Your blog’s success or failure goes back to the very first thing you do and that is not…
Buying a domain
Installing a blog
Picking a blog theme
Choosing the best plugins
Creating back links
Having a great opt in offer
Or any of a myriad of other technical things even though the items listed can all help improve your success.
It is not creating great content (although you will need that too.)
The very first thing you need is to find a profitable topic.
Get this one thing right and you can mess up some of the technical items, not have a super look and you can still see some success. Get it wrong and you can do everything else perfectly and still end up frustrated.
So your first step is to find a topic that people are not only interested in but spending money on. After all, whether you are monetizing your blog by recommending products, creating your own or selling advertising the profit will only be there if people are spending money.
Next time I will look into finding a topic like this but if you are looking for a short cut to finding profitable topics you might want to check out Susanne Myers Affiliate Niche Packs.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
Yes, I have been MIA for the last couple of months but that ends today.
Been a lot going on here and spent way too much time in doctor’s offices and the hospital with my better half. Add in other outside problems and my blogging here stopped.
To get started it is time to go back to basics. Time to refresh things here and overcome the digital dust and get things repaired. to do just that I will be starting a series on getting your blog started.
The basics are important and often overlooked as all the hype you here and see in your email is about special themes, the latest greatest plugins and the basics get over looked.
So I am back and will be applying some of the items from Nicole Dean’s Blog CPR which is a great way to revive your blog.
As always your questions and comments are welcomed. If their are specific topics you would like addressed please leave them in the comments.
Be back tomorrow. Really I will be .
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
On old time ships the pilot (navigator) was one of the most important people on the ship, They kept pilot logs and used things like a sextant to be able to find their way across the sea and avoid known perils.
The skill of this person was what allowed the early explorers to travel across the seas. Now it is much easier with modern radar and GPS.
Today’s question is how hard is your blog to navigate?
Making it easy and readily apparent for readers to get from point a to point b on your site is important. It is one of the items that can really frustrate your readers when they are looking to find more information from you.
One of the things I have been looking at as I look for a new theme for some of my blogs is how easy is it to navigate? Take the time to look at it from an outsiders view.
I know I have been guilty of that. Because I am quite comfortable navigating blogs and familiar with things from years of working with them it is hard to put yourself in the shoes of a new visitor.
There are numerous options you can use with the latest version of WordPress like drop down menus. Does that make navigation easier for the new visitor or harder? All questions you might want to be asking.
As I have been looking and tweaking new looks for my blogs I like to get input from my better half. She is quite comfortable with a computer but not a blogger (despite my efforts). If it is readily apparent to her how to go from a to b then it is probably good.
All too often though something that is readily apparent to me is not to her. It makes a good double check. Have you had someone look at your navigation while you watched and looked for feedback?
There are no right or wrong answers to these questions but it is definitely something to look at that we often overlook. So the final question is..
Do you need the skills of the old time navigator and special equipment to get around or is your navigation really apparent like using a current GPS where you plugin your destination and it takes you there?
Love to hear your take on this topic. Take part in the conversation below.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
You wake up in the morning ready to get started. Look at your idea board and find that Mr Murphy has been there overnight. All those great ideas that you have been collecting are now nothing more than blank pages.
Mr Murphy in this case is the Murphy from Murphy’s Law which states “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”.
If you are like me you go get some coffee and pray that once you have added a bit of caffeine to your blood stream your eyes will be working again and you will be able to read the pages.
Ooops….
Coffee did not work. So I grab my reading glasses and see if they will help. Nope this is not the way I planned to start my day. Damn that Mr Murphy. He has struck again.
Now you are in full panic mode….
No put the computer down. Throwing it out the window is not an option. At least not yet
Do your breathing exercises then get ready to replace your blank pieces of paper with ideas. It does not have to be hard and even an old bald guy can do it.
Now that you have the computer back on your desk lets use it instead of destroying it. (Yes even though it would feel so good to break it into little itsy bitsy pieces and do your dance over the pieces saying…. STOP!)
Hard to get your blog post up without the computer so please use it properly. (Yeah, I know you can use a smart phone but the keyboard is too small for these fat fingers.)
There are 5 easy ways that you can generate more ideas and get to work constructively rather than raining down death and destruction on your computer. Here they are.
Google trends
Google news
Twitter search
Feed reader
Past comments
Google Trends – Go see what is hot and what people are searching for right now. This should get your brain moving and thinking.
After that take your topic and lets go look for news.
Google News – Type in the topic that you blog about and see what is happening right now. Check out the top results.
Still no ideas?
Twitter search – Yep, just type in your topic and see what all the tweeps on Twitter are talking about. Click some links and see what is going on.
Still no ideas?
Maybe you need another cup of coffee at this point. Slowly get up from the desk and head out and fill your coffee cup. Do not destroy the computer, do not pass go, head straight to the coffee maker.
Finish your coffee and then you can return.
Feed reader – If you have been reading my blog for a while you have built up a list in your feed reader of blogs that you like. Open it and go do some reading.
Still no ideas?
Read your past comments – Yes, open your dashboard and go through the comments you have received on previous posts. Are there topics you can expand on, ideas for topics that others have raised?
If you still don’t have an idea at this point you have three choices.
Go back to bed and hide for the day.
Break the computer into little itsy bitsy pieces and dance around it as you are not cut out to be a blogger and don’t need it. (At your own risk of course I am not responsible for what you do to it.)
Just decide today is not the day and go do something fun.
Usually using just one or two of these items will generate lots of topics and you can beat Mr Murphy at his own game. If not, there is always tomorrow.
After all it is much better to beat Mr Murphy than to destroy your computer.
That’s what I think what do you think? Leave your comments below.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
Over the last few weeks on some of my blogs I have started using images for my blog posts to enhance what I am writing about. Here are the top 5 reasons I am adding images. Although not a Top 10 list I will present them in ascending order like Letterman does. Drum roll please….
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#5 – Sets my stuff apart – An image can add value just in giving your post something extra that a lot of people won’t take the time to do. It takes extra time (that work thingy) so most won’t do it. Going a step beyond what most do will set you apart.
When you are old and bald you need every advantage you get .
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#4 – Images can create curiosity – You only have a few seconds at most to catch some body’s attention and people are naturally drawn to pictures. Curiosity may have killed the cat but satisfaction brought him back. Now you need to produce that satisfaction in your post to keep the curious coming back.
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#3 – Can use the alt tag on them for my keyword – Yes, a geek to the heart but being able to easily add an extra keyword into my post excites me. Not really, but every little bit I can do to rank my posts higher for the terms I am targeting is important.
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#2 – Lots of the new themes I am considering pull images – Have been looking at sprucing up a couple of my blogs and some of the ones I really like pull images to the front page as highlights.
If I want to use that type of theme it will look better with images. Probably was the number one reason I started it but only the number 2 reason on this list.
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And now the number one reason….
#1 -Images can be the impetus for creating a unique twist - This may only be a good reason if like me you write your post first then go look for an appropriate image. Quite often, when I go looking for the image I find something that allows me to make a unique twist out of what I have just written.
The article I recently did on finishing things good enough is an example. The post was written but when I went searching for the image by keyword I found the almost clean plate.
That image triggered the idea to relate it to getting your kids to clean their plate and how it was always close but never perfect. The point I was trying to make in a perfect analogy.
Those twist are great at setting your post apart. Do that and it is easy for others to recommend you. The blogs I regularly recommend all tend to have a unique twist or slant to them. Hopefully mine does too and you will recommend it to others. (Hint, hint hit the retweet
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
Some days you are in the mood and some days you aren’t to sit down and blog. It is one of the big reasons I like to do more than one post when I am in the mood.
In fact today is Sunday, the Eagles don’t play until tonight so I am sitting here doing my posts for this week for this blog. Today words are flowing so it won’t matter that you won’t see this until Tuesday.
Previously I have talked about keeping track of your ideas and that is important. If you don’t get your ideas down in whatever format works for you you will forget them. (At least us old bald guys do.)
If you are doing that and you get the day where your ideas are flowing and the keyboard is in synch with you and not fighting you. (Sometimes I think mine gives me shocks when I just can’t put two words together.) Take advantage of it and do more than one post.
That is why I really liked one of the plugins that was in the Expert Brief I featured in Sunday’s Goodies. It was the WordPress Editorial Calendar.
I will actually use it for motivation and to make sure that I push a bit harder when the mood is right. The downside is that it only shows for each individual blog. Boy would I love it if I could see what I had scheduled in advance for all of my blogs. (I know I could set something like that up on a variety of calendars but that is too much like work.)
Now if you are like me and filling in the boxes will motivate you think about adding the Editorial Calendar and see how far in advance you can get your blog scheduled. I will be using it regularly especially with the holidays coming.
My goal is by the end of the day to have my two main blogs scheduled for the week. I know that come tomorrow I will be busy with making desserts and preparing the turkey.
Thursday I will want to eat, relax, watch football and then eat again.
Friday will be a food hangover day so if I want to get things done it needs to be complete by today. (One of the only bad things about blogging ahead is keeping track of when you are posting and keeping your references straight.)
So what are you doing to get ahead or are you just going to let the holiday push you behind? Leave your comments below.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
Building a subscriber list and letting your subscribers know when you have added new content is an excellent way to generate extra repeat traffic. I have used Aweber for this for a long time because of the ease of automating the sending of these notices.
You can set up the emails to happen at any schedule you make and they check your feed for new items for you. No extra work to login and set up an email it can al be automated.
Aweber has just made it easier to use their service to add a form to your blog. They just released a new plugin that will allow you to add your form without doing any html to your sidebar.
First you need to install the plugin. Search for “Aweber web form” then click the Install Now.
Once it is installed you need to set up the settings. This is a two part session. 1) Get your authorization code. 2) Once you get it paste it in the box and make the connection.
When you click the link you will need to log in to your Aweber account.
When you login you will get the code you need to put in step 2 above. Just copy and paste it and click Make Connection.
Now your widget is ready to work. Now you will need a list set up at Aweber and as they have good tutorials on how to do that I will skip that part here.
Go to Appearance Widgets and drag the Aweber Web Form to your sidebar where you want it to appear. That will open like this when you have drug it into place.
Select your list and you will get a drop down for your forms.
Select the form you want to display then click save and your form is added to your blog. No HTML needed.
Makes it very easy for anyone to add an opt in form to their blog. Add in the ease of their form designer and Aweber makes it a good choice for any blogger to use to keep their subscribers updated.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
One of the best ways to generate more interest in your blog is through creating pillar posts or link bait posts. These are posts that get other people to link to you and help you in the search engines.
This is an easy way to get back links and increase your readership.
Here are 5 ways to do just that.
Lists
How To
Rants
Quoting Or Recommending Others
Weird Things
Creating a list of resources on a topic is one of the easiest ways to do this. I probably link to these types of posts, tweet them, book mark them or retweet them more than any other.
Useful resource lists for whatever topic you blog on are always good topics to cover. People will want to share them and that is the key. If you have a good list of resources it becomes almost mandatory for me to share them with my circle of influence.
How To
Well written tutorial posts will always be something people want to recommend to others. Creating quality how to types of posts is an easy way to get people to recommend your content.
My most popular post on this blog covers how to fix the problem when the maintenance file does not complete when you are upgrading WordPress. It is probably the most bookmarked and linked to post on this blog.
Anything that allows people to solve a problem has the ability to attract links and recommendations.
Rants
Controversy sells. Taking a position on a topic with a definite point of view can create links. This can be ticklish though and you need to be willing to support your position.
You see this a lot in the political blogs and in the internet marketing arena. After all a few years ago there were all those Death Of Reports.
You still see it and if you call out a practice in your niche area with a reasoned argument and without getting personal it can be a great link generator. People like or dislike people who take a strong stand.
Recommending Others
You see this and it is often combined with creating lists. My blog has been recommended on top bloggers lists. Do you think I talked about it, tweeted it, bookmarked it?
This can be powerful. Here is an easy way to do this and generate traffic. A friend of mine Sheila Atwood has a post called Taking The Tour Of 7 Great Blogs.And no mine is no one of those drat.
If you look at it though she listed seven posts she really enjoyed. Look at the comments and you will see that everyone she linked to commented and you can be sure that most if not all tweeted it, book marked it and many probably linked to it.
It is beneficial for them to do just that.
Weird Things
Nicole Dean has a series of posts she does when she is not slacking or off actually building her business that fall into this category called Weird Niche Wednesday. She explores off the wall niches and I often wonder about her sanity (there is a reason she goes by the mostly sane marketer moniker).
An example is the post on Owl Pellets. Now Nicole puts out good content regularly but having a unique or weird spin probably generates more traffic and links then some of her other posts.
Now there are probably other ideas you can use for creating link bait or pillar posts but these 5 can definitely give you some ideas.
Just remember that it has to be quality content first and foremost.
As always your questions and comments are welcomed and encouraged.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
Yesterday’s post discussed reading to get content ideas. Now it is time to take one of the ideas and use it to create a blog post. The key is to get a killer title.
My best blog posts have a title that catches attention. Now the question is do you come up with the title first or write the post first?
For me it really depends. Don’t you just love these definitive answers .
For my link bait posts it usually starts with a title.
Link bait is any content or feature, within a website, designed specifically to gain attention or encourage others to link to the website. Matt Cutts defines link bait as anything “interesting enough to catch people’s attention.”
Here the title is one of the keys to grabbing attention. I want it to be a big promise and need to know what the promise is to make sure that I fulfill the promise it makes completely. So I need a title first.
When I am doing tutorial posts or how to posts (which I do a lot of here) I don’t always have a title first. As I am usually answering a question or showing how to overcome a problem I often write the content first.
Usually while doing the content I will get ideas of what would be a good title and for me it is important to write them down when I get the idea.
I learned this the hard way. For me they often slip away as you continue writing and when you are done you just can’t remember them. Now it may be that I am old and bald but it is frustrating so I write them down now.
Whether I start with a title or do it after the fact it is probably the most important part of your post and it is worth putting some extra effort into it.
With feed readers and the number of people that use them increasing every day it is the one thing they will see.
As you can see from the screen capture the title is basically all someone will see to make a decision as to whether to read it or not.
If you don’t think it is important check your site stats. For me over half of my readers come from some type of feed reader.
For more tips on creating your blog titles grab your free copy of my Content Blueprint – Headlines. There are numerous tips and idea to help you create headlines that will stand out in the reader. (No opt in needed – just go download it – my gift to you.)
As always your questions and comments are welcomed and appreciated. Just leave them in the comments below.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
This week we are discussing creating content but it does not always mean you need to create it. You can share others content and often that can be more powerful than creating your own. More on that in another post.
Acting as an editor and finding quality content on your niche has a definite value for you. This is a regular part of my day and a great many of my ideas come from reading others content.
On Twitter I share a lot of quality content that I find that belongs to others. This morning before I started to write this I did my morning stroll through some of my favorite blogs and what Google found for me through my Google Reader.
There were 99 new items there this morning and in 10 minutes or so I went through the one’s that caught my eye. Ended up reading about 10 completely and shared 5 that I thought were worth my reader’s time.
That is one of the reasons that if you are looking to create content the title of your post is important. A lot of people use aggregators of one sort or another to find content. The post title often decides whether or not people will read the rest of it.
In this case only one in ten that hit the reader was attractive enough to get me to look at it completely. Part of that is using feeds often brings in items that may have your keyword but are not really applicable. That is one of the problems with the auto blogs that depend on feeds. There needs to be an editor or you get a bunch of garbage.
One of the terms I have in my feed is blog and consequently I get a lot of items that don’t have to do with WordPress or blogging but I see a ton of live blogs. There were 4 today on live blogging the World Series last night. You can be sure with the election today that tomorrow there will be a lot that talk about the election. I may be personally interested in some of those but it is not a topic to be covered here or shared with those that are following me for blogging information.
So I created value for my Twitter followers by sorting through and picking out quality items for them. While I was doing that I found two potential blog post topics for me to write about in the future. I added them to my mind map for this blog.
Next time I run out of ideas for blogging I will open the mind map and be reminded of the ideas I have added. It is helpful to add the url of the post that triggered the idea too. (May just be me being old and bald but a topic can sometimes be confusing without having the content fresh in my mind.) It allows me to refer back through my blog post too if I want to quote part of it for my post.
During the rest of the day I will be seeing what people are discussing in the forums I visit on my topic and what looks interesting on Twitter. Again I may add ideas to the mind map for future use.
The key to creating content is to be aware of what is going on in your topic. The more you read the more likely you will be to get the ideas that you need to sit down and create content regularly.
If you would like a step by step plan for how I set up my reader and quickly share what I find worth while with my followers check out Twitter Time Saver.
So the first lesson in the content creation series is to read regularly. Set some time apart each day for a few minutes to see exactly what others are saying on your topic.
As always your comments and questions are welcomed.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
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