Field Guide to Business Models

Most writers absorb the platform's definition of success — grow subscribers, convert to paid — without ever considering the alternatives. This field guide shows you seven of them.

Seven one-page business model templates, each drawn as a simple diagram showing how a blog can connect to income and impact: the Subscription Engine, the Independent Newsroom, the Consulting Trigger, the Idea Lab, the Community Builder, the Curator, and the Credibility Asset. In some, the blog earns money directly. In others, the revenue is two or three steps removed from anything you publish — and the dashboard can't see it at all.

Browse all seven in ten minutes. Recognize which one you're already building. Figure out whether you've been measuring it with the wrong metrics. Each template includes questions to help you assess your own situation, and the templates combine freely — most real writing businesses blend two or three.

This guide accompanies the post "Is Your Blog a Side Hustle or a Side Hassle?" at Writing for Social Impact.

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