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This simple calculation can be rather eye-opening on where and how you decide to spend your available time.
I used to run a blog that required more content than I cared to write. So, I hired writers for my blog. Here’s what I learned about finding, qualifying and paying bloggers for hire.
Every time I survey my readers about the biggest barrier facing them, I can sum it up with one word… Overwhelm. And is it any wonder? If we look at the field of internet business, there are about a thousand different ways to go about it. New ones are coming out all the time, and…
Apparently, when I talk about my family, it can be annoying. At least that’s the feedback I got from a subscriber earlier this week. This person sent me a private email (which will remain private) in response to an email to my list where I mentioned that I was hanging with my kids and my…
OK, now THAT’s a weird title for a post on a blog like this. 😉
But, all kidding aside, I have a point to make today. An important point – especially giving the times we find ourselves in. My aim is to help people as much as possible, and I figure I’d be doing a disservice if I didn’t talk about this a bit.
Usually, our little blogging and social media bubble doesn’t talk much about the “real world”. That stuff is relegated to the news headlines and the political talking head shows. And, those of us concentrating on our online businesses don’t like to pay attention to that crap. We’d rather talk about the stuff we’re interested in. I know I would.
But, there’s big things happening right now. And the “real world” will affect our online world. And it will have an impact on us as bloggers, too.
There is something bad going on.
In fact, it is rather disheartening sometimes. It really is a cold, hard fact of life that we’re up against here. And nobody is exempt.
Today, I’m going to be blunt as a spoon. Because it needs to be said.
So, I knew I needed to write a blog post. I was so busy that I didn’t have any time to prepare anything in advance. So, what did I do?
I went to my social media accounts and asked. The very first suggestion that came in (quick reply) was from @CavemanHomeComp who suggested – suprise! – the very post that I’m writing right now.
So, I’m going to put together a lightning-round of tips for how I think bloggers should use social media to promote their blog. And, at the end, I’d like you to chime in with a comment and let me know what tips I forgot to include that have worked for you.
First, a word of note…
They say that size matters. But, I think how you use it is more important, no?
Now, get your minds out of the gutter…. I’m talking about email lists here. 😉
It seems that many bloggers have a really bad habit of under-valuing their email lists due to size. You read tips about email marketing, or read other people’s stories of using their email lists to make good money. Then, you look at your own list…
Not so big. Maybe under 100 people? Doesn’t really measure up, as you see it. Then, perhaps, you think the following thought (which is suicidal, really)…
You might have winced at that question just now. These days, the words “business opportunity” just don’t have the ring to it they once did. Instead, we think things like MLM, pyramid schemes, and disguised affiliate programs where you make somebody else rich and get screwed.
I see some of these things. They advertise as if you’re “starting your own business”. There are promises of thousands of dollars per month with just a few hours of work per week. They parade success stories of people who quit their job and now make more money at home than they did when working. Come to find out, all you are is an affiliate for them. You’re selling THEIR stuff. You’re using some cookie-cutter affiliate site which you’re supposed to go market. In some cases, you actually have to PAY THEM to get started with this.
So, let’s do a tiny bit of math here. Yeah, I know. But, this is the fun kind of math. 🙂
So, a lot of bloggers think about selling an ebook to make money. They’ll drop a brain bomb into a word processor and turn around and offer it for some low price.
Let’s say $17. Nice round-about price which ends in 7. Heheh… 😉
So, you go through all this work and you make some sales. Let’s say you manage to sell 100 copies. Gross revenue $1,700.
With me? Cool.
Here’s the problem…
In many ways, the world of online porn tends to be the trailblazer for the rest of the internet. What those businesses do…. the rest of the internet normalizes after a year or two. So, what can we learn from that world?
It has been said before in other circles:
You can’t control what you don’t measure.
This statement is true. It means that if you don’t track something and keep tabs on it, you are not in control of it.
Many people tend to think a statement like this is primarily relevant to executives and people who run a company. However, that is limited thinking. The truth is that this statement is relevant to everybody. To you.
And I’ll take it a step further…
It is rare when I see a Wordpress theme that actually gets me excited. One such theme I’ve been using lately is OptimizePress.
Now, by now, you may have heard about it. I’ve mentioned it before in a post about product launch platforms, and others have talked about it as well. But, since I originally mentioned it, I have a lot more personal experience with this theme.
As I said on my Toolbox page, I frickin LOVE this theme. And here’s why…
I just recently finished recording about 20 video blog evaluations for people (a bonus offer I had put out there that I was following through on). All in all, it took me probably close to 5 hours to record all of these videos. And, after doing so, I noticed something.
I’m seeing a LOT of the same mistakes being made over and over again.
This isn’t to say that there is only a single way to do things. Surely, there are probably people who would look at this very blog and disagree with some things (and that’s fine). But, my experience in this business speaks for something. Simply put, if you want to build traffic, keep traffic, and make money with a blog – there are certain things you want to not do.
So, after all of these reviews, I want to lay out what I believe are the most common mistakes – in no particular order.
Ever had that feeling when you get to the end of a day and realized you haven’t really accomplished anything?
You went into it with the best of intentions. You had a mighty to-do list, and you told yourself, “Hello new day. Prepare to be pwned.” You have that cup of coffee and you set out on your quest of efficiency.
Several tweets, wall updates, blog comments and emails later – it is lunch time. Well…. I guess that was work. But, I’ll get the REAL work done after lunch. Yeah…
This post was originally written the week of Thanksgiving 2010. It was something I was thinking about hard that day… and all these years later, I still feel like it is a great message. So, here it is…
When I had kids, I literally blogged for a living. Here’s a tale of what it was like doing something so “weird” for a living while being responsible for a family now.
Awhile ago, I switched off of Wishlist Member. Find out why I switched to another platform, what I switched to… and what I am using today in 2019.
It seems to me that I’ve never seen a code of ethics for bloggers. Have you? I figured I’d write one.
You have 2 self-fulfilling habits on how you can choose to run your life. Which circle you are on can determine the outcomes you will get. I will also share 6 success principles.
How can you actually apply the idea of minimalism in the real world? Is it practical to throw out all your stuff? Of course not.
How do you start writing faster? How do you speed up your content creation? Here are 8 (sometimes counter-intuitive) tips.
Selling products as an affiliate via your blog is an excellent way to make a buck. In fact, you can often do a lot better with affiliate marketing than you can with banner ads. Most banner networks (like Adsense) require that you have a LOT of traffic before you’re going to see any decent income….
Banner advertising is usually the first monetization option explored by any blogger looking to make some money. Within this method are two ways of going about it: (1) Using ad networks like Adsense and, (2) selling it yourself. Some may get confused on the basics of how to sell your own ad space. In this…
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