I read 27 blogging case studies — Here’s what I've learned

27 lessons from 27 blogger journeys

Recently, I talked about this website I discovered online. I found it a year or so ago and it’s a collection of business startup stories. The site is called Starter Story.

I love reading and learning about a business’s journey. It’s very inspiring and if you’re an entrepreneur, it can give you a ton of ideas for how to grow your company.

This website gives you unlimited access to their startup interviews for around $100/year. I turned this investment into $5,000+ in income. You can read about how I did it here…

Over the months I have read nearly 30 case studies from bloggers.

Bloggers like RyRob, The Modest Man, Finsavvy Panda, Fin vs Fin and more.

Here’s what I’ve learned about blogging and business…

27 Lessons Learned After Reading Over Two Dozen Blogger Startup Stories

1. Starting/growing a business around your passion can be successful: Do a business you’re passionate about and you won’t work a day in your life, the saying goes. It’s true.
2. Social media can be the fuel for growth: I used Instagram to grow my e-com business to $30K/month. I used Tik Tok to start a nearly six-figure side hustle in its first year. I’ve used Pinterest to build my reputation online and it makes me up to $5K+ per month in a few hours a month.
3. Website speed makes a big difference: Not much to say here. Make your site faster and you’ll see some huge benefits.
4. Your first (or second or third) business idea might not be successful: I tried nearly half a dozen different things before something stuck. That one thing allowed me to quit my 9-to-5 job and nearly 10 years later, I’m still working in my own business.
5. Content is king: Of course, right? Content wins, hands down.
6. SEO is king (yes, you can have more than one king): SEO also wins, though I’ve built many flourishing businesses and websites without SEO. Today, I think it’s needed for a long-lasting business.
7. Once you discover what works, double down on that: See what’s working, and do more of that thing.
8. Investing in people can take your business to the next level: Outsourcing.
9. You can lose 80% of your business and still recover: I lost 80% of my freelancing income when COVID hit. I bounced back. Stuff happens, you can recover.
10. The path to success is different for every entrepreneur: It’s not a straight path. It’s jagged, unstable, and with obstacles in the way. It’s also different from other entrepreneurs. Every business owner has their own path.
11. Pinterest is a sleeping giant: Don’t sleep on Pinterest. It’s one of the easiest ways to drive traffic to your content and make sales online. Their creator program is pretty stellar, too.
12. Slow and steady wins the race: You don’t have to rush it. Take your time. Slow and steady wins the race.
13. Many successful blogs start with a tiny budget and a dream: No budget, small budget, large budget..you can bootstrap your business to success.
14. Top tools used include: Canva, Slack, Ahrefs, and Asana are commonly talked about.
15. Be unique: Don’t copy others. Be your own unique self.
16. Sometimes writing about what you care about most works, other times writing for your audience’s needs wins: Blogging about your passion can bring an endless amount of content which you can rank for, drive traffic, and make money.
17. Almost every major blogger has an email list they’re growing and using: Email lists are something a lot of top bloggers have in common. I made a mistake and put it off in my first few years of blogging because I thought it wasn’t necessary. Big mistake. Start building your list as soon as you can.
18. Most blogs have more than one income stream: Ads, products, coaching, and sponsorships. This is something a lot of bloggers have in common, multiple income streams.
19. Sometimes removing income streams can actually make you more money: Sometimes too much of something can leave you scattered and disorganized. I read a case study of a blogger whose audience didn’t want to spend money so he removed his low-performing ebooks and courses, focusing on income streams that were working and he earned more!
20. Ads are not a must-have for your blog to make a lot of money: Adam Enfroy is a blogger I think about when it comes to ads. He didn’t have ads on his blog for a long time. When he finally turned them on, he chose to put them on the blog posts that weren’t monetized in other ways. He didn’t want to take away from the reader’s experience.
21. The biggest challenge: competition: True statement.
22. You don’t have to be everywhere at once: When you try to do everything and be everywhere at once, this can result in spreading yourself too thin and taking away your attention from important areas which can result in poor performance.
23. Work smart and be productive: Don’t be busy. Work smart, use tools, outsource, and be productive in your efforts.
24. Faceless blogs can be super successful and high-income earning: Faceless blogs are not new. Faceless businesses can work incredibly well online. This faceless Tik Tok channel is expected to hit six figures this year and it’s less than a year old. My faceless YouTube channel hit over 300K subscribers in its first year!
25. If you want to build a blog, just start: I have talked to so many people who want to start something but delay their dream. Life is short. Take action.
26. Taboo topics can be successful on blogs: I have read case studies on self-defense blogs, sex toy blogs, etc. Be different. Taboo topics on blogs can be successful, too.
27. Writing about what you love in blogging, works: You don’t have to make it all about the audience, always. You can write about your personal interests, too. Some bloggers only write about exclusively things they love and still see a ton of success.

TL;DR

I read a couple dozen blogging case studies. I learned some cool stuff.

If you’re in love with reading the journey of other entrepreneurs and like a good case study, check out Starter Story. I’ve been a fan for a long time.

What’s something you’ve learned from a case study?

Note: Affiliate links are included in this article.

If you want to learn how I created a full-time income from a faceless Tik Tok channel, learn how you can build a profitable faceless Tik Tok channel of your own in my ebook.