2014: The Year to Be Bold and Assertive – Be ready to be shaken!

Alright, for some time now I have been inferring that some major changes would take place here at the WebIncomeJournal.com! I wrote about it before going away for the Christmas holidays. I also mentioned it in the first post I published this year. And now, it is time to unveil the changes!

5 Years Is Enough Time To Take This Decision!

I started this blog September 2009. Within this period I passionately worked hard to build a community around it.

Starting from zero knowledge about blogging, I spent time devouring all the blogging tips and advice that you can find online. With this knowledge I developed a personal system that helped me to fulfill my plans of building a community around the WebIncomeJournal.com.

At a time this blog was averaging 30 – 40 comments per a post! In fact, a few of the posts pulled in around 90 comments. I was excited; to say the least! Of course, I was exhilarated, enjoying the journey!

But…

Is It About Blogging Or Is It About Building A Business?

Despite the good results from this blog, I knew there was something missing. And that missing piece is the fact that I set out on this journey not just to create a blog but to build a business. And what is the use of a business if it cannot pay your bills?

A couple of times I tried to reposition things to reflect the business that I intended it to be. But then, after a few months the flow would tend to move again towards what is generally seen around the blogosphere – talk about blogging and blogging tips, do what every other blogger does every day running around the blogosphere posting comments, responding to comments and returning the favor where necessary!

It was a vicious circle that takes a lot of time and energy to accomplish but rarely resulting in a profitable outcome!

It was only towards the closing of 2012 that I decided to really make the break and build a business and not just a blog. And this formed the major thrust of the blog in 2013. In one of the bare-all, call-to-arms post I did titled: Hey Blogger, Please Quit! I emptied my heart about this subject. (If you have not read it before now, don’t miss it – even if you have read it before go and read it again – because it will cause a turn-around for your blogging career!)

Here are some of the main points of that post and some of the suggestions:

1. Stop comparing yourself with other average bloggers because when you measure your success with those you are doing better than, you would only harm yourself. Aim higher and start listening to entrepreneur bloggers!

2. Start building a business and not just a blog with special reference to the post: Frankly, Are You Building a Business or a Blog?

3. Ditch the blogger's mindset. Of course if you must build a business you need an entrepreneur’s mindset and not just the mindset that is prevalent amongst bloggers. Here’s a post that will blow your mind on this issue: Could This Really Be the Reason Why 80% Of Blogpreneurs Fail?

4. Decide on a product. Indeed every business has a product. If you must build a business as a blogger you need a product! For insights on this read: Hey Blogger, What Really Is Your Product?

5. And to cap it, I recommended using your blogging skills and knowledge to start an online business like I outlined in the post: “How to Turn Your Skills and Knowledge into a Business.”

Now, I must say that I did not just gave these various tips and advice on the blog but made them the focal point of the policy thrust of the Web Income Journal throughout the greater part of 2013.

The result?

I can confidently say that 2013 became the greatest year for the blog. Like I mentioned earlier, this blog has been live since 2009, though the present domain name (www.webincomejournal.com) only came into being in 2011, but all these years what I earned from the blog in 2013 was far more than the rest years put together!

And this not minding the fact that when I changed my blogging focus the comments on the blog fell so low that it appeared the blog has lost its savor! But like I mentioned in some of the posts linked above, you don’t measure the success of a blog by the comments.

Frankly, it's the results from the blog in 2013 that has given me the confidence to really chart a new course for the bog.  I now realize with every confidence that it’s really not about blogging but about building an enduring business!

Repositioning the WebIncomeJournal.com

Towards the ending of 2013, after evaluating the results of the blog compared to previous years, I made a decision to not only redesign the blog but also to redefine and reposition it to achieve its mission and objective which have always been: “To educate, inspire and empower bloggers and web entrepreneurs to start and run successful businesses online!”

To ensure that this became a reality, I spent a better part of my Christmas holidays researching and taking a deeper look at some of the popular entrepreneur blogs around. And one major thing I discovered is that, though nearly everyone of them appeared to be different in some way, there were however some areas where the similarities were glaring! What I decided to do therefore was to redesign the blog taking those similarities into consideration.

To this end, I have been busy behind the scene working on these changes in these past few days. Allow me to let you into a few of these things:

1. A New Theme and Home Page Redesign – If you are familiar with this blog, you may have noticed that the home page has changed though the post pages appear to be the same. Truth is I’ve changed the theme but decided to customize the post pages to be as close to what they were.

2. Put together some very useful pages around the main thrust of the blog. These include:

(a.) Can You Really Make Money Blogging? – This is a guide for bloggers who truly desire to make money blogging. From my 5+ years of blogging experience, I’ve carefully looked at the various ways you can make money blogging and I’ve put up this guide under 3 tested methods that can help you make money from your blog. Check it out here!

(b.) A Quick Action Guide to Building a Successful Online Business – This guide which presents the core basics of building a successful online business is actually the major trust of the blog right now. For each of the 3 core steps presented there are extensive references to relevant blog posts. Check it out for some insights!

(c.) A Guide on Leveraging Web Media for Online Business – There is no doubt that the web presents us with very useful tools and resources for growing your online business. These resources include social media, email marketing, video marketing, infographics, etc. These web media come handy at various stages of building your business. Check out the guide here for how to use them.

3. The third major work that has been going on behind the scene is a 7 Part Email Course that details the steps needed to build a flourishing online business. This is an in-depth and practical guide that takes into consideration all that is needed compared to the quick guide mentioned above. Let me quickly say here that If you’ve been struggling with your online business, not knowing where to start or the next steps to move you forward, I advice that you signup for this email course. Click here to get the training.

Looking at 2014 and Beyond!

Having given you an insight into what I have done so far let me say that from this time forward, you are going to see more of practical income generating strategies and techniques on this blog.  Of course, if this blog must be a platform for inspiring and empowering you, then nothing short of that should be the focus.

One way I intend to do this is showcase personal case studies of what I'm doing at every point. For this, I have re-invested part of the earnings from the blog in 2013 on some niche marketing tools and software which I intend to use in setting up niche sites this year.

In 2013 I tried building some niche sites (I actually have some knowledge of this online business model!) but did not do much about them. For now these ones have not really gained any traction. My plan therefore is to push these ones a little more and also setup a few others.

In the course of the year, I'll document every step of building and growing these niche sites on this blog. I hope by doing this, you will definitely find that inspiration and confidence to also build your own online business.

Rounding It Off!

Dear friend 2014 is indeed the year to be bold and assertive. Enough of playing children games. It’s time to decide on what you want from the internet and step out with boldness to get it. As I round off this post let say that I've actually considered the various activities of Google in 2013  and reasoned that even Google understood that 2014 is a watershed in the online business equation. Or, how can you explain their rush to push all those updates into the market in 2013 if not to reposition their search business for 2014?

So having read this post may I ask, what is your policy thrust for 2014? What do you aim to achieve this year? Do you want to continue to run around in circles as in previous years? Let me invite you to be part of the new things that are about to happen on this blog. Click here to get started right now!

So long for now. Let me know your thoughts in your comments below.