Turning a Blog into a Business

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Are there mistakes you’ve avoided that could help other entrepreneurs?

I do all my own social media posts. I would never allow an intern to pretend to be me. I’ve seen way too many Twitter meltdowns, when the intern gets upset and goes on a rant on the brand’s Twitter account. Social channels are communication methods to your customers. Would you turn over your database of clients to a random person? Don’t do that with your social media accounts.

What do you recommend for bloggers who want to increase traffic and monetize their blogs?

Traffic is all about killing it with your content. Cool photos and killer content gets you a long way. Don’t copy what other people do. Learn to hone your own voice and expertise and you’ll naturally attract traffic and get people following you.

Twitter and Facebook now rival organic search traffic from Google. I’m interested to see how Google+ shapes up. I use Delicious and StumbleUpon, but again it’s quality over quantity. There are a lot of time-intensive things that yield a little traffic but they’re not worth the time you put into them.

How did you start getting advertising?

I tried Google Ads but I found that they weren’t worth the space they took up and they distracted from my content.

I started bartering and trading advertising, and then once my readers saw ads on my site, they started asking for my rate kit. I had to make one up—I didn’t have one.

Karen E. Klein is a Los Angeles-based writer who covers entrepreneurship and small-business issues.