Every day I see a new blog pop up with the express purpose of making money online to escape the 9 to 5. The concern I have is not that others want to escape the cubicle (that’s awesome of course!) but the vehicle they have chosen to do it with.
If my goal on this blog is to help people to succeed online I have to help people choose a winning vehicle!
In this post I will show by example how a WordPress website can be a much better option.
First off lets make sure we are all clear – a blog is just a special type of website that requires new content continually.
WordPress can create great websites OR blogs, no problem.
Fortunately, it is almost an identical process to set up and launch either a blog or a website using WordPress.
However the difference in the time commitment required to grow a website compared with a blog is worlds apart. For example in my last post, it took me ten hours to write, edit, and publish. Even some of the most successful bloggers like Pat Flynn and Darren Rowse all talk about how it took them YEARS to get started and both had successful online businesses beforehand. The big concern I have for most people blogging is that they will burn out way before they even taste success.
I can’t stress this enough – Why commit to a time intensive blog when a website will get you where you want to go faster?
The perfect comparison
A couple months ago, I started this blog AND a website at exactly the same time. Building the website was an easy decision, but deciding to go ahead with the blog was a much bigger decision because I knew that I was committing to more work for less pay (at least in the short term).
But I still did both because in some ways a blog has some key advantages:
1) If the market you are in is evolving fast a blog is much more responsive to change.
2) If the competition is fierce, a blog enables you to infuse your personality, differentiate yourself and thereby build trust.
To work out if you need a blog or a website you really need to look at the market you are in and check out the competition. Then you need to think about what you can offer and the best way to deliver that message.
Back to my examples: Cubicle Free (blog) v RSACoursesOnline (website)
Cubicle free is in the “make money online” niche. The market is ridiculously competitive and crowded. Every man and his dog seems to be starting a new blog every week. This in itself should make anyone pause. On the other hand there are some great examples of guys making money online (and it is mostly males).
But just because everyone else is doing it is a very poor reason in itself, I really had to look at the Market, what I could Offer, and the best ways to Deliver my offering.
1) MARKET & COMPETITION
You really need to do what I am calling ninja research and find out what is really going on. Doing some searches is a start, but really is not enough. You need to find out the pain and the needs of the people that you want to help.
Fortunately there are some great tools to help do this:
- Twitter Search
- Forums Comments
- Blog Comments
Here is what I found:
- Lots of confused and dismayed people who had tried to make money with micro-niches which were not real businesses but just search engine circus tricks.
- Lots of incorrect or outdated information post Panda and Penguin
- A shift towards building real businesses online
- A completely unnecessary focus on blogs
- A useless and potentially harmful focus on keywords
2) OFFER
- I have been building real business online for 10 years, and I want to give something back
- So far, the main thing that has enabled me to be successful online is useful niche websites
- I see awesome opportunities for many others in building websites and I want to share what I will be doing
3) DELIVERY
Now that I had a plan to attract the right people it was clear that a blog was really the only way to go. In order to do well in this niche you need to develop trust, be able to talk about current trends and network within the industry.
Other examples that spring to mind are Consultants and Real Estate professionals.
My niche website needed something very different.
In my recent post I showed how I am going to build a six figure income again by building a number of useful niche sites. I also showed I would become an authority and exactly the time I would be spending to build this website. What I haven’t revealed is the time it takes me to do this blog, but let me assure you that I have spent many hundreds of hours already and to date I have not earned a cent. By comparison, just one month out and the website was already making money.
So why bother to blogging at all?
Good question. For me it really came down to the passion I have for helping others to do what I have done with websites for over ten years. If my goal was simply to build passive income then building websites with WordPress would be easily my first choice.
For me it was not an option to not do this blog. I really felt that I had something valuable to add and wanted to share my past and future experiences. I also have the luxury of being able to blog part-time and build useful niche sites part-time.
To answer the question for yourself if you should blog or build websites, I think you need to go back to the main question.
What is your passion?
If you are mostly passionate about the lifestyle the internet can enable, a website may be your best option.
On the other hand, if you are passionate about a specific subject and a blog is required, a blog is your best option.
Still not sure what to do?
What about considering some niche websites as options? There is no harm in starting a website first and then doing both later on, but first let’s make some money.
If you like the idea of building a useful niche website, I think you will get a lot from joining my email list.
What’s your experience with blogging? What’s your experience with websites? Can you relate to my experience, or am I Robinson Crusoe on this one?
Financial Samurai says
I’ve written a couple posts on this topic on Yakezie.com recently. I’ve come to realize I need to compartmentalize my core competencies and not scatter myself too thin. FS is for finance, Yakezie is for blogging. That’ where the interests lie the most!
cubiclefree says
Hi Sam, Spreading yourself too thin is a big challenge for entrepreneurs. In fact I would say one of the main keys to success for may entrepreneurs is focusing on what you should NOT do. A buddy of mine who is very successful financially and personally told me that when he sits down to his goals and focuses on what he is NOT enjoying and then works out how he can eliminate it or get someone else to do. This kind of shocked me at first. Then I started practicing getting rid of stuff I did not enjoy and I am already getting much more done and the days are more enjoyable too. Thanks for the insightful comments Sam!
Financial Samurai says
Your buddy is a smart man!
I love to write and write and write. I just need to make sure there is some congruency to be able to earn some income as well since everybody has to eat.
We make rational decisions in the end!
Dan says
Quinn, I could not agree with you more. There is a major difference between blogging and developing a true online business. That being said I am blogging about making money online (before making any) and developing a micro niche site. This is not my plan to create an online income. The blog I created is about my experiences while creating an Internet based business. I plan to use the blog in two ways, as a way to help other beginners by showing them what I am going through and as a diary of my to look back on and learn from. Now as the micro niche site, the primary reason I am building this is to get my feet wet in the internet business world. I have no experience in internet based business and developing this site has taught so much already. I feel that building a micro niche site is a great project for a beginner. That’s how it needs to be looked at as a learning project not a business. Just my thoughts, thanks for the great post. Dan
cubiclefree says
Hi Dan, Really appreciate your point of view. I have read your blog and I am very keen to see you doing well. I know there are a lot of guys in the same shoes as yours, with one big difference – you are taking action. The only other thing we all need to succeed is perseverance. Personally I find that getting some money flowing is most helpful in this regard, but community is also powerful. You raise some good points about how blogging is working for you. Thanks! Quinn
Joe @ How I Got Rich says
I don’t really understand the practicle difference and why one will make money faster than the other.
Surely a WordPress blog will get traffic as quickly as a WordPress website all things being equal?
What do you think the chances WordPress sites are being targeted by Google?
Cheers,
Joe
cubiclefree says
Hi Joe, Thanks for dropping by and asking such an important question.
In practical terms as far as getting traffic goes there is no difference at all to Google.
The real difference I was trying to point out is the amount of consistent effort you are committing to when you undertake a blog. Many people desire to make money online and just go ahead and start a blog. I wanted to point out that a website can achieve the same objective with much less effort. A website can be far more strategic and focused on delivering value and income.
Does that answer your question?
I heard recently that 14% of sites online today are built using WordPress therefore I think there is no chance WordPress will be singled out.
Cheers,
Quinn
Matthew Allen says
I ditto commenter Dan, from above. I’ve been trying different strategies to make money online and documenting what I’ve done on a blog. What has worked for me and what hasn’t. I didn’t have very much success with niche sites, mostly due to my inexperience with keyword research and my stubbornness to only use free tools. I had a little bit of success with a former blog – so naturally I combined the two and started a niche blog. I was hesitant about doing this, because I know it’s a lot of work to run a blog with continually updated content. My goal is passive income, and a blog is hardly passive. My hope is that I can one day transition the niche blog into a website. Much of the content is evergreen, and I can simply not display the post dates anymore when/if I decide to do that. For now though, I am sticking with the blog approach because it is what I know.
cubiclefree says
Hi Matthew, Thanks for sharing your experience. I have read your blog and you have lots of terrific knowledge. Your new blog http://payoffcreditcard.net is also a terrific example of a niche where I think you can make some significant income. MUCH MUCH better than those pointless micro sites people used to do well with. As you have said it also works well with DumbPassiveIncome.
Seems to me that paying off credit cards may be a good subject for a blog because its relatively high competition. You also have to play to your strengths. Do you also work full time in your trucking job?