We all remember that very first time we made money through blogging: whether it was a Google Adsense deposit or a commission credit through Amazon, it most likely lit a fire underneath you and inspired you to continue fighting the good fight. Over time, however, many bloggers become monotonous in their tactics and fail to expand their business portfolio to other venues. The main cause of this failure is a lack of a business plan. If you are operating a blog or website without a concrete business plan with goals for the future, you are cheating yourself out of tons of potential revenue.

Knowing the Need to Expand

If you are working on just one blog, chances are that the income being derived from that is not enough to support you on a full-time basis. Pinging blogs to Google is a great way to get started, but ultimately you need to consider having multiple fronts through which you can be generating revenue. Some webmasters and bloggers stick to the blogging route and begin to create multiple niche blogs in order to reach a larger audience of target-specific visitors. Others may consider venturing into new and different projects, which in our opinion is the best way to keep your mind sharp and wallet full; by alternating between various sites, blogs and other projects, you are able to craft valuable skills and see a bigger picture that many bloggers simply do not.

Ideas for Expansion

Maybe you haven’t yet considered what revenue potential awaits outside of pinging blogs and posting updates. There really is no limit to the number of ways in which you can earn income through online venues, but there are a few common ways that many people use. Freelance writing is a good way in which you can lend your already-honed skills to another blogger or webmaster; by earning income simply for writing, you can skip the tedious waiting game in which your efforts have to be “validated” by earning a said amount of income over time. Some individuals also write e-books on specific services and products and then offer the book for a reasonable price. Others may expand their empire into direct product sales, while others might attempt to use their web-based skills to develop plug-ins for web platforms such as WordPress and Drupal.

Designing the Plan

Having goals is important: you will want to set goals such as a desired annual income as well as a personal goal that can be realized through the expansion of your home-based business. When designing multiple ventures, it is a good idea to link or otherwise connect these platforms together when appropriate in order to increase cross-over exposure. Some entrepreneurs create one uniform website that showcases all of their products and services while maintaining individual websites for each project.

Conclusion

Having a business plan is vital to expanding your home-based business and turning it into a full-time opportunity. It is unlikely that you will succeed if you stick to only one task, but you may find that you are better suited for more than just one task as you expand your reach. Having multiple venues through which you can rely on passive or active income is totally possible when you have a business plan from which to work.