Photo courtesy of Bootbearwdc
Many entrepreneurs see people like John Chow and Shoemoney making tons of money on the internet, so they assume they can too. They write blogs and form consulting companies. They try to improve their SEO, buy the best logo, and spam comment on every blog they see. Additionally, they submit their articles to Digg and Stumbleupon and hope for the best.
Unfortunately for them, most of them fail and I’m going to tell you why.
- Search Engine Optimization is GREAT when you have over 500 pages in your archive worth indexing.
- Commenting is GREAT when you have something to leave other than your homepage link.
In short, they are doing the right things at the wrong time. So, lets review the right things for new bloggers.
Same Niche, Different Day
You could spend hours looking for the perfect niche, but by now, every niche is taken. So, you need to pick the same niche, and absolutely destroy it with incredible content. Your content has to be so awesome that you would be willing to tattoo it on your face.
Tip: For each one of your articles, ask yourself, would I be willing to etch this into my body and live with it the rest of my life? If you answered anything other than “heck yes,” you need to rewrite your article.
Focus on the Product
Just imagine how awesome your computer would be if it automatically updated with the latest hardware and software every single day. It would be fast and have all the latest features of all your favorite programs. It would be great, but unrealistic.
However, with blogging, you can distribute new features and functionality daily to your die-hard readers. You can start delivering the only product in the world that updates every single day of the week. It’s cheap (free) and worthwhile (valuable).
Tip: Have you heard the traditional saying that “your blog is your brand?” Well, scrap it. Instead, you need to realize that your blog is your product and you can release new features daily.
The Bottom Line
You may notice this list is short, but this short little list is complete. You could focus on the the 40 Ways to Deliver Killer Blog Content, but without my two important things, it just won’t matter. So, what are you going to do about it?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh wow. This is the most awesome-est article you have written so far that has benefited me the most.
You give people the two most crucial information and remind people that content is still indeed king.
Search Engine Optimization is really not useful because you don’t have anything to rank for. Once you’ve gotten some authority, then people will start noticing you and try to search you up.
Caroline middlebrook has also become successful by using commenting to promote her website and now people are flocking to the comments section and using it as a promotion tool rather than a tool to network and help other bloggers.
Great post. Stumbled !
STUMBLED!
Good post, definitely 2 of the most important aspects of blogging.
@Trevor Thanks for the feedback!
@Geoserv Now if only more people would listen…
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