What Topic Should You Blog About?
I spent some time yesterday manning the live chat interface we have running on the Become A Blogger Premium sales page.
The live chat is a little innovation Gideon and I came up with to help any person who is reviewing our sales page by making ourselves available to answer any questions live.
At any given point in time around 30 to 50 people are viewing our sales page during this week, while the program is open. Being available to answer questions live is a great way to help these people decide whether our program is right for them, but it also gives us valuable feedback on where people are “stuck” in their decision process.
We don’t man the chat 24/7, but whenever we are online and particularly just after we send an email about the program, we are there. When we’re not there, we just remove the chat interface.
I strongly recommend you consider some kind of live support during a launch campaign or even in general on any sales page. Demonstrating your commitment to your customers and showing your availability at the point of purchase, is a powerful persuasion tool.
What If You Don’t Know What To Blog About?
During the time I spent on the chat yesterday morning there was a common theme of questions.
The biggest “sticking point” people are facing when considering becoming a blogger is what topic to cover. The language used to describe the issue varied and included the following -
- I don’t know what topic to write about
- I’m not an expert at anything
- I don’t know whether my topic can be profitable
I really feel there is a strong insecurity and a general lack of understanding around what makes a profitable topic. This is a unique challenge for bloggers, because we don’t necessarily have a product to sell, especially when you first begin. In essence, your content is your product, and if you choose a product no one wants, then obviously you’re not going to make money.
The Subtle Elements Behind Choosing The Right Subject
I’ve long been a student of niche marketing and the initial choice of topic for a blog is the same as choosing a niche for any business. You’re choosing what market to enter with the hope of success, whatever that success is for you.
In most cases success includes some kind of monetary reward, but with blogging it’s a bit different, because for many bloggers, it’s just as much about creative expression, recognition and reputation as it is about raw dollars. You have to consider your potential to make money and whether you want to immerse yourself in that industry to potentially become an expert.
People don’t always look at blogging as the path to preeminence. Some just create a blog, stick some adsense on it, get some content created through outsourcers, then move on to the next blog. I’ve never been about this method because it lacks a soul. It’s purely about money and not about passion, and I don’t see that as something that will last long term.
It’s worth studying this method however because the people who use it are very good at figuring out where the money is, which unfortunately for those of us who focus on passion, often struggle the most with. There are plenty of struggling bloggers with a lot of passion and no dollars, so you owe it to yourself to use whatever resources you have available to make sure you’re not one of them.
The holy grail of blogging is a mix of what you love and what you can get paid for - and paid really well. Most book authors never make money from their work, yet with a blog you can put in as much effort as you would to write a book, and end up with a very cash positive asset. Best of all you can do this independently, from your home, without the need of distribution from a publishing company, who would take a large chunk of your profits.
I’m Going To Help You Find A Topic
Since I see the issue of topic selection such a major problem for people, especially those entering the blogging game for the first time, Gideon and I have decided to do something special for the new members of Become A Blogger Premium 2.0.
If you join before we close on Friday at midnight EST US time, you will qualify for a special live coaching session we’re going to do with this group if students to specifically address the challenge of topic selection.
The coaching will be live and we will do it next week once the program begins in earnest after we shut the doors to new members. This is ONLY for members, the public will not be invited and it will be focused 100% on the issue of topic selection. I hope we can also help some people live on the call by having a dialogue with anyone struggling to find a good topic.
There’s already resources in the program to help with topic selection, but I see this issue as something where you need as much help as you can get, including a chance to ask me and Gideon directly for help, so we’ve decided to put in the extra effort.
Once you have your topic, the rest of the blogging process can be quite straight forward. It takes work of course, but you will be comfortable because you will know what you stand for and who you are trying to talk to. That’s the magic of clearly understanding your audience and what you want to be to them.
If that sounds good to you, sign-up today so you qualify for the coaching session…
www.becomeablogger.com/signup/
I’ll speak to you soon,
Yaro Starak
Blog Mentor
PS. If you want to read more from me on the subject of niche selection, check out of my previous article - How To Simplify The Niche Selection Process
Do You Want To Become A Professional Blogger?
Back in 2004 when I started blogging there really wasn’t anything such as a professional blogger. Those who were making money as a blogger weren’t talking about it… yet.
Over the next two years the idea of blogging for money, possibly even as a career, became a reality. Blog networks started up paying bloggers a salary, thanks to programs like Google Adsense generating income became easier for the average Internet user, and eventually blogging went mainstream.
Today thousands of bloggers make money and while the number of those who do it as their main job is small in comparison to the number of blogs in existence, for those who realize the lifestyle of a professional blogger, life is good.
I never intended to make money as a blogger when I started. It was an experiment aimed solely at gaining more traffic from search engines. Little did I know that my blog would eventually become my business and just a few short years later I’d sell off all my other businesses just to pursue blogging.
Today my blog has helped pay for my house, my car, an 8 month trip around the world and I’ve just purchased a plush two bedroom apartment in my favorite suburb, where I will be moving to next month just before my 30th birthday (pictures coming soon!).
Needless to say, I am extremely blessed by what blogging has done for my life, and part of my mission as a blogger is to help other people realize similar benefits and freedoms thanks to blogging. Here are some of the resources I offer that can help you follow in my footsteps…
Would You Like To Become A Blogger?
If you’re interested in starting your own blog, the first thing I recommend you do is go to the free video training site Gideon Shalwick and myself provide for absolute newbie bloggers called “Become A Blogger” -
This site offers ten free videos that take you from zero, to setting up an optimized WordPress blog (and if you go to the blog portion of the site, you will find some additional free videos that give away even more powerful secrets to successful blogging).
While you are at the Become A Blogger site, make sure you download the free report - The Roadmap to Become A Blogger - which is a solid introduction to what it takes to build a successful blog.
Pay particular attention to the second half of the report where Gideon, who is an expert at leveraging social media, especially video, takes you through a series of techniques we call the “X-Factor”.
X-Factor techniques are particularly powerful leverage tools that combine multi-media with social media to bring traffic to your blog. In today’s online marketing world, if you don’t leverage new media when building your blog, you’re going to struggle to stand out from the crowd, which is exactly why we offer the “X-Factor” techniques to teach you how to be better than “average” blogger.
You can download the Roadmap report in both text and audio here -
www.BecomeABlogger.com/roadmap/
I strongly recommend you watch the free videos, get your blog set up and then devour the Roadmap report in one sitting (or listen to the audio version). You will then be a in a great starting position, better than most people who begin blogging, to really profit from your efforts.
Follow a roadmap and you are much more likely to succeed, especially if you are very new to the blogging game and want your hand held along the way.
Become A Blogger Premium 2.0 Opens Next Week
Next Monday, June 29th, for five days only, Gideon and I are opening up Become A Blogger Premium 2.0, the latest updated version of our introductory video training program for bloggers.
This course had over 1,000 students complete the training over the past six months (the best retention rate of any of my programs).
Now that the program is finished, the entire course is there laid out, including over 60 videos with discussion on each video, a private forum for members only, plus all the additional resources we offer like live group coaching calls twice a month with me and Gideon, master the mindset audio series and more.
The videos are split into two types -
- Strategy presentations from me where I lay out my system for successful blogging to you
- Practical how-to videos presented by Gideon, who teaches you the step-by-step to set-up and optimize your blog, and how to implement the techniques we teach
We’re now ready to begin training the next group of eager bloggers and I’m inviting you to work with me and Gideon over the next six months (if you haven’t already!). This time we’re opening the doors only for five days and then shutting down. If you want in, you have to decide next week.
This program really is for beginners who want to learn the how-to of successful blogging. If you’re confused by technology and blogs and websites, etc, and want your hand held throughout the process and prefer to be shown visually through video, there is no better blog trainer than Gideon and the resources inside Become A Blogger Premium 2.0.
If you don’t believe me, go watch the first ten free videos we give away -
If you like the style of presentation in those videos, are eager to learn more (and DO more) and want to work closely with someone who is currently living out the professional blogger lifestyle, then stay tuned for next week to claim your spot in Become A Blogger Premium 2.0, the last public run through of the program for 2009.
I’ll have more information for you later in the week. For the time being, go watch the videos and read the Roadmap, it’s a brilliant report.
www.BecomeABlogger.com/roadmap/
Yaro Starak
Professional Blogger
Advanced Affiliate Marketing Strategies For Bloggers
Affiliate marketing is, and will likely always remain, my favorite method for making money online. At the risk of repeating myself, here’s why every blogger should get into the affiliate marketing game -
- You make a margin per product sale that is often as good or better than the person or company that produces the product
- You don’t have to do any product fulfillment, handle cancellations or any customer service whatsoever
- You have a huge range of products to choose from in most mainstream product categories
- You can enter new niches any time you like with zero switching cost, simply by finding a new product to promote as an affiliate (this is for those of you who like variety)
- If you have a product of your own, one of the best ways to get affiliates to promote your product is to make sales of their product as an affiliate first (this is a big one!)
I could go on, but let’s state the obvious and most important aspect: Affiliate marketing is great because you can make very good money for very little effort.
Don’t get me wrong, it requires effort to get to a situation where you can make money as an affiliate, but once you are there the actual process for making money is very, very simple. It’s as easy as writing a blog post or sending an email.
It’s Like Printing Money
I remember about four years ago reading all those hyped-up sales pages from Internet marketers, and I come across the phrase “it’s like printing money”.
I’ve never been a hater of sales copy, although obvious hype agitates me just like anyone else. I certainly believed that some people were enjoying a situation where they could just send emails and make big money, but I was personally very far away from that. Jealousy mixed with depression about my own results, were the dominant emotions I felt at the time when I read what other people were achieving apparently so easily.
My first attempt at “printing money” as an affiliate was with my blog when it was about six months old. I put in a couple of hours to write a blog post about Perry Marshall’s Definitive Guide To Google AdWords and managed to print about $20 in commissions - one sale.
I was disappointed given it had taken me six months of consistent work on my blog to make that $20, however I was also encouraged. I could see given enough time and energy, that $20 could be $200 and then $2,000 and even $20,000. Today I have the audacity to believe it could be $200,000 one day too.
Fast forward to the year 2009 and the first six month’s of affiliate promotions have gone like this…
What Motivates A Purchase?
Over the last week I attended three very different live events, although they all focused on the same thing - making money.
The first one was Roger Hamilton’s introduction night, a free event he puts on as a feeder to his 3-day workshop and breakfast pitch.
I’ve heard of Roger before, but I had some misconceptions. I thought he was one of the older crowd of “legacy” business folk still doing the speaking circuit. I was surprised when he turned out to be a younger fellow, with a unique accent (he is a strange combination of Hong Kong plus Scotland).
On Friday I attended the Andrew and Daryl Grant Sydney workshop and did my usual two presentations, one on website flipping and the other on blogging. The Grants put on a four day show that is unlike any other event I’ve been to, and is definitely more suited to my style (I’ll explain why in a moment).
On Saturday I popped into a Christopher Howard managed event, that brought together some well known Internet marketers, both locals and overseas speakers, including John Carlton, Brad Fallon, James Schramko and Ari Galper. This event is your typical pitch fest, with two hour sessions for each speaker ending with a sale for a $2,000+ product.
The Psychology Behind The Sale
I’ve been to many business events, some that were free, some I paid money for as part of coaching programs. It’s very interesting to observe the different psychology behind each event, especially when it comes to how they go about making sales.
All three events I attended during the last week were technically free to attend. Although there are pricing structures, in most cases you can score yourself a free ticket in some way. The organizers of these events do not profit from the seminar entry fees, rather it comes from money made when a person orders a product sold at the event.
I noticed three key elements were used as selling tools at each event, however they were applied in different ways. Here is how I observed each of the selling psychologies at the events…
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
Press play and watch the video for some important lessons I learned about how I was the reason my business took so long to get off the ground and how I could leverage who I am to increase my online earnings.
Once you’ve watched the video, read below for more information about the two programs coming out and the special bonuses I’m offering.
Get Out Of Your Own Way
On June 11th Rich Schefren is opening up the doors to his Guided Profits System 2.0, only the second release of this course. As you likely know already, Rich has been a huge influence on me, in particular for one reason: He teaches how to get out of the way of yourself so your business can grow.
What I really admire about Rich is how he’s been able to build a business that truly functions without him. He even has a CEO that runs the business so he can focus on his strengths (i.e. the fun stuff he enjoys). His company does ten figures a year now (that’s over $10 million), which is truly amazing considering it didn’t exist just a few years ago.
I paid him $5,000 back in 2007 to go through his coaching program and to this day I consider it one of the best investments I made in Internet business training.
Discovering what your strengths are and finding out what constraints are holding you back, are the keys to success with any business. This is an area that is particularly relevant for us online business people because there isn’t really anybody else out there teaching this. Most of us do not intuitively understand that we shouldn’t be doing certain tasks and we aren’t even aware of how we hold our business back. Rich’s course is very good at helping you to discover what you don’t know you don’t know.
I endorse Rich’s program 100% and invite you to join via my affiliate link. I’m offering almost $2,000 worth of bonuses if you do so (see below). I recommend you consider Rich’s course if you already have a business and are in a situation to focus on yourself over the next 30 days as you go through his program.
Be True To Yourself And Others Will Love You
On June 12th Frank Kern is releasing the final 800 copies of his Mass Control 2.0 (yes everyone has a 2.0 nowadays). I don’t know if Rich and Frank talked to each other about launch dates, but hey, I love both these guys so I’m going to tell you about both of them in one blog post!
Why I love Frank is his ability to connect with his audience as a likable genuine guy. Not everyone loves him of course, but one thing is clear - he is by far the very best Internet marketing guru that can connect with people on a human-to-human level. Frank comes across as a “normal friend” and because you naturally like the guy, you naturally feel comfortable buying from him.
That in itself is a huge lesson and if there is one big take away from Frank is that you can - and should - be yourself when you market online if you want a strong relationship with your audience. As a blogger, we get this. To blog well, you blog as yourself.
Through the use of video Frank has taught how to use every day aspects of your life as a selling tool, which is something I’ve replicated after learning from him.
Frank’s opened up Mass Control several times previously and I’ve not purchased it, but this time with only 800 copies left, I’m buying. I’ve probably learned about as much from Frank as I have from any marketer in the last year or so, especially when it comes to relationship development and launch techniques.
Jeff Walker has the best product launch “formula” but Frank has the best strategy and techniques for influencing real human beings, who sit behind their computers and read your emails and blog posts.
If you want to learn more about how to effectively use email, blog posts, video or any form of online communication as a persuasion tool, Frank is the man, and since persuasion is my craft too, it’s about time I bought Mass Control 2.0.
If you’re interested in grabbing one of those last 800 copies of Mass Control 2.0 as well, I’m offering the same bonus as I am for Rich’s course, if you order through my affiliate link below.
