Small Business Blog Tips

Why Blogging and Bodybuilding are Both Seriously Broken

By Christian

blogging-is-broken — Are you wasting your time with blog tactics that don't work?

Here’s what is wrong with this whole blogging business…the advice most blogging A-listers can offer you is hugely valuable, but if you don’t put things into context, you are WASTING YOUR TIME. Context is everything! Without context, the information is useless, and that is a problem you need to address if blog marketing is part of your business. Are you putting things into context, or are you wasting your time trying to get results with techniques that WON’T work for you? If time is valuable to you, read on!

So many of us read Problogger (or any other popular meta blog) and rush out to win our fortunes online with a fancy new blog. Then what happens? Nothing. That’s what happens. We work our tails off and don’t see the results we expect. What’s wrong? There are two things that happen that cause failure to get results from your blog.

You didn’t follow the advice you got
You DID follow the advice you got

I feel compelled to submit that either way, you’re going to be thrown for a loop at some point! Why? Because the rules change. It used to be that you could follow a simple formula to get on the front page of Digg, and that would bring you a massive influx of traffic. It was a little hit and miss of course, and wouldn’t work every single time, but the fact is that you used to be able to get on Digg without a monumental effort. Today, it’s not the case.

It used to be that getting Stumbled could bring you a significant amount of traffic as well. Today, not so. I know guys like Darren Rowse (and many others; I’m certainly not trying to single him out here) have talked about the benefits of StumbleUpon as a traffic generator, and he’s telling you the TRUTH! This can’t be overstated. The blogging A-listers of today know what works for them, and they share what they’ve learned selflessly. You should pay attention to them. And you should also realize that what works for them may not necessarily be what works for you. Again, context is everything! The question for today is this: are you putting the elements of your blog marketing into context, or are you just blindly following someone else’s advice?

Building something significant requires you to be a trailblazer. Don’t expect following a generic formula to get you anything other than generic results.

Opportunities come and go. They are dynamic. They don’t remain the same year after year. What worked in 2006 doesn’t work anymore for the most part. Getting on Digg used to be a big deal, now I’d argue there are much better uses of your time.

How Bodybuilding is Broken as Well (and how it relates to blogging of course!)

This whole situation reminds me of being young, reading bodybuilding magazines. I always wanted muscles like Arnold…who the heck didn’t, right? So you read these articles that outline his workouts. It makes sense, right? If you want the same results as Arnold, do what he does. The logic is sound. Of course you’ll probably have to use lighter weights, but if you duplicate the workouts, and you’ll get great results, right? No, actually. It doesn’t work that way in most cases. Not at all.

Why is this a problem? The problem is that a number of factors are not being taken into account. First, genetics. Some people literally have a genetic ability to be able to lift very heavy weights. Also, having the ability to recuperate from workouts that intense is not something everyone can do. Additionally, the bodybuilding pros most young boys try to emulate are using drugs. No offense, but they are.

The fact is that the workouts outlined in most bodybuilding magazines are in fact, the truth. It is actually what the pros do. And if YOU do it, you won’t be able to walk for a week, you won’t be able to recuperate from it, and it might even lead to a significant injury. You have no business doing workouts like that.

So do you see the problem? Copying what the pros do does not necessarily mean you’re going to get the same results. In fact, it may very well be a colossal waste of your time. So what gives?

The Magic of Understanding the Difference Between Principle and Technique

So where does all this lead us? If modeling A-listers doesn’t work, how can you ensure you will get results with your blog? This is an important question, and it comes down to context. If you have context, you have power. Here’s how you do it.

First, let’s be clear of the difference between Principle and Technique. A lot of articles and blog posts out there talk about techniques. Techniques for generating traffic. Techniques for building a blog. Techniques for converting email subscribers into paying customers, etc. Specific step by step tutorials are techniques. They are important. But they must be put into context.

For example, if you’re reading an article from 1998 about how to build a static html website, it may have been a great tutorial…in 1998. But is it contextually valid for you NOW? You must answer this question before implementing it into your plan. Tutorials convey techniques. They are very valuable, but you have to put them into the context of your plan. No one else can do that for you. You have to do it yourself.

Principles on the other hand, are underlying concepts that work in all situations. I spend a good bit of time conveying business concepts on this blog, because my goal is to have at least 50% of the content on Next Level Blogger be content that is relevant long into the future.

Do you see the difference between Principle and Technique? Put things into context when you’re reading about how to build your blog and get the results you’re looking for. Is what you’re reading conveying a Principle or a Technique? And if it’s a Technique, does it apply to your business? Is it relevant to your present situation? If so, employ it. Use it, benefit from it, and learn from it. But first, put things into context. There is a wealth of information out there that will help you get huge results from blog marketing. However, if you don’t put the information into context, you’re wasting your time!

Why Simple Blogs are Better for Business

By Christian

simple-blogs-rock — When it comes to business blogging, simple rules. Keep it simple. You'll have more fun, and your success will come as a result of that 🙂

When it comes to so many things in life, we over-complicate. Wouldn’t you agree? Don’t you think we do this with blogging as well? We make it way too hard.

We run too many plugins
We push ourselves to post more often than we really want to
We spend too much time on our blog
We concentrate too much on our design
We spend too much time trying to “get traffic” than in just “talking to people”

Look if your blog isn’t fun, you’re not going to stick with it. And that means you’re not going to be successful. Pick a simple topic that you love, and stick with it for the long haul. Here are some principles that will help you simplify and love every minute you spend building your blog.

Plugins are a beautiful thing. That said, run a handful of them. After 10-15 plugins, give serious consideration to simply cutting yourself off. You don’t need more. You really, really don’t.
Blogging should not take all day. In fact, it shouldn’t take too long at all. If you’re new, and you’re spending more than a couple hours a WEEK on your blog, you’re spending too much time on it.
Design matters. It does. But it doesn’t make or break your site. If you think your blog needs to be snazzy to be successful…if you think the perfect layout matters to the point that it will affect the success of your blog…if you think readers really give a damn about ANYTHING other than content, take a look at this very successful blog and get back to me with your thoughts.
Traffic matters. That said, it doesn’t matter nearly as much as you may think. I haven’t checked my analytics in weeks. I’m growing. That’s what matters. It may seem odd that I’ll spout the gospel of traffic not mattering and then later on launch a tutorial on how to get more traffic. Is this hypocrisy? I don’t think so. I just like to put things in perspective. You need traffic, but should you spend more than a few hours here and there on “traffic generating” techniques? I really don’t think so.

If all you want is traffic, just buy a bunch of pop-under hits for $100. Done. You’ll have a hundred thousand visitors a month overnight, and it will translate ZERO to your bottom line of course. Traffic matters, but we spend WAY too much time on SEO and traffic generation. We don’t need more traffic, we need GOOD traffic, and that comes via social networking. Just talk to people. Talk to people, and the traffic will come.

If you’re looking for your blog to blow your business up over night, you’re barking up the wrong tree. If you want to build a powerful community that supports you through thick and thin, that grows your base slow and steady over time, that opens up new income streams and gives you a considerable creative outlet, then blogging is your man. Do it, but take it for what it is. It’s really very simple. Let it be fun, and it will pay you handsomely in the long run 🙂

How to Turn WordPress into Your Unfair Advantage (a primer on business blogging)

By Christian

blogging-to-do-list — It's no secret blogging should be on your "to do" list for 2010!

If you run a business, it’s no longer a secret that you should also be running a business blog. When it comes to social media for business, your blog is most often the most valuable component of your marketing strategy. The most favored platform for a business blog is WordPress. There are a number of reasons for that, but for today, I want to help you turn your WordPress blog into a marketing tool that literally gives you an UNFAIR ADVANTAGE, one that will utterly destroy the competition. Sound good? 😉

Why Most Blogs Fail

First, let me preface this article with an explanation as to why most blogs fail. It’s important, because it’s true. Most blogs do fail to get results. There is a great reason for this, and the reason is because most bloggers spend the majority of their time doing the wrong things…things that don’t grow their blog.

They tweak their design.
They try out a million different themes.
They try out a million different plugins.
They constantly tweak their SEO (search engine optimization).
They spend too many hours writing content.

Candidly, all these things SOUND important, but they’re not. Design, SEO and content certainly have their place. Don’t get me wrong; they’re important, and they shouldn’t be ignored. But they should represent the SMALLEST investment of your time.

Most bloggers do the opposite. They spend the majority of their time on things that don’t grow their blog.

Then what happens? They give up out of desperation. They work for months and get no results. They wonder why blogging is so difficult. They wonder why other bloggers get tons of traffic and make money with their site, while they languish in obscurity.

A Blogging Success Secret

Here’s a blogging success secret for you. Setting up your design and SEO are just Step 1! Yet ironically, most bloggers spend a TON of time on this. The idea is that if your blog is so beautiful, so awesome, so optimized…then people will be drawn to it. Unfortunately this doesn’t work! Most bloggers never get past step 1. The spin their wheels endlessly here. It’s no wonder they never get the results they want!

Time is Your Greatest Asset

time-for-blogging — If we had all the time in the world, we could afford to do everything. It's not the case. As it stands, to get we results...we have to DECIDE we're only going to do what gets RESULTS. Not just what makes sense or what's fun 🙂

Would you agree that time is your greatest asset? If so, then we need to make the best use of it we possibly can, correct? So let’s do that. Let’s make a COMMITMENT that we’re going to spend the majority of our time on things that actually build our blog and make it successful. How does that sound? You with me? If so, then take these 3 steps to turn your WordPress blog into an unfair advantage for your business!

Build Your Blog: Step 1

OK, so Step 1 is getting the design out of the way. You need a great looking, highly optimized, very customizable design right out of the gate. Get the sucker set up, so you never have to think about it again! Get it set up right in the first place, and you’ll never have to spend tons of time on your design. It will always look sweet, so you don’t have the “I have an ugly blog” baggage weighing on your shoulders. Your burden will be light, because your blog will look great, just as you want it. This way you’ll have all the time in the world to focus on building your blog and bringing traffic in.

How to get an awesome looking blog quickly

There are a few ways to do it. One, you can bite the bullet and simply hire a designer. Many may try to advise against this when you’re first getting started. For a personal blog, I would agree. But if this is a business, I think it’s a fair option. Custom blog designs aren’t as expensive as you may think. If you’re looking for something very professional and simple, no one should charge you more than a thousand bucks, and you will likely be able to get a fantastic, custom blog set up for just a few hundred bucks.

I offer these services for clients, and there are also a number of other professionals who do this. A couple I like are:

Kinetic Knowledge
G2WebMedia

This is a way to get a great design right out of the gate. It’s fast, easy and inexpensive.

If you’re comfortable doing a little work yourself, another way to get a fantastic design right out of the gate is to install the Headway theme. Honestly, I’ve road tested a bazillion (yes that’s right, I counted!) free WordPress themes, and here’s the bottom line…you get what you pay for. Even most professional themes require a good amount of coding and expertise to truly personalize them.

The Headway theme for WordPress is the most flexible, optimized and powerful theme on the planet right now, and I don’t say that lightly. If you’re 100% comfortable with coding and web design, then you should probably just put your own design together. But if you’re not a coder, then Headway will give you total control over the look and feel of your site. Headway is a search-optimized monster, and it gives you total control in that regard as well. As far as the design of your site, you have complete control via a point and click interface. A monkey can work this thing!

Install Headway, and you’ll be up and running in just a few minutes. Spend an afternoon with it, and your blog will be decked to the nines.

If you have any doubts as to why I am an affiliate for Headway, I encourage you to take notice of the theme I’m running on this very website (and several others) at this very moment. That’s right. It’s Headway. I don’t sell anything to you that I wouldn’t use myself!

Build Your Blog: Step 2

Use your blog well, and it will pay you handsomely! Now that we’re no longer stuck on Step 1, we can move on two Step 2, where we can actually start targeting what will make your blog grow!

Make a list of keywords that apply to your business. For simple, fast results, I recommend going to adwords.google.com. Click on “get keyword ideas”. There are a number of tools you can use for keyword research. This is simply the most common. It’s powerful, and it’s free! The market where I personally started in business was real estate, so let’s use that as an example.

On the Get Keyword Ideas page, type in “Miami Florida real estate”. You’ll get a screen like this one:

Grab a list of keywords that you feel are particularly relevant for your business. Don’t just go with the highest traffic keywords. That’s tempting. Instead, focus on keywords that are the most relevant for what you actually do. Make a list of 5-10. Then, do a Google search for those keywords. Find forums and blogs that are already in existence, catering to these niches. Set up profiles and start reading and talking to the people there.

Additionally, set up profiles on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Spend time there, meet people. Join in the conversation. There are already a lot of groups and ongoing discussions that are relevant to your business. Jump in and talk to people! Don’t be overly promotional. Just talk. Real talk is what wins here.

What the heck does this have to do with building my blog?

You may wonder what this has to do with building your blog. After all, how can spending time on OTHER PEOPLE’S sites help out YOUR SITE? The answer is, it does a TON to help your site. That leads me into Step 3. This is the good stuff!

Build Your Blog: Step 3

Don’t overlook the power of Step 3 because of its simplicity! This is where you can truly obtain the unfair advantage, because you’ll be doing the work that most everyone else wants to skip. Remember, just because it’s SIMPLE, doesn’t mean it’s EASY! Building anything of consequence…something that truly wins over your market, is hard work. But is it worth it? You bet. Does it pay well? Oh, yes!

So, what is the BEST use of your time when it comes to building a fantastically profitable blog? The answer to this question, as I’ve mentioned, is deceptively simple. It all comes down to using the tool skillfully, for its intended purpose. And what is a blog’s intended purpose? A blog is made for talking to people. So, talk to people! Sounds simple, right? Yet when we look at the facts, few bloggers do actually this. They tweak, they tool around, they try out new plugins, they buy expensive “systems” to “drive traffic” to their blog, they do everything under the sun to try to find a quick and easy way to make their blog successful. It’s such a shame, really!

Is social networking (i.e. “talking to people”) really the key to making your blog successful? Well, yes actually! How so, you ask? Well, the cool, convenient thing about social media is that nearly everything you do easily links back to your blog. Your profile, your forum signature, your blog comments…they all link back to your site. So when people check you out and want more information, it’s easy for them to stop by. It’s important to understand you can’t MAKE someone stop by, but if they like you and want more information about you, they will!

As you connect with more and more people on their home turf, more and more people will come out to your blog. If you’re engaging people in legitimate conversation and actually have something to talk about (you do, trust me), then they will almost always want to know more about you. It’s a natural part of human interaction. How many times have you met someone new and they’ve NOT asked “so what do you do?” If people meet you and like you, they will want to know more about you. And they will come to your blog.

Blogging Success is Counter-intuitive

It’s a little counter-intuitive, isn’t it? You’d think to build a successful blog that you should spend a lot of time on your blog. But that’s not the case. You should in fact spend very little time on your blog! Hard to believe? You can spend all the time you want on your blog, but until there’s a large readership, there’s not a lot to do there! You want readers, right? Well, then go talk to them!

When you’re first starting your blog, you should not have to spend more than a couple hours a WEEK on your blog. And that should be spent on writing content. All the rest of your time should be spent networking and talking to people. See, there are already thousands of people out there who should be reading your blog. Don’t wait for them to find you…go find them 😉

The principles of building a successful online operation are fairly simple wouldn’t you agree? I suppose I could make it a lot more complicated if you want, but the bottom line is that it all comes down to work. Spend time on the right things, and you will get the result. We all have the same amount of time in the day. Where you get the unfair advantage is when you decide you’re not going to look for shortcuts. While everyone else is spinning their wheels, you will be busy spending time on leveraged and effective things that actually get results. Tools like Headway make it possible to put the stupid busy work behind you, so you can concentrate on building your business. Get the ball rolling now!

I hope this basic primer on blogging helps you build your business this year. If you have any questions, I am at your service!

How Does Your Blog Measure Up to These Questions?

By Christian

Blogging is a powerful tool to build and promote your business. But as is the case with all things worth doing, there is always a better way…don’t you agree? There are definitely things to look for that you can improve, and there are a lot of common little mistakes you can avoid to help yourself help others.

Because that’s what your blog is about, correct? Helping your readers.

Do you write posts to your blog, and then nothing happens?
Do you fail to get new subscribers?
Do you send emails, but no one responds?
Are you not getting the traffic or results you desire from your blog?

Here are a few things to look for:

Who are you writing for? It’s essential…absolutely mandatory that you focus on your reader. If you’re writing about yourself all the time (a very common motif), what compelling reason do your readers have to hang on your every word? Readers don’t keep coming back because you’re so cool. They come back because of what’s in it for them.
Are you consistent? Do you write every day for a week and then not again for a month? Do you change your niche or otherwise maintain things inconsistently on your blog? How would you respond if you subscribed to Rolling Stone, and then you received 6 issues back to back over the course of a week and then nothing for 3 months? You’d wonder what the heck, right? Consistency is crucial. Posting every day isn’t mandatory, but CONSISTENCY is very important.
Do you sell or educate? If you read my stuff, you know I’m a sales advocate. I sell stuff online. Products, services, consultation. People talk down about sales, but I think that’s just because they don’t know how to do it. That said, there is a time and a place. Tact is essential. If you’re straight pitching your readers more often than not, you just might be coming off as clingy. Don’t go there. Create value…that doesn’t come from sales pitching. It comes from educating. Give your readers hard, usable information. The more you do that, the more they’ll come back. Sell, but sell with tact and grace. Hard selling just will not get the results you hope it will.
Do you solve problems? Why would someone keep coming back to your blog? Because they think the design is aesthetically beautiful? If so, why not just take a screenshot and be done with it? The design of your site should be simple and functional…if results are what matter to you that is. I’m not saying to ignore aesthetics altogether. I’m just aiming to put it in it’s place. People spend too much time trying to make their site look cool. If you think a rockin design is necessary to make your blog work, swing over to https://mnmlist.com/ and then get back to me. Here’s an exercise if you want to take your blog to the next level: ignore your design for 60 days and focus exclusively on listening to your readers. Identify their problems and concerns, and find a way to help.
Are you responding to your readers? Unanswered comments and emails are business-killers. Consider an unanswered comment or email to be a blood sucking leach, draining the energy out of your blog. Yet, when you respond…that comment does a 180…it becomes an asset to you. What is blogging about if not communication? And what type of valuable communication is one-sided?

True, some blogs get so many comments that it’s virtually impossible to answer everyone. I personally believe in taking steps to minimize that from happening. That’s a topic for a different post…the value of staying small. I’ll get to that later, but for now let me just say that responsiveness is key.

I work with business owners, right? They often say they don’t have any time to blog or stay on top of their email, but in the same breath they complain about lack of business. What is that? If you’re rolling in opportunities and they’re coming in so fast that you simply cannot take them all on, that is fantastic success…a problem in and of itself. But a good problem nonetheless.

However, many are slow and struggling to make ends meet and STILL complaining about how they don’t have time. This means one thing, you need to hire me to dig into your business and help you prioritize and get a marketing strategy together that will get you results, correct? Just a thought. Or, you can continue diving into the articles I offer here and the other blogs I link up here. The answers are available to you, I guarantee you.

One thing is for sure, if you’re not getting the results you want from your blog, it’s because of one of these: you’re either not doing what it takes to get results, OR you are doing it right but just haven’t given it enough time to pay off yet.

One of the reasons I love blogging and internet marketing is because if you do the work consistently and follow proven techniques, you get the result, period. Maybe not overnight (usually NOT overnight), but you GET THE RESULT. And I’m all about results. How about you?

Serious Blogging Results in 11 Steps

By Christian

I just needed to take a second to acknowledge some downright rockin content by Jason Baer over at Convince and Convert. This slide show says it all, so I’ll leave this one short and let you enjoy it. It’s full of straight-to-the-point blog tips that will get you results. I just want to point out a serious insight on slide #8…it’s OK if you’re not all perfect yet.

So many people want to have everything figured out before they start. Just start! There is huge value in just putting yourself out there. Believe me, you’ll learn what you need to do to get results!

Please let me know what you think 🙂

11 Must Dos For The Serious Blogger

View more documents from Jason Baer.