The Truth About Money Blogging
September 29, 2007
I run a money blog. So does John Chow, so does Darren Rowse, so does Yaro Starak. Most of you are probably also included in this category. What’s my point? There are a LOT of us!
I hear people say things on a regular basis like
“The make money blogging niche is saturated, you’ll never make a dime”
I think that’s complete crap. With 100 million blogs out there, can the market really be THAT saturated? Let’s not forget that there are an estimated 100k new blogs started every day. That’s over 30 million blogs a year! Market saturation? I think not. Let’s dig deeper. Read more
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Study The Very Best
September 28, 2007
If you want to become the very best at anything, you must study the very best.
For example, if you want to build a massively successful blog, study the very best blogs in the world. One great resource to study the Top Blogs is Mequoda’s Top 100 list.
When browsing the list, you’ll find that every conceivable subject is represented, from Newspapers to Magazines from Tech to Celebrity Gossip.
In fact, consistently ranked at the very top of the leader board are TMZ and Perez Hilton, two powerhouse Celebrity Gossip blogs.
Both blogs have even found a way to parlay their online success into real world television shows.
http://daily.mequoda.com/top100/top100.html
The fastest way to shortcut your success is to find an existing successful example that resonates with you, your purpose, your mission, your vision and then model it.
Regardless of your subject matter, if you are trying to build a better blog, the Mequoda top 100 will give you incredible insight and examples you can model for success in your niche.
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Problem Solving the DotComPreneur Way
September 27, 2007
You Don’t Have to Get It Right … You Just Have to Get It Going!
A very big problem for many dotcompreneurs is getting lost in all the details and failing to take action! Sometimes we spend so much time focused on making everything just perfect that we don’t actually make any real progress. Instead, we get caught up in trying to figure something out or make something better or fix one little minor issue. We get so overwhelmed with everything there is to do and everything there is to know that we don’t actually accomplish anything!
Lee and Sachi LeFever are co-founders of a company called Common Craft, which makes short videos to explain complex things in plain English. Lee recently shared a very important insight about problem-solving on his blog:
When we got started with the Common Craft show, it would have been easy to feel overwhelmed. We were stepping into the world of video production and in that world there is a lot to know. Looking back - we had something very valuable on our side: ignorance. We didn’t know what we didn’t know. Had we done all the research and tried really hard to make videos the “right” way from the start, I don’t think we would have been as successful.
So what can we learn from fellow Dotcompreneurs, Lee and Sachi LeFever? Here’s a short list:
- Don’t get caught up in the details.
- Your first attempt at something doesn’t have to be perfect!
- Some things you just have to learn as you go.
- Focus on the big picture, and don’t let the little things hold you back.
- Solve problems when they need to be solved!
PS> The Common Craft Show features some really incredible, short videos (2-3 minutes each) about social bookmarking, social networking, Wikis, and RSS Feeds … all topics that every dotcompreneur should be familiar with!
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Building Pillar Content
September 26, 2007
For a blogger to succeed they must start with a solid foundation. The foundation of your blog all starts with pillar content. Pillar articles or pillar content, is just that, the articles that establish the foundation (or tone) of your blog. Without a few articles establishing a direction, the reader might get lost in the shuffle.
What is Pillar Content?
Pillar content is simply a timeless article (or mostly) that you can link back to when you mention something similar in a future article. It can be a story, a how-to, or even a biography about yourself. The important part to remember when building pillar content is that it has to provide value. These value posts are going to be articles that serve as a reference later, so you need to make it something your readers will want to read.
Why do I need these?
If you just start spewing articles out, there isn’t a solid and defined direction that you are heading. By building pillars, you are in fact adding foundation, framing, and a roof to your blog. Your house couldn’t stand without it’s foundation, and your blog can’t stand without pillar content.
How much pillar content do I need?
As a blogger your first couple of weeks need to be NOTHING BUT pillar articles. Would you read a blog if it weren’t helpful, entertaining, or informative? Probably not. So why would the audience you are targeting? After you have a few of these Pillar Articles built up in your archives, you can move on to do just about anything. Yo
u have a strong foundation, it’s time to build the house. You should strive to create at least one pillar post a week for the first 6 months, but you should never STOP creating Pillar Content, you can just slow down the frequency so that you can write about other things, but don’t ever abandon it completely. Just like any other foundation, it may need maintenance.
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How to Create a FavIcon For Your Site
September 25, 2007
A favicon (which is short for “favorites icon”) is a small image that is used to identify a website in the address bar of a browser; it may also appear next to the title of a web page when it is saved to a user’s favorites.
Below is a list of sites that allow you to create your own favicon:
Favicon Generator - The favicons generated from this site use text instead of images, but you can still change the color of your favicon.
Collabyrinth - If you’d rather paint your own favicon pixel by pixel, this free online tool allows you to do just that.
Favicon Editor - Upload an image and click a button to automatically generate your own favicon!
FavIcon from Pics - Just the like the link above, this tool allows you to generate a favicon from an uploaded image. This site also has a favicon validator (to make sure your favicon has been inserted correctly on your page) and a Buddy Icon Generator.
favicongenerator - Create your own favicon in five easy steps!
GraphicsGuru Favicon Generator - Upload an image, click the generate button and voila, you have a favicon! This site also includes some other useful tools, such as an 80×15 button generator and a Google PageRank button you can put on your website that automatically updates as your PageRank changes.
Once your favicon has been created you will need to upload the file to the root directory of your website and put the following code in the header of your HTML page:
<LINK REL=”SHORTCUT ICON” HREF=”http://www.yourwebsite.com/favicon.ico” />
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8 Keys to Know if it’s Time to Build a Virtual Team
September 24, 2007
One of the best ways to create massive momentum is to leverage the expertise, time, skills and knowledge of others.
Here are some powerful insights from Melanie Benson Strick:
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The Delegation Dilemma: 8 Keys to Know if it’s Time to Build a Virtual Team
During a recent webinar I taught , one of the attendees, Steven, asked, “I’m just getting started in my business. I’ve got lots of bills, tons of work to do but not a lot of income coming in. Would I benefit from building a team?”
Last week, during an interview by my friend and client Kendall Summerhawk, a woman in her program asked, “How do I know it’s time to add more people to my team without losing profitability?”
For the entrepreneur, cash flow is the make or break point. Interestingly enough, many of us will throw thousands of dollars at programs and products that suggest they will make us money but you will hold back from investing in the ONE KEY STRATEGY that is proven to help you achieve a six to seven figure income.
I’d like to help you identify 8 Keys to Know If It’s Time to Build a Virtual Team.
- You want to grow fast but have limited time. This is crucial for people who are still employed, mothers of young children and people with multiple businesses. The fact is, you can only grow as fast as you have time to move your projects forward. A team can execute on work while you focus on other things.
- You have more referrals than you can follow up with. This is a sign that you either: need an assistant to help filter out leads and get them in your funnel or you need to outsource work to others.
- You are doing things that you hate, screw up or procrastinate. After I booked myself to Ft. Lauderdale when I needed to be in Orlando, I realized booking my own travel had to be delegated to my assistant. These tasks will cost you hundreds, if not thousands, until you delegate them to someone who loves the tasks. Bookkeeping, client invoicing, website updating, paperwork all fit here. P.S. That travel mistake cost me $500 extra dollars. =-(
- You need and want more freedom to enjoy your life, but you can’t afford to be away from the business. The right team will be able to handle anything while you are gone.
- You routinely are late, deliver incomplete projects or forget things you promise people. This is a sign that you have too much on your plate. Even delegating email management and phone call follow up can free up 8 – 10 hours a week!
- You are an opportunity addict and don’t want to give that up. Let’s be honest. Some of you are just really good at new ideas and you don’t want that to stop. You thrive on the creative phase. But someone has to implement your ideas – that’s where a team comes in.
- You are a speaker, information marketer, coach, consultant, service professional or business owner with more on their to-do list than time in the day. I guarantee you I can find at least 25 items in your to-do list that could easily and profitably be delegated!
- You truly desire a six to seven figure income. The one thing that every successful person knows is that they could not have done it alone.
Last year I interviewed five 7- figure entrepreneurs who all said, “If I could do one thing differently, I wouldn’t have waited to build a team.”
Ready to build a team but still not sure how to pay for it? Learn how at: Virtual Team Building
About the Coach:
Melanie Benson Strick, The Entrepreneur’s Success Coach, teaches entrepreneurs how to stop feeling overwhelmed so they can create more money, more freedom and more prestige.
If you’re ready to stop working in your business and start working on your business, go to Virtual Team Building to learn the secret to growing your company to a six and seven-figure success without employees or a 90-hour work week!
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Making Connections One Blogger At A Time
September 22, 2007
The easiest way to build a loyal readerbase for your blog is to get out there and start making connections within the community. The Blog-o-Sphere is just that, a community. Just like a real world community, members don’t like neighbors that are bums. Being a bum in the blog community consists of the “me first” bloggers, and nobody cares much for them.
In order to be in it for the long haul, you are really going to have to make a conscious effort to please those around you. The blogging purists are going to tell you that it doesn’t matter, just write for you and others will follow. This is definitely an old-school train of thought. With over 100 million blogs out there, if you write this way, and run your blog in the “me first” manner, what keeps them from ditching your blog from their daily RSS reads as soon as they find another blog similar to yours? “There isn’t a blog similar to mine”… Uh huh, if you believe that, I’d like to sell you these magic beans. Email me, I’ll give you a great deal.
A few easy ways to start building relationships
- Comment on other blogs in your niche. There isn’t a single easier method to build targeted traffic than this dandy.
- Email a blogger just to tell them how much you enjoyed their blog. This goes a long way in feeding an ego. The fastest way to a man’s heart might be their stomach, but the fastest way to a bloggers heart is definitely through their ego!
- Link to other blogs. This might just be the easiest way to gain a reader. When you link to a blog, the other blogger is almost guaranteed to come check it out. As a blogger, we are always curious to read anything with our name in it.
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Are You Just Blogging, or Building a Media Empire?
September 21, 2007
Obviously out of the thousands of blogs that are created each day, few have a Goal of becoming a “media empire.” However, for the more determined, dedicated, driven DotComPreneur, the sky is the limit.
Ben Yoskovitz has obviously made a habit of stuyding successful bloggers. In a recent feature, he profiles Wendy Piersall’s EmomsAtHome blog, which has enjoyed continued success and recently expanded to several channels.
http://www.instigatorblog.com/10-steps-to-building-an-online-media-empire/2007/09/14/
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What is a Blog?
September 18, 2007
The word blog was derived from it’s parent - the weblog. A blog or weblog is basically an online journal that allows you to document your hobbies, passions, thoughts, or day-to-day occurrences for future recollection. As more and more people are starting to realize, the blog is also a valuable business tool. Blog’s make it easy for web novices to start and publish content, without having to toil through learning to design a webpage, or even worse… having to pay for someone to design it for you! The internet god’s have made it easy for you to have an internet voice, without having a “static” webpage.
The Blog as a Business Tool
More and more Dot Com Preneurs are realizing the immense power of the blog. From fortune 500 CEO’s to your next door neighbor, blogs are sprouting up everywhere. With conservative estimates coming in at about 80 million blogs in the blog-o-sphere, and roughly 200,000 new blogs appearing every single day!
So how does a blog become a business tool? Well, there are blogs that exist for just about any topic that you can come up with. From fly-fishing to video games, blogs are in every corner of the internet. However, there are very few blogs that are (less than 10%) of blogs that are correctly optimized to serve your business. And when I say serve your business… I mean make you cash! With so many topics available, why not create a blog that advertises your business, product, or services? It’s easy advertisement, takes less than 30 minutes to create, and you can update it as often as you like with little-to-no web knowledge.
Why Blogs Are Better Than “Static” Webpages
Search Engines - Ever wonder how the search engines decide who gets the top spots? There are a number of ways they calculate what constitutes a “relevant” result (which I’ll cover in a later article), but two factors are how often a webpage is updated, and how many total pages a site encompasses. Since it’s so much easier to produce massive amounts of content, and update a blog regularly, it generally fares much better than a “static” page when it comes to SERP (search engine results placement). This is one of the things that Dot Com Preneurs have recently caught on to.
Ease of Use - When you make something available to the masses that gives them a voice on the internet, people will generally take advantage of it. I can’t stress enough how easy it is to create, maintain, and produce content for your very own blog.
Marketability - With website marketing becoming the fastest growing internet trade, it’s no wonder more and more internet marketers are choosing blogs for the means by which they deliver information. With the right SEO (search engine optimation) techniques, web marketers can now bring their product pages to the front page of major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN. This translates into a significant amount of extra pageviews every month with little-to-no extra work. More money + Less work = Happy Dot Com Preneurs.
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A DotComPreneur’s Multi-Million Dollar Secret to Success
September 18, 2007
“It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction.” Pablo Picasso”
There are so many examples of successful DotComPreneurs to read about and learn from.
Make a habit of spending a few minutes each day studying successful people and look for the distinctions or differences that allow one person or company to thrive in any industry, in every economy. Look for examples of the 80/20 rule. Often there are a small handful of simple nuggets that cause the top 20% of any field to outperform, outearn and outlast the other 80% combined.
The single greatest success factor I repeatedly find is PASSION.
For example, during my habitual success study today, I found a great example of a DotComPreneur’s successful journey (during the notorious dot com bomb era), a time when most other Dot Com’s were failing despite spending millions of dollars, going under, never to be heard from again.
The man behind this particular still thriving success was Psychologist, Neil Clark Warren, and one of the distinctions between his Multi Million Dollar internet business and the others that launched at the same time and failed, is that he chose something he was passionate about. That passion was in the field of relationships, more specifically, identifying the distinctions of marriages that survived long term.
The company is one that you have probably heard of and it is called http://www.eharmony.com
Here are som more specifics about how he made it and why it continues to thrive to this day. (it is an older article, however it brilliantly chronicles how Eharmony.com differentiated itself from the other “dating” sites.
http://www.brandchannel.com/careers_profile.asp?cr_id=53
Currently, eharmony.com boasts:
- 2-3 million unique visitors monthly (Comscore)
- 15 million registered users, growing 10,000 to 15,000 daily
- 200-300 million pageviews
- highest priced among the major services, 250-question profile, logged in users
So Eharmony.com is another example of success that follows when you follow your passion.
Are you pursuing yours?
Jill Koenig
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