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E54: Using NaNoWriMo To Write Your Own Novel With Anne Rainbow

November 1, 2017 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Introduction:

Anne Rainbow is the content editor and creator behind Scrivener Virgin where she takes us through her journey of mastering the popular writing tool while providing insights into the realms of self-publishing and marketing. Anne also created the Red Pen course where she teaches writers how to self-edit and enjoy the process.

Quotes To Remember:

“That’s what makes it so compelling, you can’t give up, because you’re in a team.”

“It’s all in the planning.”

“It doesn’t matter where you start, as long as you have a mind map.”

“Whatever your challenge is, it’s much much easier if you have people around you supporting you.”

“I want to breathe the same air as people with whom I share values.”

What You’ll Learn:

How to prepare to write a novel in a month
How to juggle creating useful content in blog posts and other places while still working on your own novel.
How to decide what your book will be about.
How to write over 50,000 words and turn it into useful content
How to plan in advance to create time. Even up to a month!

Key Links From The Show:

Anne’s Site

Anne’s Facebook Page for Scrivener

Recommended Books:

I See You by Claire Mackintosh

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life by Dr Wayne Dyer

The Artists Way by Julia Cameron

E54: Using NaNoWriMo To Write Your Own Novel With Anne Rainbow

November 1, 2017 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Introduction:

Quotes To Remember:

“That’s what makes it so compelling, you can’t give up, because you’re in a team.”

“It’s all in the planning.”

“It doesn’t matter where you start, as long as you have a mind map.”

“Whatever your challenge is, it’s much much easier if you have people around you supporting you.”

“I want to breathe the same air as people with whom I share values.”

What You’ll Learn:

How to prepare to write a novel in a month
How to juggle creating useful content in blog posts and other places while still working on your own novel.
How to decide what your book will be about.
How to write over 50,000 words and turn it into useful content
How to plan in advance to create time. Even up to a month!

Key Links From The Show:

Anne’s Site

Anne’s Facebook Page for Scrivener

Recommended Books:

I See You by Claire Mackintosh

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life by Dr Wayne Dyer

The Artists Way by Julia Cameron

11 Cool Content Marketing Tactics That Will Push Your Blog Traffic To The Next Level

January 10, 2017 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Effective content marketing can determine whether your content is read by thousands of people or a handful of people, and your content marketing strategy can determine whether you’ll make a full-time income as a blogger or struggle to get by.

Many bloggers know this, which is why they continuously test different methods to expand their content’s reach. The blogger with 100 monthly visitors and the blogger with 100,000 monthly visitors both strive to get their content in front of more people.

But how can you consistently expand your blog’s reach? How can you attract more readers today than you did yesterday? Here are 11 cool content marketing tactics you can use to push your blog traffic to the next level:

#1: Accept Guest Posts

My blog generated the most traffic when I published two posts per day. But as my blog posts became longer and more content rich, it became increasingly difficult to publish as frequently and consistently.

I’m slowly getting closer to achieving that same frequency, but not because I’m writing 14 blog posts each week. Rather, I started accepting guest posts from my community.

Now I get free content for my blog without having to write a single word. How cool is that?

Of course, I still love writing at least one blog post every week, but having to write (and publish…big difference) a blog post every day would prevent me from addressing other parts of my business.

Accepting guest posts results in more updates and fresh content, and that results in more SEO love.

#2: Hire A Contributor

If you want to take accepting guest posts to the next level, you can hire a contributor who will produce the content for you. I recommend finding a paid contributor on Upwork and making sure this person is passionate about your blog’s topics.

You don’t want to hire a contributor who will write a blog post without any passion behind the topic. That lack of passion will show in the final draft.

If you hire a contributor, I recommend monitoring his or her content for 1-2 weeks and engaging in frequent conversations. This way, you are both on the same page and you’re more likely to get the content you want and expect.

#3: Use Internal Links

By linking to your content internally, you increase the amount of time readers engage with your blog. And the more time people spend on your blog, the more likely they are to come back for more.

Keeping people on your blog longer also helps build trust and will result in more subscribers and sales over time. Bring attention to some of your older posts and every new post you publish. On the flip side, you can edit your older posts to link to your newer content.

#4: Outsource More Tasks

Outsourcing opens up so much time to pursue other parts of your business. I’ve outsourced social media posts, blog post editing, podcast episode editing, video editing, and an array of other tasks.

After I started outsourcing these tasks, I was able to concentrate on creative ways to promote my content such as reaching out to influencers, promoting my content through various outlets, and growing my brand.

Outsourcing will open up more of your time, but be sure to use the extra time productively. Otherwise you’re completely missing the point of outsourcing.

#5: Create A Content Calendar

An editorial calendar is a guide that lays out which content gets published when. You can organize the publication of your content in such a way that includes weekly or monthly themes on your blog.

Monthly themes can help with product launches or affiliate promotions. For instance, let’s say you write a blog about the best toys around in July (and also know that new LEGO sets are coming out in August).

You can use mid-July and the entire month of August to focus your content creation efforts on LEGO sets. By the time you introduce your affiliate links, your audience will be more conditioned to buy the LEGO sets.

#6: Write Longer Blog Posts

Longer blog posts like these grab more attention and provide more overall value. When I published two blog posts each day, most were only 250-500 words. While I’ve lost that level of frequency, my current blog posts are more in-depth.

Writing longer blog posts is also great for more blog traffic. Not only do search engines love longer blog posts, but you’ll keep people on your blog for a longer period of time.

Think about it. If you’ve made it to this sentence, you’re virtually committed to reading this entire blog post. You’re committed to knowing all 11 tactics mentioned in the post, even if you skim.

Of course, no one is forcing you to read through the entire post, but once you make it to this point, full commitment tends to be the unwritten rule of reading content.

#7: Write 1 Blog Post Per Day

If you can muster it, writing one blog post per day will result in a blog that’s consistently updated with fresh content. While it may take a while for search engines to boost your traffic, writing blog posts at a frequent rate will also give you more content to promote on social networks.

My Twitter usage motivated me to write two blog posts per day. I mean, I was tweeting every 15 minutes and wanted to share fresh, original content. And by spacing it out over a long period of time, I was able to garner strong interest for my content.

I still knew I could tweet some content over and over because my new followers wouldn’t have seen it before, and my regular followers wouldn’t have seen everything. I try to write a lot of evergreen content so a tweet linking to a blog post from two years ago would still be relevant to both groups.

#8: Submit At Least 3 Guest Post Pitches Per Day

Writing guest posts for other blogs is a well-known tactic to expand your reach. In my experience, it’s easy to approach guest blogging inconsistently.

It’s easy to send multiple pitches in a single week, but then concentrate on creating content for one or two guest p0sts, and stop or simply forget to keep sending pitches.

That’s a mistake. Sending at least three pitches per day helps step up your commitment to producing more content because you may have to meet a deadline that is not self-imposed.

If you submit at least three guest post pitches per day, you’ll submit 1095 guest post pitches each year. Assuming a conservative 20 percent acceptance rate, you’ll write at least 219 guest posts in a given year.

Writing one guest post every other day may seem like a lot of work, but it will result in many more people seeing your content (perhaps millions of additional people will read your content depending on where it’s published).

A single guest post of mine, published on Jeff Bullas’ Blog, was shared over 6,000 times. Talk about more exposure (and that’s just one guest post)! Imagine if you got those results from more than one of your 219 guest posts.

In fact, if you averaged 1,000 shares for all 219 of your guest posts, you’d get 219,000 shares for all of your guest posts that year. It’s very easy to assume that, at this point, over 1 million people will have viewed your content.

#9: Link To Influencers In Your Posts

Influencer marketing will be a strong form of marketing for a very long time. The idea behind influencer marketing is that you mention several influencers within your blog post. You then email them to let them know.

Some will share your content with their audiences while others won’t. The key thing not to do in every email to an influencer is to ask them to share your content.

I’ve gotten many emails from people mentioning me in their content and saying something like, “Can you share this with your audience?”

Influencers know how influencer marketing works. Instead of asking them to share your content, just tell them you featured them in your blog post. Don’t try to influence the influencer with explicit requests because those emails are usually ignored.

The more influencers you mention in your content, the better, but make sure the content doesn’t drag on because you’re trying to mention every possible influencer in your niche. That’s why you write multiple blog posts.

#10: Create A Content Series

There’s nothing more frustrating than not knowing the ending. Imagine going to the theater, watching Rogue One, and then halfway through the movie the screen stops working. The staff comes out and says they can’t fix the problem. You get a full refund, but you are left with only half of Rogue One.

You don’t know the ending, and that will frustrate you until you see it at another movie theater.

While it’s very difficult to reproduce the same feeling as stopping halfway through Rogue One, you can still create a content series without an ending.

Imagine writing a blog post called “5 Ways To Get More Twitter Followers.” At the end of the blog post you can say something like, “I actually have a bonus tip to get more Twitter followers, but I’ll reveal it in the next blog post along with four additional tips.”

Now you build suspense while creating a content series. People who read and enjoy Part 10 will be more likely to read the other nine blog posts in the series.

#11: Ride The Trendy Waves Of The Internet

Google Trends allows you to see what is trending on the internet. If you can connect a trending topic to your niche, you’ll write a blog post that will get traffic from its value plus additional traffic from riding a trendy wave.

One writer from Mashable rode the wave of Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour at just the right time. She wrote a post in June 2015 on the Taylor Swift businesswoman guidebook.

No, Taylor Swift didn’t actually write a businesswoman guidebook and publish it on Amazon. Rather, the writer analyzed Swift and came up with tips that Swift seemed to exemplify. The final result was a blog post filled with business insights and Swifty euphoria that was shared across the internet.

In Conclusion

The great thing about content marketing is that no matter how much traffic you get, you can always get more. You can always challenge yourself to do more today than you did yesterday.

Getting more traffic involves writing valuable content and spreading it. Spread your content to more people via search engines, social media, blogs and influencers, and you’ll eventually build an unforgettable blog.

What are your thoughts on these content marketing tactics? Do you have tips to share? Sound off in the comments section below.

Write Your Own Kindle Book In Just 1 Month!

The Almost Bullet-Proof Way To Make Money With Your Blog

February 26, 2016 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

We overcomplicate the process of making money with our blogs. Some people say create advertisements. Other people say write books. Others say create training courses. Sponsored content, offer a service, and the list goes on.

Don’t you wish it was easy to make money with your blog? I’m sure we all do. Some people make six figures with their blogs while others want to learn how.

The actual process is surprisingly simple, and this process is as close to bullet-proof as bullet-proof gets. I know it’s a big promise. You may have been putting years of your time and effort into your blog without getting significant results yet.

But to make a big promise, it only makes sense that I back it up.

Find Something That Works

Look around and find the methods that some bloggers use to make six figures every year. Case studies with methods that work are easy to find. These case studies allow bloggers to further establish their authority.

So you find a bunch of methods that work. First off, if someone makes six figures with ads on his/her blog, then do not rely on that for your blog. Ads do not work unless you are one of the big players, and even then, the ads are not worth it.

Maybe you come across blog posts about successfully freelancing, writing books, creating training courses, or something to that effect that has brought in six figures for some people.

Chances are you have an idea of what already works. You know the email list is king and that what you decide to promote to that email list will make the money.

But with a bunch of options, you will either thrive or barely survive.

Focus On One Option And Ride With It

If you chase two rabbits, then they will both escape from you. We understand this to be true, and in this statement lies the secret to making money with your blog.

Instead of trying every money-making tactic known to mankind, hone in on one of the options. Don’t use social media ads, write books, write paid articles, and create training courses all at the same time. Choose one of them and ride with it.

The reason I became successful on social media was because a few years ago, I abandoned every social network except Twitter. That allowed me to focus all of my time towards Twitter and eventually master it.

However, it took me a long time to transition that way of thinking to making money with my blog. I was trying a bunch of different methods that were bringing in mediocre results.

Then I dropped everything and went all-in with Udemy.

I learned more about marketing in a few months than I had learned in a few years. The reason is that once you master one method for making money, then all of the other methods become easier.

For most money-making methods, it’s all just the same approach but with different types of work involved (i.e. an author must write books while an instructor on Udemy uploads videos, but the approaches are very similar).

Then, as you build multiple platforms, you can use them to make each of your new products more successful.

Expand After Mastery

When I went all-in with Udemy, I had to give up self-publishing. At the time, it was a challenging decision. It was more challenging than giving up on my most successful blog before this one.

I loved writing books and enjoyed holding my paperbacks (I’d be shocked to find an author who doesn’t enjoy that feeling), but I needed to learn more about making money.

So I gave it up and went all-in with Udemy.

But now that I have mastered Udemy, I am giving self-publishing a second go. I learned a lot about self-publishing by mastering Udemy since most money-making methods take the same approach. I also have a significantly larger audience to promote my books to.

I only began writing books again once I mastered Udemy. If I wrote books and created training courses at the same time, the mastery would have been more difficult.

It is better to master one skill at a time, and then once you master that skill, move on to the next skill.

Don’t Overwhelm Yourself

Every single time I fail or find my business stagnating, it’s because I overwhelm myself. For a long time, I looked over it, and you may overlook it too. Let me know if this sounds familiar:

I am putting in so much work in so many areas. I feel tired but I am still going to put in all of the work. If I spread out my work, I am bound to get lucky somewhere.

I overwhelmed myself by trying to master every social network and by trying to make money through any method imaginable.

For a short period of time, I even took online surveys and clicked on ads to make money. The money I made from those two activities was negligible.

So just because you make more money by doing something doesn’t mean it is always worth it.

The success happens when you can look at your massive list of things to do and break that list down. I was able to break my list down to a few activities once I decided to outsource most of my business.

In my opinion, every business owner should outsource at least one part of their business. The simple reason: time is money.

If you have extra time in your day, then you have extra time to figure out how you will make money with your blog. You have extra time to take action and therefore learn at a faster pace.

By taking action, you will learn from your mistakes faster. By learning from your mistakes faster and knowing what to avoid, you also become successful faster.

One of the most common ways I overwhelmed myself was thinking about my future. Do I hit this goal and do I get it at the right time? What results am I going to get from my work?

These are silly questions to ask ourselves because we don’t know for certain what will happen. The only way we discover what happens is by making it happen.

In Conclusion

Making money is simply figuring out one thing that works and then riding with it. Even if that one thing ends up going bust, you will learn more from that one experience than by trying to do 10 things at once.

If you are looking for a specific recommendation from me, right now Udemy, self-publishing, and affiliate marketing are working well for me.

Just because something works for me doesn’t mean it will work for everyone, but you have those options.

Sure enough, you’ll have more options, but if you only choose one option, then you will start making money with your blog.

How do you make money from your blog? Which tip was your favorite? Have any stories for us? Sound off in the comments section below.

How To Leverage Pareto’s Principle For Your Business

February 24, 2016 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Pareto’s Principle is one of the most famous principles in business. Some entrepreneurs live by it.

You’ve heard it before, but maybe you haven’t heard of it referred to as Pareto’s Principle. Here’s what Pareto’s Principle is:

80% of your results come from 20% of your work.

That sounds much familiar. The concept is true, and if you look deep enough, you will discover what that 20% is for your business.

The work that leads to most of your results.

Most people stop there. They acknowledge Pareto’s Principle and acclaim that 20% of their work brings forth 80% of the results.

The people who stop at the acknowledgement only see one side of the coin. To every coin, there are two sides.

To Pareto’s Principle, there are two statements.

The first statement is the one that we know well. 80% of our results come from 20% of our work. The second statement?

20% of our results come from 80% of our work.

That’s a lot of work that only leads to one-fifth of your results. That particular small slice of work that you do leads to everything else.

The other side of the coin doesn’t get much attention because it is the disgusting side of the coin. Most of the work you do leads to little or no results.

Can you still work with that in your mind? Most of the work leads to little or no results.

80/20 Done The Right Way

This blog post isn’t meant to discourage anyone. It is designed to change the way we work.

The successful entrepreneurs understand the principle and look at both sides of the coin. They focus most of their time on the 20% of the work that leads to 80% of the results.

As for the 80% of the work that leads to only 20% of the results? That gets outsourced or eliminated.

Why do something when you know it won’t produce much results? The biggest mistake I see people make is they will look at every possible opportunity without honing in on one opportunity to maximize results.

If someone doesn’t produce much results, and you don’t overwhelmingly enjoy that work, then stop.

If it’s something that you still have to do but know it doesn’t bring in the results you are looking for, then outsource that work.

Since 80% of your work produces 20% of your results, you should look to outsource 80% of your business.

Then you can focus all of your time on the 20% of your work that leads to 80% of your results.

Even if something seems vital for your business’ survival, try to outsource it. Scheduling tweets is essential for my business since that’s how I get most of my blog traffic.

Outsourcing that one task allows me to save hours of my time each week. Outsourcing my blog post pictures allows me to save even more time.

Opportunity Cost

For every minute you spend doing something, you can’t spend that same minute doing anything else. That’s the basic concept behind an opportunity cost.

If you procrastinate for one minute, you cannot be productive and get stuff done during that same minute.

If you find yourself not focusing on the 20% of your work that leads to 80% of your results, then you are missing out on opportunities.

I will provide you with an example involving money just to highlight the importance of looking at Pareto’s Principle differently.

Let’s say an entrepreneur works for five hours a day and makes an average of $100 per day.

With Pareto’s Principle in play, one hour brings in $80 while the other four hours only result in an extra $20.

Let’s say the four hours that bring in $20 get outsourced and the same entrepreneur works for five hours each day.

Now those five hours get directed towards the work that brings forth the best results.

Instead of making $100 per day, that same entrepreneur is making $400 per day ($80 x 5 = 400)

Sure, outsourcing costs comes into play, but it won’t cost $300 per day at that rate.

Overall, a profit is made because the entrepreneur was able to focus more time on the work that brought forth the most results.

If you focus more of your time on what works, then don’t be shocked if you get better results.

Expansion

You’ve figured out Pareto’s Principle and focus most of your time on the work that yields most of your results.

But let’s say you have multiple passions and want to start multiple businesses. Maybe you want to write books or create training courses. Maybe, like me, you want to become a singer.

You can suddenly find that extra time to pursue more adventures by outsourcing most of your work. Inevitably, you will temporarily disrupt your groove.

If you can focus all of your time on the work that leads to the most results, you will have to introduce more work that doesn’t (in the beginning) bring in much results.

Then you discover what works in the new adventure you are taking and outsource everything else that doesn’t yield as much results.

The quicker you master something and the better you master your time, the easier it will be for you to master anything else that you want to master.

Twitter was the first social network I mastered. I only mastered Twitter because I gave up on every other social network.

Now I am on several social networks and have thousands of followers on most of the platforms.

Master one thing and then expand from there.

In Conclusion

There is a lot to learn from Pareto’s Principle. The two key lessons are that most of your work leads to little or no results while some of your work leads to most of your results.

You need to focus more of your time on that some of your work that leads to most of your results.

Success is not just a matter of hustling. It’s a matter of hustling in the right direction. You can have a work ethic, but if you get lost and go on the wrong trail, then it will take a lot longer for you to reach the finish line (while some people never reach it).

Hustling in the right direction means focusing most of your time on the work that brings forth most of your results. The busy work that stands in your way, although it may be important, needs to get outsourced.

What are your thoughts about Pareto’s Principle? Do you have any other advice for leveraging it for our businesses? How do you save time? Sound off in the comments section below.