A 12-step process for starting a business blog packed with vital and actionable information.
Gateway Blogging is a new way to think about and run a business blog so that you strengthen your relationship with customers and get more business.
I’m so excited about what’s just around the corner that I can’t wait. I’m giving you a sneak peek at some wonderful improvements and new things ahead for you, my readers and clients.
New Logo
I love my new logo! I just have to say that. It was designed by Mohsin, a friend of mine who runs [...]
Every internet marketer is peeing all over themselves trying to get you to download Rich Schefren’s Attention Age Doctrine 2.
Don’t bother. At least, don’t bother until you’ve educated yourself a little more. For free.
Does he understand his own message?
As it turns out, Rich doesn’t seem to understand his own message. This book is only [...]
Blogging, commenting, tagging, and social media are all chief drivers in what’s happening with how people create, think about, and work with information. This brilliant video gave me goosebumps, and I just wanted to share it with you.
Would you like an AdSense click-through rate of 30%? No, that’s not a typo. Hardcore Advice on Making Money with AdSense is by Alan Ocab (Grand Start) on Carl Ocab’s blog, a teenager who knows his stuff. I don’t post about AdSense much, but this is so on the money (pun intended) that I figured [...]
Recent Posts at Blogging Tips
I have a paid writing gig at Blogging Tips, a team blog with a prodigious output of helpful blogging tips every day (it does what it says on the tin, as I like to say). Here is my author page, and here are my recent posts from there:
How a Blog is [...]
One no-fail method for breaking out of blogger’s block is to pick another blog that you really like and say nice things about it.
Seriously, that’s it.
Simple, really. And it works, every time.
Now, you might hate me for this, but I never have any trouble coming up with things to blog about. But [...]
The question isn’t, “How do you turn your blog into a viable business model?” The question is, “How do you turn a viable business model into your blog?”
Hugh McLeod
Blogging is definitely not the best choice if you only care about the money. Compared to other means of building wealth, blogging is slow, the points of [...]
Carlo Selorio. I love this picture. Look at that check!
I was interviewed by Carlo Selorio for his blog Carlo Selorio’s Internet Entrepreneur’s Journey as a part of his Expert Interview Series.
Carlo is doing a very smart thing, here. By interviewing people and putting those interviews on a page, he’s creating a linkable resource for [...]
You can learn some valuable lessons about blogging from Britney. Don’t believe me? Please continue reading, O Skeptical One. Some of these are examples of what not to do, and some of them are positive. And yes, this is all a little tongue-in-cheek.
Looking good helps… a lot
I don’t mean you have to be physically good-looking [...]
Who is really pushing things on their blog? Who stands out as really unique and remarkable? Not many, that’s for sure! Here are 5 that are in my reader that I think deserve a little link love. Some of them have just begun blogging, while others have been around for a bit.
On Moneymaking
On Moneymaking [...]
This post is written by Malaysian grad-student Pelf, who blogs about charity, the environment and volunteerism at The Giving Hands.
Some people blog because they like to write. Some others blog because they need a place to vent their frustrations. Similarly, some others blog because they want to document the ups and downs of their lives. [...]
If your blog had a flavor, what would it be? This is totally just for fun. The thought of a blog having a flavor just popped into my head (in that space where my brain is supposed to be). I took 10 well-known blogs and wrote down my first reaction for what flavor each one [...]
Kissing ass has gotten a bad rap because so many people are bad at it. They’re like amateur magicians that the crowd boos because their tricks are obvious.
Jon Morrow
Advertising will get more and more targeted until it disappears, because perfectly targeted advertising is just information
Dave Winer
In many of the programs I present, I ask my [...]
Think all the home oriented blog niches are completely saturated? Think again! The cocooning and home-as-sanctuary trend will only continue to grow. Here are twenty home-related blog niche ideas. If you use one of these, please let me know. It would make my day! These are in no particular order, just the order in [...]
It’s vitally important to be where your customers are, but how, exactly, do you do that? Here are four actionable suggestions:
1. Forums
Probably the most powerful online method to put yourself in front of your customers and hang out where they hang out is to participate fully in one or two popular forums for your niche. [...]
If a group of golf instructors sat around discussing golf swing techniques and equipment with each other, instead of going out and teaching people how to master golf, how long do you think they would stay in business?
Exactly.
Let me tell you a short little story. Freelance Folder is one of the sites I subscribe [...]
Take My Poll
Choose the most important reason why you blog.
I’m trying to get a sense of the numbers and proportions of bloggers who blog for different reasons, and how those groups break down among my own readers and elsewhere. If you can’t see the poll in your reader, click here to respond to it. Feel [...]
One Million Business Owners
One of my blog coaching clients is business coach Greg Balanko-Dickson. Greg’s the author of two books and has been involved in business and been a successful business coach for many years. In the interest of disclosure, Greg is also my business coach, and we are engaging in a joint venture for [...]
So… do you think all the great blog niches have been taken?
Here is a fantastic example of a blog niche: Vintage Ceramics.
Irine Hoofs, the author, just loves vintage ceramics:
I have always been attracted to vintage ceramics. It combines all things I like about design: prints, colors, illustrations and functionality. Not that I know much about [...]
1. Storytelling
Storytelling is powerful blogging. It’s also powerful marketing and sells without selling — in other words, storytelling isn’t a “hard” pressure tactic form of selling.
In my concept of Gateway Blogging, there are 2 main types of stories:
Process/progress stories
Customer success stories
2. Positioning and branding
In Gateway blogging, you show your potential and existing customers what you’re [...]
We’re always painting this rosy picture of how “leaving my job was the best thing that I could have ever done” and “I’m free now — YAY!” Well that’s a bunch of bullshit and nonsense. In fact, I’m guilty of spreading such propaganda.
David Askaripour
oh mighty Google overlords, take my ads, take my firstborn, take anything [...]
Note: This is a guest post by Cyndee Haydon, a Realtor who is a great example of Gateway Blogging in her niche. Even as the real estate market slows, she’s doing great! I invited her to write a guest post on her experience to show what happens when you do business blogging right and employ [...]
