blogging tips

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.

3 Things That Successful Bloggers Do

February 22, 2016 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

If you want to become one of the best bloggers, you have to look at what the best bloggers are currently doing.

In most cases, the best bloggers do a few things differently. Everyone puts in some level of work, but the quantity and quality of the work are slightly different.

Those differences often make all of the difference.

To become a successful blogger, these are the three things that you must start doing. Implementing these methods will potential change your entire strategy and move your blog in a better direction.

#1: Write Valuable Content

This is the most obvious tip here that seems to receive a lot of discussion. There is no reason to take time explaining its importance.

Writing valuable content comes down to your knowledge, writing experience, and your audience.

The more you know about your niche, the more you can write about.

The more experience you have with writing, the more value you can provide in a shorter amount of time.

Understanding your targeted audience lets you know what content specifically applies to them. Then you know what type of content you have to write.

Writing valuable content is an art that you get better at with practice. You can see that with my blog posts and with many other bloggers’ blogs.

My first blog posts were terrible in comparison to the blog posts that I write now. I recently looked back at the first blog posts of some of the bloggers who I have come to admire.

Same thing. Their first blog posts weren’t terrible, but they were terrible in comparison to what they produce now.

#2: Outsource Most Of The Work

The only two things that will never get outsourced for my blog are writing the blog posts and interacting with people who comment.

Everything else is fair game.

I can’t remember the last time I created a picture for one of my blog posts or scheduled tweets for my blog posts.

That work took up too much of my time. So I outsourced that workload.

Now I have more time to write content and look into ways to expand my reach and revenue. 80% of your results come from 20% of the work.

Outsourcing allows you to focus more on that 20% that brings forth 80% of the results.

The most successful bloggers are not doing all of the work.

They have a team around them that makes the work easier. Some of the successful bloggers will systematize the entire process of writing their own blog posts.

Either have a contributor write the content or hire a ghostwriter. The editor makes changes to the content and then someone comes through with the pictures.

You have to begin assembling your team of people to help you out. That way, you can focus more of your efforts on the work that yields most of your results.

Time is a blogger’s most valuable resource. The more of it you have, the more content you can write. The more marketing you can do. The more products you can create.

#3: Spend More Time Promoting Than Writing

You can write content all you want, but if no one visits your blog, then no one will know about your content.

Part of successful blogging requires your content getting seen by as many people as possible. The traffic your blog gets can translate into subscribers and sales.

The mindset for getting more traffic is to spend more time marketing your blog posts than actually writing them.

You can spend 30 minutes each day writing your blog posts, but then you should be spending an hour marketing your blog posts every day.

Connect with influencers, get podcast interviews, promote your blog through social media, grow your email list, and so on.

If that’s too much work for you, then outsource the work. Your team is there to make your blogging workload as light as possible so you can focus your time on what matters the most for your blog’s success.

In Conclusion

Successful blogging requires a different view of blogging. Successful bloggers don’t just put in a lot of work. They put in a lot of smart work.

Successful bloggers put their time towards the work that leads to the best results, and they are on the endless pursuit to outsource as much of the workload as possible.

Right now, I have 10 freelancers who take some of the workload off my shoulders. It’s a start, but I’ll be getting more. Someday, I imagine having hundreds of freelancers who help me in various areas of my business.

You need that team around you and a thirst for more knowledge. The more you learn about your niche, the more value you can provide.

In the same way, the more you learn about blogging successfully, the more likely your blog will become successful too.

What are your thoughts about these three things that successful bloggers do? Do you believe something should be added to the list? What are your blogging tips for us? Sound off in the comments section below.

7 Tactics To Boost Your Blog Traffic With Social Media

February 5, 2016 by Marc Guberti 12 Comments

Getting blog traffic with social media works. Some bloggers rely on social media for all of their traffic. For the past three years, almost half of my blog traffic has come from social media.

Twitter has been leading the charge and led over 110,000 visitors to my blog in 2015.

Twitter Traffic 2015

Social media is a powerhouse for blog traffic, but only if you know how to use it. Many bloggers go to social media to get more traffic. They’ve seen the case studies and listened to all of the recommendations.

And the fact that over a billion people use social media helps out with the decision making.

After that, the path gets foggy. Sending a tweet with your blog post’s link is the easy part. Getting sustainable traffic from social media is the challenge.

That challenge has its rewards. You’ll get social media traffic but you will also gain credibility which is important for standing out as an expert.

The key to getting sustainable blog traffic from social media is to put consistent effort in the right areas. What are those right areas? That’s what this blog post is all about.

#1: Post Your Blog Content Often

Hear about the 80/20 rule for social media. I’m not talking about the epic Pareto’s Principle (80% results come from 20% of the work).

I am talking about another 80/20 that plagues many social media users. The way this 80/20 works is that you promote other people’s content 80% of the time and you promote other people’s content 20% of the time.

LIE!

That’s not how it works at all. At least, if you want to get sustainable blog traffic. It’s great to share other people’s content, but you need to focus more of your time on sharing your content.

The truth about people looking for content is that the value of the content matters the most. It doesn’t matter if you only tweet your content. As long all of your content is empowering and/or entertaining, then your social media audience will always want more of it.

I post my blog content 95% of the time. I will occasionally share other people’s content and promote landing pages (other than my own) using my affiliate links.

But most of the time, I am sharing my own content. That’s how I am able to consistently get hundreds of daily visitors from my social media platforms.

#2: Outsource Some Of The Work

I know what some people are going to say. If you give the work you are already doing to someone else, then you won’t gain any additional blog traffic.

But you gain time. Lots of it.

The time you gain can be repurposed towards more profitable activities or activities that result in more blog traffic.

Suddenly, you’ll have more time to master AdWords, Facebook Advertising, and any other method of traffic generation that you choose to master.

Then, you might decide outsourcing is your secret weapon.

You can then learn enough about certain social networks and hire freelancers to grow your audiences on other platforms.

You have the expertise and know what to do. Then you hire freelancers and let them know what needs to get done.

Outsourcing creates more time, and if you use your time wisely, then you will increase your blog traffic and make a bigger profit in the long-term.

#3: Turn Cross-Promotion Into Your Friend

This is the secret ingredient for successful social media marketing. It’s the potent ingredient in the back of the refrigerator. It’s the ingredient buried deep within the cookbook.

Maybe I should stop now and keep it a secret. No, I won’t do that. You deserve to know for making it this far.

Cross-promotion is when you use one of your social media platforms to promote your other social media platforms.

It looks so innocent, but it’s impact is the secret part.

You can see cross-promotion in action with YouTubers. When they upload a new video, the savvy YouTuber will promote the video on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and a few other social networks.

The YouTube video then at some point (in the description and/or at the end of the video) promotes the Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and other social media accounts that the YouTuber has.

The result is an infinite loop in which users continuously consume content from the same person across multiple social media platforms.

And the content is so good that these users follow the same person on all of his/her social networks.

Anytime these users are on social media, regardless of which social network they are on, they can encounter content posted by that person.

Think of the chances you see one of my social media posts if you only follow me on Twitter versus if you follow me on Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

The odds increase as you follow me on another social network. Cross-promotion makes sure people who follow you on one social network eventually follow you on all of your social networks.

And if you promote your blog posts on each of those social networks, then you can expect to get a lot of traffic in return.

#4: Make It Easy For People To Share Your Content

The easier it is for people to do something, the more likely they are to do it. At the bottom of many blog posts are a bunch of social sharing options.

Click the button and a social media post shows up.

If you want to increase the chances of people sharing your content, you need to make it easier for people to access those buttons.

Buttons at the top and bottom of your blog posts are no longer enough. Blog posts are getting longer which means it takes longer for people to see those buttons.

More and more bloggers are shifting to drag-down social media sharing buttons that allow visitors to share your content across a variety of social networks regardless of what part of your blog post they are reading.

You can also make it easier for people to share your content by using plugins like this one:
[Tweet “7 Tactics To Boost Your #Blog Traffic With #SocialMedia.”]

This plugin is very useful for getting more people to share my content. The social media traffic you get isn’t just from your audience.

The social media traffic you get is a combination of your efforts and your audience’s efforts to promote your content. If your content is good, your audience will want to promote it.

If you make it easy for your audience to promote your content, then more people within your audience will promote your content.

#5: Use Better Pictures

Pictures are critical. Any social media post on any social network with a picture has been proven to get more engagement than the same social media post without a picture.

Pictures are so important that for certain social networks, you can’t post an update unless you include a picture (Pinterest, Instagram, and others).

You need to use pictures that grab attention and make it clear to your visitors what your blog post is about. That’s why all of my pictures include the title of the blog post.

Just look at the picture I used for this very blog post.

The title of the blog post is shown within the picture. The text lets Pinterest and Instagram users know exactly what content they will read before they read the Pinterest/Instagram post’s description.

If you can’t create compelling pictures or it takes too much of your time, hire someone to get the job done for you.

And it’s okay to hire someone. Every minute you spend creating pictures is another minute that you can’t promote your blog.

That may have sounded harsh, but it’s the way you need to think of your time. Your time is valuable.

#6: Get Creative

Social media is constantly evolving which means some methods rarely discussed will work for you. Sometimes, you have to be a pioneer and experiment on your own.

Kim Garst was one of the first social media experts (if not the first) to take Periscope seriously. She was a pioneer and now Periscope brings her six figures.

New social networks will come out in the future. The first batch of winners will primarily consist of the pioneers.

#7: Analyze Your Results

As you continue getting blog traffic from your social media efforts, you have to then analyze the results.

Which of your blog posts get the most traffic? Does a certain blog post perform better on Facebook than on LinkedIn?

The analysis is important. You get to learn what works within your strategy. Knowing what works allows you to make better decisions.

When I discovered my Twitter audience (unsurprisingly) enjoys Twitter related blog posts, I wrote more Twitter related blog posts. This decision resulted in more Twitter related blog posts that I could tweet.

That resulted in more traffic.

Making decisions like that based on your analysis allow you to better serve your audience, and in effect, get more traffic.

In Conclusion

Social media is the best place to get more blog traffic. You can leverage it as the foundation that results in more SEO traffic and more landing page traffic (which grows your email list).

Social media provided me with most of the building blocks that I used to create my blogging empire. Consistently put in the work day by day and you are bound to see results.

What are your thoughts on getting more blog traffic from social media? Which of these tips was your favorite? Do you have any other tips for getting more blog traffic from social media? Sound off in the comments section below.

7 Tips To Make Your Blog Strategy Less Overwhelming

February 1, 2016 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Blogging can get overwhelming. There’s a lot of writing, marketing, learning, and a bunch of other things as well.

Even the most passionate bloggers can sometimes feel overwhelmed by their work level.

When we get overwhelmed, our minds freeze. We have so much to do, but we don’t know where to start. The result is nothing getting done.

That’s what happens when you overwhelm yourself.

To get your work done, you cannot get overwhelmed by your workload. That means you must make your blog strategy less overwhelming.

Just because you make your blog strategy less overwhelming does not mean you are decreasing your productivity. You are just increasing the odds that you get everything done.

To make your blog strategy less overwhelming, follow these seven tips.

#1: Acquire More Knowledge

There are two reasons a blog strategy becomes overwhelming. The first reason is a time crunch and the second reason is a lack of direction.

Acquiring more knowledge accounts for both of those reasons.

If you learn more about your niche, then you will write blog posts in a shorter amount of time. If you learn more about blogging, then you have more direction with your strategy.

If your niche is blogging, then you get to feed two birds with one scone, but if your niche is not blogging, then no worries.

#2: Create A Plan

football play

As you acquire more knowledge about blogging, you need to create a plan. What types of results do you want to see and how will you go about achieving those results?

That’s a plan in a nutshell.

Creating a plan gives you a sense of direction in your blog strategy. You know where you need to direct your time to get your desired results.

#3: Implement Now

If you learn without doing anything that you learn, you will quickly find yourself overwhelmed. Each time you learn something but don’t implement, you are adding something to your to-do list.

Learn without implementing for a few weeks, and that to-do list can get quite large.

When you come across new knowledge, you have to apply it in one way or the other. If you realize doubling your tweeting frequency results in more blog traffic, then implementing means doubling your tweeting frequency.

See what happens. If it works, great! If it doesn’t work, then at least you know (for me, it works).

Applying the knowledge can also mean writing a blog post about what you learned. When you write about the same topic you are trying to master, then don’t be surprised if you retain more of the knowledge.

The way I learn more about my niche is obtaining the knowledge and then writing about it in my words. Effectively communicating what you learned is proof that you understand the concepts.

#4: Outsource Some Of The Work

Time is always ticking and tocking. Those ticks and tocks can result in an overwhelming sense of urgency. If we had more time, we would not be as overwhelmed as we are now.

Luckily, there is an easy way to regain time in your day. In fact, it is the one tactic that you must leverage if you want to become a successful entrepreneur.

That one tactic is outsourcing.

If you outsource 80% of the work in your day, you will have a lot more time to work on the important parts of your blog strategy.

Your blog strategy will also be less overwhelming because you will have a team around you.

In other words, it’s not all on you anymore. You have people to help you.

UpWork is the best place to find freelancers who will help you with various tasks that take up your time.

I have freelancers on UpWork who schedule my tweets, create pictures, and manage my social networks among other things.

All of that time I gain now goes towards my blog and Udemy.

#5: Streamline The Writing Process

You want the writing process to go by as quickly as possible while ensuring you provide the value.

If you can cut your time spent writing a blog post by half, then you will have a lot more time available. Bloggers spend much of their time writing the content, so streamlining the writing process is the best way to open up more time.

I recently wrote a blog post that goes into detail about getting blog post ideas and then rapidly turning blog post ideas into blog posts. If you are looking to streamline your writing process, then you’ll want to read that blog post.

#6: Take Breaks

Sometimes when you feel overwhelmed by the workload, it is simply necessary to take a break.

It isn’t always a matter of giving yourself less work or working smarter. It is just a matter of abandoning your work and taking a break.

Just a 15-30 minute break. Nothing substantial.

That break will allow you to remove yourself from your work and go back to fulfilling the work-life balance. Then, once you are ready, resume your work.

You will feel less overwhelmed about the work since it won’t consume you as much as it did before you took your break.

I take breaks by watching videos, reading books, listening to audiobooks, or writing in one of my journals. There are plenty of ways to take a break that can also be useful for your blog strategy, but make sure you take a break that you enjoy.

#7: Have A Mentor

When you feel confident that blogging is for you, and you have an idea of what you are doing, having a mentor can bring you to the finish line.

I’m not simply talking about role models whose blogs you visit on a regular basis.

I am talking about the people who you can directly contact and then get insights from them specifically geared towards your question.

Maybe you find your mentor through one-on-one coaching. Maybe you find a mentor who is willing to respond to every email or tweet you send.

Try to find a free mentor or an inexpensive mentor to get started. Here’s the best way I know of to find a quality mentor for the lowest price.

Find a high value Udemy course related to the topic you are trying to learn. Buy it when Udemy runs a discount (you’ll save a lot from their discounts). Then go through the lectures (videos).

This is the key part. As you go through the lectures, ask questions in the discussion section of the course. Here’s what the discussion section of a course looks like:

Discussion Board Udemy Course

Instructors tend to respond to these discussions because responding boosts their Udemy search engine rank.

It’s also common courtesy to the students who enrolled.

Now you have a mentor who will sort of work one-on-one with you for a fraction of the cost of most one-on-one coaching programs.

When people ask me questions on social media or through email, I respond as often as I can. When students ask me questions in one of my courses, I always respond.

An active Udemy instructor who teaches a course related to your niche may be the best place to go to find a mentor to make your blog strategy less overwhelming.

In Conclusion

Your blog strategy provides you with direction for the time you allocate towards blogging. However, that strategy can sometimes get overwhelming.

When your blog strategy gets overwhelming, working through isn’t the solution. You need to change your approach. When you feel overwhelmed, sometimes taking no action is better than taking action.

But if you choose to take action, you must take action in a smart manner. In an overwhelmed state, you must make small strides of progress as you head towards goal achievement.

Which of these tips was your favorite? Do you have any other tips for making the blog strategy less overwhelming? Sound off in the comments section below.

How To Rapidly Write Epic Blog Posts

January 29, 2016 by Marc Guberti 6 Comments

Bloggers love writing valuable content. It’s something that we crave.

But then we run into a wall. Ideas don’t flow as smoothly. During this time, it is common for a blogger to question his or her writing capabilities.

Even with over 1,000 blog posts under my belt, when I run into that wall, I sometimes question my ability to think of more content.

Have I written everything about my niche that I can possibly write about? How do I avoid writing repeat blog posts?

Those two questions swirl in my mind as I try to think of new blog post ideas after a slump. I go by the advice I mention in my past blog posts and in other people’s blog posts.

I recently found myself in the middle of a slump. I had written a bunch of blog posts but the ideas weren’t flowing as easily.

I knew I had to get out of the slump so I could write content rapidly again. That was especially true because I am now looking at self-publishing my own books again.

I wrote this blog post for myself and for every other blogger who goes into that slump. It can get difficult to think of more blog post ideas, and it’s frustrating when the ideas (let alone the content) don’t flow properly.

Rapidly writing epic blog posts consists of four steps. The importance of each of these steps is that you must do them one at a time.

#1: Brain Dump

The brain dump is the process of writing down as many ideas as you can think of. The brain dump is a struggle when you begin the process, but once you begin, it increasingly becomes easier.

For most of my brain dumps, I go through other people’s blog posts and use their content for inspiration. However, for this particular slump, that strategy was not working.

I needed another source of content. I didn’t have enough time to listen to an audiobook or read a book. I needed the blog post ideas now because I knew that not having those ideas would haunt me throughout the day.

So I went to YouTube.

Many bloggers find themselves reading other people’s content for inspiration. I don’t think as many bloggers go on YouTube for that same inspiration.

This was the first time I went on YouTube and watched a few videos with the sole purpose of thinking of more blog post ideas.

I almost got a month’s worth of blog post ideas from watching other people’s YouTube videos.

I got ideas based on the videos’ titles and what the people said within their videos.

IMPORTANT: I only wrote down the ideas as I thought of them. I did not do a detailed outline for any of them until I was done with my brain dump. If I needed to remember important details for the outline, I included a link to the video next to the blog post idea.

#2: Outline Your Blog Post Ideas

Now that you have your ideas, there is just one step before you actually write the content. That step is to outline your blog post ideas in advance.

Outlining your blog posts in advance makes it easier for you to write the content. That’s just how they work.

Instead of thinking about what you are supposed to write about next, you are thinking of ways to improve your content while you write it.

Deep, huh?

And the best part about outlines is that they don’t have to be so detailed. The outlines for all of my blog posts consist of the following:

Blog post title

All of the methods I discuss

That’s it. I almost never account for mentioning examples. I think of any of the examples I include in my blog posts as I write them.

Don’t go crazy with a blog post outline. Let your mind do most of the work as you type your blog posts.

Regardless of how long it takes for you to construct your outline, you will save yourself time in the writing process.

And you definitely won’t be staring at the white blank screen. You’ll be staring at the white screen with text flying across the page.

#3: Just Write

Your outlines are now done. At this point, you simply write the content. Your outline is the guide and now it is up to your mind to wander.

The more experience you have with writing in this style, the easier it will be for you to provide valuable content. I am able to write this content right now without stopping because that’s how quickly my mind can operate.

I didn’t mean to sound boastful there, but it’s a testament that the more practice you have with writing content, the easier it will be for you to speed-type and speed-think.

An important thing to know about writing content is that you can provide valuable content even if you type rapidly. Typing rapidly just means you have a lot to say about your topic and is a testament of your expertise.

Less thinking more writing.

But remember, you are just writing. You are not looking back at your past blog posts or going on the web for anything.

If you need to add a picture to your blog post, do that after you write it. Take a look at this picture:

I didn’t stop writing, go on the internet, and get that picture. I continued writing and then leaved a space in that particular section that read “[PIC OF WRITING]”

PIC being short for picture (I want to get back to writing my content as quickly as possible) and ALL CAPS so it’s nearly impossible for me to miss.

I will even put it on it’s own line just to make sure I can’t miss it even if I am skimming through my blog post.

Any distractions that can get in the way of the writing flow must be eliminated. When I am writing my blog posts, I will Force Quit Safari and Mail.

That way, I can’t be distracted by a new message in my inbox or something I want to see on the web.

I was almost distracted from writing this very blog post because I wanted to check something on the web (I forgot to Force Quit Safari).

Then I Force Quit Safari and was able to continue writing this blog post without stopping.

It can be annoying to remove those types of distractions, but you’ll get used to it with practice.

#4: Proofread Your Blog Post

Once you are done writing all of your blog posts for the day, you must then proofread them. That way, you make sure there are no careless mistakes and you include all of the pictures where you need them.

However, you are not writing a blog post, proofreading a blog post, and then writing the next blog post.

You only proofread your blog posts when you are done writing for the day. That way, you don’t have to switch from one frame of working to the other frame of working.

Keep switching too often and you won’t be able to write blog posts as rapidly as you desire.

If you find proofreading to be a pain, you can always hire someone from UpWork to do that for you. If you hire a proofreader, that says nothing bad about your writing.

Hiring a proofreader allows a different set of eyes to look at your content, and that decision will open up more time for you to write more content.

In Conclusion

The writing slump is a pain. We wonder what we will write about next. It especially becomes difficult because bloggers don’t want to write repeat content.

You get through the slump with an intense brain dump. The brain dump is the most important part of the process because the more intense your brain dump is, the more ideas you will have to play with.

I would rather have 20 solid blog post ideas at my disposal than three solid blog post ideas at my disposal.

Having more ideas gives me the power to write more content without stopping.

What are your thoughts about this strategy for thinking of more blog post ideas? Do you have any tips for coming across more blog post ideas? Sound off in the comments section below.

3 Things You Must Know About Your Visitors

January 27, 2016 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Getting more traffic has been engrained into every blogger’s mind. We want more people to see our content. We want to double our blog traffic only to then want to double it yet again.

This idea of constantly wanting to double your blog traffic is the Ambitious Blogger’s Mindset. However, if bloggers only focus on getting more traffic, then they are missing the entire point.

If your traffic keeps on doubling month after month and you eventually get hundreds of thousands of visitors per month, then your blog is in phenomenal shape.

However, if you focus more on the number of visitors than who is actually visiting your blog, then you are missing a grand opportunity.

Getting a lot of visitors but not knowing who your visitors are is just like having the key to a Lamborghini and driving it into a brick wall.

To best serve your visitors with your content and products, you must know who these visitors are. Knowing a handful isn’t enough.

You need to know certain things about every ideal visitor who goes on your blog. These are the three most important things to know:

#1: Their Interests

What do your visitors want to learn more about? The answer to that question must impact the types of blog posts you write. People who go on this blog want to learn more about digital marketing.

However, I want to get as specific as possible. What digital marketing advice do they want the most? Do they want more about Twitter or more about Facebook?

There are several ways to discover what your visitors are interested in. You can give them a quick survey with 1-3 questions where you simply ask them what they want to learn more about.

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of creating a survey (it’s really easy on Survey Monkey), you can go ahead and create a Twitter poll.

Twitter polls are great ways to engage with your audience and get their opinions about virtually anything.

Twitter-Poll-Getting-Engagement

Creating the right polls will allow you to learn more about what your audience wants. You’ll also get a lot of responses in a short period of time. While writing this blog post, I decided to create a Twitter poll just to test it out.

In less than five minutes, I had a few dozen votes.

But not only do you want to know what your audience is interested in. You also want to know what they want from you.

And also what they think when they hear your name.

There are few better ways to discover what your audience thinks about you than by conducting a Google search of yourself.

Google Search Marc Guberti

I see “Marc Guberti Udemy” and “Marc Guberti Twitter” as the two main Google searches. That means people primarily know me for what I do on Udemy and for what I do on Twitter.

Since Udemy showed up on top of Twitter, I decided to conduct a search in Udemy’s search engine to see what showed up for my name. I was SHOCKED to say the least:

Udemy Search Marc Guberti

“Instagram Marc Guberti” was one of the top search terms. Not Twitter, Pinterest, or any other social network. The top search term (other than just my name, which by the way is spelled with an “i”) included the word Instagram.

And the Twitter poll suggests something completely different. We live in a funny world.

I then tried typing “Instagram M” to see what would come up. Sure enough, “Instagram Marc Guberti” was one of the top three search terms.

I have written a few blog posts about Instagram. Never have I created a training course about Instagram. If I had a training course about Instagram, I would appear as the top course for one of the most searched terms with “Instagram” in it.

Here’s my interpretation: People want to watch a course created by me about Instagram so badly that they will search for it using Udemy’s search engine even when they don’t see an Instagram course in my profile.

So creating an Instagram course is now a top priority. If I did not conduct this search, I would have never known that so many people wanted me to create a course about Instagram.

Until I create that course, courses created by other people will rank high for the search term “Instagram Marc Guberti.” The irony is blaring, but the solution is obvious.

#2: Their Desires

Once you know about your visitors’ interests, then it is easy to pinpoint their desires. A business owner would be interested in Instagram because that business owner wants to use Instagram for his/her business.

Finding specific interests is the hard part. Once you discover what your audience is interested in, finding their desires is much easier. You simply ask why your visitors would be interested in a specific topic.

The business owners interested in social media want to use it to generate social proof, grow their audiences, and get a strong ROI.

It doesn’t take long to connect the dots once you know what your audience is interested in. Once you connect the dots, you create products and write blog posts that match your audience’s desires.

#3: Where They Go

Even your most dedicated visitors will not be on your blog 24/7. They have other commitments in their lives.

I wish I could read Seth’s Blog forever, but when I have to write my own blog posts (or my dog barks a few times at the door indicating she has to do her thing), I have to stop reading his blog posts.

We can’t account for the times when our visitors leave our blogs to do things like write their own blog posts or walk their dogs. However, we can see which blogs they visit.

While I spend a good amount of time reading Seth’s Blog, I also spend time going through Jeff Bullas’ Blog, the Kim Garst Boom Social Blog, and a few others.

That’s the type of data you need to know about your visitors. Which blogs do they visit before and after yours? Alexa lets you see this type of information, but for a monthly fee (but you’ll get a lot of other valuable info too).

The free way to see where people go before and after visiting your blog is by seeing what your followers share with their audiences.

They may be sharing your blog posts, but what other blogs are they promoting? You can either figure this out on your own by going through all of the people’s accounts that mentioned you, or you can outsource the work to someone else.

When a task involves a good portion of my time, I go with outsourcing. Every. single. time.

In Conclusion

Getting blog traffic is good, but who is actually visiting your blog? Once you know more about your visitors, you will know how to better serve them and get them to come back for more of your content.

Getting traffic is at the forefront of many bloggers’ minds. This goal, combined with knowing who your visitors are, will result in returning visitors who come back for your blog posts again and again.

What piece of information do you believe is the most important thing to know about your visitors? Do you believe we must know other information about the people within our audience? Sound off in the comments section below!