Targeted Audience

Think You’re Cut Out For Blogging? Take This Quiz

August 8, 2014 by Marc Guberti 8 Comments

Blogging Quiz

One of my favorite toys to play with as a kid was the 20Q toy. I enjoyed how I could respond to 20 questions, and somehow the 20Q toy would always know what I was thinking about. I decided to mix the 20Q toy with my love of blogging to come up with a 20 question quiz to determine whether you are cut out for blogging–and being successful at it–or not.

Can you write blog posts every day for many years to come? The right answer is yes.
Do you believe your traffic will dramatically increase overnight? The right answer is no.
How long will it take for your blog to become popular? The right answer is at least one year.
Are you writing about what you enjoy? The right answer is yes.
Is a blog merely a place to promote a product? The right answer is no.
Is a blog a place to show ads? The right answer is no (more on this here)
Will you trade in your passion for money? The right answer is no.
Will you treat blogging as a hobby? The right answer is not forever. It will become more than that.
Would you blog even if you knew you wouldn’t make any money from it? The right answer is yes. It takes some bloggers a few years before seeing a huge profit.
Would you write a blog post late into the night if you had to? The right answer is yes. If you enjoy blogging enough, writing late into the night won’t be a problem.
Do you read books? The right answer is yes.
Are you only blogging for the money? The right answer is no.
Do you want to avoid making mistakes? The right answer is no. We all make mistakes anyway. As hard as it is to believe, I make mistakes too (okay, my ego got the best of me there).
Do you envision your blog becoming successful? The right answer is yes.
Do you want to be an author? The right answer is yes. If you want to be an author, then you would also make for a really good blogger.
Are you blogging just to get more traffic? The right answer is no.
Is blog traffic more important than having fun writing the content? The right answer is no.
Are you happy with where you are? As long as you keep on growing and never settle, it’s great to be happy with where you are. If you settle, there’s a problem.
Do you set goals for yourself? The right answer is yes.
Would you write for a guest blog? The right answer is yes. This shows you enjoy writing content and getting traffic to the point where you would write for someone else. This will make you a better blogger and writer when you write for your own blog and publish your own books.

If you had the right answers for most of these questions, then you are ready. If you got more than five answers wrong, you need to change your thinking about what it means to have a blog and write blog posts.

How did you do on the quiz?

7 Advanced Pinterest Tips

August 7, 2014 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

There are millions of people on Pinterest, one of the fastest growing websites on the entire web. Pinterest’s growth has led to some people growing powerful presences and audiences of over 1 million people. These same people do not have nearly as many followers on the other social networks. Some of the people with over 1 million Pinterest followers have less than 1,000 Twitter followers. Does Pinterest randomly pick names in a hat and promote those people? Not quite. These people are using Pinterest differently in a way that gets Pinterest’s attention. Then, Pinterest promotes that person’s board to a large audience. Most of these people implement seven common methods which I am dubbing the 7 Advanced Pinterest Tips.

Have multiple boards with over 100 pins. The more pins you have, the more content your followers are able to browse through. It is important to remember that some people are addicted to Pinterest. What was meant to be a 10 minute visit turns into being trapped on the site for three hours. If you have a board with over 100 pins, chances are some of your followers will go through that entire board.
Focus most of your time on one board. The board that you focus most of your time on should eventually make its way to having thousands of pins. The Pinterest Power users have many boards with over 100 pins, but the boards they focus most of their time on have over 1,000 pins. Some of these boards even have over 10,000 pins.
Pin every day. Pinning every day will allow you to be consistent. Whether you are sending out 5 pins every day or 100 pins every day, you are consistently pinning every day. When you are able to pin every day for months at a time, more people will notice, share your content, and allow you to grow.
Create group boards and be a part of them. Many of the people with over 1 million followers on Pinterest either have their own group boards or are a part of someone else’s group board. Group boards with over 100 contributors ensure that those boards are getting updated whether you are logged into Pinterest or not.
Pin about a wide variety of topics. Pin about great vacation getaways, sports legends, and other things as well. The more variety you have, the more followers you are going to get because you satisfy the desires of multiple audiences.
Focus on one niche. You can create boards on a wide variety of topics, but it is important that 80% of your pins are all based on one niche. That way, your Pinterest followers know exactly what kind of content you provide on Pinterest and which niche you fall in.
Have a story behind all of your pins. If you have a story behind all of your pins, your audience will be eager for you to come out with other pins so they learn about another story behind another pin. If the stories behind your pins are powerful, then more people will spread your content across Pinterest.

These are the seven advanced Pinterest tips that the pros use. Implementing these tips may allow you to become the next person with over 1 million Pinterest followers. What are your thoughts on the list? Do you have any additional tips? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

How To Get More Blog Traffic From Squidoo

August 5, 2014 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Squidoo is a big hub and a great source to get more blog traffic. On Squidoo, you are able to write pages (they call those pages lenses) that you can use to write content on almost anything. Squidoo gives you the ability to promote your blog using their sidebar feature and the ability to promote products on Amazon and eBay.

If you create enough pages on Squidoo, and some (or all) of those pages become popular, your blog traffic can dramatically increase. Let’s say you have 100 pages on Squidoo, and they all bring in 1 visitor to your blog every day. That’s an extra 700 visitors every week, 3000 visitors every month, and 36500 visitors every year. Those numbers really add up, and you only get to take advantage of that by creating pages on Squidoo.

Creating a page on Squidoo is very easy. All you need to do is create a page, work on it for 15-30 minutes, and then you’re done. Promoting your page is all you need to do at that point. Promote it on your blog and social networks. You may be wondering why you don’t promote your blog right from the get-go, but circular viralocity says otherwise. You want to promote something that leads to your blog or social networks, and have those blogs and social networks promote each other.

Promoting a Squidoo page has the potential to share valuable insight with others. If people take the step to click a link on your blog, they will most likely read through your blog’s content and follow you on your social networks.

Not only is Squidoo a great way to bring in more blog traffic, but it is also a great way to earn extra revenue. Some people on Squidoo are making thousands of dollars every month from ads and product commissions. You also have the option to donate a percentage of your earnings to charity. Whether you feel like donating 7% or 77% of your earnings to charity, you can donate any percentage of your earnings to charity.

Do you want to bring in more blog traffic. Squidoo may be the answer you have been looking for. What are you waiting for? Join us!

5 Steps To Get On More Webinars And Podcasts

August 3, 2014 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Mobile Podcasting

Getting on webinars and podcasts allow you to show off your expertise in a certain area and interact with other audiences. However, few people know how to get on a webinar or podcast to share their expertise. These people want to interact with more audiences, but they don’t know how to reach those other audiences. I remember when I always dreamed of getting on webinars and podcasts because at the time, it was something close to impossible. Now I have been on multiple webinars and podcasts. In order to get on more webinars and podcasts, follow these five steps.

Build your credibility. The more credibility you have, the more reasons someone has to interview you on their webinar or podcast. Building your credibility will help you out in additional ways as well.
Post valuable content. People will only invite you on their webinar or podcast if they know you are going to provide their audience with value. By posting valuable content on your blog, your YouTube videos, and anywhere else you are, these people will be more likely to include you in their next webinar or podcast episode.
Grow your own audience. The people who have their own webinars and podcasts are looking for more exposure just as much as you are. There is always an incentive for a webinar or podcast owner to interview someone who has a big audience that can promote the webinar or podcast.
Be on YouTube. Posting valuable content on a blog and being on YouTube are two different things. In order to conduct a webinar or a podcast, the guest needs to do most of the talking. The person in charge in most cases will just give you a quick intro, ask you questions, and say a quick comment each time you answer a question. Being active on YouTube shows a webinar or podcast owner that you can talk about your niche for a long period of time.
Webinar and podcast shows begets more opportunities. As you get on more webinar and podcast shows, more people will come to you asking if you can be on their next show. After showing off that you can do fine on a webinar or podcast, the fear that some owners may have will be gone. They know that you can do a good job which means they would be happy to have you on their next show.

Those are the five steps to get on more webinars and podcasts. By getting on webinars and podcasts, you will be able to grow your audience and interact with people who you would have never been able to interact with before. What are your thoughts on the list? Do you have any additional tips on getting invited to go on more webinar and podcast shows? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

Social Media Is Not For Making Money

August 3, 2014 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

You can try to make money on social media, but that’s not how it works. When people look for the extra dollar to put in their pocket, they give social media advertising a try. They use Sponsored Tweets, MyLikes, or something similar. Have you used any of those advertising options? Whether you have used them or not, chances are you have heard of them. I used to be just like anyone else and use these advertising services, and there was a point when I even recommended them.

However, social media is for building connections and getting people to visit your blog. It’s on your blog where you make the money, and social media is used to get more people to visit your blog. If you tweet an ad, you are losing out on a blog visitor who may have bought one of your products.

The next time you hear about Ad.ly links, sponsored posts, or anything like that, refrain from using those types of content in your social media strategy. A social media strategy that is going to bring in long-term revenue instead of the short-term revenue from advertisements is one that brings people to a blog with products available.

What are your thoughts on social media advertising? Please share your thoughts below.

3 Ways To Know Whether You Have A Powerful Presence Or Not

July 30, 2014 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

There are many definitions for what a powerful presence on the web means. To some people, it means more blog traffic. To others, it means having big numbers. That means a big number of followers, a big number of shares, and a big number of views. The bigger they are the better they are. When it comes to knowing whether you have a powerful presence on the web or not, all of those things I just mentioned get thrown out of the window. There are three ways to know whether you have a powerful presence on the web or not. Some of them will sound familiar to the ones I told you to throw out of the window, but they are distinct compared to the typical metrics people use to determine whether they have a powerful presence or not.

People are honored when you respond to their emails. That’s how you know you’re a celebrity in your niche. There are few people that can make you feel honored by responding you an email. If one person was able to tell you how honored they felt to receive your email, that means there are other people who were honored to receive an email from you but did not tell you. In many cases, the greatest things often go unsaid.
Grow an audience that matters. I did not say get big numbers. There is a difference between having a big audience and having an audience that matters. It is possible to put together a big audience and an audience that matters, but you need to know what kind of audience matters first. An audience that matters is one that shares your content, values your content, and appreciates what you do.
People only buy products because you made them. Chances are there are dozens of other products for people to choose from. As your presence grows, some people will admire you to the point where they will favor your products over other people’s products. If you buy a Seth Godin book, you’ll end up buying as many as you can. That’s how you can tell he has a powerful presence on the web. Some people would buy a book just because his name is on the front cover.

By growing your presence on the web, you also grow your presence outside of the web. You will get the recognition and applauses each time you make a public speech. Big numbers have the power to make your presence look bigger than it really is. Your powerful presence come down to the three things on the list.