A guy wants to open up a store. He is tired of his regular job and wants to do something different.
He reads a lot about stores. And then jumps right into setting up a store. He puts the shelves in there. He buys one of those big glowing “OPEN” signs. He makes everything all pretty. He looks forward to those hoardes of people who will, of course, come by to check out his pretty store.
Let’s say he even gets people to come in. He has the place all decked out. And he’s happy that he’s getting a little bit of foot traffic each day.
Then, one day, he sits down. And he asks…. “HOW AM I GOING TO MONETIZE THIS STORE?”
W.T.F?!
“Monetize” Means You’re Doing It Wrong
When Steve Jobs and Wozniak started Apple, they didn’t ask themselves “How am I going to monetize Apple?” They didn’t build computers, THEN try to figure out how to “monetize”.
When Sam Walton started up Wal-Mart, he didn’t open up his first store then ask himself how he was going to monetize.
“Blog monetization” is a buzzword phrase in this space. And, as a blogger in this space, I’m basically forced to play along. It is the language of the marketplace, after all.
But, the language we use often has a huge impact on our actions. He who controls the language controls the conversation.
The truth is that the idea of “monetizing a blog” is complete and total bullshit…
Because it means that you start a blog, do all this work to build something up, then figure out how to make money with it. It means that money is an afterthought. It means you didn’t give an ounce of thought into your business plan before you started the blog.
So, in many cases, you’ve built this… thing. It isn’t making a dime, and because you didn’t build it as a business, it might not even be possible. There might not even be a demand there.
Monetization is for business light-weights. It is for the unserious. It is children’s playtime. It is for hobbyists.
Professionals run businesses. They are building a business. They don’t “monetize” because they were building a business from day one. They had a plan. They execute it.
Blog monetizers work day jobs. Business owners end up hiring them.
Blog monetizers waste a lot of time on things which don’t matter all that much (like Twitter for hours per day). They waste time on low ROI activities. They dream about making a full-time income from their blogs. But, chances are, they won’t make it. Because they’re trying to “monetize”. They’re not building a business.
So, I’m not saying any of this to rip into you. I know a lot of my readers are trying to “monetize”.
But, I’d be doing you a disservice if I pussy-footed around this “blog monetization” thing and didn’t tell you the cold hard truth. There are a ton of other blogs on this topic who will do that for you. If you’re a dreamer, go read those guys. Once you realize you’re on a dead-end, remember, I’ll be here.
I’m a blogger, yes. But, I’m a business owner. I’m running a business. I’m better than “monetization”.
I think you are, too. But, it starts with you deciding you are.
David has been blogging for 15 years, and generating a six-figure income at it for the last 12. He is the founder of Blog Marketing Academy. 
David Risley has been building and operating authority blogs for 15 years, and operating a six-figure business doing it for a decade.
You’re right of course, but the whole thing isn’t helped by the fact that a few start ups have actually done just that – built something up and left the whole question of monetization until it was up and running. Two notable examples are Facebook and Twitter. I think their stories have really contributed to the whole myth about building first then worrying about income later.
That might be true.., but is irrelevant to the rest of us.., but I recon that’s your point.
This is absolutely the case, Mike, and living in Startup Central, I talk with people doing this several times per week. I don’t believe the situation will get any better in the near term, as there is a still an ocean of fast money out there which no longer trusts Wall Street, and is looking for “startup” ROI (which is most often, as for blogs, $0, but that’s not how it’s sold).
One counter example is WebGreek, who is actually making money enough to hire a real developer out of cash flow. I met the CEO and the lead last night. It was nice talking to people intent on running a real business. And not taking VC money either.
True. But I bet the number of companies that manage to pull that off successfully is a minority of the number who try. Those Silicon Valley startups march to a different drummer. Most of them don’t think about delivering a product… they just think about raising their perceived value then being acquired. They patent ideas then try to sell the patents. Its all a big pool of artificial, fake value. And they’re only permitted to do that because some VC gives them a bunch of money to exempt them from the rules of economics – at least for awhile.
But, starting a blog like a Silicon Valley startup…. hehe….
I totally agree with you David the concept of Monetizing should be burnt and abandoned. If one decides to start a business then one should already know what will be the main means of revenue.
There is nothing wrong with iterating and pivoting to a new direction once it is determined that the initial revenue stream is not working.Monetizing on the other hand is the idea that you one to convert something that is not meant or initially created to make money into something that will. The odds of achieving such a feat usually ends up badly.
And even that’s coming to an end. One of the big wig VC’s (Fred Wilson) recently said they aren’t interested unless the business / application / etc has a plan for profit built in. He’s not talkin’ adsense.
Oh, there’s still dumb money out there…but it’s gonna get less and less. As it should.
I like the reasoning.., it makes so much sense when you put it like that.
Love it, love it, LOVE the distinction. THANK YOU so much, David. I have never ever liked that stupid word “monetization” – for a while, my blog was my hobby; now it’s my business or part of my business. That’s it!
Indeed! I love the distinction too, Farnoosh. I look at blogging kind of like being a kid with a tricycle — or training wheels on a bicycle — that there is a time of practice that is part of a process.
For myself, I’m learning new skills right now. I’m going through a learning phase. Whenever I add skill sets, I recognize reality is that it takes time. As I learn, I’m continuously improving. Each of my so-called overnight successes in my past have really been harvests of effort over time.
“Monetizing” seems like a word to suggest that there’s no learning phase, no building of skills while building a business. As in you should jump in fully formed and blog perfectly. Then one day, just turn, say “Oh, here’s the money plug-in, let me buy that!” and poof! Monetization.
My blog still basically is my hobby, but I was able to write a book using the content on the blog. I won’t get rich from it, but I know it is helping people, so that makes me feel good. I am contemplating other online business ideas that will incorporate blogging as a main driver of traffic, so I appreciate how you have made the transition from hobby to business and I also appreciate David’s thoughtful post.
Yeah Mike, the Interwebs are replete with “supposed” examples of build it and they will come. There are even a few blogs that have done it that way and in this space as well. However I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the millions (probably) of blogs and websites from back before the Internet bubble that built, got tons of money but never had a plan or any business and crashed severely.
Very true.
For any venture to survive, it has to deliver something of value to others in exchange for money. Those ventures that don’t usually die… or they get with the program and start selling something to keep from folding. Facebook and Twitter both got into the ads business. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be here today.
I see something like this in all my financial statements: “Past results are no guarantee of future returns.”
Agreed (with all)…and FYI I was just making a point not arguing with Dave, his points are spot on and something I need to remember as well.
David, two things resonate here: 1. words are important, “monetize” is a horrible word, and no, you are not going to make much headway fighting it. From personal and painful experience, it’s not worth it. 2. I followed the write-first-monetize-later path, as it was nearly *universally* recommended everywhere in Blogistan. I’m probably one of the more fortunate, having actually made a little coin at it.
Now, I’m seriously considering using blogging to help drive a new venture, which will be free only until I get around to building in the payment handling. This is probably about a week’s work as I haven’t done this in Rails yet. Blogging as marketing for the application is something I would be very comfortable with on many fronts. But I’m not going to start until I’m taking in money on the application side.
Adding further to this conversation, another sacred cow I’m in the process of slaughtering with extreme prejudice is this notion that one must dedicate full time, unrelenting attention to achieve success. This is simply a luxury I cannot afford, I have rent to pay. What I’m developing is being done when I have time to work on it, which is roughly 20 hours per week total. Perhaps I’m unrealistic here. We’ll see.
Yeah, I think it is stupid that it is so universally recommended to build first, then try to make money. Seems to me that having some kind of offer out there is part of the fundamental to building up in the first place.
Absolutely on the money (pun intended). If it’s not a business, why do you expect it to make money? And if it doesn’t support your business, why are you doing it in the first place? You may “build it and they will come” – but what are they going to do once they’ve arrived, and what will that do for you and your business? Tough questions, but they’ve got to be answered before you ever start building that blog or website!
Monica, I was looking for a place to jump in. This is spot-on:
”[I]f it doesn’t support your business, why are you doing it in the first place?”
That is the crux of the entire monetization issue, in my opinion. You see, when I first heard of blogging, it was in the context of sharing AdSense revenue with the platform owner. Presumably, while I was posting for pennies, Darren was Dialing for dollars. I had no idea that there were people who wrote blogs on their own domains and monetized them with advertising, affiliate sales and infoproducts.
When it came to my attention, the first thing that came to my mind is, “I can’t do that! I’m on a revenue-sharing site and I can’t even get 20 people to read my posts!” As a result, when that sharing site went down and I started my own self-hosted blog, I never got the stars (or fairy dust) in my eyes. However, I made the same mistake other people made with their self-hosted blogs: I “played around” with various money-making ideas. But, with no plan and no clear direction, those efforts were doomed. Not so much doomed as a waste of my time, as I knew in my heart nobody was going to click on those money-making links.
The noise from people whose business is to sell the dream of blog monetization will blithely drown out the sensible question you posed. Worse, are the people like me, who came into the blogosphere wearing the wrong uniforms. Only recently have I learned the distinction of being a “ProBlogger” and having a blog as a tool for supporting your business.
Monetization, like David mentioned in a comment, is just a word. It is the concept of purpose, as exposed by your excellent question, with which we must concern ourselves.
Newcomers, entrenched veterans and lost souls: ask yourself “WHY?”
Cheers,
Mitch
It seems if we’ve all made these mistakes – kind of along the lines of the shiny object syndrome. I agree with your article and am making a sincere effort to make the transition to business results, systemization and value building.
My favorite thing you said in this piece is:
“But, the language we use often has a huge impact on our actions. He who controls the language controls the conversation.”
I once met an important man who couldn’t read or right.
I definitely agree, Dave.
Just to play devil’s advocate here. Do you still agree with Gary Vaynerchuk’s approach? I seem to remember you gave away several copies of “Crush It” a while back. His main premise in that book is to build up something huge that attracts a lot of “eyeballs,” and the money will follow.
I don’t believe in this either, passion does not sell or make a profit, meeting a need that has a sizeable demand does! So if you are passionate about something that no one has need for you can make money from it. Also if you build an audience of people (eyeballs) who are not looking to buy anything then you will not make money. This is why I don’t buy the whole passionate movement. That said once you have identified a need and determined that there is a sizeable demand for that need you can be passionate about solving it (<<<— meeting that need)!
Having read Gary V’s book (Thanks Dave R!), this is pretty much what he writes as well. Gotta have a market.
Joe, I’d have to go back and review Gary’s book to see. I read it, but I remember liking it, but if he didn’t talk about the importance of an offer, he’s dropping the ball. Even he, when het got into the wine thing, was doing it to promote his family’s store. And I doubt his dad opened up that store and then tried to figure out how to “monetize” wine.
Something I got from Clay Collins on the topic – if you don’t have an offer when you launch your business, you really have no way to test anything you’re doing..
You don’t know if you’re attracting the right kind of people and you don’t know if you’re writing posts that build your authority as someone people would buy from or hire.
Very true. And I know Clay believes the same as I do on this one.
Hey David, first time on ur website with an android. This theme looks great!
Right monetization is an after thought. I always believe in helping people first, profits second. Just means I have go hungry a bit : )
Helping people and profit usually go hand in hand. When they don’t, problems often take place.
And I know that’s not the politically correct way to state it, but I think it is true. People don’t value something for nothing. They just think they do.
Ah! Did not think of that.
I’m building it in, so I should be okay.
So how is it that “everyone” gives freebies as incentive to join list? Is that also not valued? Or is the exchange of email address sufficient exchange of value then??
An email subscription is not a monetary transaction. That said, any marketer will tell you that a list of buyers is better than a list of freebie seekers.
Point well taken David.
The stats may be changing, particularly in this economic milieu of increasing need to find the magic bullet that will put you back on easy street or at least keep the wolf away, but as recently as 2 years ago Jalichandra’s keynote at Blogworld still weighed in heavily (statistically that is)for the blogging hobbyist and the gradual move towards “monetization.” Accidental blog gurus may not be littering the cyber highways, nonetheless they exist.
Perhaps one of the most celebrated of these accidental bloggers pulling in the big bucks is John Chow. Had the pleasure of sitting down with him recently and over sushi and some good plum wine, discussed a lot of stuff including how he made it big. He started his John Chow Dot Com blog out of frustration (he already was successful on another review style blog). Even as a professional he opted out for Blogger as his platform. It wasn’t until 8 months into his blogging that he “monetized” the site (had already moved to wordpress by then) and the rest is history.
In my view people need to get started somewhere. If they want to make money they should at the very least download an e.book from someone who has made the grade and follow it to the letter, Blogger Blueprint anyone? A few might do this. For the rest it is baptism by fire.
One learns a lot about the principles of internet marketing simply by blogging. Many tend to be mavericks (why else have they eschewed or want to escape from the 9-5 and the opportunity to move on up the ladder). Mavericks in my experience at least, for the most part make lousy followers, they tend to do, get burned, learn from the experience, apply, and hopefully, eventually (later rather than sooner?) make good, even make it big “overnight”
Mindsets honed on business principles, unless they are already in the ‘net’ look elsewhere for their bread and butter. It is the lure of easy money that draws people to the keyboard, to stroke away and publish as a new dawning slowly rises: why am I not making money and how do I monetize this?
The language thing is deeply ingrained in our society. It is not just in Blogistan (Hello Dave) but we find it everywhere, in every industry. In my view to try and change this would be monumental and then what? The starry eyed would never start – the thought of blogging as a business from the get go may be daunting or just not their thing, or … pick the excuse from a long list of “excuses” … and that is why we have a 1%.
The starry-eyed are rampant in “Startupistan” (i.e., San Francisco). Measured in exposure, buzz, public acclaim, etc. the non-profit-y, change-the-world-y ventures get a *huge* amount of press. All with not much more of a business model than “Feel good about changing the world.”
I don’t know how a lot of them (the founders) even pay their own rent. It’s expensive here, at least as expensive as Vancouver.
Then again, I have it from an insider that the non-profit industry is just that, an industry. All with it’s own rules, culture, etc. Perhaps these ventures understand how to tap that funding.
I’d go further than the claim of “One learns a lot about the principles of internet marketing simply by blogging.” I’d say one can learn some basic principles of marketing in general by blogging. Whether people do or not is up to them.
Bah!
Just to play devils advocate i was going to bring up Facebook and Twitter But right out of the gate i see the first comment brought that up. Darn! Gotta be quicker I guess.
Anyhow, besides mentioning that, I agree wholeheartedly. If you do not have aplan and an idea of “why” you are doing it, what the results could and should be (etc.) then you don’t have a business, you have a lottery ticket.
Sure people win the lottery and strike it big out of nowhere. But people also get struck by lightning and I don’t worry about THAT while I head to my car in a rainstorm.
So I’m one of those short sighted people who didn’t have a plan and has monetized by blog which only brings in a little money. I know, I know – I told you so!!!
But I don’t think it’s too late for me and after taking your advice in these past couple of weeks I am changing the way I work and run my ‘business’.
I’m not there yet though so keep it coming…
Its all good. I did it that way with my first blog, too.
Hey David,
Not sure if I didn’t understand the overall feel of the article but it just seems to me that the concept of monetizing is bad because it is not equal to running a ‘business’.First of all, what is monetization and what is a business?Can you build a business without monetization?Can you succesfully monetize something without being a business?If I build a training funnel which is free but makes money based on affiliate marketing resources then it is not a business?If it’s not a business then why so many people call themselves online entrepreneurs running online businesses when all they do is recommend resources as affiliates and don’t have any products created by themselves?I’m asking because I want to know, not to create controversy.On the other hand, people like Ed Dale recommend to ‘test the waters first’ to see if there is demand on a niche and only then, build a big business around it by monetizing it.So as you can see, it’s confusing to me…You said “blog monetizing” (the two words) is wrong, I think I do understand if you mean that because someone has a blog, he/she may think he/she is running a business when it’s not (I almost completely agree with this)But you also said “monetize” is wrong later… so is it just the word that you’re not comfortable with or what is it?Sorry I did not understand what you were after.Many people are forgetting that blogs started because people actually wanted to share their knowledge or their thoughts to the world and definitely never thought about how to monetize their traffic.I know it because I was there when the whole thing started.Sergio
I think you’re getting too detailed.
Basically, monetization as it is usually done by bloggers means that they put a lot of work into building something up with no idea how to make money with it… then they decide money would be nice and they try to figure out how to squeeze it out.
Whereas, when one opens a business, they have an offer from day 1.
Its just a matter of intention, so don’t get too worked up over the word itself.
David
I do agree, however I got into this without any previous knowledge of online commerce and just started with a topic I am very familiar with-Marketing. I dove in and now I have some knowledge, some content and have learned a TON. My offline businesses are doing well and I am now trying to integrate both worlds.
So, my only distinction would be to not spend too much time “thinking” about the business to the extent it keeps you from taking some action.
Business plans are great, but they are still only theory until you start doing stuff.
Cheers
Mark
True.
Great post !!!! I agree 100% The funny thing is that once you try to really make money online you realize that the blog is NOT a business but a watering hole for your tribe. If you build value and trust you can then funnel the tribe towards solutions for their problems and that is what a true business does. I think that for the newbie (I think I’m officially past that stage) the excitement of getting online makes the process a dream and because it is easy to do you can sometimes forget that in business you have to be solving a problem or providing a service which people need.
You named Apple and Walmart and they absolutely solve problems and service needs. That is the basic framework of business. Thanks again for a super post !
Always appreciate your Candor……
never should figure out hwy most enthusiasts attack blogging with NO ROADMAP.
If one EXPECTS to earn for,m a blog all the Planni9ng has to be so directed,
My political Blog is there as a “self-motivation:” It is not established to Earn Money, but coincidental Books sales and Adsense are steady, by natural occurrence.
Thank you again for your sharing.
It’s posts like this that make me love you.
No BS Dave.
Dang dude, I wish like hell I’d met you before I made so many mistakes!
Don’t worry, I made a ton of mistakes when I started up, too. We all do.
When I started PCMech.com, I didn’t go into it with business in mind. I had to “monetize”. By the time I started this blog, I had learned my lesson.
The word “Monetize” is a fairly new word, circa 1880. It is simply taking something that isn’t generating income from a liability into a revenue generating asset.
Say you are an accountant. When you work in the accounting department of a company that makes something, you are an expense. However, if you are an accountant for a company as a “consultant”, your services have been monetized.
If I need to spend money on the accountant, why can’t I make money from her services too? You have a resource that you are looking for a way to turn it into a money maker.
How is this different from figuring out a way to turn your ‘asset’ into a revenue generator?
> “Say you are an accountant. When you work in the accounting department of a company that makes something, you are an expense. However, if you are an accountant for a company as a “consultant”, your services have been monetized.”
But, that company wouldn’t hire an accountant in the first place unless they were a real business that produced a product other people wanted and paid for.
I understand that there are those who are trying to turn an asset into a revenue generator. All my point is that, if money was an intention going in, then going in without a plan is rather naive. One either starts a business with potential, or they start a hobby and see what they can do with it later.
A well-needed virtual slap in the face! Thank you.
This appears to be, in essence, a discussion of the question: “What came first; the chicken or the egg?” :
Do you start off with an egg and hope it hatches into a chicken? – Or do you start off with a chick, a young chicken, and nurture it and grow it to a mature chicken in order that it can produce eggs?
Some eggs don’t hatch, some chickens don’t lay.
Is there really a right way and a wrong way to go about it?
I completely agree with you take on this article.
Find something you love, never give up, and put your heart into it. Rewards come to those who aren’t even expecting it — just comes.
You know what? You’re a valuable dude, Dave.
I follow a lot of bloggers in the blogosphere and a learn a lot from each and every one of them. However, you’re the ONLY one that makes me take hardcore action after reading your material.
It’s not the way you talk or anything like that. It’s the fact that your approach is so bullshit-less that it’s impossible to misinterpret. This is a business… period. I couldn’t misunderstand if I tried.
Good deal, man. Between your updates and your Blogger Blueprint, I’ve completely changes the way I go about blogging.
So now that you’ve made this distinction — then what?
It appears, and tell me if I’m wrong, that the distinction here is between those who are offering something for users to purchase at launch, and those who wait until they’ve built and audience to monetize. Is that correct? Or is your distinction between those who have a business plan at launch and those who don’t. The reason I ask is because one’s business plan might include building an audience first and then offering to sell them something 2, 3, or 6 months later.
Are you suggesting offering products or services immediately, or, are you suggesting having a plan in place about what products and services you might sell in the future? @adamsaverian:twitter @davidrisley:twitter
This just reminds me of those who recommend blogging as a business model. It is a part of it but too many people are selling “fairy dust” that you can make a full time living by having a single blog.
Sure there are a few people that did it, but even they are not just living off their blogs…
Thanks so much for talking about this…maybe someone will realize what it takes
Awesome post David. I can’t say, yes this is the big difference between the pros and the amateurs.
I come from a brick and mortar business background, only started blogging one year ago. I have a business, my blog is just part of it.
Holy smokes. Get after it. I never read posts like this anywhere else. You just got a new fan.
But I still want to monetize and at the same time make it a part of my business. Is it still possible?
Kick ass post. Trust me, Monetisation is not just a Silicon Valley phenomenon, we see plenty of people with this misconception doing the rounds in London ‘startup’ circles. Usually, they get all twitchy when you raise to concept of oh I don’t know, ACTUALLY selling something. LOVE this, thanks Dave!
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The key to effectively monetize your site or product is to offer products that people want to buy all the time and that is what I do.
I don’t often comment, but this is an excellent post.
Same principal applies to calling yourself an Internet marketer.
No one calls themselves a Yellow Pages marketer…a Radio marketer…a tv marketer.
A person doesn’t own those advertising mediums.
Watch the weird looks on others when you call yourself one of those.
Now back to running a serious business and blogging.
Blogging is just another message delivery method to sell whatever it is you sell.
You are right David. the concept of “blog monetization” should be stopped.
People start things for different reasons David, there’s no hard and fast rule for starting a career in blogging. A lot of people start out purely as a hobby, then realizing the potential might decide to start offering products…I do not entirely agree with you. Blogging could be a self service first, then a business. or the other way around. A lot of people have other skills besides just telling who cares to listen “what they think about whatever”.(Like the developers of twitter and facebook- they could have knocked your emails down with “how to write codes” articles but instead they created something YOU are benefiting from. Because for the truly creative, the creation comes first, the money will follow).
The issue YOU should be addressing here is how not to bore people with your “make money blogging” articles and webinars – feeding us the same thing over and over just because you really don’t know how to do anything else.
Excellent point, David. It’s best to have a business plan in place, and products, or at least some ideas for products, if possible, before we even start a blog. We should of course carefully plan out what niche we would like our blog to be in – that goes without saying. And we should run our blogging and everything we choose to do that goes along with it as a business. Actually, in that case the blogging wouldn’t even necessarily be the focus of the business. I get what you’re saying! Thanks for another spectacular post, but most of all thank you for your innovative way of thinking, and getting our heads screwed on straight!
I do agree, however I got into this without any previous knowledge of online commerce and just started with a topic I am very familiar with-Marketing. I dove in and now I have some knowledge, some content and have learned a TON.
The loudmouth blowhard Gary Vaynerchuk loves to say “Monetize Your Blog”. Kinda shows you where he’s coming from!
Not in total agreement, I have several blogs on a variety of subjects, some get great traffic, others not so much but growing. People who make an online living do it more often then not from more then just one site and it’s hard work. I monetize any blog I do right from the start, especially with Adsense because the great thing is it’s instant indexing on the biggest search engine. I’ve compared ranking growth on sites that I don’t do this on and it takes more effort and longer to move up. Not everyone is going to buy at a site where I have a product and some come to my blogs just to read or watch vids. If they happen to make me a little dough while there or leaving good on them, they couldn’t do that if I didn’t monetize them. Things like comments on blogs don’t concern me because there are so many out there who have comment exchange agreements etc. I look at numbers and time on target, if they are not walking in and walking out it means they like it and will probably come back and share with others. I always have people encouraging me to go make a comment at their blog to help them look popular. Rarely do it unless I actually like the post, I would rather someone leave one cause they actually liked something. Fact is most people don’t express their opinion but they do read and come back and each time they do they might make me some money as well. Some might say that there are lots of people selling how to blog like you are so you have monetized this site around that, good for you, I make money at my traffic ticket site but I also have adsense there too because I want people to go check out my competitors. When they do I earn, my competitors pay and some come back, some don’t but that doesn’t mean they bought my competitors product either. Many are just looking for free info. Without rambling, at the end of the day, online ventures are full time work and my advice, don’t put all your eggs in one basket and I mean by that…..have income also coming in from off line and that doesn’t mean having a job, not that a job is a bad thing unless your hate it. You shouldn’t be doing anything you hate. Cheers!