How to transition your personal blog to your business
When someone new subscribes to my newsletter, I like to ask them to kindly respond with one of their struggles/challenges relating to branding, design or business. This helps me understand the challenges my readers face, as well as allows me to get to know them a bit better! I have loved the conversation happening in my inbox, and have taken notes for future blog posts, courses or products.
One question I have seen pop up often is: “How do I transition my personal blog audience to my small business I am launching soon?”
First of all, what a great dilemma to have! If you are in this boat, it means that you have an existing loyal audience, and are already ahead of the game. Building an audience is one of the toughest aspects of starting an online business. Yes, your current audience might not be tailored to your future business, but if they are loyal readers they might share your business with friends, or use your services/products down the road.
Stay tuned for a bonus at the end, on how to drive traffic to your new blog!
Create a new online space
Should you create a new blog, or transition your personal one? This is completely up to you, and is unique to each business. If your new business is completely unrelated to your personal blog, I would recommend you start fresh with a new online space. However, if your current blog connects with your new business, it would be wise to stick with the same blog.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in this transition is to not warn your readers, and instead switch gears and start blogging about your business on your personal blog. This drastic leap will feel unnatural to your readers, and seems disrespectful of their time. They follow your blog expecting to receive similar blog content, only to disappoint them with a radical transition. It would be like going to a fun event, only to find out they just want your money for some sort of pyramid scheme. Avoid this mistake, and instead make a smooth transition!
Create a smooth transition
Once you have clarity about the next steps for your business, it is time to transition from your personal online space to your professional one. This can get tricky, and you want to make sure you transition in a way that feels right. I recommend to treat your new business as a launch, and build hype around it! People, especially loyal readers, love to be a part of something new from the beginning. We get excited for friends when they make a huge transition to pursue their dream.
Don’t lose the momentum. Start hinting that you are making a transition to pursue your long-term goals. Keep them in the loop, and once you are ready to fully switch over to the new site, let them know where they can find your new blog and social media, to keep the conversation going.
Two online spaces, or one?
Depending on your business + blog, you might want to keep both platforms going. I recommend keeping everything under one umbrella, but if your two blogs are drastically different from one another, you could keep two separate spaces. I only recommend this solution if you are profiting from both businesses, or if your personal space is something you love to do as a hobby (family blog, recipes, etc.).
My guess is that you will be pretty busy with your new business, so it would be best to part ways with your personal blog and focus that energy into your new venture.
Build traffic on your new platform
One of the biggest concerns in transitioning your blog to your new business is losing your loyal readers. I totally understand this concern, as you have most likely poured a lot of effort into attracting your audience to your personal blog. Instead of dwelling on losing these readers, I encourage you to focus on attracting your ideal readers to your future business. It is okay to lose some readers or subscribers along the way, as most likely they don’t fit in with your niche any longer. They won’t purchase products or services from you, so it just makes business sense to pursue a more focused audience.
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I created a bonus PDF if this is your struggle, and you want to learn how to start driving traffic to your blog! I hope you find this tool useful, and most importantly, that you can start putting it into action!
Why the Sudden Silence? Also: Lists of Resources! | Foxes and Fangs
[…] you’re planning on turning your personal blog into a business blog, here’s the perfect article to help you […]
Sarah Noel
I wish I read this a few months ago. I’m going through the same thing!
Monica Galvan
Another great post Jamie, I especially love your bonus downloads! 🙂
Jamie
Thanks so much Monica! I love creating these downloads 🙂