Darren Rowse, also known in the Internet world as ProBlogger, is one of the top bloggers I read on a pretty consistent basis. I “stumbled upon” an article today written by one of his bloggers titled “9 Tips to Start Blogging Successfully“. It lists some good tips, of which I want to focus on two in particular:

1. Marketing Your Blog is Hard Work: So you mean running an online business isn’t a “turn-key” “get-rich-quick” thing?  Ha Ha!  Shoemoney had some straight forward things to say about that. Mark Twain said it best, “The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.”  Just like anything that’s worth pursuing, running a blog, an online business, or building your current business will take strategy, thought, effort and WORK.  Work is defined as “exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something.”  I’ve worked with hundreds of clients over the last few years and the majority say they want to change their financial situation by creating a new stream of income.  The question I have is, “Are you ready to do what it takes to see the results you want?”  Make sure you keep in mind that it’s important to work smart, not just hard.
2. Research, Read, Reflect: I think one of the toughest things about starting a blog is most of us don’t know what we can write about.  We think we have to reinvent the wheel or come up with breakthrough information.  Many of the blogs I read analyze the news, talk about their kids from time to time, or just share a frustration or gripe about whatever.  Do they still get tons of traffic and make good money?  Yes, mainly because they do these three things: research, read, and reflect.  The best bloggers are always looking for something new to associate to their area of expertise.  They’re always reading articles, making comments, and then creating their own blog post that agrees with, contradicts, or takes a spin on what was shared elsewhere.  Reflection at its best.

So now the question is, where do I start looking for information to blog about for my online business?  Ever heard of Google?  Google even breaks things down into News, Blogs, Video, etc.  Go to these sources, type in one of your top keyword phrases, and start your research.  Take notes, bookmark articles, and then combine ideas, put a spin on them, or take an opposing stance.  Don’t forget to source where you got the information: in many cases this can help you start getting your name out there even quicker than you think.

The more you practice blogging about your area of expertise, the better you’re going to get.  This concept is the same for article writing, press releases, or anything else related to online marketing. Practice really does help us become the best at what we do.

Just like one of my favorite quotes states:

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. - Robert Collier

Keep me posted about your success!  Expect It!

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Like the Dalmations - this is post #101 at MollerMarketing.com! Why is that such a big deal? It’s not really - just a small milestone. Last year I finished the year with about 90 posts. This year I plan to at least do 120 posts - that’s only 10 per month, 2.5 per week. I’ve found that the more you post, the easier it is to come up with new ideas to share with your target audience.  You start walking around the house thinking, “I could blog about that…” or watching TV and saying, “That would make such a controversial blog post…”  I know, kinda crazy, but it’s amazing how powerful blogging can be as a marketing tool.

In the near future I’ll be sharing something I learned recently about the beauty of podcasting and how it ties in to blogging and content creation.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for all your comments, subscriptions to my RSS Feed, and feedburner email subscriptions.  If there are topics you’d like to learn more about, please send an email to mollermarketing (at) gmail (dot) com.

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One of my favorite marketing blogs is by Andy Beal and his crew at MarketingPilgrim.com. They share online industry news, facts, figures, and their opinions about what’s happening in the world of search and online marketing. Since I’ve subscribed to their blog via an RSS feed, I found this new contest they are promoting to get more subscribers. Here it is:

All you have to do is subscribe to Marketing Pilgrim via either daily email updates or our RSS feed. If you love getting the latest breaking internet marketing news–and some opinion along with it–you should really consider subscribing anyway. Now you have an added incentive! (Here’s what you could win…)

Some of you may be asking, “Why are they doing this?” Good question. Here are my thoughts - they want to build their subscriber list, which in turn can help them monetize their site even more. The bigger the database of contacts one has, the more potential they have to cross promote, sell sponsors and really get to a new level fairly quickly.

I currently work with a client, Mark K., who is really understanding this concept. He is a radio announcer by trade and has developed a unique database over time in his field. That database is something he’s now using effectively to market his site. That database also has helped him “monetize”. Within the last 45 days he’s made almost $2,000 in commissions, products, and sales.

He and I are both realizing that the more he leverages the already established opt-in list, the more he can capitalize on what he has. This leverage is also beneficial to his list: they get great reviews and discounts on products he is promoting. The comment I made in regards to Andy’s contest was this:

Will be fun to hear about how many new subscribers you get from a competition like this and what that does for the company.

This is the reply:

Currently 8,824 subscribers. Up 45 since yesterday, which is a 0.5% increase. I didn’t get a pre-contest count so the total lift is most likely higher.

As you can see, the list is already growing; the bigger the number of opt-ins, the better!  Now, what are you going to do today to build your database?

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