At the 2012 Blogalicious conference in Las Vegas, Mario Armstrong had the pleasure of presenting on the topic of turning your passion into a business. In the interest of trying to get his message to as many people as possible, we're sharing those slides here for you to peruse. Blogging isn’t easy, and making money doing it is tough. The best way to do it is to not think of yourself simply as a blogger. You have to start thinking about yourself as a media company.

1. From Free to Fee
Turning Your Passion into a Business
21 day challenge to more revenue
Mario Armstrong
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2. Mario Armstrong
Digital Lifestyle Expert
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3. Let's get one thing straight:
STARTING RIGHT NOW,
YOU'RE NOT JUST A
BLOGGER.
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4. You're a
media
company.
By the end of this hour,
you'll know exactly what I mean.
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5. START THINKING OF YOURSELF AS A
MEDIA COMPANY
Tell YOUR why, not the what
Tellingme you are a fashion blogger or cover
entrepreneurship doesn’t say anything about WHY –
and I don’t know what YOU bring to the table.
Itell people “I’m all about inspiring people to better
their lives by showing them how technology can help
them achieve their goals
I wouldn’t say “I blog about tech”

6. If CONTENT is KING
then
SPONSORSHIPS sustain
the kingdom!
Great content is expected but not automatically financially rewarded!

7. FIRST, I WANT TO ASK YOU A
QUESTION!
What's the #1 problem you face in running
your blog?
- Traffic
- Monetization
- Technical challenges
- Time (I need more hours in the day)
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8. 16 ways to generate revenue
Online Events
E-books
 (webinars, live streaming)
Public Speaking Offline Events
Consulting  Sponsored meetups, conferences
SMT’s Liveblogging specials
Twitter Chats Paid TV/Radio contributor
Books (e-books & paperbk) Blog contributor
Video blogging BlogTalk Radio
Develop products in your Adwords
niche (i.e. MAM patent) Webinars
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9. Your plan will take you to the next
level:
. the media company
Today we're going to walk through the kinds of things
your plan should include, plus some examples from my
life and my business.

10. My Story
Just a few years ago I was like many of
you. I knew my passion, what I
wanted to spend my days doing.
1999 1999-2007 2005-2007 2007-current Current
Radio Show Full Time job, Nicole quit to start Both full time on the
Idea working passion on
building the business Still playing recession
side business, develop catchup
pricing models, AOL $250K was “You Work 9a-5p --
Chasing passion infrastructure, supposed to be a TAXES!!!! Ohh yeah
shoe-in, we spent $ You make history
by working for started & a $52,000 payment from 5p-9am”
FREE generating very on legal fees & signed – WAKE UP CALL Mario Armstrong
(5am winter small revenue it, but on the way to
mornings on the mtng where they Grown to 8 staff
ABC2, WEAA etc.) were going to sign. members
They called & said no
go, there was change
in Mgt.
To make it worse the
Recession hits

11. AND WE’VE BEEN THERE:
Maxed credit cards, had a 2 year old son to take care of and we were flat broke!
This was the defining moment - keep going or quit! Many tears and a lot of pain!

12. S&%T GOT REAL!
When I was collecting change to scrape up enough to buy gas, it was a very real bottom for us!

13. That’s proof that a huge part of your plan needs to be
around how to make money.
But generating revenue goes hand-in-hand with
increasing your audience and exposure. So we’re going
to talk about both, and you’ll see why.

14. WHAT THEY DON’T TELL
YOU ABOUT FOLLOWING
YOUR PASSION:
It's harder than you think
You'll want to give up
It's going to take time
Inner Demons await – Beware the DREAMKILLER
You have to SELL. (But really, selling is helping other
people improve their lives - with what YOU have to
offer)

15. Let’s make money $$$$

16. 16 ways to generate revenue
Online Events
E-books
 (webinars, live streaming)
Public Speaking Offline Events
Consulting  Sponsored meetups, conferences
SMT’s Liveblogging specials
Twitter Chats Paid TV/Radio contributor
Books (e-books & paperbk) Blog contributor
Video blogging BlogTalk Radio
Develop products in your Adwords
niche (i.e. MAM patent) Webinars
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17. Public $peaking
Great way to generate a buzz
After buzz building – start charging
Don’t be shy with your fees
Starting out ask for $1000-$2000
We went from $500 to $2000 to $5000 to
$8000 to now $10,000

18. Online Events – Live streaming
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19. Online Events – Live streaming
stats
997,621 minutes watched
75,931 unique views
22 sites and blogs carried the Livestream
Huff Post, The Root, Politic365, SocialWayne, BlackPlanet
etc…
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20. Online Events – Live streaming
Give your content away
for free to top tier sites
Charge
sponsors for the
COMBINED reach
Not just your reach,
which enables you to sell
big
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21. WEBINARS
1. Free:
Do for Free
to build
credibility
2. Charge:
Work with a
sponsor, who
pays for your
time

22. TWITTER CHATS
Use your expertise,
not selling their
wares
They pay for your
time and reach

23. Real-time Publishing sponsored
Live Blog!
Take advantage of a live event
that has an audience to provide
your take: news, a TV show,
festival, conference, whatever.
There are tons of possibilities.
Most people pre-write a post or
talk about it after the fact -
don't be most people!
After all, why just live tweet your
thoughts for Twitter's sake?
You're just sending that money
(traffic) to Twitter. Live blog
and tweet thoughts w/links to
your site so you can take
advantage and build your
network at the same time!

24. TV Contributor
Identify local networks
Pitch topics that are timely
i.e.
Back to School, Holidays, News Events
no product placement or pitching brands
that pay you $ for other work
Start as a guest (learn, learn, learn)
Grow from there 24

25. Paid Blogger
Blog for a brand!
Identify the brand!
Researchfor the
unique opening!
Find a contact
(use social graph)
Begin dialogue

26. Mobile Video… Socialcam app
Make sure to cut through all the clutter so they
hear you.
It's time to get creative!

27. Mobile Video
Use video to augment blog posts
Don’t tell me SHOW me
Build community of followers, share to all social
Embed on your blog
Use their API to curate & post on your site

28. What I learned from my #Socamshow
12k on twitter BUT 1.5m on Socialcam (find ur home)
Analytics
too!

29. This kind of diversification is huge
Remember, you're a media company.
Because when it comes time to pitch a sponsor, you want
to give them everything you've got!
The more assets you have, the more places you can
include them.

30. We have the tech for lots of things.
But not for you to clone yourself.
I don't think?

31. So how do you scale YOU?
Play to your strengths
Outsource your weaknesses
& & reinvest $ in the biz

32. 21 DAY CHALLENGE -
Start with a
healthy
breakfast

33. 21 DAY CHALLENGE
5 steps:
1. Writedown 3 most repetitive tasks (life or biz) then
figure out how to outsource, automate, consolidate
2. List at least 5 new ways to generate revenue
3. List 3 new ways to expand your audience reach
4. Develop a list of at least 15 brands you’d like to work
with
5. Develop a 90-day plan w/specific deliverables

34. Find YOUR inner-kid
Trampoline YOUR DREAMS
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35. Thank you
@MarioArmstrong
Web: www.MarioArmstrong.com
@MarioArmstrong
/MarioArmstrong
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