Book Review: 18 Months, 2 Blogs, Six Figures

By Zach of All Trades on September 21, 2012 in Entrepreneur, Knowledgable

How I wish this title referred to my blog! But not yet, we’ve only just gotten started. Corbett Barr is an online blogging guru. On his sites, Expert Enough and Think Traffic, he helps people get their message out to the world and monetize it. I’m currently in the process of finishing up his Start a Blog that Matters course. It has been uber useful and I wouldn’t have gotten this far without it.

Recently, I came across a source of positive energy which he wrote called 18 Months, 2 Blogs, Six Figures. I tore through the 68 page document like it was whip cream and strawberries and am trying to wrap my brain around the possibility of making six figures from my blog. My brain still finds it difficult to change my mental blueprint of not being rich into a money-making mind set. It’s a constantly evolving perception. But before I delve into a review about 18 months, let’s first find out what Corbett thinks about being a Generalist.

Corbett Barr, Founder of ThinkTraffic and ExpertEnough

To me, a generalist is someone who pursues multiple interests either out of a desire to become well-rounded, or simply because he finds it more fun/useful/interesting than focusing on just one or two primary interests.

I definitely consider myself a generalist. Professionally I’ve been a software developer, project manager, entrepreneur, writer, consultant and coach. In my “spare time” I dabble in surfing, sailing, world travel, learning Spanish, acting, music, art and cocktail appreciation
I wouldn’t have it any other way.

18 Months, 2 Blogs, Six Figures

Corbett has worked in the blogging industry for years now, but that wasn’t always the case. When he and his wife, first took a vacation to Mexico to get away from long work hours at the office, he found a world littered with people who made money online. They traveled wherever they wanted whenever they wanted and had a freedom he could never have imagined. To say the least, this sparked his interest. Having no blogging experience, he immediately started a blog called Free Pursuits about the interesting entrepreneurs he was meeting on his travels. Cutting to the chase, 18 months later he had a thriving business projected to crack six figures for the year! Here are some points I found particularly interesting in this read.

The First Course: Affiliate Marketing

In this how-to case study, he gives us a glimpse into what he did and how, when starting his first blogging venture. After emailing everyone he knew about his site, he started blogging. After a while, he polled his audience to see what they might be interested in. He found that many people were interested in the affiliate marketing side of blogging, which honestly is a good place to get started when making money online. So he created a course called Affiliate Marketing for Beginners. He now had a product he could market and sell! By ASKING his readers what they were interested in, he was able to create a product for which he already had buyers.

Who are you Again?

Don’t think you can just explain your reason for being once. You have to repeat it often for all the new readers you’re attracting. If not, your audience won’t grow.

One thing that was reinforced for me in this case study is the part about EXPLAINING YOUR REASON FOR BEING. I have a hard time with this because I don’t like to annoy people and I feel like repeating myself is annoying. I want to have constantly new and interesting content. However, with ever changing content, your audience (and you) can lose sight of the point of your site. So I have to remember to remind people I am here to help them organize their lives and accomplish their dreams. I also want to get Personal Finance taught in high schools since I see this as a way to empower the next generation to take more control over their own lives, their economy, and ultimately their country.

Let it Be

Corbett paraphrases Tim Ferris’ words by saying

…being successful is about letting lots of little bad things happen (like someone getting mad at you for not replying to an email) in favor of doing relatively few really important things (like working on your book). There simply isn’t enough time in the day to do it all.

A lot of times when we create something very special to us, it can feel like our baby. The True Generalist is definitely my baby. So when someone gets mad about something on the blog or I get no comments or likes about it, it can definitely cause an emotional reaction on my part. This little phrase helps me stay sane and realize that there are bigger fish to fry.

Becoming a Mastermind

I am no genius. I can remember movie quotes and song lyrics to infinitum, but USEFUL data like how to do something or when something is happening goes right out the other ear. I have no idea how or why my brain decided to function this way but it did. So how can I become a Mastermind? Other than beating someone at the game Mastermind, you need to bring in other sources of intelligence, namely, other smart people doing something similar to you. Corbett promotes having a mastermind group for your project, keeping it to about 4 people. Meet weekly, either in person or through Skype, and share ideas and strategies. Most importantly, close each meeting by stating an accountability item you must work on before the next meeting. Impose punishments on yourself, like giving some money to a charity if you do not complete this task before the next meeting. Your other group members will help keep you accountable.

Verdict

I think it’s obvious, I loved this case study I found it uber useful. Not only did Corbett tell us exactly how he made money online, he told us how we could too. I especially liked Part 3: How to build an audience big enough to support yourself since that’s mainly the place I’m still at.

I hope you found this review useful. Although the site, Free Pursuits, does not exist anymore, you can check out more of Corbett’s stuff on Think Traffic. And read the Case Study and tell me what YOU think.

Are you interested in making money online or turning your blog into a money maker? Tell me about your business.