Is Your Blog Content Worth Money?

What Can You Do With all That Content?

There are many of us who post blogs or record podcasts (audio) and video posts.  The question is, now that you have all of that valuable content, what can you do with it?

First, let me start off by saying that I am not suggesting you sell just any ol’ junk to turn a dime on the Internet.  But you have to believe that the information that attracted your regular visitors holds value.  You have invested your time and talent, shared your insights, and odds are, poured your heart into the content.  After all you would not be blogging if it were not a topic that you are passionate about to begin with.  Most of us fail to realize that our time IS worth money.   On the Internet – information is a commodity and a salable commodity at that. 

Ask yourself this:

1. Have you developed a regular following?  A set of readers or listeners that visit your site on a regular basis?
2. Do you post on a regular schedule?
3. How long have you been blogging or recording?
4. Do you have posts that are favored or have more traffic then others?

One client of mine who works as a speech coach has taken her podcasts and created a two set cd or downloadable mp3.  The time that she has invested in giving away her expertise over the last few years can potentially pay off by selling the information that was once free.  Why would anyone buy it?  Instead of pawing through years of posts, you can now get the abridged version in a nice neat package.  Plug it into your Ipod or pop the CD into your car stereo and you can learn while doing something else (we all do like to multitask). 

The same holds true for text based blogs.  You have been offering free pearls of information over time and you have the potential to sell that same information to anyone who may be interested.   Taking your posts, copying them into a word file, creating a PDF and offering it up for sale is a simple process.  Pop a paypal “buy now” button under it and put the download link on the thank you page and “poof” you have a product. 

Your blog doesn’t have to be about business or making money.  Suppose you write affirmations, share inspirational stories or offer insights to the human existence.  Maybe you have been writing about a niche market, say a gaming review site or homeowners’ tips blog – again the product is in the content.  You have people who have been interested in those stories following your blog, thus you have a “product” worth paying for.  Index them, sort them out, select the best of the best, package it and offer it up for sale. 

The number one reason blog writers don’t try this is because they underestimate the value of the information.  Do not underestimate yourself… take a look at what you have been building over the years and see the value of your knowledge, observations and insights.  Trust me, you are worth it.