Emily Mennemeier

blogsby thebook

tableofcontents

photo by Emily Mennemeier

intro

most visited blogs

top 3 moneymakers

making money

blog platforms

professional chat

dos & don’ts

references

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Blogs by the Book | 3

So you want to be a “blogger?” Millions of other people all over the world do too. In fact, millions of people already blog. What makes you unique? What will make people want to read your content or look at your photos?

Blogs by the Book provides information about the market and audience, includes excerpts from interviews with professionals, and contains helpful tips about blogging.

Through research of blogs, this booklet was compiled for aspiring bloggers who want to set themselves apart from the millions of other bloggers out there.

Blogs by the Book will give you the confidence to enter the blogging world with a bang!

intro

photo by Corey Ransberg

blogsby thebook

Blogs by the Book | 5

blogsmost visited

1. The Huffington Post, with about 105,000,000 visitors a month

According to several different sources, The Huffington Post is the most visited blog. However, these sources do not agree on which blogs are in second and third place. Here is a list of the blogs that

follow The Huffington Post:

TMZ Business Insider Mashable Buzzfeed Gawker Gizmodo

Sources: Online Income Teacher, Income Diary, ebiz MBA, Technoratiphoto by Emily Mennemeier

Blogs by the Book | 116

3$To get an idea about which blogs are making the most money and how, check out these top three moneymakers.

1. The Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com)Founded by Arianna Huffington in 2005, this blog makes about $2,330,000 a month. Most of its income is generated through a pay per click system.

2. Mashable (mashable.com)

Mashable was founded in 2005 by Pete Cashmore. It makes about $560,000 a month mainly through advertising banners.

3. Techcrunch (techcrunch.com)

Michael Arrington founded Techcrunch in 2005. It makes most of its income, which is about $444,500 a month, through advertising banners.

topmoneymakers$

Sources: Online Income Teacher, Income Diary, ebiz MBA, Technorati photo by Emily Mennemeier

12 Blogs by the Book | 9

$makingmoneyWhen using mainstream ad players, you may not be able to choose the type of ads on your blog. Therefore, you must beware of those that may seem controversial. If you blog about going green, you wouldn’t want an ad for disposable paper plates on your blog.

Now, for the content. There are all kinds of different blogs out there. People write about almost anything. To gain readership, however, you must provide the reader with something they don’t already have, whether it be a humorous blog to make them laugh, a blog of stories to keep them entertained or a blog teaching them how to cook. Choose something to write about, and make sure it’s a subject you’re not only comfortable with, but also knowledgeable about. Use what you know to attract readers. If you’re a DIY expert, blog about it. If your projects are good, people will read your blog.

Finally, make sure to use proper grammar and check your spelling. This seems obvious, but it’s surprising how many grammar and spelling errors you will find on sites that are supposed to be “professional.” Always double and triple check spelling and grammar so your readers find you credible.

So blogging sounds like a pretty fun career, right? You can be your own boss and tell the world about things you’re interested in.

However, payroll won’t be direct depositing that check for you each month. You’ll have to get a little more creative if you want blogging to be your primary source of income, let alone pay the bills.

Don’t get me wrong, you CAN make money blogging. However, don’t mistake blogs for a quick money-maker option. Expect to make little to no income in the first year.

Using ad players such as Amazon Associates and Google AdSense is a common way to start earning an income. These players are mainstream and user-friendly. They allow you to choose where on your blog the ads will appear, and they bill the advertisers for you.

Banner ads are another moneymaker. They are paid on a CPM (cost per mille) basis, which means cost per thousand readers. Unless your blog is an instant hit, these ads are probably not going to make you a fortune each month. But, hey, every little bit helps, right?

Source: U.S. News and World Reportphoto by Emily Mennemeier

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First and foremost, choosing a blog platform is about what you’re comfortable working with. WordPress offers the best blog platform with the most features and flexibility to easily customize your blog.

However, the only way to find out which platform site is best for you is to try some out. To help you get started, look over this list of pros and cons for four different popular blogging platform sites.

First, take a look at this list to find out what attracts you, and next, dive in and start testing out the features of your top choices.

platformsblog

photo by Emily Mennemeier

Blogs by the Book | 11

Blogger (www.blogger.com)

Pros:free

automatic updatesno CSS or HTML knowledge required

scheduled posting available

Cons: limited free custom pluginslimited free theme options

CMAP required for own domainno post categories

WordPress (www.wordpress.com)

Pros:free

available for own domainmany free custom pluginsvarious free theme optionsscheduled posting available

post categories available

Cons: CSS knowledge required for advanced editing

manual updates

Wix (www.wix.com)

Pros:free and premium options

no CSS or HTML knowledge requiredvarious theme options

automatic updatesscheduled posting available

Cons:available for own domain for premium users

limited pluginsno post categories

Tumblr (www.tumblr.com)

Pros:free

available for own domainmany theme optionsautomatic updates

post categories

Cons:HTML/CSS knowledge required for

customizationlimited plugins

scheduled posting unavailable

pros cons

Source: Start Blogging Online

Blogger was founded by Pyra Labs in 1999. The site made little income until 2002. In 2003, Google bought Blogger and still owns it today.

WordPress was started in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little. Today, WordPress is the most popular blogging platform.

Wix was founded in 2006 by Avishai Abrahami, Nadav Abrahami and Giora Kaplan while they were trying to develop a website. They realized it was difficult and time consuming, so they came up with Wix, a platform that anyone can use to easily make their own website.

Tumblr was founded in 2007 by Daivd Karp, during a break in business at his software consulting company. The company is now owned by Yahoo!, which bought it in 2013.

Source: Start Blogging Online

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professionalchat

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How do you determine what kind of content your readers will want to read?

We start planning our content early and make sure it’s in line with our marketing we’ll be doing at any given time. To determine what readers like and don’t like, we look into which posts get read the most and which get us the most follows and shares.

It’s not about choosing blogs over other social media, but rather using content across multiple platforms so it goes farther. We use social media to promote blog content as it’s posted. Additionally, a blog allows us to produce larger amounts of copy than what we can currently use on our website and social media. It lets us get deeper into what we’re trying to promote.

Why use a blog over other social media?

with Megan McConachie

Q.

A. Most of our shots are pretty candid. Even a good, quick photo from a smartphone can provide the image we need to accompany our message. We’re going to be moving into determining our visual strategy more in the future.

What components go into capturing a good photo?

photo courtesty of Columbia CVB

Megan McConachie is the Web and Communications Manager for Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau. McConachie has lived in Columbia, Missouri since she was 2 years old. She graduated from Truman State University where she received a degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism. In addition to maintaing the CVB’s website, McConachie is a member of the Mid-Missouri Tourism Council.

Blogs by the Book | 13

Q.

Q.

A.

A.

Q.

A. Most of our shots are pretty candid. Even a good, quick photo from a smartphone can provide the image we need to accompany our message. We’re going to be moving into determining our visual strategy more in the future.

What components go into capturing a good photo?

What environments/locations work best for photo shoots?

I’d love to tell you that we use lots of staged photos and photo shoots, but that’s definitely not the case. We use lots of candid shots on the blog especially.

How would you describe your design aesthetic?

Our design is pretty simple and was built within Wordpress. Aside from making sure we keep with our new branding colors, I don’t put a lot into our design.

For more information on blog content and layout, visit www.blogsbythebook.wordpress.com

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dosdo:

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Plan your content and posts in advance so they are well thought out instead of thrown together at the last minute.

Proofread! People associate proper grammar and spelling with credibility.

Promote your blog content through other social media. Creating more outlets for your content will make it more widespread.

Develop your own voice and writing style. Help readers connect with you, and keep them coming back for more.

Keep it short and sweet. Short lines of text broken up into small paragraphs are easier to read than lengthy pages.

Blogs by the Book | 15

don’t:

don’t:

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Plagiarize. The internet is full of other people’s work, and you don’t want to get caught using it without their permission.

Be afraid to push the limits, but be mindful of taking things too far.

Lose your voice. If your audience are used to your unique voice, they will notice if it changes or becomes unfamiliar.

Be offensive. Be careful when writing about potentially controversial topics.

Forget to do your homework. If you post about something without knowing all of the facts, someone will notice.

don’ts&

14 photo by Emily Mennemeier Blogs by the Book | 17

referencesDunlop, M. (n.d.). Top earning blogs-make money online blogging. Income Diary, Retrieved from http://www.incomediary.com/top-earning-blogs

Smith, M. (n.d.). Successful blogs earning money online. Online Income Teacher, Retrieved from http://onlineincometeacher.com/money/top-earning-blogs/

Stelzner, M. (2013, 05). 2013 social media: how marketers are using social media to grow their businesses. 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Retrieved from http:// SocialMediaExaminer.com

Technorati top 100. Technorati, Retrieved from http://technorati.com/blogs/top100/

Wallagher, M. (n.d.). Blog platform comparison chart. Start Blogging Online, Retrieved from http:// startbloggingonline.com/blog-platform-comparison-chart/

Williams, G. (2013). Can you make real money blogging?. U.S. News and World Report, Retrieved fromhttp://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2013/07/11/can-you- make-real-money-blogging

(2014, 02). Top 15 most popular blogs. eBiz MBA: The eBusiness Guide, Retrieved from http:// www.ebizmba.com/articles/blogs

A special thanks to:

Amy Parris, Lisa Lenoir, Megan McConachie, Dana Consalvo, Natalie Benedict, Stephanie Miller and Chloe Tyau

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