Welcome To The Blog Monetization Matrix Lesson

There is a PDF associated with this lesson available for download below.

This is a big lesson so strap in and get ready for some serious "Pro Blogger" secrets.

In this lesson you will learn the exact methodology and technique used by all the pro bloggers to drive real income with their website.

If you have just started a blog or you’ve been struggling to monetize your blog, and making SERIOUS money with it, you’re probably wondering why some bloggers seem to do it so easily.

And maybe that’s left you feeling stuck and like a bit of a failure.

You had big dreams when you started your blog. A nice chunk of change to supplement your 9-5 income or maybe the Holy Grail of a 100%, location independent online business.

Because how hard can it be?

You just type some words into your keyboard and it basically spits money out, right? You get hundreds of Like, Comments and Shares - everyone loves you and your content and the money just ROLLS right in, yeah?

Well, running a profitable blog IS easy once you know the secrets. Secrets that I’m about to share.

And that’s what most other “gurus” won’t tell you. It isn’t super complicated. It isn’t impossible. It isn’t only for a special group of people with blogging superpowers.

So here’s what I’ve done: I’ve broken it down into a simple, logical, step-by-step approach I call the Blog Monetization Matrix.

And it’s going to help you make sense of this whole blogging thing so you can start making REAL money online.

Are you ready to learn more?

Great! Now download the Blog Monetization Matrix PDF below.

I recommend you print it out but you can also save it as a PDF file to your computer for easy reference.

The Map for Blog Monetization

The roadmap to making money blogging is based solely on having a strong fundamental work ethic.

First, you must realize that a blog by itself can never make money unless it’s treated like a business, which means selling a product, service or providing valuable information to the right demographic. And by driving more traffic to your site, you’ll have more opportunities to sell.

Let’s talk about banner ads briefly. They’re popular, but they’re also a waste of good traffic space because you want readers to focus on reading your posts.

Your posts will deliver a higher ROI than banners that’ll only make you a few pennies if you’re lucky.

Industry-wide, the average revenue for banner ad clicks are roughly $2.80, and that includes 30 percent of the revenue immediately going to the network agency that supplied the banner ad to the blog site.

That leaves the remaining profit to help you cover your own expenses.

Now we see more blogs using an effective business model where affiliated marketing companies supply advertising that’s geared toward readers.

It's effective, but other bloggers have failed with this approach because they never understood the needs of their audience.

​* Pro-tip: segment your audience into their respective interest groups so they’ll see relevant ads.

​Blog Monetization Matrix

​As you read through the 9 steps of the Blog Monetization Matrix, I want you to realize that the strategies and tactics outlined won’t work if the execution is off.

So make sure you continue to learn about your ideal customer, their needs, and your competitors.

Amazon reviews, social media 2.0 sites like Twitter and Facebook, and online forums like Reddit can all provide valuable information to improve your competitive advantage.

Step 1: Determine Product/Market Fit

Product/market fit is a popular term in the startup world. Stated simply: GIVE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT.

The error that many online businesses is creating a product or content that nobody wanted in the 1st place. It's great to have interests and subjects you're passionate about, but your priority needs to be solving a need in the market.

This is why market research is crucial to your blog’s success.

This is why you downloaded the Niche Profit Algorithm in the previous lesson. The entire success of your blog hinges on finding a viable niche.

If you skipped over the Niche Profit Algorithm and you've been reading to get the big picture idea that's great. There is no harm in having the "mile high" perspective but before you start blogging make sure you go back and download the Niche Profit Algorithm and follow the process.

Once you understand what your readers want and need, you’ll be able to create content, services and products that’ll make them more willing to pull out their wallets.

So think about the outcome your audience wants, whether it’s losing 10lbs of belly fat in 6 weeks or making an extra $500 a month in passive income before the end of the year. Show them how to make that transformation from where they are today to where they want to be in the near future.

​Notice that these are very SPECIFIC outcomes. The more specific, the better because people seek specific outcomes and are willing to pay more for them.

Step 2: Choosing Traffic Source

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As you build your blog, you’re going to need to think about traffic. In other words, how are you going to get people TO your blog?

SEO (search engine optimization) is a good long-term plan, but it can be hit-or-miss because Google’s always changing their algorithms (and super secretive about how they do it).

SEO helps people find the information they’re looking for by typing keywords into search engines (like Google or Bing) and serving relevant links.

How can you make sure people find your blog?

Write consistent, helpful, shareable content.

Going one step further, it's advisable to invest in paid traffic. Paid traffic (like Facebooks Ads, Twitter Ads, and Google Adwords) are the most predictable way to drive people to your content.

Does it cost money? Yes.

That's why you need to make sure you constantly track and measure the traffic coming into your site so you have an idea of who’s reading your blog.

This way you’ll be able to keep tailoring your content for your readers so you can turn them from prospects into paying customers.

There are lots of tools you can use to analyze your traffic, but Google Analytics should be enough for you to get started.

Step 3: Set Up Your Home Base

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When you blog, make sure you blog with a purpose.

Each post should help your readers solve a problem and drive them to take an action, whether it’s to download a lead magnet, purchase a product or book a consultation.

In other words, your blog should be set up for conversions.

Having awesome content is only part of the equation. The other part is getting your readers to move further down your funnel and that means joining your email list (an advanced tactic is retargeting, which we'll cover later).

The point is that you want to continue moving your readers through your funnel and the best way to do that is to market to them constantly.​

Make sure that your blog is easy to read and navigate with lots of white space. Use bolded, italicized and underlined words to make your text stand out.

It can be tempting to fill your web pages with content, but the reality is that doing this will overwhelm your readers, so keep it simple and helpful.

As you decide on the design of your blog, keep an inspiration folder on your computer with screenshots of other blogs and websites you come across with great design. This will give you a better sense of what you like and what works.

Step 4: Offer a Lead Magnet

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One of the biggest regrets every successful blogger has is not starting their email list from Day 1. It’s essential to running your business because it’s something you own that isn’t tied to a specific platform, like Facebook.

Now, the main way to get people to join your email list is by offering a lead magnet, where you give something of value in exchange for signing up.

Your lead magnet should be relevant and immediately useful.

It can be anything, really -  e-book, email course, PDF checklist, etc.

It doesn’t need to be super complicated or something that you spend a ton of time creating. It just needs to be something that provides your readers with immediate specific value, like a checklist or tips to help your readers grow their business.

So instead of saying "Subscribe to my newsletter" you might offer a "19 Point Checklist Before Launching Your Website." See the difference?​

Keep in mind: The goal of your lead magnet isn’t to make a lot of money - it’s to get them on your email list so you can upsell them to your products or services at a later date.

Another way to use lead magnets is to drive people to a landing page or "squeeze page" by using paid traffic like instead of trying to convert them on your blog. Tools like LeadPages, OptimizePress, and OptinMonster are great for this.

But my recommendation is Thrive Themes they build conversion focused tools and have everything you need.

Remember the typical opt-in rate for blogs in general is 2-5 percent, while a landing page can generate 30-50 percent conversion rates.

Another, more advanced method to offer lead magnets and get people to join your email list is to use retargeting.

Retargeting involves continuing to market to people AFTER they’ve visited your website. It’s very effective and a great tactic because most of your website visitors will never return, so it increases the likelihood that you’ll get them on your email list.

The "Sponsored" ads in your Facebook feed are examples of companies or individual bloggers using retargeting to get their product or service back in front of you.​

Step 5: A Front-end Offer

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There's a HUGE difference between someone who casually reads your emails and actually buys from you.

That's why a front-end offer is exclusively presented to first-time email subscribers after they’ve opted into your blog’s email list is a fantastic way to start creating your "Buyer's List" and find out who's serious about spending money on you.

The purpose of your front-end offer should be to help your reader solve a specific problem and convert them from reader to paying customer with an irresistible offer.

Common examples include:​

• ​$1 trial offers
• $7 e-books
• Discounted oil changes

It’s unlikely that most of your readers will buy your front-end offer right away, but by restating the benefits of your front-end offer in future emails there’s a greater chance that they’ll convert eventually.

A low-priced (under $10) front-end offer that’s closely tied to the lead magnet is a sensible approach because it’ll relevant and it gets your readers primed to start paying you small amounts of money which you’ll increase over time with upsells and cross-sells powered by automated email sequences.

Step 6: Your Membership Offer

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Membership offers have been popular with online marketers for years and they’re a great way to promote your flagship products.

For blogs, that means setting up membership packages that offer exclusive content not available to the average reader.

This “continuity” model means you can create a recurring revenue stream by offering value on an ongoing, exclusive basis.

Annual memberships or limited-time bonus deals are good pricing tactics to encourage enrollments, but you should test what works best with your audience.

Keep in mind, you can make consistent, direct profits just selling ACCESS to your membership and that doesn't include your front-end or back-end offers for even more revenue.

And since you're creating content anyway, a membership business model is a natural extension of activities that you're already doing.​

Memberships are also a great way to scale so you can leverage your time to reach even more people without spending more time per user.​

Step 7: High-end Offer

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Executing a high-end offer via an upsell is the final tactic to increase the size of your average sale.

Upsells are profit maximizers. And while upsells are usually considered high-end offers they can also be add-ons that increase the overall transaction price.​

This is a common business tactic, whether it’s McDonalds asking if “you want fries with that order” or Amazon offering “frequently bought items together” options before you’re allowed to finish your transaction.

Popular examples of high-end offers for bloggers include one-on-one coaching and done-for-you (DIY) services.

So as you build your blogging business think of ways you can ADD value:​

• Can you offer a bonus product?
• Can you sell a one-on-one consulting call?

Brainstorm more ideas and think of ways you can mix and match them to make even stronger offers your readers will love.

​Step 8: Automated Followup and Retargeting

Autoresponders (automated email follow-up sequences) are fantastic for increasing sales since most sales will happen AFTER the 1st contact with a prospect.

Some bloggers use this tactic after a reader has accepted the lead magnet product, but reject the front-end offer.

The follow-up email provides more details on the front-end offer and how it can be of value to the target customer. This builds more of a relationship with them over time and helps overcome lingering objections.

Segmentation is an advanced tactic that’s beyond the scope of this article, but once you get to that stage in your business it will help you continue to scale by improving your audience targeting.

Whether by interests, demographics or purchase patterns, the more you know about your targets, the better you’ll be able to tailor your messaging.

As mentioned earlier, retargeting is a great tool to have in your marketing toolbox as a follow-up method and should not be overlooked.

Step 9: The Return Path

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A successful businessperson never takes rejection personally as not every customer has to appreciate your product. The superstar salesman knows that every rejection just brings them closer to making the sale.

This strategy is called a “return path,” which offers a pathway back to the blog to purchase items.

All of your marketing outreach, from blogging to email campaigns and social media can be used to drive traffic to your products or services, but keep in mind that it requires consistent effort and follow up.

So don't give up!! It can take many months and even years for your prospects to buy from you, but you'll be glad they did and it's even easier once you have a scalable system in place.​

You’ve reached the end of this lesson and probably have a lot of ideas spinning in your head. Feel free to bookmark it so you can refer to it later.

If you have any questions about this lesson please just hit reply on the email associated with this lesson.