Creating a Definitive Blueprint for a Profitable Blog: A Community Ebook Idea
I’ve been thinking lately about how blogs can be used to make money and I thought it’ll be useful if I could develop some blueprint or template listing the exact steps you need to take to generate substantial income from a blog.
While there are many ways you can build up and make a blog profitable, I think some generic steps do apply for all types of blogs, regardless of their niche or focus.
Simply put, these are the things you need to do in order to make money blogging.
Listing them from Step One to the point where the blog starts to bring in a monthly sum of money would be helpful because anyone could use this as a checklist of some sort to make sure that they are following a strategic plan towards success.
Breaking Down the Steps Towards a Money Making Blog
The whole process from ground zero to a substantial and regular income can be broken down into a tremendous amount of points and to-do items. Some of them are chronological and necessarily predate the tasks that come before it.
Other steps can be performed concurrently with others (blog marketing is an example) and do not require you to complete a required task before hand. What I envision is the creation of one definitive list with tasks and goals that you’ll only need to accomplish, in order to make your blog an incredible source of income.
This would be an extensive blueprint you can show to just about anyone who owns a blog and say “There, just follow these steps and you’ll really make money from your blog.” It should be an authoritative document you can use as a reference point, whenever anyone asks you how to make money blogging.
A Community Ebook on Ways to Build a Profitable Blog
I was initially planning on writing this article like any other blog post on Dosh Dosh but I felt that my own experiences on making money with blogs is limited and it would be far better to seek the opinions of others.
The idea of a community or group eBook popped into my head and I thought, why not collect all the best flagship articles and advices from a community of bloggers and republish them into an eBook format? This would make for an incredible reference point for new or experienced bloggers alike.
As I’ve mentioned above, this eBook would be the definitive and ultimate source of information on all things related to generating income through blogs. I haven’t had too much time to mull over all the little details but I do have some general ideas about how this should work:
- Collect new or existing articles from many bloggers on the various steps leading up to the development, growth and maintenance of a profitable blog.
- Assemble all these articles and arrange them according to topics and themes. The entire collection of articles will be chronological and will read like a step by step checklist of things to do to make money blogging.
- Publish in an eBook format and distribute it for free for anyone to download and read. All of the articles within the blog may or may not be re-published elsewhere, depending on the contributor’s individual copyright policy.
- Promote the eBook and make sure that it is distributed widely. Each contributing blogger getting some exposure for their brand and site. As a result, each contributer may also get some traffic and new readers.
Some Considerations and Guidelines
I really like the idea of pooling all our articles and ideas together so that everyone can learn something new on the topic of blogging for money. I have never promoted a community eBook extensively and I’m very interested to see how it’ll fare.
Of course, the eBook will be completely free and I or anyone else won’t make any money from it directly. All submitted content copyrights will still belong to the authors and you will decide how others can and may use your articles.
I haven’t decided if affiliate links should be used in each published article but I am very much leaning towards allowing it, because its another way for each blogger to get some additional income.
In the scenario of an overwhelming supply, it would be impossible to include every single article because of several concrete reasons. First of all, it would make the eBook far too long and secondly, the eBook content would be repetitive; as the same topics are usually covered by different bloggers.
Some suggestions on the editorial process:
- Bloggers do not have to be in the meta-blogging or make-money-online niche. The relevance of the article is more important. Articles that are already published can be re-used as long as you own complete copyrights for them.
- All articles will be judged and approved according to their quality, relevance and usefulness. No weight will be place on the blogger’s brand or blog size.
- A voluntary editorial team could be established so there’ll be balance when it comes to asessing content quality and approving submissions.
Now for the Most Important Part..
Would any of you be interested in the idea of contributing to a community eBook? I’m plan to open up submissions for all bloggers and not just the popular ones.
This is pretty much something I’m really interested in experimenting with and I’ll be giving the community eBook continuous exposure on Dosh Dosh, so it’ll get distributed and downloaded widely, which benefits everyone.
I shall probably make another post detailing the submission process and all other details that needs to be covered, but I just wanna throw this idea out there and get all your opinions about the whole thing.
What do you think of the idea? How do you think we should go about doing this?
Thanks for sharing and the floor is all yours now. ^_^
“Would any of you be interested in the idea of contributing to a community eBook?”
Would any of your readers reply with a “no”? You know the answer.
“What do you think of the idea?”
Fantastic, and all applicable synonyms.
“How do you think we should go about doing this?”
Well, first let people tell you they’re interested and stablish a deadline for applications. Also please clarify whether people should apply to contribute with articles only, editing only or both (or anything else that may be needed). And… hm… that was all I could come up with for the moment. As other people leave their comments I may offer more of my lame suggestions if I have the inspiration for it.
You deffinately have my attention and interest. I don’t know for sure how I can help, but I would be willing to in most any capacity.
I think you have just outdone yourself with this idea. Helpful for networking, exposure, and readers. I LOVE the idea.
While I think its a good idea in theory, I think assembling the team of editors would be the most essential and difficult step.
The lack of fluidity between writing styles could make it difficult to brand as a book. (unless the editors were there to ensure everything is cohesive)
If you go with it as a sort of “scrapbook” of helpful articles vs. a traditional ebook it could be very successful!
A great project! Something like a “blogging-for-money-wiki-project”.
Only the make money ideas or techniques must be included in the e-book. When someone submits an article, the editor team extracts and accumulates the points. After the closing date, a conclusion will be made to produce the “Great e-book”!
In some ways I like the idea but in some ways I don’t. I like the idea of community-written/edited material, but isn’t that what wikis, rather than books, are for?
Also, we know that creativity and individuality play an important role in success. Following step-by-step seems to be at odds with creativity, individuality, and original thinking. If you had followed such a process, Maki, do you really think Dosh Dosh would be as successful as it is?
Aren’t the truly successful people the ones who didn’t follow a formula?
I’m for the idea if it can be done in a way that encourages creativity, individuality, and originality.
I’d be happy to contribute, Maki — I think this is a great idea. I’m not an expert on any area of making money online but I do know that creating a site with value is key, and I think I would have something to contribute in that area.
First of all, thanks everyone for commenting.
@Michael Martine
First of all, there is no community editing involved. I call it a community eBook because it’s authored by a diverse group of individuals. That doesn’t mean you can’t structure it into a portable book format with distinctive chapters and topic focuses (i.e. just like any other book out in the market).
To answer your question, yes.. I would think Dosh Dosh would be as successful as it is, if I did follow a ‘formula’. And in fact, I did. I observed and assimilated proverbial advice and strategies, while innovating a little along the way, to suit a target audience.
This is something I expect other readers or bloggers to do as well. I’m sure most of the articles in the eBook would mention this in passing but I’m happy to put this disclaimer or advice in the preface, if necessary.
Having a step by step process laid out in a eBook will not dampen creativity and individuality. Why? People are not sheep. Everyone has different interests, goals, preferences, connections and levels of personal knowledge.
I doubt an eBook with clearly delineated and ordered information will cripple creative or original thinking when it comes to building and maintaining any website. We’re not talking about robotic processes ala ‘now do this.. now do that‘. It’s quality articles on topics that matter.
No different from reading Dosh Dosh, Skelliewag, Michael Martine, Daily Blog Tips and Problogger everyday.
Remember, the eBook is not the only source of practical information out there. And it’s clearly evident that the articles have to be somewhat generic, given that you can’t cover every single niche market or technical nuance out there.
And if you can’t cover every nook or cranny, you can only provide advice that’s transferable/applicable across channels.
Information is food for the mind, putting it into practice or not is a personal choice. Your denial of agency argument doesn’t hold up, IMO.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.. it does help.
@Skellie
Thanks! Your contributions would be quite valuable indeed and I was already thinking of you for the ‘Web design/usability’ section of the eBook.
@whydowork
You make some valid points. I do have a couple of friends (who are bloggers) who I think would be interested in helping as volunteer editors. I’m still thinking of how to structure the eBook and yes, coherence is one of the main things I will be focusing on as I plan ahead.
I think my idea is sort of a mix between a scrapbook + traditional ebook. It’s a little hard to explain at the moment but I will update with more information soon enough.
@Ad Tracker
Thanks for offering to help! I’ll keep you in mind..
@Karen Zara
Yes..setting a deadline and determining what to include or not is a big issue that needs some thinking. Do let me know if you come up with any good ideas for the eBook. ^_^
You have been tagged for The Personal Development List. I would love for you to participate.
I’m very glad to hear you think that way, Maki. In that case, I whole-heartedly support the project. I’m not a money-blogger, but I know niche-selection and AsSense fairly well.
You may not know this, but I write computer training books all the time in my day job. I could play a behind-the-scenes role in ensuring continuity, editing, and formatting.
Oops… AdSense (lol)
As a new blogger I would welcome this initiative with open arms. The idea is absolutely fantastic and I am glad that I’m not the one trying to make the ends meet. I will however enjoy reading the outcome of this project as I am sure it’ll be just as amazing as I find reading your blog posts.
Thanks Maki.
Maki — I encourage you to look a little bit at what was accomplished with The Age of Conversation ( http://www.ageofconversation.com/ )
I was one of the authors in the effort and it has been a great success.
The Age of Conversation is a group e-book all centering around the meaning of conversation online and all profits went to a children’s charity. Really was a fun project. The final result was outstanding.
Each author got one page. That format has worked out really well. The whole thing was sold through Lulu.com, enabling e-books, soft and hardcover versions.
I’m definitely interested in participating in whatever you rally together.
Sounds like a great idea. As someone who has coordinated large online projects before, I’d say you definitely will need some mechanism for submitting that enables people to see what article titles have already been accepted (so you don’t have to wade through 234898420 submissions on exactly the same topic) and perhaps a list of suggestions for spaces you want filled?
I would definitely consider contributing! It sounds like a lot of fun, and a useful tool as well.
Great idea. My blog is fairly new but I would love to contribute to this idea. Keep up the awesome work!
Cheers!!
Definitely a great idea for noobies like myself trying to get started. Thanks for this!
Maki- I have been toying around with a similar idea and really like the fact that you are spear heading the project. I offer any of my resources with content and editing.
I really like mblair’s comment on how they donated all proceeds to a charity with his/her previous project. It would be nice to do something similar. We don’t need to sell the eBook for much, making it easily accessible to the masses, but at the same time helping out a charity that could really use the capital.
No matter what you decide I am on board. What is the first step for those of us that want to go forward?
Paul Wilson
blog: MyMarketer.net
company: StarFireWeb.com
Great idea, Maki. I would love to contribute, and I’m willing to help with the editing as well.
I think the best way to reward the contributors would be to allow them to link to their blog at the beginning or end of the article.
I wonder if it would help to create an outline first? And then ask for articles to fit in to the outline? But then something could be missed, if whoever created the outline did not think of something.
Or, should the articles be gathered first, and then an outline be created from them? But something could be missed that way too, if no one covered a particular aspect.
Maybe two things could be collected (1) articles, and (2) suggested topics. Then, if a suggested topic did not have any articles, another call for articles could be done, giving the list of topics that had no articles yet.
Just some ideas… Let me know if you need any help with any of this project!
P.S. Regarding affiliate links – I’m not so sure that’s a good idea – could get spammy (articles stuffed with too many links)… Unless maybe you had a list of affilate links at the back of the book, but all the affiliate income was gathered and given to charity.
I’d be delighted to contribute. Perhaps a piece about how to organize posts so readers stay with them … or how to write a headline or lead.
This is weird and wonderful because just yesterday (Thursday) I was thinking about how I use your site as the backbone of my learning, the blue print. There is so much out there that one must find an anchoring structure or one’s energy is diffused.
And so I thought, how marvelous if all of the Dosh Dosh content were structured into a step-by-step plan; an *eBook!* How wonderful and extremely handy.
Moreover, I’d want to be able to order a soft-bound paper copy (like the Conversations eBook) to have at hand, even make margin notes on like any manual.
I read other blog monetization sites voraciously but come back here because your site *is* so well-structured, i.e. the content is presented with both order and fluidity — when creativity indicates a quick turn, you have the alternate path right there all how-to’ed out.
Big topic are broken down in bite-ized thought-modules. Your style and layout is consistent and so user-friendly.
The community idea is brilliant for a number of reasons. Comments above certainly illustrate that already. Of course you did my Dosh Dosh eBook one better.
However, I think you should be editor-in-chief, let’s stay with your sense of order and style. We are here because we like it! Dosh Dosh works!
Sorry for the long comment but I do not have my blog(s) launched. I am spending much time in preparation so there’s no place to put this ynd just link to it.
Maki for Editor-in-Chief, do I hear a second?
I’d love to help contribute, Maki. Although I focus on lawyers (specifically solo and small firm lawyers), I think what I write comes from a place of general applicability. (Certainly it does on bloggingpointers.com, or on blognewswatch.com, which I also write.) I’d be happy to contribute and it’s a fantastic idea. (Though I have to admit, the idea of a wiki on this subject is pretty nifty, too…)
I think this is a great idea. I’m new to blogging and trying to figure it out.
I think information published should be limited to bloggers that are actually earning significant money. If you allow anyone to contribute then I think the information becomes less valuable. But information from a blogger making, let’s say at least $1,000 per month has something worth listening to.
By the way I think your blog is great. I really enjoyed your post on linkbaiting.
Thanks!!
Maki -
Thanks for this post! A few weeks earlier you asked readers to submit the sort of articles THEY would be interested in. I suggested something similar to this, a collection of articles about how LAUNCH a blog, and now I get to see it come through. This is gonna be a great resource, but more importantly, it represents healthy feedback and dialogue between the blogger and the community. I’m very eager to see how it turns out. Thanks for following through.
I’d be very interested in contributing.
Maki,
Nice idea.
I might be interested. Let me know when more details are fleshed out.
All the best,
George
Several days have gone by, but I’m still thinking about this post, so I came back to see if I could add something else.
Indeed. The comments posted by Pat B. Doyle drew my attention because they raised this matter and offered some intersting suggestions:
Personally, I believe it would be better to:
1) define a preliminary list of topics;
2) have articles on such topics written and/or select existing ones (some might need updates though);
3) verify which subjects have been accidentally left out of the first round and/or which of the covered topics might need some additional material;
4) have the missing articles written, and maybe improve some of the finished ones.
As for deciding exactly which subjects should be covered in the ebook, there are some simple things that could be of help:
1. new posts that would especifically ask for topic suggestions;
2. polls and/or surveys;
3. reading threads in webmasters/bloggers forums, to see what the most repeated questions are.
That’s enough for now. Let me know if I may help you in any way.
P.S.: Hmm, you’ve installed that comment editing plugin… Cool! I’ll be a happier commentator from now on.
On the surface this sounds like a good idea but I could see it growing into something that becomes too overwhelming to use. Presumably, if a blogger contributes an article, he/she would get a link back to their blog in the ebook? Therefore I’m sure that you would have many bloggers clamoring to contribute as it could potentially be a great source of traffic.
This all sounds good but from the point of view of the reader, how would they manage all of that information? How is that different to just visiting 50 blogs and reading the top posts on each one?
In order for this to work, I think you’d need to organise it into kind of structure. Have an outline for the broad steps that need to be taken and then have ‘how-to’ articles within that.
For the book to be really effective it would need to provide a step-by-step guide where each article provides a solid call to action that the reader can follow, and each one follows on from the next. In other words if the reader works through the book implementing all the strategies then he should have a profitable website by the end of it. That would be a great book! But I suspect, not so easy to create if you are using the community at large to do it.
I’m in. I’m always enthralled by the SEOBook marketing concept of “a new chapter every day” … that’s the solution, I think, to the “how will we ever know it’s finished”. Answer is, we won’t, becuase it will never be “finished”. Collaboration online then a “basic” release and then regular “update” releases … the community can get the information on line or download releases for off line reference, probably with some nominal commercialization to pay for the efforst involved in the non-web distribution effort. Anyway, I’m ready to help.
Hello, very nice site, keep up good job!
Admin good, very good.
Hi Maki,
I’m thinking along the same lines as you in regards to creating a project with a group of like minded people who have a common target.
As you probably already know, I’m all for these kind of projects and you can count me in once you decide to get this off the ground.
I’m also willing to proofread, edit or whatever else i can do to help.
Let me know please
OK, It’s been about 3 months since you came up with the idea. Have you started work on it?