Marc's Blog

Content Writing and Marketing Services

Time Management

How I Balanced Teen Life With Growing A Massive Online Brand

by Leave a Comment

I recently turned 20, leaving my teen years behind me. During those years, I grew a massive brand, wrote millions of words of content, and interviewed some of the top influencers in my niche.

The question I’ve gotten the most is this one:

How do you find the time to do all of this at a young age while in school?

I still get that question since I’m still in college, but I thought I’d answer it with this blog post. It would give me a good look down memory lane and provide some insights I know you’ll take away from the content.

 

Start With Elimination

The moment I realized I’d take entrepreneurship seriously, I significantly cut down on useless activities. I cut my TV watch time from 4 hours every day to 4 hours every week. This one decision alone saved me 24 hours every week.

Eventually, I gave up video games completely which saved even more time.

There are habits in your life that are doing you more harm than good. You need to cut off these habits right away. They are preventing you from accomplishing your dreams. You need to get fully dialed in, and that means eliminating any activities that don’t get you fully dialed in.

I only take time off to pursue a small number of active activities and strengthen relationships. Active as in not passively looking at a TV screen.

 

Quality Of Time

Once you’ve eliminated the bad habits in your life, it’s time to strengthen the quality of your time. Some writers can write 80 words per minute while other writers can only write 40 words per minute. One writer fulfills twice the output than the other writer in the same timeframe.

Boosting the quality of your time comes down to four key steps. The first step is clarity. Get clear on what you should be doing now that will help you achieve your biggest long-term goals.

The second step is to boost efficiency. It’s more efficient if you can get a task done in a shorter amount of time.

The third step is to boost your effectiveness. This usually comes with practice in being efficient. Master efficiency first and effectiveness tends to follow you.

The final step is to always stay in the moment. Every second you think about your past or future is another second when you are standing still and not doing anything beneficial for yourself. Constantly thinking forward or backward prevents you from moving forward in the present.

 

Research Your Way To The Top

Anytime I want to become good at something, I research it like it’s the guaranteed secret to becoming a billionaire. If you know it existed, I’m sure you’d research hard for it too.

I can consume content for hours on a single topic just to get better at it. I carry out my research in long waves and then short bursts when I know what I’m doing.

All of the research in the world only provides the foundation. Building the building requires that you take action. At some point, I swap most of my researching time with implementation time. I did hours of research to learn how to grow on Twitter. Then I did it.

To this day, I continue researching on Twitter. However, it’s not nearly as much as before. I might read an article a week about Twitter but that’s it. On the other hand, I can read content marketing related articles for at least an hour a week. I need to stay sharp in that area, and I feel like I’ve pretty much mastered Twitter.

 

Delegation

The moment you start delegating is the moment you’re heading to the big leagues. You only have so much time available. No matter how efficient and effective you become, there will still be things that you can’t get done in a given day.

Delegation hands off tasks to others so you can get the most important tasks done. I don’t edit episodes, write show notes, schedule episodes, create and optimize Amazon book ads, or grow my Twitter account anymore. I plan on handing off even more tasks in the future. That way, I can focus on the important stuff.

The Most Wasted Moments

I don’t always listen to music in the car. Sometimes I listen to an audiobook. When I’m not driving, I can also write a blog post. We have smartphones with so many capabilities for content creation and consumption.

Car driving and grocery shopping are two of the many common activities that usually go to waste. Instead of listening to music, you can listen to a podcast episode and learn how to move yourself forward. You can even do a podcast episode in your car.

One of the guests on my show was driving around the city while I interviewed him. And his audio was surprisingly spot on. Most people are listening to music or unproductively sitting in traffic during that time.

It doesn’t just apply to driving and grocery shopping. There are many wasted moments that can easily become more productive moments. Anytime you find yourself idly scrolling through your smartphone just to let time pass by, you can be planning out your next piece of content instead. You can be reading articles.

Pay attention to how you are wasting moments that most people would waste. Then, find a way to either consume or create meaningful content.

 

Creating VS Consuming

I’d rather spend most of my time creating content than consuming content. Even if it’s educational content, you can’t create when you’re consuming. If anything, consuming content helps you gather ideas, but you need to create far more than you consume.

We spend too much time consuming emails, reading, listening to, and watching other people’s content. While I recommend a daily dose of content consumption, the time you spend creating needs to outweigh the consumption phase.

I only start my day by doing one of two things:

  • Exercise
  • Create Content

Most of the time, I create a piece of content before I even exercise. It gets me on the right foot to start the day. I can exercise and do anything else knowing that I wrote my first blog post.

I actually prefer exercising when I feel like I’m about to burn out. I know I’m about to burn out when I’m looking at a bunch of stats related to my business over and over again. That’s when I close the computer and start exercising or consuming content.

I prefer to consume content in the evening because that’s when my productivity drops anyway. It would be a mistake to consume content at the start of the day because that sets you up to consume more content throughout the day. By creating all of your content at the start of the day, you can consume during the evening.

And when you’re the host of a podcast with guests on the show, you get to simultaneously create and consume content. I consume at least five hours of content every week just by interviewing people.

 

In Conclusion

It’s possible for anyone, regardless of their schedule, to pursue their dreams. I grew my brand as a college student but also as a high school student which was much more time consuming.

I may hear about someone who has the impossible schedule and that I would never understand. A schedule is only as impossible as you make it out to be. You can take advantage of moments that most people wouldn’t even think about utilizing.

Even though I’m no longer a teen, I still live by this approach. If it isn’t broken, there’s no reason to fix it. I’ll experiment and look for ways to add on to this approach, but I don’t tinker too far away from the working mode.

What are your thoughts on my approach? Do you have any suggestions? Do you have a question for me? Sound off in the comments section below.

Case Study: How To Read 30 Books In 30 Days

by Leave a Comment

 

readAfter my first year of college, I decided to do something different over the summer—read a lot of books.

I used a portion of my Monthly Performance Reports to put my reading lists on full display. While I normally read 5-10 books in a given month, the summer days allowed that reading list to morph into 30 books every month.

I didn’t take time off from my business during this time. In fact, I dramatically increased the amount of books I read while preparing to lead a Content Marketing Success Summit, one of the biggest projects of my life up to that point.

In this blog post, I’ll share my story so you can reap the benefits of reading 30 books every month without feeling overwhelmed by work, your personal life, or anything else.

#1: Have The Books On Hand

Before I began my 30-book per month reading journey, I knew I needed to have all of the books readily accessible. So, to put it bluntly, I went on a bargain buying spree.

I knew that by the time I finished reading any given book it would be filled with notes and underlines, so I didn’t mind buying used books (as long as they didn’t have any underlining or highlighting included).

My adventure began on eBay where some people are desperate to part ways with their books. Because the bulk lots included anywhere from 10-20 books per order, I bought books at a rate from $1 to $4 per book depending on who was selling them.

And all of these books were LEGIT, not aged books that are no longer relevant. In fact, I published several books before social media taught me the marketing tactics that work today (often overlooked in the new age of digital marketing).

If you prefer to read books on a device, you’re all set. You can buy all of your books in a few clicks. I prefer reading paperback editions, which is why I decided to purchase books in bulk on eBay.

Buy in bulk

The only problem with book lots is that you don’t get to choose the books on offer; I have multiple copies of the same books because they were a part of a bulk order.

But eventually I learned about Thrift Books, which help you avoid that problem as well as enjoy a wider range of choices and ridiculous bargains.

You may think it’s not worth going through the trouble to find book bargains, but if you want to read 30 books per month, that’s 360 books every year.

In a worst case scenario, saving an average of $10 per book (very possible with book lots and Thrift Books) results in a savings of $3,600 every year!

Don’t Read Word-For-Word

Once you have assembled all of your books, it’s time to read them. But don’t read them in the traditional word-for-word style. Sure, you’ll absorb all of the material if you do, but it will take a longer period of time before you move onto the next book.

When I read books, I skim through them for the most pertinent information. If there’s a section that explains how to create a Twitter account, for example, I skip it because I already have a Twitter account. There’s no need to waste time reading things that you already know.

Similarly, when I buy a productivity book I skip through familiar tips like setting deadlines, 3-Year Plans, and how to set SMART goals. Unless the author shares these common tactics with a very different flavor, I skip to the next part of the book.

Skip Entire Chapters

Not only should you skip over things you already know, you should also get into the habit of skipping portions, or even chapters, of books containing information you don’t want to learn. For instance, I don’t want to learn much about Vine because Vine is a dead social network.

And yet, many of these books have entire chapters dedicated to Vine. Some books are dedicated entirely to the social network. Just remember that information that was once relevant may be outdated today.

You can also skip chapters outlining tasks you don’t want to perform. For instance, I’ll skip a chapter in a podcasting book about editing episodes because I already have a trustworthy freelancer who edits my podcast episodes.

Skipping that chapter allows me to move to the next chapter sooner and, ultimately, to a new book.

Write In Your Book

For a long time I resisted writing in my books, especially signed copies. While I rarely write in books, I often underline with a pencil.

Underlining important points in each of your books makes the re-reading process easier. After all, you have a plan to re-read the best books, right?

At the beginning of each month, I go through my favorite books from the previous month. I skim through what I underlined, and brainstorm ideas. I commit a few hours of one day to this task.

Underlining important text makes this process much faster as I can literally skip hundreds of pages of content. I only focus on what I’d underlined previously because my past self regarded only those points as important.

A Technicality On Book Length

One thing to remember when reading 30 books in 30 days is that book length matters. It’s much easier to read 30 books that average 200 pages than to read 30 books that average 600 pages.

When dozens of books are delivered to me in one day, I start by reading the shorter books first. It’s likely a good thing that I read Tools Of Titans before I began taking my reading goal seriously.

I like reading the shorter books first because finishing a shorter book gives me the dopamine rush to start reading (and finishing) another book.

Get a string of small wins, and it won’t be long before you can read the occasional 400-600 page book with ease.

It It’s Not Scheduled, It Won’t Happen

If you want reading to become a habit, you must schedule it into your day. I schedule at least one hour of reading time every day.

You should also choose one day a week to dedicate entirely to reading books, no professional work. I designate Fridays as my reading days. And even though I spend several hours reading books on Fridays, it doesn’t feel rigorous. Why? Because Fridays feel like a day off from work.

It’s important to find what works for you, but don’t forget that if it’s not scheduled, it won’t happen.

Turn Your TV And Surfing Time Into Reading Time

Professional work can take up hours of your day, but so can TV and internet surfing. You need to eliminate digital surfing from your life because you’re simply watching life happen instead of making life happen. Spectators watch, superstars perform.

The average American watches 32 hours of television every week. If we all switched from digital surfing to reading self-development books, the world would truly be a better place.

The next time you want to watch a marathon, the last episode of a series, or reruns, crack open a book instead. Repeat the process with other bad habits, and with greater intensity, and you’ll have no problem reading 30 books in 30 days.

In Conclusion

Reading 30 books every 30 days will dramatically expand your knowledge and open the door to a variety of possibilities. Reading all of these books requires a mindset shift and the elimination of bad habits. And, of course, the 30+ books you’ll need on hand before you get started.

What are your thoughts on reading 30 books every day? Have any good book recommendations for us? Please share how you plan to implement this habit into your own life. Sound off in the comments section below.

How To Stay Organized On Your Computer

by Leave a Comment

organized computer

Computers have transformed the way we work and have allowed us to reach new levels of productivity.

However, extreme usage (and in some cases reliance) on computers can actually HURT our productivity.

In fact, we cause most of the technical headaches. Saving numerous documents and photos eventually slows down a computer, a problem that can only be solved with a massive clean up or a new computer.

Another problem is the actual creation of documents, making it a struggle to find information in a timely manner.

Part of the reason we buy a computer in the first place is to create documents and save photos. So if we try to care for our computers by not creating documents or saving pictures, its primary purpose is essentially lost.

But we must also consider the ways in which many of us organize our work and documents — all stuffed into one folder.  When, if fact, organization has been proven to boost productivity.

It’s easy to think that organization is limited to your desk space and the room you work in. But it goes much further than that, beginning with your computer.

Here’s how you keep all of your emails and other important stuff organized on your computer.

#1: Reduce Clutter

The more cluttered your computer, the more difficult it is to find the document you are looking for, which shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.

Our attention spans resemble that of a goldfish, and when the internet (and Facebook) is just a click away, a day meant for work can quickly turn into meaningless hours of surfing the web.

I use the size of the icons on my computer’s dashboard to determine if I have too much clutter. If I must squint or move closer to see what certain documents are, I have too much clutter.

If my desktop is filled with too many pictures, documents, etc., I have too much clutter. Reducing the clutter reduces distractions.

A picture is worth 1,000 words, and a thousand more distractions.

#2: Use Folders To Group Documents

This is probably the best tip. I can’t emphasize this one enough.

When you save things to your desktop, you will see them each time you log onto your computer. This is when it’s easy to get distracted by screenshots and similar items saved to your desktop.

To avoid this, I group all of my screenshots into folders.

If I didn’t use these folders, my entire desktop screen would be filled with screenshots galore.

This isn’t just a way to keep your desktop clean, you can also group together important documents according to theme, client, work type, etc., to stay organized.

One of my folders, for example, is titled “Podcast.” Within that folder are the seven documents I use to keep my podcast organized.

Instead of keeping all of them on my dock (and having super tiny app sizes), I put them all in one folder on my desktop.

That not only saves me space, it also makes it easier to find all of the other documents I need.

And when I need those podcast documents, they are all in one place and super easy to find.

#3: Flag Important Emails

When you get emails that you can’t respond to immediately, or need to refer to again later, flag them. That way, you can find them more easily later on.

The only problem with flagging emails is that if it becomes too much of a habit, you’ll have an inbox overload. Try to relegate them to emails you need to respond to, and be sure you do it within a reasonable amount of time.

I recommend spending 30-60 minutes in your inbox at the time of day when you usually feel least productive.

For example, I never go through my inbox in the morning because that’s when I am at my peak level of productivity. When I do happen to see an important email in the morning, I flag it.

I always make a point of checking my email in the afternoon, just before I take a break. I respond to all of the flagged messages before checking my inbox for new messages.

#4: Make Each Flag Mean Something

When I decided to start a podcast, I needed guests.

Barely knowing what I was doing, I sent a bunch of emails to people who would be a great fit for my podcast. Naturally as more people agreed to participate, I became more excited about podcasting.

But I quickly lost control of my inbox.

Which guests were awaiting confirmation of time and dates? Which guests needed the initial questionnaire? Who did I need to follow-up with?

My mind was dreaming of the possibilities but running in circles trying to keep everything organized. Then I figured out what to do:

I started assigning a meaning to each flag.

  • When I receive a guest confirmation, I assign that email an orange flag.
  • Once time and date are determined, I change the flag to blue.
  • After the questions are submitted, I make the flag purple.

Once the podcast episode ends, I remove the flag and add the guest’s email address to a custom spreadsheet.

I also share a link to the episode with the guest and make a mental note to stay in touch (the relationship doesn’t end when the episode is over or even weeks after it’s published. It never ends).

#5: Put Everything Else In A Miscellaneous Document

You may have noticed the Misc folder on my desktop screenshot.

If there’s a screenshot, document or download that doesn’t belong anywhere else, that’s the folder it goes into.

That folder has hundreds of screenshots and pictures that would otherwise take up my computer’s entire dashboard, leaving it an unorganized mess!

In Conclusion

The traditional definition of getting organized involves having a neat workspace and working in a clean room.

But if your computer is unorganized, you might as well be working in a room filled with clutter with piles of paperwork covering your entire desk.

The worst part about an unorganized computer is that it’s extremely easy to get distracted – our computers provide us with virtually infinite options.

Any website is a click away. Pictures on our dashboards can distract us at a moment’s notice. And important emails can easily get lost in the shuffle.

But all of that is more likely to happen if your computer remains unorganized.

How do you organize your computer? Have any tips or stories for us? Sound off in the comments section below.

5 Hacks For Writing Blog Posts Faster

by 2 Comments

blog posts

Writing blog posts takes time, effort and commitment.

You need to think up an engaging topic and headline, write an outline and the actual post, proofread and edit, then publish and promote your post before starting the entire process again.

But there are unconventional ways to hack the writing process and speed things up. Here are five ways to write your blog posts faster:

 

#1: Write On Your Smartphone

Just to clarify, I always prefer to write blog posts using a computer, but that isn’t always an option.

In fact, I’m writing this post in TJ Maxx. Why? Well, it’s not because I enjoy shopping (I find what I need and get out as quickly as possible), but today I am in the company of people who like to browse.

 

So instead of idly slouching against a wall, I decided to slouch against a wall and write the post you’re reading now. This way, the time I spend inside the store is actually productive.

 

Now I’m not saying to go shopping just so you can write blog posts. However, you can use moments of waiting as opportunities to begin, add to, or edit a post.

 

Certainly I could write much faster on my computer, but if I finish the post here in the store I won’t have to write again later today.

 

I could go on and on about this method because it’s the one I’m using now, and use often when I’m waiting, but let’s move on to the next hack.

 

#2: Get Your Videos Transcribed

Some people may be natural talkers but not natural writers. It takes more brain power for them to write than to talk. Just talking about your topic will help it flow out quicker and easier.

 

Not only that, but you can spend a few minutes dictating content that would take 30 minutes or more to write.

 

Talk about a time saver! And you’ve also got a YouTube video to boot. You can even turn it into a podcast episode using the MP3 file.

 

#3: Hire A Ghostwriter

Sometimes the fastest way to get your blog posts written is by not writing them at all! You can have one writer, or a team of ghostwriters, write your content for you.

I still haven’t hired ghostwriters for content creation, but I learned a lot about how it works after hosting the Content Marketing Success Summit.

 

Bascially, you can give a ghostwriter an outline of your blog post’s topic and he or she will write it up (you can also ask that they make suggestions for topic ideas).

 

Keep in mind it’s important that ghostwriters are familiar with your blog and writing style so they can write in a similar voice.

 

This ensures your content is consistent (without having to write it yourself). Why not focus more of your time on other areas of your business?

 

#4: Accept Guest Contributions To Your Blog

When you are first starting out, you may not have a budget for ghostwriters. To remedy this problem, you can invite people to contribute your blog.

You basically get free content. All you have to do is give credit and let the contributor link to his/her site and other essentials at the beginning or end of the blog post (whichever you prefer).

 

The best way to find contributors for your blog is by looking at blogs in your niche that accept contributors. Then ask the same contributors to contribute to your blog.

 

The people who contribute to your blog will naturally share their posts, so you’ll get more exposure for your blog.

 

Also, as more people contribute to your blog, other contributors will contact you and ask if they can contribute content for your blog.

 

In the beginning, getting contributors to your blog will involve sending many emails to bloggers. But as you get more contributors, the snowball effect will eventually kick in and new contributors will contact you with their ideas.

 

#5: Memorize The Keyboard

Do you know where the “q” key is on your keyboard. Did you have to look down to find it?

 

Looking down at the keyboard takes time. Although it may only take a second to look down and look up, that action makes you type slower and temporarily removes your focus from writing the blog post.

 

The seconds you spend looking down at the keyboard as you write each sentence and each blog post quickly add up to minutes and hours.

 

To make up that time, you must memorize the keyboard. Your WPM (words per minute) will skyrocket and you will be less susceptible to distraction.

 

Any moment that your fingers aren’t moving quickly on the keyboard, you are susceptible to distraction.
So now that I’ve sold you on the benefits (or, at least, I’m hoping), here’s how you master the skill.

 

Start by memorizing all of the key placements for a single 4-5 letter word. If you can type the word “blog” with your eyes closed, you have memorized the locations of 4 of the 26 letters on the keyboard.

 

If you then memorize the word “each,” you have memorized 8 of the 26 letters on the keyboard.

 

Now typing a word like “beach” comes second nature as you’ve memorized the placements of those letters.

 

This is a simple exercise that will allow you to write blog posts faster. This one method has saved me countless hours of time.

 

In Conclusion

I’m wrapping up this blog post in yet another store. I didn’t bother looking for a table or taking out my computer. I simply wrote all of it on my iPhone.

 

Since the keys are located in the same places, I had no problem effortlessly typing words by memory.

 

Think about how many blog posts you can write while waiting for something or someone.

 

Think about how much time you can save with ghostwriters and contributors.

 

Think of how cool it is to not write them at all!

 

What are your thoughts on these hacks to writing blog posts faster?

Have any hacks for us? Sound off in the comments section below.

Until next time,
-Marc

5 Blogging Habits That Will Turn You Into A Full-Time Blogger

by Leave a Comment

blogging

The blogging habits we use to guide us play a significant role in our content marketing efforts.

The most successful bloggers live by a series of habits that guide them through the world of blogging. Blog traffic comes easy to these individuals who enjoy hundreds of thousands of monthly visitors.

As part of my New Year’s resolution to surpass 100,000 monthly visitors, I decided to analyze these successful bloggers to see what makes them tick. How do they surpass 100,000 monthly visitors, and how can I achieve the same results?

With this in mind, I’ve written a blog post that details the habits successful bloggers use to attain their goals. There are five blogging habits you should develop if you want to become a full-time blogger.

#1: Write At Least 1,000 Words Per Day

No one said blogging would be easy. This first habit is perhaps the most important because you can’t promote content until you’ve created it.

Not only does writing content matter, but writing lengthy content matters, too. Most blog posts featured on the first page of Google search results exceed 2,000 words.

Writing at least 1,000 words a day will give you a total of 7,000 words each week that you can dedicate to your blog. If you write 2,000-word blog posts, you’ll have at least three blog posts every week.

However, some bloggers write even lengthier content more frequently and consistently. That’s why 1,000 words per day is the absolute minimum. But if you manage to write over 1,000 words, even better.

Writing 1,000 words per day requires time, and time is more scarce than ever. So how is it possible to accomplish this goal every single day?

The best way to free up your time is by outsourcing work to freelancers. If it weren’t for outsourcing, I wouldn’t be able to accomplish many other important tasks for my business.

I simply wouldn’t be able to write lengthy blog posts, produce one YouTube video every day, create training courses, or write books. Many of my ventures would be sidelined if I tried to do all of the work by myself. And I’m always looking for more ways to outsource my business.

The more you outsource, the more time you create for yourself.

With that said, you also need to use your own time productively. Many distractions will try to keep you from writing 1,000 words each day, but with practice, you can overcome them.

Most distractions are a result of bad habits. The best way to eliminate these bad habits is to replace them with better habits such as writing more content for your blog and reading books during your breaks.

Plus, writing 1,000 words a day will make you a better writer. Value will begin to come naturally. The challenge is to write valuable content even when you’re pressed for time.

#2: Conduct Research For Every Piece You Write

For every blog post you publish, you should conduct a massive amount of research. In the past, I would write lengthy blog posts without doing research, and then wonder why I wasn’t getting any long-term traffic.

But ever since I’ve added research to my content marketing efforts, my traffic has gone up. Many of the top bloggers I analyzed conduct hours of content research just to write one great blog post. And it makes sense because linking to great content benefits both you and your readers.

Your readers are getting higher quality content (and are more likely to share it), and you get more search engine traffic. Talk about a win-win. And there are more benefits to linking out than just that: Here’s the complete list from SEO Moz.

Each time you write a blog post, expand upon it by linking to other relevant blog posts found that help strengthen your content. Adding these links helps your blog grow, regardless of whether the links lead to your own content (internal links) or to someone else’s content (external links).

The benefit of internal linking is that people will spend more time on your blog, lowering your bounce rate (likelihood of someone leaving after viewing one page/post on your blog). And a lower bounce rate will help your SEO efforts.

External links to high-authority sites let search engines know that your blog also has authority. Since you’re promoting quality content, search engines think your content must also contain value, pushing it higher up the search engine rankings.

Content research takes a significant amount of time, but you’ll end up with a more valuable blog post. Readers will engage with it for longer periods of time and you’ll get more traffic.

I like to Google my way to the articles that I link to in my blog posts. And sometimes I use other tools for my content research.

Conducting content research becomes much easier as you spend more time writing content and engaging with people in your niche.

#3: Ask Questions To Expand Your Content 

Have you ever finished a blog post only to realize that it’s too short for search engines? I have, several times, but not anymore. Before I reveal what I did differently, I’ll tell you what I was doing wrong.

For a blog post like this, I would have come up with the title and jotted down the five tactics I intended to mention within the post. While this approach made it easy to crank out content, I’d often get stuck at a little over 1,000 words. Sometimes I’d fall short at 800-900 words.

Now that never happens. Why? Because I ask myself questions that naturally make my content longer. Socratic questioning (asking yourself questions) is a form of conversation that has been used for thousands of years, and it still works today.

For all of the tactics I discuss in this blog post, I asked myself three questions. When asking these questions, I saw myself as a reader who wanted to learn as much as possible from this blog post.

What are three things people want to know about this particular tip? What would they ask?

By anticipating these questions in advance, I no longer have to worry about word count. Since I focus less on increasing word count, I have more time to focus on providing a better experience.

Here’s an example of an outline I did for the 4th habit I mention in this blog post:

#4: Follow The 80/20 Rule

•What is it?

•How do I market myself most effectively?

•How do I make it easy?

Keep this outline in mind when we get to the 80/20 rule.

Asking three questions definitely adds time to my outline process, but only by about 3-5 minutes, and it’s worth it when you consider my final draft.

So I may spend 5-10 minutes expanding upon my outline with thoughtful questions, depending on how long the outline is to begin with. But, in every case, it never takes an entire day.

I just write down the first three questions that come to mind. If I struggle to think of a third question, I leave it alone and address the next portion of my outline. I don’t want to sit around and ponder because I know I’ve got a behemoth of a blog post ahead of me.

The cool thing about using Socratic questioning is that you turn each of your tactics (or in this case, habits) into a mini blog post. You’ll want to write a blog post that contains a series of mini blog posts all wrapped up into one because that’s how you provide massive value that ranks well with search engines.

Creating an outline like this is easy. Writing the content is simple, albeit time consuming. But the more time you open for yourself, the more you serious you are about blogging.

#4: Follow The 80/20 Rule — 80% marketing, 20% content creation

The 80/20 rule is also known as Pareto’s Principle. With this principle, 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts.

This 80/20 rule for blogging slightly different. It asks that you spend 80% of your time marketing your content and only 20% of your time actually creating content.

Thus, if it takes you an hour to write a blog post, you should spend four more hours marketing it. And since the Socratic questioning technique mentioned above increases your writing time, your marketing time will also increase.

Of course, you can skip the marketing all together, but you won’t get very far with your blog. There’s simply too much content, and competition, on the web. You’re not just creating content. You’re creating a content brand.

And just like any other business, your brand needs effective marketing to become a surefire winner. Successful bloggers write a bunch of epic blog posts, but their marketing efforts are why we end up reading them.

Most of the efforts you’ll make as a successful content marketer involve connecting with other bloggers. In an interview, Neil Patel explained that, when he was getting started, he would contact anywhere from 400-500 people about his new blog post.

He asked each person to share his latest blog post. Neil found these people using BuzzSumo, his go-to content marketing tool (he refers to it as God’s Gift To Marketers).

BuzzSumo lets you see everyone who has shared popular blog posts in your niche. You can then contact these people and let them know about your own blog post.

Of course, you can try to hunt down these people on social media, but it’s much more time consuming. The best way to do it for free is to use a social network’s search engine and search a blog post’s title.

Here’s what it would look like on Twitter if, for example, you wanted to search for my guest post 5 Ways To Flood Your Blog With Traffic Using Pinterest (currently my most successful guest post).

pastedGraphic_1.png

However, this strategy takes FOREVER and BuzzSumo does the same thing much faster. If you can fit $99/mo into your budget, BuzzSumo is a worthwhile investment for your content marketing efforts.

Regardless of which option you use, contacting hundreds of people involves a lot of work on your part. The best thing you can do to cut down your work time is to create a rubric message.

Rather than re-write the same email over and over, you can simply copy and paste the body of the email and change a few things to personalize it (addressing each person by his or her first name, for example).

#5: Voraciously Read Other Blogs

Successful bloggers constantly read other people’s blogs. If you look at any of their blog posts, you can tell they’ve read several other blog posts on the subject before finishing their own.

You wouldn’t be shocked to hear that authors read several books before writing their own. So it should come as no surprise that bloggers read several blog posts before writing their posts.

Sometimes a blogger will write two blog posts back to back, but even then, intense research goes into each one. The research is based on blog posts that were read in advance.

However, successful bloggers don’t just read any blog on the web. They read blogs related to their niche. They want to gather as much insight as possible. But they also want to see what’s working for audiences in their niche.

Which pull-words result in more engagement? How is this blogger getting more shares? How is the blogger making revenue? Successful bloggers ask themselves all of these questions, and they find the answers by conducting research.

During this exploration, more content ideas emerge. And it’s easier to learn something when you actively write about what you are learning. By repeatedly writing content about subjects they want to master, bloggers eventually become experts in their field.

Try to read other people’s content for at least 30 minutes every day. The great thing about blogs is that they’re available online as compared to books (unless you read eBooks, but I prefer paperbacks).

If you have your smartphone with you, you can easily search for blog posts anytime you’re waiting for something to happen. Read a blog post while you’re waiting for a performance to begin. If you are waiting for an Uber driver, read a blog post until he shows up.

As you read, take notes on what you learn and write down content ideas as you go. That way, you’ll be armed with more knowledge that you can refer to within your next blog post.

In Conclusion

The most successful bloggers spend hours upon hours in a given day on their blogs. They treat their blogs like a full-time brand because that’s exactly what they are.

You may only be able to commit to your blog part-time, but you can still live by these blogging habits. A blog post like this is a lot to soak up in one sitting. However, you can always start small and build upon these success habits.

Habits by nature are obtained through gradual development. Out of every success tactic I came across during my analysis, contacting 400-500 people for each of my blog posts seemed the most daunting.

Why does it have to be 400-500? Why not start with 10? You can then inch your way towards 20 people, 30, 40, and gradually make your way to the 400-500 threshold.

Neil no longer contacts 400-500 people every time he writes a new blog post. Why? Because he doesn’t have to. But when he was just getting started, he made those contacts in order to build momentum.

All of these habits will become easier over time and yield greater results as you exert more effort towards each.

Now Here’s What I Want From You

Which of these habits do you think is most important? Do you have a 6th habit for us?

Have a question for me? Leave a comment now. I read them all!

And if you know anyone else who needs this burst of insight, please be sure to pass it on.

[Tweet “5 #Blogging Habits That Will Turn You Into A Full-Time Blogger.”]

If you’re new here, join my mailing list using the form below. You’ll get a ton of free content just like this.

Until next time,

-Marc

*image credit: Pixabay.com

How A Structured Schedule Will Make You 10x More Productive

by 8 Comments

structured schedule

If I tell you that a structured schedule will make a huge impact on your productivity, would you believe me? You should.

While too much structure might seem to run contradictory to entrepreneurship, most entrepreneurs pursue their dreams precisely so they can do what they love at a time they choose.

Thus, adhering to a structured schedule (of your own creation) not only makes sense, it will also make you 10x more productive and drive the results you crave.

In this post, we’ll dig deeper into why a structured schedule works and how to commit to making it part of your life.

The Biggest Myth

When people think about a structured schedule, they usually envision all their free time suffocated by work. They even imagine their work time (not to mention their creativity) becoming suffocated.

They think, “No, I can’t make a video at this time because my schedule says that I must write a blog post.” It’s true that a structured schedule is very specific, but that’s exactly why it works.

The problem with free time — even the time spent thinking about what to work on — is choices. Let’s say you’re trying to decide whether to:

  • Write a blog post.
  • Send an email to a particular person.
  • Write an email broadcast.
  • Make a YouTube video.
  • Interview someone for your podcast.
  • Write a chapter of an ebook.
  • Create a training series.
  • Read a book.
  • Participate in an online course.

Tell me in TWO seconds which one you’ll choose: 1…2…

Have you made a choice? Do you need more time to ponder the list? Have you thought of something to add to the list? Did the list remind you of something else?

What usually happens is all of these ideas (and others) will float around in your head until you eventually decide on one. But even when you do, you’ll likely wonder if you’ve made the right decision, or if you’ve forgotten about something more important than your chosen task.

Let’s say you decide to write a blog post. After you complete the post, you’ll once again have to decide what to do next. It’s an endless, anxious cycle. And a huge waste of time.

Should I make a video? On what topic? Should I scrap that idea and read instead? Actually, should I read or watch a training course?

A structured schedule creates clarity and takes the guesswork (and anxiety) out of deciding what to do next. And a structured schedule even offers flexibility.

For example, bloggers try to avoid writer’s block — when ideas aren’t flowing and they’re left staring at a blank screen, sometimes for hours. Lots of people experience this feeling several times a day or week.

A schedule can save you in times like this. Simply switch up your tasks and keep moving.

Plan Out The Bookends Of Your Day

While writing this blog post, I anticipated one common response might be: “How can I structure my schedule when it’s bound to constantly change?What if someone cancels an interview? What if a real-time emergency comes up?”

Like the writer’s block example above, you may have to make adjustments during the day so you can maintain an optimal level of productivity. And a structured schedule will help you switch things up with efficiency.

With that said, there are two untouchable portions of the day during which no person or unrelated task can ruin your productivity.

These are your bookends: early morning and late in the evening. Think about what you usually do at 3pm and 5am. I’ll bet that at 5am nothing is standing between you and your productivity. At 3pm, however, it may seem as if everything is standing in your way.

Realizing that you won’t likely get as much done at 9pm as you would during the work day, plan out your day from start to finish paying special attention to the bookends — because virtually nothing stands in the way of your productivity during those times.

Wake Up Earlier 

The earlier you wake up, the more poised you are for success. I strongly believe that, and here’s the logic: no one is going to interrupt you or make a request at 5am. That’s when “everyone else” is sleeping. If you wake up at 5am, you’ll have several hours of undisturbed productivity.

Being an early bird works better than being a night owl. I’ve tried both, and it’s better to get to bed earlier so you can wake up earlier. The biggest reason for that is because starting fresh lets you get much more accomplished than you can after a taxing day when your willpower has been tested to the max.

Just one aggravating issue during the day can interrupt your concentration at night. As an early bird, nothing has happened yet so there’s no prior events from the day that can distract you from your work. Rising early and getting things done also makes you feel more productive as the day goes on.

In addition to feeling (and being) more productive, you’ll enjoy improved health. I don’t understand why so many people take their health for granted. I’ll just say that the healthier you are, the more productive you are. Think about that the next time you go to McDonald’s (if you don’t eat there, good for you!).

Putting that shade aside, here’s the truth about early birds and night owls:

Your brain is still active when you sleep. If the last thing you think about is how anxious you feel about your work, those thoughts of anxiety will carry over into your sleep and still be there when you wake up.

This is why I read a personal development book before I go to bed. I feel mentally charged when I go to bed, and that feeling carries over into the beginning of the next day.

And did you know that the first hour of your day determines how the rest of your day will go?

Track Your Results

Once you identify how to structure your day, keep track of your progress. This is where you walk the walk instead of only talking the talk. The best place to track your results is in a notebook because you can refer to it at any time and make any necessary adjustments.

Tracking your results in a notebook lets you see in which areas you struggle and in which areas you thrive. If you timestamp when you accomplish certain goals, you can also identify which times of day work best for accomplishing specific objectives.

Are you better at writing blog posts before 11am or after 2pm? Tracking your results and adding a few details allows you to answer that question. The more of these types of questions you can answer, the more productive you’ll become and the more you’ll optimize your structured schedule.

In Conclusion

Creating a structured schedule allows you to gain clarity into what goals you need to accomplish and when you need to accomplish them. Structured schedules don’t remove the freedoms of entrepreneurship. Rather, they amplify your potential.

What are your thoughts on creating a structured schedule? What would you like to accomplish with a structured schedule? Have any productivity tips for us? Sound off in the comments section below.

*image credit: Pixabay