So much potential.. but lack marketing knowledge!

I'm going to apologize in advance for the vagueness, but it is absolutely mandatory.

I run a blog that gets quite a bit of traffic. I post videos/blog entries that garner 200k - 1 million views. (The average is about 250k). A little over 200k subscribers. I have a very devoted following and my fans genuinely love the work I put out. Been featured on television as well as large magazine publications.

My work is mainly in the self-help industry. I release information that is very easily digestible for the masses and the quality exceeds that of many "pay-for" services in the same field.

I have an extreme passion for what I do and that is the main reason it is so successful. I have been monetizing with ads, however I have definitely NOT yet taken advantage of the full monetizing power I have.

When it comes to traditional "marketing" I lack the knowledge. My success has stemmed from talent and accessibility.. not marketing. Everything I have put out has marketed itself. I never do any sort of promotion.

At this point I have a lot of options, however I'm not sure the best route to go with. I'm making this post in hopes of getting some sort of direction. I fear losing a chunk of my audience because they may feel I have "sold out". However, I don't view it like that. If I were able to better monetize what I do the content quality would also improve. I would be able to spend 100% of my time/resources doing what I love.

Can someone point me to a book/article/blog anything.. I'm a little lost right now and could use some advice.

Cheers

 

Do you do any type of paid content, or are you offering everything absolutely free?

The simplest way to start making money would be to start charging for what your fans are interested in. People don't subscribe to you and come back for more because of ads, they do it because of the content you are offering them, so make sure you are monetizing your content. You don't have to stop offering free stuff, just start charging for some of it (free eBook but charge for premium video series, for example).

A real popular way for those in your industry to monetize is to create a members only site. Charge a monthly fee and offer some exclusive content (doesn't have to be super amazing compared to what you already have, just something that they couldn't get without being a member). Add forums to it and use it to answer questions. Many people are willing to pay, especially in your industry, if they can ask a question or for advice that they feel is specific to them.

Get a mailing list if you don't have one already. You can use it to promote yourself, increase returning visitors, and it can be a great way to suggest things that you feel might be useful to your subscribers (think affiliate programs).

I could offer some more suggestions but it is difficult without being able to see what you already have running, so I hope these general suggestions are helpful.

 

You can try something like what DP is doing. Have an area for preferred or VIP members. Charge a one time fee of let's say 5 bucks and they will have an access to some features otherwise they would not (in depth discussions, special offers and promos, rants and raves section, etc.). Just an idea.

 

Hi likesomebody, nice to see a successful person in the forum.

 

Since you said you have good content that the masses love, I wonder if you have built a list? Is there a way for the people to come to your site to sign up for email information from you?I have found this to be the best way to "keep" and re-use (you might say) they traffic that you have already gotten.You can then market anything you want to them any time.I would think that creating a list from your site would be easy and very profitable. I've created lists from smaller sites getting much less traffic that were profitable and still are.

 

I'm with the PPs - have a VIP section with additional content for your surfers if they pay a premium to access it. I'd be happy to take a look at your site and make additional recommendations - I'm on AIM and Skype right now.

 

With that kind of traffic, instead of poking around for advice and trying to go it alone, you might want to think about getting hold of a coach/consultant. It can seem expensive, but your ROI should be good.

Dan

 

you can learn, but it will take time and energy.
I can help you if you are willing to cooperate.
If not just read from this and others forum, there's many ways of monetizing website.
Depending on quality of your traffic, which I can see is the top traffic, good options with little hassle is selling ad space. Adsense if your traffic is adsense safe.
Others are email marketing cause you have many subscribers.
It's all niche and traffic related.

 

I would suggest you should start reading ebooks and guides about marketing 101 and the basics, fundamentals and important things to know about marketing and targeting your audiences online.

 

It depends how willing you are to 'sell out'? There are thousands of self help products on Clickbank offering circa 75% percent comission to affiliates, you might want to promote these to your audience as an extra along with your usual information. It sounds like you have a ready-made website and the sort of traffic many Clickbank affiliates would die for. Clickbank is easy to use and you can make some great money, the inevitablde downside is there is a fair amount of junk on there (tho every product contains a money back guarantee) so you might want to research your products carefully to keep your reputation intact.




Edit - You could probably create and market a Clickbank product yourself actually, that way the marketing is done for you. Something seperate from your free website. Your reputation (tv work etc) along with a popular website should ensure an army of affiliates lining up to promote you.

 

The easiest way I see making money with this is by adding an opt-in form on your site, you can continue to give them free value packed content but only if they give a name and e-mail address in return. Once you get that then you can just find relevant products, and keep giing them valuable info and jus promote some products through e-mail. Make sure you choose some good products and keep giving good content. if you have as much traffic as you say, then you could definitely make someserious income if you catch those e-mail addresses. if you have anymore questions how to do this just shoot me a pm and ill get back to you. good luck!!!

 

Check out my website (SpiffList) and see if this fits your potential. It's a pay product if you want the full thing, but read through the pages without cost to get the gist of my concept.

 

So... did you find any of these suggestions helpful?

 

i agree....try to find some one on one coaching.

 

Looking at your situation, it is pretty obvious that you both have a lot to gain and a lot to lose with your business. Don't worry, though, because it would take an exceedingly ill-advised mistake to do much damage to your business. If what you say is true, you are offering services that are well worth what you would be charging for them, and if your customers are satisfied, they would see things this way as well. If you want to start things off slowly, maybe you can try experimenting with social media marketing, one site at a time, in order to slowly increase your customer base. Nothing too drastic or overly bold, just regular updates and additional content to keep people interested and willing to share you site should be enough to get you started. You don't have to make the shift from a relatively non-marketed business to a very commercial one all in one go. Baby steps will be slow, but will get you there eventually.