How to Accelerate Your Blog’s Growth with a Simple Content Strategy

Be honest for a moment…

When publication day rolls around, do you have a post ready? Or do you frantically scramble at the last minute to figure out what you’re going to write?

When you’re writing guest posts for other blogs, are your topics carefully coordinated and strategic, or scattered and inconsistent?

And what about your efforts to fuel the growth of your blog?

Have you tried several different tactics, such as webinars, Periscoping, and Facebook ads only to see lackluster results?

If so, your blog is suffering from randomness.

Fortunately, there is a cure.

The Certain Cure for Blogging Randomness

No matter how good your instincts are as a blogger, real success comes from careful planning, not a series of in-the-moment decisions.

And that means having a content strategy.

It’s the linchpin that makes everything work together. It’s what helps you build momentum to continue to grow over time.

So what exactly is a content strategy?

Demian Farnworth, chief content writer at Copyblogger, defined it this way:

“a plan for building an audience by publishing, maintaining, and spreading frequent and consistent content that educates, entertains, or inspires to turn strangers into fans and fans into customers.”

Research from Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs shows that those with a documented content strategy consider themselves more effective with their content and social media channels.

But even though the data indicates that a strategy is essential for building a successful blog, the vast majority of bloggers don’t have one. No bueno.

Why Most Bloggers are Allergic to Strategy

Bloggers have an abundance of choices. They have almost no limit to the number of possible tactics that could move the dial on their blog.

But the paradox of choice is that when you have many options available to you, it becomes difficult to choose between them.

Here are a few of the decisions you face when it comes to growing your blog.

First, there’s the medium. Should you only blog? Podcast? Make videos? How about all three?

Then there’s the format. Should your content be long and detailed like the posts here on Smart Blogger? Or should they be short and pithy like Seth Godin’s posts? Or perhaps you should curate the content of others?

And what about frequency? Should you post daily, weekly, or only when you have something truly epic to say?

Then there’s the equally important task of how you drive traffic to your blog.

Here too you have multiple approaches when it comes to figuring out the right plan for you.

The result of having so many options is always the same. You end up paralyzed, anxious, and wasting time.

As a result, your blogging “plan” resembles something like this:

But imagine your results if your plan looked more like this:

When you compare the two, it’s easy to see which approach will likely yield tangible results, and which will leave you floundering in a sea of randomness.

How to Create a Simple but Effective Content Strategy

When I worked my corporate job, our annual business planning was a long, grueling process over the course of four to six weeks.  The good news is creating a strategy for your blog doesn’t require the same level of pain.

All you have to do is follow a framework that charts a clear path to get you to your goals.

1) Begin with The End in Mind

In his classic book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey wrote about the importance of getting clear about where you want to go:

To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.

In building your content strategy, your first choice should be deciding on your objective.

Specifically, you have to get clear about why your blog exists, by defining your ultimate goal.

Smart bloggers blog for a definitive specific reason. What’s yours?

Here’s an example:

“My goal is to build a business that enables me to work from anywhere in the world. Ideally, I’d like to work no more than six hours per day.”

Next, take this “big prize” that you are working toward, and break it down into specific targets you need to achieve to grow your blog along the way. This will help to guide the strategy you create for your content.

Your milestones will vary depending on where you are in your blogging journey. Here are some common ones:

• Build an engaged and loyal fan base who share and comment on your posts
• Reach your first 1,000 email subscribers
• Consistently earn $5k/month

Your strategy may need to adapt as you hit each important milestone, so it’s a good idea to revisit your content plan after you hit each one.

2) Get to Know Your Audience Inside and Out

Every decision with your blog must begin with your readers. You’ve got to consider their likes, dislikes, and needs, as well as their dreams, desires, fears, and frustrations.

If you’re tempted to ignore this step, assuming you know everything there is to know about your audience, don’t. This is the glue that makes everything work.

Some common, helpful advice for getting to know your ideal readers well is to develop personas. Here’s how blog and business writing coach Henneke describes the relationship you should have with your ideal reader:

“Your ideal reader should become like an imaginary friend. You should know your ideal reader so well that you can start a conversation with her at any time. You know when she shakes her head because you say something she doesn’t agree with. You know what makes her smile or laugh. You know the questions she asks. You know how to charm and flatter her.

When describing your ideal reader, don’t just think about demographics like age, gender, income, education, and family circumstances. Do you know what he dreams of achieving? And what keeps her awake at 3am?”

(To find out more about getting to know your readers better than they know themselves, go here, here, and here.)

Once you’ve got a strong handle on who your audience is, you can use that information to guide your content strategy.

3) Design Your Content Conveyor Belt

Your content plan will serve as a “conveyor belt” to help you move your audience along the various steps in the journey that leads you both to your goals.

Here are the typical stages you need to move your audience through:

To effectively move your readers from phase to phase, use the knowledge uncovered in the previous stage to answer the following question:

“What keeps my audience stuck in this phase and what do they need from me and my content to move forward?”

Because when you think about everything you publish not simply as “content” but as a catalyst for a specific change, your approach to blogging will shift.

Great content transforms your readers. And that transformation should progress both you and your audience toward your respective goals. That’s why every piece of content you publish needs to have a purpose.

To induce this change, you need to know what issues are dominating your readers’ thoughts, as well as what they need to move to the next step with you. This will help you determine what type of content to give them.

Matching the right content to where your audience is on their journey with you is critical to helping you get results.

Here’s an example of what types of content works for the various stages:

And here’s an example of that playing out in the real world.

In this guest post on The Change Blog, international best-selling author Stephen Guise uniquely addressed a common burning pain of his ideal reader: getting in shape. As a result, he was able to turn thousands of strangers into readers.

By offering a free chapter of his book on mini-habits, the strategy he wrote about in his guest post, Stephen was able to convert a good number of those new readers into subscribers for his blog.

Every Tuesday morning when he sends an email to his list, he works to turn those subscribers into loyal fans by continuing  to address topics that interest them.

And some of those fans become customers whenever he releases a new book or reminds them of other books and courses he has available that are in line with their needs.

4) Determine the Optimal Format for Your Content

When deciding what content to give your audience, you’ll also have to determine the best format.

There are basic choices such as the medium: i.e., text, audio, or video. But there are tons of other considerations too, including length, use of images, and even if your blog post should be a listicle, case study, or tear jerker.

Before you get overwhelmed, take comfort in knowing there’s a simple way to discover which choices are ideal to help you grow your blog.

Let the data decide for you.

Mining the comments you’ve received on content you’ve already published can give you clues about what your audience is most receptive to.

Andrew Warner at Shade of Info published this long-form post. Based upon the gleeful comments he received, his audience is hungry for more content with the same level of detail.

You could also ask your audience what their preferences are. In this post, Linda Formicelli used a simple survey to figure out if her audience wanted her to branch out into audio and video content.

And in this case study, Andrianes Pinantoan, detailed how Canva used 3rd party data to figure out the ideal post length, type (list post), and even the number of images they should include in every article.

By doing research on their competitors’ most popular posts, using forums to identify new ways to tackle common issues, and capturing insights on what their readers were already sharing, they were able to create a profile of the form their content needed to take if they wanted to grow.

5) Choose the Right Channel for Your Content

As with the format, the objective of each piece of content plays a role in channel selection. If your goal is engagement with your audience, then publishing on your blog or sending an email to your subscribers is the way to go.

If you are trying to reach a new audience, you’ll need to select a channel that lives outside your blog.

Here’s a way to think of which channels are most appropriate for each stage your audience goes through.

Srini Rao, host of the Unmistakeable Creative podcast, publishes blog posts on Medium as a way to get new listeners.

Because creating great content can be so time-consuming, consider publishing different elements into different channels to get as much traction as possible out of the core pieces you produce.

Gary Vaynerchuk swears by this repurposing strategy. From his core content pillars of The #AskGaryVee and Daily Vee shows, he and his team make several pieces of content reach different audiences in different places.

Jay Baer of Convince and Convert does this as well. Three times a week, Jay publishes a three-minute Jay Today video. And each video becomes eight different pieces of content. It’s part of what they call their “atomizing” strategy.

6) Build Relationships with Regular Communications

Have you ever met someone, hit it off brilliantly, then failed to stay in contact afterward?

That relationship would have had a chance to develop if one of you had been more intentional about keeping it going.

In growing your blog, you can’t expect your audience to actively build the relationship. It’s up to you to provide consistent communication to maintain the connection with your audience.

The key is to set expectations so they know when to expect to hear from you.

Ben Settle emails his subscribers daily and is very clear in making sure that people considering signing up to his list are aware of how often he will show up in their inbox.

Even if daily contact seems too much (and it probably will be for most bloggers and audiences), it makes sense to email your subscribers more frequently in the beginning.

Many smart bloggers will automatically add new subscribers to a short welcome sequence before falling into a regular schedule of sending their latest blog content.

Brian Clark sends new subscribers to his Unemployable list a series of three emails as a part of a mini-course, and then transitions into weekly emails.

Once into your normal publishing schedule, the ideal frequency for you and your audience will be determined by a variety of factors, including their preferences, and how much time you need to produce quality content.

Your aim should be to email often enough so that your audience remembers you and is happy to hear from you, but not so much that they are overwhelmed with all your messages.

Danny Iny and his team at Mirasee email their audience six days a week. But for those in their audience who feel like six messages are too much, they give them the option to receive fewer messages.

And if you’re unsure about what the right frequency is for you, err on the side of publishing less often, and make sure that when you do post, it is the best content you can possibly write on the topic.

Here’s Jon Morrow’s take on this issue:

7) Pick the Perfect Promotion Strategy for Your Content

Another major consideration is how you will get people beyond your subscribers to see your published content.

There are six common ways to do that – you can use one approach or some combination, but each has its pros and cons.

Paid Traffic

If you’ve got money to invest, this can consistently bring qualified leads to your blog. Facebook Ads can be complex to setup but very successful once up and running.

SEO

If your content ranks for a relevant term, it can bring a steady stream of traffic from people searching for the topic you write about.

Danny Margulies at Freelance to Win writes about how to make money on Upwork, and he gets plenty of search traffic because he ranks #1 for this term.

However, be careful about selecting SEO as your primary traffic generation strategy, especially as a beginner. Despite the obvious appeal of search traffic, it’s not the best approach for everyone. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore it altogether.

Here’s more Jon Morrow advice for effectively incorporating SEO into your content strategy:

Influencer Outreach

If you know how to build relationships and connect with influencers, having them share your work is a great way to get introduced to new audiences.

Borrowed Audience

Publishing your content on sites or platforms with significant built-in audiences is a popular way to get more visibility for what you produce. Two common approaches for this strategy are writing guest posts and contributing to 3rd party sites like Slideshare.

Email Subscribers

When you have a critical mass of people in your audience, who are also sharers, they can serve as a valuable army, quickly disseminating the word about your content.

Here’s how Smart Blogger encourages their engaged readers to share their posts:

Social Media

Social platforms are designed for sharing and connecting. If you establish a following where your audience hangs out, it can be an excellent way to reach new people and get them back to your blog.

About Meditation uses Instagram to find new readers. Here’s how they strategically use individual posts to get people back to their website:

Here’s the post:

Here’s the call-to-action:

And here’s the link in the bio that leads readers to a landing page on their website:

8) Close the Deal with a Call-to-Action that Converts

The last component of your content strategy often seems like a minor detail, but not giving proper attention to this essential element can mean the difference between reaching your goals or not.

It’s all about conversion. Specifically, the content elements that make it clear what next action you want your audience to take, and making it easy for them to do so.

For instance, let’s say your ideal reader comes across a piece of your content on Twitter. They get to your website, read the content, and love it. Once they’re done, they say “that was great” and off they go, never to be seen again.

You did all the hard work to get your ideal reader to your site, but you didn’t have content in place to close the deal. Shame.

To prevent this unfortunate occurrence, make decisions in advance about what specific content you need to convert your audience to the next step in your continuum.

Here are some examples of the conversion choices you could make in each of your audience stages.

Here’s how Happify uses relevant hashtags to increase discoverability on Instagram.

To turn readers into subscribers, Primility uses an exit intent pop-up box that appears after someone finishes reading a blog post.

To turn subscribers into loyal fans, Marie Forleo encourages her audience to leave comments on her videos and gives explicit instructions on how to do it.

And to help convert loyal and engaged fans into customers, I include a money-back guarantee on my coaching sales page.

In each instance, the bloggers make it clear and easy for their audience to take the next desired step.

Reject Randomness and Create a Simple Content Strategy

It’s time to admit it.

You invest too much time and energy in your blog to accept a ho-hum response.

But the truth is, randomness is killing your chances of success.

Without a coherent strategy for turning strangers into subscribers (and maybe even customers too), you’ll burn out before reaching your destination.

You don’t have to create a complicated plan—you just need to work out what content will move people from one stage to the next.

So, give your blog a simple content strategy and start getting real results.

Your blog deserves it.

Your audience deserves it.

And you sure as heck deserve it too.

About the Author: Sonia Thompson is a content marketing strategist at TRY Business School, where she helps entrepreneurs create and execute plans that get results. Grab your free 5-part email mini-course on the five essentials you need to effectively implement your blog’s content strategy (including a handy-dandy content strategy worksheet). Access it here.

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267 The Ultimate Guide to Protecting Your Blog and Digital Empire

Protect your Blog and Digital Empire

Are you protecting your blog?

Do you feel protected against hacking and identity theft?

In this digital world, we are more susceptible to these things than ever. But in this detailed post, I will share tips for minimizing your vulnerability.

What’s the big deal?

I remember the first time I was hacked. Someone hacked my WordPress site so that all of my traffic was redirected to a spammy site.

I never figured out who did it, but it was a pain in the *** to get fixed.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t my last incident with the malicious part of the web. And there are countless examples of even worse things happening to bloggers.

When I left my job to be a full-time blogger/entrepreneur, I knew that I had to take online security VERY seriously.

If someone messes with my digital life, they are messing with my family’s livelihood. And technology makes it easy for them to do that.

Fortunately, technology makes it easy for me to be proactive rather than reactive. So let’s get to it.

Protect you email

Spammy Emails

This is the biggest point of weakness for most people, and many people don’t realize it. If someone gets access to your email account, they can gain access to many of your other accounts.

All it takes is for them to go to Facebook (or many other services) and use the “Lost Password” feature. Then they can go to your email, change your password and they now have access to your account.

Think social media profiles, bank accounts, and any other service that uses your email as a verification tool.

So here are some tips for protecting your email.

Use Gmail

When it comes to email security, Gmail is on top of it. They are very proactive and have features that help to make you more secure. Yes, there are other email services that do a good job, but this is one that I can definitely recommend.

Never download ANYTHING if you don’t know exactly what it is

If you get an email from someone (even a friend) with an attachment and you don’t know what the attachment is, don’t download it.

Contact them using a method other than email and verify the content of that attachment.

Also, you can verify an attachment by double-checking the extension of that attachment. For example, if it’s an image, the extension would be .jpg or .png. Only download trusted extensions. NEVER download .zip files unless you can verify the contents first.

Turn on 2-factor authentication

2-Step Authentication

This is a security feature used by many services (like Gmail). It requires you to use another component in addition to your password to verify that you are who you say you are.

For example, after entering your username and password, the service can send you a text message with a code that you have to enter to verify your identity.

If a hacker gets access to your account information and tries to log in, they won’t be able to do so unless they have your phone.

A great service for managing 2-factor authentication is Authy. It can be installed on all of your devices and generates security codes that expire every 30 seconds. These codes can be used as the second factor for logging into your accounts.

Listen to the episode for more information on how to use Authy.

Use a Password Manager

Use Password Managers

There are a number of very secure password managing programs out there that will generate strong passwords and then store and encrypt them for you.

These services are 1Password, Dashlane, LastPass and others.

Use one of these services to manage all of your passwords. Here are my tips for using these programs.

Create a strong master password that you won’t forget.

When you use these services, it will have you create a master password that you will use to access the program that stores all of your passwords.

This is the only password you will have to remember. Make it a good one, and don’t forget it.

Create unique, strong passwords for every service.

Try not to use the same password for multiple services. If someone happens to stumble onto one of your passwords, this will minimize the chances of them getting into another one of your accounts.

Install the password manager on all your devices.

This will make it easy for you to access your passwords regardless of what device you’re using. All of the good services are cross-platform, so you shouldn’t have a problem with this.

Change your passwords regularly.

I recommend changing your passwords (especially to key accounts) at least once every three months. This is just an additional measure to be on the safe side.

Never Store Passwords in your Browser

No browser auto-fill or auto-save

While browsers do have some security features, it is not a good idea to store your passwords (or other sensitive information) in your browser.

I recommend disabling auto-filling and saving. Instead, use one of the Password managers I mentioned earlier to manage all of the auto-filling functions.

They do more than just store passwords, and since their business is built around keeping information secure, it’s much safer to bet on them than on your browser.

Never send Sensitive Info via Email or Text

No confidential info

I don’t care who you are sharing the info with or how trusted they are, don’t do it. It’s not that you shouldn’t trust them, it’s that you shouldn’t trust technology.

A great service to use for sending sensitive information is One-Time Secret. It allows you to create a link that can only be used once before self-destructing.

With that link, you can share any information you need to share without the risk of someone retrieving it by hacking someone else’s email.

Create Unique Accounts for Every Service

When registering for a site, you are often given the option to log in via Facebook and give the service limited access to your Facebook account (for example).

Try to avoid this as much as possible. Instead, create a unique account by giving your email and generating a strong password (using your password manager) and keep these accounts separate.

Keep Everything Updated

Update Regularly

One of the downsides of technology is the fact that there are almost always some unplanned security vulnerabilities that make software vulnerable to attack.

Fortunately, if the software (or service) you are using is built and maintained by good developers, they are proactive about finding these vulnerabilities and fixing them.

As a result, software developers usually come up with updates to their software on a regular basis.

One of the ways to make sure that your software is as secure as possible is to update your software whenever there’s a new update.

This goes for WordPress, any apps you may use (on any devices), and even your operating system.

Listen to the episode to hear about the potential downsides to doing this.

Have a Strong Backup System

Let’s assume you are doing all of the things I’ve mentioned so far. That’s great. However, you are not 100% secure. In fact, 100% security doesn’t exist.

There’s still a chance that you’ll get hacked, or that something will go wrong with your WordPress site.

In the event that something bad happens to your site, you want to make sure you have a strong backup system. You can always revert to what your site was like before the incident, and then everything goes back to normal (in most cases).

Check with your hosting company.

This is the first thing I recommend for you to check. Depending on the hosting service you use for your blog, they might already have a robust backup system. If that’s the case, you’re good to go.

Use WordPress-specific backup systems.

If your hosting company doesn’t have a robust backup system, I highly recommend for you to check out the following WordPress plugins/services:

• VaultPress – This is a service that was created by Automattic, the company behind WordPress. It provides a continuous backup of your WordPress site that enables you to easily revert to an older version of your site at a click of a button. It’s the easiest system out there, but there’s a monthly fee associated with it. They make the $5/month pricing a little tricky to find, but you can find it here.
• Backup Buddy – This is a WordPress plugin that accomplishes the same thing as VaultPress, but it’s a little trickier to setup. You can backup your site to Dropbox, your own computer, or other locations. Also, it’s a one-time fee to purchase it and then you’re good to go.

Get Business Insurance

Get Insurance

If you are running a business, it’s important to have business insurance. Liability insurance protects you in the case of a lawsuit and property insurance protects your property and equipment.

The service I use for this is Hiscox. The last thing you want is for someone to sue you and you lose it all. Or for someone to rob you and you be out of business. Look into business insurance to be on the safe side.

Miscellaneous Security Tips

I’m going to leave you with two final security tips.

Tip 1 – Use the WordFence Security plugin. This plugin has a bunch of security features for your WordPress site, including two-factor authentication. Check it out.

WordFence

 

Tip 2 – Use MacID (Mac only). This is a neat app that I just found that connects you iPhone to your Mac in a way that if you walk away from you Mac, it will automatically lock. To get access to your Mac, you can either enter your password or use the fingerprint reader on your phone. It’s pretty slick.

Mac ID

I’d like to hear from you

Where do you stand when it comes to security. Are you already using some of these tips? Do you feel vulnerable? Let me know in the comments area below.

Resources Mentioned

• Authy – A great service for managing 2-factor authentication
• Password managers:
  • 1Password
  • Dashlane
  • LastPass
• One-Time Secret – A great service to use for sending sensitive information
• WordPress specific backup services:
  • VaultPress
  • Backup Buddy
• Hiscox – offers business insurance
• Miscellaneous security tools:
  • WordFence Security
  • MacID

Infographic

Protecting your Blog

The post 267 The Ultimate Guide to Protecting Your Blog and Digital Empire appeared first on Become A Blogger by Leslie Samuel.

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21 Dumb Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your First E-book

Admit it.

You’ve thought about writing an e-book.

In fact, you’ve already imagined the front cover.

You can see the main title, and underneath, your name.

And when you picture it, you feel a ripple of pride.

An e-book would be a big step up for you as a writer.

Because while blog posts are a great way to express your ideas, you can’t help feeling they’re a little, well, fleeting. Lightweight even.

Whereas an e-book is more substantial. It’s taken more seriously. It has more gravitas.

And having an e-book with your name on the front transforms you from a mere blogger into that more impressive beast – an author.

But how do you become an e-book author without falling victim to the same mistakes that sabotage the attempts of so many other bloggers?

Three Rock-Solid Reasons to Write Your First E-book

Before looking at our list of mistakes, let’s take a quick look at why writing an e-book is not just attractive to many bloggers, but also a smart move.

1) A Valuable E-book is a Powerful Sign-up Incentive for New Subscribers

Does your email list grow s-l-o-w-l-y, with perhaps one or two new subscribers each week … at best?

The truth is that readers are reluctant to hand over their email addresses – even if they love your content. So they may need a little extra nudge to sign up (you could even call it a bribe).

An e-book packed full of valuable content makes a great incentive. If you can offer free information your audience would gladly pay for, you’ll see dramatic improvements in your sign-up rates.

2) A Premium E-book Allows You to Make Some Real Money From Your Blog

When I started blogging, it took me 11 months of writing three to five posts per week to get my first AdSense check for $100.

That’s because in the real world, you need a huge blog to make any real money from advertising.

The following year, I launched an e-book that paid for me to go to the SXSW conference (flights, ticket, hotel and all) … and that e-book continues to sell for me today.

If you’re earning pennies from ads or you haven’t managed to monetize your blog yet, then an e-book could transform your blog from a fun hobby into a real money earner.

3) An Authoritative E-book Positions You as an Expert in Your Field

If you want to build a name for yourself in your field, an e-book is a great way to boost your credibility and authority.

By publishing on Amazon, you can appear literally alongside some of the biggest names in your industry.

In fact, you may find you get more reviews and attention than much better-known authors who are simply less web-savvy.

Why Most E-books Are Embarrassingly Bad

On the surface, writing an e-book seems relatively easy.

Lots of bloggers seem to be doing it, so how hard can it be?

But in reality, most e-books that see the light of day are horrible. Embarrassingly bad.

That’s because your average e-book author doesn’t have a clue about writing a book. And they don’t have any of the support that a traditional author would be given by their publisher.

But producing a quality e-book is almost as hard as publishing a traditional book. The basic tasks are the same. It’s just that you have to do them all yourself.

Which is why avoiding the mistakes that catch most first-time e-book authors is critically important.

Planning Mistakes: How to Doom Your E-book Before You Even Start Writing

Sadly, you can easily cripple your e-book before you’ve even written a word of it. I had two spectacular e-book flops due to the second mistake on this list, and many of the others have cost me valuable time.

So avoid the following dumb mistakes if you don’t want to fall at the first hurdle.

#1: Choosing a Topic You Know Little About

If you want to create a premium e-book , you can be tempted to pick a “hot topic” thinking that’s where the money is.

Likewise, when creating a sign-up bribe, you might think you need to entice readers with the latest information about an emerging topic.

And if you’re publishing on Amazon, it’s easy to think you need to target one of the most popular categories.

But picking a topic like this is a BIG mistake.

If you know little or nothing about your chosen topic, creating an e-book will be a huge amount of work. You’ll have to do a ton of research, interview experts, and perhaps even pay a real guru to get you up to speed.

How to Fix It

Write about something you actually know about – which almost certainly means tying your e-book to your blog’s core topic. You’ll not only save a ton of time on research, you’ll also have a ready-made audience for your writing.

#2: Writing the E-book Your Audience “Needs”

I’ve fallen into this trap myself (twice) and I’ve seen a heck of a lot of other bloggers do the same.

It happens when you realize there’s a topic you know your readers need, and you know you can write the perfect book that will genuinely help them.

Sounds great, but people don’t always know what they need. And your sense of what it is might not be spot-on either.

How to Fix It

Don’t give your readers what you think they need. Give them what they know they want.

How? Run a survey, and ask your readers to choose between three or four e-book topics.

(This is also a good opportunity to find out how much they’d pay, whether they’re beginners or more experienced, and what specific questions they need your help to answer.)

#3: Thinking Like a Writer, Not a Publisher

Planning isn’t just about deciding what you’re going to write and what order you’re going to write it in.

Because when you decide to create an e-book, you’re not just a writer; you’re also a publisher (and marketer).

If you don’t start thinking now about how you’ll sell your book – whether that means selling it for money or just selling the concept to your readers – you’ll run into problems later on.

How to Fix It

Draft your sales page while you’re planning your e-book. Make it sound as attractive and useful as possible (try Jon’s list of power words, and make the reader the hero of the story) … and use that pitch to drive the writing process. This will make your e-book much stronger, and will make your life much easier when you launch it.

#4: Picking Up Your Pen (or Laptop) and Starting to Write

Once your survey results are in, you might be tempted to start writing straight away.

Whoa there.

Jumping into the writing at this point will cause you serious problems within days. You’ll find yourself repeating things, or wasting time exploring ultimately unhelpful tangents.

How to Fix It

Plan your e-book before you start writing.

This means having a clear outline that has, at the very least, a title for each chapter. Yes, that might seem a bit boring, but it will make the writing stage far easier (and more fun).

This doesn’t have to mean opening a blank document and writing a linear outline. Try freeform brainstorming or mind maps or index cards as creative alternatives to help get your ideas flowing.

#5: Trying to Make Your E-book Too Valuable

With your first e-book, it’s easy to think you need to deliver the definitive e-book – the only one your audience will ever need.

If that sounds like a good plan, ask yourself this: “What will I give them next?”

Chances are, you won’t write just one e-book. You might write several in the same series, or you might create a short starter e-book for free, and then write a more advanced one to sell.

Even if your e-book is destined to be your subscriber incentive, if you give your readers everything they’ll ever need, why would they come back to your blog?

How to Fix It

Go back to your survey and determine what aspects your audience cares about the most. Focus on those. If you have lots of extra ideas, great! Keep them in a separate place and use them for your next e-book. Or explore them in a detailed blog post.

If you inadvertently miss something crucial, you’ll find out when you get feedback, and you can add a new section or chapter to address that point.

Writing Mistakes: How to Waste Time, Lose Focus and Give Up

Some bloggers love the writing part of creating an e-book; others find it hard going.

But whatever your feelings about writing, the follow mistakes can seriously curtail your progress … and may even make you give up altogether.

#6: Starting at the Beginning

Although it might be the first chapter in your book, your introduction almost certainly isn’t the place to start writing.

It’s hard to know what to include until you’ve drafted the majority of your book, and you don’t want to get bogged down at this early stage.

If you start with the introduction, you’ll often end up writing far more than you need to. And let’s be honest. No reader relishes the sight of a long introduction – they want to dive into the real content.

How to Fix It

Don’t begin with the introduction; start with your first “proper” chapter. Once you’ve drafted the rest of your book, you’ll know what needs to go in the introduction.

Also, a lot of “introductory” material can go at the back of the book – I strongly recommend having an About the Author page at the back, because it’s a great opportunity to point readers to your website, mailing list, and so on.

#7: Only Writing When You Feel Like It

Although your e-book is probably a high-priority project for you, it can be genuinely tough to carve out the time for working on it regularly.

But if you don’t write consistently, you’ll never build up any momentum. You may write for a few hours to begin with, but then end up taking weeks off … and never getting back to your e-book.

How to Fix It

You don’t have to write thousands of words at a time. One of my clients wrote a short chapter every week, without fail, and finished her e-book within a few months.

Find a consistent time each day, or several times a week, to work on your e-book. You might like to try the Pomodoro technique (25 minutes writing, 5 minute break) to use your time effectively during short writing sessions. Anyone can write for just 25 minutes.

If you know you have a problem with time management, address that now; it’ll pay off for years to come.

#8: Letting Your Inner Editor Take the Lead

If you’re writing regularly and staying focused but making slow progress, then you’re probably trying to edit while you write.

Perhaps you find yourself typing a couple of paragraphs, then changing your mind and deleting them. You might even be stopping every sentence or two to make minor tweaks.

This is a serious drain on your productivity as a writer.

How to Fix It

If you change your mind about a whole paragraph or section, leave it in as is, but jot a note to yourself about it. You may find, on re-reading, that it works perfectly well.

You might find it’s helpful to use a full-screen “no distractions” text editor. I like DarkRoom for this – as it doesn’t have those distracting red and green wiggles that your typical word processor adds when it doesn’t like a word or phrase.

#9: Quitting Just Before it Gets Easy

After you’ve been working on your e-book for weeks, perhaps months, you may find that you’ve not made the progress you’d hoped for.

Whatever the exact cause (illness, workload, etc.), you’ve hit a wall. You aren’t even halfway through the draft, and there’s a long way to go.

When you go through a patch like this, it’s quite tempting to just give up – to cut your losses, and leave that e-book draft abandoned on your computer.

But that would be a huge mistake. Because this is often a sign that things are about to get easier.

How to Fix It

Push yourself to reach the halfway point. Once you’re halfway, natural momentum kicks in, and you’ll speed up as you approach the end.

Be sure to remind yourself of your motivation for starting the e-book in the first place: what’s it going to do for you and your blog? How will it help your readers – the people who you’ve come to know and care about?

Editing Mistakes: How to Wreck a Good First Draft

Although you probably won’t spend as much time editing as you spent writing, this is the point at which your e-book really takes shape.

Editing makes the difference between a book that’s simply “okay” and a book that’s a well-polished, professional representation of you at your best.

The following mistakes will keep your e-book from becoming the masterpiece it deserves to be.

#10: Trying to Keep Up The Momentum

While it’s important to not let your e-book stall after the first draft, you don’t need to rush into editing. Some writers dive straight into the editing phase – but then they struggle to get perspective, and may quickly feel burned out.

How to Fix It

Let your e-book “sit” for at least a couple of days (and preferably a full week) before you begin reviewing and editing. That way, you’ll come to it with fresh eyes and a new perspective – you’ll be able to see what’s already good, and what needs a bit more work.

With a little distance, you’ll be able to see your work from the perspective of a reader, not a writer.

#11: Throwing Your Best Work in the Fire

Many e-book authors start their edit using the same file they used for the draft – for example, MyEbook.doc.

While that’s not always a problem, it’s seriously frustrating if you cut something you later want to put back in.

Worse, if you manage to delete, lose, or somehow corrupt that master file, all your hard work could be gone for good.

How to Fix It

For each new draft, create a new version of your file – MyEbookV2.doc, MyEbookV3.doc and so on. And create regular backups. A simple way is to email yourself a copy of the latest version from time to time.

#12: Reviewing With a Microscope, Not a Telescope

If you start your editing by looking for minor typos, you’ll miss much more significant issues.

By focusing on the micro detail, you may fail to address major problems with your book – like “Chapter 15 is way too short” or “Chapter 7 should come after Chapter 10.” These often require a bit of perspective (see Mistake #10).

How to Fix It

Read through your whole e-book, preferably in .pdf form, on paper, or on your tablet, before you begin editing.

In other words, read it in a format where you can’t easily make small changes as you go along to force yourself to concentrate on the bigger picture.

Make a note of any issues you need to fix, like chapters in the wrong order, repetitive information, tangents that need deleting, and new sections you want to add.

#13: Telling Yourself You Don’t Need an Editor

When you’ve been working away on your own for (probably) several months, seeing mistakes can be tough – from the big picture issues to the small details like missing words or misplaced apostrophes.

But many first-time e-book authors are either too inexperienced to know the value of an editor or figure it’s a luxury they can’t afford.

Even if you’re not in a position to pay for a full edit, that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone.

How to Fix It

Consider paying for an editor to review just the first few chapters of your e-book. Many problems the editor identifies will probably occur throughout the e-book and you can fix them yourself once you know what to look for.

Recruit volunteers to help edit: ask your readers, or members of any blogging community you belong to. Be prepared to repay the favor!

#14: Hiring the World’s Worst Proofreader

Once you’ve made any major changes and addressed the suggestions of your editors, your book is almost complete.

But before it’s ready to publish, you’ll need to do at least one complete read-through to catch any remaining typos or errors.

However, you’re probably the worst person to catch those errors.

You’ve likely become so familiar with the content and its layout that you’ll miss typos that will be obvious to someone else.

How to Fix It

If you can afford a professional proofreader, or if you have a talented friend who can help out, brilliant.

If you have to do most or all of your proofreading alone, here’s the secret: don’t proofread your e-book in the same environment that you wrote it. Try changing the font style and size and printing it out, or reading it on a tablet. You’ll be surprised at how errors stand out.

#15: Indulging Your Inner Perfectionist and Procrastinator

Quality matters, but if you’re onto your fifth proofread and you’re spending ten minutes debating whether or not a particular sentence needs a comma, you’re wasting time.

Even books from major publishing houses have mistakes from time to time. You may never have noticed this, because (like every reader) you don’t pause and scrutinize every word.

How to Fix It

Give yourself a deadline for finishing the editing phase, and accept that catching 99 percent of your mistakes is good enough.

Don’t agonize over the possibility that a typo may still be present. Readers aren’t likely to notice, and if someone does point out a particularly glaring mistake after publication, it’s simple to update your e-book.

Publishing Mistakes: How to Make Sure Your E-book’s an Instant Flop

You could create a water-tight plan, write a hugely valuable e-book, and edit it till it shines, yet if you mess up its publication, you won’t get the results you deserve.

But if you avoid the following mistakes, you’ll give yourself the best possible chance of e-book success.

#16: Assuming You Know the Best Format for Your E-book Already

Even if you started out with a specific end goal in mind, be sure to review your options once you’ve finished your e-book.

An e-book that started life as a subscriber incentive might in fact make a great premium product, or serve as an authority-building book in the Kindle Store.

But if you don’t at least consider other options, you might miss out on a huge opportunity.

How to Fix It

Depending on the final destination of your e-book, a range of different publishing options are available to consider:

• If you’re giving your e-book away as an incentive for joining your email list, then .pdf-only is simple and straightforward.
• If you’re positioning your e-book as a premium product (e.g., at least $10), you can just create a .pdf … but you might also want to offer .epub and .mobi formats. You could also include multimedia bonus material on a password-protected webpage (e.g. audio interviews, short video tutorials).
• If you’re publishing your e-book on major retailers’ sites, you’ll need a lower price (usually $9.99 or less) and to publish your file in the appropriate format for the store.

And don’t assume that a particular option is right for your e-book just because it’s what you’ve seen other bloggers doing.

#17: Using the First (Yawn-Inducing) Title that Comes to Mind

Just like a blog post title, an e-book title must grab attention. It’s going to be the first (and quite possibly the only) thing your potential e-book reader sees.

When I wrote my first full-length e-book, I planned to title it Writing Blog Content. That’s what it was about, after all! But it’s not exactly sexy.

A wise friend (Charlie Gilkey) jumped onto Skype with me and spent a while hashing out better titles. We eventually went with The Blogger’s Guide to Effective Writing … a much stronger, more compelling title (and one that led me to write a whole “Blogger’s Guide” series.)

How to Fix It

If you’ve had a working title in mind since the planning stage, now’s the time to figure out whether it’s truly good enough. You might want to ask your blog readers to vote on different titles, to find out which is the most compelling.

The same goes for the headline on your sales page — you’ll probably want to put something a bit more intriguing than just the title of your e-book. Jon’s Headline Hacks report is packed with lots of inspiration and advice.

#18: Designing Your Own Front Cover

Like it or not, everyone judges books by their covers.

Unless you’re a professional designer, creating your own cover is a hugely damaging mistake.

Your e-book will look amateurish, and readers may well be put off from buying it.

This is especially true if you’ll be selling your e-book on Amazon (or other e-retailers’ sites) where most potential readers won’t have any prior knowledge of you.

For plenty of examples of both good and bad covers, take a look at Joel Friedlander’s Monthly e-Book Cover Design Awards.

How to Fix It

If you can afford it, hire a designer. This is a crucial investment, and you’ll likely sell enough extra copies to more than pay for the designer’s work.

But if you really have to create your cover yourself, keep it simple and straightforward, and look at lots of examples of good and bad designs.

#19: Forgetting to Link Back to Your Blog

Your e-book might be a reader’s first contact with you (if they bought it from Amazon for example). And even those who downloaded your e-book from your blog might forget where they got it.

So failing to link your e-book back to your blog is a big mistake. You’re missing an opportunity to drive new subscribers to your main email list or to a separate list that tells your current e-book readers about your next book.

How to Fix It

Include a page at the back of your e-book – after “About the Author” – that lets readers know where to find you online.

Be sure to link to your subscriber landing page, to your next book’s sales page, or anywhere else online you want to send them – e.g., your social media profiles.

Also important is giving your readers an easy way to send you feedback for your book, such as a dedicated email address or a link to a contact page.

And don’t be afraid to link to relevant blog content within the body of the e-book itself.

#20: Completely Ignoring the Power of Social Proof

Even if a reader already knows you, they won’t necessarily trust that your e-book is any good until it has at least one review or testimonial.

(I’ve made this daft mistake myself: I launched the fourth in my Blogger’s Guide series in a rush, just before the birth of my first child. It never sold nearly as well as the others, and I figured that, despite my research, I’d picked a dud topic. Fast forward three years and I realise I’d failed to get a single testimonial up on the sales page. Whoops!)

Whether your e-book is available for purchase or simply a reward for new subscribers, people probably won’t trust its value unless they can see that other people have read it and found it useful.

And if you’re in a niche that’s known for having a few sleazy operators, or one where e-books are rare, then failing to provide social proof is an even bigger mistake.

How to Fix It

Be proactive — send out review copies to bloggers in your niche, and to any of your blog’s readers who’ve commented regularly or emailed you recently. Add positive reviews to your sales page and, if possible, use photos of the reviewers to boost credibility.

And if you can, send out your review copies before you launch your e-book – preferably at least a couple weeks before. This gives people a chance to read your book and get a review ready on or soon after your launch day.

#21: Acting Like Your E-book Isn’t a Big Deal

Many bloggers are uncomfortable marketing their e-books so their “launch” simply involves a new link on their blog and a couple of low-key posts on social media.

But even the best e-book will wither and die without some determined promotion.

And the truth is that if you’re not willing to market your e-book when the hard work of writing it is complete, you’ve basically wasted all that time and effort.

How to Fix It

You’re proud of your new e-book, right? So start acting like it. (If you don’t feel a swell of pride about your work then go back to the writing and editing phases until you do!)

Despite any preconceptions, you can effectively market your blog without coming across like a used car salesman.

Here’s how…

Mix up your promotional messages with lots of useful and interesting content.

If you’re giving people useful information at the same time as promoting your e-book, you’ll feel less like a pushy salesperson.

If your e-book is on Amazon, you can create some buzz by giving it away free for short periods.

If this is your first premium product, make sure you tell your existing list about it and consider offering a discount for existing subscribers.

Write guest posts for popular blogs in your niche, and direct readers to a dedicated landing page for sign-ups or for the sales page for your e-book.

You might even look into ways to do something more interesting and innovative, maybe creating videos, offering special extras, or getting readers involved.

When Will You Make The Leap From Blogger to Author?

Lots of mistakes are lurking out there to trip you up on the path to publishing your first e-book, but the potential rewards are great.

You can get more subscribers for your blog, more authority in your niche and even earn more money from your writing.

And now that you know the most common mistakes, you can avoid them with ease.

But of all the mistakes you can make, one trumps them all.

Not even trying.

Or telling yourself that you’ll write your e-book someday.

But you’re not going to make that mistake, right?

So grab your calendar, take a look at the next week, and choose a day to begin.

Because in just a month or two, you could easily have a finished e-book … one that could supercharge your email list, position you as an expert, or start bringing in a steady income.

When will your e-book journey begin?

About the Author: Ali Luke is author of Publishing E-Books For Dummies, and writes for Zen Optimise. If you’d like more help with the “plan-write-edit” process (not just for e-books!) then check out her free video training, The Writing Process for Bloggers – no opt-in required.

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This one little “social mistake” can make people hate you (don’t do it…)

Imagine you’re at a meetup, and you’re having a conversation about something that just happened in the news.

While making your point, you mispronounce a word… and someone interjects, “Well, actually, you’re supposed to say it like this…”

And there you are. You’re in the middle of a group of 5 people, and this person just corrected a word you said.

Sure, it has nothing to do with the point you’re making, but they went on to say, “Sorry about interrupting. Just wanted to make sure you knew the right way to say that word so you didn’t sound dumb.”

How would you feel?

On one hand, it’s nice to hear the RIGHT way to say a word. But really? Did it really need to happen in front of so many people?

Probably not, right?

And what about the guy who corrected you?

Sure, he’s not a bad guy. He isn’t thinking to himself, “Let me sabotage you right now in front of everyone.” But he did embarass you. And even if you can take it… because you’re an adult… you’ll likely never forget how he made you feel.

I know this is an egregious example, but as I look around, I see people making similar mistakes when they communicate with people.

Sometimes the mistakes are MUCH larger than other times…

…But the result is always the same: people want to be liked, they want to make a good first impression, and they want to put their best foot forward, but for whatever reason, when the time comes, they fail.

A while back, I used to chalk this up to “Well, that’s just the way they are. I can accept it, or I can move on.” But I believe being “good with people,” is a skill that can be learned. And I believe anyone – whether you’re already good with people or you’re struggling – can benefit from learning tools and techniques for becoming better with people.

As an example…

In this video, I revealed a simple strategy people can use to email influential people – and get responses (FAST).

http://socialtriggers.com/email-influential-people/

In this video, I share a dumb mistake an entrepreneur makes at a conference (and what to do instead).

http://socialtriggers.com/meet-new-people/

And in this video, I help people who want to build confidence be more confident.

http://socialtriggers.com/how-to-be-confident/

But my question to you is this:

What types of “mistakes” do you see people make when they interact with people?

Do they come off too strong?

Do they act too timid?

Do they tell bad stories?

(Oh, I know a few who do that, and it drives me nuts).

What types of things do you see out in the world?

Leave a comment below.

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5 Myths of Traffic Generation That Seriously Need to Die

Can I be straight up with you?

95% of the advice on the web about how to increase your website traffic is totally useless.

It’s outdated, overly simplified, or just plain wrong. Here’s how I know:

Over the last eight years, the sites I’ve built have received over 200 million page views. I’ve also worked with thousands of students in every imaginable niche, and I’ve seen firsthand what works and what doesn’t.

And lots of the advice out there… it just doesn’t work.

In particular, five myths really bother me. If you’re struggling to increase your traffic, chances are it’s because you’ve bought into one of these myths.

Let’s jump in…

Myth #1: Blogging Is a Great Way to Get Free Traffic

You’d think I would agree with this one. I’m the “blogging guy,” after all, so you’d think I’d be the first person to jump on the free traffic bandwagon.

But here’s the thing:

Free traffic is a fairytale.

Yes, you can get traffic without paying money, but that doesn’t mean it’s free. You always — and I mean ALWAYS — have to trade something for it.

In the case of blogging, it’s time.

You invest your time into writing blog posts, and if you do it properly, you will get traffic in exchange. All other things being equal, the amount of traffic you receive is also directly proportional to the time you invest.

But the idea of your blog getting a whole bunch of traffic without investing a whole bunch of time?

It’s unrealistic. You get out what you put in. Simple as that.

Myth #2: You Need To Optimize Your Site for Search Engines

Let me be clear…

I’ve received more traffic from search engines than any other source. Millions and millions of visitors.

But is SEO a smart traffic strategy for everyone?

No.

Sometimes, you’re better off spending money on advertising. Other times, social media is your best bet.

How do you know?

Well, you have to consider the situation. It depends on how much content you have, the age of your site, the amount of search engine traffic available, the sophistication of the competition, your personality, the way you want to spend your time, your budget, and dozens of other factors.

The problem is, no one tells you this. They imply that optimizing your site for search engines is always a smart move.

And that’s just nonsense.

No traffic strategy is right for everyone all the time. You have to consider the situation you are in at the moment and compare the pros and cons of each strategy.

Anybody who tells you otherwise is either stupid or dishonest.

Myth #3: You need to be on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

In some ways, this myth is a repeat of the last one, but it’s so prevalent I figured it deserves its own section.

Everybody wants to get more traffic from social media. The problem is, there are a gazillion different platforms. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat — the list is already long as hell, and it’s getting longer all the time.

So, what do most people do?

A little bit of everything. They divide their time between a bunch of different platforms, and they never get anywhere.

It’s a mistake. Instead of dividing your time between a bunch of different strategies, hoping one of them will work, you need to find the one strategy that seems to be the best choice for your particular situation and then go all in.

And here’s what will really make your head explode:

Sometimes, social media isn’t the answer. Sometimes, you should ignore all of it. Facebook, Twitter, everything.

Why?

So you can focus. When you’re a beginner, focus is everything.

Either focus on one platform, or eliminate social media from your strategy entirely, but don’t spread yourself between all the different platforms. That’s a guaranteed way to fail.

Myth #4: There Are Hundreds of Ways to Get Traffic

Speaking of spreading yourself thin, social media is only part of the problem. Dig around, and you’ll find there are hundreds of ways to get traffic.

Which one is best for you? How do you choose?

If you’re not careful, you’ll come down with a nasty case of analysis paralysis. There are just too many options.

But here’s a little secret:

While there are hundreds of different ways to get traffic, there are only five sources of traffic worth talking about:

1. Search engines
2. Social channels (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
3. Social bookmarking (Pinterest, Reddit, etc.)
4. Links/referral traffic
5. Ads

In the last decade, the individual tactics and techniques within those categories have changed, but none of the categories have. It’s been remarkably stable.

The trick is choosing the right one for you, which brings us to…

Myth #5: One Traffic Source Is Inherently Better Than Another

People argue all the time about the “best” way to get traffic, but here’s the thing:

With traffic, everything is contextual.

In the blogging market, for example, search engine traffic is dominant. It dwarfs all the other traffic sources.

In the self-improvement market, on the other hand, Facebook is king. Not even the almighty Google comes close.

In other words, the “best” traffic source very much depends on your market. It also depends on another surprising factor:

You.

Working one-on-one with thousands of bloggers, I’ve learned that all of us have different strengths and weaknesses. Typically, you will have a natural affinity for only one of the traffic sources, and the others will be difficult or repulsive to you.

Interestingly, it’s also pretty predictable.

Do you love data, spreadsheets, and analysis? Well then, you should look into advertising.

Or are you more of a people person with a strong personality? In that case, your best bet is a social channel where you can interact with your fans.

In the next few weeks, I’ll be talking a lot about this, as well as giving you guidance on how to pick the right strategy for you. For now, here’s what you need to know…

This Is Complicated Shit

And it sucks.

You’re probably like, “Jon, can’t you just give me a step-by-step plan I can follow? Something simple and to the point?”

The honest answer:

No. Not if you want to get the traffic yourself, anyway.

If you’re running a business, and you have some cash to invest, the simplest way to go is to hire an agency with a proven track record. They can deal with all this crap for you.

But if you’re all on your own, bootstrapping your way to success?

The most important thing you can do is embrace the complexity. Realize you have a lot to learn and dedicate yourself to learning it.

The good news is I can give you a roadmap. It’s full of tough decisions, twists and turns, detours and roadblocks, but at least it’ll get you pointed in the right direction.

Next week, I’ll start a little email series for our subscribers on the topic. Subscribe to our list, if you’re not already.

Until then?

Decide what you’re willing to trade for traffic.

Are you willing to trade time? Or are you willing to trade money?

It’s the first step. That one simple choice.

Leave me a comment with your decision. I’ll be watching.

About the Author: Jon Morrow has asked repeatedly to be called “His Royal Awesomeness,” but no one listens to him. So, he settles for CEO of Smart Blogger. Poor man. ;-)

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266 How to Get Clients Using Twitter as a Newbie – Colin Yearwood

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How to Get Clients Using Twitter as a Newbie – Colin Yearwood

Who: Colin Yearwood
Blog/Website: Learnitdoitprofit.com
Twitter: @ColinYearwood

Are you getting the most out of your Twitter account? (Answer: probably not)

Never fear! Colin Yearwood is here with a unique strategy to help you find clients on Twitter.

Who is Colin Yearwood?

Colin started his home-based business in 1998 and has been an online marketing trainer for home-based business owners since 2008. He teaches people how to grow their businesses online by using simple strategies through his website, Learnitdoitprofit.com. He is passionate about helping others achieve their goals. I met Colin in 2008, when I had just started my online business, and we’ve been good friends ever since.

Colin’s Twitter Strategy

Colin loves the human interaction side of having an online business. It’s all about having conversations, building relationships, and helping people achieve their business goals. But how do you bring your products and services to people who are interested in what you have to offer? Colin’s answer is Twitter.

Why Twitter? Because that’s where people are. Twitter makes it easy for you to find the people you’re looking for, and following someone on Twitter isn’t the same level of commitment as, say, sending a friend request on Facebook. It’s a great platform for reaching out to people to build new relationships.

Fair warning: this isn’t going to be one of those magic wand things, where you can set it up and forget about it. This is going to take some work. But I promise it’ll pay off in the end—Colin says that 95% of his interactions on Twitter lead to a sale. Wow!

He’s only been using Twitter to find clients since October 2015, and already he’s gone from about 600 followers to over 4,000 followers. More followers means more results.

How to Set Up Your Twitter Profile to Get More Clients as a Newbie from Leslie Samuel

Optimize Your Profile

First things first: identify your ideal client.

One of the best ways to find your clients is to take a good look in the mirror. You want to be able to relate to your clients, so it can be helpful to share their pains and their goals. In Colin’s case, home-based business ownership is in his blood, so he knew that that would be his niche.

Next, you need to optimize your Twitter profile.

Once you know who your ideal clients are, you need to create a profile that will speak to them. Make sure that your profile and cover photos give off the right impression. For example, professional headshots show that you mean business. And make sure your cover image is relevant: Colin’s shows him in action doing some teaching.

Colin Yearwood’s Twitter Profile

Use your bio to tell people what you do and what you’re passionate about, and make sure to include a link. In Colin’s case, the link sends people straight to a landing page where they can learn a bit more about him and opt-in to his email list.

Seed Some Content

Seed Some Content

Once you’re happy with your profile, you need to seed some content. There’s no point getting lots of new followers if there’s nothing useful on your page for them to see!

Keep in mind that your Twitter profile isn’t for pitching products, it’s for building relationships. You want to offer value, not try to close a sale. So think about the kind of content you’re tweeting. You want to speak to your audience and help them achieve what they want to achieve.

Colin mostly tweets inspiration quotes, links to his own content, and links to other people’s content. Don’t be tempted to be selfish about what you tweet out: share value no matter whose value it is. And don’t worry! The sales will come.

Colin says there’s no magic formula or ratio to what he tweets, but he send outs at least 10 tweets per day. Most of his tweeting is automated, but it’s all about genuinely sharing content that will provide value for your followers.

Getting New Followers

Colin has used a couple different paid services to help get new followers.

Social Quant

First up is Social Quant. It costs about $50/month, and it’s fully automated. Basically, you create a list of keywords that your potential clients should be interested in. Social Quant searches for those terms on Twitter and follows accounts on your behalf. If someone hasn’t followed you back after a couple days, Social Quant will automatically unfollow that account.

Social Quant

Wait, isn’t that a little bit impersonal?

Status Brew

Well, yeah. That’s why Colin recently switched to Status Brew, which allows you to send a customised direct message and an @tweet to new followers. Status Brew is also a paid service—$9.95/month—but it’s not as automated as Social Quant. The service provides a list of accounts for you, but you have to manually follow them yourself.

Status Brew

Colin sends personalized messages to all his new followers. In the direct message he says hello, introduces himself, and asks something like “What’s your biggest challenge in growing your business?” before offering some free tools. In the @tweet, he’ll ask something like, “What’s making you happy these days?”

The key is that he isn’t using the automated messages to pitch a product. That’s so inauthentic! It’s got to be about starting a conversation and finding out how you can help.

Colin follows about 200 people per day. With Status Brew, this process usually takes about 5 minutes. If someone hasn’t followed him back within 5 days, he’ll unfollow the account. With this method, he gains between 25 and 40 followers per day. And as we know, more followers means more results.

Posting Content

Twitter Jukebox

Twitter Jukebox is Colin’s tool of choice for automated tweeting. The free version allows up to 300 tweets per month. Essentially, the service gives you a content library, a database of tweets that are available on a continuous basis. There are jukeboxes that they provide—Colin uses their database of inspirational quotes—and you can create your own, too. You can set it to tweet at regular intervals, and set up a schedule so different types of tweets go out at different times of the day.

Tweet Jukebox

One thing to keep in mind is that you want to make sure all of your content on Twitter Jukebox is “evergreen.” The system pulls content to tweet at random, so you don’t want anything in there that’s time sensitive or that will fall out of date.

Just Have a Conversation

Have a Conversation

Okay, so you’ve got your account set up, you’re gaining tons of new followers, and you’ve got some great content. How do you build a relationship and eventually make the sale?

Start off with a conversation. Use your direct messages and your @tweets to get people talking, and respond based on what they say to you. Then, end every single interaction with a follow up question. Walk them through the conversation.

This part is super important: do NOT pitch right away! Hang back. Get to know them, and find out what they need, otherwise you might pitch them the wrong thing. Engage, listen, build the relationship.

Then, when you’ve got a strong foundation, offer a resource and ask whether they’d like the link. If they say yes, send the link along with a note and an offer to chat about any questions they might have. Include your phone number.

What?? You read it right: send them your phone number (or your Google Voice number if you’re more comfortable with that!). This tells the potential client that you’re a real person, and that you’re committed to helping them.

The Pitch

Build a Relationship

Play the long game: never get on a call with the intention of closing a sale. It doesn’t work that way. You’ve got to go in with the aim of helping the client achieve their goals and providing value for them. Continue to build that relationship, and the sale will come.

Have a system for following up with people: once you’ve had that initial phone call, set up another time to talk. Use Google Calendar or a CRM (Customer Relations Manager) to keep track of everything.

Remember: your goal is to always find new ways of helping people.

Follow Colin on Twitter!

You can find him @ColinYearwood. Check him out on Learnitdoitprofit.com, too.

Resources Mentioned

• Paid services to get new Twitter followers:
  • Social Quant
  • Status Brew – Colin’s recommended service
• Twitter Jukebox – tool for automated tweeting

Infographic

How to Set Up Your Twitter Profile to Get New Clients as a Newbie

The post 266 How to Get Clients Using Twitter as a Newbie – Colin Yearwood appeared first on Become A Blogger by Leslie Samuel.

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