blog-blogging to the third power-nicholas cardot
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BLOGGINGTO THE THIRD POWER
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BLOGGINGTO THE THIRD POWER
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO BUILDING
A POWERFUL & INFLUENTIAL BLOG
NICHOLAS Z. CARDOT
WWW.SITESKETCH101.COM
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This book is dedicated to my beautiful wife and daughter who
have steadfastly supported my writing and my blogging.
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CONTENTS
PREFACE ....................................................................... 9
FOREWARD ................................................................. 13
INTRODUCTION ........................................................... 15
AWESOME CONTENT .................................................. 25
Avid Consistency............................................................ 29
Bold Creativity ............................................................... 43
Compelling Articles ........................................................ 49
Distinguished Value ....................................................... 61
BRILLIANT DESIGN ....................................................... 73
Amazing Experience ...................................................... 77
Better Coding................................................................. 87
Clear Navigation ............................................................ 93
Detailed Layout ........................................................... 105
COMMANDING INFLUENCE ....................................... 113
Authentic Connections ................................................ 119
Bold Vision ................................................................... 135
Community Presence .................................................. 145Dependable SEO .......................................................... 173
BONUS MATERIAL ..................................................... 193
Brandon Cox: Chasing the Elusive Target of Success . 195
Nathan Hangen: A Different Kind of Success ............. 201
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PREFACE
T H E K E Y T O O N L I N E S U C C E S S I S
W O R K I N G S M A R T E R A N D H A R D E R
My eyes are steady and my hands are calm. My body is stretched
out prone on the ground. My knee is bent out to the side to
provide comfort and support. I pull my M4 rifle firmly into my
shoulder knowing that this will help reduce recoil allowing me to
aim my next shot faster.
My hand is wrapped around the pistol grip with my thumb near
the safety and my firing finger resting alongside the trigger well.
My eyes are vigilantly scanning the horizon searching for targets
to engage.
At 300 meters a green silhouette rises from the ground. I prepare
to fire. I move the rifle to focus the red dot of my optics on the
chest of the silhouette but with this much distance between me
and my target I find that my slightest breath moves the red dot
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in and out of the target. I slowly breathe in and hold it. My rifle
is now steady and the red dot comes to rest right where I need it.
I move my finger onto the trigger and gently squeeze careful notto move the rifle from its intended target. Boom. Just as fast as
it rose from the ground, I lay it back down. This all happens in a
matter of a few seconds and I prepare myself to engage the next
target.
As an Infantryman in the United States Army, I'm a trained
professional and I know exactly what I have to do to achieve
success. I've studied, practiced and observed the military tactics
that will allow my fire team to accomplish every mission that
gets handed to us.
Every day I stand confident that I can achieve success. It's not
because I have an overgrown ego. It's not because I'm naive. It's
because I've worked long hours to prepare myself to face the
obstacles that may come my way in the Military. I've worked
hard to arrive where I'm now at and to achieve the successes
that I now enjoy.
This principle is so incredibly universal. If you want to experience
success online then you're going to have to take this lesson from
a United States Army Infantryman: Success demands hard work
and long hours of preparation.
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If you're taking the time to read this book then you're... well...
smarter than most people. I'm not even puffing my ego at you
by stating this. I'm being honest.
You aren't looking for a chance to get rich quick overnight and
you probably realize by now that making it big like Chris Brogan
or Darren Rowse requires a lot of work and an incredible amount
of study. It's all about working smarter andharder and it's not
about chasing pipe dreams.
You're smarter than most people because you're actually looking
for solid advice on how to focus your efforts into meaningful,
productive work. You want to know how to build your blog from
having 1 reader to having thousands of readers.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand the
principles found in this book and to begin growing your
readership but you do have to be mentally challenged to believe
some of the fairy tales that are being marketed online.
Success isn't built in a day...it's built day by day. Success requires
a steadfast character and work ethic that your grandparents
probably lectured you and your parents about combined with a
knowledge of writing, marketing, networking and more.
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FOREWARD
B Y D A N I E L S C O C C O
Nicholas has been a fresh and reinvigorating addition to the
blogging scene. The articles on his blog, Site Sketch 101 are
always creative and packed with value, and that is why I
accepted promptly when he asked if I would like to write the
foreword for this book.
After reading through "Blogging To The Third Power" I must say
that the book puts together all the information you need to startbuilding a successful blog. And what is more interesting, Nicholas
is not just regurgitating what other people have said in the past,
he is giving you his own take on the issue.
His three pillars of blogging success - awesome content, brilliant
design and commanding influence - create a really efficient
framework that will channel your blogging efforts in the right
direction.
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You might think that once you know about these three pillars
that you've already got the meat of the book, but this is not the
case. Inside each of these sections Nicholas dissects the concepts
and techniques that you must master if you want to achieve your
blogging goals. For example, inside the "Awesome Content"
section he talks about the need for consistency when producing
quality content, and why being bold and creative often times will
yield outstanding results for your blog.
Finally, you'll find that the pragmatic approach used throughout
the book makes the reading very pleasant. Most chapters are
illustrated with real examples, and you'll also find links to
relevant resources around the web. Put it all that together and
you get a reference document that should remain close at handwhenever you are working on your blog.
Now roll up your sleeves, read through this book, and
immediately start implementing what you'll learn.
As Nicholas says in the very beginning, and I couldn't agree more,
the key to online success is working smarter and harder.
Good luck,
Daniel Scocco
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INTRODUCTIONT H E 3 P I L L A R S T H A T W I L L E X P L O D E
Y O U R B L O G ' S S U C C E S S
What is it that separates the millions of mediocre bloggers from
the ones who build traffic and achieve amazing results? What is
it that propels some onward and upward into fame and fortunewhile others find themselves struggling just to get a small
handful of readers?
If youre like most bloggers, then youve probably been kicking
yourself trying to figure out the answer to these
questionstrying to find the key that unlocks the large steel
doors that are holding you back from the success you've been
looking for.
Im very excited because Ive discovered the essential elements
necessary to connect with people on a large scale. I've found the
three principles that can exponentially magnify the success of a
blog.
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Put these tools to work at your blog and you will see your traffic,
comments, and subscribers skyrocket. Ignore them and you will
continue to wallow in the mediocrity in which so many of your
peers are trapped.
THE 3 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR REAL SUCCESS
There are three essential elements of a blog that must be
absolutely maximized in order to see success at the highest
levels. It takes all three of these concepts to propel your blog to
the top.
Awesome Content:Articles need to be fun, compelling, easy-to-
read, meeting users needs, providing excellent information,
and well-written.
Brilliant Design: Blog layouts need to be easy on the eyes, be
easy to navigate, be professional looking, be able to set you
apart from the crowd, and be warm and inviting to the
readers.
Commanding Influence:You as the author must be connecting
personally, answering questions, exhibiting strong leadership,
demonstrating sacrifice by putting the readers needs before
your own, and getting involved in the greater bloggingcommunity.
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THE TOTAL PACKAGE = MULTIPLICATION
Don't be mistaken. There are millions of blogs. It's not enough
anymore to simply be strong in only one of these three powers.
If you want to set yourself apart from the millions of mediocre
bloggers then you have to have all three. It's all or none if you
want to make it big.
Each of these principles has a multiplier effect on your influence
throughout the internet. In our next exercise here, the idea is to
openly and honestly rate you and your website in each of these
categories using a scale of 1-10. If your content is a 10, your
design is a 2 and your influence is a 4 then your overall potential
is 10 x 2 x 4 = 80 points of online success potential.
CONTENT IS KING...NOW BUILD HIS ARMY
Youve heard it said that content is king and that is true but
only if it is supported by the principle of the total package. Its
not enough anymore to havejustgreat content. You absolutely
have to have all three elements in order to accelerate your
success.
Arguing about which one is the most important is a dead point.
The most important of these three is the total packageand not
any single element. In other words, if you want to experience
online success then its either all or none.
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Lets say that in our example you increase your design until it can
be rated a 4. Our new equation would look like this: 10 x 4 x 4 =
160 points of online success potential. Push them all up to 10s
and you would have something like this 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000
points. Great content all by itself will only give you a fraction of
what you can achieve when you combine it with an amazing
layout and a personalized, genuine style of connecting with
people.
I disagree with the spirit of the popular adage Content is King.
In fact, Ive written much about this at Site Sketch 101. I believe
that at one time content was all that was necessary but is no
longer.
Now don't mistake what I'm saying. I agree with the fact that
content is king, but I don't agree with the spirit of it.
The truth is that content is vital. You can't build a successful blog
without it. But the attitude that often accompanies this truth is
to forget everything else. Too often I see people forgetting every
other aspect of their online presence in an effort to simply write
articles. That simply doesn't work anymore.
I do believe that you can build a strong following with nothing
more than content. It will, however, take you a very long time.
If you want to accelerate the growth of your site then you are
going to have to back up your king with an army of design,
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to have all three.
A CASE STUDY PROVING THAT IT TAKES THE
TOTAL PACKAGE TO MULTIPLY SUCCESS
In an article at Site Sketch 101 on this topic, I had several people
point out that Jacob Nielson at useit.com has built up a huge
following by simply providing great content even though the
layout of his site is poor and the navigation is difficult. This was
my response to those comments and I firmly hold to them today.
YOU GUYS MAY LOOK AT HIM AS AN EXCEPTION TO THE RULE,BUT I
WOULD ARGUE THAT HE IS AN EXAMPLE PROVING THIS RULE.
ACCORDING TO HIS SITE,HES BEEN DOING THIS SINCE 1995.
IVE BEEN RUNNING MY SITE,SITE SKETCH 101,SINCEJUNE OF 2009
AND ACCORDING TOALEXA.COM,MY SITE RANKED HIGHER THAN
NIELSON'S SITE ON THE DAILY RANK FOR SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE PAST
FEW WEEKS.IT HAS TAKEN ME 31/2MONTHS TO GAIN WHAT HAS
TAKEN HIM 14YEARS.
IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE THEN IINVITE YOU TO DO SO
BUT IWOULDNT RECOMMEND IT.
ITS ALL OR NONE IF YOU WANT TO QUICKLY
AND BOLDLY GET YOUR MESSAGE OUT.
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If you dont have a great environment for your readers to view
your content then many will choose not to stick around. If you
dont engage with people personally then the content may not
mean as much to some readers. Some visitors are looking for
engagement or authority which adds to the power of our
influence.
When we successfully build the total package of content, design,
and influence then we can really brand ourselves and our sites.We must cater to every visitor: the ones looking for great design,
the ones looking for connections, and the ones looking for
information.
Why only take the time to please one of those three people
when you can multiply your effectiveness by having all three?
I hope you understand that my disagreement with the adage
Content is King is a very minor one and in the greater sense I
still agree with the determination to produce great content. Its
just that it is a mandatory part of something more than that.
BUILD A GREAT BRAND AROUND YOUR BLOG
Brand marketing is everything if it can be done to actually drive
people to action.
Ive heard people say that branding is sometimes an excuse for
lack of actually accomplishing anything. For example, someone
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might say that they are not seeing any traffic but that is because
they are more focused on just branding their website,
themselves and their content.
But brand marketing that is not delivering visitors isnt really
branding. If people arent actively searching for you, then your
branding is basically worthless.
Real branding is that which drives people to seek you out. It
compels people to read what youve written, to follow your
advice, and to purchase your products. Branding that doesnt
lead to action is not branding.
THE GENERIC BRAND VS. THE NAME BRANDThose brands at the supermarket that cost only half as much as
the box sitting right next to it are referred to as generic brands.
They are considered to be less valuable than the name brands
even though they are often very similar.
Somehow the company behind Cheerios has developed
themselves as a respectable household name and Wheatie Os
are laughed at. Cheerios has developed a better marketing
campaign. Theyve produced a better product. Theyve created
real value and consumers know it.
So what kind of value are you creating at your blog? Are you
creating content that is fun to read? Are you providing
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information that is in demand? Are you meeting the needs of
your readers? Because if not, then you might as well pull up a
chair next to the Wheatie Os because youre playing second
fiddle now.
HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A SOLID NAME BRAND?
The three principles found on the pages of this book are the keys
to developing powerful branding that people will come flocking
toward. Ive listed them below to help cement them into your
mind as we begin our journey.
Awesome Content
Brilliant Design
Commanding Influence
These three concepts have the power to provide you with a
massively successful brand. You will be able to attract and builda large number of readers.
These three concepts are the pillars of online success.
And so our journey begins...
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THE FIRST POWER
AWESOME CONTENT
C O N T E N T I S T H E F O U N D A T I O N F O R
A N Y S U C C E S S F U L B L O G
If you've been around the internet for any period of time then
you've probably heard it repeated: Content is King.
In fact, many of us have heard it so many times that it probably
sounds redundant. Yet there are so many people who still don't
get it...or if they do they don't put it into practice.
The adage has been around since the dawn of blogging: Content
is King. And it's true. Content is king.
Content is the foundation upon which the rest of a successfulblog is built. It's the information that consumers are searching
for. It's the meat and potatoes at a nice dinner. It's the
pavement on the internet superhighway. Content is the first step
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on our journey to the top of the blogosphere.
NOT JUST CONTENT...BUT AMAZING CONTENT
Amazing content is all about creating articles that are easy to
read, full of information, funny, engaging, and well-written. It's
about consistently creating value at your site day after day. It's
about pouring your personality into your writing and creating
masterpieces in every post.
It's not the only point, but it is the first. Without great content,
you have nothing on which to build your blog and you have
nothing of value to provide to your readers.
Content is so incredibly important and yet so many people focus
so little of their time working to improve the quality of their
articles.
Lets change that today. Lets learn new writing styles. Lets
explore new ideas. Lets grow as writers and authors andultimately lets build stronger, better blogs.
There are four key areas to building great content that we're
going to explore throughout this book.
Avid Consistency:Success isn't built in a day... it's built day by
day. Producing terrific content once in a while isn't good
enough. We've got to learn how to deliver top quality, award-
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worthy content day after day.
Bold Creativity:Dazzle your visitors with new and bold ideas. If
you do the same thing as the millions of other bloggers thenyou're most likely going to experience the same results as
them: dismal failure. Be creative. Explore new ideas. Think
outside the box.
Compelling Articles:As an author, you have to learn how to
entertain your readers as well as educate them. Even those
who are looking for clear advice, instructions, or information
will still be impressed if you can make use of all their emotions
while delivering your content. Tell jokes or use sarcasm to
make people laugh. Tell stories that make people cry or even
get angry. Inspire your readers passions to fuel their cravings
to keep reading your content.
Dynamite Value:How much is your site worth to those who
follow you? Value is determined by how much people would
be willing to pay for something if they had to purchase the
same product a second time. Or if your product is free, it's the
amount that they would be willing to pay if your site actually
cost something. Would people be willing to pay for your
advice and expertise? Do people feel ripped off when they
make purchases at your blog or from your affiliates?
As we dive into this, you'll learn quickly that creating highly
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successful content is not the same as chasing a get-rich-quick
scheme. There's no easy step by step guide to building the
foundation of our online presence.
Success requires developing yourself as an author who really
knows how to provide information and connect with people in a
way that draws them in and leaves them longing for more.
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CHAPTER #1
AVID CONSISTENCY
S U C C E S S I S N ' T B U I L T I N A D A Y . . .
I T ' S B U I L T D A Y B Y D A Y
The word prolific means producing abundant works or results. As
bloggers, we want to be able to produce a plethora of useful,
meaty articles about topics within our respective niches.
I want to be able to produce well written articles on blogging and
website design that are so dynamic that people flock from
around the web to read them. I want to be able to produce
article after article that meets needs, delivers information,
teaches blogging and web design principles, and reaches out and
grabs readers driving them to come back again and again for
more.
Yet its so difficult to keep up with an aggressive writing
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schedule. One award-quality post per day is really what it takes
to drive people to your site by the thousands but how in the
world can we begin to keep up with a schedule like that? Sure we
know a lot of information about our subjects, but that doesnt
mean that we know enough to keep pouring out an unlimited
supply of information to our readers. More often than not,
bloggers very quickly reach the end of their supply of wisdom
and instantly begin scaling their article production rate back.
So what are the keys to producing quality articles on a consistent
basis? What are the principles that the most proficient online
authors practice in order to maintain a steady stream of posts on
their sites? The simple answer is hard work. The more accurate
answerwell for that youll have to keep reading.
READ EXPERT BLOGS ABOUT BLOGGING
Each day I read several articles from others who blog about
blogging. I read articles that cover every topic related to this
subject including search engine optimization, professional
design, creative writing, link exchanges, traffic building, and
more. I have several blogs that I visit nearly every day in order to
ensure that I am practicing every last principle that may
influence the success of my blog. Here are a few blogs to get you
started: Problogger, Daily Blog Tips, Copy Blogger and of course
my blog, Site Sketch 101.
I highly recommend that you subscribe by either email or RSS to
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each of these blogs and that you devote time each day to read
each article. These will fill your mind with ways to continue
growing your blog into something that will reflect expertise in
your field.
READ EXPERT BLOGS IN YOUR NICHE
I have heard it said that our mind is like a barrel with holes. As
we take in information about a subject it is like pouring water
into that barrel. As you pour the water in some of it begins toleak out just as we tend to forget things that we have learned or
as we use that information in articles.
As you climb closer to having the barrel filled with water you
have to increase the amount of water that you are pouring in to
compensate for the increased amount that will be leaking out.
The same is true with knowledge. As you increase the amount of
information that you are pouring out to your readers, you need
to increase the amount of knowledge that you take in so that
you can keep up.
You need to keep learning enough about your subject in order to
have enough expertise to continually write new posts and keep
up with your readers questions.
The best way to take in information in your niche is to read and
follow other bloggers. This is also a great way to build
relationships and even further establish yourself as an expert
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throughout your niche.
BALANCING YOUR LIFE & YOUR BLOG
Are you juggling lifes demands like a job and a family while
struggling to figure out how to blog with the power and passion
necessary to make it big? Youre not alone.
For those of you who dont already know, I currently serve as an
Infantryman in the United States Army. Each week, I work an
average of 50 or more hours while at the same time maintaining
my amazing (in my opinion) blog, Site Sketch 101.
In fact, just last December, I was gone for field training from
Monday morning until late Thursday night. During that time I
had no access to any electronics including laptops, cell phones or
any means of accessing the internet. I arrived home Thursday
night at about 9:30 pm and was back at work on Friday morning
at 5:30 am. This is a regular occurrence in my line of work.
SUCCESS DEMANDS HARD WORK
Now Im not saying this to brag on myself for being able to do
this, but rather to encourage you. If I can handle this then
anyone can. Its not because Im so great at doing this stuff, but
because Ive learned a few simple principles that can help tosimplify a complicated lifestyle. Grab these principles from me
and put them to work in your own life.
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Juggling a busy life and a successful blog can be a difficult task.
Those who tell you that you can rise to the top without working
very hard are mistaken, lying to you, or trying to sell you
something. Success demands hard work.
Most people arent full-time bloggers. We have to work and
sometimes that means long hours away from our blogs, our
families and our passions.
SIMPLE TIPS TO BALANCE YOUR LIFE & YOUR JOB
Let me share with you some of the things that I do to help me
write, design, interact and work a job.
Pen & Paper:Always carry a pen and paper with you. You never
know when youre going to think of something useful. When
you do, write it down immediately.
We all forget things. For most of us we probably forget more
than we remember. Because of this it is vital that we write
down everything that we read or think of related to our blog.
If you are mowing your yard and you think of a great topic for
a blog article, pull a pen and notepad out of your pocket and
write it down. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing,
you should always write down information that can help you
grow your site.
Brainstorm:Make use of time that would otherwise be wasted
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by brainstorming ideas for your website. Use the time that
youre in the shower or the time that youre in the car driving
to or from work.
Discipline:Schedule time to work on your blog and then stick to
your schedule. Use the ideas that you brainstormed
throughout the week and put them into articles.
Streamline:Figure out what it takes to produce a great article
and then speed up that process. Get rid of anything that
slows you down and develop your system so that you can
quickly and efficiently produce high quality content.
Relax:Dont get overwhelmed. If you feel like youre too
stressed out then take a break. I blog because its a way for
me to relax. I enjoy it. I love interacting with my readers.
Enjoy what you do. And when necessary, take breaks.
It is possible to operate an amazing blog and work a full-time job.
Dont think that your limited by your situation. Youre not. You
can accomplish amazing things.
Don't stop learning and growing. Those of us who work full time
have a major disadvantage. We have less time to learn and
develop ourselves as bloggers than those who blog full time. But
that is no excuse. Lets continually strive to be the best that we
can be.
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BUILD YOUR BLOG WITH IDEA MAPPING
As bloggers, one of the worst setbacks that we can face is the
daunting task of coming up with and developing topics about
which we can write.
Corporations spend millions of dollars a year on research and
development so that they can come up with the products and
services that will sell. You probably dont have millions of dollars
to put into this task, but you do need to find a way to develop
new and exciting ideas for your blog.
I am bombarded with questions from bloggers related to this
idea. Sometimes it can be incredibly difficult to come up with
ideas day after day. Well, heres some good news. It doesnt
have to be such a miserable task. In fact, generating ideas for
your blog can actually be a fun project when you learn how to
put into practice this amazing concept.
ARE YOU STRUGGLING TO DEVELOP TOPICS?
Idea mapping is the practice of creating a diagram or chart to
layout your ideas and organize your thoughts.
It might sound complicated but its actually incredibly simple. It
can be done on paper or by using some popular mind mapping
websites likeMind Meister. I useMind Meisterto create mine.
http://www.sitesketch101.com/affiliates/mind_meisterhttp://www.sitesketch101.com/affiliates/mind_meisterhttp://www.sitesketch101.com/affiliates/mind_meisterhttp://www.sitesketch101.com/affiliates/mind_meisterhttp://www.sitesketch101.com/affiliates/mind_meisterhttp://www.sitesketch101.com/affiliates/mind_meisterhttp://www.sitesketch101.com/affiliates/mind_meisterhttp://www.sitesketch101.com/affiliates/mind_meister -
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Its free and its a lot of fun.
The easiest way to explain this unique concept is to simply start
by showing you a picture of my idea map. Notice how I break mydiagram down into the basic categories of my website. I then
work to think of topics and ideas that could be covered under
each category.
4 STEPS TO BUILD YOUR IDEA MAP
Heres a few simple steps to get you started on your idea
mapping journey. Take them and use them or modify them into
a system that works for you.
Write the name of your site in the middle of the page.
Write the name of 5 categories surrounding the site name.
Work to create at least one topic in each category.
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Repeat step 3 until you have 5 or 6 topics in each category.
If you apply those steps then you can come up with 25-30 topics
for your blog in about an hour or so. Thats enough topics towrite for a month or more every single day. Since most bloggers
dont post every daythis can last you even longer.
This single practice can provide an amazing jolt to your work of
generating topics for your blog. Get out a piece of paper or head
over to Mind Meister and create a free account and start getting
your ideas down on paper today.
HOW TO EFFECTIVELY RECYCLE OLD BLOG POSTS
If you really want to build content on your site that's worth
visiting then you need to learn the art of writing articles that are
timeless in nature. In other words, it's acceptable to write about
things that are taking place this week, but visitors six months
from now are going to click away immediately if they land on
that article.
It's important to be writing about subjects within your blog's
topic that can be used both today and a year from today. Once
you've mastered the concept of writing timeless articles then you
can move onto this lesson with ease.
WHY SHOULD YOU RECYCLE BLOG POSTS?
The art of recycling an old post simply means that you take an
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article that was previously published, let's say five or six months
ago, and add new life and excitement to it and republishing it.
It's a great practice to get yourself into for several reasons.
It saves time:If you're stuck trying to think of what to write or if
you want to get a head start on your coming articles then this
is the perfect way to do it.
It builds Page Rank:I'm very fortunate to receive back-links on
the articles at Site Sketch 101. In fact I have several articles on
the site with a 2 or 3 Page Rank. Bringing a six month old PR3
page back to the front of everyone's attention is a great way
to snowball the success that article has already achieved.
Here's an example of a recycled PR3 Article on Site Sketch 101:
15 Incredible WordPress Plugins You Need
After having affectively recycled this article, this post now
receives hundreds of visits from Google each day. This
method really does work.
It builds on previous successes:If you have a topic that was
incredibly popular in the past then what better way to rebuild
excitement and momentum on your website than to bring it
back to life?
MAXIMIZE THE QUALITY OF A RECYCLED ARTICLE
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Now if you think you can simply change the date on the article
and bring it back to your front page then you're most likely going
to be met with dismal failure. Here's some tips to keep in mind
as you work to revive an old article.
Leave the Permalink Alone:If you want to keep growing the
page rank of your article then be sure to leave the permalink
alone. This allows you to bring in a fresh wave of links to a
page that already has links.
Build Fresh Excitement into the Title:The first thing that people
see is the title. Take everything you know about writing titles
and put it into practice. Make it bold, exciting, and catchy.
We'll cover more about this in chapter 3.
Revise / Rewrite the article:Now when you recycle the article
don't think that you're going to get away with republishing the
exact same thing. Use the old version as a starting point for a
new more vibrant article.
Add Fresh Ideas and Experiences:Infuse into your writing
everything that you've learned or experienced since you first
published the article. Don't leave the experiences in there that
you lived six months ago. Make it fresh.
Remove Obsolete Concepts:If you made reference to something
that's no longer valid like something in the news or a personal
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opinion that is now developed in a different direction then
pull it out and replace it with your new ideas.
CHAPTER REFLECTION
People aren't going to come flocking to your website if your
posting schedule is sporadic or nonexistent. Whether you post 3
days a week or every day of the week, choose a schedule, be
consistent and use the principles outlined in this chapter to guide
you as you work to consistently create content that your readers
are looking for. Putting these principles to work for you at your
blog will lead to amazing results.
As you go away from this chapter be sure to remember these
important concepts.
Read expert blogs about blogging.
Read expert blogs in your niche.
Always carry a pen and paper.
Brainstorm during your spare time.
Streamline your workflow.
Relax and take breaks when necessary.
Practice idea mapping.
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Effectively recycle old blog posts.
PERSONAL CHALLENGE
Now seriously focus on taking the lessons that you encountered
in this chapter and work hard to make them your own. Take
these blogging principles and start acting on them today.
Revolutionize your posting consistency.
As you work to take these concepts home with you, challenge
yourself with the following questions:
Have I been posting consistently or has my sporadic schedule
been driving users from my site?
Which of these concepts can I use to improve the consistency of
my blog the most?
Which of these can help me find the strength that I need to
develop a consistent posting schedule on my blog?
How many posts per week can I reasonably post? On which days
of the week should I consistently aim to publish them?
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CHAPTER #2
BOLD CREATIVITY
D A Z Z L E Y O U R V I S I T O R S W I T H N E W
A N D B O L D I D E A S
As they say in the corporate world, Think Outside The Box!Or as
they used to say at Taco Bell, Think Outside The Bun!
When you create headlines and articles that are unique and eye
catching then you grab the reader's attention. Dont follow the
same mold that everyone around you seems to follow. Be bold.
Challenge people to think differently. Use personal and creative
stories to illustrate your articles. Be different.
The more creative you can be, the more effective your writing
will be.
Though I can't provide you with the exact ideas for you to use on
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your site, I can show you some of the tools that have worked for
me. Hopefully, you'll learn from my example and work to
develop your own creative essence.
CREATIVITY MAKES WILDLY POPULAR CONTENT
At Site Sketch 101, I've been fortunate to have several articles go
viral across Twitter, Delicious and other social websites.
Some of these articles have quickly become very popular.
They've received hundreds of retweets. They've secured
hundreds of delicious bookmarks. They've had over 50+
comments on them by the morning after they were published
and many of them are still receiving new comments each day.
They even spiked my visitor count by the thousands. It brought a
lot of attention to Site Sketch 101.
In my mind these article are a success. They are a huge success
and Im incredibly happy with them. But although Im happy with
what happened, Im not happy to just sit back and enjoy a one-
time achievement. And I'm certainly not just sitting back and
gloating in a successful achievement. I want more. I want to
experience this again and again. And I want you to experience it
as well.
So I sat back and I began to break these articles apart. I began to
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worked. Comments and emails came pouring in that people
were installing amazing plugins that they were so thankful to
have now found. Asking people to do something complicated
will always minimize the outreach and effectiveness of an
article.
Its content was rock solid.If you saw the title and came into it
looking forThe 15 Best WP Plugins for 2010then you would
have found exactly what you were looking for. I didnt choosenasty plugins that nobody uses. I chose the ones that are
highly rated, highly useful and highly needed. The quality of
the content supported the bold title and the calls-to-action.
It added value to those who read it.The core concept of the
article was to provide people with incredibly easy-to-use ways
to enhance their online experience. I was providing ways for
people to grow their blogs and add new features to their
websites. The value of each plugin was far more than the
price: free.
CHAPTER REFLECTION
If you dont want to create wildly popular content then
something might just be wrong with you. I cant imagine that
there are many people who wake up in the morning who want to
be failures. I know that I dont.
Here's a recap on what it takes to make it big:
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Be Bold.
Appeal to Large Audiences.
Have easy calls-to-action.
Provide rock-solid content.
Add value to your readers.
PERSONAL CHALLENGE
Now get out there and revolutionize the way that you blog. Add
that new vibrancy that you've been lacking and show off to the
world that you can be bold and creative.
Challenge yourself with these questions:
How can I be creative in such a way as to add a new level of
excitement to my blog?
What can I do to rally the community at my blog that I've never
done before?
Who do I know that is highly creative that I can learn from?
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CHAPTER #3
COMPELLING ARTICLES
S M A C K Y O U R R E A D E R S W I T H A
C O M P U L S I O N T O K E E P R E A D I N G
Hey. I was just reading your blog and I got so bored that it
actually hurt my head.
It was so bad that it made Moby Dick, Herman Melville's 2,000
page epic about a whale, look like an exciting children's fairytale.
In fact, I'd rather be hanging out with Chuck Noland, Tom Hanks'
character from Castaway, trapped on a deserted island with
nobody to talk to except for a volleyball named Wilson.
After reading your blog, I had to go take two Tylenol and then go
stand with my face in the corner. It was more exciting than your
article. Then after my head stopped hurting, I had to jump in
here and write up this chapter right away to let you know about
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it.
Which one of you am I writing this about? Oh, you know who
you are.
Most people think that their articles are much more exciting than
they actually are. I think that it's the same instinct that makes
people talk about their kids.
I think that my daughter is the cutest thing in the world, but
sometimes I get bored hearing other people talk about their
kids. I don't care if they did just win the 1st grade student of the
week award.
NOBODY THINKS YOUR BLOG IS AS CUTE AS YOU DO
Nobody thinks that your blog is as cute or as exciting as you do.
You've really got to think outside of your usual scope of things
and find out how other people feel about it. You've got to put
yourself in your reader's seat and see things as they see them.
Most websites about creating successful blogs seem to cover a
wide variety of topics. Each day I find articles about connecting
with other bloggers, setting up link exchanges, building page
rank, using social media, and marketing your blog.
And yet, even though I hear bloggers seemingly shouting out
from the housetops that content is king, I still find very few
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articles about content. If content is king then why do bloggers
focus on everything except content? If you ask me, it seems kind
of backwards.
Generally speaking, people visit your site for one of two reasons.
First, they come because you engage with them personally. They
are your friends and they visit to connect with you. Second, they
come for your articles. They come because they view you as an
authority in your field and they want to learn from you. Ormaybe they come because your writing entertains them.
You can certainly get a long ways by engaging with your readers
personally. Answering comments and reaching out to them will
fuel your drive to success.
But it wont get you very far in grabbing the attention of the
Google crowd. If someone finds your site in a search engine like
Google, Yahoo, or Bing they want information. They want to find
an article that is well-written, that entertains them, that engages
with them, and that provides them a reason to dig through your
site for more articles.
ELEMENTS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE ARTICLES
Heres the bottom line: If you want to keep a majority of yourvisitors then you have to be able to produce amazing articles.
Period.
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Here's some principles about successful writing that you need to
keep in mind if you plan on building awesome articles.
Excitement -After you write a post, go back through it and try toadd adjectives anywhere you can. Put in power words that
add strength to your writing and demonstrate your passion for
the topic.
Personality -Let yourself shine through your articles. Blogging
isn't like writing college essays. Sure, it's about sharing
information but it's also about sharing yourself.
Proper Grammar -When you fail to use proper grammar you
make yourself appear less intelligent than you really are which
takes away from your credibility and authority. Take the time
to proofread your work and make edits when necessary.
No Jargon -I know that you want to impress your readers but
using big words is the wrong way to do it. Use simple words
and sentences to make reading easy and fun. Readers don't
want to have to open a dictionary to understand your content.
Personal Experiences -One of the most effective ways to
connect with your readers is to share yourself with them.
Dont be afraid to put your successes and your failures out for
everyone to see. There are few things more effective to
building your credibility in an article than being genuinely
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open with your readers.
Humor -A great way to captivate your readers attention is to
make them smile. If you can intermingle jokes, irony or satireinto a post people will stick with you much longer. Laughter is
an incredibly powerful tool for conveying information.
Stories If you want your readers to understand the point you
are trying to make then tell them a story. Remember Aasops
fables? Spruce up your points with some captivating stories.
Readable in One Sitting Long posts can be useful, but Ive
found that more often they scare away readers. Readers
either leave the article or they only skim the highlights. The
solution: Keep em short.
A Call to Action Whens the last time you asked your readers to
get out and do something after reading your article? Theres
never a better time to do it. Get out and call someone to
action in your next article.
A Call to Interaction Most bloggers wonder why they dont get
a lot of comments. Heres a quick tip: ask your readers
questions and ask for their feedback. To quote the Bible, "Ye
have not because ye ask not."
Vital Information Explain how something works. Provide a
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how-to. Build a step-by-step tutorial. Provide really valuable
information and people will read it and then they'll tell their
friends to read it.
Organization People are skimmersso you might as well make
it easy for them. Provide your readers with lists and large
headlines throughout the article. Make information easy to
find throughout your articles.
These are just a few ways to get your reader's faces off of their
keyboards and help them ease up their snoring.
ELEMENTS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE HEADLINES
Headlines are drastically under rated. Most bloggers fail to
realize that their post titles are the number one advertisements
for their articles. Post titles have to put on the gloves and go
head-to-head with dozens of other post titles in peoples RSS
readers, email accounts and search engines.
It's your job to get your post titles ready to perform like the
champs they have the potential to be.
I want my headlines to be so compelling that they seemingly
smack my readers in the face with a sudden compulsion to readit. I want my post titles to be so dramatic that casual internet
browsers cant help themselves but to dig deeper and find out
what I have to say. Heres how Darren Rowse from
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problogger.netputs it:
MANY BLOGGERS POUR A LOT OF EFFORT INTO WRITING ENGAGING AND
INTERESTING POSTS,BUT THEN JUST SLAP ANY OLD TITLE ONTO IT
WITHOUT REALIZING THAT IN DOING SO THEY MIGHT BE ENSURING THAT
THEIR POST IS NEVER READ.~DARREN ROWSE
Heres 10 tips that have assisted my blog in rapid growth:
Be bold:Just as we emphasized in chapter 2, boldness adds
tremendous power to our blogs. Strong, powerful headlines
grab peoples attention much more effectively and
dramatically than passive ones. Make a bold statement about
your topic that is sure to get their attention like 14 Ways to
Increase Your Blog Trafficor 5 Vital Reasons to Use List
Posts.
Use dynamic words:There are certain words that quite simply
sound more exciting than others. Try to make use of words
like awesome, killer, amazing, heart-pounding, thrilling, sure-
fire, etc. Select exciting words that that you could use to
review your favorite action movie. Heres a few examples:
Notice the word Sure-fire in '5 Sure-Fire Strategies For Better
Blogging' or the word Crucial in '5 Crucial Tips For Wordpress
Users.'
Get personal:Personal stories are much more meaningful than
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articles that appear as if they were written by a computer. Try
some article titles like these: Why I Dont Use NoFollow on
my Links or How I Made $10,000 From Google Last Month.
Be short: Enough said. Really though. I preview all of my articles
using the Wordpress preview button in the editor. If the title
pushes onto a second line on the post page then I shorten it
until it only uses one line. Find a rule like that that works for
you on your blog and stick with it.
Be direct:If your headline isnt a clear representation of what
the article is about then the reader will likely not take the time
to actually read your post. They will more likely feel like you
tricked them and they will just leave your site and not return.
Ask a question:I see a lot of intriguing post titles that come in
the form of provocative questions. Let me share a few
examples with you: Would you like to quit your job and make
money online? or How would you like more traffic to your
website?
Be commanding:Tell your readers to do something amazing.
Throw out an order that is extreme and your readers will
follow. Heres some examples: Get More Traffic to your
Website or maybe something like Create Awesome Content
and Keep Your Readers!
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Be creative:This one is really the key to the whole list. Your only
limitation in creating effective headlines for your blog articles
is your own imagination. If you can create ways to break the
mold on your post titles then you will be able to draw in users
like never before.
Use lists:Every day that I visit delicious.com nearly half of their
bookmarks that made it to the front page are some form or
another of a list. List posts are extremely attractive to a lot ofreaders. Check out these examples: 5 Things You Need to
Know About Trackbacksor 11 Beautiful Free Wordpress
Themes. These also make excellent link bait for others
bloggers to link to and tweet about.
Use Keywords:I listed this one last because I view it as the least
important. Using strong keywords in your title can help your
listings on Google but using them in the wrong way can take
away from their effectiveness to human readers. Strike up a
good balance here and youll be setup for success.
Sometimes its hard work to create the kind of websites and
blogs that bring visitors flocking to them but that doesnt mean
that we should give up or that it cant be done.
We need to step up to the challenge and do what it takes to
create content that educates, entertains, and engages our users.
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Developing powerful post titles is paramount to driving people
into your articles and winning the competition against other sites
in your readers' RSS reader accounts.
Make your titles boring and people won't even read the most
well written articles on your site. Make them exciting enough
and it be as if you are receiving free advertizing around the
internet.
CHAPTER REFLECTION
As we reflect on this chapter, here's a few of the core concepts
that you need to keep in mind.
Use humor to entertain your readers.
Let your excitement pour out into your writing.
Tell stories to convey the information that you're sharing.
Let your personality shine through.
Use proper grammar to demonstrate your credibility.
Call your readers to act and to interact.
Develop headlines that compel your readers to dig deeper.
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PERSONAL CHALLENGE
As you go away from this chapter, you've got to find a way to put
this into practice at your site. It you don't make it personal then
reading this has been a waste of your time.
Challenge yourself to be a better writer. Challenge yourself to
engage your audience more effectively than you have ever done
before. Here's a few questions to get you started.
Which of the questions above busted your bubble? Which one
really nailed you to wall?
What about number six? Oh thats right. There were only five
questions. Well then why dont you go ahead and give us a
number six? What else can you think of that might be holding
us back from really connecting with our audiences?
What other things can you think of that can spice up a good
blog? Can you think of some other elements of writing that
can make our articles more enjoyable?
Are my headlines bold and exciting or are they most likely the
type of headlines that get quickly overlooked by casual
browsers?
Do my post titles accurately describe my article's content or are
people quickly clicking back out feeling deceived?
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CHAPTER #4
DISTINGUISHED VALUE
H O W M U C H I S Y O U R S I T E W O R T H
T O T H O S E W H O F O L L O W Y O U ?
There were few things in life as relaxing and as enjoyable for me
during 2009 as my Christmas leave. My two brothers, my sister
and our families moved back into our parents house for a week
and half of holiday celebrations. It was 13 of us living together
under one roof.
We laughed like hyenas. We broke the buzzer on the Taboo
game. We gorged ourselves with turkey, ham, stuffing and
biscuits. And then we gorged ourselves with leftover turkey,
ham, stuffing and biscuits.
I even made it successfully all the way through several days
without ever changing out of my brand new fleece superman
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pajamas. Theyre so comfortable. If you saw them then youd
understand.
THE INTANGIBLE VALUE OF RELATIONSHIPS
But as I lounged around, slept in, and wrestled with my brother
and his kids, I began to realize that the time we were having
together had real value. In fact, it was so valuable to me that I
was willing to drive for 15 hours from Washington DC to
northern Illinois. It was worth spending hundreds of dollars in
gas and tolls and then spending the same on the return trip.
I cant place a number on it. In fact, I feel like the amount I spent
was incredibly cheap compared to the value that I got from being
there. I dont know exactly how much Id be willing to spend to
do it again next year. But I know that it would take a lot to stop
me.
Those times and those experiences are valuable. Theres an
intangible price that we all place on connections and
relationships. And its important to recognize that as we work to
provide value at our websites.
Ive come to believe that there are three primary reasons that
people are exploring the internet and two of them are directlyrelated to the value I experienced on Christmas break.
As you look at these three areas, I dont want you to sit back and
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think about which category you are the strongest but rather
figure out how you can build strength from all three of these
areas. Success wont come from power-housing in any one of
these categories. You need to work to build strength in all three.
Education:Many visitors, especially those coming from search
engines, are looking for information on specific topics. They
want guides that explain how to do something in a way that is
quick and easy to understand. They want to be educated on aparticular skill or on a specific bit of knowledge. Wikipedia is a
perfect example of a site that appeals to users seeking
knowledge.
Entertainment:Many users browse the internet simply to pass
the time, to amuse themselves, or to find something to make
them laugh. Many television networks are now broadcasting
their programming across the internet to draw in this group of
online traffic. Youtube is an amazingly popular example of a
site that appeals to entertainment focused users.
Engagement:With the advent of social media like Twitter,
MySpace and Facebook, there is an ever growing demographic
of users online who are searching for ways to connect and
engage with other people. People are drawn to sites where
the authors respond to readers' questions and comments.
PRICE VS. VALUE
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me about it. People with little or no experience about certain
topics were asking me if they should create membership sites so
that they could get in on the explosive potential of this type of a
passive income.
I even had a couple of people suggest to me that I do the same
thing with Site Sketch 101. Some people offered to coach me
how to make it big with this business type.
I'm very familiar with how to make it work but I operate on a
different business model than most people. I'm patient. I
develop my products and I wait until I believe that I can provide
much more value than what I'm charging. I want to give people
great value.
If I want people to make a purchase on Site Sketch 101, then I
believe that I have to be able to provide tremendous value. I
believe that you have to be able to provide $100 worth of value
to make a $25 sale. I don't want a single visitor to my site to feel
slighted or cheated.
Value in its simplest form is the amount of money that someone
would be willing to pay for something if they were to make the
purchase all over again.
Once your reader has made a purchase for $25 from your site, do
they feel slighted? Or do they feel like they've just been given a
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great deal?
Here's a checklist to go over the next time you're trying to figure
out if your product or even your blog articles provide real valueto your readers.
Qualified:Have you made $100,000 online? Then why are you
trying to teach something you don't know? If you really know
how to do something then you'll do it yourself first as proof
and then you'll have the credibility necessary to teach others.
Helpful:Is your article or product actually going to help someone
or solve someone's problem or are you just putting it up to
take up space? Many of you are talking a lot but actually
saying very little. There are words and pictures all over your
website but they don't actually mean anything to the readers.
Legitimate:Is it going to give what it promises? Does the
product provide what you advertise? A lot of online salesman
try to create killer sales pages and prop it up with strong
adjectives and overbearing promises that aren't ever
delivered.
Timely:Are you writing opinions about news and events that are
current or ancient? Is your product out-dated or up to current
standards? If you're still writing articles about Michael
Jackson's death, you might be a little behind the times.
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Easy to Use:Is your material easy to understand and simple for
your readers to put into practice? Complicated solutions
aren't worth anything to your users. People are looking for
fast and simple solutions to their issues.
When you think of value, I'm sure you think of products that
people pay for. Certainly we want to make sure that people feel
like they're getting their money's worth from the content that
we sell on our websites.
Real value, however, goes well beyond that.
If you're not striving to make every piece of content at your site
contain real value then your site probably isn't worth visiting.
You may have just discovered why you can't get people to come
back and visit your website. You're not adding enough value to
your work.
Add value to your articles, not so you can charge for your
articles, but so that your readers don't feel like their time is
wasted just by looking at your website. I want Site Sketch 101
readers to feel like they're receiving entertainment, education,
and engagement that is worth paying for...and they're getting it
all for free. You should be doing the same.
WORK HARD AND MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK
I receive a lot of requests each week to link to other blogs.
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Smaller bloggers are constantly asking larger, more established
bloggers for links to build their direct traffic, their search engine
listings and their online exposure.
Most smaller bloggers mistakenly believe that if they can just win
the lottery and score one or two big links that their site will be
set and they can roll in the cash and traffic that will result.
LINKS, LUCK & LASTING SUCCESS
Far too often when the link is not given, the smaller blogger
becomes upset and they start expressing that the larger blogger
is stuck up, selfish or that they dont care about the little guy.
The fact is, however, that this couldnt be farther from the truth.
In the world of websites links are as powerful as dynamite. If
used right they can clear a path for our users to find amazing
resources but if used wrong they can explode in our faces leaving
a trail of carnage and casualties.
THE POTENTIAL HARM OF A BAD OUTBOUND LINK
Often times we overlook a huge part of the equation when we
randomly ask someone for a link. When were denied the link
we feel that the webmaster is unkind but in reality we are failing
to realize that if they link to our sites then it could be potentially
fatal for their website. Lets discuss a few of the reasons why
links can be dangerous to a webmaster.
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Quality:A link to a low quality website will cause readers to no
longer value the recommendations of the linking website.
Relevance:A link to a site that has little to do with the linkingsite will confuse readers and encourage them not to return.
Value:A link to a site that doesnt present an absolutely amazing
level of value to its visitors will make readers skeptical about
clicking on any links on a website.
Search Engines:Many people believe that Google weighs the
value of our sites as much on the sites that we link to as by the
sites that link to us. This means that if your site becomes full
of links to websites that Google considers as spam then
Google will assume that your site is spam.
Credibility:In essence, each of the first three points either build
or destroy a websites credibility and authority. If they
selectively present their readers with only the most high-
quality links available then people will value and respect that
blogger and his or her recommendations.
WORK HARD PROVIDE VALUE MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK
Let me be honest. If your plan at making it big is praying that you
get lucky and strike up an awesome link from a professional
blogger then you probably arent going to find much luck on the
internet. Youll probably get discouraged and feel like everyone
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Educate, Entertain and Engage.
Provide more value than the price you charge.
Share what you're qualified to share.
Be genuinely helpful.
Provide resources that are easy to use.
Provide current, up-to-date information.
Deliver what you promise.
Provide something that people can be proud to link.
Link to only the best possible resources.
PERSONAL CHALLENG
Now let me stick it to you. As you work to apply this chapter into
your own blogging journey, I want you to challenge yourself with
these questions:
Am I providing value at my site or am I ripping people off of their
time and money?
Are my readers and customers go away feeling ripped off after
doing work with me or do they come back time after time
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bringing their friends with them?
Am I delivering so much value at my site that people feel like
they are getting a good deal just being allowed to read it?
What are some actions that I can do right now to make my site
appeal to more people with these principles in mind?
What can I do to make my site so amazing that people want to
link to it without us having to ask for it?
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THE SECOND POWER
BRILLIANT DESIGN
F I R S T I M P R E S S I O N S R E A L L Y A R E
L A S T I N G I M P R E S S I O N S
Now that you've established a solid foundation for your blog in
the amazing content that you can now produce, it's time to take
it to the next level. Without content you have nothing but now
that we've built the core of our blog it's time to move on.
Having a brilliant design at your blog that makes navigating your
site and engaging with your content fun and easy will multiply
the effectiveness of your writing.
Have you ever been to the Microsoft website? Unfortunately I
have. Even for an expert in all things internet, I have a hard timenavigating it. Its painfully difficult.
I have to admit that it's much better now than it used to be but I
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still remember how miserable their site was to browse.
I remember the one time that I was searching for some
information there. It was nearly impossible and every minutethat I wasted made it more and more painful to continue. Finally
I broke.
Excuse me, Microsoft. Ill be right back. I pushed my chair
away from my desk and stepped over toward the door.
Immediately I began bashing my head into the door frame until
my face was bruised, bloody and swollen. After several minutes
of mercilessly smashing my face into the door, I finally reached
the point where the pain in my face was more than the pain of
navigating their site. I returned to the desk and tried to continue
my quest.
Visiting some sites is simply more painful than getting a root
canal with a plastic spoon. Is your site like that? No, really. Is it?
If youre wondering why nobody visits your site then maybe its
because its so painful for people to visit it that they would rather
play leap frog with a unicorn. The guys know what Im talking
about on that one.
Dont get your feelings hurt thinking about this. We all have to
learn and grow. Thats part of life. In fact, thats why this book
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exists to help you transform your site into something beautiful.
Just study, work hard, and get better.
There are four key points to maximizing the potential of your
websites design.
Amazing Experience:If you want your readers to come back
again and again then you have to give them something theyre
going to remember. Deliver an awesome first impression and
watch as people flock toward it.
Better Coding:Take the time to ensure that every browser
displays your content the same and by doing so you can
gaurantee that every one of your users enjoys the same
outstanding experience.
Crisp Usability:Usability is the measure of how easy it is for your
users to navigate your site, locate information that theyre
looking for, and engage with the content. Simplify the layout
of your site. Make it easy for your users to interact with it.
Dynamite Features:Pay attention to the details of your site to
deliver an enjoyable visit to everyone that stops by. Clean up
your sidebar, use a fresh font, and streamline your site toreally stand apart from the crowd.
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CHAPTER #5
AMAZING EXPERIENCE
G I V E Y O U R R E A D E R S S O M E T H I N G
T H E Y ' L L N E V E R F O R G E T
Just three short weeks before I made the plunge into married
life, I decided to take a chance on something that was at that
time quite unfamiliar to me. I logged onto Priceline and for the
first time ever, I named my own price. I placed a ridiculously low
bid for a hotel in Chicago where my wife and I could stay during
our honeymoon.
Back then I was a college student and I didn't have much money.
I was willing to take the chance in the faint hope that I might
score a great deal.
At 55 dollars per night, I was sure that there were no results that
were going to come up positive. But I was wrong.
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As the screen flashed and the Priceline website notified me that
my hotel room had been reserved at that low price, there was
immediately a swelling lump in my gut. At that price, I reasoned,
the hotel must be trash. There's no way that I can rent a nice
hotel room in the Chicagoland area at that price.
Fortunately I was wrong again.
We soon discovered that Priceline had landed us on the 11th
floor of a Hyatt Regency just outside of Chicago in a suburb
named Lisle. As we excitedly approached the building, our jaws
dropped to the ground. Neither of us were from wealthy families
and so as we looked in front of us we saw the nicest hotel that
either of us had ever stayed at. We were both amazed and
incredibly grateful.
When we checked in and found our way to our room, the
excitement intensified. Inside we found an enormous king size
bed that was raised high off of the floor. The room was
decorated in the nicest contemporary fashions available. The flat
screen TV was huge.
We stepped into the room and quickly began to explore. As I
pushed the curtains apart, we discovered a view of the
surrounding cityscape that went on for miles. Over the course of
our week at that hotel, we would stand by that window holding
one another and staring off at the lights late into the night. The
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view was amazing.
The lump that had been in my stomach was gone and replaced
with excitement. Over the course of the next few days, my wifeand I would enjoy an amazing experience. We stared out the
window at the horizon. We watched TV on the huge flat screen.
We saw the sights around town and we had a terrific time.
People are visually stimulated critters. We judge books by their
covers. We form opinions about cars by how they look. We see
king sized beds, big screen TV's, and beautiful scenery and it
creates memories that last a lifetime. We see something that
looks professional and as a result it sticks out in our minds.
PEOPLE ARE INSPIRED BY WHAT THEY SEE
As I think back over the course of my honeymoon, the things that
really stand out are the things that we saw. I remember taking in
the sights. I remember enjoying a contemporary hotel room. I
recall exploring the city and taking pictures of the historic shops.
Those things that looked amazing stood out to me. They left an
impression that I won't ever forget.
This same principle carries over into the online world. Websites
that look nice and deliver dynamic first impressions are the onesthat really grab their visitors' attentions.
When we find a website that is so much fun that we can literally
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describe it as an amazing experience then we tend to bookmark,
share, and return to that site again and again.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE LASTING IMPRESSIONSAverage bloggers tend to fail on this onea lot. Most people get
into blogging because they have a passion to write about
something. The majority of bloggers assume that as long as they
write about what they love then they will be successful. Instead
of ever beautifying their site they just plug away creating articles.
The problem is that every visitor that hits a less-than-amazing
blog ends up leaving before even looking at the first post titles.
Visitors never even make it far enough to see the amazing
content that the blogger has put together. First impressions are,
after all, lasting impressions.
Let me give you a specific example that demonstrates this
principle perfectly. In an article on my blog, Site Sketch 101, I
recommended to my readers that they should read and follow
one of the more prominent bloggers in the blogging tips niche.
The author there produces a lot of useful advice for creating and
growing successful blogs and he has certainly achieved a certain
level of success himself with over 40,000 RSS subscribers.
In the comments section of the article where I praised that blog,
one of my readers left me this comment:
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IFIND THAT BLOG TO BE PROOF OF THE IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN.IT
LOOKS BORING.IVE SEEN THAT BLOG RECOMMENDED A FEW TIMES AND
IVE NEVER BOTHERED TO EVEN READ THE FIRST TITLE,BECAUSE OF ITS
APPEARANCE.
My reader's comments are very insightful. In fact, he's hit the
nail right on the head. He and many other users have found that
blog and have simply passed it over not even looking at the first
title because the design was not appealing.
THE IMPORTANCE OF FIRST IMPRESSIONS
There are two ways to increase the number of visits to your site
each day. First is to get out and attract as many people as you
can through advertising, dropping links and telling friends about
your site. The second is to have such a great site that a large
percentage of your visitors decide to return day after day and
share it with their friends..
When a user stumbles upon your site, they only need a few
seconds to decide whether or not it is worth their time to dig
into your material. If your site isn't making a powerful first
impression then you can probably rest assured that you're losing
potential readers and subscribers every day. In fact, the next
time they see your link at another website they will most likely
just pass it over as they remember their last experience at your
less-than-desirable blog.
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We all love hearing people tell us how great our blogs are. I love
to hear that a principle from my blog helped someone achieve a
higher level of success or that something I wrote motivated
someone to try something at their site. I enjoy it when people
tell me that the site looks great or that they are enjoying what
they find.
I love hearing those things but the truth is this: critical, negative
comments are usually more helpful. When those people whodislike our site are willing to tell you why they won't be back, it is
then that you can find out what elements you've been
overlooking.
Most of the time bloggers get discouraged or hurt when
someone attacks them or their site. This is the wrong answer.
We should happily accept criticisms. We should value people's
complaints like gold and we should seriously consider every
piece of advice regardless of how negative it may seem.
LET YOUR USERS SHOW YOU THE DEFICIENCIES
THAT YOUVE BEEN OVERLOOKING
Remember all the times that you've complained about the cell
phone company, the cable company, the car dealer, or someone
else? If they would just change some silly policy then their
services would be great but you can't just call up the president of
their company and let them know to adjust something.
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You blog is the same way. People get frustrated with it or they
don't like it and they often never take the time to let you know
how they feel. So when someone does take that time you need
to realize that this is your opportunity to hone your product and
create something much better.
ARE YOU STRONG ENOUGH FOR THE TRUTH OR
DO YOU JUST WANT TO FEEL GOOD?
If you ask a friend to review your site and provide you with some
feedback and they tell you that it is great...then they aren't really
helping you. If you ask me to look over your site and provide you
with some feedback for improvement then you had better have
some thick skin because I will make it my goal to point out what
is wrong with it.
It's not because I think I'm better than you or that my site is
amazing. That's not the point of critical feedback. It's because I
want you to understand what you can do to make your user's
experience more enjoyable. It's because I want to help you
become the success that you have the potential to be.
When I've invited my friends to review my site I've expected the
same kind of brutal honesty. I want the comments that tell me
what people like and dislike. I want to know what I can fix and I
value people's criticisms. You should too.
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CHAPTER REFLECTION
Design is so incredibly important and yet far too often it is the
most underappreciated aspect of blogging. Too often we forget
about creating a site that our users enjoy navigating and
interacting on.
Bloggers become blind to the fact that their designs are often the
very reason that they are struggling to retain visitors. We forget
that people dont just want great content. They want great
content thats also easy to read, to look at, and to interact with.
As you think back on the concepts that we discussed throughout
this chapter, remember these highlights:
People are inspired by what they see.
First impressions really are lasting impressions.
A great design allows readers to be drawn to your content.
You are the master of your sites layout.
Negative feedback is crucial to finding our design weakness.
PERSONAL CHALLENGEDont leave this chapter without taking what youve learned and
making it real in your life. If you dont go away from these pages
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with an i