest in making money through their blogs is to stay financially ‘in the black’ with their blog.
In other words, your goal is to make sure that you try to never spend any money on your blog that your blog hasn’t made for itself. For instance, until your blog starts to make money then you challenge yourself to not spend anything until it does.
Certainly when you start you might be ‘in the red’ or have spent money on hosting and a domain name and for many of you your goal in the first year is to make that spend back.
Here’s an example financial plan that you can use as a goal:
Stay above water!
A Simple Personal Plan to Stay in the Black
Your goal is to make my blog completely self-sustainable from a financial perspective. Here’s how you will do it!
- Cost of Hosting = $100.00 per year
- Cost of Domain Registration = $10.00 per year
- Total Money My Blog has Made this Year = $X.XX so far!
Pretty simple, right? Continue to adjust the $X.XX value as you earn money over this coming year. With some skill, strategy, and luck you’ll find your blog floating itself towards success!
As I mentioned in the video it’s just a simple decision on your part to “use what you’ve got” – find the free apps out there and the tools that you need that won’t cost you anything. If you do, in fact, make some money then count it agains what you’ve paid for so far in your hosting and then feel free to pocket or spend the money you’ve made on top of your costs on a very specific high-return tool or app.
My intention of sharing this post is simply to encourage you to stay financially accountable and conservative with your blog – far too many people find that their blog is a financial sink hole relative to what they are actually making in return and that’s a sad fact.
It’s especially upsetting when I talk with people one-on-one and ask them what the “total cost” of their efforts has truly been. It’s an eye-opening conversation for them!
Your blog has the potential to be a boon for your financially but it won’t ever get there unless you begin to account for your spending today. You might even need to change your thinking a bit to see your blog as a business to help you move in this direction as well.
Be excited though! To think about your blog in terms of being financially solvent is awesome but it should never be a surprise when you wake up to that amazing fact!
Thanks John! I am still learning the ropes of WordPress and the whole blogging scene. Your site has been an tremendous help. I upgraded from blogger to WordPress.org back in February and bought a domain name. Haven’t got to a point I can start trying to make money with it yet. I will be reading.
sure thing stevan! thanks for stopping by!
Ouch.
1. Over 100 on hosting.
2. Around 10 on the domain.
3. Less than 100 made through my blog.
Time to set some goals and get to making money. :0
Thanks John!
where are you hosting?
Dreamhost. I was using a free host, but had like -1% uptime on my site. Got tired of it. It equates to about 9 dollars a month.
time for you to break even!
Solid advice John! Definitely, 1 and 2 are on point. #2 was slightly higher with privacy.
ah. too bad it’s not free! some services offer this for free, like dreamhost and mediatemple.
Will have to look into those services.
for sure. let me know if you need anything!
I am just glad I only have to spend that $10 for the domain. Besides that, and my time, Google is my best friend for having a decent looking and functional blog …
for real cheap, I meant to add …
you’re right on the price! my domains cost me 1,000′s every year… trying to shed a few.
I totally agree with this advice. Although I made an initial investment with the design, it soon paid off in ad sales (thanks to you, John). But now I don’t spend more than I bring in. This is a great rule to follow—not only in blogging, but in life!
Thanks.
for sure mike! i’m sure your comment rings true for many in other areas of life. I try to apply this every where!
“it’s just a simple decision on your part to “use what you’ve got” – find the free apps out there and the tools that you need that won’t cost you anything.”
I did exactly this over the weekend. I had been thinking of buying Gravity Forms and stuck with my current contact form (Clean Contact) and found out about User Submitted Posts plugin to enable me to take guest posts.
My tips for staying in the black are:
1. Don’t believe the hype before buying anything.
2. Look for free, test it, break it and then only consider buying elsewhere.
3. Plan ahead, but do not buy ahead!
Thanks for this reminder John.
I currently own 6 domains and a reseller account at £42 a month and zilch income. Not good…
stuart,
wow, you could have written this post bro! love the 3 steps..!
But I needed you to inspire the thought process Hehe!
Thanks for the reminder John.
Hosting [$48] + Domain(s) [$20] + Best Blogging Theme Ever [$99] = I better get into the black before my wife does the math. Lol
better jump on it!
I am! Just not running into a lot of success. Looking into some more options. Any suggestions? (aside from what you’ve already covered before…)
have you tried reaching out directly to advertisers?
No I haven’t. Not sure where to start, or what to say. =/ Maybe you can write a post on that?! or you can just tell me =D !
hmm. maybe i covered this. one sec………………
hmm. i feel like i’ve mentioned it somewhere…
Actually I’ve re-thought this through, and I didn’t factor in the consulting gigs I’ve gotten because of the work on my blog. So I technically HAVE been in the black now (since my first month). I was thinking strictly along the lines of ad sales. So that would definitely help to hear how you suggest approaching it.
this is awesome! good for you!
I love the advice you gave new beginners. I am sure a lot of new beginners could benefit from following that simple advice.
Dude, bacon for lunch awesome. IT’S BACON! Put a smile on your face.
So true John! I’ve been a bit slack about this recently (life wide), so better get on top of that! So far (blog wise) I’ve spent domain $10 + annual hosting $120 + Standard Theme $99 = $229! Ouch! I better get going on content to build things so I can start making money!!!
at least you’re trying and making the attempt… this is the perfect first step. go for it!