Have you ever picked up a new hobby and found yourself so immersed in it? Hours fly by in what feels like 10 seconds. Maybe you forgot to cook dinner. You might have even forgot to pick up your kids from soccer practice – whoops :).
Let me tell you something. You’re not alone…
We all have hobbies whether we realize it or not. Some of us love cooking and others love crafty activities like knitting.
Whether you’re a rough riding thrill junky or a quiet little book worm, there is a way you can turn your favorite hobbies into a blog and then transform it into a business.
The simple solution is this:
Build an audience of like-minded people. Then sell them something.
Facebook did it. Google did it. You can do it too.
Throughout this guide, I’m going to show you how you can start by turning your passionate everyday activities into something that’s meaningful to more than just your current networks.
You’ll get a taste of how you can turn your hobby into a blog that people love. Throughout your blogging journey, you’ll get ideas of what you can sell and how your audience will respond to your offers.
Ready to get blissfully lost in the art of blogging? Let’s start with identifying your passions.
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Your Business Can Be Your Knowledge.
The Internet and social media are powerful tools. They enable you to give your perspective, rile up a heated debate and even make a full-time living while you’re at it.
Even if you’re just beginning to learn something new, you can document your learning through a blog and share it with the world.
Remember this one thing if you’re afraid or self-conscious to start:
You are learning. With every new piece of information you consume, there is someone else right behind you learning what you just learned.
I’ll be honest with you. A hobby doesn’t immediately turn into a business. A business requires two things:
- Money generated through products, services or advertisements.
- People who will buy it.
Now you’re probably thinking…
- what do I sell?
- where do I start?
- there’s way too much information out there from people with more experience than me.
Empty your thoughts of all of this and do one thing. Start a blog.
Why starting with a blog will change everything.
Blogs are the number one trusted source for information. In fact, throughout Google’s search updates, the top ranked search results tend to be informational sources rather than product pages.
For example, if you look for “headphone reviews” in Google, you don’t see product pages to Best Buy or Amazon.
You’ll see reviews from tech blogs that give unbiased information on different headphones.
When you start with a blog, you become a part of the conversation and attract an audience of people who are interested in your topic.
Why?
Because they’re just like you. They’re looking for information on a given topic to solve a problem.
How do I start my blog?
Technology has come a long way. Creating a blog is easy and it doesn’t take a tech-savvy college graduate to make one.
Now, you can start a blog without any technological know-how.
In February, I put together this step-by-step tutorial for you that will help you start your blog in no time. Thousands of people have used it, shared it and most importantly have started their own blogs built around their passions.
What are your hobbies? You don’t have to be good at it…
Tell me what your hobbies are. I know I’m just a screen at this point, but tell me. Say it out loud.
“I like [insert your hobby here].”
Now ask yourself this.
“Am I the only person in the world of over 7 billion people who want to learn about this?”
I’m guessing the answer is no.
We look to blogs to get information that will be relevant and actionable so we can expand our knowledge and learn new skills. It might be something as simple as a new recipe, directions to a new destination or perhaps learning to turn a hobby into a business.
There are millions of answers out there. And in no way are any of them 100% accurate.
We all come from different backgrounds and have our own valuable way to pitch our angle.
Find a niche to blog about.
When you start your blog, you’ll need a topic to write about. Whether you write about food, beauty, knitting or even your experience blogging, there is no bad topic.
The key is to stay focused on a niche that you are passionate about and that you can regularly provide value in.
As you continue to create and promote content, you will attract an audience of like-minded people who are interested in what you have to say.
Throughout the content, you want to provide actionable advice that people can use to further their knowledge or experience in your niche.
For example, if you’re a talented home chef, you can write about different recipes, knifing skills and even appliances you use that help save you time and money.
Build an email list of like-minded people.
A portion of your blog visitors will become your subscribers who will give you valuable feedback on products you can create and sell in the future.
The people who find value in what you’re doing will subscribe to your email newsletter. If you’re just starting out, you can sign up for a free account at Mailchimp for your first 2,000 subscribers.
We use ConvertKit here at Mom Prepares and love the different features it has to offer.
Here’s the deal:
Everyone won’t sign up for newsletters. The average person gets 76 emails per day and most of them are from newsletters they are signed up for.
People don’t want to have their mailboxes filled with junk. So you need to be different and attract people in a few different ways.
Here are the 3 most effective email list building strategies we’ve been using.
1. Offer a freebie
Everyone loves something free. Whether that’s a checklist, eBook or something that can provide value to other people, they will more likely sign up for your newsletter in exchange for something.
This has been extremely effective and has helped us get over 1,000 new subscribers in the past few months.
2. Have an email sign up form at the bottom of every blog post.
If someone reads all the way to the end of your blog post, then there’s a good chance that they’re interested in what you have to say.
By providing a place for them to opt-in to your newsletter, they will more likely sign up there since it happens to be right in front of them after reading a great piece of content.
3. Write for other reputable blogs.
Guest posting is something that is awesome. We occasionally allow guest writers to come in and share their experiences with our readers too.
All guest posts will have an author box where credit is given to the writer. You can use this as a place to direct people to your website.
People who enjoyed your guest post will likely come to your website to see if they like what they see. If they want to get more information from you, they’ll sign up for your email newsletter.
Conclusion
Before you start building a product and then hope people will buy it from you, take the first step to turn your hobby into a business.
Start your blog first and then build an audience from there.
You can nurture relationships with your subscribers and ask for feedback, suggestions and have them be a part of your first product launch.
If you haven’t started a blog but have always wanted to, what’s holding you back? Let me know in the comments below.
Original article and pictures take momprepares.com site
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