Is it better for you to create a blog, spend time building it up, and then launch a product, or create a product first and then use your blog to market it?
[Just so we’re all on the same page here, when I say “product” I mean anything that you offer via your blog in exchange for money. This could be an ebook, an online course or tutorial, or a service.]
I’ll just come right out and cast my vote. I think you should create a product and then a blog. I’ve never actually heard anyone else say this (whereas I’ve heard several people get behind the other approach), but I swear I’m not saying it just to be a contrarian.
Sure, there are some positives to starting a blog and then creating a product, including:
- You can ask your readership what product they’d like to see from you.
- You can do a big product launch once you’re big enough, have lots of subscribers, have street cred, and have online buddies that can help you promote your stuff. This will probably make you more money.
This is the conventional wisdom, though I’ve never seen any real data backing up that second point (it does make sense, though).
The big problem I have with that conventional wisdom is that most bloggers never get to that point where they’re “big enough” (whatever that means). They just blog. And blog. And blog and blog and blog. Until they realize their niche isn’t a “good one” or until they become too frustrated that they’re not making any money. The net result is an incredible amount of wasted time.
So I’ll say it again. Create a product (you could easily write an ebook in a week) and THEN create your blog to help you market that product.
Once you do that, every single blog promotion action you take (commenting, guest posts, social media, etc.) actually means something. Every single pair of eyeballs potentially means more money in your pocket. The correlation there is very direct, as opposed to the roundabout eyeballs-to-blog-to-mailing-list-to-six-month-wait-to-product-launch route.
Not only does every action you take have more real value, but you’ll be more excited about taking those actions. When you’re making money with your blog, you become more excited about it. It’s funny how money changes things. Your niche is much more likely to be a “good one” in your mind if you’re making money.
And then here’s the real humdinger that a lot of people forget about: You can create and release more than one product!
Create a cheap little ebook before you start your blog. Then start your blog. While you’re building your blog, you’ll be making money through ebook. Then down the line when you’ve built up your readership and relationships, do the big product launch. Bam! Best of both worlds!
- What do YOU think?
- What have your experiences been with producing-then-blogging vs. blogging-then-producing?
- Which strategy would you recommend to a newbie any why?
[And while we’re on the subject of creating blogs and products, let me plug two new ones that I came out with this last week: Creative Writing Prompts and Baby’s First Zombie Book. The former is a fun little site that automatically scrapes tweets with #writingprompt and #writingprompts hashtags, then publishes those tweets. I created it because I’m horribly inept at writing fiction and want to be better. The latter is a short, rather gory children’s book that I wrote and illustrated (under a pen name) just for fun. It’s my 4th Kindle book and my third in the last month.]
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
Well it depends upon the producer and web marketer
from my point of view one should first develop a website to promote its product
to known it to internet world and than launch its product
You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. But I think that more people would succeed if they focused on a product first.
After doing this for the PLR site – I can definitely get behind you on this approach.
Doing the Blog -> Product is such a pain in the ass because you’re always changing your personal goals + you’re trying to get feedback from the community. The longer you wait – the more you end up talking about the original product idea so you just sort of push it out as a post vs. a product.
On the other way around, you’ve got something to promote right out the starting line. You have a clear goal and so everything else aligns to it. I wish I had started this way with Murlu and some of my other sites but alas, there’s always time to get things going. However, future projects will most definitely have something to offer before it’s pushed live.
“The longer you wait – the more you end up talking about the original product idea so you just sort of push it out as a post vs. a product.”
Yup. Totally nailed it right there!
I think this may be highly dependent on the product you want to launch, and on your personality. Some people who went from blogger to author, write such solid content on their site that they probably could have published their book first and jumpstarted their earnings (my best example is Ramit Sethi and I Will Teach You To Be Rich). That approach works great for both sides of the party: authors get paid upfront, readers get to go through the content at their pace and in their preferred way in some cases (iPad/Kindle vs web browsing/RSS/email). It also gives the community some solid footing on which to discuss the ideas at hand if they aren’t available in other ways (i.e. Seth Godin, Chris Guillebeau versus economist Tyler Cowen).
If you have several ideas in your head on what kind of product you want to create but can’t decide which one to do, I would start with the blog to play with your ideas and see which ones the community gravitates to the most.
You bring up some good points, James. There are definitely exceptions to what I stated here, where very successful people started out with a blog before creating a product. But I don’t think that’s the best approach for the majority of people who are starting blogs now with the aim of making money from them.
As a matter of fact, I personally think that you need to firstly launch your blog and then just surprise the world with some super awesome eBook related to your niche.
Well, what the author says makes perfect sense. I’d go the other way around, Vince.
Have you actually ever tried doing that yourself?
Hi Tristan, I think it depends, you mention bloggers that get caught chasing an audience but you got to ask, did they have a sound plan for getting readers in the first instance? maybe or maybe not! Either way, a product without readers is a product without buyers so I guess it’s difficult to have one without the other. :)
“Either way, a product without readers is a product without buyers so I guess it’s difficult to have one without the other. :)”
Yup, too true! But I’ve done it both ways myself and feel that if you’re starting from scratch, it’s easier/better to start out with a product and then start a blog.
If you’re talking about something like an Ebook then it’s probably better to have the blog running first so that people can see your writing skills and know that the book will be worth getting. With other products it’s very much a chicken and egg situation I think. Thanks for sharing on Bizsugar.com
No problem, Sian. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment.
Hi Tristan, I think you make some great points in your post particularly when you state that having a product will give the blogger some focus or purpose. But I also agree with Niall, stating, “did they have a sound plan for getting readers…” There is literally something for everyone (especially with the world-wide reach of social media) so with the proper plan in place a blogger has the potential to reach their audience by building a blog first. I also agree with Sian, if you are writing an ebook it wouldn’t hurt to have a blog to showcase your writing style and skills. Ultimately my conclusion is that there is no right or wrong way to go about, however which ever approach is selected there must be a solid plan to get the desired results otherwise as Tristan said, “Most bloggers…They just blog. And blog. And blog and blog and blog,” for seemingly no reason.
It’s true, there’s no one-size-fits-all plan for internet fame and glory. I wrote this post based on my own experiences (i.e., what’s worked for me) and based on the big reason that I see for others’ failure.
There is, as you said, no right or wrong here, but I do think that this is the method that will help most people get started making money online.
Thanks for the great comment, Ashley!
Tristan, this is two-way approach. You’re actually on creating a product before launching a blog. For me, I still struggle to sell my products, because I’ve to rely on my audience to educate me. On the other hand, if you’re passionate about your niche, nothing should stop you from blogging > then build build active readership and launch a product. It’ll sell.
Consider Darren Rowse and Brian Clark. They both started out blogging, and building a tribe, before creating their ebooks. It’s not the best approach, but it works. Either way, study your niche very well.
I hear what you’re saying, Michael, but I don’t believe it’s the right path for most people. Sure, there are exceptions and outliers (like Darren Rowse and Brian Clark, as you mentioned), but I still believe that the vast majority of bloggers out there who want to make money blogging will be best served by creating a product and then a blog.
You said, “On the other hand, if you’re passionate about your niche, nothing should stop you from blogging > then build build active readership and launch a product. It’ll sell.”
In my experience (9+ years of blogging on dozens of blogs), that’s just not true. It takes more than just passion. It’s so easy to say that passion is all you need and that that’ll lead you to internet fame and glory, but if I had a nickel for every time someone has told me that (who has then stopped blogging after failing to make money), I’d be a very rich man :)
Ops, that was great opinions. This post is awaken me, Thanks Tristan!
I really like the view of how we will act directly when we already have something to offer. That means we will have clear target about every things we should accomplish.
That also adding more value to us when someone already purchase our product said the good thing about it, right?
Thanks for the great comment, Tiyo!
great points, you are spot on when you said that having a product will give the blogger some focus to capture readers, interesting thought, -, do you focus on creating a product before launching a blog or vice versa?
Yes, I focus on creating a product and then launching a blog.
If you are just trying to make an extra few hundred dollars from your blog (like blog XXX, these options could work. But if you are really serious about trying to make good money.
Your spammy link has been removed.
Blogs are very popular today. i think their number will increase sharply.
Yup.
Hi Tristan!
Looks like we are on the same page, I am also confuse on what I will prioritize first, but it come to an end that I will start the product first and then the blog. And I totally agree with your post.
Awesome, glad we’re on the same page. Thanks for the comment!
I think its a product then blog. you should have an idea what brand, Product, or types of topics do you want, then that’s the time you will create your site.
Great, glad you agree here. Thanks!
First of all, let me say thank you for sharing this blog. I guess you are right when you say that you are the only person that says create the products first before the blog. In some point I have to agree with, that is if one really knows what product he/she truly wants to venture and stick on promoting but if new to the business it is still I believe a good idea to have a blog first before the product.
You’re right, there’s definitely no one-size-fits-all approach here.
Thanks!
It depends on the product. A planned campaign with cpc, blog and social networking promotion can create the necessary hype for a product and then the product can be easily accepted by the desired audience. Both of them have their pros and cons
Im lucky to find your blog, im trying but thinking a lot in the final target of create my blog, the topic first, my audience and everything… but in my mind I have the constant idea that in some point im going to end exhausted by blogging and blogging, asumming i have success because of the short benefits you know trials, sponsors, and those things but not a goal that I wanted to reach.
Im going to take your advice for sure
(sorry if i have mistakes typing english, this is my second language)
gracias y chau :)
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