Who moved my cheese? 5 lessons for bloggers in 2025

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We are at a major ‘who moved my cheese’ moment in blogging. The question is, what will you do about it? Will you embrace the changes, adapt and thrive? Or will you keep on using the same strategies that worked in the past hoping that somehow they will magically start working again?

We are at a major 'who moved my cheese' right now. The question is, what will you do about it? Will you embrace the changes, adapt and thrive? Or will you keep on using the same strategies that worked in the past, hoping they'll start working again? #blogmonetization #blogmonetizationstrategy #makemoneyblogging #digitalproducts #blog #blogging #bloggers #bloggersofIG #problogger #bloggingismyjob #solopreneur #mompreneur #fempreneur #contentmarketing #bloggingbiz #bloggingtips #productiveblogging

Have you ever read the book Who Moved My Cheese* by Dr Spencer Johnson?

If not, I strongly recommend that you do!

It’s a brilliant allegory about different attitudes to change, and how the way we view and adapt to change will affect how successful we are – in business and in life.

There are 4 characters in the book – 2 mice and 2 little people.

At the start of the book, these 4 characters are looking for cheese in a maze. They are very active in their search and work hard to find cheese every day. Eventually the 4 characters discover a whole room full of cheese… Over time, this changes their behaviour – particularly that of the little people. Instead of actively searching for cheese and working hard to get it, they become complacent.

One day, they head to the room full of cheese only to discover the cheese has gone!

The two mice immediately go back out into the maze and search for new cheese… Eventually they discover another room full of even better cheese.

The little people react very differently, however… They keep coming back to the old room, hoping that the cheese will eventually come back to the old room. They get cross and upset that there is no longer any cheese in the old room, and they start blaming everything and everyone but themselves.

Eventually one of the little people figures out that he needs to go back out into the maze and search for new cheese… And he eventually finds the new cheese room (the one with the even better cheese that the mice found ages ago!)

What has this got to do with blogging?

Why am I telling you this?

Because I believe we are at a major ‘who moved my cheese’ moment in blogging.

One of the reasons why the mice were able to adapt to change so quickly is because they had sensed change in the air long before the cheese in the old room disappeared. They were ready to change tack, get back out into the maze, and look for new cheese.

We are at a similar moment in the blogging world.

Change is clearly afoot… and what has worked well for the last 5 years is unlikely to work well in the future.

The question is, what will you do about it? Will you be like the mice who saw change coming and were able to react quickly to it – embracing it even?

Or will you be like the little people… and keep on using the strategies that worked in the past, hoping that somehow they will magically start working again, getting cross and upset when they don’t, and blaming everything and everyone but yourself?

So what are the changes and how should we adapt?

There are multiple changes and challenges facing us as bloggers – some are happening right now, and some which will be happening in the near future:

Recent Google updates which have hit many bloggers hard
The introduction of AI Overviews in Google search results
Massively increased competition in many niches
The rise of TikTok and short form video
Google’s increased focus on ‘helpful content’ and E-E-A-T
The rise of generative AI, like ChatGPT
The increase of AI generated spam, and Google’s measures to combat that (which seem to be accidentally hitting seemingly ‘good’ websites too)

We are in a time of huge change, and whether you and your blog are successful going forward will massively depend on how you react to this change.

So… how should we adapt?

To be completely honest, it’s hard to know with any certainty quite what the impact of most of these changes will be long term. But I think we can be fairly certain of a few things…

Who moved my cheese? 5 lessons for bloggers in 2025

1. Relying on Google is a huge gamble

Many bloggers have been hit really hard by the recent Google updates – even the bloggers who are seemingly doing everything ‘right’. This has resulted in huge income losses for the bloggers who have been hit, and a nervousness amongst those who haven’t been hit that they could be next.

Relying on Google for the majority of your income is a hugely risky place to be.

And it’s not just me saying that, this is an extract of from an article I read in Search Engine Land a while back…

“Never put all your eggs in one basket. Especially not Google’s. Relying on any one channel for all, or nearly all, of your traffic and income is not a business plan. It is a gamble. Never leave yourself at the mercy of any one channel or platform – because you have no control over a third-party. If one algorithm change can wipe out your entire company overnight, you’re doing it wrong.”

2. Relying on ads / affiliates for the majority of your income is highly risky

The reason why the bloggers who’ve been hit badly by the recent Google updates have seen such big income drops is because they monetized mainly via ads and affiliates.

Monetizing via ads and affiliates alone is hugely risky because you need such high traffic volumes to make a decent full time income. And generally, the only way to get such high traffic volumes is from Google – leaving you very much at the mercy of Google for your entire income.

3. Building a strong email list should be a top priority

No matter how good your Google traffic, Pinterest traffic, YouTube traffic or social media traffic, there is no guarantee it will stay good. All of these traffic sources are ‘borrowed traffic’ and controlled by third parties. You do not own it and you have no control over it.

And that’s why building a strong email list is so important. Your email list is the only traffic source you truly own.

The more you are able to convert ‘borrowed traffic’ (from search engines, social media etc.) into ‘owned traffic’ (your email list), the less reliant you will be on third party traffic.

A strong email list will give you a ‘direct line’ to your audience, help you nurture your audience and build a loyal fanbase, and providing you with a strong layer of protection from any future Google updates and social media algorithm changes.

4. Creating your own digital products should be a top priority right now

To earn a decent full time income from ads/affiliates alone requires huge traffic volumes – the kind that you can only get from Google. And as we’ve already seen, there are no guarantees with Google.

Even if you didn’t get hit in the last update, there’s no guarantee you won’t get hit in the next update.

Fortunately, there is a solution: start selling your own digital products.

Digital products have much higher RPMs than ads and affiliates, meaning you need much lower traffic volumes to make a decent full time income from digital products.

In fact, your digital product income is much more linked to the size of your email list than your third party traffic – which is why growing your email list should be such a huge priority right now.

Better still, a digital product is an asset you own and have complete control over (unlike other monetization methods, such as ads, affiliates or sponsored work).

5. Now is the time to act

I simply cannot stress this one enough: NOW is the time to act. Don’t wait for the worst to happen before you make your move!

It takes time to build a successful digital product business.

You can’t just create a quick ebook, throw it up on your website somewhere and wait for the money to start rolling in!

It doesn’t work like that.

You need to:

Build a strong email list
Nurture your subscribers properly
Do market research
Build a product ladder
Create strong marketing assets
Launch your products properly
Build tripwires, funnels, upsells, downsells and order bumps
Run flash sales
Do digital product specific SEO
Grow your own personal authority
Provide excellent customer service
Gather testimonials and case studies
And much, much more!

Building a successful digital product based business is not something you can turn on overnight.

It actually takes quite a long time.

Depending on where you are now (how much traffic you get, how strong your email list is, how engaged your audience is), it can take 6 months to a year.

If you get hit by the next Google algorithm update, do you really want to wait a year before you are earning money from your blog again?

And also, if you move right now, you’ll be moving before most other bloggers and so, if and when there’s some almighty shock in the future (the next Google update, changes to third party cookies, new developments in AI etc.), you’ll be established when others start flooding into the market, which will give you a massive competitive advantage.

Don’t bury your head in the sand, like the ‘little people’. Be like the mice and get back out into the maze and search for new cheese NOW before it’s too late.

(And if you’re still not convinced, get yourself a copy of Who Moved My Cheese!)

Need help with this?

As you can see from the list above, running a successful digital product business involves a lot of moving parts. If that list is making you feel slightly dizzy and somewhat overwhelmed, I hear you! And that is why I have turned all of this into a step-by-step roadmap…

The Digital Product Success Academy

The idea is that you let me worry about all of the moving parts, and you just focus on following the next step on the roadmap, knowing I’ve got everything planned and happening at exactly the right time.

DPSA is for you, if you want to…

👉 Earn more from the traffic you already have: Digital product RPMs are considerably better than RPMs from ads, affiliates and sponsored posts.

👉 Stop worrying about whether you’ll be wiped out in the next Google algorithm update: Because you don’t need those crazy-high pageviews, selling digital products makes you A LOT less dependent on Google.

👉 Be ahead of the curve: If future Google updates are bad for bloggers, guess what every blogger will be doing to try and get back the income they have lost? Get ahead of the curve by starting NOW!

👉 Have a less precarious business: If you get the majority of your traffic from Google and the majority of your income from ads, you don’t need me to tell you that is a very precarious place to be… Diversifying into digital products reduces risk and increases income – so it’s a win-win!

👉 Have a lot of fun along the way: Join a community of like-minded bloggers and online business owners who are all working towards the same goal!

If this resonates with you and you’re ready to take your blogging business to the next level, click here to find out more!

Want to know what it’s like on the inside?

Wondering what DPSA is like ‘on the inside’, I’ve recently published a whole bunch of testimonials

Here’s just a flavour…

“With the information provided so far I feel much more confident that I can build a successful digital product side to my business. The way Eb delivers the information is easy to understand and follow. There is so much support from Eb and the other members of the DPSA. I am loving it so far!”

Lauren Woodger, The Scatty Mum

“If you’re looking to launch your next digital product, Digital Product Success Academy is for you. It’s not just about the easy-to-follow challenges on marketing strategy, and how to launch your product the right way. It’s also about a community of like-minded people to bounce ideas off and get feedback and help from. And I love that you get direct feedback from Eb as well.”

Mariska Ramondino, My Chef’s Apron

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