How to Get More Subscribers and Traffic With a Take Action Area + Optin Skin Bonus

For the past two weeks I’ve been secretly running a new plugin behind the scenes of The Smart Passive Income Blog, which I know is going to make a lot of people extremely happy.

First, an interesting and related backstory…

In January of 2010 I launched a major redesign of the SPI blog, which is pretty close to what you see today.

Part of the redesign included what I liked to call a Take-Action Area, a “box” I designed myself (and coded by my web programmer) that was to be placed immediately below a blog post to encourage sharing, bookmarking, subscribing to my email list, and checking out related posts.

It looked just like this:

Take Action Area - First Iteration

In addition to increasing subscribers and sharing, I instantly received a ton of positive feedback and messages from other bloggers asking me how they could get one of their own, but my response was always the same: Click Here to Read More about Take Action Areas

SPI 033 : 21 Small Things You Can Do for Your Audience That Can Lead to BIG TIME Results

The Smart Passive Income Podcast

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In this session of the Smart Passive Income Podcast I share 21 small things you can do for your audience that can lead to big time results for your blog, brand and online business.

What I love about this particular session is that all of these tips are relatively easy to implement and most of them are absolutely free.

And you can start today!

The primary theme throughout this entire session is:

If you take care of your people, your people will take care of you. 

Small gestures can make a big difference – I experience it every single day.

In this session you’ll hear about:

  • How one simple “transaction” can lead to more and bigger transactions in the future.
  • How someone calling your name at the mall applies to your online business.
  • Why I was called a ninja.
  • The one thing on your site that absolutely needs to be obvious!
  • The best kind of sales pitch.
  • Something someone did recently that made a huge impression on me.
  • Why I put a picture of myself and my son in the sidebar of my website.
  • One trick that will help you have better, more engaging content.
  • Plus more…

Right click here to download the MP3

Items mentioned in this podcast include:

I hope you enjoyed this session of the SPI podcast, and if you have more small tips directed to a website’s audience that can lead to big time results, please feel free to share that information below in the comments!

Cheers, and all the best! Thank you so much for listening (or reading the transcript below).

Please subscribe below to the podcast to get automatic updates for your device:

Transcript:

Click Here to Download the Transcript for Session 33 (PDF)

Top 10 Tips for Conducting an Exceptional Interview

How to Conduct an InterviewOne of the best ways to create content online is to interview someone – a person who compliments you and your brand or someone who fills the holes in it.

Interviews are extremely beneficial because:

  1. You can generate unique and refreshing content for your audience. You don’t need to be the expert to deliver expert advice.
  2. It can raise your level of authority simply because of the public association that you have with the interviewee.
  3. You build a relationship with the person you are interviewing which could possibly lead to other growth opportunities for you and your brand down the road.

Conducting interviews (especially audio or video interviews), however, is not easy.

At least good ones that are worth people’s time.

Although most of the content is generated by the person you are interviewing, most of the responsibility to fashion an interview worth consuming still lies in your hands – and it’s not just about asking the right questions either.

It’s about genuine interest, flow, vibe, sincerity, concern, digging deeper, defining the unclear, attracting stories, avoiding awkwardness and being conscious about all of that at the same time.

After conducting 20 interviews of my own and being interviewed in more than 30 (and listening to several more!), I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to conduct a worth-listening-to interview, one that is captivating and full of content that your audience wants to hear.

Below are my top 10 tips for conducting an exceptional interview: Click Here to Read More about How to Conduct an Interview

A Thank You Video + Some Quick Announcements

I just wanted to share this quick video I recorded to say thanks for all of the well wishes and also to make some quick announcements about:

  1. Blog World Expo NY 2012
  2. Security Guard Training Headquarters
  3. A website I just purchased; and
  4. Happy Anniversary!

(Or, you can watch the video on YouTube by clicking here!)

Click Here to Read the Transcript

Also, a big thanks to Greg from Sparring Mind and Kim from Buzz Blogger who wrote amazing guest posts on the blog this past week. Here are the links below in case you missed these posts:

Other Posts You May Enjoy

And – just in case you’re looking for more content to read, here’s a list of great posts I’ve recently come across that you may enjoy:

Thanks so much, and if you’d like to shamelessly plug one of your own posts on my Facebook Page go ahead and click here now!

Cheers, and have a great weekend!

17 Copy-And-Paste Blog Post Templates

Blog Post Templates

I’m usually a trooper when it comes to pain…but this wisdom tooth extraction has just not been treating me very well. Thanks for understanding that I still need a couple more days to recover before getting back on the saddle and writing blog posts again. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere!

Today, however, I’m happy (and very lucky) to feature a guest post from one of my favorite writers online, Kim Roach from Buzzblogger.com. She always produces fantastic material that’s quick to read. She’s already proven so with her first guest post that was published on SPI back in April of 2010. 

If you write at all online, this is a post to bookmark for future reference – guaranteed. 

Please give Kim a warm welcome, enjoy and share!

Do you ever get writer’s block?

I mean do you ever sit down at your computer with that blank screen mocking you in the face?

As a blogger, I’ve done this on more than one occasion.

Sure, I use all kinds of tricks to get the ‘ol inspiration motor running…

  • I keep a list of running article ideas.
  • I browse all of my favorite blogs scouting for possible ideas.
  • Tweet my followers for ideas.
  • If I get really desperate I’ll whip up a nice bubble bath and some wine :)

But sometimes you just need a good hook.

Something fresh and unique!

So today I’m going to give you 17 Copy-And-Paste Blog Post Templates that you can use as your own.

Happy Blogging! Click Here to Read More about Blog Post Templates

Be Everywhere: How I Got 2000+ NEW Visitors To My Site…With A Front Page PowerPoint Presentation on Slideshare

Slideshare Front PageI’m still recovering from widsom tooth extraction last Friday (not fun – it was apparently a very rough surgery), but what makes me feel a lot better is being able to share this high-quality guest post by Gregory Ciotti from Sparring Mind.

I rarely accept guest posts on this blog, but when I do it has to be totally unique content that I haven’t touched on before and it must be presented in a way that can help those in the SPI community who want to try something new and take action. This post is that and a whole lot more, and what I love is that Gregory took the initiative to expand on my “Be Everywhere” content strategy, found success with it, and was kind enough to report his findings and experience here.

Take it away Greg! 

(Caution: this is a long post, but filled with great examples!)

Everything old is new again.

Of all the original and actionable advice that is to be found on Smart Passive Income, by far my favorite has to be Pat’s transparent and comprehensive articles on “Being Everywhere“, or getting your brand on multiple platforms to increase exposure.

I feel like 2012 will really be the year that bloggers start to truly understand the importance and usefulness of creating content in different mediums and formats to grow their presence online.

Old posts & new content can come alive in the form of free guides, videos, and even hour long podcasts.

That is all apart of the power of content marketing on different platforms.

Recently, I had some success with this exact strategy… yet I wasn’t using anything modern like YouTube videos or audio content on SoundCloud.

I used a PowerPoint presentation.

Wait… Seriously?

I promise!

And no, I didn’t present it to a live audience of thousands of people… I presented it to a virtual audience of tens of thousands.

How? Click to continue…

SPI 032 : How to Buy a Website with Chris Guthrie

The Smart Passive Income Podcast

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In this session of the Smart Passive Income Podcast we welcome back (for the third time!) Chris Guthrie of MakeMoneyOnTheInternet.com.

The first time he was on the show in SPI Session #10 – we talked about niche sites and his amazing success promoting products as an affiliate for Amazon.com. In 2010 he sold over a million dollarsof product and collected a generous commission as a result, which is awesome.

The last time he was on the podcast we had a little back and forth discussion in SPI Session #22 about affiliate marketing – tips, tricks and real life experiences from the both of us, which was really fun too.

This time, however, we hardly talk about affiliate marketing at all. In fact, we spend a good 60 minutes chatting about something completely different that Chris has recently been focusing on to grow his net worth – something that I’ve become very interested in as well, especially because it has to do with a major goal I have in 2012.

So what’s this session about?

Buying websites.

Buying a website means that you obviously have to spend a little bit of money, but think about this…

Instead of starting a site from scratch, developing it and getting it to a point where it’s generating an income, which as we all know takes some time and money to do,  you can “fast forward” and buy a web property that is already earning money.

If you can improve the earnings of that site (and even if you don’t), that site becomes a very valuable asset that can continue to put money (and for some sites, passive income) in your pocket for a long period of time.

Of course, there’s a lot that goes into buying a website, which is why I wanted to pick Chris’s brain before I dive into this myself.

In this session Chris and I cover:

  • Where to find websites that are for sale (and no, Chris’s primary location is not Flippa.com, although we talk about that marketplace too).
  • The criteria Chris uses to determine if a website is worth buying, plus signs to look out for.
  • How to determine the right price to offer for a website, including market standards for different scenarios.
  • How much potential is really worth (you can guess this one).
  • How to not get scammed when buying a website.
  • How to pay for a website that you buy off a marketplace.
  • How transfer of domain and ownership works (I drill down Chris here – I had no idea how this worked before).
  • Examples of successful buys that Chris has made in the past, including the purchase price and domain (and what those sites are earning now).
  • Examples of a not-so-successful buy that left Chris out 4 figures and what we can learn from his experience.

Right click here to download the MP3

Items mentioned in this podcast include:

This was a great session, and thanks to Chris once again for sharing his knowledge and expertise with us on the show (and for the SPI only discount on his new course too!).

I will say, however, that if you do become interested in buying websites after listening to the show, even though it is a faster way to get a website that is earning an income online, it’s still going to take some work. Deep research and analysis to minimize risk is what it’s all about.

There are risks involved and nothing is guaranteed – so do you’re homework if this is something you’re going to look into.

Update / Comment (from Clinton of Experienced-People.net, who is a veteran website buyer) – I just wanted to share part of his very insightful comments here:

“You compare it to buying a house and say just do your research. That’s dangerous advice! When you buy a house you have professionals doing your due diligence and legal stuff for you, you are buying from a local seller and are subject to local laws which have evolved over centuries. Not so with buying website properties from unknown third parties in far away countries who work to no laws at all. You can’t just “do your research”. That research is a specialist skill in itself.” – see more from Clinton below in the comment section.

I hope you enjoyed this unique session here on the SPI Podcast – and look out for some posts from me in the future when I begin to buy websites and document the entire process to hopefully add some nice income generating websites to my off-SPI passive income stream.

Cheers, and all the best!

Please subscribe below to the podcast to get automatic updates:

Transcript:

Click Here to Download the Transcript for Session 32 (PDF)

Niche Site Private Advertisement Experiment – Part 2 – Displaying Ads and Accepting Payments

Niche Site Private AdsLast week I posted Part 1 of the Niche Site Private Advertising Experiment, a little case study I’m running to see if I can generate additional income from my security guard training niche site by having related companies pay for ad space.

Last month, the site pulled in $2,801.06 from Google Adsense alone, but as I always mention it’s dangerous to rely only on one income source from a website – so I’m giving private advertising a shot.

In Part 2 I’ll be explaining more about the mechanics of how you can actually run ads on your website or blog and accept payments too. Later posts in the series will cover pricing, marketing your ad space to potential advertisers and hopefully some real life examples along the way.

Side note: since I posted Part 1 of the series the niche site has already landed one paying advertiser and many more have already expressed interest!

I’m excited to talk about that, but let’s take it one step at a time and get into exactly how you can place advertisements and accept payments on your site first. Click Here to Read More of my 2nd Private Advertising Experiment Post

My Monthly Report – January 2012

passive incomeLet’s start off the New Year with a bang…

Welcome to my January 2012 Monthly Income Report!

Each month I share an extremely detailed report about what I’ve been up to, the income I’ve earned online and the lessons I’ve learned during the past 31 Days.

Why?

For several reasons:

  1. To keep me headed in the right direction. Sure, I could keep this all to myself but sharing this information publicly helps to hold me accountable and continue to try and outdo myself.
  2. I want to be honest and transparent. If anyone talks about making money online, I think that’s really the only way it should be. Wins, losses, successes and failures – the whole deal.
  3. I know it inspires a lot of people to take action.

Before I get into this month’s report I just wanted to mention one quick thing: if you’re just starting out online, please understand that making money via the Internet is definitely not an overnight thing.

Time, hard work, dedication, a lot of failures, constant learning and a passion to help other people are all things that I’ve found to be part of the recipe for success.

And lastly – it takes belief. If you don’t believe you can succeed, then there’s absolutely no chance that you will.

“My inner world creates my outer world.” - T. Harv Eker, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

Let’s get to it… Click Here to Read the Rest of My January Income Report