Comments on: The Long Tail of Online Profitability

By: Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 03:26:56 +0000

Craig, thanks for sharing your ideas. I was thinking seriously today about what I could offer on my blog that would turn a profit. You’re right that I could offer all of those things. I should create e-books and audio courses. But it seems I never have the time for it. I do enjoy the podcasts that I produce. I want to create more of them. …. Sigh, this is a topic I need to return to more frequently.

By: Craig Haiss

Craig Haiss — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:16:33 +0000

Hey, Tom. Your site provides an incredible amount of value for free, and you probably have some very targeted traffic coming in through search engines. Perhaps…

* Ebooks: “Setting up WordPress blogs”, “Recording audio for user assistance”, “How to dominate your blog niche (and be un-stoppable!)”
* Audio training course on how to start your technical writing career
* Video training courses on using Flare and other technical writing tools

If you promote these products only in relevant posts, you’ll optimize your SEO traffic and avoid over-selling to users who aren’t interested.

Also, you probably have enough information in your existing posts to assemble into a rough draft on each of these subjects.

One thing I’ve learned is that if you have existing search traffic, you don’t need to worry so much about competition. You’ll still get some sales from that traffic.

I think product development has huge potential for tech writing bloggers. We all have specialty skills to teach, and we’re natural teachers.

Great post! My head is spinning with ideas.

By: Dofollow Blogs

Dofollow Blogs — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:22:20 +0000

I also reached the conclusion that in order to actually be able to make a living from blogging I need to go for the long tail terms, but it seems that you need to use a lot of long tail terms and therefor have a lot of content. This is not as easy as it used to be.

By: Arnon Ratzon

Arnon Ratzon — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:24:07 +0000

Thank you for the interesting thought.
I also spend a lot of time thinking about how to utilize my time on the internet and how to transform the art I do online into money.
Similar to what it seemed from the things you wrote, I also think that I would do it anyway. But, it does take a lot of time, and making money from the things you love to do is a great feeling.
I think that the method you offered is a good way to start utilizing your blog and turning it into an income, but because it’s not one single way, but a combination of several ways, it seems like a time consuming method, and that’s something a blogger should take into consideration.

By: The best way to make money on the internet | Front Office Box

The best way to make money on the internet | Front Office Box — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:53:51 +0000

[...] And the rest of the post is a reasonable discussion of ways small amounts of revenue can be driven by web sites. You can find it at The Long Tail of Online Profitability [...]
BTW I love your blog!

By: The best way to make money on the internet | Front Office Box

The best way to make money on the internet | Front Office Box — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:57:54 +0000

[...] And the rest of the post is a reasonable discussion of ways small amounts of revenue can be driven by web sites. You can find it at The Long Tail of Online Profitability [...]

By: Scott Nesbitt (scottnesbitt) 's status on Wednesday, 04-Nov-09 12:07:25 UTC - Identi.ca

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:07:31 +0000

[...] http://www.idratherbewriting.com/2009/11/03/the-long-tail-of-online-profitability/ a few seconds ago from web [...]

By: Ivan Walsh

Ivan Walsh — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:09:11 +0000

Hi Tom,

The single biggest mistake most bloggers make is that that they don’t develop a business plan. If you don’t have a business plan, you have no business. It’s brutally simply.

Why?

Laziness. That all. If you want your business to success (offline or online) you need to spend some time putting this on paper.

Also, in the book, Anderson makes two other points:

1. You need people to be able to FIND your site first – the more your content is laser-focused, the more likely you are to attract a niche audience

2. Freemium is just up-selling in disguise – you need some way to generate cash, otherwise it’s just a hobby

SCORE has oceans of free material on getting started. http://www.score.org/index.html

Regards,

Ivan