Archive for the ‘blogging’ Category
No huge intro needed for this post. Here are 10 actionable items that you can do right now to improve your online business or blog:
1. Re-Evaluate Your Goals
On a piece of paper (yes – paper), write down where you want your business or blog to be a year from now. Think about the following when doing so:
- Number specific items, such as:
- earnings
- traffic
- sales
- subscribers / followers
- etc.
- Non-number specific items, such as:
- authority
- design
- happiness
- lifestyle
So often, we get stuck in the routine of just doing things, that we forget exactly why we’re do what we’re doing. Re-evaluating your goals will give you that boost of energy you need to get things done, and possibly even help you realize that you need to do things a little differently to get to where you want to go.
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I’m back!
Well – technically I never really left, but I have been moving into a new house for the past couple of weeks, and it really does take a toll on productivity. Even without a 9 to 5 job, I felt like all I was doing and all I could think about was moving and painting.
So now, as I write my first blog post from the new office in my new pad, I’m happy to say that I’m ready to crank out some more useful content for you.
The following is my checklist for evaluating a good domain name. If you’re a beginner, I recommend using this as you begin the process of selecting a domain name for your blog or business. If you already have an established website, run through the checklist and see how your domain name does, and be sure to keep these in mind for any future projects.
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If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you may have noticed that I stick to a consistent posting schedule, publishing new blog posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I’ve read that consistency is an important factor in the success of one’s blog, which is why I make sure to always set aside time on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday to write. However, there’s a lot more involved with my posting schedule in regards to what I write, how I write and when I publish certain articles. I’d like to share that with you today.
This is, obviously, something that I’ve come up with for my own blog that may not be suitable for all bloggers. But – as always, I’m happy to share with you the tips, tricks and techniques that I use that have helped me achieve some success. As you read through this, you may want to think about how to adapt a similar approach to what you publish on your blog.
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On Wednesday, I had written my most discussed blog post ever: How to REALLY Profit From Your Blog. In less than 24 hours there were over 100 comments, which is pretty incredible. Thanks to those of you who have contributed to the conversation and even added your own thoughts and personal experiences to the post.
After I hit the 100 comment mark earlier today, I had received no less than a dozen emails from some of you asking me exactly how I get so many people to comment on my posts. Part of the reason is because my community of readers are AWESOME, but also because of certain strategies that I use, which I coincidentally recorded a YouTube video about earlier this week.
Please feel free to watch Tricks to Get More Comments on Your Blog on YouTube (opens a new window):
What Else Can You Do To Get More Comments?
What other strategies or tactics have you used or heard of to get more people readers involved and commenting?
Thanks, and have a great weekend!
Last week, a good friend of mine asked me out to lunch. He said he was dying to discuss a potential internet business idea and wanted my honest opinion. Naturally, I accepted.
I was excited, not only because we were having sushi, but because I love helping people, especially those who I can tell have that drive and passion to succeed. Many people ask me about what I do online, but only a handful actually ask me how to setup an LLC or use Google Optimizer to increase conversion rates.
At lunch, after some catching up and small chit-chat, I finally asked him, “So what’s this business idea of yours?”
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So far, I’ve written 15 Monthly Income Reports, but I’ve never written about my traffic – until today. Instead of just “showing you the numbers”, I hope I can provide you with some insight as to why the numbers are the way they are, and what can we learn from them. Thanks to those of you who emailed me asking me to write about my traffic.
Note: all screenshots taken from Google Analytics (data since October 2008 for The Smart Passive Income Blog)
Overall Traffic
Here’s a snapshot of my traffic since I started this blog:
A few important things to take away from this graph:
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The end of a blog post is just the beginning.
What I mean by this statement is that a lot of a blog’s success is not only determined by what you write, but what some of your readers do after they finish reading what you write.
Blog readers are divided into two groups: those who just read, and those who read and take action. One isn’t better than the other (since our primary goal is to reach and teach as many people as possible), but it’s obvious which group of people help to accelerate a blog’s success.
So how do we convert the “just readers” to become those who take action? We don’t.
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Over the past several months, I’ve been introduced to several internet marketing and blogging forums that I wish I knew about (or were available) when I was starting out on my own. I’d like to share 5 of them with you today, just in case you don’t already know about these wonderful communities of like-minded people who all want to improve their online presence, and at the same time share their knowledge, tips and tricks too. I’ve also included a short analysis of each so you’ll know what to expect.
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“Hello, my name is Pat.”
“Hi Pat. Nice to meet you!”
“Would you like to buy my eBook? It’s only $29 dollars, and I promise it will tell you everything you need to know. Hello…HELLO?!”
(insert obnoxious game show “incorrect answer” sound effect here)
Cold selling, similar to “cold calling”, is when someone tries to sell something to a prospective customer who does not know that person and was not expecting such an interaction. It does not work. You may be able to get a sale here and there, but if you want to create a successful business online, especially one that you can be proud to say you own, you cannot cold sell.
Do you like to get calls from a telemarketer? Do you like to sign up for email newsletters, only to get bombarded with emails that say “buy this” and “buy that”? Do you click links for products in tweets from people you’ve never heard of?
It might sound obvious, but I can’t tell you how many times a day I’m shown some kind of cold offer. In emails, in tweets, on websites – it’s ridiculous. Not only will cold selling leave you wondering why you don’t make any sales, but you’ll lose the respect of people who may have eventually bought something from you, and maybe even help you promote and sell more products.
So the question is, how can we as internet marketers, bloggers and entrepreneurs sell something to people online, without cold selling?
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Using a custom blog theme or website design is not necessary to succeed online.
In fact, when I started doing business online, I used a free wordpress theme and was still able to generate a great income from both Adsense and selling information products. So, if you’re worried about how much money it takes to get something started online, don’t – because it doesn’t cost much at all. Find a niche, get a domain and a host, and start creating content and building authority for yourself.
Free themes are great, but there two major drawbacks:
- Their features can be very limited.
- They are not unique.
Everyone has access to them, so it’s not very uncommon to come across a website that uses the same free themes, even in the same niche. Although content is what really matters, I have to be honest and say that if I came across two websites that had the exact same design, it would bother me. Maybe it’s just me.
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No, I'm not a millionaire, but I am living off of passive income made online. I'm here to show 
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