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Really though, I appreciate this thought. So many people are trying to get rich quick or use business models that rarely turn a buck. Yes, we need to follow our passion, but we need to recognize how you make money off of it in a plain and simple way, right off the bat.
You have to have a plan and you have to plan for money.
I loathe the word 'monetization' because it is so ugly.
I think the reason for it is that what we are passionate about (unless we are born business types) is that our passion doesn't start out including money. In some sense making money is 'added'.
I do think we then need to move on to building a business with our passion at the core. I think the hard truth is that sometimes this is not possible (hands up all those interested in a physical, christian spirituality. Hmm, I won't become wealthy selling my book on that will I?) Usually my guess is that it is possible.
My hope is that my new website will do this. I figured out that I needed to sell my own product and build a business around this. I still do my blog - it fits as marketing for the website (it currently has a much more traffic) but the website is what I need to build a business.
Thanks for a great post.
Still subscribed!
I started my own business last Nov. I did better than my goal for this school year was. I am also expanding for next year. It is a blast but I work my butt off. At the end of a day, I am so tired, but it is such a good tired. I'm already planning what I want my business to look like in five years. It is exciting!
Thanks man. You continue to impress me.
Thank you for that, and for all the rest. You rock.
Brilliant post here.
That's a line to be quoted, and for the ages. Well done, Clay.
-Sam
thanks for helping keep the focus tight Clay - keep it coming..... looking fwd to hearing more about the project mojave re-launch......!
Clay, do continue cranking out good stuff man. :)
I had a realization at 4am/5am this morning before I went to sleep that made me feel some of this.
Having a business is really what it's about. We can talk about getting paid to exist, money by doing what we love, but really we still need to know it's a business. Thanks Clay!
A very different aspect taken on Montization .Normally all blogger would write for writing an ebook and stuff .. your approach is very different . But thoughts are definitely in a gr8 direction .Made my grey cells working for a while for sure .
Regards
Sudeep
However, I don't think monetization is a lesser form of business. They both have the same end result: Generate an income.
Building a proper business does have it's distinct advantages over monetization and it's these that increase your ROI.
I think that eventually anyone monetizing will discover how things -should- be done to get a better ROI and take it seriously. They end up reworking the whole lot and building a business around it.
It's the caring that's key here. Care about what generates income for you and you'll want to do that the best way you know how.
Either you keep the status quo and are happy about it, or you realize that there's much more you can do, you take it serious, investigate, generate ideas and put your heart and soul not only in what (in case of blogging) you write but also in how it will generate an income for you.
Care about both things equally and you have a business.
However, if you started doing something without the intention to make money, and it took off far beyond your expectations, your surprising success can be utilized towards the creation of a business.
I also think that it's ok to do noncommercial things in life, to have a blog on Buddhism or digital photography or Medieval art that doesn't make any money and doesn't intend to.
On the internet, I think why many people want things to be free or even just offer things for free is because part of us deeply wants a commons again, a place where something (ANYTHING) is free again. Social media in my opinion is largely driven by the interest in creating a commons. Our live communities are devoid of places where we can just hang out, for free, with other live human beings, so we have tried to create online communities that are free and counter-cultural. Social media marketing represents the opposing force, the drive of late capitalism to seek new markets in order to sustain infinite exponential growth.
So yes, start an intelligent business, and also have your free blog for a hobby if you want, but it may be smart to keep them clearly differentiated...unless your free blog has tons of traffic and your business is suffering, and if only you could sell your products to your blog readers.... (sometimes it's complex, eh?)
I wish I could argue with you...
But you're so fucking right!
;-)
Marc
Dr. Wright
The Wright Place TV Show
http://wrightplacetv.com
www.twitter.com/drwright1
One point in favor of monetization, though, it might help people get on the "professional" business ladder, and so that's a good thing. It might still help to reawaken dreams.