Making money from a business-to-business blog is different than making money from a consumer blog. A B2B blog generally means you’ll have somewhat less traffic than a more generic blog, but each visitor can potentially be worth a lot more to you.
Generic blog monetization methods such as AdSense and affiliate programs just don’t make sense when it comes to B2B blogs. Here’s how to monetize a blog that is targeted specifically at businesses.
The Goal Is the Big Sale
The goal isn’t to make 10 cents on a click or $20 on an affiliate sale. Instead, a better goal is to sell $100-$1,000 products on the front end, plus $1,000 to $10,000 on the back end. To do that, you need to demonstrate that the money visitors spend will generate a positive return on investment (ROI). That’s what’s great about B2B blogs–you’re not selling on emotion, you’re selling on ROI. If you can demonstrate that you will help them make money, and back that with a money-back guarantee in case they don’t make money, you’ll get a lot of sales.
Focus on the Relationship
First of all, don’t expect to make a fast sale. Instead, focus on building the long-term relationship. Get as many people on a newsletter as you can. Aim for 90 percent of your newsletter to be high-quality content and 10 percent to be sales. Post on your blog regularly so your readers can get to know what you have to offer over time, rather than all at once.
Selling Advertising
If you have a blog that is well regarded in a particular industry, you can charge a lot for advertising. You might charge on a CPM model (cost per mille–the ad cost per thousand views), or you might charge on a monthly model. For example, if you’re a recognized name in the online marketing industry, businesses that target people in that industry will be willing to pay a premium for advertising on your website. You can command up to four times what others might pay for more generic advertisements – sometimes even more. These sales will come primarily from building direct relationships with other people in the industry. Once your blog is better known, just put out the word that you’re accepting advertisers and let them come to you.
Selling through Your Customer’s Networks
One benefit of having a B2B blog is that most of your customers have customer lists and relationships of their own. If you create something that they find truly useful to themselves and their customers, that makes it very easy for them to pass your products on to a lot of people.
Tim Ferriss, author of the 4-Hour Workweek, put this technique to great use. Although his audience was small, much of his audience was internet marketers. Through his connections with other bloggers and marketers, he was able to go from a no-name to a New York Times bestseller almost overnight.
Put out great content that’s original and truly useful to others. Build relationships with your visitors and aim for larger sales rather than incremental earnings. Your B2B blog can be an incredible source of revenue once it picks up steam.
