I get tons of emails from people who are frustrated with their blogs and websites because they aren't generating any traffic or revenue. Some have even gone so far as to question whether blogging and Internet marketing are legitimate sources of income and opportunity.

In response to most of the comments I receive, I like to ask one simple question:

"If I were to ask you what the most important task of building your website is, what would you say?"

Most usually respond by saying it's to creating content or blogging about your niche. It sounds right, but it's not.

Most bloggers, writers, and even some marketers themselves, don't see themselves as true marketers. They think all they have to do is "blog daily" and "focus on their niche", and people will eventually come to their website. They spend all their time learning how to get Facebook and Twitter followers, writing blog posts and building an email list. They follow all the advice and practice all the tactics, only to end up with a handful of likes, mediocre engagement and zero revenue dollars. Why? Because instead of building a brand and marketing a business, they're focused on building an audience.

Look, arbitrarily following random people on social media isn't going to help you in the long run. In my opinion, the worst kind of followers you want, are people who 'Like' your stuff, simply because you've 'Liked' theirs. (I call this "Tit-for-Tat" connection.) Some say this is an effective strategy, but I would beg to differ.

When you follow someone on social media, I'm willing to bet it's because you either know and trust the person, or you love the products, services and/or content that this person or business creates. They promote ideas you find important, insightful or valuable in some way, and therefore, you follow them. And that's the same way you should approach your own endeavors. You should want people to follow you because they love your work and share it voluntarily.

Just as your favorite people and brands create content that draws your interest and promotes their brand, you should be doing the same. I'll give you an example...

Let's say Toyota publishes a blog post about new anti-lock brakes. One might assume a car company blogging about a new braking system will be beneficial to their audience. In the general sense, it does, because every driver wants better safety features on their car. But how does it benefit the Toyota company and brand to only blog about new anti-lock braking systems? It doesn't. No one is going to be intrigued enough by a generic post about brakes to consider buying a new Toyota. However, if Toyota published this post, and outlined how the new braking features improved the safety ratings and performance on their latest model of Camry, and how that performance out-paced their competitors, then there's more of a possibility that someone who were in the market to buy a new car, would be included, at the very least, to consider and look into buying a Toyota.

The same goes for bloggers and marketers.

Lots of bloggers choose the self-help niche because it's a very profitable space to generate an income. The problem, is that most bloggers and marketers only create content of a general, non-specific nature, and worse, they don't tie that content into their business or brand. No one is going to download your ebook on building confidence, just because your blog is about self-help. (But you would be surprised how many people believe that's true.) To convert users/visitors to buyers, you have to establish some level of trust with your audience. And that comes from the relevance and quality of your content.

The reason most people don't make money online, is because they've assumed that their primary job is to just create content, when really, it is to market a business. The keyword being MARKET, which means to create content that grabs the attention of your audience and builds their trust.

So how do you create great content?

I've studied a number of top bloggers and marketers and what I've found is that they do 2 things extremely well...

1.) They have an ability to identify what great content is--in relation to their audience--and then scaling it (growing and expanding it) on an ongoing basis. To produce great content, you have to know who your target audience is. Who are you writing for/who are you selling to? One of the major mistakes I've noticed with a lot of new bloggers is that they choose a niche based on its size and revenue potential, but fail to identify an audience. For example, let's look at the health and fitness niche.

Lots of people choose this niche because of its enormous revenue potential. They will set up a website, and just start blogging about weight loss, eating clean and the importance of regular exercise, but they fail to direct their message to a specific group of people, be it large or small. Are you offering tips for overweight adults over the age of 50? Diabetics? Runners and body-builders? What? Know your audience, and target it well.

2.) Establishing a logical link between that content and your business. I call this the "Monetization Link". This too, involves knowing your audience well. You'll need to create content, products and services that not only cater to their interests, but also encourage them to buy. Remember, the point of building an online business is to MAKE MONEY. And to make money, you need to to be able to tie the relevancy of your content, to your brand.

If you aspire to make money online, you need to train yourself to become a marketer, and not just a blogger. Everything you do, should highlight or speak to some aspect of what you do. This doesn't mean you have to promote yourself in every piece of content you create, but it should feed into the larger agenda of your business in some way.

Take care and be blessed!

Ra