Oct
12
The 21 Laws Of Blogging Success
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I’ve been blogging now for around 7 years. For the first few years, I blogged mainly as a way to add content to my sites. I didn’t see the true benefit of blogging – only that it was a great platform for sharing information.
Around 2 years ago I started seeing blogging as its own unique platform. I 
started seeing how blogging was a perfect traffic generator, and how you can really have a profitable business that is solely built around your blog (or in my case, multiple blogs).
Over the past couple of years, I’ve discovered there are “laws” to blogging. Things that I’ve done over and over again that work every time. So I thought I’d share those Laws with you.
So here are the 21 Laws Of Blogging Success:
Law 1 – Define your purpose before you start blogging. Are you trying to sell products? Services? Are you making money through affiliate links? Or do you simply want the traffic for future sales?
Law 2 – Don’t blog for your entire business structure – niche it. I work with many types of small businesses. But a small business blog is too generic. So I niche to photographers, bloggers, social media writers, wedding coordinators, etc.
Law 3 – Build one blog to success before starting in on another one. It’s easy to get completely overwhelmed when you have too much on your plate. Get one blog working before you dive into another.
Law 4 – See your successes. It’s important to see one success in your blog each day. Sometimes it takes awhile to build, so its important to congratulate yourself for each success. One comment, a retweet on Twitter, one person signing up for a free report, or moving down the Alexa rankings are all something to be celebrated.
Law 5 – Identify a problem. In almost every industry you can find a blog that reaches out to your target market. Your job is to reach out differently. Identify one problem your clients and prospects are having, and blog all about that.
Oct
7
10 Downsides Of Using A Free Blog Platform For Your Small Business
Filed Under Blogging Success | 2 Comments
1. Free is free. If a free platform decides it doesn’t like your blog, doesn’t agree with your posts, or has someone cry out “spam”, they have the right to delete all your work, no questions asked. 
2. With free platforms like Blogger, you have limited customization control. You can’t fully brand the site to have your look and feel.
3. You lose the professionalism of having your own domain name. Your clients will view you differently when you tell them your blog is at MySmallBizBlog.com instead of MyBiz.Blogspot.com.
4. Limited control over advertising options. Want banners, special navigation, or sponsorship links on your blog? Free blog platforms don’t give you the flexibility to create a unified look.
May
11
Would You Blog For $25,000?
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What would it take for you to blog regularly for your business?
Would you do it if someone invested $25,000 into your business?
I opened up my email to this question today from FuelMyBlog.
If you were loaned $25,000 today by Pertuity Direct, what type of online business would you launch?
And instantly I started seeing a whole new business model.
Definitely a blog. 
Blogs are becoming one of the most powerful, influential ways of communicating with a mass audience. In a short period of time you can be up and running any type of business on any subject matter.
Apr
23
Every Thursday morning I attend a networking event. I’ve been a part of the group for almost two years, so I have a vested interested in its success.
Today we had an interesting speaker who presented on growing as a business. In order to grow as a business, you have to take charge of what you do for your business. 
Who do you want to help grow it? By joining a group, you are relying on them to become your sales team as much as anyone on the inside of your company. As you build relationships, those people should remember and refer you when the need arises.
But one of the things she said really stuck with me. It benefits you to grow the group, and to schedule time to grow the group. After all, that’s where your relationships come from that will ultimately turn into referrals. She suggested scheduling one hour per week to invite guests and network exclusively for the group itself.
Great idea.
Now let’s also take that to individual parts of your business.
We all mean to work at different parts of our business. But things tend to come up, and certain items get pushed aside. Why write an article and post it to your blog if a friend calls and invites you to a luncheon? The luncheon is more fun, and you never know who you’ll run into, right?
Apr
7
Four Ways To Make Your Comments Better
Filed Under Blogging Success | 1 Comment
When you think back at the history of SEO, a ton of so-called online marketers jumped in using any method possible to reach the top of the search engines. Did it work? Of course. Many are very rich today because of their spam tactics. 
But over time, SEO has evolved into a way of taking great, quality information, and helping people generate top search engine placement by truly reaching out and helping people.
In many ways blogging has traveled the same road. Originally people created blogs as a fast way of getting information fed into the search engines, and a way to quickly get placement on a variety of key phrases that ultimately benefit the creator.
Now blogging is turning into an art form on many levels. As a business owner, the more you use it as a relationship builder, the easier it will be to connect with a variety of people, in a variety of different businesses, in places all over the world.
In order to be active with your blog, its equally important to write quality blog posts, and to find other blogs you can add value to. Commenting requires as much thought and commitment as writing blog posts. Do it well, and you will see your own blog blossom.
Here are four things to remember when leaving a comment.
Mar
26
There is one good thing that comes from a blizzard. I stay at my desk and get a ton of work done. 
From my desk, I have a large picture window overlooking my backyard. So all day I sat watching the snow pile up. We haven’t had much snow at all this year. Then today, it started snowing, with 16-24 inches in the forecast.
How can we go from one of the driest winters on record, to a ton of snow? Can’t it level out and give us what we need throughout the season?
Then I turned that into a question for small businesses.
How can you go weeks without a single new client, and suddenly have a dozen new clients within a day or two? What causes the Feast or Famine philosophy? And can you control your business more than you can control the weather?
Business is a lot like fishing:
Mar
20
I had a friend call up yesterday afternoon. He was so excited. He’d been thinking about a new idea and he wanted to know if we could help him get it programmed, and get it to market. 
He’s followed us for a long time, and knew we could help him create the product, and design a website and blog to build it up quickly. And because his idea was “revolutionary – never been done before” he was sure it was a winner.
I hate being a bubble burster. But if I had a dime for every time I heard “I have something that no one else is doing” … well you get the picture.
Anyway, as we were chatting, I started searching for something like his idea. In less than 5 minutes, I had a couple of sites that were doing something similar to his idea. I quickly emailed the sites to him, and told him to check them out for more ideas. Then we can talk later this weekend.
Feb
25
Blogging is easy. You can head over to a free blogging platform and be up and running in minutes.
But is that the wisest thing to do?
Take a look at these 8 mistakes many bloggers make, and correct them now before they impact your business. 
1. Choosing a free blogging platform to represent your business.
Quick story. A friend’s wife started up a blog on a free platform about one and a half years ago. She started for fun giving tips on investing. After a year and a half, she had a ton of content, and was starting to look for sponsorship. She blogged on a daily basis, and was starting to receive a lot of exposure. Then someone spammed her comment section, and the free blogging service shut her down – yep, flipped the switch and turned her site off. With numerous emails (no phone number attached to their customer service) she still hasn’t received any comments. And after several weeks, I’m sure she won’t.
If you custom design your own blog (or have someone help you with the design) its yours. You host it yourself, or have someone host it for you. You have your own unique URL, and its easy to start building up your connections.
2. They don’t develop a strategy. You can’t put up a blog and expect people to come. You have to have a strategy behind it.
What is the purpose behind your blog? Why do you want people to visit? What do you expect people to do once they get there?
Feb
9
“I’ve had a website up and running for over three years. Last year I put up a blog because everyone said it was the way of the future. I haven’t created more than a dozen posts in the last 14 months. Today I’m really wondering why I have any of this at all. I’m not getting any leads from the site, and I really don’t know why I’m spending the monthly hosting fees to keep it all up and running. What do I do next?”
Could you have written this note?
I’ve chatted with half dozen business owners over the past week that essentially said
the same thing to me.
The problem is they do tiny steps that when you put them all together will never fit together as a solid marketing strategy.
If you’ve been in business for a while now, you know a thing or two about marketing. You’ve found something that works, and you keep using it. If its mailing postcards, you mail one out every month. If it’s advertising in a magazine, you run an ad month after month.
No matter what you do, I’m willing to bet you have put numbers to it, and know how well its working for your business.
The problem with blogging is people jump at it without a true purpose for it, set it up on their site, blog a few times, get bored and abandon the entire idea. Read more
Feb
4
Is Your Idea Really Viable?
Filed Under Blogging Success | Leave a Comment
I met with a group of entrepreneurs the other day. The thing I like about this particular group is its not just average people opening up small mom and p
op businesses. This is a group of dreamers. This is a group where there is always someone with a BIG idea. And I always get super excited by some of the ideas I hear. They could have a huge impact on our society.
Yet I’ve run across a ton of people with REALLY big ideas, and several years later, the majority of them are no where to be seen. Why is this?
The key to a great entrepreneur is they are great at dreaming. Ideas flow freely, and they normally face the big problem of sticking with an idea and bringing it to fruition.
It takes the dreamer and the doer to bring something big to market, and make it a viable company.
The dreamer can see how it will look. The doer sets the goals and creates the tasks.
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