When is a blog not a blog?
The best bit about Black Friday this year was that I bought a lot of stuff for research purposes.
Whether it’s for building niche websites, entering a new copywriting niche or some other scheme I’ve yet to think of… I like buying information so I can see what the standard is in an industry before I think about what to sell.
I found an industry with multiple six and seven figure businesses that could probably use either a copywriter (if they’re established) or some form of internet business whizz (if they’re looking to get established.)
If I had a business card, it could easily be “a copywriter or some sort of online business guy.”
Anyway, it was not quite Black Friday when I bought into a program from one of the top people. It’s a pretty “elite” (marketing wise) insider club membership-type thing. Usually you have to pay $XXX a year but I got the “you’re obviously cheap but we want your money anyway” option as a Cyber Monday sale.
It was a good decision.
The sales copy and funnel were good, so they went in the swipe file for the new industry.
Let’s talk about the “Insider club.”
What Is A Membership Site, Really?
There are a couple of components to a membership site usually:
- A blog
- A forum
Really, that’s all you’re getting. I say, “that’s all” but that can be quite a lot.
Technically though, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out how to build the above. But the technical considerations are pretty low and the reward is pretty high if you get it right.
Let’s go back to the example I bought into.
You pay a yearly fee. You get:
- Access to free weekly reports by “the team”
- Access to one monthly report from the founder himself
- A handful of “Special Reports”
- Some videos about the basics of the topic
- A contact form
- A directory
Now, that’s a lot of stuff. Technically though, it is a few blog posts, a page with listings, a couple of ebooks and a video course.
What I’m trying to say here is this: There is nothing about this business model that you can’t do. There’s also nothing particularly unappealing about doing it.
You write a few well-researched and useful pieces of information a month.
Over time, those pieces (assuming they’re timeless) can become bigger, fuller special report e-books.
Also over time, you build up a “directory” of contacts, resources and other useful stuff. Essentially… you create a list.
Throw in a video course or other “foundation” and you’ve got a strong business model already.
Why Are You Talking About This?
There are a million different gurus trying to sell you on the blog dream. Yet with the same skills (i.e. you can write a blog post and upload it to WordPress) you can do something that’s:
- Much more valuable
- Much more lucrative
- Doesn’t require any of the overly technical and low impact stuff (SEO! Guest Blogging! Brand Building!)
- Means you earn income from the beginning
- Gives you a much more valuable education
All in all, you concentrate your brain on an actual business idea. Also, you get to concentrate on the actual product as opposed to some of the more common stuff that people try.
Take e-commerce for instance; that’s a good business venture. Absolutely. If you do it right, then you can build a store and it’ll make you money.
It can also be a pain in the arse though.
Like, say you’re like me and you’re setting up an e-commerce store right now. You don’t go the Shopify route because it’s a bad idea in the long run.
This means setting up your own storefront. It’s relatively simple, and like all the stuff above, completely doable if you have some brain cells.
But it’s fiddly. You set up this. You set up that. The shipping plugin doesn’t work. Then you have an issue with one plugin hating another plugin.
If you set up a store selling aftershave because you love aftershave, you’re spending a lot of time doing website stuff and fulfilling orders and not a lot of time enjoying aftershave.
The business model above – the membership site – is the opposite. You set it up, and then your time is spent writing and researching. If you’re passionate about the subject, that’s great.
It’s even better when you get members and then they’re basically paying you to learn more, research more and do more.
Final Thoughts
This has been a bit of a ramble article. Apologies for that.
Key takeaways:
- If you can run an online blog or website, then you have enough technical skills to do more lucrative things
- You should concentrate on building a product or service that’ll allow you to improve itself the more you earn from it and work on it
- A lot of people get into ecommerce, online business or whatever hoping it’ll allow them to live their passion – that’s very rarely the case
- When people buy into stuff, the execution is rarely down to tricks or technology; it’s a simple “value of product” calculation
To wrap that all up; if you’re concentrating on technical stuff like, “How do I get a super-fast website?” or “How can I up my affiliate blog conversions from 1-2%?” then you’re probably asking the wrong questions.
Instead, think about how you can build a product or service using what you have now or what you can get for not much work or money that’s valuable.
Before you commit, think about what your project actually entails. Don’t think about the results – the get rich quick sip a martini on a tropical beach paradise thing – because that’s for marketers and dreamers. Think about how the business idea will look in day-to-day life. How will it work and what are you going to do?
Also, you should look at your skills and knowledge now as the foundation of any future project you undertake. You should also look to maximise the value of those things.
In other words, if you have some writing skills, don’t just think, “I’m going to be a travel blogger.” Think about the maximum value you can get per word and how you’d get that. Ditto for any skill, asset or knowledge.