How I Made Over 150 Dollars With One Email

A while back I wrote about making over 1,000 dollars in one month. My fitness blog has had its ups and downs since then.

I hit a slump in July: two weeks with no profits–zero sales.  The fitness industry is seasonal to a certain extent. Most of my sales come from the States, and most Americans aren’t thinking about the gym in July. They are too busy hitting the beach, the park, the lake, or whatever other vacation spot they have chosen.

But I’ve kept blogging about how to lose fat and gain muscle.  I knew sales would eventually pick up again. Things started looking better towards the end of July and early August.

Now, to my story:

It’s not quite as simple as one email, but I think you’ll get my point.

Sales were starting to pick up again by August. One particular blog reader started asking me about two training programs I promote on my blog. He was emailing me with questions and I did my best to answer him. After a few emails back and forth he finally decided to buy one (so it wasn’t just one email, but it was one final email that helped him decide).

I checked my affiliate account and saw his purchase. Then I realized that particular product was on sale–I would not have known if the order was not made. I quickly made a blog post announcing the sale and also informed my email subscribers. By the end of the day I had made over 150 dollars from the affiliate promo–it all started by simply answering one blog reader’s email.

Lessons Learned

There are some important lessons I hope all of you can learn from this. Here goes:

1. Be Sure Your Readers Have an Easy Way to Contact You

I’m amazed at how many bloggers don’t put some kind of contact page/link on their blog. They may be missing out on profits just because their readers can’t ask them questions about their blog or the products they are trying to promote.

2. Answer Your Emails Promptly

“A-list” bloggers can hardly deal with the flood of email they get.  That’s where we up-and-coming bloggers have an advantage–we can give more personal attention to inquiries. Take advantage of this!  People really appreciate a quick response to their email.

3. Treat Your Readers as Potential Customers

I wasn’t sure if the before-mentioned reader was going to buy anything. But I decided to treat him with an attitude of service. I helped him make a good decision and was rewarded beyond the initial commission. I know he will like the program he chose, so he’ll refer other readers to my blog.

Final Thoughts:

Something as simple as responding to an email can make all the difference in having a successful, profitable blog. Make sure your readers can easily contact you and respond to them promptly.

Kevin is the author of Strongandfit.net: Lose Fat, Build Muscle

View the Original article

Filed under: Motivation, Dollars, Email

How My Blog Made Over 1,000 Dollars in One Month

by kevsworld

Hello everyone, my name is Kevin and I’d like to share my story of how I made over one thousand dollars in one month by blogging.  I think the best way to do it will be to divide it into four chapters:

Chapter 1: A Novice in a Crowded Niche

I’ve been a student of fitness, weight training, and bodybuilding for over twenty years.  I’m not a professional—just a passionate practitioner.  I’ve trained a few of my friends and helped them get in better shape.  I’ve also answered the questions of younger guys in the gym.

One night I had a conversation with a young man who was interested in putting on muscle.  I told him some of the basics and cleared some of his misconceptions.  Then it hit me:  why haven’t I ever blogged about this?

I already had a personal blog with a loyal following (my personal blog is more about my spiritual journey and reflections).  I had even authored a book.  But I had never thought much about writing fitness articles.  I decided to go ahead with it–I started strongandfit.net. I never thought about the fact that that the fitness niche was super crowded.  I just knew I was passionate about this topic and I enjoyed writing.

Chapter 2: Adsense/Monetization

At some point I added adsense to the blog.  I experimented with different arrangements and made some important discoveries:

1. A square ad directly above the content is the best placement.

2. The ad should be blended in with the colors of your blog.

Adsense was doing pretty well—I was earning about 200 dollars a month as traffic was growing.  But there were two problems:

1. I had limited control over what appeared in the adsense ad.  My blog exposes a lot of fitness scams, and sometimes the very product I was criticizing was appearing in adsense ads.

2. I felt like there were other ways to make the blog more profitable (turns out there were).

Chapter 3: Affiliate Marketing

The next big breakthrough came when I discovered clickbank products.  They had some great workout programs I could sell.  I eventually decided to switch entirely to affiliate advertising.  There were two distinct advantages:

1. Affiliate marketing was much more profitable than adsense.  Sometimes I make more in one day than I did in a whole month with adsense.

2.  I had complete control over what kind of products showed up on my blog.  I felt good about what I was selling (still do).

Chapter 4: New Year’s Resolutions

All these factors came together back in January.  You guessed it—New Year’s resolutions.  It was the time of year when everyone was thinking about making positive changes, such as losing weight or putting on muscle.  Those who visited my blog were referred to high quality products and honest reviews.  Many of them decided to invest in some of the programs I promote.

The end result was over a thousand dollars in one month.

Epilogue:

I’m still training at the gym and writing posts on over at strongandfit.net.  Profits go up and down, but that is to be expected.   But blogging has been an exciting journey, and I’ll keep writing with passion and integrity.

Kevin is the author of Strongandfit.net: Lose Fat, Build Muscle

View the Original article

Filed under: Motivation, 000, 1, Dollars, Month