How I Made $15,000 from One Magical Money-Making Blog Post

No, I didn’t make $15,000 from one blog post. But Yasmine Mustafa did. Actually, she’s now made over $17,000 from that one post, and she talked about it at WordCamp Philly and the subsequent video titled, “How I Made $15,000+ From One Blog Post.”

Below is a video of her talk. Because it lasts about forty minutes, I’ve gone through and pulled out some of the major areas she discussed along with notes on each. You will find a time stamp beside the title for each section that marks the approximate place in the video where that section begins.

There is a little bit of repetition in some of the sections, and so you will see that reflected in the notes as well.

 

The “Magical Post” (2:35)

• The “magical post” was written in 2007 and took a little more than two hours
• She optimized the post for “(an email campaign software) alternatives”  (actual name not given)
• It was written in a list format
• It included five affiliate ads in the post
• It had nine backlinks using specific anchor text
• It had 41 comments
• It averages between $500 and $1,700 per month in revenue

 

What You Should and Shouldn’t Do (4:15)

• You need good design
• Don’t put too many ads in your post
• You need traffic, but not always lots. You need targeted traffic.
• You need engagement with your readers
• Stay within your niche
• Keep your blog updated
• You should plan to dedicate at least five hours a week to your blog if you plan to make any money from it

 

4 Key Drivers of Success for Monetizing Your Blog (5:50)

 

1. Making money shouldn’t be your main priority. Think about your audience first.
2. You need relevant, unique, and valuable content
3. You need an engaged community.
4. You need traffic

Different Ways to Monetize Your Blog (7:50)

• Sell your own product (ebooks, etc.)
• Promote Yourself – then get speaking engagements, consultations, etc.
• Sponsored Reviews
• Donations
• Direct Advertising
• CPC Networks
• CPM Networks
• Affiliate Marketing

Types of Posts that Do Well  (13:55)

• Posts that compare different products/services or that give alternatives. 90% of her revenue comes from blog posts that take this approach.
• Product/Service reviews
• Gift ideas
• Informational posts
• Hot topics
• How to guides / tutorials

 

 

How to Write a Post (20:10)

• Be objective
• Write for humans, but also write for search engines. Make sure you headlines are optimized.
• Make lists
• Add incentives if there are any (limited time, satisfaction guaranteed, etc.)
• Capitalize on the latest trends

 

 

How to Promote Your Posts (25:35)

• Get links with relevant anchor text – do guest posts
• Set up Google alerts for your keywords, and then leave comments on blog posts that are writing about the same topic
• Use StumbleUpon
• Use Q&A sites (Yahoo Answers, Quora, etc.)
• Keep up with your stats so you can see what’s working

 

 

Recap: Some Tricks Learned Along the Way (34:25)

• Be objective
• Blogging for money IS a job
• SEO your posts
• List alternatives to whatever you’re writing about
• Promote your posts
• Use A/B testing – Put the biggest payers at the top
• Keep up with stats
• Don’t try to make money for the first year. Build a community with other related bloggers by leaving comments on their posts and using Twitter.

 

 

Photo: Attractive Business Woman With A Magic Wand And Hat Making Appea from BigStock

 

Tags:

• blogging
• marketing
• wordcamp