044: 5 Reasons to Look at Blogging as a Business

Kate Kordsmeier 0:00

Welcome back to the Success with Soul podcast. I'm your host, Kate Kordsmeier. And today we are talking all about why you think you don't need a blog, but you do. Okay, so I know what you're thinking. Probably something like, I'm not a blogger, or I'm not an influencer, or I'm not sure blog is really right for me. But here's the thing. It is if you have a business or you want a business because drumroll please. All websites or blogs, yeah, you intrigued yet, stick around for this solo episode where we talk all about the huge paradigm shift happening and online marketing and 2021 and beyond. You're listening to the Success with Soul podcast with Kate Kordsmeier, x journalist turned CEO of a multi six figure blog in online business. But it wasn't that long ago that Kate was a struggling entrepreneur who lacked confidence, clarity, and let's be honest money. But all those failures, experiments and lessons learned helped Kate create a thriving business that impacts 1000s and brings freedom, flexibility and fulfillment to her life. If you're ready to do the same and make something happen with holistic, soulful, step by step strategies from Kate and other experts, you're in the right place. here's your host, writer, educator, Mom, recovering perfectionist, bookworm and sushi connoisseur, Kate Kordsmeier.

All right, so did you hear that all websites are blogs, and all businesses need one. So whether you're a brick and mortar or service base, or retail or online, or you're a coach or a consultant, you need a website. And that website needs to have content on it. And that content is a blog. So even if you're not calling it a blog, or thinking of it like traditional blogging, that is what it is. It's how the world it's how Google, it's how the internet gods, it's what they think of your website if you have content on it. So here's what I want you to think about. blogs are your home base, okay, so it's not like the old days, like 10 years ago, even where blogs are just a chronological, personal diary. your blog is how you attract people into your sphere. So think of your website, like a billboard that is going to represent your business or your brand. And while that's important, no one is going to see your billboard without traffic. So you can have the prettiest, funniest most compelling website out there. But if nobody sees it, what's the point? So this is where blogging comes in. creating content online is the fastest way to show up in Google search results and other organic search results like Pinterest, which hint is a search engine, not a social media platform, but we'll get there. So creating free content online is the fastest way to show up in Google search results. without spending any money on paid ads, or even any time on social media. This is going to bring more people to your website, increasing your visibility, which is going to help you sell more products or courses or programs or coaching sessions or affiliate products, whatever it might be. Now, that's one way that you can use your blog to monetize your business. It's by bringing people into your sphere, and then selling them something once they get there. But you can also monetize your blog, your website itself. So let me show you what I mean. Essentially, a blog post is free content you write, it serves to educate your ideal customers, it helps them solve a problem and introduces them to new ideas that makes their life easier and better. So your ideal customers, clients or readers, they're out there right now looking for help and answers to their questions and your blog is how they're going to find you and say to themselves, yes, I resonate with that person, or I just learned something new, I'm now intrigued and ready to learn more. And from there, they will join your email list or buy a product or take some kind of action that builds your business. This is why all websites can benefit from blogging. The distinction that I want to make again is that's how all websites can benefit from blogging how all businesses can benefit from blogging. But again, you can also monetize your blog itself. So what I teach in my six figure blog Academy is how to use ads affiliates and sponsored content to monetize that platform and have your blog itself actually be a moneymaker. And no You don't have to be a blogger or an influencer, you can be a coach or a consultant or have one on one clients or a doctor or a chiropractor, you can literally have any type of business. And blogging can help you grow, sell more products, coaching sessions, create new income streams, and become an authentic email list builder. So even if you have a podcast, or you have a YouTube channel, you probably want to have a website where all of those show notes and video clips are embedded or where people can go and have like a resource that they can go and find all of this information. That's your blog. So are you starting to get the picture? Now, you might have heard that blogging is dead. And I am so happy to be able to bust that myth, I am living proof that this is not true. I make over $200,000 a year, just from my blog, not counting digital course sales, not counting any coaching or consulting or anything like that, just from those ads, affiliate sponsors, those strategies that I mentioned before. If you look at all of it, my online business as a whole makes over half a million dollars a year. So, again, blogging, blogging is so far from dead. And if you don't believe me, or you think I'm some kind of weird anomaly, let me share a couple stats with you. Okay, so here we go. b2b marketers who use blogs generate 67% more leads than those who do not. marketers who prioritize blogging are 13 times more likely to have a positive ROI in their efforts. 57% of marketers say they've gained customers specifically through blogging, small businesses that blog see 126% more lead growth than businesses that don't. And that's all kind of like this is why you should blog no matter what your business is. But we're also talking about are people even reading blogs in the first place? 80% of internet users read blogs today. And that readership is a projected it's over 31 million people. Internet users also actually spend three times more time on blogs than they do on email. And we all know we're in our inboxes all day. Inbox Zero is everybody's goal. So we're spending that much time an email, multiply it by three, and that's how much time people are spending on blogs. Not only that, but 81% of us online consumers trust information and advice from blogs so you are in good company. But

if you want to take this a step further, I recommend you listen to Episode Two of the Success with Soul podcast is the one called is blogging dead? nine reasons to start a blog today, you can find the show notes for that at KateKordsmeier com/two for even more reasons why you should start a blog. Okay, so now that you're convinced of the value of blogging, let's briefly talk about how blogging translates into a business and creates revenue. So you can make money from traditional blogging revenue, like I mentioned, ads, affiliates and sponsors, you can also create and sell your own products and services, you can offer one on one coaching or group coaching. You can do ebooks, you can have memberships, you can have masterminds, there's limitless options. And whether you want more passive income or a more service oriented, revenue stream, or both. I'm a fan of diverse revenue streams and not putting all your eggs in one basket. Blogging can help you meet your goals. So if you're a business, you need a website, I'm willing to bet that if you don't have a blog as part of your website, you are leaving money on the table right now by not blogging. So how does that feel to you? How does it feel to know that in addition to your main business model, you can create additional revenue streams from your business by monetizing your website itself. So Case in point, let me share this example because this still just kind of like blows my mind when I think about it. So even just one post that ranks well can really change your business. So I am 100% serious when I say that a blog post I wrote three years ago, brought in over $42,000 in the spring of 2020. Yes, literally right when the pandemic hit, and people were losing their jobs and going on unemployment and businesses were shuttering which my heartbreaks for these businesses, I do not say this to be insensitive, rather to show another way. At that same time, my blog was skyrocketing because everyone was going on line. So wrote a post, it started doing well on Google search. Pete more people went online, actually, in 2020. They say that internet use and data usage has gone up by 47%. Because again, everyone is now home, they're looking for information online. They're wanting to learn online. This is where you come in. So I wrote this blog post three years ago, spring 2020, and the pandemic hits, it starts skyrocketing in the Google search results. And at the same time, my daughter is born, she's born in May 2020, I have my second child. So I'm not even working at all, when this is happening. And this one blog post brought in over $42,000, that doesn't blow your mind. I mean, I still can't believe it. And it happened to me. So this is one of the things that I love about blogging, you can create something once, and then for years, you can continue to earn passive income from that post, without ever having to lift another finger. So I hope you can see how creating content online is the fastest way to show up in Google search results get that organic traffic, not have to spend tons of money on paid ads, or tons of time on social media, spend less than 15 minutes a day on social media. And this is going to bring more people to your website, increasing your visibility and your income.

So now that you're convinced of the value of blogging, and how all websites or blogs, and all businesses need one, if you're convinced and you're ready to start a blog or add a blogging component to your website, I've got a couple of resources that I want to share with you for next steps. So the first one is if you are brand spanking new, I've got a free video series that I want to invite you to called How to Start your blog from scratch the right way. So you can join that free video series at successwithsoul.co/start. And in it you'll learn not only the big paradigm shift happening in the blogosphere today, like I just talked about on this episode, but also the number one mistake people make when starting a blog and how to avoid it right from the start. We're gonna demystify the scary tech with literally so easy your grandma could do it tutorials and video walkthroughs, including the best tools. And we'll also share what you need to know to start your blog in 21 days or less. And nothing you don't, the secret isn't in doing more things. It's in doing only the right thing. So to learn more about what I mean had to successwithsoul.co/start. Now again, that is for people who are brand new and have no idea how to get started. If you already have a blog and you're interested in learning more about how you can grow your business and monetize your blog itself. Check out my free webinar called three behind the scenes secrets to six figure blogging, you can join that at successwithsoul.co/masterclass. Now, the final resource I want to share is for female entrepreneurs and this is all women or anyone who identifies with feminine energy. So female entrepreneurs who already have a business and a blog, but are ready to scale to the next level. And to do so in a way that doesn't require you to sacrifice your health, your wellness, your relationships, your family, your spirituality, or just to sell your soul, no burnout or working out of alignment required. This is a brand new program that I'm launching at the end of February and I am so excited about it. So the program is by application only. And if you feel the call, you can go to successwithsoul.co/apply to get the process started. We're on a waitlist right now. But we are opening our doors on February 25. So stay tuned for more details all about the Success with Soul incubator, which is coming soon. All right. That's it for today's episode. Thanks for joining me for a quick solo one. I hope it was helpful and inspired you to do something new with your website and your content marketing strategy. I'll see you next week. Same place same time. Until then, don't forget progress not perfection. Wait a minute. I know I know you're eager to get back to your life. But before you turn off this episode, I want to share something super quick with you. I know you're probably sick of hearing other podcasters ask you to leave reviews. But here's the deal. If you like a podcast, and you want them to be able to continue delivering you free episodes every week, we need your support. If you subscribe on the apple podcast, Google podcast, app Spotify or wherever you listen, it makes it possible for me to continue to provide free helpful content and bring you amazing guests. And if you take it one step further by giving us a rating and review with your honest feedback. We can improve better serve you in the future and you could even be featured on a future episode during Our listener spotlights because if we don't get the reviews, we don't get the rankings. And it makes it a lot harder to continue justifying the cost and time expense of producing a podcast every week, and convincing amazing guests to come on the show. And of course, your reviews are super helpful and motivating to me personally, and I love hearing from you. So on that note, we're gonna end this episode with another listener spotlight. Here we go. This review comes from Daisy picker. I've been a fan of Kate's for a while now and was so excited when she started her podcast. Every episode that I've listened to is full of helpful information to make me a better person and businesswoman. She is very transparent with her past struggles and shares how she has overcome these struggles. I can't wait to listen to more episodes. Well done, Kate. Well thank you Daisy picker. I am so glad to have you here.

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