Pinterest has been the talk of the town for the past few weeks. At the time of writing this post, there are over 35,000 search engine results for the phrase “Pinterest For Business”.

Crazy eh?

Well, it’s for good reason.

After having read a lot of articles and seen some stats about this site, I can see what all the fuss is all about. There has been an increase in traffic recorded, which let’s be honest – is what we really care about.

We wanna know, how can we use this “Pinterest” to grow our audience and build our email list. (which I talk about extensively in my free email course)

But, since I can’t talk from experience because I have yet to use Pinterest myself; let me send you over to the articles that I found most helpful.

I’m done talking…

17 Free Resources On Using Pinterest For Your Business

Pinterest: Everything You Need To Know Is In This Massive Post
via SocialMouths.com

The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Pinterest for Marketing
via blog.HubSpot.com

7 Ways to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Business
via Business2Community.com

7 Creative Ways Your Brand Can Use Pinterest
via SearchEngineWatch.com

How Brands Can Use Pinterest
via Location3.com

18 Real-World Examples of How Brands Are Using Pinterest
via SakitaHolley.com

Pinterest: The ultimate guide
via TheBlogStylist.com

Pinterest and Blogging :: The Good, The Bad and The Huh?
via Thenester.com

9 Tips: Boost Your Business With Pinterest
via Inc.com

Three Ways to Use Pinterest for Business
via SpinSucks.com

5 Reasons Why Your Business Should be on Pinterest
via BrianGardner.com

How and Why to Use Pinterest for Business
via DucttapeMarketing.com

How to use Pinterest for Business
via Koozai.com

Ideas For Marketing Your Products Using Pinterest.com [InfoGraphic]
via LinchpinSeo.com

10 tips To Get The Most Out Of Pinterest For Your Business
via TheNextWeb.com

If You’ve Never Heard of Pinterest, You’re a Big Dork
via ReadWriteWeb.com

Should You Use Pinterest in Your B2B Social Media Strategy?
via Business2Community.com

Did I miss any good ones?

You’re probably not gonna read all of these, but if you’ve been wondering about Pinterest like I was a few weeks back, I would definitely start with these articles.

Maybe I’ll write a post about how much traffic I start getting after I actually start to use this thing.

Who knows…

Anyway.. share it and comment. Talk soon

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Where would you go for traffic?

How would your blog/business change?

It’s important to think about these things because nothing lasts forever.

There was a time, light years ago, when we thought MySpace was gonna stay on top as the powerhouse of social networking sites, until Facebook came along.

We thought K-Mart was gonna take over the world, until Walmart beat it at it’s own game.

Everything has a beginning and an end; it’s our job to prepare (and structure) our online businesses in a way that allow them thrive no matter what happens to these other sites.

Structure Your Internet Business To Take Heavy Damage

What kind of damage are we talking about here?

• Traffic sources going dry.
• Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, iTunes shutting down.
• Useful website tools being removed.
• Online services stop working (or get super expensive)

Any of these things can happen, and relying solely on them can be detrimental to your online efforts.

The possibility of all these sites shutting down at the same time is highly unlikely, but the point still stands – you can’t rely on them alone because you don’t know how long they’ll be around.

The key to structuring your internet business to take heavy damage is to build a self-reliant business. A business that relies on itself to keep running.

If you were to take my domain, hosting, blog content, products, and social media accounts away tomorrow – and leave me only my email list, I would be able to build another high traffic blog in a matter of weeks.

I’ll say it again:

Take everything away, but my email list, and I’ll build a high traffic blog in a matter of weeks – Tweet This Line

Why?

Because I own the asset that makes my blog and business profitable.

I own that traffic source.

No one else does – and you should own yours, too.

Think about that – then leave me a comment below telling me what you think…

Let’s chat..

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Today I’m gonna share with you some quick and easy ways to do market research, so you can be sure that the guide you’re going to create will be something your audience actually wants.

Obviously, there are no guarantees in business, so there’s still the possibility that you’ll create something very few people will wanna buy. But you can take comfort in knowing that if you get a few things right, you will get some sales.

The first thing you gotta keep in mind is WHO you’re selling to, and the second is the PROBLEM they want to solve. If you can figure out what those two things are, and create something that speaks to them, then you’ll make sales.

But first… What Makes a Great Ebook?

Since we’re going to be talking about ebooks for the next 7 weeks (maybe even longer), let’s first dissect the makings of a great one. I’m sure there are many things that make a great ebook, but I believe these are the four main factors.

A Great Ebook…

• Solves a real problem – because if it doesn’t, your refund rate will go through the roof

• Builds even more trust with your audience – because it’s an expansion of the value you’ve already been sharing with them on your blog

• Takes a stand on your topic – because no one will care if you try to be everything for everyone

• Over-delivers on your promises -because this is the difference between an ebook that you keep to yourself and one you talk about

We’lll talk more about HOW we’re going to incorporate these things into our ebooks when we get to creating “ebook worthy” content. For now, let’s jump into some quick and easy market research strategies.

7 Amazingly Simple Ways to Do Market Research

1. Ask Your Readers

I know. I know. It’s obvious, but it’s also the easiest and most straight-forward way to gain valuable insights from your audience. You can ask them what they’d like to learn more about in your area of expertise.

You’re likely to get some really good responses; but you don’t stop there. In the comments sections, you can ask them to get more specific, so you can get an idea of what type of content they really want.

2. Create a Survey

If you have an idea of the topic you want to write about, then surveying your audience might be a better way to learn what interests them about your idea.

In order to get the most out of your surveys, make sure it’s easy to take. Try to ask close-ended question that your audience will have little to no trouble answering. Multiple choice and YES or NO questions would work best.

Here are a few examples;

• When you visit my blog you wanna learn more about ________ (follow by a list of topics)
• Do you think you would benefit from a product on _______ ? (yes or no)

You can however ask open-ended questions if you feel your audience would answer them. This sill give you a much better idea of what they want and the language they use to describe what they need.

Ask questions like:

• What frustrates you the most about ___________ ?
• Fill in the blank. “If only I knew how to ______, I would ________ .

3. Look Through Your Comments

There might be a brilliant ebook idea buried in your comments section.

People will often ask questions about blog posts you’ve written or make suggestions on topics they’d like to learn more about. (at least this is what I’ve found to be true on my site).

Although only a small percentage of your audience actually leave comments, and it could be that what one person is interested in might not be true for the rest, you can still use this information on surveys.

The point here is.. Don’t overlook comments, you might find gold.

4. Dissect Popular Posts

Popular posts are popular for a reason, your job is to find out what that reason is.

There may be a hidden product idea underneath the topic you covered in that particular post. It’s important not to jump to conclusions though.

Just because a post got a lot of retweets doesn’t mean people will PAY to get more of it. Simply add this to your idea list and try writing another post around the topic.

If it resonates with people a second time, you might have a good ebook topic on your hands.

5. What are your competitors doing/selling?

There’s no rule that says you can’t spy on your competition – (this is, of course, friendly competition, cuz mostly everyone in the blogosphere is super nice to one another)

If you know of another blogger who writes to your audience, then check out THEIR most popular posts as well. There’s a good chance your audience will resonate with an article about the same topic.

Also, look at their product line. Of course, you won’t know for sure if the product is selling well unless they share sales results, but they’ll at least give you an idea of the ebooks you can create.

It’s likely that your competitors did some research before releasing the product, anyway..

6. Is There a Complimentary Product You Can Create?

Maybe your competitors left something out. Maybe you can find a topic that was NOT covered by a popular product and Fill That Void.

This is often used when doing affiliate marketing, and trying to sell software. Software creators often create plugins or scripts without putting much emphasis on exactly HOW to use it effectively.

This is where affiliate marketers come in. They see a NEED that needs to be met and they fulfill it with tutorial videos and step-by-step action plans.

They often give this away for free in order to get more sales, but I know of a few bloggers who charge monthly for this type of information.

7. What Questions Are You Getting Via Email or Social Media?

Don’t just focus on your blog, think about the people who email you or contact your on Twitter and Facebook.

They have questions. No matter how simple the answer is, there might be a much deeper problem that they’re not asking about.

Think about how you can address all aspects of the questions they ask; there might be an ebook idea in there, too.

What I Suggest You Do Now…

Take a look at all of these market research strategies and pick one to perform your own market research.

If you get a lot of email, go back and read them. If you get a lot of comments, go back and do the same. If you have a large, very engaged audience, create a survey using surveymonkey and get an idea of what they want.

And then.. Click Here To Spread The Word.

I’ll reveal my Ebook Topic real soon, and next week I’ll talk about how to start outlining your ebook.

See you then… let’s chat!

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3. How To Craft An Awesome Blog Post

If you have no idea what this project is about, go read this post and join the challenge.

The goal of the project is to create an ebook you can sell by the end of 7 weeks. But that won’t happen unless you make the time and put forth some effort.

This episode is about just that…

We’ll discuss how to get more things done in less time and I’ll share some of the things I do to stop screwing around and do the work.

Press Play To Listen

Other ways to listen in…

• Click here to download the mp3 | 16.6 MB | 17:59
• Click here to subscribe via iTunes
• Click here for the RSS feed (non iTunes)
• Click here for the show archive

If you want to get access to my 8-part Blog Marketing course Click Here to Get Started – I know you’ll love it.

Show Notes:

• 11 Tips to becoming a more productive blogger
• Announcing the profitable ebook project
• Click Here to Rate & Review the podcast

By The Way…

The crazy guys over at Copyblogger have gone insane. For the next 6 days, you can get the Studiopress Pro Plus package at a whoopin 10% discount.

At first it doesn’t seem like much, but when you consider it’s a hell of a deal already, saving another $30 bucks on top of that isn’t too shabby. This package includes all 44 turn key themes plus the Genesis Framework (which I love) …and it includes every theme they create in the future.

Just use the promo code TEN at checkout. Here’s my special link: StudioPress Pro Plus All-Theme Package

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Yes, of course… you can monetize using AdSense and sell advertising space, but those models aren’t as profitable as selling your own digital information products; which is what I recommend.

Now, it may seem obvious to you that in order to get paid, you have to have something to sell. But you’d be surprised how many bloggers actually “Know” this information, but have yet to create their own product.

Do you fall into that category?

If you do, I’d like to introduce to you the Profitable Ebook Project.

The Birth of The Profitable Ebook Project

I’ll explain to you what this project entails but first I’d like to give credit where credit is due. Pat Flynn, from Smart Passive Income, came up with a challenge called the niche site duel with Tyrone Shum.

In this challenge he created a brand new niche site from scratch while sharing everything he was doing with his audience; Tyrone did the same.

They both encouraged their readers to create a niche site of their own following their same exact steps.

Awesome, right?

Corbett Barr, from Think Traffic, re-engineered that idea and started a project called The Million Dollar Blog Project where he’d start a blog (from scratch) and share everything he’s doing to build a popular and profitable site.

So… I thought it would be a great idea to use this same approach to help you create your first (or second) profitable ebook for your business.

What Is It Exactly?

Over the next 7 weeks I’m going to be creating a brand new ebook. This ebook will be sold some time in March (if everything goes according to plan). I’m gonna be showing you exactly what I’m doing step-by-step so you can follow along and create your own profitable ebook alongside me.

This is going to be a 7 week process, and every week I’m gonna share with you what I’m working on. The topics I’ll be covering are:

• Coming up with ebook topics your audience will gladly pay for
• Outlining your ebook
• Ebook length
• Naming your ebook
• Creating “ebook worthy” content
• Designing and styling your ebook
• Releasing your ebook to your audience

Why an ebook? Why not a full blown multimedia product?

Great question…

Right now I have two products. None of them are ebooks. The reason they’re not ebooks is because I strongly believe that giving customers access to information creates a better customer experience.

This is why I created membership areas for Podcasting for Bloggers and The Blog Planning Workshop.

But for the purposes of this project, I wanted to tackle something that I felt was doable in a few short weeks. Creating and selling an ebook made more sense to me than building an entire video-based product.

…that’s the answer 

The actual writing part of this ebook creation process is what’s going to take the longest time to complete. I have a lot of writing to do because I want to keep you up to date with what I’m doing as I’m writing my own ebook.

Seven weeks may not be enough time for you, but for some it might be more than enough. I want to encourage you to work as hard and fast as you can to get this done. It won’t be easy, but you’ll feel awesome at the end.

Remember, this ebook isn’t gonna write itself. Work is required for success, there’s no way around it. I just hope this project will inspire you to get started and create something that will pay you over and over for a long time.

The Only Thing I Ask…

This is 100% free. I’m not charging a penny for the next 7 weeks of in depth “ebook creation” content. But, in order for this project to help as many people as possible, all I ask is that you share the project with your friends and followers.

Facebook share it. Retweet it. Stumble it. Google Plus it – and anything else you can think of.

I’m sure that’s not a lot to ask. No money, just spread the word about the project and I’ll be happy :0)

The only question that remains to be asked is…

…Are You In?

Let me know in the comments section below if you’re thinking about participating. You can also announce to your audience that you have accepted this challenge and that they should be expecting a brand new ebook from you in the next 7 weeks.

This is good for a few reasons:

• You become accountable and your chances of following through increase dramatically
• You begin building anticipation with your audience until the day you release your ebook
• You’ll feel great about taking on this challenge head on..

If you have any questions about the challenge, please leave them in the comments section. If there are any additional topics that you’d like me to cover during the next 7 weeks, also leave those suggestions down below.

I’m excited…

Spread the word! Look I made it really easy for you. Just Click Here to tell you twitter followers that you’ve accepted the challenge.

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If you’re not asking for permission, you’re wasting your time.

This is something I’m glad I was told when I first got started blogging.

Don’t know where I’d be without it. I’d probably be designing banner ads that flash like crazy, in hopes of getting people to pay attention to me.

Not a good way to do business :/ (especially not in 2012)

What is Permission Marketing?

Let me first cover what it is and then why you should use it.

Permission-Based Marketing is the process in which a business obtains permission to communicate with (or market to) a prospective customer, before taking that prospective customer to the next step of the buying process.

In other words, permission marketing is asking people “if it’s OK” to send them emails or other marketing messages before asking them to buy.

Pretty simple right? Just get them to raise their hands..

The term was popularized by Seth Godin in 1999 and it has been my approach since day 1 of this blog (and the approach of many other successful bloggers).

The idea is that people that give you permission to send them promotional messages are a lot more attentive and receptive to those messages because they expect it.

You can get permission by giving them something for free in exchange for their contact information. This can be done through a simple opt-in form.

I’ll show you how I get permission at the end of the post.

The Evil Twin: Interruption Marketing

The way interruption marketing works is the complete opposite. This way of marketing revolves around numbers and lots of advertising; as oppose to permission based, that revolves around relationships and connections with your audience.

The foundation that interruption marketing is built on is the AIDA principle. Attention. Interest. Desire. Action. (learn more about that here)

Marketers who interrupt their prospective customers have to take them through this process in order for them to make a buying decision.

This makes sense since the traffic they receive are mostly cold visitors who don’t know who they are.

Without it, this approach simply doesn’t work.

Permission marketing, on the other hand, can use AIDA when sending out promotional messages, but only as an extra.

This approach to marketing is more relationship-based and your customers will respond to your messages a lot better without having to take them through the A.I.D.A process.

Don’t Waste Your Time Interrupting People

This is the sort of stuff that doesn’t get you noticed anymore. Instead of trying to be the loudest, trying to talk to as many people as possible, narrow your message and talk to the few that will listen.

Ask your visitors to give you permission to send the more value, (and marketing messages) so that you can start creating an engaged audience.

Create that free report. Create your lead generation process. Use Aweber as your email management service. And get busy building your internet business.

This is by far the best advice i can give you to start the new year. But I’m sure some of you are wondering…

How Do I Ask For Permission?

Really simple.

You see that form right below this article? Yea, THAT form. That’s the form you have to fill out if you want to get access to my free 8-part blog marketing course. It’s a course I created to give you a strong foundation on how to build an audience online using blog/content marketing strategies.

That’s what I’m offering in exchange for permission to send you more cool stuff.

Cool huh? …and also very effective. So do it!

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First, I ‘d like to talk about why I think this is so cool.

I’m big on creating clutter-free, effective websites that help you convert visitors into subscribers and customers.

I try to stay away from useless widgets and plugins that do nothing but send traffic away from your site.

The reason I think this Twitter tool is so cool is because it allows your visitors to follow you with 1-click, without having to be on Twitter.

Of course, they still need to have an account but, this button opens up a new window that tells them to login if they’re not already logged on. It doesn’t redirect them and once they’re done, they can close the window and they’re back on your site.

Cool, huh?

So, Here’s How To Add The Twitter Follow Button In 7 Steps

Step 1. Go To https://twitter.com/about/resources/buttons. This is the Twitter Resources page where the button gets created.

Step 2. Choose the second option. This is the Follow Button.

Step 3. When the button options open up, simply type in your twitter username. you can then select whether or not you want the button to show your username and the size of the button itself.

Step 4. Right next to the button options, you’ll see a live preview of what the button will look like on your site. Under this live preview, there’s a code – Copy This Code.

Step 5. Go to your WordPress dashboard and click on Wdigets. You can find your widgets section under Appearance.

Step 6. Add a new TEXT widget to your sidebar and PASTE the twitter code you’ve just copied inside the text box.

Step 7. Refresh your blog and BAM! Your visitors can now follow you with 1-click and they won’t have to leave your site to do it.

If You Loved This Tutorial – Share It!

I’d really appreciate it. Thanks

…oh and when you’re done adding it, be sure to follow me with just one click, so you can see how it works.

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I’m excited for 2012 and I wanna share that excitement with you by giving you something I’ve been working on for past week or so.

I thought I’d start off this year with a brand new report. It’s titled Landing Page Optimization and it talks about the 6 things you should keep in mind when building a landing page.

You probably noticed that my homepage has changed a bit since I last posted. It’s no longer a blog layout.

It now functions as a landing page and I’m happy to say that it has been very effective so far. The reason this report came about was because of my homepage redesign.

How To Download The Report

The report is 100% free, you don’t even have to sign up for the email list to get it. Why?

Well, first of all, I just wanna be cool. Plus, I know that giving it away this way, it can get in the hands of a lot more people.

And secondly, because I hope that when you read it and benefit from it, you’ll pass it on or tell your people about it.

So here it is: (right-click to save to your computer)

Click here to download Landing Page Optimization (PDF)

Author: Hector Cuevas

Format: PDF

Pages: 17

Rating: Freaking Awesome!!

Share this page if you like the report – I’d really appreciate it. Thanks

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Thousands of people making new years resolutions and thousands more hoping next year will be different.

I’d like to take a different approach – and I’d like you to join me.

There are three simple questions that I believe need to be answered.

These are important because they really helps sum up everything you accomplished this year and what you have yet to accomplish, without drifting off to “resolution-land of fairy tales”.

They also help you focus on the things that you should be doing that get you results. (when it comes to traffic, subscribers, income and size of your audience)

The 3 Questions are…

1. What worked? – So you can celebrate your accomplishments.

2. What didn’t work? - So you can avoid making the same mistakes.

3. What am I gonna do more of next year? – So you can have a much better year in 2012.

Answer these three and I think you’ll start the year off on the the right foot.  – and I know it’s still early, but Merry X-Mas and happy new year guys.

Take care…

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Guest post by Karol K from NewInternetOrder.com

Don’t worry, I won’t torture you.

I’m not gonna make you read half way down the article to find out what this quick and simple way to improve your writing is.

So here it is: start writing a journal (or a diary – whichever you prefer).

The whole thing is rather easy. There are no rules. No must-have elements before you can get started. No boundaries. No cost (usually). All you have to do is write at least one entry every single day.

But, how does this help?

How does writing a journal improve your writing?

Let me quote someone who’s a little more experienced writer than I am – Stephen King.

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”

Stephen says that a good starting point is writing 1,000 words per day, every day, six days a week. And there’s no requirement to write anything that makes any sense, hence, why a journal sounds like a very good idea.

Stephen also says:

“So okay – there you are in your room with the shade down and the door shut and the plug pulled out of the base of the telephone. You’ve blown up your TV and committed yourself to a thousand words a day, come hell or high water.

Now comes the big question: What are you going to write about? And the equally big answer: Anything you damn well want.”

It’s hard to argue with someone like Stephen… If you want to be a good writer (and ultimately a good blogger) you have to do one thing – you have to write, and you have to do it a lot.

Writing a journal will improve your flow, ease of writing and overall comfort of sitting in front of a blank screen or a piece of paper.

The more you write, the less you have to think about what you’re going to write; the words will usually appear with minimal effort on your part.

Writing a journal is so easy that anybody can do it, and at the same time it’s so underestimated that hardly anybody does.

Where to begin

First you need to decide if you want to write a journal using your computer or go the traditional way – pen and paper. But since it’s the 21st century you’re probably going to use your computer.

The only thing you have to do now is choose your software. If you already have any kind of word processing app then you are more than welcome to use it (like MS Word for PC or Pages for Mac).

I, however, don’t like to play around with all the files. You have to store them somewhere and (usually) make sure that no one else can access them because, let’s face it, it’s your private journal. This is particularly important when you’re sharing your computer with someone else (your spouse, kids, dog, etc.).

That’s why I use an online app – Penzu. It’s free, easy to use, cool, safe, and takes care of managing and storing your journal entries, so I encourage you to check it out.

What to write about

This is the best part. You can write about anything you want… For example:

• How your day was.
• Your opinion about something you’ve seen on the news.
• Your favorite food as of late.
• People you hate and why.
• People you think hate you and why.
• What your plan for taking over the world is.
• What your ideal day would be.
• What your fitness plan for upcoming months is.
• How you would name your dog if you had one.
• And so on, and so on.

Even though this is what you can call freestyle writing, there are still two things to keep an eye on if you want to improve your writing along the way!

1. Make sure to use proper English.

Just because there are no boundaries it doesn’t mean you have to botch every sentence.

2. Maintain a consistent flow of writing.

Even though what you’re writing might not make any sense to anyone else, it does need to make sense to you when you read it out loud. This is called “writing flow”.

Try not to jump from topic to topic. Stick to one thing and let your thoughts do the writing. It helps with your focus when you’re writing your next blog post, ebook, or website copy.

The main goal when writing a journal…

…is writing itself. You don’t have to fool yourself by saying that you’re going to go back and read the entries someday. That day rarely comes…

One of the most important things to keep in mind when using your blog as a marketing platform, is that publishing content on a consistent basis will increase your overall traffic and leads.

So even if the last time you see your entry is when you finish writing it, the sole fact that you wrote it, and kept writing every day will pay off. It will improve your writing. Period.

Now, do you keep a journal?

Well, I’ve got you covered with my Blog Marketing 8-Part Course . And there’s absolutely no charge.

This 8-installment email course and newsletter will show you the techniques and strategies you need to know when marketing your business on the internet.

Find out more and sign up for free here.

Here are some of the topics I cover inside:

• Content Marketing
• Getting Blog Traffic
• Effective Blog Design
• Conversion Strategies
• Creating a Sticky Blog
• Being Everywhere
• Multiple Income Streams

Just click here to sign up for free. See you inside.

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Does your blog design talk?

No? – Well, it should.

In this post, I’m going to lay out all of the important questions your design should be answering for your first time visitors.

If your blog isn’t doing this, then there’s a possibility that many of your first time visitors are leaving your blog in a matter of seconds.

High bounce rates are not uncommon in the blogging world.

A bounce is when a visitor lands on your site, and leaves without visiting at least one other page

After some digging, I found that the average bounce rate for a blog is around 40%. Anything higher than that means that you’re either not attracting the right visitors or not using the tips that I’m about to share with you.

The faster you answer these 7 questions for your visitors, the longer they’ll stay. (and possibly become subscribers) These tips will also help you get a lot more engagement from your visitors.

However, this is NOT all set in stone and you should experiment with these tips on your own blog until you see engagement increase.

OK, enough chit-chat.. let’s get moving.

7 Questions Your Design Should Answer

Question #1: Who are you?

You’re always gonna be getting new visitors coming to your blog.

Some will comment but most of them won’t – but they all be wondering who the heck you are. There are two ways to answer this question.

The first is by creating an “about me” page and the second is by placing a brief bio on your sidebar.

The visitor can now put a face to the words they’re reading and it’s makes it easier for them to comment and engage.

Question #2: What’s this blog about?

This is another question many of your readers will have and one that is very easily answered by adding a tagline.

This is the one phrase that will let your audience know what you’re blog is all about.

The tagline will let visitors know what to expect from your content so they can make a decision of whether or not they want to look around.

Question #3: Are you here to help me?

This has everything to do with how easy you make it for people to find and consume your content.

If all they see are banner ads and links to affiliate products that you recommend, then they’ll be turned off and leave.

So, make sure you don’t clutter your blog with ads that direct your visitors’ attention away from your content. Don’t lose a loyal readers for a $27 commission. It’s not worth it.

Question #4: Where’s your best stuff?

You can do this very easily by adding one plugin to your sidebar. It’s called the “WordPress.com Popular Posts”.

This plugin lists all of your most popular posts by number of comments and views.

I have a list of 26 links that direct my visitors to posts that did very well. It also makes it easy for them to find more useful content to read.

Question #5: What do other people think of you?

Social proof is a wonderful thing, but it can also be your worst enemy when you’re first getting started.

Us humans are programmed to need validation for our decisions by watching what other people do.

For example, more people will comment on your posts, if they see that other people are commenting on your posts. Comments counts is a great way to display this.

Some other examples are the Feedburner counter, ReTweets, and Shares on FB.

If you don’t have anything to show as social proof, just worry about putting out some really good content and soon you’ll have all the social proof you’ll need. :0)

Question #6: How can I share what I just read?

Don’t make sharing hard for your readers.

If you know your content is great quality and you’re getting positive feedback from your readers, make sure you have sharing buttons where your readers can easily see them and click.

You can use the “New Twitter Button” plugin and the “Simple Facebook Share Button” plugin to give your readers the opportunity to spread your content.

If you’re not doing this, you’re probably leaving a lot of traffic on the table.

Question #7: Where do I sign up for more of this great content?

The worst thing you can do is make it hard to sign up for your mailing list. This should be easy, simple and obvious to your visitors.

The best places to have a sign up opt-in form are:

• on the top-right hand side of your blog,
• on a dedicated landing page,
• and a banner on the top of every page.

This will make it very easy for people to sign up and they don’t have to jump through hoops to find it.

By the way, don’t forget to sign up for my 8-Part Blog Marketing Course… it’s Free.

On To You…

Similar Online Marketing Posts::

1. The 3 Questions You Absolutely Need To Answer Before The End of the Year
2. Top 4 Critical Blog Design Tips To Increase Usability
3. Facebook Landing Page Contest.. Enter To Win A Custom Page Design

Nowadays if you’re going to start a blog and want to get seen online plus build your audience and make money, you will have to do something different.

To market and promote your blog successfully it takes time and you can’t do everything yourself. From writing blog posts, finding pictures, uploading content, networking with other bloggers, responding to comments and emails, tweaking your blog design, where do we find time to do this?

Luckily for you it’s possible to access the help of a virtual assistant whom you could outsource a lot of the administrative blogging tasks and help you contact other bloggers that people don’t see behind the scenes.

Probloggers, Darren Rouse from Problogger.net and Yaro Starak from Entrepreneurs-Journey.com leverage the help of virtual assistants who do help them post their articles online and handle all the “behind the scenes” work.

I personally know Yaro and he spends no more than 10 hours a week on his blog and still make a full time income just by writing a few blog posts a month in addition to a group of writers who his outsourced to as well. There is no way his able to create this type of lifestyle without outsourcing a majority of his work and still be a success.

Another example is through my Outsourcing Live blog, all email inquiries are redirected to a ticket support system where my virtual assistant handles weekly and if there are any important emails she will forward them to me, otherwise she will respond to them on my behalf.

This saves me time and allows me to focus on delivering more videos to my audience and provide the best value to my members.

Why Do Most Bloggers Fail And Need To Outsource?

Now let’s take a look at blogging in itself. Most bloggers know and have heard of the phrase “content is king”. But without an audience to read or consume your content, then your content is lost amongst all the noise.

This leads me to share with you a formula which helps you stand out and achieve success through blogging:

Create Content + Outsource Administrative Blogging Tasks = Successful Blog

Let’s break it down….

Create Content: This is where you aim to focus on creating value for your audience and provide “epic shit” (as Corbett Barr puts it) through regularly posting new content.

Outsource Administrative Blogging Tasks: It’s tasks which people don’t see behind the scenes, such as posting your new content onto your blog, finding stock images to make the post look pretty, formatting of the post, sending out tweets and messages to your fans, and so forth.

In addition you could be spending hours to contact other bloggers. This is another administrative task that can be outsourced.

So if you combine the two, can you imagine what you could achieve and how fast you can build your audience and a thriving blog?

How To Avoid The 9 Out Of 10 Bloggers Failure Rate

Don’t Spend Your Time Making Your Blog Look Good

Most bloggers spend too much time making their websites look good while instead they should be outsourcing design to a web designer and programmer. Outsource this work to someone who can finish it in less time while you can spend time networking with other bloggers to move forward.

There are lots of great full time or part time designers from overseas like the Philippines and China. Here’s a tip, you can test out a small one-time project on Fiverr.com and get web design done for just $5. If you like their work you can pay them more to do other web design work for you.

So instead of you studying Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop for hours and hours, outsource it to web designer to get it done fast.

Hire Help To Post Articles On Your Blog

Yes, I know you love creating all the content on your blog but posting, setting up the layout, adding images, and scheduling takes away your valuable time.

You would also have to regularly do research, collaborate with other bloggers and write content at the same time. Thus, having a virtual assistant with you can relieve all that pressure of blog posting and scheduling.

In my business I’ve also trained them to do search engine optimization for each post that goes out on my blog and that has saved me a lot of time. That way I can double my content production and marketing efforts to focus on building my audience.

Don’t Spend Time Reading Other Blogs

Lastly, blog hopping has been an addictive sickness to almost all bloggers out there. For instance, bookmarking blogs and subscribing would be a good idea to learn and connect with other bloggers.

But it also wastes a lot of your time consuming their content when you should be producing content of your own. So I only recommend keeping up to date with 2 or 3 blogs you truly love.

Take Control And Outsource!

The number one reason why bloggers fail is when they do everything alone. We’re in a global market and if you are not taking advantage of outsourcing, then another blogger is.

You can get a tons of things done all at the same time and see results faster and ultimately achieve your goals quicker. Outsourcing is our only solution.

Start small by hiring one full time virtual assistant and implement the concepts I mentioned. Be brave and bold as stepping out and being different is just the beginning! Remember to “just outsource it!”

————–

Tyrone’s Bio:

Tyrone Shum is an International Outsourcing Expert who has been interviewed and featured on over 38 different blogs and media channels sharing how he outsources to the Philippines. He is the presenter behind Outsourcing Live website that teaches entrepreneurs on how to get traffic from videos using outsourcing. Follow Tyrone Shum on Google+.

Whether you’re creating a landing page, a blog post or a sales page, your headline is what determines whether or not the visitor will continue reading down the page.

There’s a lot of content on the web that is not being noticed and read because it’s hiding behind a mediocre headline.

Today I’m gonna be sharing a few tips for creating great headlines that get noticed, clicked and shared on social media.

Hopefully these tips will help you improve you headlines for better results, let’s get started!

1. Don’t Confuse Your Reader

A confused mind always says “No” – in this case, a confused mind won’t bother clicking on your headline to continue reading your content if it confuses the crap outta them. Simplicity is key when creating great headlines. For example, someone asked me what I thought about adding hashtags to the headlines.

Can you imagine trying to read something like this:
6 Tips For #Growing Your Audience On #Twitter, #Facebook & #YouTube

Besides the fact that its not easily read, it also looks spammy. Stay away from anything that might confuse your readers and you should be fine.

2. Make Sure It’s Benefit-Driven

Everyone is always tuned into their favorite radio station when they’re browsing the web. What’s In It For Me – W.I.I.FM. Your job is to attract your audience by creating content that benefits them somehow; and your headline should reflect that.

You can accomplish this by adding “How To..”, “Ways To..” or “Why” to the front of your headline.

You should be putting the same, if not more, effort into writing your headline as you do your content. Think about what they’re going to get out of reading your post. Think about their desires and frustrations and how your content gets them that much closer to what they want.

3. Numbered Lists Almost Always Work

…this is why I used it for this headline. Not every headline I write uses numbers, but I can almost guarantee the post’s success when I do. Why do they work so well? Simple. List headlines work because they make a very specific promise of what the reader is going to get in return for their time.

• 6 Ways..
• 6 Secrets..
• 6 Tips..
• 6 Reasons..
• 6 types..

All of these are great ways to start a headline that will communicate a benefit to the reader and will compel them to click, read and share.

4. Make It Irresistible

We’ve already stated that great headlines contain a big benefit for the reader, but how do you make them impossible to resist. You can add a sense of curiosity. Craft your headlines to create an incomplete thought in their minds. You want them to ask a question that just has to be answered.

This will entice them to go from the headline to the content to find the answer. If the reader is satisfied, then your content will be share – A Lot!

5. Keep It Short & Sweet

Long headlines can work, but if you’re just learning how to write headlines, stick to short ones that you can read in one breath. It should deliver a benefit and entice them to read in 10 words or less.

Here are some of my best short ones;

• Why Your Blog Makes No Money
• What Makes Great Blog Content
• How To Craft An Awesome Blog Post

..and of course, I’ve had some long ones that worked just as well;

• How To Increase Your Blog’s Speed By A Lot, Plus 3 Plugins That Improve Site Speed Optimization
• 4 Ways You’re Destroying Your Credibility and 5 Tips To Avoid It
• 5 Ways To Know If Your Content Sucks and 4 Ways To Fix It

So…

If you think the headline for this post is awesome, you should definitely share it with your followers and friends on Twitter & Facebook. ..and as always, leave your thoughts below

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1. Top 3 Headline Writing Tips To Get More Eyeballs To Your Blog
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Most start-up bloggers are completely obsessed with their traffic stats at the beginning; I know I was.

But experience has taught me that tripling your daily blog visitors from 50 to 150 doesn’t mean a thing if you’re not doing anything with that traffic to begin with.

The Case Of Pointless Traffic

There’s an easy way to get loads of traffic to your site with minimal amounts of work and effort. I’m talking about thousands of hits to your blog just by doing a few things.

• Step 1: Be on the lookout for popular topics (celebrity gossip)
• Step 2: Write a post about that celebrity (ie.. Justin Bieber)
• Step 3: If your site is search engine optimized, all his fans will start flooding your site
• Step 4: Watch your traffic spike while your business stays the same

Justin’s fans are not interested in what you have to offer, so those visitors aren’t worth much to your business. (..unless, of course, you sell Justin Bieber action figures)

What’s the point? The point is that focusing on targeted traffic is a must if you want to build an authority blog that gets subscribers and makes money. But targeted traffic is only the first step.

When Targeted Traffic Fails

This is the problem I see when I visit blogs; a lack of strategic steps to get your targeted traffic to convert. The point of building a business blog is to attract the right kind of visitors to you by creating compelling content that demonstrates your value and expertise in your niche.

Once you can successfully attract the visitors with that awesome content you’re creating, you have to convert them into fans, subscribers, and customers. Sounds simple, right?

But are you really doing it? Ask yourself these questions:

• What does my prospect/customer really want and/or need?
• What part of my site are they drawn to first?
• What do I want a first-time visitor to do when they first land on my site?
• How do I get them to take that step?

These are the questions you need to be able to answer – they might be obvious to some, but there’s a huge difference between knowing this stuff and actually using it.

The answers to these questions will help you get inside your visitors mind when they get to your blog. They’ll also help you determine what you need to do to get them to take the actions you want; whether you want them to:

• Tweet a message
• Join your email list
• Subscribe to your RSS feed
• Contact you for a quote
• Buy an information product
• Order an hour of consulting

Quick Exercise: Map It Out!

If you have never mapped out your ideal customer acquisition process, then you’re not in business. I suggest you take ten minutes and literally map out step-by-step the steps your visitors have to take in order to become a customer.

Don’t forget to include likability and trust building steps, because people will only buy from people they know, like and trust. Very Important!

Just for fun, I drew out this simple diagram for you to give you an idea of what a customer acquisition process looks like. Feel free to model what I’ve done in your own business.

In this process, the visitor comes to your blog to read an article you’ve written. This is the most common case for your blog visitors. It’s unlikely that your homepage gets more traffic than all your individual posts combined.

1. The next step is to get them to leave a comment and/or retweet the post.
2. Then they’ll become a subscriber by entering their email address in exchange for more value.
3. The visitor will then be directed to a thank you page and receive a welcome email.
4. In the following days/weeks, they’ll get exclusive email content only available to subscribers.
5. Then when you create a product, you can perform an internal launch.
6. Finally, if they’re interested and buy, you get paid.

Don’t leave these things to chance. Tripling your traffic may sound like an awesome thing to do, but now you know how pointless that is if those extra visitors don’t turn into anything else.

Subscribe below for more articles just like this one. :0)

__________________________________________

Be sure to check out Kiesha’s “Surviving The Blog” Contest – More details here..

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The reason I created this program was because I wanted you to have access to a complete step-by-step course that showed you how to take your idea and turn it into a loyal blogging audience.

I won’t get into all of the details of what’s inside the course, but the modules include content creation, promotional strategies and how to start getting paid from your blogging efforts.

It’s a pretty awesome and comprehensive course, but of course I’m bias.. I put a lot of time, and brain power into this program, so I definitely think it deserve a look.

To learn more about this course, visit my Courses page or click here. I’d like to see you inside as a member.

Take care.. talk soon

Hector

That’s a great question, but one I can’t answer without knowing a lot more about the main blog topic, the purpose of the site, and the business idea behind it.

What I can do, however, is tell you why I believe most blogs don’t make any money at all and what to focus on to turn your situation around.

I can say, from experience, that if you focus on fixing these 5 things, you may start to see income coming from your blogging efforts. Ignoring these will get you more of the same results you’re getting now; and I’m sure you don’t want that.

5 Reasons Why Your Blog Makes No Money

Started Off On The Wrong Foot

This is a much too common mistakes many bloggers make. They build their blog around what they believe to be an awesome idea, that is doomed from the start. I’ve have some friends ask for advice on blog topics and I’ve had to gently shut them down.

For example, if you’d say you wanted to build a blog about Star Wars and make money from it, I’d say you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning. The reason is because that the people in that “niche” don’t have an urging problem that their trying to fix or a desire that they’re trying to achieve.

* To avoid starting off on the wrong foot, pick a niche where people are searching for solutions.

Your Content Sucks

This is also much too common. I wrote a post about this a few months back, click here to check it out. But the point of it was that you need to focus on creating valuable content that people actually want to read if you want to sell anything.

And no, I’m not talking about addressing “trending” topics and catching a big wave of visitors because your post ranked highly for “Justin Beiber & Selena Gomez”. Leave that for the entertainment blogs.  Your goals with the stuff you create should always be to help your readers. Be their leader and guide them towards their desired goals.

* To avoid sucky content, focus on helping your audience relieve pain.

No Branding Strategy

What are you known as? What’s your unique selling proposition? What are your colors? Blog branding and personal branding is something many successful bloggers take seriously but not many people talk about it. One thing to remember when trying to earn money from your blog is that people buy from those they know, like and trust.

Blog and personal branding helps you build that trust and establish that likability. The key to branding your blog is to be very obvious about who you are, what you do and how you can help your visitors. This way, the minute someone new lands on your site, they can figure out what your deal is in about 8 seconds.

* To avoid a mediocre brand, focus on building trust through design elements and your tagline.

You’re a Blogger Not a Marketer

Not that there’s anything wrong with bloggers, but overall, marketers (specifically, direct marketers) are more strategic than bloggers. Marketers focus on building an email of people who are interested in what they have to offer. While bloggers want lots of people to subscribe to their RSS feeds.

Marketers plan out an entire product launch in order to get people excited about the product; bloggers might post about it once and then create a banner to place on their sidebar because they don’t want to be too pushy.

Which is the best approach? In my opinion it’s a combination of both. Bloggers are much better at cultivating relationships with their customers and building communities. These things are needed to thrive in the online space. But bloggers shouldn’t be afraid to build a list, market and sell a product that is intended to help the end user.

* To avoid falling into the “I don’t wanna sell to my audience” trap, study direct response marketing.

Lack of Business Sense

The last reason, and possibly the most obvious one, for your blog not making money is a misunderstanding of what is it to do business online. There is no magical internet fairy that will put money in your bank account just because you provide valuable content. Money isn’t going to appear under your pillow because you decided to start blogging one day.

Business blogging is just that – Business. And just like an offline business, you need to have:

• An overall vision
• Goals in place to keep you productive
• A business plan
• A strategy to execute that plan
• & Products and/or services to sell

You need to package your knowledge in a way that your audience will want to pay you for it. You need to ask them what their frustrations are and help them fix them with your offers.

- In Other News…

This Thursday, (June 30th) I’ll be releasing my Blog Planning Workshop. It’s a 5 module course that helps you take a simple idea and build a loyal blogging audience. It addresses content creation, branding building, blog promotion and getting paid.

Be sure to come back on Thursday at 10:00am EST – Don’t miss out.. =)

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1. What Makes Great Blog Content
2. Hector’s Daily Blog Post Promotion Strategy In 7 Simple Steps
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I hope that you find this list of web marketing tools useful. I’ve been getting emails about the different tools needed to get started online and which exactly do I use, so I intend to answer those questions in this post as well.

This is my ENTIRE blogging and business marketing hardware tool kit; but I also share with you some cool apps I’ve come across. When you’re done with this you’ll realize, just as I did, that I am certainly NOT a minimalist at heart.

I love having “stuff” and this post is for those of you who love stuff, too. So, let’s get started. =)

iPad with Kensington Wireless Keyboard

My girlfriend bought me an iPad for Christmas. This awesome piece of technology has not left my side ever since. However, the integrated keyboard is not the most comfortable feature, so I bought the wireless kensington keyboard so I could be able to type without having to place the ipad down or hold it.

Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet

This was recommended to me by Pat. This is how I write on all of my YouTube videos. It’s smooth as hell and is also great for adding a personal touch and customizing images for your blog. If you don’t have one, I highly recommend it.

Logitech Z5500 Digital Speaker System

We all need a break sometimes right? I usually blast my 1000 watts digital speaker system when I’m in “break” mode, but it’s also great for making sure my podcast episodes sound just like I want them to when I’m editing them. Crystal clear, quality sound is a must in my book. =)

Dual 24″ Dell Monitors

I need space. Whether I’m answering emails, customizing graphics, writing a blog post, or creating a product, I want to have enough space to move around. There are times where I have photoshop, mozilla, microsoft word, camtasia, and itunes open all at once, so it helps keep me organized.

Flip Video Camera

I don’t do as many “live action” videos as I probably should, but nevertheless, I highly recommend the Flip. It works great although the sounds quality could be better. When I get into videos again, I’ll probably invest in the Kodak Zi8, since I’ve heard a lot of great things about it.

Eagleton USB Condenser Microphone

This is the mic I use for my Podcast episodes. I also use it to record the sound for my videos and my products. For the sound quality it records, it’s a pretty inexpensive product. I got it in Amazon for less than $70. If you’re thinking about getting into podcasting, definitely check it out.

Acer Aspire One

This is my handy dandy laptop. I don’t use it as much as I did before I got my ipad, but it comes in handy whenever I want to work away from home on graphics or edit audios or videos I’ve recorded. My iPad can’t run programs like Camtasia or Adobe Audition, so I use my Acer for that.

iPhone

This is my favorite of them all. This is how I keep in touch with my followers on twitter and usually how I response to your comments. With the unlimited internet plan I get to stay connected and accessible. Follow me on twitter and say Hi!.. =)

Western Digital 640gb External Hard-drive

A must have for any internet entrepreneur. This is where I keep a back up of EVERYTHING I do online just in case my computer crashes. Imagine everything you’ve been working on just disppearing. Not a great feeling, trust me I’ve been there. Be proactive and get yourself a hard drive and back up your files, it’s a smart thing to do.

WordPress for iOS

I found this Iphone (ipad) app about a month ago and I feel in love. Although the reviews in iTunes are really bad, I couldn’t be happier. The app allows you to reply to comments easier than using the Safari web browser and it allows you to edit pages and posts. WordPress developers are probably still working on making it better but so far it’s doing what it’s suppose to.

Things (App)

Things is how I keep myself in check. It’s an awesome app that allows you to create multiple to do list with due dates. It automatically shows you the tasks that are due today depending on the dates you set. It has increased my productivity times 10 (probably) and I recommend you get if you have an iphone, ipad or itouch.

Whiteboard ( 4′ x 3′ )

This is my idea board. Whenever I think about a new post, sales process, lead magnet, or project, I put it on my whiteboard. This is how I brainstorm ideas and set goals for my blog and business. If you have space on a wall that’s not being used, I recommend getting a white board. You can also use it for video presentations.

Are You Using Any Cool Gadgets?

I wanna know about the “techie stuff” that makes your blogging and business efforts easier. Share with the community your list of things; hopefully we can all learn about something new today.

Share this on twitter if you enjoyed it. Talk soon

____________________________________________________

I try to stay away from the typical advice of having the opt-in box on the top right hand side and offering a freebie to entice visitors to join.

I think if you focus on these 5 things, you’ll get more traffic and get more people on your email list at the same time. It’s been working for me, and I’m sure they’ll work for you.

So sit back, relax and press play whenever you’re ready. =)

Press Play Button To Start

Other ways to listen in…

• Click here to download the mp3 | 32.8 MB | 23:50
• Click here to subscribe via iTunes
• Click here for the RSS feed (non iTunes)
• Click here for the show archive

If you want to get access to a 40 Minute Audioguide, a 26 page PDF Report and the 6 part video course Click Here to Get Started – I know you’ll love it.

Show Notes:

• From Zero To Blogger
• Podcasting For Bloggers
• Check out Kiesha’s Blogging Contest

.

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I assume you feel like this at times; when creating blog posts, podcast episodes, videos or even your own products.

Maybe you feel like you HAVE to create, like you HAVE to press publish, even if it’s not ready.

I say, if its not remarkable, but it could be with a little extra work, don’t press publish yet., Here’s why…

Being “good enough” has become commonplace in almost every market.

Being “good enough” isn’t going to win over an audience.

Being “good enough” is expected, but being remarkable still works.

The Problem With “Good Enough“

The problem with being good enough is simple. If this is all you strive for, then you’ll be like everyone else. Your blog will be no different than any other blog.

Your products won’t stand out from the sea of other products in your niche. Your brand won’t mean ANYTHING to your visitors and potential customers. But this problem can be avoided simply by taking some extra time and effort to make your work remarkable.

I can’t tell you step-by-step, exactly what to do because I don’t know of any checklist for being remarkable. All I know is that it comes from the heart, it’s genuine and truly helps people. Here’s how I would do it.

How I (Try To) Create Remarkable Work

I suppose I should tell you the definition I’ve accepted for Remarkable Work. Remarkable work is defined as something that causes people to ACT, THINK or FEEL differently about a particular topic, and in doing so it causes positive change in them.

With all of that said, we can’t be remarkable ALL the time. It’s not sustainable. So yes, you should publish content that isn’t remarkable; so long as the content you’re producing is not being published just to fill a posting schedule.

Publishing without having anything useful or insightful to say is a recipe for mediocre content.

Here are 5 pieces of remarkable content I’ve published recently: (remarkable by my definition)

• 5 Traditional Blogging “Rules” I Refuse To Follow (this is me ranting)
• How To Craft An Awesome Blog Post
• Using Technology To Automate 79.7% Of Your Internet Business
• Just Because You Blog Doesn’t Mean Everything Has To Be Free
• How To Increase Your Blog’s Speed By A Lot

Why do I feel these pieces are any different than anything else I’ve published? Here are 5 reasons:

1. Someone took action to increased their blog speed using this content
2. Someone realized that a One-Size-Fits-All blogging blueprint doesn’t exist
3. Someone started crafting better blog posts because of this content
4. Someone started focusing on how they can automate more of their business
5. Someone started thinking about what products to offer their audience

I spent hours crafting these posts. I put effort into making sure the message was clear. I read them out loud over and over again to make sure they made sense.

I brainstormed every headline and sub-headline so that  they attracted attention. I thought about the images I was going to use. I challenged my audience to think differently.

I tried to be remarkable and the best part is that I gave it all away for Free. Not many people are willing to do that and that makes us (bloggers) unique.

Share Your Remarkable Content Below..

I wanna see your remarkable content. Use the comment section to share with the community one article that you’re most proud of. An article that you know you put your all into and felt good about publishing.

Feel free to place your URL in the comments section, but please only ONE link. Once you do that, be sure to share this with your friends on Facebook, retweet it and stumble it. I’d really appreciate that.

All the best…

———————————————————–

If you have yet to subscribe, click here to get on the list and receive 3 really cool Free Gifts. A PDF report, an Audio guide and a 6 part video course.

If you wanna learn how to create remarkable Audio content and a killer Podcast, check out Podcasting For Bloggers.