The Big Blog Scam

Helluva title, right?

Is it clickbait? Not at all.

Blogging, the way most people describe it, is a complete scam. This is the Big Blog Scam:

• Follow your passion
• Write lots of content
• Make thousands with ads

Yeah, no.

You see, there was a time, we call this the good ol’ days of blogging, where you could write some content, post it on Pinterest, and get a lot of traffic.

Those days are gone.

But even back then blogging was a scam because people wanted you to believe that if you just picked the right niche that you loved you would be fine.

They wanted you to believe that you just had to follow some simple steps (most importantly make sure you use Bluehost!) and the game was as good as done for you.

You would’ve won.

But that didn’t happen.

Because on Pinterest, only certain niches work and you better be good at those niches.

Or good at stealing content and pins.

Whichever you prefer.

So the question is why would I take the time to write something like this?

Would you believe it’s because I care?

Blogging Can Equal Freedom

Here’s the thing. I know why people want to start blogs. It’s not because they like to sit down and write 2,000 words on topics in the hope that someone will read them.

It’s because they see it as a path to freedom.

That’s all we want.

Freedom is the ultimate happiness.

I used to teach blogging from the perspective of how you could get a ton of pageviews from Pinterest by writing certain types of content.

I was good at it and I made sure to help hundreds of people get into the best ad networks so they could get closer to freedom.

I made a LOT of money teaching this method.

But then things changed. Pinterest changed and therefore blogging changed.

But it feels like nobody has noticed.

There are still people telling you how to get insane traffic from Pinterest, but that isn’t the case.

There are still people trying to convince you that trying to get ads on your blog before you make money any other way is the best route to go.

Look, I don’t mind ads, they can make you some good side money, but that’s how they should be treated.

The people who still teach these methods of blogging do so for one of two reasons:

1. They don’t know any better because they haven’t started a new blog to see how difficult it is
2. They are copying someone else they learned from and just looking to make money teaching people how to blog without knowing much of the game

It sucks.

And that’s why I say blogging is a scam. In fact, I even wrote about how blogging is dead.

But that begs the question what are you doing here?

Isn’t this a blog?

Indeed it is.

So why am I blogging?

Blogging Is Very Effective

Because blogging works, just not in the way that many people are trying to tell you.

Blogging works when it’s viewed as a single component of a larger operation for your business. Don’t gasp.

If you’re going to start a blog or have a blog now then you have a business. There is no hiding from it.

Blogging is how you show people that you’re there to help them. It means that you wake up every day and ask yourself how can you best serve your audience.

From there, you lead them to even better things, usually these are your offers.

But that means you have to take a different approach to blogging.

This blog post is a perfect example. For me to explain it better I’ll need to break down the Pocket Business Framework.

Avoiding the Blog Scam: The Pocket Business Framework

I think people get attracted to blogging because on the surface it looks fun and easy.

You set up a pretty site and then you get to write for fun. But the reality is that blogging is a business and if you want your business to succeed then you need to follow the Framework.

The Pocket Business Framework is broken down into 4 easy to remember steps:

1. Get them to notice you
2. Get them to pay attention to you
3. Get them to trust you
4. Convert that trust into money

That’s it.

That’s how you succeed with business and this is why blogging is still alive.

Let’s look at each step.

1. Get them to notice you

If you want to succeed in business then you need to get people to notice you. There is no other choice.

You can’t do that with blogging alone because when you start off your blog is on an island.

Nobody knows it exists so you need to do some type of outreach.

This is where stuff like Pinterest, Google (SEO), and other mediums come into play.

You share your content and then you give yourself a chance to be noticed.

If people notice you, they’ll click on your link and visit your blog post.

For example, I know this blog post with its title will be enticing to some people who are curious about blogging and aren’t sure if it’s something that will make them money.

This leads us to the second step.

2. Get them to pay attention to you

Once you bring someone to your blog the job isn’t done. That was actually the easy part.

The hard part is keeping them around. Actually, make sure that they pay attention to you.

You do this by writing valuable content that will help them towards whatever transformation they have in mind.

In this post, I’m showing you why the mythical way of blogging where you get to write for fun, post on Pinterest, get tons of traffic, and make money with ads is no longer viable for new bloggers.

I’m not just doing that though, I’m showing you the alternative of what you should do.

Assuming that my writing hasn’t put you to sleep yet then I’ve kept your attention.

3. Get them to trust you

Sometimes you can get someone to trust you with a single blog post. But usually what you want to do is continue to show them massive value.

For example, we put out a ton of resources that help you build a business online.

You can also get people to sign up for your mailing list where you show them more value by sending them awesome emails.

Over time, if you’re doing a great job then they will trust you and once that happens…

4. Convert that trust into money

We like to do this by offering information products that will continue to help you to bigger transformations. It’s what we teach as we believe selling information products (your life experience) is the best business that you can build.

I know, you might be thinking that there is no way you have the knowledge, skills, or courage to create your own thing.

Trust me, you do, but that’s not for this post.

Instead, let’s talk about some numbers here.

But Ads Are Better!

Look, I get it. When you start a blog with the intention of making money with ads then in your head you just need to write a ton of content and get a lot of people to your blog, right?

Well, yes, but let’s look at the actual numbers.

We’ll say that your first goal is to make $3,000 a month. That’s a comfortable amount of money for most people.

If you were going to achieve that with blogging, you’re looking at around 200,000 – 300,000 pageviews a month.

That’s obviously a lot of pageviews and it’s definitely possible to get that much traffic over time with your blog.

The problems are this:

1. It’s going to take you some time to achieve those numbers if you achieve those numbers.
2. You need to sustain those numbers. Pinterest and Google (if those are your sources of traffic) are fickle and can change directions at any time.

But let’s see what happens if you create an information product.

Make More Money By Selling Information Products

Just to make this more realistic we can say that you’ve created a book on houseplants. I don’t know what exactly about houseplants, but it’s about houseplants.

The book is pretty cheap. Just $20.

Basic math shows that to make $3,000 you need to sell just 150 spots in a month. That’s about 5 spots a day.

Let’s say that you’re able to get to 20,000 pageviews in 6 months. Nice job!

Those 20,000 pageviews are from 12,000 unique people.

So in reality we’re working with 12,000 people. Out of those 12,000 people, you’re able to get 600 of them each month to sign up for your mailing list.

Every month that mailing list continues to build. You’re pretty quickly over 5,000 subscribers.

If you need 150 people to purchase your book that means you need to convince 3% of your mailing list.

However, that’s not entirely true. Because people can buy your book at any time you have some random visitors that have come across your site before and they buy your book.

We’ll say 10 people do that each month. So now you need 2% of your list to buy it each month.

But remember, your list is growing each month so more people learn about your book.

Your blog continues to grow as well so more traffic is coming to it.

Eventually, you’re to the point where you just need 1% of your list to buy the course.

But that’s only if you want to stay at $3,000.

What happens when you create another book on houseplants?

What happens when you add affiliate marketing to the mix?

Hopefully, now you can see the advantages of this approach to building a business.

Instead of trying to focus on big numbers of people, the focus is on the right people and big numbers of dollars.

A Better Way to Blog

So, if you’re going to spend time getting a blog setup and writing a ton of content for it, then I suggest you think about this approach to blogging.

Starting a blog is always going to be the easy part. Growing your blog is where the true challenge begins.

It’s great.