After 2 years of problogging and a tidy monthly profit that continues to grow, these are the lessons I’ve learned about the business of blogging.

1) Market first, product second.

When I started Life Coaches Blog, all I thought about was me; what I loved and what I wanted to talk about. But it’s not about you, it’s about what you can do for your readers, how you can help her solve problems and improve her life. What’s in it for her to read your blog?

I created a product then expected the market to come when it should have been the other way round.

2) Measure your success.

What do you want to get out of a blog? Fun? Profit? Referrals? Before starting a blog, know what you want to do it for and find a way to measure that result – that way you’ll know months down the road if you’re succeeding.

3) Be damn good at one laser-focused thing.

When you sell to everyone, no one buys. Life Coaches Blog has a wide range of personal development topics and I believe that’s why its success has been limited. A successful blog either has a focused niche; productivity tips for Mac users for example (43Folders), or a strong niche brand like the kooky spiritual personal development expert (Steve Pavlina).

4) Sell products or services.

What do you sell? The big money is in niche-focused products that solves a lot of people’s problems and makes their life better in a unique way. The problem with Life Coaches Blog is that it doesn’t sell anything except passive advertising through Adsense and Text Link Ads, which is why the revenue hasn’t been very high.

Blogs are really good for one thing: to market products or services. All the content being built, unless you bundle it and sell it at some point, just establishes your credibility and expert status.

5) Send a clear message.

Who are you? What do you sell? What do people get when they buy from you that they cannot get from everyone else? The clearer and the more specific your answer is, the more money you’ll make.

6) Automate everything you can.

Less work and more profit is the desired outcome. Life Coaches Blog became a second job, I had to constantly write and do the administration work. It was my job when I came home at night; it was my job on the weekends. And I belonged to it as much as it belonged to me. The best businesses run on auto-pilot as much as possible, whether that’s through automation or employees.

7) Do what you love, love what you do.

If there’s one thing that has sustained Life Coaches Blog through all the tough times; it’s my lifelong passion to improve myself. Blogging is not a get-rich-quick strategy, so be prepared to put some heart and soul into it.

If you only blog for profits, when the profits don’t come your motivation will drop and your blog will die without a fighting chance to prove itself. With or without Life Coaches Blog, I would still have been finding more ways to grow personally and that makes all the difference.