Blogging Elements

Should You Have a Business Plan For Your Blog?

Posted on 21. Jan, 2010 by Ashwin in Blogging Lessons

I often advocated the need to run your blog as a business and there is a good reason for it: A blog is perfect answer for the “entrepreneurial seizure” that grips many people trying their best to kick themselves out of their cubicles since it is easy to start and doesn’t take much investment to begin with. It is probably the same reason why most bloggers don’t consider having a business plan made for their blogs. Here are some reasons why you should have a business plan for your blog:

• It gives you a direction: Most entrepreneurs think of a business plan as a document that is necessary to acquire funding. They think that it is an instrument to woo the venture capitalists. A business plan isn’t just that; it’s a document that envisages the route your business is going to take. It charts out a map for the entrepreneur to follow and late lead others. A business plan gives rigidity and support for an entrepreneur. If bloggers operate their blogs like businesses, they ought to have a business plan to get a sense of direction.                          What is the purpose of the blog? What is one thing that this blog has to do? Is it providing value? Where should the blog be in say 5 years from now? 10 years from now? 30 years from now? Should it be run solo or be multi-authored? Where does the revenue come from? Who controls the blog? What are the expenses incurred when running the blog? Without these answers, you are crawling in the dark.

• It can correct you when you meander: Our lives are never the same; change is our collective middle name. While you are operating and running your blog, you will realize that there are lots of juicier and sexier things to do than to sit and write posts.  The prospect of blogging might not be such an exciting endeavor after all. So, what do you do? You meander, deviate and go off the road. A business plan is like a whack on the top of your head; it makes you come back to where you left off and pursue your passion.
• It lets you be on top of numbers: To be a successful blogger, you must learn to love numbers. Trust me, I hate them and I still have to deal with them. I thought it would be easier to deal with numbers if I develop this love towards it (it’s possible; people in countries like India often have arranged marriages and they fall in love after their weddingJ). Apart from knowing all about the readers – their habits, characteristics, temperament, you should also be on top of other numbers like revenue (one-off/recurring/both), expenses and other long-term plans. It must also include forecasts like expected revenue from advertisements or affiliate marketing or a combination thereof, contingency funds, payables, etc,.

Having said all of that, the business plan for your blog doesn’t have to be elaborate. Just a few pages of what matters would do.

Tags: Business Plan for bloggers, Run blog as business