Over the past 5 years or so there have been alot of people making some serious money with blogs,  I’m talking 5 to 6 figures a month.  There is no surprise that the internet is a huge cash cow.  Some people are satisfied with having a blog as a hobby while others want to take the next step to make a profit.  The key idea to developing a profitable blog is to treat it as a business.  The successful bloggers that I’ve come across are also business savvy.  They know what needs to get done in order to take it to the next level.  I want to share some of the key points to turning a blog from a hobby to a business.

Don’t concentrate on income only - I know I sound like a hypocrite but this is a big part of being successful.  If you continually obsess over how much money your making each day then you probably won’t last.  You need to concentrate on the product or, in this case, content.  In order to make a profit you need to have something of value.  People won’t come to your site if you have crappy content.  They will come to your site if you have great content that helps solve a problem or they benefit from in some way.

Register the business – In the very least, you should register your blogging business as a sole proprietor.  Eventually, when you make more money, you can change it into a different entity like a corporation.   Its good to get this done from the get go because it legitimizes your business and you can open a company checking account and credit card (if needed).  Truth is, people will take you more seriously and you will feel like an actual business.

Bookkeeping – Proper money management is crucial to the survival of your business.  First off, you need to keep personal and business money separate.  Secondly, you want to watch every penny going out an coming in.  Thirdly, if you keep good records it will make it easier when tax time comes.

Network – In order to be a major player in your industry, you must interact with people in the same field.  It’s important to make your name known.  Some ways to do this is posting in forums, taking advantage of social networks (Twitter, Facebook, etc.),  go to industry tradeshows, introduce yourself via email.  The important thing is to be recognizable by others that will have an interest in what you’re doing.

Have Goals - When goals aren’t in place, you’re going in no direction.  You need to strive for something.  Even if its small goals like increase daily traffic to 50 viewers, your productivity will increase.  I can sit day in and day out and work but if I don’t know what I’m working for then I find myself going through the motions.   Here are my suggestions;

1. Clearly write the goal (yearly, monthly, weekly) somewhere you can see it.  Make sure you make it visible everyday so you’re reminded why you work so hard.
2. Put a time on it, make the accomplishment in a certain amount of time so you won’t be dragging your feet.  When goals don’t have a time attached with it then they seem to be met whenever…don’t fall into that trap.
3. Review how you’ve done and adjust.  Depending on how you do, make the next goal harder to achieve.
4. Do something every day to get closer to the goal.  Even if its something small, you want to work everyday in order to gain momentum.

Time Management – There is no question you’ll be busy.  For most people you’ll be working a day job and trying to start your business.  Is it possible?  Of course, you need to juggle your time well.  That means;

1. write a to-do list (which I’ll explain later in this post)
2. do what’s important – work only on your business.  Don’t get fooled by doing busy work and not what’s important for the business.  At first, it’s not important to get your blog’s ads in place, instead pump out alot of great content.
3. don’t get side-tracked -Examples – turn cell on silent, don’t go on Facebook, turn TV off.
4. block off a time slot – This is especially important if you have kids.  Wait till playtime is over or they go to bed and work for 2 to 3 hours.  On the weekends, work a few hours in the morning and have your significant other watch the kids.

Write a To-Do list – A to-do list is very important with regards to getting things done.  I suggest writing one the night before.  Put three things that need to get done for the following day.  Work on those first so you don’t put it off till later.  Having a list results in action because you know you need to do those things.  Without one you’ll do whatever you feel like it and after 2 hours surfing the net you’ll look back and realize you did nothing!

Outsource Your Weaknesses - You should concentrate on your strengths and outsource your weaknesses.  Of course its good to know and try everything but it will keep you stagnant.  If you’re not good at graphic design, go to Elance and have someone do one for cheap.  That time it would of took you to make a lowsy logo, you can write several articles for your blog.

Choose a niche, but don’t limit yourself to it - All successful businesses know who their customer and market is.  This is true in the blogging world, you need to know who your readers are and build your content around your topic.  At first, you should solely concentrate on writing content for your niche.  Then as traffic grows, write articles that feed off your niche.  For example, let’s say you start a BMW 3-series blog then you’re first 15 articles should be about BMW 3-series only.  After you can write an article or two on BMW SUV’s, BMW custom parts, rims for BMW sports cars, etc.  Don’t forget your niche but to get more readers I think its good to not limit yourself to exactly what you set out for.

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