Understanding your blog as a business is key to meeting your goal. At first thought you might say to yourself, “Yes, of course I know my business.” You might even roll your eyes. Hear me out. Your blog is a business. Own it.
Listen up. Here is a little tough love. Knowing your business in your brain and taking the time to think through the pieces that make your business tick are two different experiences. If you want to grow and to make money (and by money I mean recurring revenue that you can count on to support your family), you have to move beyond having a vague idea in your head about your business. You have to write it down. You have to work through the details in order to truly garner a sense of the place your business holds in the universe.
Ask yourself: What do you want people to take away from learning about your business?
Now is the time to shift your mindset from blogging as a hobby to blogging as a business. If you want the lifestyle perks of owning your own online business, you have to have a plan. Otherwise, you will be doing the doggy paddle working 100 hours a week with little time for yourself or your family. You can create a business that thrives and allows you to live the life you want for you and your family.
So, stop flailing. Make it happen.
What is a Business Plan & Why It Matters to the Future of Your Blog
When I think of a business plan, I think of companies wanting to raise money from investors or maybe companies hoping to prove themselves to a bank to borrow money.
That’s true but it is only a piece of the story which is likely irrelevant to your business.
Your reasons as a blogger for needing to create a business plan are unique. You’re not a business with a product to sell, necessarily. You’re coming at it from a different angle. You’re not a business wanting to create a blog as a marketing mechanism to sell your products. Your blog is your business. It is where you create your products, programs, and services. Your blog content is king, it is your greatest asset.
All the more reason you need a plan.
A business plan is your road map. It clearly defines who you are, what you do, and how you’re going to get there.
I hate to break it to you, friend, but a good product idea and great writing only get you so far and most likely you’ll be doing the doggy paddle the whole way, if you actually make it to your goal.
Let me put it this way: Execution is everything. Sustainable success depends on it.
Your business plan is an artful mix of short-term tactical day to day goals and your long-term vision for your business.
A lot goes into business planning for bloggers and many of the aspects that go into your blogging business plan are unique.
The plan guides you and keeps your business focused on a day to day, month to month, and year to year basis so you don’t have to waste your precious energy doing so.
