Money Chat: Making Websites and Blogs Work Together

A few months ago, I received this email from Jennifer Hofmann of Inspired Home Office -

Hi Shai -

I just looked through a bunch of your posts about how to make money blogging. I learned a TON! [edit]… am still learning the basic strategies behind blogging.

I have a question about making money from blogging that didn’t seem to be covered in your lineup. It’s a bit protracted, but see what you think:

When I’m not blogging, I’m running my business (the Inspired Home Office). My marketing strategy for the business is developed from Robert Middleton’s approach by Mark Silver at the heartofbusiness.com.

The strategy works like this: Use my website to describe the problem potential clients are facing and then offer them a complimentary product that can help them. In the process, I gain their email address which then allows me to email them regularly with other helpful info and also market my products and services.

This isn’t new, of course, but this model has been very effective for me so far. However, what I’m wondering is how my blog fits into that system. If potential clients are getting all the info they need from my blog, is there an incentive to get them to visit my site? Have you seen models of how websites and blogs can work cohesively?

I’m all ears!

- Jennifer

This is a common question from online business people who are using a similar niche in their websites and blogs. How do you make websites and blogs work together?

In fact, I remember a colleague who once asked me the very same question. She was running a popular website on writing and was venturing in to the world of blogging at the time. Since she started a blog on the same topic (writing), she was wondering if she was actually taking away traffic from her website.

My answer to this: Create two totally separate products with your website and your blog. Even though there might be some overlap, there’s room for creating a healthy relationship between the two.

Most websites tend to be more like “brochures” or “online shops” – they don’t usually get updated on a regular basis. Blogs, on the other hand, tend to be updated regularly. Use your blogs to direct traffic to your website and vice versa. Write about unique, short items on your blog – and point to a more comprehensive resource on your website. When you create good, unique articles on your blog, remind people about the products and services you also offer for sale on your website. Or, you can run a website that incorporates a blog section, like Sandra Magsamen.

Anyway, some examples of individuals who managed to create a relationship between their websites and blogs successfully include:

• Anne Wayman of The Golden Pencil (freelance writing blog), who also run About Freelance Writing (website).
• Artist Claudine Hellmuth, who has a website called Collage Artist and runs a personal blog on BlogSpot.
• Susan Connor, a designer of paper goods, has a SusyJack website and a Hey Susy blog.

So, yes, it is possible to make it work – having a website and blog at the same time that can work together.

What about you? Do you run both a website and blog that deal with the same topic? Or do you do things exclusively on websites or blogs?

Image: sxc.hu; Edits, Shai Coggins