11 Simple Steps for Crafting An Effective Blog Business Plan

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  • Have you developed a business plan for your blog?
  • Does your blog need a business plan?
  • What is the relevance of a business plan for a blogger?

If these are the questions that are going through your mind, please read on, as I will give the answer in detail.

If a survey were to be carried out on the above-mentioned subject, you would find that over 85% of blogs are run without business plans, and I can also bet that, if you reading this article, you don’t have any business plan.

It is well known that a prerequisite for the successful establishment and building of a business is a business plan. Well, if a business plan is an ingredient for business success, why can’t it also be used for a blog?

Writing a business plan for your blog is definitely not mandatory, but if you intend to treat your blog as a business, then I will advise you to create a business plan for your blog.

A business plan describes the current status of an existing business and provides guidance for future forecasts. As one well-known author said: “You can never plan the future through the past,” so think of this popular quote and start an effective business plan for your blog.

Why you need a Blog business plan?

Blog business plan
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Blog business plan

1. Your plan will help you maintain your focus

The first and probably the most important thing a business plan can do for you is to help you maintain your focus.

I know so many bloggers on the Internet who started small, grew up and forgot the original purpose of creating a blog.

A business plan can help you avoid being among these ignorant bloggers. Periodically reviewing your blog business plan will help keep your efforts in focus.

2. It will help you develop a short and long term strategy for your blog

A written business plan can serve as a yardstick for you in developing a short and long term strategy for your blog.

Most bloggers only plan short term but if your blog is going to churn out extraordinary profits in the near future, then the planning begins today.

3. It will show investors that you know what you are doing

What if tomorrow, you were approached by investors who picked specific interest in the growing popularity of your blog?

What will you do?

One of the best ways to show an investor that you are a smart business owner or blogger is to allow him to take a peep at your business plan and other financial records of your blog.

Taking this action alone will prove to the investor that you know your onions and you can definitely negotiate a better deal for your blog.

In the business world, getting the attention of an investor without a strong business plan is like trying to extract blood from a stone.

Having explained briefly why your blog needs a business plan, let’s go into the details of how to come up with a winning business plan for your blog

Effective Business Plan for Bloggers

1. Mission

The first thing you should ask from yourself is that what is your mission. What exactly do you want to achieve, and what are the available resources that can help you in achieving your goal.

As a blogger your goal is ‘Profit OR Earnings” and for that, you must first think about your vision. You should know about your readers, their nature and their needs. If you fail you might be heartbroken, but if you never tried, you are doomed.

2. Brand Name

Branding your business is the most effective step in a business plan. For example just look at the brand name of this blog that is “ShoutMeLoud“, now this is what you must think about. First brand your blog with a name so that your readers can use your brand name as your reference.

3. Goals and Objectives

Of course, your goal is to earn as much as you can, and establish your brand name just like “Problogger“. You will not make money if you fail to divide your goal into objectives.

Find all the available platforms that can help you in your blog promotion. Divide time for every objective, For example, Posting Time, Promoting Time, Correction Time etc and then Resource Allocation, that is which platform you should use first for your blog promotion etc.

4. Your market potential

This is where you explain in details the basis and result of your research.

Why did you target the niche your blog is situated in?

  • Is the niche a small or large one?
  • Is the niche narrow or broad?
  • What is the local and global search volume of your niche keywords?
  • How many percent of the total search volume can you attract to your blog? Is your target niche growing or dying?

These are the questions you need to answer before even launching your blog.

5. Your blog marketing plan

How do you plan to tell the world you have something they need? How will you attract the targeted audience to your blog?

  • How much are you willing to spend to publicize your blog?
  • Are you going to advertise your blog in print media, television, on the Web or all of these?
  • Which marketing tactics will yield more result? Is it search optimization, joint ventures, free campaigns or paid campaigns?
  • What marketing tools will be required?
  • Who are the major competitors in your niche?
  • How do they attract traffic to their blog?
  • How did they monetize their blog?
  • What percentage of market share do they control?

All the questions above needs to be sorted out in the blog marketing section of your business plan.

Also see: 7 Tactics You Must Follow to Market Your Blog

6. SWOT Analysis

This is one of the most important steps for a business. As a blogger, you must point out S= Strength, W= Weaknesses, O= Opportunities and T= Threats related to your blog.

Strength:-

If you think you have a particular ability and you are expert in that, then this is your strength. This will give you a brand name in that field.

Weaknesses

If you think you are weak in any area, then try to overcome on your weaknesses. In this way, you will get extra benefits and you will be able to utilize all your expertise.

Opportunities

If someone is giving you free domain or hosting, articles, advertisement package etc that is the opportunity for you. Or if you think there is something available for your which can help you in your business, then point out all those ways.

Threats

If a business has more competitors, need more struggle and you want to compete with that business.

There are threats for you. If there are some threats for you if you start a “Blog” on a topic, then don’t go for that. Point out all the threats and then make a decision.

7. Financial Plan

Without finance, no one can start and promote a business. During developing a business plan (For Blog) you should think about your budget. If you start your blog with a cheap Web Hosting then it will not be effective for your blog. Starting a blog with reputable Web hosting like Bluehost will give you a lot of benefits.

All such decision are only possible when your budget is high and you are in the position to afford high-quality services for your blog.

Effective Business Plan depends on your budget, the high budget will give you a more effective business plan for your blog.

Now, the next few section is for blogs who also wish to attract investors in future. As a lot of businesses have started investing in blogs, having it handy would ensure you are ready when an investor approaches.

8. The executive summary

The executive summary is what introduces your blog to anyone reading the business plan. It includes a brief summary of the idea behind the creation of the blog, your blog objectives and overall strategy. Someone reading your executive summary should be able to get an overview of what your blog stands for.

9. Biography

This section will be used define your blog management team and what their purposes are. Are you the sole founder of the blog or you co-founded it with a partner? This is where you let us know about the blog ownership status; this is where we get to see the faces behind the blog. This section should include information such as the names and backgrounds of lead members of the blog management team and their responsibilities. Also to be included are their area of expertise, prior achievements, their strengths and weaknesses.

10. Your financial projection

This section of a business plan should have a summary of your expected financial forecasts, including spreadsheets showing the method that you used to reach these projections. You also have to show expected earnings. You can factor this out by analyzing the earnings of other blogs in your niche and using theirs to plot your estimated future earnings.

11. An exit strategy

This is the part where most bloggers don’t want to talk about. Almost all bloggers hope to live and die with their blog but in reality, it’s not possible. You will definitely have to let go of your blog some day. So instead of just allowing that day to happen, why don’t you plan for it in advance?

All good business plans include a section that lays out the benchmarks you will use in deciding to call it quits.

In the end, if you wish to make a living out of your Blog or want to see your blog at the next level, a business plan for your blog is what you need. For your success!

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Authored By
A Blogger, Author and a speaker! Harsh Agrawal is recognized as a leader in digital marketing and FinTech space. Fountainhead of ShoutMeLoud, and a Speaker at ASW, Hero Mindmine, Inorbit, IBM, India blockchain summit. Also, an award-winning blogger.

22 thoughts on “11 Simple Steps for Crafting An Effective Blog Business Plan”

  1. Mayank Neralla

    Hi,

    Right now I do not have a business plan for my blogging. But I will make one after reading this article. I have registered a website and two blogging sites on hostgator. Let me see what I can do after reading this article.

  2. Paul Easton

    A great post and makes your attitude to blogging take on a different emphasis. Look forward to the next one.

  3. Danny Vermette

    This is a informational post that guides me through each step of creating an business plan. I haven’t done one yet, and I have set an editorial calendar that I didn’t plan on creating a business plan because I thought it was not necessary. However, I don’t blog just for blogging, so having a business plan really helps me to turn my blog into biz soon. I appreciate you spent the time putting this together, and for my struggle to creating s business plan will help me get this done!

  4. Emmanuel

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Blog business plan is compulsory if you intend to achieve success in your blogging career. For my new business blog to grow to where it is today, I wrote down every damn objective.

  5. Liz

    It’s always great to read some helpful stuff online. I’ve been blogging since 2008 yet I am still lost in the crowd so I am trying to find a way to make my blog prosper.

  6. viinod

    Hi,

    I think title doesn’t go with Post…
    topic could have been “5 simple and effective steps for bloggers to plan business”
    because this post doesn’t have “5 business plans” but yes, it has “5 steps”.

  7. Sabz

    Great stuff. I just sat down to take notes and I’m about to compose a proper business plan for my new blog. I mean, I laid down a general business plan but this post has inspired me to make it something more elaborate.

  8. FIM

    I am really impressed. You have proved that how one can look for great opportunities even during worst hours (your broken leg story).

  9. Miller

    Good information for the basic building blocks of a blogger business plan. Thank you!

  10. Tech Maish

    Techno-Pulse@ All Management theories are about business, and Blogging is a business.
    Thanks for your appreciation.

  11. Samir

    Just to clarify, in my previous comment, $25 means $25/year, including .com domain and web hosting.
    And adding to the Threats part, competition again determines whether you should go for a specific niche not independently, but based on whether the niche market is huge enough.

  12. Samir

    As regards financial planning, you need to optimize your economy and the value that you are getting. Going for say Baby plan of Hostgator when you are sure you don’t need more than a single domain name, or buying a domain name with .info extension just because you get it for cheap via XYZ domain registrar is not wise either. Typically starting a blog shouldn’t take more than $25 if you choose wisely, even with the best web host around, ie. Hostgator. Advertising costs are obviously an optional investment. Thus budget is something which which is niche-specific and goal-specific, apart from the fact that it depends a lot on the guidance you receive.

  13. Techno-Pulse

    Good insight. Moreover, the way you have integrated management theories (SWOT) blogging is impressive.

  14. Shekhar Sahu

    Because Blogging is business nowadays. I have to much plannings to promote my blog offline.

  15. chandan

    Very interesting information. It is easy to blogging but it is very hard to blog for business.

  16. jai prakash

    Your plan and tricks is really awesome.Without plan anyone cann’t make a successful man.So thanks for giving tips.

  17. Farukh

    Great.. This Article has boosted My Self Confidence Yaar. I had just started Blogging & Surely will apply all these ideas. A must read for all new Bloggers.

  18. Tech Maish

    Dev@ Thanks for your appreciation.

  19. Shabnam Sultan

    Great post 🙂 if you treat your blog as a business it will pay you as a business.

  20. Vivek Krishnan

    Awesome post…really cool. I love to think of making a blog like a business.

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