By Jim Hagarty
I started a blog two weeks ago to entertain the masses.
And to make money.
So I did an Internet search on how to start a blog.
Mission accomplished.
Then I did some more searching, this time on how to make money from a blog. Imagine my surprise: There are a million ways. Or are there?
I finally settled on the words of advice from a blogger who makes $100,000 a month. That is a nice round figure, I thought, and he seemed pretty humble. So I became his disciple.
There were sites I found by people who make many times more than $100,000 a month but I am not a greedy man. I can get by on $1,200,000 a year.
My guru had 20 suggestions. I looked them over carefully. They seemed to make sense.
His biggest pearl of wisdom came when he discussed his opinion that the riches won’t come from the blog itself. Instead, they will happen as a result of what I am able to sell on my blog. And what I need to sell is my expertise.
I need to think of myself as a teacher. Imagine what it is my readership needs, assess what it is I have expertise in, and then match those two things up.
Expertise. Hmmm.
I took an hour out of my day and just sat and thought about my expertise. What is it, I asked myself, that I am an expert in? What things do I know that many people don’t know and how can I align that knowledge with the needs my readers have?
My brain started doing its brain thing. The session extended into a second hour. I encountered some difficulty in singling out something I know that most people don’t know and need to know.
Ideas started to come. I know how to prevent my breakfast cereal from becoming soggy. (Hint: Pour the milk in the bowl first, then the cereal.)
I know that the best way to trim your fingernails is to use a toenail clippers.
Good ideas, I knew they were, but the wheels ground to a halt.
Then, jackpot!
This winter I discovered how to easily peel that pesky free coffee sticker off the side of a McDonald’s coffee cup. Without giving too much of the secret away, the answer is to peel it off while the coffee is still inside the cup. The hot coffee melts the wax holding the sticker to the cardboard.
I was elated.
Following my guru’s next steps, I am going to write an e-book about easy sticker removals and post that for sale on my blog.
I will compound that success by coming up with a beautiful, hardcover, coffeetable version of the e-book. I will sell it for $29.95. Correction: $39.95.
Third, I will organize a speaking tour about the subject of sticker peeling.
Fourth, a YouTube video.
And finally, I will offer courses on the subject. On-line and off. The eight-week, real in-person course will cost students $599.00. Correction: $799.00. And bring your own McDonald’s coffee cup, contents still inside.
I was over at the local Chevy dealer today. They have two new Corvettes in the lot. One cherry red, one silver. I can’t decide which one to get.
Ah, what the hell?
I’m going to get both of them.
