Blogging. Fatherhood. Business Building. It's all here.

It’s time for a change…

November 14, 2011 By 68 Comments

This morning, I was getting for the day when I came to a realization…

I hate blogging about blogging.

What started off as trying to help people has turned into the vicious cycling that I had dreaded from day one.

So what exactly happens?

The more I post useful tips that actually work…the more people just want another list post about “how to get more comments” or “how to make more money” that they can tweet without reading or use on their own “make money online talking about making money online” blog. It is less and less about building a business out of something unique and more about copying the success of others in the hope that money can be made off of the same blueprint.

As this cycle continued to show itself…I was finding myself thinking about creating training course, more eBooks and other related materials that would basically just become more of the noise. I wasn’t happy about it and I was dreading every second of it.

Why I Initially Got Into Blogging

I got into blogging to connect and help other people in the biking industry with Bike198. Luckily, that site is still doing that. However, when I tried to apply that same theory to Blogging Labs, I was getting stuck in the rut that most blogs about blogging head in…and it is time to stop the madness.

I want to connect with people again and I do not care if that costs me money in the long run. That is not why I started writing about online publishing in the first place…but that is what it turned into. Bike198 is still doing incredibly well on the income side of things without having to sacrifice the connection and sharing within the industry. That audience could care less about the blogging and make money online world…all they want to do is share their passion online.

If I have to take an income hit to get back that connect here…it is worth the tradeoff to not be another “blog about blogging” or “make money online by talking about making money online” place on the web. There are enough people doing that already and 99.9% of them are all saying the same thing. Saying that, there are very few (ie. DavidRisley.com and some others) that are still publishing content that I will even read.

So things are going to change rapidly. I am going to get back to connecting with people by publishing everything here on RobbSutton.com and I am completely dropping Blogging Labs. The old content will stay live, but now you are going to be connecting with me…not some brand…not what the industry wants…just me. The about pages, categories and other items will shift into the direction that I want this site to take.

I have a lot going on now that I do believe can help people and I want to share, but I do not want it to be list posts about rehashed crap in an attempt for pageviews. If you want to connect with me…the guy behind the scenes…then you will love this change. If you want more list posts and how to posts that will “get you 100 more subscribers today”, you are not on the right site anymore.

It’s time for a change.

To start…I am going to give everything I used to charge for away for free. Ramped Blogging and Ramped Reviews are now yours to have whether or not you subscribe to a newsletter or purchase them. Here are the download links…

Ramped Reviews

Ramped Blogging

They will continue to be free for anyone who wants to download them. If you sign up for the newsletter or rss feed…great! I am glad to have you as a part of the site. But…I will no longer be offering a free incentive on this site as part of the signup process as the blogging about blogging world is full of people that purely signup for the free stuff and aren’t interested in staying connected. They are just interested in that next “magic bullet”.

Blogging needs to get back to its roots…

I have this fundamental belief that blogging needs to get back to its roots. What started off as making that one on one connection has now become almost solely focused on money and becoming another “get rich quick” scheme. What many people fail to realize is that the money came after the connection…not before. It is only when these connections got in such high numbers that bloggers began to gain respect for the amount of income they were producing that was a byproduct of the connections…it wasn’t the initial goal.

So here is RobbSutton.com…it will be about me. My successes, failures and life laid out  in the attempt to connect with people on the other side of the screen. I am going to keep this site as far away from MMO as possible and focus my life, what I enjoy and the principles that create successful ventures.

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , , ,

A Simple, Yet Effective Way To Increase The Uniqueness Of Your Content

March 3, 2011 By 7 Comments

Today I wanted to record this quick video podcast to illustrate one way I have been insuring my content is as unique as it can be on a regular basis across my blogs.

Like it or not…we are greatly influenced by what we take in on a daily basis. As we go about our day, read other websites and blogs and interact with people, we are taking bits of that information everywhere with us as we go. While this is actually a great thing and a source of where I find most of my ideas (life experience is always the best to pull from), we can jump into a trap in our quest to release unique, relevant content the web.

The Routine That Causes Content Blindness

If your morning started out anything like mine did, you probably go up, took a shower, got dressed, had some coffee and then opened up your feed reader to see what was happening on the web that day. Even if you did this routine at night after your regular job, you probably followed a similar routine…maybe minus the coffee.

Like any blogger, you are following numerous blogs within your given niche, so you started digesting content before you started producing it.

Going back to our theory of taking something with you from every experience and information absorption in your day, you can unconsciously start creating content on your blog that…well…looks a lot like your RSS feed. While it is good to stay on top of trends and write relevant content for your readers, it is increasingly important that you continue to produce unique content that does not look like rehashed, reworded articles that are found on other parts of the web.

By staying on top of the latest news and articles in your niche, you can get into this trap of just being another “me too” instead of a unique source. Readers read blogs to connect with that uniqueness and originality. If you become just a mirror of your RSS feed…you lose that draw and that will lead to growth decline.

My Challenge To Bloggers

As we think and reflect back on how our content digestion affects our content production, I have a challenge to you as a blogger. Just like you need to schedule your time with social media, schedule your content digestion time and keep it away from your content production. The goal is to have a clean slate to work with while you are formulating content ideas, writing articles and recording videos.

Personally, I have been scheduling my RSS feed time to about 2 to 3 times a week and then using Hootsuite to schedule RT’s throughout the remaining days. This not only has drastically affecting my efficiency, but it keeps my mind clear of everyone else’s content while I am producing mine. By staying on top of events several times a week, I am also not missing out on any developing trends on the web.

Have you taken a serious look at how your habits affect your content? How much time are you spending a week scouring the web instead of building your content library?

Simple changes like this one in your daily routine can bring swinging positive results in your business.

Filed Under: Blogging, Content Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Where Bloggers Go Wrong And Why They Are Broke And Penniless

February 24, 2011 By 19 Comments

There is one fundamental reason why 99% of bloggers never make enough money from their blogs to live off of…and it is incredibly simple.

This past week has been an interesting one filled with conversation. After a post about paid subscription models in blogging and how that could change in the future, there was a ton of conversation around paid content online and whether or not it would work within current audiences. Honestly, it created a great conversation that got me thinking about how I want to structure my blogging in the future.

But…it also brought out one very sore thumb in the blogging world that is the reason most bloggers will never make the big time. So where do they go wrong? Like a horse with blinders on…

They are too busy thinking like a blogger instead of like a business owner.

Blogging in itself was built on the foundation of online journaling. There wasn’t any true monetary platform until these online journals started getting traffic that was rising above corporate websites. Through some growing pains, the art of blogging and the world of capitalism figured out how to leverage this traffic into dollars through various forms of advertising and promotion. But…at its heart…most bloggers still think like the bloggers of old. The only difference now is that some of them are at least covering their costs and putting a little bit extra in their pocket at the end of the month.

When I brought up the idea of paid content in blogging, one of the biggest excuses that it wouldn’t work is because big media (magazines, newspapers, etc.) has a lot more resources to hire writers, photographers and other assets to create more value that the individual blogger can not accomplish. While they are true in that on a low level…they are forgetting one key thing that will keep them broke.

What if the paid model opened up the resources to accomplish those things?

I am not saying this is the answer or the only way to do things, but it illustrates a great point within the blogging world. When you take the money you make online and reinvest it into growth of your business, you are no longer the sole blogger trying to make it. You are applying fundamental business models to your online empire to insure future growth and more money. However, if you are not able to think outside the “blogging box”, you will never get past just being able to pay for your hosting and a night out to dinner a week.

When you look at your blogging, you have to start thinking about growth and future income outside of just affiliate promotions and banner ads. You have to start developing areas of your blog with future growth in mind and not just how you can make an extra 5 bucks today. You have to be open to new ideas and willing to test these ideas.

If you keep thinking like a blogger…you will never be more than a blogger.

Filed Under: Blogging, Generating Cash Tagged With: , , ,

10 Things You Need To Know About WordPress

January 27, 2011 By 7 Comments

The following article is a guest post from Matthew Polo (his details at the end of this article). To submit a guest post to Blogging Labs, hit us up and we’ll get the ball rolling.

If you are ready to launch a WordPress blog and join millions around the world, there are some things you should know while your getting started.

1. Your WordPress Blog Does Not Have To Be On Hosted WordPress

You can use WordPress anywhere. This means that you don’t have to have a .WordPress.com blog, ie your blog doesn’t have to be your-blog.WordPress.com but can be your-blog.com. WordPress can host your blog for you or you can get your own hosting at a different company. Another useful feature is the ability to import or export blog contents to and from WordPress. This will allow you to keep a personal archive off line.

2. There Are No Contracts

Because its free you don’t have to commit to anything. You can leave anytime and WordPress will give you a complete xml download of all your posts and comments, so you can pack up and move your blog if you want

3. You Need A Plan…. And A Name

It is always a good idea to plan something before you do it. Develop a blog plan about why you are creating a blog, including the purpose, the target audience and the level of commitment to maintenance you envision. Try to conduct some market research on blogs that are similar and not similar to your vision and don’t limit yourself to only looking at WordPress blogs. Research some names for your blog that are consistent with your vision. Investigate the “About” sections of other blogs to see why they started as well as how well they are going after how long. This research could tell you roughly how your blog is going to go, but in no way is it a guarantee that your blog will succeed.

You should also decide whether you want to use an existing email account or specifically create one for blogging. I like to create new emails for each site and manage them all through GMail rather than use my personal one. It helps to stop people spamming me personally as well as separates my work and personal life and if I ever want to sell the blog I can give away the email address and be sure that I don’t keep getting blog related emails after I sold it.

4. Knowledge is Key and Keep an Open Mind

It is always a good idea to keep an open mind when it comes to your blogs development. Try to explore each WordPress feature fully before initiating full scale blog development. Getting to know each of the features and how to use them effectively will help your blog run smoothly. For instance, you can blog through email and mobile texting, and allow people to subscribe to your blog with alerts for blog activity. You can also create a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed to allow subscribers to view a summary and updates of your blog content anywhere on the web. These are simple things to set up, but if you don’t get in there and learn how to set them up your blog won’t work as well as it could.

5. WordPress Is Free. But There Is Some Stuff You Have To Pay For

The great thing about WordPress is that it is absolutely free, which is great if you want to give blogging a go because it won’t cost you a penny. However, there are some features that WordPress offer that will cost you a bit of dough. You can check out the paid features at http://en.WordPress.com/products/ but before you go “gun ho” on all the paid features I suggest giving the free version a good thorough go. There are plenty of plugins that you can download that will let your WordPress blog do anything, so I suggest giving them a go first.

6. One Account..More Than One Blog

Another good feature of WordPress is that you can manage more than one blog from the one account. This means that you won’t have to login to each one as you work on them.

7. You Should Subscribe To Other Blogs

You can subscribe to other blogs on WordPress easily. Reviewing other blogs to discover what others are blogging about, how they blog, blog layout, naming, content categories and tags not only will help you get a sense of what you can do with WordPress but will also get you out into the blogging community. Some good places to check out other blogs, topics and titles is through Technorati, Mashable and blog directories as well as check out other blogs blog rolls. You should activate social media buttons on your blog as well as follow other blogs through social media sites. This will keep you in the loop as well as help you get followers on your own social media pages.

8. Pingbacks Are Helpful

Pingbacks will alert others if you link to their website or blog, and will in turn alert you if another blog has linked to you. You can also allow their citations to show on your blog. An easy way to get back-links to your blog is to post articles with links to your blog in one of the free article directories, like top ranked ones Articlesbase and Ezinearticles. Although it won’t impact your blog massively. It is still a good idea to do it as it will start getting your blog out there as well as let the search engines see your blog.

9. Check Your Default Settings

WordPress has default settings that although help you avoid a long and boring set up process isn’t always what you want. For example comments are allowed for each post without prior approval by default, this means that people can write anything they want. You can pre screen all blog post comments before they post or you can turn off comments but I wouldn’t suggest it. The default for blog postings is public viewing. You can create a top level private view or create private viewing by post, allowing just yourself, friends or people with a code that you create. You can also create viewership ratings for content per each blog.

10. Submitting Your Blog To Directories Will Help Get Your Blog Out There

Although blog directories like Blogexplosion, Technorati, OnTopList, Blogdirectory, Blog Web Directory, and others found via Wikipedia and Alexa.com won’t make a massive impact on how many people will see your blog it will still help it get out there, which isn’t a bad thing.

Maintaining your own blog can be a very rewarding thing, so get in there and have a go. After all its free, whats the worst that could happen?

Matthew writes about personal finances for an impartial Australian credit card comparison website where people can find balance transfer credit card offers that reduce interest payments and help them get out of debt faster.

Filed Under: Blogging, Tutorials/How To Tagged With: , , , , ,

Do You Want To REALLY Know How To Make Over 6 Figures Blogging?

December 27, 2010 By 3 Comments

There are a lot of bloggers that claim to make money online. For every single one of those “6 figure bloggers”, I am almost positive that about 80% of those are faking it in the hopes that their perception of wealth online will lead to eventual income. It is the environment we work in with the blogging/make money online niche and it is often up to you guys to figure out who is blowing hot air and who is actually making enough money online to talk on the subject.

6 Figure Blogging

Six figures is a number that is thrown around pretty regularly in the blogging world as a benchmark to hit with your blog. Once you hit that number, you are seen as having “made it” in blogging even though you could have been making a full-time income for quite awhile.

The truth about six figure blogging is that you are living very comfortably (if you are living within your means) and generally all of that work starts to pay off huge dividends as it is much easier to grow at that point time. Six figures a year is a lot of money to most people in this world and wouldn’t you love to be able to make that kind of income doing what you love from the comfort of your own home writing your own ticket in life??

How Do YOU Make 6 Figures Online?

Surprisingly enough…most people and bloggers try to over-complicate the process of making process of making a big income with their blogs and they start to listen to these “gurus” who probably have zero clue on how to get the job done correctly. While I could go into a huge dissertation on how 6 figure incomes are actually made online, a friend of mine and fellow blogger David Risley has already done that for you with 6 Figure Blogger Blueprint…and guess what…it’s free!!!

I do not normally promote other bloggers free reports, but Risley’s eBook on making 6 figures online is dead on and easy to understand. Better yet…David has not only done this once…but twice with two of his blogs earning over 6 figures online and he does it outside of the blogging/MMO niche as well as within this market.

You can download his free eBook here: 6 Figure Blogger Blueprint

You will even notice a testimonial by me on the landing page and that is a sign of how much I truly believe in the content. If you are serious about taking your hobby full-time or just want to generate more income with your blog, this is a must read so download it today.

Filed Under: Blogging, Generating Cash Tagged With: , , , ,

Avoiding Blogger Burnout: How To Keep The Wheels Turning

December 6, 2010 By 11 Comments

This post on avoiding blogger burnout was written by Steve Roy of Ending The Grind.

To the untrained eye, blogging seems to be a relatively easy job. Hell, anyone can just sit around at Starbucks all day and play on the Internet, right? Not quite.

Actually, there are very few successful bloggers, if any, who have the time to just sit around. Blogging is work, lots of work. I’m not saying it’s especially hard work, but the sheer amount of to-do items on a bloggers checklist can be staggering.

The vast majority of us are not successful bloggers however, but are aspiring to become one. We are full-time employees and part-time bloggers with the goal of becoming full-time bloggers and no-time employees. Millions of people have the dream of becoming an online success story and living the fabled “Internet lifestyle” that we hear so much about.

If you are one of these people, then you know all too well how time consuming trying to build your blogging empire can be. You (hopefully) realize that creating outstanding content, building significant traffic, understanding and helping your readers, and properly marketing your blog are all vital to your success.

Since all of these things are very important and also very time consuming, where are we supposed to find the time to do them all? If you’re like me and have a full-time job, you know that trying to write good articles, network on Twitter and Facebook, promote your brand, and build a list, are all major time suckers.

Well, if you’re anything like me and want to get out of your day job as fast as humanly possible, that means forgoing those late nights out with friends, watching mindless tv shows, or playing video games. If we are ever going to be successful in the realm of blogging, then our time needs to be spent building our business.

We simply cannot waste any time not working on building our sites and our dreams.

The Burnout

With that being said, many of us are burning the candle at both ends. Our sleep is suffering, our family time is suffering, and we have become almost obsessed with blogging and all it entails. We need to realize that this lifestyle is not sustainable (or our heads might implode) and we need to figure out a solution.

As our days get longer and our nights get shorter, it’s easy to start feeling overwhelmed. We are pouring our hearts into our blogs and many of us new bloggers are receiving few, if any, signs that we are on the right path. For most of us, the rewards of our hard work will take months or even years to show up.

It’s obvious that if you give up on blogging because it’s too difficult or too frustrating then you will fail. However, I’ve heard from multiple blogging pros that pushing through when things seems pointless is when people begin to make it. Yaro Starak, a highly successful blogger, has said that if you follow the right steps, the only way to fail is by quitting.

If we know that we will only fail if we quit, then why do so many fail? I think one of the main causes is getting burned out. We write and write, spend tons of time trying to make our blogs the absolute best they can be, and nobody comes…

Many of us can only do this for so long before despair sets in and we take a break from our blogs. When we take a break, we tend to forget about it. When we forget about it, we start to lose interest and focus.

Three days turns into three weeks and we still haven’t looked at our blog. I can speak from experience here and this is exactly what happens. We get excited about our blog, we write a ton of content, we try to build traffic, and then we are disappointed with the results.

We do this over and over and we get burned out. Believe me, burnout can spell the end of a blog. Don’t allow yourself to fall victim to this trap.

Here are a few tips on avoiding blogger burnout:

  • Although we will have the tendency to do it, don’t spend all your free time working on your blog.
  • Make sure you understand that blogging is not a get rich quick business. It takes time, often a long time to build a popular and profitable blog.
  • Create a plan of action. For example, block out 2 hours for writing a phenomenal post or maybe plan an hour for writing your email newsletter. Don’t just randomly work on whatever you feel like at the time. Believe me, it’s a huge time waster.
  • Find inspiration. Make sure you understand why you are working on your blog so hard. If you have a strong enough “why”, you should be able to get through the tough times.
  • Find a mentor. I suggest finding a successful blogger/Internet marketer with whom you can really relate to. There are plenty of people making money online and just as many teaching us how to do it too. Your job is to find the one(s) that work for you. When you follow someone who has been through the process and has seen success, it’s easier to keep your head up and avoid burning out.

If you love blogging as much as I do and are doing it for a meaningful reason, then you are probably going to be busting your ass day and night to build your business. That’s awesome, keep it up! Just remember that too much of a good thing is not always good.

Steve Roy is a blogger with a passion for helping people who are looking to build an online business, quit their day job, and live life on their own terms. His blog can be found at EndingTheGrind.com

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , , , , ,

How To Leverage Social Media Into An Asset For Blogging

November 11, 2010 By 9 Comments

Last night, I gave a presentation at the Atlanta Bloggers Meetup on social media and blogging as part of Atlanta’s Social Media Week. I was one of three presenters of the night and the only one that fully relies on blogging for income. I brought along the Kodak Zi8 to record the session and the video came out ok. The small sensor camera really struggles in low light and I wasn’t wearing a mic, but the quality was good enough to publish.

One word of warning…apparently I REALLY talk with my hands. It is funny what you realize about yourself when you have to watch it on video.

How To Leverage Social Media To Grow Your Blog

In the video, I talk about basic principles in regards to social media, blogging and how you can combine the two to increase your business, traffic and bottom line and then I answer some questions from the audience on generating income and increasing traffic.

Text Summary On Social Media Presentation Video

Everyone already knows the most popular social media spaces online. We all use them on a daily basis to converse with friends, keep in touch with family or to follow our favorite celebrities. When we do this act, we are functioning within the core, fundamental purpose of social media.

Entertainment.

99% of users of social media have zero interest in blogging or starting a blog. However, they have a great amount of interest in conversing with other like minded individuals online who share their same interests. That need to communicate is what we can leverage into our blogging to pull readers back into our content.

All of these social media spaces (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.) in and of themselves do not generate revenue or traffic. They are their own separate sites with defined purposes. The blogger has to tie all these separate entities into something usable and measurable by giving them a common home base. That home base for the blogger is the blog.

By going out and pulling potential customers and readers back to your content, you are bringing value back to social media by turning it into something that can be measured and converted.

With Facebook fan pages, branded Twitter accounts, LinkedIn groups and other aspects of these social media sites, we are able to create a consistent branding atmosphere, a consistent voice and a consistent purpose that all increase our traffic and revenue.

If Only It Was That Easy!!

The theory of “if you build it and they will come” applies as little to social media as it does to blogging. The trick for the blogger is to go out and converse with members of social media sites to pull them back to your content.

However…there is one major mistake I see most bloggers and businesses do when they are looking to expand into social media to increase their web presence.

They do ZERO market research.

Just because Joe down the street told you Twitter is the next big thing or you believe you have to be everywhere at once does not mean that is the right plan of attack for your blog or business.

Most bloggers and business owners like to do what I call the shotgun affect. They spread themselves out really thin across all aspects of social media just hoping something sticks. The result…nothing does and they become another person that says Twitter or Facebook doesn’t work. It isn’t that they don’t work, it is your approach that failed.

Your job as the blogger or business owner is to go where your core audience interacts and bring your content and brand to them. It is not your job to convince them that Twitter is better than Facebook.

For Bike198, I find that Facebook is a much higher converter as cyclists could really care less about Twitter. My Facebook likes and shares are very high on that site and it serves a great purpose in my blogging. However, in the blogging niche, Twitter took off like wildfire and bloggers across the world are using it as an easy way to spread content and connect with other bloggers. It all depends on your target audience and how they are already communicating. Once you figure that out…you go there and set up shop. If you do that, your chance of success is much higher than if you just recklessly hope something sticks.

That is the key to making social media successful for increasing your profits and expanding your brand’s reach on the web.

Filmed with the Kodiak Zi8 and edited with iMovie and Keynote

Filed Under: Blogging, Social Media, Tutorials/How To, Videos Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Three Ways You Can Build A Great Online Brand

November 2, 2010 By 3 Comments

The following article on building an online brand is a guest post by Vik Tantry from There Is Money Everywhere dot com. Online branding is essential to success in blogging as you strive to set yourself apart from the rest of the noise.

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from a fellow blogger. He was frustrated because he had been blogging for more than a year and hadn’t achieved any real traction. He wanted to understand what he could be doing better. It’s never easy to build a brand, but there are definitely things you can do to help. Here are three tips to help you on your way to a stellar online brand:

Tip #1: Be Credible

Explain why people should listen to you

A good example is Jim Cramer from Mad Money. Although he is highly entertaining, he makes sure that people know about his prestigious investment background: top of his class at Harvard, investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and manager of a profitable hedge fund. I doubt he’d be as successful if he didn’t advertise these impeccable credentials

What if you aren’t a proven expert? That’s ok, but be sure to admit that you are willing to learn. Pat from Smart Passive Income does this very effectively. He is very upfront about the fact that he is learning how to make money online, and is extremely transparent with his process. This level of honesty has taken him exceptionally far and will continue to serve him well as he builds his user base.

Demonstrate value time and again

Glen Allsopp at Viperchill has some of the most detailed, thoughtful articles on web marketing. While most content on the web is only 300-500 words, Glenn typically writes long, rich posts that are anywhere from 1500-3000 words long. In just over a year, he’s built up a tremendous following and many of his posts are seen as “authoritative guides” on various topics.

Tip #2: Be Likeable

Stay positive

S^%t happens, but people will like you all the more if you can take it in stride. An exceptional example of this is Pat Flynn over at Smart Passive Income. In 2008, Pat was laid off from his job at an architecture firm. Instead of getting down on himself, he took it as an opportunity to build his own business and grow his personal brand. Around the world, thousands of readers (including yours truly) listened to his story and took inspiration from his outlook on life. Today, Pat’s blog is a major brand in the “making money online” space.

Be Responsive

There is no bigger turn-off than apathy. If you come across like you don’t care, people won’t care about you. The opposite is also true. If you go out of your way to respond to people, they are much more likely to keep your on the radar.

Be Humble

Neil Patel from QuickSprout is one of the more successful entrepreneurs at his age. He’s accomplished more at 25 than most people do in a lifetime. And yet, he never misses an opportunity to tell people that he’s not that smart and he’s actually made a lot of mistakes. He’s always willing to learn and never comes across like he’s “above” other people. This humility is par t of the reason that he has one of the most successful blogs in the world.

Tell a story about your past

Many successful “gurus” come from humble origins. Robert Kiyosaki was homeless in 1985, living out of his car. Real estate guru Dean Graziosi was raised by a single mother who made $90 a week. These “rags to riches” stories are inspiring and contribute heavily to your personal brand.

Tip #3: Be Funny

Humor sells. It also has a lot of value in drawing in people’s attention. Ramit Sethi at I Will Teach You To Be Rich does a masterful job of integrating humor within a traditionally boring topic: personal finance. His lighthearted, witty approach brought in a younger audience that was curious about personal finance but couldn’t get through the boring material.

But be careful: being funny isn’t the same as being mean. If you constantly poke fun at others, you risk coming across like a jerk. A better approach is to poke fun at yourself; things that you do wrong, mistakes you’ve made, etc. If you are going to make fun of others, try to use fake names to protect their identity.

Have you had success using these techniques? Please share in the comments.

Vik Tantry blogs about making money online to lead a better life at theresmoneyeverywhere.com.

Image by Mike Chen aka Metalman

Filed Under: Blogging, The Web, Tutorials/How To Tagged With: , , , ,

What If Man Could Fly?

October 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

No…I do not mean jump in a 747…that is a ride. What if a man could really fly?

If you asked anyone 20 years ago if a man could fly, I bet the answer you would receive would a be a definitive no. Are you crazy?! Man can’t fly! Of course, like most things in life, there are people out there that have the drive and the passion to bring what would seem to be unachievable in reality by defying odds and forever changing what we consider normal. Jeb Corliss and his wing suit prove in this video that man can fly and it looks like it has to be the coolest thing on the planet…at this point in time. What does this have to do with you and does it really relate to blogging? Well…watch the video first and then scroll below.

Defying Odds To Achieve Greatness

All of the greatest inventions of our time or companies that rise to new heights are all founded on one basic principle when it all boils down to it.

They take an idea and achieve the unimaginable.

Throughout life…we live in a set of rules. You drive on a specific side of a road, you buy your groceries in a certain way, you have to watch your favorite show on a specific channel with pre-chosen commercials and then you wake up…day in and day out…at the same time to go to the same job and repeat the same tasks. These are the rules we live in as consumers within our communities.

If we want to break into greatness…in life or with our blogs/companies…we have to step outside the barriers to progress and think outside the box. We have to break the conventional rules of thought and bring something new to the table that connects with large audiences. We have to create that wow moment that forever changes the perspective of the people we come in contact with. It is up to us…as the idea people to come up with the alternatives.

Let me ask you another question…if someone asked you 10 years ago if a single person could achieve high 6 figure salaries with nothing but a domain name and an idea…would you have said yes?

It is time for you to fly

Right now, we live in a crazy world where the Internet has opened up more opportunities for decision makers than ever before. We are on the edge of greatness and have achieved it in many ways. Bloggers are now seen as news sources that can alter how audiences consume content. No longer are we 100% dependent upon newspapers and magazines to get the latest news or digest our obsessions. Bloggers just like you are providing this content on a daily basis and making a really good living from it.

The trick…you have to fly. You have to take that leap and come up with your ideas that are going to rock your niche. You have to have the determination and guts to go after that idea and make it a reality for yourself and your readers. Do you think Jeb Corliss started flying overnight? Absolutely not. There are going to be trials…there are going to be roadblocks…there are going to be people that will tell you it can’t be done. But, with hard work, dedication and a unique idea…you can defy the odds and fly, but you have to believe in yourself, your idea and be willing to make that jump.

Are you willing to fly?

Filed Under: Blogging, Lifestyle Design Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

"Content Is King" Are you really buying that load of shit?!

September 30, 2010 By 2 Comments

If you are constantly buying into the concept of “content is king” that gets pushed on bloggers around the world, you are buying a used car with sand dust in the gas tank. This same tired out line has been played out beyond belief in the blogging world.

Content is not king…content is the product.

When you are looking to create your successful blog online, consistent and quality content is the given product that is required in blogging, but…just like with every industry…there is a massive amount of sub-par crap that can greatly outperform your “pilar articles” and “high quality list posts” because the bloggers behind that content have already realized the huge secret to successful blogging that really isn’t a secret.

Successful promotion is king…content comes in a far off second.

It’s true…go ahead and marinate on that one for a bit. Have you ever read a highly successful website and thought there is a lot better content out there? Better yet…have you seen sub-par, worthless products get huge launches and massive sales? You even see it in the retail world! The #1 main reason a blog, company or product makes it in the marketplace is because of calculated and successful promotion…not because it is providing over the top quality.

So Why Promotion Over Quality?

Now…there are cases where enormous quality creates enough press to warrant high dollars and fame, but those cases are extremely rare. The high quality cases for blogs and products that you have seen or read are actually the by-product of having the double whammy…quality content and successful promotion.

Quality “content is king” content is absolutely nothing without new eyes digesting it and then spreading it out to others. Without this promotion, your articles and products do not get past the development stage. They are just words on a page or items on a shelf that no one knows about…or even cares to.

Next time you hear someone say “content is king”, you need to think of it as a used car salesman selling you a big steaming load of crap. Content is not king…the promotion of that content is far superior if you are looking to create a successful blog.

How Do I Get My Content In Front Of A Massive Amount Of Eyes?

Now…there are also bloggers out there that are going to tell you the “top 5 ways to get more traffic” or how you need to find traffic on your blog. First, anyone that tells me there is only 1 (or 5 ways to do things) are typically people that I discount their opinion greatly. One of the things that you need to realize in blogging is that all niches are different. There is never one top way of doing things as your readers are going to interact and spread content online differently dependent upon subject matter so taking advice like that can be dangerous and detrimental to your growth.

Proper testing of different promotion methods are the only way to find out what works in your niche.

That said…there is one theory that will greatly reduce your learning curve when looking for promotion techniques that will work well for your blog. It is one simple task that every blogger should be doing…

Find your target audience (and be specific) and then research how that specific target audience communicates and spreads content online.

Not every niche is going to know what RSS is…or use Stumbleupon…or even know how to use Twitter. It is up to you to find out how they communicate and how they like to digest content and then provide those methods. On top of that…you need to find methods that force call to actions (newsletter sign-ups, content spreading, etc.) like contests, giveaways and other viral content monsters.

There is no “one size fits all solution” for all bloggers and “content is not king”. It is up to you…as the blogger…to promote your products and content in a method that your audience will absorb to truly be successful. Hey…no one who was ever successful online used a cookie cutter tagline. They worked hard for it. That means you have to as well. Ramp it up!

Filed Under: Blogging, Generating Cash, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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