There are literally millions of bloggers across the globe, who on a daily, weekly or monthly cycle post topics they feel their readers would be interested in reading. Some do this for a hobby, some do it for feedback but there are a small few that do it for a living. However if you asked most bloggers, if they would like to turn their blog into a business, the overwhelming answer would be yes. Unfortunately, most bloggers will never be able to live out that dream of being a business owner, for various reasons.
First of all the internet is saturated with websites that may offer the same content you offer and much more, so its hard to build a loyal following. Secondly, most bloggers have full time jobs that take up the bulk of their time that could be used to develop their blogs and promote their blogs to the general public. Also, many bloggers focus too much attention on what other bloggers are doing, this keeps their blog from being unique. In my opinion, the number one reason why many bloggers fail at turning their blog ideas into a business is because they only focus on putting information on their blog, they don't think outside the box and envision their blog as being part of a larger business.
When I envisioned Idea Tank75, I immediately thought of it as a business first and a blog second. My dilemma came when I tried to eek out small time periods to develop my idea. I shortly realized if I was going to do this I had to downsize my lifestyle and commit myself to pursuing my dream and not live my life building someones else dream. This required me to leave my full time job as a bus driver and the management position they offered me. The decision to leave was not a hard one because for one, I was not happy and two in my heart I know if I commit myself and endure the early periods of fear and doubt, I could turn my idea into a very successful business. Next I had to make sure Idea Tank75 was not just a business that I could benefit from but a business that could impact the lives of many many people; and after many conversations with myself and other people I think I have accomplished that.
So now the only thing left for me to do was put my plan into action, oh wait I need funds to make this possible. This is where many people (including myself for a brief period) give up, if they do not already have the funds or the credit needed to acquire the funds. This is another stage of conquering your fears and doubts. I began to research other avenues of fund raising and stumbled upon Kickstarter, which is a crowdfunding website that allows people to invest in ideas with small amounts of money. For example, you want to start a mobile oil change business but you need seven thousand dollars to start the business, well crowdfunding allows you to raise that money by presenting to many investors who give small amounts of money (even $1). You as the potential business owner give rewards for the dollar amount donated. Using the same mobile oil change business, for one dollar you may offer a simple e-card but for a thirty dollar donation you may offer a free oil change; The higher the donation, the better the reward.
So I decided to start my own crowdfunding campaign for Idea Tank75; as I researched other campaigns I noticed that more campaigns go unfunded than those that get fully funded. The reason is many people don't market and promote their campaignss to successfully fund their projects. So after much soul searching I have decided to take my fundraising to the public before i put it on a crowdfunding platform, so investors can see that I am dedicated to building Idea Tank75 into a business. My next post will show what my campaign looks like so far.
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