What does St. Patrick’s Day mean to you? When I was younger it usually meant wearing some form of green clothing, and seeing leprechauns and four leaf clovers all over the place. Well that changed four years ago today, when I decided to launch ZacJohnson.com, a blog detailing my life and how I’ve made a living online since starting in highschool. The very first post that I wrote on the blog, was titled “Happy St. Patrick’s Day, We are Live!“. Four years later and there are now almost 800 published posts on the blog.

Looking back, at that time I had no idea what the next four years would bring. I could go on forever about the importance of blogging and how amazing it’s been for myself and business, but instead I selected a handful of memorable moments and take aways from the years past.

  • Meeting Amazing People from Everywhere

Without a doubt, one of the most amazing aspects of having your own blog, is that it really helps you get your name out there and it conjures up so many new contacts and feedback it’s hard to imagine. Once you are at the level where you have thousands of people reading your blog on a daily basis, blogging becomes quite a responsibility. Every day I receive emails from people all over the world asking for advice, sharing their own online stories and many just to say that they enjoy reading the blog. No matter the email or comment left, it’s always great to hear from your readers.

  • Getting on ABC News

In 2010 I was fortunate enough to be asked to appear on ABC News, which was an amazing opportunity. Once again, this was mainly due to the success of the blog. Sure, I’ve been very success with online marketing for 15 years, but I was asked to talk about “making money with blogging“, which is another topic I’m very passionate about. Getting exposure on one of the most well known brands in the world… that’s simply priceless.

  • A New Business & Revenue Source

Sure, blogging has produced an amazing amount of new readers, contacts and friendships, but it’s also become a whole business of it’s own. Month after month the blog seems to have a never ending supply of advertisers that want to get their name and brand out their. This is great to see and very healthy for the affiliate marketing. Not only does it show there is plenty of money to go around in this industry, but it also proves you can build a quality and long standing business without having to sell product or sacrifice the value of your audience. The readers of this blog have also generated a ton of money for themselves and the advertisers they work with.

  • Speaking Around the World

Once again, I’ve been making money online for over a decade now… but finally made the decision to go live with my own blog just four years ago. In that time a lot of people have visit the blog, but also have seen me speak at various conferences. Last year I made the trip to Sydney, Australia and was the keynote speaker at the Affil@ Syndey. I’ve also spoke at many other conferences such as Affiliate Summit, BlogWorld, SES NY and more. Many of these conferences and speaking opportunities were a result of someone reading the blog, recommending me to a conference, then reaching out to schedule my attendance.

With all of that said, a blog is nothing without it’s readers. I will tell you right now, consistently blogging is not an easy task. When I first started the blog it seemed like I could write forever. However continually coming up with great content, while also managing the other day to day operation is quite a job…. but I love it!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and I thank you once again for contributing to the success of ZacJohnson.com and looking forward to writing with you for many more years to come!

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