The Cinematic Universe of Blogging Business
When Avengers: Infinity War hit theaters in April 2018, it enjoyed the largest opening weekend of all-time with an estimated $630 million at the box office. This movie, which really just sets up the next Avengers movie, represents the culmination of a decade of world-building with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The world has seen countless superhero movies before, surely, and it’s no stranger to sequels, prequels and side stories either. But nothing has ever been attempted at quite this kind of scale and it doesn’t look like the MCU is going to slow down any time soon. They’re already planning out the next several years of movies and we have no reason to believe the success won’t continue to build upon even more success. You may not have a media juggernaut with mouse ears bankrolling your venture, but you can take home several key lessons from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in terms of how best to approach your online business. Building Toward Something BiggerLeading up to Avengers: Infinity War, there were a total of 18 movies (not including the television shows) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe spanning 2008 to 2018. That’s a lot of content. What we may not have realized in the early days of the MCU is just how ambitious of a project this really was and how big it was really going to become. But what we’ve come to learn is just how each of these films contributed in some way to the overall world building of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They were all working toward something that was bigger than themselves, all fitting into a much grander scheme. The big picture, as it were. In your blogging business, you’ll find that you’ll also need to juggle a great number of moving parts and each of these parts must also contribute to a bigger picture. Each component has its own identity, just like the characters and movies in the MCU, but they’re all working toward a single over-arching vision. You may have multiple categories on your blog. You may have a YouTube channel, an email newsletter, an online course, an ebook, a membership site, a Facebook page, an Instagram profile and so much more going on. Each element must be optimized for its specific purpose, but they must also all align toward a common vision and overall objective. Each Piece Must Be Able to Stand AloneThe Marvel Cinematic Universe is rather audacious in that it assumes and expects that all fans of the movies will have already enjoyed all the other movies that came before the current one. They’re not going to explain to you why Groot is the way that he is in Infinity War, because they’ll assume you’ve already watched both Guardians of the Galaxy movies. They don’t have to explain why Captain America and Iron Man aren’t on speaking terms, because they assume you’ve already watched Civil War. Even so, these films must all achieve a rather delicate balance. They want to leverage these intricate interconnections so that die hard fans can extract the greatest enjoyment from the current offering. At the same time, the new movie must be enjoyable in and of itself, even if someone who is watching it isn’t 100 percent up to speed. There needs to be enough there that everyone can have a good time and, if they’re not all caught up, watching the movie will motivate them to catch up. The content that you produce for your blog and on your other channels needs to operate in much the same way. Each piece of content needs to be able to stand alone, offering great value (education, entertainment, or otherwise) to the reader or viewer. At the same time, it should build upon and expand upon what you’ve already produced in the past. When someone new stumbles across your content, they should feel welcome, not totally lost, and then they should be encouraged to dive into your archives for more. And when they do, they’ll get pulled deeper and deeper into your universe. Assemble Your Dream TeamPerhaps the biggest lesson bloggers can take home from the MCU is that you cannot do it alone. In an effort to take down Thanos in Infinity War, heroes from all across the galaxy (and beyond) assembled and united under that single purpose. They don’t always see eye to eye and they don’t always agree on everything (and some of them don’t even know one another), but they’re all working together. You may think that you want to go it alone in your blogging journey, because you value the sense of ownership and self-direction of being your own boss. I get that. I really do. But you can’t do it alone. You have to recognize that your fellow bloggers, for instance, are your colleagues and not your competitors. You have to leverage the skills and expertise of professionals whose talents complement your own. There is no “i” in team, but there is in “victory” and “profit.” Let’s go kick some Mad Titan butt. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2ymmthY via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2OhqD5u October 09, 2018 at 09:16AM
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The 5 Elements of a Powerful Blog Post
When starting a blog, you’re going to spend enormous time writing content. Through your content you’ll be able to connect with your readers, and build your brand over time. However, it’s important you know how to write content which is engaging, and different compared to your competition. I’m surprised at the amount of content I’ve read which is boring and provides NO substance. Writing exceptional content is something I feel can be taught over time if you pay close attention to the fundamentals. We are very lucky we live in a time where so many resources are available so we can learn from authority bloggers. I’ve decided to write a post discussing the fundamentals of a powerful blog posts. If you can start implementing these elements into your content, then you’ll be able to engage, and increase your brand awareness. You’ll also have a higher chance meeting your bottom line which is product sales through conversions…right? Let’s jump right into the content, and look at the powerful blog post elements. Your feedback will be appreciated so please let me know what you think in the content box. Each of you will have your own opinion which is why your feedback is encouraged. Always Do ResearchIn order for you to write a blog post which resonates with readers, you have to be able to provide them with substance and value. You have to make sure you have knowledge on the topic which comes from your previous experience or conducting research before starting to write. In order for myself to write epic posts, I’ll always spend 3-4 days researching the topic finding what’s changed and even the keywords I’m going to use in my content. Having a handful of keywords will allow me to stay focused when writing, and maybe even use some of them as sub-headings. Keep in mind, keywords are an essential SEO optimization strategy too. So, where do I go to research my topic: If you have read my previous posts then you know there are a few awesome places I like to target. First, I’ll visit the topic blogs I read in my niche. If they are authority bloggers then they’ll be up to date with the trends, and even provide insight on the topic. Some of them have probably written on the same topic so I’ll be able to find information, but elaborate when I’m completing my content. Secondly, niche relevant forums are a great place to find trending topics or even information on the topic itself. Paste the question within the forum, and find out what others have written on the topic. You can gather all the responses then elaborate on them when you are creating your own content. The fact they have been talked about in forums means they are popular, and will resonate with your readership. Google Search is the final research method I use, and it’s one of the best ways to find information on my topic. Google knows how to organize information so you’ll be able to find the MOST important research and trends by doing a simple search. Make sure you try different types of search commands so you end up finding the value you are looking for. Once you have done your research, you can start writing content incorporating with a clean design and layout. Design & LayoutOne of the best ways to get people involved in your content is by making sure the design and layout of your site creates a platform of visible content. Think about how many times you have visited a website looking for information, and left because the layout was cluttered making it hard for you to read the post. That’s why writing content with a focus on design is very important since it increases user time on your page. When publishing your content, you want to pay close attention to some very important key elements so your reader can skim through, and resonate with the content. First, make sure you spread out the sentences, and paragraph giving each of them the necessary gap. Secondly, you want to make sure NOT to have too many large paragraphs. I encourage all of you to keep your sentences no more than 4-5 sentences long. Third, always use sub-headings because it divides up the content by section, and gives your readers a way to skim to the section they actually want to read. I’ve learned, Simplistic design and layout which is easy to read is the best approach. Remember, your main objective is to grow your blog and this will happen through content engagement. However, if you have a layout which is cluttered then you’ll have a hard time engaging your readers through content writing. Slow engagement means slow growth. Include Images or GraphicsThe web has connected people from all over the world, and it’s important you create content everyone can share. For example, you’ve probably noticed many websites have an option for the visitor to select the local language. This is popular because you might have someone visiting whose first language isn’t English. It’s important you find creative ways to get your value across which is why images and other graphics are becoming more important. Let’s explore this a bit more… Graphics help illustrate your point better, and quickly at the same time. This is one reason why infographics have grown in popularity over the last several months. Infographics or general images embedded into your content will allow you to illustrate your value quickly, and to those who don’t read English very well. Next, creating such images are very cheap with the abundance of tools available online. If you do a quick infographic tool search, you find a handful of affordable online creation tools which are very cheap. If you want to create epic content, then it’s important your able to resonate with everyone who arrives on your website.
Do a quick search in Google, and you’ll be able to find popular image tools you can get started with. Social Media ConnectionEpic content is always sharable, and has been tweaked so it can be viewed on certain platforms without any problems. Recently I believe Google started to adapt social signals as part of their ranking strategy which is a blessing for those who create awesome content. By allowing others to share your content on popular social platforms, you are increasing the likelihood of ranking above others for the same keywords. However, when connecting your content to social media, you want to pay close attention to a few very important things. First, only sign up for popular social networks because you’ll be splitting traffic between 5-10 networks, some of which, have no engagement at all. Secondly, make use of the plugins if you are using WordPress as your blogging platforms. WordPress has so many awesome plugins which will easily place the buttons in the MOST optimized places. Third, only share the best piece of content so people know you always provide value. I have been part of so many social profiles who have only “1” piece of awesome content, but then fail to keep users engaged.
Call to ActionEpic pieces of content always have a solid call-to-action because they know people need guidance. You have to keep in mind many of your readers are new to your niche so are looking for value, and direction. This is why it’s important to have a clear call-to-action within or towards the end of your content. For example, whenever I complete my content I’ll always have a final thoughts section where I summarize what I’ve written and encourage people to take action. I’ll even provide them with some cool steps they can take right now to get started, and implement the tips I’ve just discussed. By having people follow through on your call-to-action, you are building a certain level of respect and trust which will help increase your engagement going forward. Implementing call-to-actions are NOT hard because all you have to do is the following: Summarize your content, and show them how to implement the strategies you discussed within. Next, you can ask them for their email address so you can send them a checklist of things to do. It’s a cool way to increase your email subscribers at the same time. Third, tell them to read through your content again and create a to-do list on their own. This helps because others have a different way of learning so a list create by themselves will work well. Final ThoughtsNow that you know the fundamentals of a popular and epic blog post, it’s important you start applying them going forward. If you don’t have the foundation setup, then you can start by creating your next topic. Search in forums for common questions being asked so you know where to target your keyword research. Head over to the places I’ve mentioned above to find the right keywords for your content. This will help guide your content writing, and streamline your creation process. Next, You can start to write your content, but keep in mind #2 which is design and layout. It’s important you view your blog design and make the necessary changes. For example, if your content seems cluttered or the layout is to compressed, then make some tweaks. Space out the paragraphs, remove unnecessary boxes and reduce the size of each paragraph. Next, you want to incorporate some social media into your website by setting up the right plugins, however remember what I said about focusing ONLY on the popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+. All of these are good enough to increase traffic, and engagement quickly. Each one will ensure you get your high quality content in front of the right people which generates traffic and brand awareness. Now that you know the fundamentals, it’s time to follow this strategy to implement everything discussed. First, start by reading over this content making notes of the important strategies. This will ensure you have everything you need in point form. Secondly, take a look at your blog and make tweaks where necessary like layout, boxes and compressed content. You can start doing this while you write your content so your blog is ready for when you hit publish. You need to track what works so make sure you have a tool in place like Google Analytics. This tool is free and provides a lot of information about engagement. You want to track until you find what changes are working for you and help you meet your bottom line. For example, ask yourself these questions:
Clearly state your objective, then make sure the changes help achieved those after implementing your strategies. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2PlyxaB via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2PnjEEu October 08, 2018 at 09:16AM
The World’s Fastest VW Bug Punch Buggy
There were tons of sweet rides at this week’s South Orange County Cars and Coffee, but none was sweeter than this VW Bug with a big block 427 Chevy motor! It’s the world’s fastest punch buggy! from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2zVxWaa via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2zWoPGg October 06, 2018 at 06:42PM
Just Because You Can Do It Yourself…
If you want your car to last as long as possible and run at its best, you should be investing in regular maintenance. At certain mileage milestones, you can expect to replace certain parts. But while you may take it in to a certified mechanic for a coolant flush or to replace your brakes, it might be an unnecessary waste of money to pay for someone to change your wiper blades. That’s simple enough and you can do it yourself. When it comes to your home, the same kind of approach applies too. There are certain things that need to be done around the house. If your heating system is completely on the fritz and you have no idea why it’s not working, it’s probably best to hire a professional. Conversely, it probably doesn’t make sense to pay someone $85 an hour, plus travel expenses, to come all the way out to house to change a light bulb. You can probably do that yourself. But just because you can do it yourself doesn’t mean that you should. Somehow, I get the burning suspicion that someone like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett doesn’t go around changing wipers and light bulbs. I could be wrong, but I imagine their time is better spent working on other projects. You could say the same for yourself when it comes to your own business ventures. Just because you can do it yourself doesn’t mean that you should. Just because you can try to concoct your own blog theme doesn’t mean you should. Unless you already have a strong background in design and development, you’ll need to invest untold hours into learning how all of that works… and even then, the end result that you produce will probably pale in comparison to what an established professional will be able to make for you. And in less time. So much less time. “But I can get a free theme to tinker with,” you might say. “But I can watch all these video tutorials on YouTube,” you might add. “I can access this free support forum and read through thousands of threads with mountains of posts each.” That’s true. It’s also true that these resources are only free if your time is worthless. If you’re interested in learning for your own sake, that’s one thing. If you’re learning only to make this one thing, you’re better off leaving it to the pros. Or, as John once put it, “If you want something done right, let Michael Kwan do it.” And you know the old adage that you get what you pay for? There really is something to that. You may have seen this viral video makes it way through your social feed at some point. If you’re willing to pay for a professional to spend a little more time on your project, you’ll probably end up with a better result. I mean, you could decide to sketch your own Spider-man picture. But if you’re anything like me and my atrocious drawing skills, you might end up spending hours and hours only to end up with something that’s even worse than what this guy is able to do in 10 seconds. Doing it yourself, in this context, really is a waste of time. And that’s time that you could be spending much more wisely on what you’re actually good at and what you actually enjoy doing. At the end of the day, particularly in the context of business where you are so much more concerned about the bottom line, spending money saves you time and earns you more money. There’s value in doing something for yourself, but that isn’t always the best course of action. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2IEvWWv via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2BZP4gD October 05, 2018 at 09:12AM
Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Blog 150%
No one can underestimate the power of marketing when done correctly, and it’s essential you have a solid marketing strategy always in place. “Marketing” is the continuous engagement of current or even potential customers until they become loyal customers. In the end, I believe the ones which can market their products or service strategically will enjoy higher ROI compared to their competition. However, it’s important to note something… It’s all about the testing what works so you can optimize your marketing going forward. For example, the title of this article is “marketing strategies” which means incorporating those strategies that give you a huge ROI so you meet your bottom line. I can’t believe the amount of people who waste time on strategies which produce no results going forward. It’s amazing because they waste both time, and money which would have been used somewhere else to produce results. Today, I’m going to talk about some strategies used by myself and others which helped grow our blog by at least 150%. The cool thing is these strategies are NOT rocket science, but understanding how to tap into the human mind a bit better. Let’s get started and your feedback will be appreciated. Let us know if you agree with these or if you have some other ones which have worked well for you going forward. Increase Their CuriosityOne of the best ways to get people to do what you want or, in other words, convert your visitors is by evoking their curiosity. By doing this you are forcing people to take a specific action which will eventually achieve your desired action. This has worked very well for me, and I had learned this strategy from Neil Patel while I was reading his blog. He uses the following as an example, Neil Patel created a search engine analytical tool which would provide people with errors on their blog. Once the visitor types in their URL the tool will scan the site, and produce a list of errors which can be improved. However, in order for people to find out what the errors are present, they will have to provide their name, email address and even phone number. Why did this work so well? For two reasons: First, you are evoking curiosity by telling them there is something wrong with their website, and the issues should be fixed in order to improve your ranking ability. Next, you are giving them a way to fix them by providing their email address for the report, and a personal consultation. By getting their email address you are increasing the likelihood of being able to engage them at a later time. This will help you build a relationship, and increase your ROI at a later time. Try and add a tool to your website, and see what kind of ROI it helps bring. You’ll be surprised at what you can do with a simple tool. Twist The FunnelAnother cool thing Neil Patel did was twist the funnel around so people were able to use his tool first before going any further. This engaged them right away which is amazing because it hooked them as soon as they arrived on the site, and showed them the value instead of trying to manipulate them. Neil Patel stated that by getting people to use the product first, and checking out the quality they were able to increase their sign-ups by 52%. Some people have a negative vibe when it comes to providing their name and email address, but when you let them use a product, and show them the value then it’s a great way to change their mind. Here’s what you should be doing right now… You should find a way to present your product or service in a way where the visitor gets to use them first. Make sure it provides value so it’s worth them inputting the desired information later on. If you want a great example, head over to QuickSprout.com, and give his tool a try so you can understand how the funnel works.
When you can understand how this reverse funnel works, you’ll be able to create something similar for your visitors when they arrive on your blog. The Follow-Up Sequence is ImportantOne of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made is delaying my first follow-up sequence, and adding a form to get new subscribers. I waited a few months until I had something valuable, and by the time my first message went out my subscribers had forgot they signed up. This meant they thought they were receiving a SPAM message which increased the amount of people who unsubscribed from my newsletter. One of the biggest regrets I have since I invested enormous money trying to get them on my list in the first place. If you visit other blogs, you’ll read how other authority bloggers encourage you to keep your subscribers in the loop so they don’t forget about your value and/or product. Here’s something to keep in mind, Just because you don’t have value in the form of content to provide your subscribers doesn’t mean you shouldn’t send them a message. Many bloggers do great simply sending out quizzes or even homework assignments to their list which allows them to stay engaged and loyal. You just have to make sure everything is relevant so it makes sense that people open, and click the link WITHIN the newsletter. Make The Entire Process EasyThink about how many times you arrived on a site and didn’t complete the signup form because it was lengthy. You have to ensure the entire process is easy because this will increase the chances of someone actually signing up. I remember when I first started adding forms on my pages, I would ask for name, address, email, and phone number, however I really only need their name and email to accomplish my objective. The point is, don’t ask for information you don’t need because it will deter the visitor from filling in your form. This means you have lost a valuable subscriber, and we all know the importance of creating a huge list. It can work wonders when marketing now, and in the future. Keep these few things in mind going forward…
A cool trick which I’ve used several times is to visit the blogs of others within your niche and see what they are doing. You can learn a lot from your competition. I would sign up to their newsletters, and see what type of subject lines and newsletter bodies they use to attract their subscribers to click-through. Optimize Your Email PerformanceOnce you have a solid email form embedded into your pages, and your done testing the performance you should have increased you’re opt-ins. However, this is NOT the end of your journey because it’s important you find ways to improve your email performance. You’re going to be sending enormous follow-ups, and the last thing you want is them ending up in the SPAM box. The good news is many email ESP’s will provide you with a split testing feature so you can test what’s working and what’s not. They give you the ability to test both the form, and the messages which go out in your follow-up sequence. So, what do I mean about email performance? It’s important you test the following: Open rates – you want to make sure your subject line motivates people to open your message. No point in sending out messages which don’t get opened because they won’t convert. Click-rate – You want to make sure the body of the message is very enticing because this will improve your CTR. Many times you’re going to have a link within your message so it’s important that gets clicked. Your ESP has an interface in place to track the clicks you’ve received from your messages. Subject Line – It’s important you keep a close eye on the subject lines especially the ones which get the highest CTR. You’ll want to use the same ones going forward because of their high conversion rate. Final ThoughtsWhen blogging it’s very important to keep pushing forward, and to find ways which allow you to grow your blog continuously. It’s important to keep finding, and testing strategies which work so you can continue to implement them within your blogging over the next couple of months. However, keep in mind “marketing” is something you have to keep doing, and it’s important to keep trying new things all the time. There are new networks popping up which can be awesome opportunities for all of you. However, here’s the secret… It’s important to learn from those who are already in the industry for years. Read their blogs and start implementing their strategies right away because they are proven techniques. When I first started, I skimmed through the internet finding top blogs within my niche, and created a list of the marketing strategies they used. On my list I have about 4-5 solid blogs which are continuously growing, and read over them every day looking for the changing trends. For example,
Here’s what you should do going forward, First, start by reading over the content again, and write out the important points outlined because this will help you quickly find the information you are looking for. If you need to read it more than once then do it, but make sure you write out the MOST important points discussed above. Next, Start from the top and start implementing the strategies, and make sure you have a solid way to track the results. You’ll only know what’s working when you can track the results. In about 30-60 days, you’ll have some solid data which will tell you EXACTLY what marketing methods work better than others. You might be able to implement 1-2 strategies at once especially when setting up an email campaign. Third, in order for you to have ultimate results you have to know where to put your energy. No need wasting time implementing strategies which have little CTR or conversions…right? Once you have the data, make sure you stick with the methods that work so you can start converting your readers. I also encourage all of you to keep reading the blogs of influential bloggers because they are always sharing cool new tricks, and trends useful to you. Always remember your bottom line which is to make money in your business. You’ll have an easier time doing this when you can understand your readers, and learn to respect the type of information they are looking for. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2yhl8sy via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2RwU15U October 04, 2018 at 09:00AM 10/3/2018 0 Comments Is Blog Commenting Dead?
Is Blog Commenting Dead?
Let me tell you a little story about how I came to meet John Chow and how we’ve grown to become pretty good friends over the years. Heck, I even crashed at his guest house in Washington at one point. Learning to Make Money OnlineEven though I’d be writing online for years prior, I didn’t really turn that into professional blogging and freelance writing until 2006. I started learning about Internet marketing, online advertising, search engine optimization and all the rest of it. Coincidentally, it was also around that time that John decided to run his little experiment to see if it was possible to earn a full-time income from part-time blogging. We all know how that turned out for him. At the time, I didn’t really know him, of course. I only knew *of* him, but we just so happened to have a mutual friend who I knew from one of the local car forums… who was also getting into blogging around the same time. It’s one of those perfect storm kind of scenarios. My friend said I should check out John’s blog for insight and tips and advice, and so I did. Understandably, John Chow dot Com looks pretty different today than it did over a decade ago. Back then, John had a widget in the sidebar that would display the top five or top ten commentators on the site each month based purely on volume. The five people who left the most comments would be “featured” in the sidebar with the count resetting each month. The competition was understandably fierce, because while all links in the comments themselves were nofollow, the sidebar links were dofollow. Release the Hounds!So, I did what any self-respecting new blogger would do. I spammed the site so hard with so many comments for so long that I consistently showed up in that top commentator list almost every month. Looking back, my time was probably better spent and I’m not completely convinced how much of a positive impact it really had on my SEO, but the net result was I got on John’s radar, we met over Dot Com Pho, we co-authored a book, and the rest is history. Which leads me all the way back to today and the current state of blog commenting on the web. Back then, some blogs (I think including mine, but I’m not 100% positive) allowed for dofollow links in the comments as a means of encouraging people to leave comments. This worked, to some degree, but it wasn’t long before commenting bots and spam services showed up to take advantage. Blog commenting for some dofollow SEO link juice very quickly became an undesirable practice. Some people say that even if the links are nofollow, they carry some SEO value from anchor text and relevance. I’ll leave that up to debate another day. What I will say is that, particularly since pretty well all blog comments are nofollow across the board these days, link building through leaving comments on blogs isn’t really going to work. But this doesn’t mean that blog commenting is worthless. A Penny for Your ThoughtsThe state of blog commenting now is the same as it was when I was spamming this blog some 12 years ago. It’s ultimately about curating relationships, attracting attention, and establishing expertise. If I had not been so active commenting on John Chow dot Com back then, I may not have ever met John in person and I may not have connected with so many other people through that relationship as a result. It’s because of John that I’ve had the opportunity to work with people like Zac Johnson and Nate Whitehill. It’s because of those comments, to some degree, that I’m blogging here today. So what does this really mean for you? Keep commenting, but do it with a purpose. Do it because you actually want to engage with other human beings in meaningful conversation. Do it because you’re adding value to the discussion, asking good questions and providing answers and clarification to your fellow readers. Do it to be personal, genuine, and approachable, so people know you’re actually a real human being who may have something to offer them. Be relevant, be worthwhile, and you just might get noticed by the right people too. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2ybq5Dj via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2DUimj3 October 03, 2018 at 09:45AM
Avoid These Top Internet Marketing Blunders
Internet marketing is a very fragile business because it’s very competitive, and takes a lot of patience. However, there are cool ways you can improve your marketing by researching your niche, and applying the strategies you learn at the same time. Over the years, whenever I start a blog, I’ll always research my niche and the top bloggers in my market to learn what I can from them. Since they have been in the business longer it helps me avoid the mistakes they have made along the way. Avoiding these mistakes will help me grow faster, and build my brand quickly. Next, We have so many cool ways to market our blog which were NOT available before. For example, we have social media which will excel the rate of blog growth 10 fold. The top social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ have enormous niche relevant visitors which can build momentum quickly to your content. However, the secret is to know how to use these networks, and avoid the common mistakes made by rookie bloggers. So, what have I decided to focus on today? Simple… I searched for the biggest mistakes authority bloggers have made when starting out, and want to discuss them with you now. This is great for those just starting, or those who have been in the business for years. It’s never too late to tweak your style so you optimize your marketing and blog growth. Let’s get started and your feedback will be greatly appreciated. Growth Rate FailureYou’ve started a blog, and want to make sure it grows over the years, however fail to focus on the growth rate. This is one of the worst mistakes anyone can make in the industry because you won’t know what has worked or what has stagnant your growth. In blogging, you always want to make sure every decision you make will increase your brand, and growth over a certain time period. This is why it’s important to make sure you have the right tools in place which will give you a better overview of your growth rate. For example, you should always ask yourself these questions going forward.
Answering all these questions will help you implement the right strategy going forward making sure you keep growing. For example, ask yourself how much content should you be writing to keep your blog fresh because we all know how unattractive a blog with old content is…right? I suggest you install Google analytics to your blog so you can trace where your visitors are going, and then can focus on those same avenues going forward. You’ll still want to try new things, however this way you can focus on what has been working at the same time. Very Small NicheIt’s tough building your business in a very small niche. It’s even harder generating profit when you have a very small audience which is why it’s important target a big enough niche. Focusing on a wide enough niche will give you the leverage to try different things, and build a brand around a specific topic. For example, “make money online” is a huge niche, and I can keep narrowing it down even further. I can focus on keywords like:
This will just give me the flexibility to try different things, and you won’t run out of ideas. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or even search to find cool markets which haven’t been tapped into. Then start to narrow down each topic by looking at sub-keywords and products which you can focus on. Many times I have head over to Amazon.com, and started looking at the best sellers within a niche. The fact that many people have been purchasing a specific product means it’s a very HOT niche. It’s important to think outside the box, and choose a niche which has a huge audience, and isn’t competitive. If you head over to Google and type in some keywords, you’ll be able to find some awesome niches which haven’t been tapped into by a wide range of bloggers. Not Marketing EnoughIt doesn’t matter if you just started out, or have been in the business for a long time because you have to keep marketing. The thing many people don’t understand is times are much different now, and you have to battle others to get ahead in the line so use what’s available to you. The fact so many social media websites popped up is a good thing, but can work against you too. Let me explain this a bit better… Years ago starting a blog, writing content and generating a following was easier. It was simply based on first come first serve, and the search engines didn’t have complicated algorithms as they do now. This meant you were ranked based on start date, and how many keywords you had in your content relevant to a search phrase. However, now you have over 200 rankings factors which determine your place within the SERP’s. Here are just some of them:
Since things have gotten more complicated I encourage all of you to try different marketing avenues available to you. For example, start investing in banner advertising, CPC, content marketing and others. This will allow you to outshine your competition within your niche if necessary. A lot of this will obviously depend on your niche, and how many others are dominating within it, but choosing to actively market will increase the likelihood of conversions. Start by doing a quick search in Google, and creating a list of marketing platforms. This way you can start to try different ones and keeping track of the long term conversions. Retention vs AcquisitionAs a blogger you have to pay close attention to customer retention, and acquisition. For those of you NOT familiar with these two phrases, let’s take a quick look at each: Acquisition: This is where you continue to grow your visitors by getting new customers. Retention: This is where you hold on to the visitors you already have visiting your website. It’s important you continue to do both, but more importantly focus on your existing customer or reader base. Why? If you start to lose readers, this means you have a deeper underlying problem. It means you have a problem with new content bring published or have LOST the quality of your product or services. No one wants to lose customers especially when they have been active readers of your blog for several years…right? Here is my point…. One of the biggest blunders I’ve see bloggers make is NOT focus on acquisition and retention enough. They take visitors for granted thinking they’ll stick around forever once active readers of your blog. This mentality will get you in trouble in the long run because losing readers mean you are failing to do something important which you did when starting. As a blog owner make sure you keep a close eye on why your blog grew, and going forward make sure you continue to focus on the same things. Delaying to Grow or BlogFor my final point I want to discuss something very important. You have to make sure you blog and write content every day. We are at a time where we should be focusing on content marketing because this is what search engines and people are looking for. More people turn to the internet to find solutions to their problems, and they expect to find them when searching through Google, etc. As a matter of fact, Google has made this clear numerous times over the last few years. Let’s take a look at what they’ve done in recent years. Algorithm Changes – You’ve seen more changes in the recent years then ever before. These are focused at bettering search results, removing poor quality sites, and those which use manipulation to rank keywords. Ranking Factors – You’ve seen a huge change in what now ranks your content compared to before. For example, more emphasis is given to content, social signals, domain and page authority. Bounce Rate – Google tracks user experience by looking at bounce rate differently. They time pages more accurately which will show them the quality of your content. Internal Linking – More important now then ever before because a solid linking patterning increases the authority of other pages. Google looks for “total” authority instead of single page when ranking websites. These are just some examples however you can imagine how many other factors matter when ranking your website. I recommend you have a solid content writing schedule so you can keep writing up-to-date content. Google has build their reputation by focusing on providing accurate information, and one way to achieve this is by writing content people actually want to read. Final ThoughtsNow that you have a solid list of common blunders made by bloggers, it’s important you start implementing what you’ve learned above. Start by reading over this content one more time and making notes along the way so you understand the material. Many times, you’ll still continue to make the same mistakes because you haven’t understood what I’ve mentioned above. This can be avoided by readings the content above one more time, and writing out the fundamentals in point form. The next time you write content you can start applying these strategies and always have a way to track statistics. The thing you should do is track what’s been working so you can continue to use those and avoid the ones which produce little results. Remember, in the final point I discussed the importance of retention and acquisition which should always be your ultimate focus. Keeping both these elements in mind will allow you to keep writing content to build a bigger following, and keep those who have already been loyal readers. Here’s something else which I forgot to mention above that I’ll go over now… Social media is a great way to keep building readership because it taps into a huge amount of people everyday. However, you have to know how to use certain networks. For example, find out how to use social media tools which allow you to focus people in your niche. In Twitter, I use a tool called hashtagify.com which gives you a list of the MOST popular #hashtags in your niche. You start by typing in your main keyword, and the tool will generate a table of popular #hashtags which you can then implement into your tweet. For those of you unaware: #hashtags are Twitters way to sort information being shared on their network, and it’s been a valuable way so far. Learn how to use different strategies for other networks so you can get your content found on social networks which will generate enormous traffic to your blog. Remember, having a tracking tool which will tell you where your traffic is coming from so you can continue to use that avenue going forward for blog growth. At the same time, you should be focusing on blogger retention through existing content marketing, etc. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2xSycFG via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2xWspic October 02, 2018 at 10:10AM
How Much Money Can You Save Working from Home?
There are innumerable reasons why you might want to quit your day job. Maybe you’ve got a horrible boss who keeps “voluntelling” you to come in on the weekend to finish up those TPS reports, because that’d “be great.” Maybe you want to take matters into your own hands, take ownership over your own career, and enjoy the limitless income potential of entrepreneurship. Maybe you want the freedom to work when and where you want, on your own terms, doing your own thing. You want to steer your own ship and have more time to spend with your family. These are all valid reasons. Another big reason? It’s not just about the possibility of more income; it’s also about how much money can you can save by working from home, being your own boss. Thousands of DollarsI recently came across an article by Maddi Salmon on Quartz at Work. She’s not even coming from the perspective of striking it out on your own and working from home full time. She’s just talking about telecommuting into her day job “a couple of days each week,” and even under these much more limited circumstances, she is able to save thousands of dollars every year. And this got me thinking, as I hadn’t really worked out the math in my own situation. How much money am I saving as a professional freelance writer and blogger who runs his own business from home full-time? Every city is different and every individual is different, but I thought some of you may find it helpful to peer into a real-world example of someone who could be in a similar situation as you are. Let’s Break It DownI’m not going to dive into the added matter of writing off business expenses and other related considerations, as that’s a whole other can of worms. Let’s just talk strictly about the money saved when working from home as compared to working a more traditional job in a more traditional office. First, there’s the commute. Right now, my total commute consists of rolling out of bed and walking down the stairs to my home office. Total commute time of less than 30 seconds for a total cost of nothing. Because of this, my wife and I are able to share a single vehicle. If I drove to work, we’d need a second car. Conservatively, the costs involved with having that second car would include insurance, depreciation, gas, and maintenance. Here in Vancouver, that’d be about $1,800 a year in insurance, about $2,000 in annual depreciation, about a $60 tank of gas every week (so about $3,000 annually), and let’s say $500 in maintenance (it’s probably more than that). That’s about $7,300, not including the opportunity cost of the time I “waste” on a traditional commute. Second, there’s daycare. Because I work from home full time, there’s always someone home to take care of my daughter. When my wife or my mom are around, I can work. When they’re not, I can be dad. If I worked outside the home, we’d likely have to invest in a nanny or daycare to some degree. In Vancouver, daycare (if you can even get a spot) is at least $1,200 a month, if not more. Third, there’s food and coffee. Since I work from home, I typically brew up my own cup of coffee at a cost of about 25 to 50 cents. If I visited the local coffee joint almost daily working outside of home, I could easily spend $3 to $5 a cup. Multiply through by five days a week, 50 weeks a year, that’s an annual savings of about $900. For lunch, I can make my own meal at home for less than $5 pretty easily, while a meal out is at least $10. Conservatively, that’s an annual savings of over $1,000. Combined with coffee, we’re now looking at about $2,000 each year. Fourth, we’ve got wardrobe. I work from home and very rarely actually meet with clients face-to-face. As a result, I spend almost nothing on work-related clothing. If I worked in an office, I’d have some upkeep to maintain. Dress shirts, ties, suit jackets, shoes, plus the increased wear and tear on essentials. This will vary widely from individual to individual, but you can easily spend $1,000 a year to maintain a professional appearance, if not much, much more. Tallying It UpRemember that these are very conservative estimates and it’s naturally going to vary a lot based on who and where you are. Maybe your commute costs are way more or maybe you can find much more affordable daycare in your area. But here are the rough numbers for my situation over the course of a typical year.
Nearly $25,000 is hardly anything to sneeze at. That’s the equivalent of making about $100 more each workday or about $12 more an hour (based on a 40-hour week). When you put it this way, even if you take a temporary pay cut for quitting your “comfortable” day job to pursue online ventures from home, you could effectively still come out well ahead. And I’m not even factoring for all kinds of other potential savings and benefits. Do the math. Working from home is worth it. from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2y3NS8a via Daniel via Blogger https://ift.tt/2xRx2u1 October 01, 2018 at 10:10AM |
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