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.

Law 6 – Make sure your clients and prospects have a desire to fix the problem. I have one client who has a wonderful niche market dealing with a “habit”. Her business has been decreasing steadily over the past year because during this recession, people enjoy this “habit” and really don’t want to let it go. We found a way to change her focus just a little to start building up her business again.

Law 7 – Find something you can deliver that people can get excited about. You have to have excitement about what you offer before your clients will get equally excited. Love what you offer, and talk about it all the time.

Law 8 – Gain confidence. So many people say they hate writing, or have nothing to say. If you’re truly passionate about what you do, you should have an endless supply of things to say.

Law 9 – Become the expert. Being an expert doesn’t mean you know everything. It simply means you’re in tune with the industry, and know where to get the best information and the best resources.

Law 10 – Always give great value. The more you give, the more people will want.

Law 11 – Be truthful. Don’t ignore rumors and bad comments. Meet them head on. If someone is vocal on your blog about something they don’t like, explain yourself and move on.

Law 12 – Never ask for money in the beginning. People find you in a lot of ways. Always give first, ask for money second.

Law 13 – Have an opinion. Don’t just agree with everyone – make a stand. Give a few points on why you believe the way you do, and set the line.

Law 14 – Blogging isn’t about gaining a ton of traffic. It’s about gaining the right traffic.

Law 15 – It’s not all about you. Give links to other sites. Talk about other people in the industry. Give resources for other businesses that offer complementary items. People will find it on their own in this era of searching. Don’t ignore it, just be the expert.

Law 16 – Don’t be perfect – there is no such thing online. Just start it, do it every day, and modify all the time.

Law 17 – Look to new media. Everyone can benefit from showing photographs or videos. Don’t have any yourself? Try stock houses or YouTube – you’re sure to find something that can showcase what you do in a different light.

Law 18 – It’s all about the relationships. Make sure you stay on track to continue to build those relationships.

Law 19 – Test the waters. Blogging offers you instant feedback. If you want to try something new, ask for opinions. People will instantly tell you how they feel.

Law 20 – Watch other industry leaders. They may have great ideas you can piggy back off of. Don’t be afraid to combine forces with other leaders.

Law 21 – Reinvent yourself. Whatever you are doing today can be changed for tomorrow. Constantly grow and look for new ideas.

image source

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. 

5. Lack of advanced features. When using a selfhosted WordPress format, you have access to hundreds of widgets, templates and plugins that can provide you everything from SEO capabilities to membership options. Not so with the free platforms.

6. Navigation flexibility. With free blog platforms, you must use their templates. With selfhosted platforms, you can control your navigation, making it appear and work like traditional websites.

7. Tools and metrics. If you are truly ready to track your marketing efforts, and know how well your blog is bringing in the prospects, stats packages are a necessity. Free sites are limited; selfhosted platforms offer a wide range of options.

8. No control over down time. If a free platform decides to bring your blog down for a day (or week), you have no recourse. With a selfhosted platform, you choose where you host it. If you don’t like the service, you can easily pick up and move.

9. Changing platforms can be tricky at best. Some businesses start out with a free platform to see how well they like it. A year or two down the road they decide to switch for all the reasons mentioned here. One issue is transferring data from one platform to another can be a time consuming job. Another issue is traffic – you already have a following built up to one domain name, switching to another means starting over.

10. The cost of doing business. Blogs are one of the most economical forms of marketing. As with most things, you get what you pay for. And if you start with a free platform, how serious are your followers going to take your business model? It’s all about the image and the brand. Make sure your image always says what you want it to say.

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.

From there I started thinking about what people need the most right now.

The world is running scared from economic crises. Buying is way down. And yet more people are starting up businesses or additional income streams in masses. I’m contacted daily by someone with a new venture starting up, wondering if I’ll take a look.

So of course everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of every free service out there. Have a Facebook account? You bet. How about Twitter? Of course.

Yet very few people I meet and talk with understand why they have a Facebook account, or how they will use Twitter to market their business.

And talking a bit further reveals many aren’t even sure how they will ever make money with this new venture at all. They don’t have the basic marketing skills down to create a business that will bring in a true, regular income source every month, again and again.

Taking that idea to the next level, I would create a membership site completely run through the blog that would allow people to go beyond a few stabs in the dark at making a business model work, and walking people through the basic marketing strategy and business modeling techniques necessary to become successful at whatever business you choose. Marketing strategies don’t change over time. The tools you use may, but the strategies don’t.

Yet many people simple don’t have a background in creating a successful business. Because of current situations, many are trying it for the first time, and are getting stuck in the process. Let’s head back to the basics, and digest how to run a business successfully from beginning to fruition.

image source patyvo

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?

While it is important to stay active in your community, and build relationships with friends and acquaintances, you also need to look at your overall time and what gives you the greatest potential.

Running to several new groups per week where you have little potential of growing your business may be fun, but what is the actual return?

While writing an article for your blog may seem mundane, with little chance of results, lets look at the bigger picture.

Networking is only cumulative if you network with the same people again and again. They have to really know you to do business and refer you.

But adding something online will impact you from this day forward. Articles I wrote three years ago still pull traffic for me regularly. And each month I see more traffic, more results from the work I do. The results are cumulative – because I do a little all them time, I’m seeing a huge expansion of my business.

Spend some time really looking at your business and deciding where you want to invest your time. If you attend a weekly meeting like I do, your invested. Make sure you help keep it growing. And if you expect results from your web presence and from you blog, schedule time to make it work.

You’ll be surprised at the results.

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.

1. Read the full post. Sounds pretty easy, right? Yet if a blog post is long, its easy to jump to the bottom and start writing. A quality comment will take the overall feel of the post, and add value based on the entire message. Without reading the full post, you may miss the ultimate purpose, and even duplicate what the writer said.

2. Read all the comments. The idea of commenting is to build on one idea and add more value. Repeating advice given by someone else will be noticed, and will bring down your authority. It also helps you write better comments. Maybe you can comment both on the author and several of the commenter’ ideas, and bring it full circle.

3. Don’t linkbait or add spam. Always think value. A comment of “I loved your article” is nice, but adds nothing to the discussion. If the whole reason you’re leaving a comment is to get a link back to your site, think again.

4. Choose blogs that target the same audience as yours, and become active. Check back with old comments and see if others have responded to you. Make additional comments as appropriate. It’s easier to get traction and recognition if you take an active role in a few communities, rather than searching all over the web.

Anything I missed? I’d love to hear your ideas too.

image source moriza

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:

• You have to find a good sized pond.
• The pond has to have enough resources to keep the fish happy and well fed.
• And it has to have good resources to keep the fish multiplying.

With your business:

• You have to find a niche that has enough clientele to keep your business thriving.
• You have to connect with prospects in a variety of ways, and work at it non-stop.
• New prospects have to enter your niche all the time to continually have a growing business.

In order to have a constant feast, you have to direct energy into all phases all the time.

• Keep connecting, no matter what the conditions.
• Keep writing blog posts, even when it seems no one is reading.
• Create a plan of action and stick with it every day.
• Do at least one thing every day. Look where you’ll be in a year with just one action step per day.

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.

If you’re thinking of a new business, or a new product or service within your business, it doesn’t have to be a new idea to have success. In fact, if your idea is already out there, you can actually gain more traction. You don’t have to do the legwork to get the idea out there. It already is, it’s accepted, and it’s easier to market because others are marketing it too.

• Always know there is something else out there just like your idea. You may not have found it yet, but if you’re thinking about it, chances are there are hundreds others with the same “aha” moment.
• Spend some time online doing research. What did they do before the Internet? I still wonder that all the time. Now I can head over to Google, type in a few searches, and have a wealth of information in just a few minutes of digging.
• If you don’t find anything your first try out, think from a different perspective. Your clients and prospects may not be using the same words as you. I love kwbrowse.com Type in your keywords, and it will give you an array of choices surrounding your keyword. This can help expand how you think of things.
• Even if there isn’t anything exactly like your product or service, think similar. Chances are there are things out there with similar qualities and characteristics. Look to them for possibilities within your own design.

Likewise, once you have your new idea, product or service set, by doing the above research, you’ll also have a quicker timeframe towards marketing it. If you’ve found similar items, do they have a blog? Post comments and share your own ideas on how well you could work together. Their audience may also be yours.

Because you’re unique, you’ll also put your own spin on things. You’ll share your own personality throughout your writings. And you’ll share your own ideas on how to put things together.

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?

Look at your blog through the eyes of your visitor. If its not clear to you, it will never be clear to them. Make sure your site is easy to follow, and easy to navigate.

3. Using other blogs and websites as models.

The Internet makes it easy for you to keep up with your competition, and to find other similar business models to use for ideas. While you should never copy another business exactly, you can use it to form ideas. In general, there’s more than enough business to go around. Use ideas to create new platforms within your own business.

4. They don’t leave comments on other blogs.

The fastest way to grow the traffic to your own blog is to use other blogs as a springboard. Start by finding blogs that would attract your readers. Then comment on them regularly. As you build up your expertise on that blog, you’ll soon be driving traffic back to your own blog. And you may develop fantastic relationships with other like minded business owners.

5. Blogging daily about your products and services.

Your blog is used to build your expertise; not to promote your products and services. Its all about communication and giving people information. People will stop reading you, and will never follow you long term if you promote. People want people they can look up to and rely on for up to date information in your niche area.

6. They don’t ask for what they truly want.

What’s the most important thing on a blog to help your business grow? It’s your list of course.

So, do you ask people for their email address? Do you make it easy to sign up for your RSS feed? Do you offer a free report or a free e-class to gain followers? If not, you’re missing the most important step in building a business. I could never survive without the thousands of people that are currently on my lists.

7. Blog only when they feel like it.

How often do you show up for work?

Silly question right? If you didn’t show up, you wouldn’t have a job. And without a job, you’d have no money for life’s necessities. You have a strong commitment to your job because it gives you your lifestyle.

In order to make your blog work, you have to have commitment. The only way to make it work is to work at it. Set up a schedule and work at it. Your customers and visitors will rely on it if you make it reliable.

8.  They don’t market their blog enough.

You set up a blog. Use your own domain. Start blogging. And blog several times per week. You do this for six months.

Nothing.

What are you doing to get noticed?

Traffic doesn’t magically come to your blog. You have to tell people about it. If you spend 30 minutes a day writing and posting a new blog entry, spend another 30 minutes building your exposure. Use you RSS to connect with different audiences. Add comments to different blogs. Advertise your site, where appropriate.

Then when you’ve got your system down, keep it up. It will happen. It may take 3 months. Or 12 months. But at some point in the future your blog will catch on and you’ll be amazed at what its doing for your business.

image source montillon

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.

You have to know your outcome before you design your strategy. And if blogging is a part of that strategy, you have to follow through to get the most out of it you can.

First of all, decide why you want to be online in the first place. Then list the things you hope to accomplish by being online.

1. Design a website that attracts new customers.
2. Create a way for people to follow me online.
3. Build up my expertise using online resources.
4. Reach out to clients outside of my normal networking area.
5. Build up a following so I can generate income on a more regular basis.

Now that you have motivating factors of why you want to be online, it’s easier to put exact strategies to work.

For example, if I know I want to build up my expertise using online resources, its easier for me to take the time to connect up with people through my blog, and through social networking sites. My end goal is exposure. My end goal is to have a buzz in the online world, and connect up with people that can help take my business to another level. I now have my reason, and it’s easier for me to write every day.

image source clix

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.

The dreamer tells his ideas to everyone. The doer talks to the people that can make things happen.

The dreamer thinks everything is possible. The doer finds ways to make things possible.

Do you need both? Definitely!

Think of Walt Disney and his brother Roy. Walt was the dreamer. Roy was the doer. Walt Disney would never be what it is today without the dreamer and the doer.

Whether you’re a dreamer of a doer, its important to recognize your skills and strengths. Then go out and get the other half.

Back to the group of entrepreneurs I spoke of. All of the entrepreneur I spoke with are the dreamers. Their ideas are amazing. Yet they were there looking for the doers. I spoke with several on improving their web presence, bringing their products and services to market with the use of a blog.

By hiring another with the expertise they are lacking, they are moving one step closer to realizing their dreams.