Blogging 2010

Big Opportunities For 2010

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Meet Dave

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The Blogosphere Hits Puberty

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Are We Saturated?

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Cream Rises To The Top

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The Realities of Bloggers Making Money

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The FTC Regulations - A Bomb Shell or Opportunity? The FTC And The HUGE Opportunity

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We Are THE Media

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Blogging in 2010

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Big Opportunities For 2010 It is an exciting time to be a blogger. Better yet, it is exciting time to be incorporating blogging into your business. Or even to have it BE your business. There are a lot of things happening in the world right now. The world economy is going through a bit of a tough time. The way in which people are getting and digesting their media is changing. Newspapers are having a tough time. Traditional brickand-mortar businesses are, in some circles, going through tight times. At the same time, there are certain things going on with the U.S. government that affect blogging. Most notable among them is the new FTC regulations concerning disclosure. For the first time, the FTC is specifically revising their guidelines to include our medium - the blog. What does this all mean? And why do I say these are such exciting times? The purpose of this report is to illustrate to you why 2010 is going to be a great year to be a blogger. My only aim is to get you thinking ahead and to get you moving forward with an online strategy aimed at the future.

Meet Dave My name is David Risley and I am a professional blogger and internet entrepreneur. My mission is to show bloggers how to turn their passions into a solid, profitable business. I, myself, have been blogging since around 1997 - yes, before the word “blog” even existed. I have been making money at it since around 1999, with my oldest and largest blog being PCMECH.COM, a technology blog visited by around 250,000 people monthly. In 2008, I decided to begin blogging about what I do for a living - blogging. Others had been blogging about blogging for awhile by then, but I feel as if I bring a very different (and needed) viewpoint to the market. After all, the reality is that you donʼt earn a full-time income as a blogger by writing more. Writing is only half the battle (if that). By 2008, my evolution and experience had finally brought me to the point where I fundamentally believe that blogging mixed with internet marketing is where the power is. So, I began my blog at DAVIDRISLEY.COM in order to bring my plainEnglish, no BS approach to blogging as a business to the blogosphere. And, so far so good! As a blogger, I brought in $167,397.48 in 2006. In 2007, I dropped down to $140,011.55 and I brought in $141,860.08 in 2008. As I write this report at the tale end of 2009, I have generated $198,487.10 and it is an absolute guarantee that I will cross the $200K threshold for the first time.

I am a dude from Florida. Iʼm married to my wife, Malika. I have one beautiful daughter, Elyana, who just turned 2 years old. And my wife and I have a son due in February 2010. I am excited about 2010. My family is getting larger, and I fully intend to CRUSH IT when it comes to my online business. 2010 is going to be exciting. And it is with that mindset in mind that I decided to create this report for you. So, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Oh, and Iʼd like to connect with you on Twitter. Follow me @davidrisley and let me know what you thought of this report!

The Blogosphere Hits Puberty There is no doubt that the blogosphere was born and has changed quickly. In fact, thatʼs a huge understatement. The word “blog” was made up in 1999. It comes from the word “weblog” which didnʼt exist until the end of 1997. In 1999, a guy by the name of Peter Merholz was the first to use the contracted form of the word, “blog”, on his sidebar. And shortly after that, the word began to catch on. In 1999, the blog as a concept began to grow quite quickly. In fact, it was in 1999 that Blogger.com was launched. Within a couple short years, blogs were already having mainstream impact. In fact, bloggers were involved in the political spectrum and influencing news events. By this time, the mainstream media was already reacting to news broken by bloggers rather than the other way around. In the 2004 U.S. elections, the blog was used as an important communication platform by the candidates. In 2005, Fortune magazine featured eight bloggers that business people “could not ignore”. Fast forward to 2009. We just had a U.S. president elected primarily through the power of social media and blogging. Today, the White House website prominently has the word “blog” in the top menu. In the course of a decade, the word blog has gone from birth to major prominence and recognition upon the world stage as a major mode of communication. It has gone from a medium primarily for online personal journals to a platform used by major media outlets and, now, the President of the United States. That was the first decade of blogging. What now? I believe the blogosphere is hitting puberty.

It is moving from childhood into adulthood. A level of maturity is coming to this medium, and certain adjustments and awkwardness is happening along the way. While this transition is happening, the blog has turned into the popular kid at school. Everybody wants to be a blogger. People are jumping on this bandwagon all the time. At the beginning of 2009, it was estimated (based on Technoratiʼs index) that there was around 133 million blogs online. At the same time, it was estimated that there are around 900,000 blog posts posted PER DAY.

Are We Saturated? The numbers are staggering. And the question has to be asked. As we move into 2010, no doubt more and more people will pile on and start their own blogs. But, where do we go from here? If you start a blog today, do you even stand a chance? With those kinds of numbers, it is pretty easy to conclude that pretty much anything that can be said has probably been said. It is hard to come up with something unique today online. It is being done, but it is more difficult. So, are we saturated? I think the answer is a resounding “NO”. My reason for saying this is because I believe the true power of blogging lies in the fact that this is SOCIAL media. See, when we hear the term “social media”, we usually think of things like Twitter and Facebook. However, the blog is a crucial component to social media. It is the soapbox upon which you stand to influence others on the Internet.

Social media is used to build relationships with people. It is used to connect people. Those who can effectively build a relationship with their audience will rise to the top of the food chain. They can be saying the exact same thing as a number of other bloggers, but it doesnʼt matter one bit. Content might be king, but the relationship is what keeps the king in power. More on this when I start talking about the new FTC regulations.

Cream Rises To The Top As the blogosphere hits puberty, youʼre going to see certain people rise up the ladder while others fall. Charles Darwin came up with the theory of natural selection to describe how evolution takes place. In short, those with survival characteristics survive and breed and thereby help create the future of the species. Those with traits not conducive to survival end up dying. Well, the theory applies to the blogosphere, too. Those who excel at the craft will rise to the top. Those who donʼt will wind up frustrated and ultimately give up. The blogosphere will feel saturated to those who donʼt realize the power of the relationship and work it into their blogging and marketing. These people will run themselves dry pumping out every piece of content they possibly can, but they stand a higher possibility for lackluster results for their hard work. In 2010, the job wonʼt get any easier. In fact, with the more traditional media dying away, I think youʼre going to find more higher-class talent joining the blogosphere as an alternative to their former job. More competition, yes (if you want to look at it that way). But, those people can be trained reporters and it does not make them good bloggers. Sure, it can make them skilled writers and skilled reporters. It could make them

more connected and give them an advantage. But, journalism and blogging are not one and the same.

The Realities of Bloggers Making Money When I was at BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas in 2009, I noticed a little bit of a trend. I hope it is a trend that will continue. And if I am successful at playing my role in this field, it most certainly will. The trend is a return to reality on monetization. In other words, you make money by selling something. Seems rather obvious, I know. But, ever since the blog took off as a platform where you could gather eyeballs into one spot, the #1 method of blog monetization has been the banner ad. Personally, I think this focus on advertising is coming from the days of traditional media. Newspapers make their money by selling ad space. The job of the editorial side of the paper is to attract readers. Perhaps because bloggers are equating themselves to old media rather than realizing it is different for a reason, bloggers seem to follow suit. The typical blogger who wants to earn some money from their blog thinks you do it like this: 1.

Post a lot.

2. 3. 4.

Then post some more. Sell ads on the blog. Rinse, repeat.

When this blogger starts, he is immediately faced with how hard it is. Building traffic to a blog isnʼt easy. It feels as if youʼre talking to yourself. Selling ads on a low-traffic blog isnʼt easy, either. So, the path of least resistance is something like Google Adsense. Reality is that most bloggers make a few cents per day. Thatʼs not business. It is being STUPID. As we move into 2010 and the blogosphere matures, I believe weʼre finally coming to a collective realization that the Internet is not a magic money tree. The Internet is a medium for business, but it is just that - a medium. It is a tool. With that tool, the basics of business remain exactly as they have for centuries. Build a following, sell them something. At BlogWorld, the monetization track had people from the world of internet marketing. If you read my report The Blogging Wealth Gap, I talk about how the world of internet marketing and the world of blogging are usually quite separate. Many bloggers still have this naive sense of purity about blogging and how it should be above the petty aims of capitalism (as they would see it, of course). In that report, I talk about how the true power of blogging comes when you combine the worlds of internet marketing and blogging. Finally, at BlogWorld in 2009, I was seeing real-world evidence that this reality is hitting home for others as well. In my “flagship” report, The Six Figure Blogger Blueprint, I go into detail on how to go about making a real living as a blogger. I talk about how bloggers need to think like a marketer. I talk about choosing a market and catering to it with your blog. All of it leads up to an overall vibe I am beginning to see with bloggers as we head into 2010.

The blogosphere is returning to reality. For those still clinging to the dream of striking it big by selling banners, let me just say this... Old media did things their way. And theyʼre dying off. More and more, the old media is trying to evolve into the new media while simultaneously ripping on the new media as unprofessional and untrained. Those of us in the new media (and I consider blogging a part of that) should not follow the business model of the old media. For some, it might work (and it does). Banner ads CAN make good money. There will always be a demand for banner ad space on blogs. That said, MOST people will have a tough time. If they donʼt adapt and start treating this like the NEW media and start conducting business in a new way, theyʼll never make a dime. Now, back to how blogging and internet marketing should be one and the same. Many people have already realized that this is the case. Companies are now using blog coverage as major components to their PR strategy. You can even go out and BUY reviews from bloggers. More recently, this has moved into the next extension of blogging microblogging. Twitter has simply EXPLODED recently and it is now a mainstream communication platform in itʼs own right. It is only natural to have people looking to advertise on the medium. The idea of the “sponsored tweet” is now in our lexicon. The line is blurring even more. Blogging began as personal journalling. Social media began as a way to connect friends. Now, it is all merging into one large collective conversation and the lines between commercial and non-commercial are blurring. Thatʼs where the FTC comes in with their new regulations which affect our industry as we move into 2010 and beyond.

The FTC Regulations - A Bomb Shell or Opportunity? You might have thought a huge nuclear bomb went off in the blogging and internet marketing circles back in October 2009. In October, the announcement came out that the Federal Trade Commission was cracking down on our industry with new regulations. What happened was they they made several revisions to the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. It was the first update to these guidelines since 1980. The two big issues that came up with the revision were this: 1.

2.

Full disclosure is now required any time something is received for a review. A post from any blogger who receives any cash or in-kind payment is considered to be an endorsement. Any testimonial or statement which talks about results of a product must now be coupled with a statement of the results that consumers can typically expect. Before this revision, a statement of “results not typical” would be enough to be legal. That is no longer the case.

The effects of these new revisions to the regulations are actually rather widespread. Most obviously, bloggers now need to be careful to disclose any material connection between self and an advertiser if you blog about it. For instance, if you are paid to do a review, you must disclose it. If you receive

a commission when somebody buys something, you must disclose it. According to the FTC announcement, you would even need to disclose if you receive a free item for the purpose of reviewing that item. The entire issue, from that perspective, could simply be solved by one word - disclosure. The way I see it, though, this is something any blogger should be doing anyway. Most companies who broker paid reviews require disclosure anyway. For anything else, Iʼd recommend just heading over to DisclosurePolicy.org and creating a disclosure policy to post to the blog. The issue of testimonials is a bigger deal, however. Weʼve all seen people use testimonials to sell product online. Ever seen those big long sales letters? Most of them are packed with testimonials. And each testimonial says how great the product is. Thatʼs the point, of course. Testimonials are used to create what is called in marketing circles as “social proof”. It arises from the idea that people are most likely going to do what they see others do. It is the group mentality, or safety in numbers. So, if you see other people saying how great a product is, there is a higher likelihood that youʼll think the product is good. In the past, you could put the absolute, most glowing testimonials up there and just include a little footnote that says “results not typical”. Well, that wonʼt be legal anymore. Now, you have to say what the typical results are. Look at your typical “make money online” product. The testimonials will say how much money theyʼve made using the product. You know, the “I made $10,000 in 1 week and I only worked for 2 hours!!!” kind of crap. Imagine having to come out and tell people that the typical buyer of that product makes no money whatsoever with it. That the typical buyer will look at it, give up, then put the product on a bookshelf to look at some other day. There it sits getting dusty. Do you think that kind of typical result would be good for sales?

Of course not! And this has marketers in a TIZZY! The FTC is essentially removing an entire marketing tool from the arsenal! (Or so it would seem). So, this has many marketers consulting their lawyers, trying to find out what it all means. That is a lesson in frustration all in itself because the government, in all itʼs bureaucratic and inefficient wisdom, doesnʼt exactly know how to make things clear. They canʼt even keep track of their own laws and there is lots of confusion on exactly how the FTC even plans to enforce this thing. It is a big mess, really. When you pile more red tape onto an already huge pile of red tape, things donʼt get better. Politics aside, it is what it is. And we need to deal with it. But, is there any reason to freak out? Why was the FTC ruling subject of much conversation at the 2009 BlogWorld? Is it really that big a deal?

The FTC And The HUGE Opportunity I see the FTC ruling as just another sign that the blogosphere is undergoing puberty. One could even look at it as a sign that weʼve arrived. Weʼre now important enough as a media outlet for the FTC to react. Pat yourself on the back! ;-) Seriously, though. What the FTC did was hand a big gift to the blogosphere!

Now, listen up. And listen carefully. Because this FTC ruling ties right into what Iʼve been talking about for a long time now when it comes to blog marketing. When you are doing your job correctly as a blogger and a marketer, the importance of testimonials is drastically diminished. This means that you could pretty much GET RID OF TESTIMONIALS and youʼll be just fine. This renders the FTC ruling almost meaningless! As a blogger, you are putting yourself into a leadership position in whatever market you are in. You are on a SOCIAL platform - the blog. You write and people can talk back (in comments). This means you can engage them in a conversation. When you combine your personality into the mix, your audience can form a bond with you. You want them to look at you as an expert in your market, but also a trusted friend. People are MUCH more willing to buy on the advice of a friend than the advice of a salesman. We all know that. So, in blog marketing, it all comes down to three words: KNOW. LIKE. TRUST. You want your readers to feel as if they know you. You want them to like you. And you need them to trust you. So, you use your blog to inform people. You use it to start conversations. You extend off the blog with your own mailing list where you can email

people and bring them back to the blog. Besides, email is a personal communication platform and, by the very fact of them subscribing to your list, you now have a little more intimate connection with them. You protect your audience at all costs. You be worthy of their trust. When you recommend something, it is only because you honestly feel it will help them. If a product comes along that might pay you well but you donʼt think it would be good for your audience, you do NOT promote it. You also inject your personality into your blogging and your marketing. Be a real person. You might be a person worth listening to in your particular field, but youʼre also a human being. And it is that which creates a bond, a sense of empathy with the reader. KNOW. LIKE. TRUST. This is the very essence of relationship marketing. Bloggers are uniquely poised to do this correctly. Bloggers can bring in traffic through the use of free content. Bloggers are (hopefully) engaged in Twitter, Facebook and the like. Bloggers got their start (in many cases) with personal blogs so many of us are USED to being human on the Internet. On the flip side, so many internet marketers are not engaged socially on the web. They donʼt put out free content. They donʼt engage their following. Proof of that is the fact that they have to PAY for traffic from the likes of Google Adwords. Iʼm not going to rip on people who use PPC advertising because there is most definitely reason to use it in certain occasions, but it is a completely different methodology to internet marketing. Which do you think is more likely to make a purchase? • A person who clicks into a sales page, has never heard of the person who made the product, who might have a need. This person is subjected to a LONG sales letter with lots of testimonials and ad copy. The purpose of much of those testimonials is to alleviate

objections and alleviate doubt. Because the marketer KNOWS that the viewer of that page has a natural distrust. • On the flip side, a reader of a blogger who talks about a subject of much interest. The person feels as if they know the blogger. This person has read many of the bloggerʼs posts and/or reports. He is subscribed to the email list. He knows the names of a few people in the bloggerʼs family. He interacts with that blogger on Twitter. One day, the blogger recommends a product. The person walks into the product offering not with a natural distrust, but a feeling of trust. The difference is clear. One person arrives with natural distrust and no knowledge of the seller. The other arrives feeling as if they know the seller is a good person and naturally trusts them. If that blogger then offered a product with no testimonials AT ALL, it probably wouldnʼt matter. KNOW. LIKE. TRUST. That is relationship marketing. But, letʼs even look at one other thing here... A blog is part of social media. Testimonials are used to build up social proof. Connect the dots, my friend. With strategic relationship and social marketing, you can get others to say good things about you NATURALLY. There is nothing artificial about it. You are not rigging anything. Youʼre just being an upfront person. People detect that. You treat customers right, theyʼll say good things. Youʼve got yourself organically “grown” testimonials. Just donʼt go throwing them all on a sales letter and youʼll probably be OK with the FTC. As we head into 2010, the FTC has just given you the biggest hint they possibly could about how to proceed with monetizing a blog. Many standard-fare internet marketers are now having to re-think how they approach their businesses.

Bloggers, however, just need to kick it up a notch and you guys can CRUSH IT and make a bunch of money all while being FTC compliant.

We Are THE Media I think the day is here where we should not be called “new media” anymore. We are “THE media”. More and more, old media outlets are dying. The network news channels are seeing their lowest ratings ever. Newspapers are going out of business. Media outlets which were once standard bearers are being exposed as propaganda pieces by... bloggers. The news outlets which are survived thus far are laying people off to cut costs. At the same time, many of these traditional media outlets are increasing their online channels. They know that this is where things are going. More and more people are getting their news from the likes of Drudge Report or the Huffington Post than they are their local paper. More and more people will be reading books on their Kindle (or equivalent) rather than in print. Today, there are people on Youtube who command larger audiences than entire TV channels. There are blogs with larger daily readership than most newspapers. Weʼre beginning to see media devices shipped which bring internet content to the television. Youtube and even live-streaming like that of Ustream can be brought to the TV. Today, one person can create a one-man media juggernaut from a back bedroom. Contrast that with the huge expenses, venture capitalist investment and other demands of creating a traditional media channel. We donʼt need TV stations - weʼve got a webcam. We donʼt need huge newspaper printers - weʼve got Wordpress.

Weʼve got a world of potential citizen reporters out there, with Flip Video cameras in their pockets and a camera on their cell phone. Sure beats the crap put of lugging a news van and a chopper with you! The world has changed. And the media has changed. But, in this world of citizen media, the methods of business have to adjust with it. You cannot be the new media and survive by acting like the old media. There will be the juggernauts. Weʼve got blogs like Techcrunch with itʼs nearly 2 million RSS subscribers. This will always be the case. These largescale blogs can survive on old media monetization methods like advertising. For others, it should be about using the medium as a social medium. Remember, this is relationship marketing. Not every blogger can compete for the same ads. That pie is only so large. Despite the economic fluctuations of online ad spending, the reality is that not every blogger can make a living that way. This citizen-powered medium, though, empowers anyone and everyone with the potential to be a celebrity. And I donʼt necessarily mean celebrity of the TMZ variety, but a celebrity in your arena or market. A LEADER. An AUTHORITY. But, just remember the three words: KNOW, LIKE and TRUST. As a blogger, you are participating in one of the power powerful and certainly one of those evolutionary things to ever happen in terms of human communication and empowerment. As you look ahead and into 2010, I want you to fully grasp the opportunity that there is here. And I want you to grab that bull by the horns.

Blogging in 2010 This report was not intended to be a how-to manual on how to succeed as a blogger. I talk plenty about that on my blog, in my reports, and in my coaching program and other products. This report was simply written to communicate my enthusiasm for the medium of blogging. And the opportunity that being a blogger affords everyone who grasps it. As I look into 2010, I think we are heading into a period of promise for bloggers. But... It is only those bloggers who TAKE ACTION who are going to rise. There are three options for all potential actions: YES, NO and MAYBE. But, there are only two right decisions: YES or NO. Avoid MAYBE like the plague. It leads to inaction, overwhelm, confusion, and you sitting here a year from now with nothing new. You either decide to do something or you forget about it. Either way, you can move on and let your mind move onto greener pastures. Putting anything into the “maybe” category just clogs up the pipes. Your emphasis should be on ACTION. It should be quickly making YES or NO decisions on all ideas or decisions which hit your plate. And more specifically for blogging in 2010 and beyond, I leave you with this short to-do list: 1. Further your education in the field of marketing. One option for you would be the Blog Masters Club training program that I offer. This is not a course on how to blog as much as it is a marketing course aimed

directly at aspiring probloggers. Wherever you choose to get your information, just remember that the solution to making money as a blogger isnʼt in writing more posts and posting more ads. It is in smart execution of marketing strategy. 2. Build your relationship with your blog audience through the use of your email list, social media, live events online, comments, etc. That relationship is POWERFUL. 3. Build your relationship with other bloggers, both in and out of your own niche. You can do more guest posting with them to increase your traffic. You can even form a mastermind group so that you can all help each other succeed in the new year. 2010 isnʼt just a new year. It is a new decade. These are exciting times. Letʼs play the game. Yours in Blogging Success,

David Risley www.davidrisley.com www.blogmastersclub.com www.twitter.com/davidrisley