Imagine a carpenter.
Imagine a hammer.
The skilled carpenter never blames the hammer for a job poorly done. Because a skilled carpenter understands that the carpenter, not the hammer, is fully responsible for the job completed. A hammer can be slightly defective but at the end of the day, the carpenter chooses and uses the hammer to finish the job.
Only the non-skilled, amateur or failing carpenter blames the hammer for a job poorly done.
Hammers are inanimate objects. No hammer can do anything on its own.
The skills of the carpenter are the difference maker because a skilled carpenter makes the hammer sing. But a hammer cannot make a carpenter skilled, or experienced. Only a diligent devotion to a craft and persistent practice can make the hammer sing.
The Blogging Analogy
As I release my eBook 15 Ways to Make Money Blogging I want to remind you: the blogger is the carpenter and the ways to make money blogging are like the hammer.
Way too many bloggers make the blogging-fatal mistake of believing that an income stream can make money. As if Google Adsense, an inanimate object and concept could make money. This is like believing a hammer can drive a nail into a wall on its own. Silly. Ludicrous really. Because a hammer is inanimate; no way in Hades a hammer can do anything on its own. Just like income streams like affiliate marketing, blog consulting and selling eBooks; the streams themselves are completely passive, waiting for your command, almost like being at the blogging genie’s beck and call.
This concept feels maddening to accept for the struggling or newbie blogger.
This crowd mistakes the hammer for the carpenter.
Bloggers tend to believe that an income stream:
- actively earns income
- is “hot” or “fast moving” or profitable in and of itself
81% of bloggers never make more than $100 online. Yet millions of bloggers open and work at least a handful of income streams.
What does that say about the tail wagging the dog?
Opening an income stream will not create a steady flow of cash earned through your blog.
The blogger, through diligent practice, through honing their skills, through building friend networks, through solving a specific problem, earns the cash.
The carpenter skillfully drives a nail into the wall. With a hammer. Because the tail never wags the dog.
The Hammer
Make no mistake about it; you will need to use a hammer to get the job done. Try driving a nail into a wall with your thumb to see what I mean. Or try driving a hammer into a wall with a screwdriver handle. Not gonna work.
This is why you need to actually open income streams for your blog. Many bloggers live the pipe dream of believing that they will make money through their blog even if they have yet to open an income stream. This is like believing you can drive a 2 inch nail into a wall with your pinkie finger.
Picking the income streams requires you to:
- align income streams with your passions; a writer like me enjoys writing and self-publishing eBooks and paperbacks as well as offering my freelance writing services
- pick streams which serve your audience and solve their problems
- pick streams which align 100% with your brand; I will never post Adsense on my blog because even if I set up channels some ads deviate too much from the Blogging From Paradise brand, and the very ad widget itself doesn’t have the Blogging From Paradise logo affixed to the advertisement
Your Turn
Are you confusing the hammer with the carpenter sometimes? How are you effectively opening income streams on your blog?
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