How  to  Get  Your  Next  10,000  Blog  Readers  

Special  Report  |  Stan  Smith  PushingSocial.com

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Table  of  Contents  !

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Welcome 3 ...............................................................................................................Getting Repeat Traffic 4 .........................................................................................Start Your Own Guest Blogger Program 8 ...........................................................Quick and Easy SEO 12 .........................................................................................Twitter Traffic Tips 17 .............................................................................................Pinterest Traffic Tips 23 .........................................................................................YouTube Dominator 24 ...........................................................................................Mining Forums for Readers 28 ..............................................................................

Find Forums: 28 ..............................................................................................................Forum Reconnaissance: 30 ...........................................................................................Wooing Forum Participants: 31 ....................................................................................Write Your Special Report: 32 .......................................................................................Register using Your Real Name 34 ...............................................................................Signature Magic 34 .........................................................................................................Stay Focused on Answering Questions that Show Off Your Expertise 34 ...............

Comment Traffic Voodoo 36 ..................................................................................Epic Comments: 36 ......................................................................................................Put Your URL in Your Name: 37 ...................................................................................Landing Page: 37 ...........................................................................................................Tutorial Page: 37 ...........................................................................................................

How to Maximize Guest Post Traffic 38 ................................................................Guest Post Recon 38 ......................................................................................................Write a killer byline: 39 .................................................................................................Create A Customized Welcome Page 39 ......................................................................Promote Your Guest Post Like Crazy 40 ......................................................................Get Another Post in the “Can” Quick. 41 ...................................................................

Why I’m So Obsessed About Blog List Building 42 ............................................Ok, Get Started 43 ...................................................................................................

Want More? 43 ................................................................................................................

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Welcome  !I first published this guide in 2012. The tactics I presented were unorthodox and extremely effective. These tactics still work but are slowly losing their punch because others have learned them and are using them extensively. You’ll find these oldies-but-goodies in the “Classics” chapter.!It’s been 2 years and I’ve updated my blog traffic toolkit to include techniques tailor made for non-techies who want to rapidly grow their blog. !Each of the tactics are easy to implement and are safe meaning they won’t get you banned or drive away your current readers. The key to success is implementing them as quickly as you can. The first people to use a tactic often gets the most benefit because they have less competition. !This eBook has all the the information you need. !Let’s ride.!!

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Ge1ng  Repeat  Traffic  !I normally publish new posts on Monday. When I first started I would publish a post, see my traffic counter gradually build over a week as the post was tweeted and shared and then watch my traffic plummet by Friday. On Monday I would start all over again.!Finally I decided to stop the insanity. I needed a way to keep the traffic I received. I wanted to start the week with a few hundred visitors already visiting the blog! I tried everything until I finally stumbled on the answer.!I’m sure you’ve seen the “subscribe for updates” form on many blogs. This form unfortunately doesn’t work like it used to. !Your readers:!1. Don’t want to sign-up for another “newsletter”2. Most forms are about as exciting as dishwater. They aren’t

appealing to look at or read.3. The option form is often put in the worst spot, buried in the

sidebar, where few if any readers see them.!I knew the “blog updates” offer should work because people enjoyed my articles but my normal plain jane form wasn’t cutting it.!How to Make It Happen !Step #1: Use a better offer Remove newsletter from your vocabulary. No one wants a newsletter but the do want:1. Alerts on news that affect them2. Ongoing tips and tools

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3. Access to special / private content that the public doesn’t receive.!

Replace your current boring offer with a juicy, relevant, and interesting offer.!Step #2: Get A Great Looking Form Use a service such as OptinSkin, LeadBoxes, a feature of

LeadPages, or PopupDomination to easily create attractive option forms to go along with your new offer.!Your form creation software or service should connect your form to your preferred email service provider. !I use Mailchimp since they have done an

exceptional job of integrating their service with 3rd party plugin and software developers. I’m also a fan of Infusionsoft for high-traffic, enterprise projects. !Step #3: Place Your Optin Form For Maximum Use Put your option form at the end of every post. OptinSkin and

PopUpDomination will do this for you. For $27 you can purchase a plugin that will place your After-Post form from Kim Doyal.

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!Genesis/StudioPress users: If you can cut and paste a little bit of code, try adding a custom after-post widget to your Genesis theme. Carrie Dils has an awesome tutorial that will walk you through the process.!View the After Entry Widget Tutorial!Step #4: Create a RSS-Enabled Email Campaign This sounds more complicated than it is. I’ll show you how to set-up a campaign using Mailchimp in the tutorial video.!View the Tutorial Video!!Once the campaign is set-up, every new blog post will trigger Mailchimp to send a new an email to the subscriber. The email will contain an excerpt of the post and a link to visit your blog. !!

It all works on autopilot. !!

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You can turn your update emails into a sales or lead generation tool by including an offer to a relevant service or product. !!Your blog posts will start to work harder for you once you have your new and improved email optin in place. Each new post will attract repeat readers back to your blog. Many of these readers will share your blog post with their audience bringing new readers to your site.!!This may seem like a simple tweak but most people ignore it, losing traffic in the process. I don’t want you to miss out so get started on this today.!

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Start  Your  Own  Guest  Blogger  Program  !Writing posts for other bloggers is a winning tactic. But couldn’t you flip the process and have others write for you?!Absolutely.!In fact, having others write guest posts for your blog has a few great benefits:!• Fresh Content: New writers will

introduce unique ideas and perspectives. Your readers will appreciate the new material and share it with their audience.!

• More Traffic: The best writers will promote your blog when you publish their post. This endorsement will add new readers and subscribers. It’s a win-win.!

• A Vacation: It feels great to take a day off from your writing schedule. Lining up 3-4 guest writers will give you time to focus on other priorities.!

During my research of top bloggers I discovered that they all accepted guest posts. Heck, some had guest posters every single day! !These blogs grew big fast since they had new content pouring into Google along with the new visitors invited by their guest bloggers. !This is a killer strategy which you should start today:!How to Make It Happen !Step #1: Create a “Write For Me” page. !

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This page will outline the opportunity and guidelines for submitting guest posts to your blog. The goal is to make this easy for you and slightly difficult for new writers. !Difficult?!Yes. You will get a lot of people who want to throw crap on your blog. They mean well but they are probably working for a clueless PR agency or working on some get-rich-quick internet marketing program.!Slightly difficult guidelines weeds out these people are at least makes it easier for you to quickly discard submissions that don’t follow the rules.!Sample Guidelines: !Feel free to steal copy model my Write for PS page. !Start your page with a description of the type of posts you are looking for. Be specific. Also let writer’s know which style works the best for your audience. Your goal is to give writer’s as much detail required to submit a successful article. !Outline your guidelines next.!I suggest insisting on:!• Original Content: They can’t recycle an old post from their blog.

You want the freshest, most original content possible. !• Zero Post Links: Shameless self-promotion is a no-no. !• Don’t Ask for Permission: I admire writers who have done their

homework and taken the chance to write a post for my blog. You want these type of writers too. Tell potential writers that they should write and submit a complete post. You don’t want to start reviewing “What should I write?” requests that puts the work back on your shoulders..

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!Step #2: Self-Service Submission !You want to spend as little time as possible administering your program. When I first started, I made the mistake of uploading and editing text. Then I would help the author find a suitable photo. Last I would create author boxes. Pretty soon, it took me longer to help a guest blogger than to write a post! !No more. !Here’s what you should do for guest bloggers: !1. Access your WordPress dashboard and click “Users”!2. Create a new user account for your guest poster. Go ahead and

give them a username and password. Make a strong password (more than 6 characters, upper and lowercase, with a symbol or letter). Make sure you only give them Contributor access. A contributor is “somebody who can write or manage their own posts but cannot publish them”. Click the box that sends the user their password via email.!

3. Email the guest poster that they can access your dashboard, enter, and format their post. Tell them to add a royalty-free or properly attributed photo. When they are finished, they can click the submit key which will alert you of a new post to review.

4. Tell them to update their “Bio” on their profile page. As a contributor the guest poster can access their profile and update their personal information. The Bio section is used to create their end of post Author Box. Make sure they understand that you are NOT responsible for having proper links. !

That’s it. All you do is review and hit publish if the post passes muster. Don’t get lured into doing more than absolutely necessary because you’ll end up being a proofreader.!Step #3: The Promotion Email !

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Once the guest post is ready to go, send the author an email with specific tips for promoting their post. You both win if they know how to promote their blog post. In my experience, most people don’t have a clue. !Here is an example of a stellar promotion email:!Hi [Guest Blogger Superstar] !Your post will be published on 1.30.2014 at 9AM. You did a terrific job and I’m sure readers will enjoy your post. My goal is to get as many people as possible to read your post. You can help me by: !1. Tweeting at least 3x about your post. I suggest a tweet at 9AM,

1PM, and 7PM 2. Thank Retweeters: It feels good to be appreciated. Thank people

who take the time to tweet or retweet about your post. 3. Update your Facebook and LinkedIn Pages. It works best if you

start these updates out with a question that pertains to your post. People will click through to get the answer to the question. Curiosity always works!

4. Write a brief intro-excerpt on your blog. Go ahead and create an short post, just a paragraph or so, that promotes your post. This will be picked up by your RSS readers and blog update

subscribers. 5. Be available to answer comments. I will be answering comments

but its classy and cool for you to be available to answer comments too. !

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Let me know if you have any questions! !All the Best, !Stan. !Keep an eye out for people who follow your suggestions. Invite them back if you can. Disregard people who expect you to do the heavy lifting. They are being a bad guest and shouldn’t be invited back.!Step #4: Promote Your Program !You can kickstart your program by:!• Writing a “Lets Make Music Together” post. Well…not that

dramatic but make sure people know they your are open for guest posts.!

• Add a “Write for Us” link in your author box. You can also add a link to your navigation bar and sidebar.!

• Include a link to your Write for us page on your Contact Us page. Many potential writers will look on your contact page for guest post submission guidelines. !

You are all set. Over time you’ll develop better processes for managing your guest posters but this will get you started.!!

Quick  and  Easy  SEO  !What if I told you that I know of about 200,000 people who are interested in hearing what you have to say? All you have to do pass a short test that verifies that you know what you are talking about. !The test is easy. You have to:1. Prove that you’ve written articles on the subject

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2. Prove that you’ve been around for a while3. Prove that are consistently publishing new information that these

people would find interesting!Pass the test and you are in. I’ll put your name in the directory. I will spend millions of dollars promoting the directory. I’ll hire dozens of people to make your listing look great with video, audio, and an easy to use search function. !Would you take the test?!Heck yes.

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!Google is much better than the fictional directory I created. All of your future readers and customers are on Google. They do searches

every day to answer questions and solve problems. !The easiest way to get your first 1,000 readers is to attract them from Google. !Why You Probably Hate Search Engine Optimization (SEO) !SEO sounds technical and difficult. Reading articles about SEO doesn’t help. You have self-righteous “white hatters”, skittish “grey hatters”, and evil “black hatters”. In the background you have the Google Boys routinely crippling businesses that violate their cryptic guidelines.Here’s the good news. There is a lot of drama and smoke in the SEO world. Google is pretty straight forward about what gets the best rankings on its search engine.!Here are a two tactics that have worked especially well:!How to Make It Happen !Build Category Pages These pages serve as an index to blog posts and resources focused on a specific keyword. !

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This is an example of one that I use on Pushing Social:You can model this page by creating a new page in WordPress and selecting a layout version that doesn’t use sidebars.!Next:!• Create a headline that uses a keyword that you will like to rank well

for. Naturally work the keyword into the headline.!• Use the same keyword in the first sentence of the first paragraph

on the page. There’s nothing magical here, we are just making sure Google knows that we are serious about providing information about the selected keyword.!

• Give 2-3 paragraphs of great original content. Reward your readers with some excellent information on this page. This is a great opportunity to explain your unique approach or perspective on the keyword that you are targeting.!

• Offer a list of relevant posts from your blog: You can manually create this list with 5-10 links. If you are technically savvy, use the Display Posts Shortcode plugin to grab an insert a list of posts by category. !

• Promote the new category page on your sidebar.!Periodically add more more relevant information to your category page. Your goal is to make it a comprehensive resource that readers and the search engines will love.!Watch the Category Page Tutorial!Turn Your Images into SEO Soldiers !High quality and well chosen images give your blog a professional touch. You should be including an image on every post. Once you start using images, you can benefit from their search engine benefit.!Google seems to use images as a way to vet the relevancy of content. Since the search engine can’t recognize what is in an

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image (yet) it relies on two bits of information: 1) the title tag and 2) the al-text tag. These fields show up when you insert an image into a post or email. !Definitions: !

The Title Tag describes the image and is used in Google Image search. !The Alt-Text Tag is used to describe the image when the browser or email program doesn’t show an image. !

You should put relevant descriptions in each of these fields.!But alas…!I often forget to do so. I have hundreds perhaps thousands of images that aren’t helping me seduce Google. I’m sure you are in a similar situation. !Try this - !How to Make It Happen !Download and install the SEO Friendly Images plugin.!This clever plugin handles once simple chore; it checks your images for completed Title and Alt-Text tags. !If you remembered to input the information, it ignores the image. But if it finds a blank field, it takes the post title and uses it for the Title and Alt-Tag fields.!Brilliant. !This plugin was responsible for over 1000 visits in just 30 days for one blog post and its image.

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TwiDer  Traffic  Tips  !Twitter stills rocks the house. I know it isn’t the new kid any more but it is still the smart kid. !What gets overlooked about twitter is that it’s “crossed the chasm” for much of the mainstream market. Just like Facebook, many

ordinary folks are checking out twitter and enjoy it’s rapid-fire access to smart thinkers on almost every subject.!I anticipate Twitter being a great source of traffic for a few more years. Now is a good time to double-down on a few of the best Twitter traffic driving techniques:!It’s Called The Twitter Machine !It works like this - tweeting great stuff gets you new followers. As your follower list grows more people follow you because you are popular. Every new follower could retweet your content and bring

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you new followers. And each new follower is a potential new blog reader.!Simple truth is that my blog grew like a spring dandelion when I focused on growing my Twitter audience. !So Twitter Machine works by feeding you quality content that can be tweeted everyday.!Watch the Twitter Machine Video Tutorial to use this ninja blog marketing tactic. !!!More Proven Tactics From My Bag of Twitter Tricks: !

Scheduled Tweeting Prepare 3 tweets for every post you write. !

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Schedule these tweets for 8AM (Early risers), 12:30PM (Eat lunch at desk crowd), and 8PM (Catching up after kids are in bed crowd).!You can schedule your posts easily with HootSuite or Buffer.!Click To Tweet Have you ever written a sentence that you knew was Twitter gold! I had one the other day…!“Transparency is a mindset not strategy or content”. Bam! Right!!When you have one of those Tweetable moments, go to Click To Tweet and input your 140 characters of brilliance into the field.!ClicktoTweet will give you a short link that does this when a reader clicks it:!That’s your little piece of brilliance packaged and ready to be tweeted to your reader’s audience.

!Add these little links to your blog post in small doses. One or two links should be more than enough. You can also use the Click to Tweet link for Webinar promotion and even put them in ebooks.!Like this one!Introduce Yourself !Being unique is the best way to get Twitter traffic. Twitter thrives on the latest news and people doing out of the ordinary things.!

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One thing that Twitter doesn’t do well is provide you with options to tell your story. 140 characters isn’t enough to create a relationship. We know that people won’t share your stuff if they don’t like you.!So I found a way around this Twitter shortcoming. !

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Check it out.!This is my Twitter header image. Notice the link…!

PushingSocial.com/thanks-for-following-me !Click it and you’ll see this page…!I have a video welcoming my new Twitter follower and links to my favorite posts. !This page has been viewed 2,684 times. Since the only way to learn about is via Twitter I suspect it’s been tweeted a fair amount of times too!!Set-up Your Twitter Follower Page!1. Create a page on your blog. !2. Add your top blog posts along with an opt-in offer: I would have

received more benefit from my page if I had included an opt-in offer in exchange for an email address. !

3. Add your new page to your Twitter profile. I suggest including the link in your cover image.!!

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Pinterest  Traffic  Tips  !I have purposely ignored Pinterest. Pinterest is ok, but I didn’t want yet another social profile to keep up with. However, in spite of my rude behavior, Pinterest did not ignore me.In fact, the jilted social network sent me 400 new readers. Naturally, I’ve started paying more attention. !This might not seem like a lot until you realize that I’ve visited my Pinterest account maybe 5 times in the last year and I don’t believe I’ve ever pinned an image!!The jury is still out on if Pinterest is useful for most businesses, there are a few useful techniques I’ve discovered that you should add to your toolbox.!Stealth Pins: !Pinterest works like this 1. Person sees an image they like. 2. Person pins image 3. Pinned image shows up on the person’s Pin Board4. Others see the pin and re-pin or visit your blog.!You and I are interested in #4.!The key to getting more Pinterest visitors is to get more of your images pinned by your users.!The easiest way to do it is to install jQuery Pin It Button for Images plugin. The name sounds technical but all it does is make your blog post images pinnable. !See below:!See that beautiful “Pin it” button? The button only shows if the reader mouses over the image. But if they click it they see…!

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From here they can pick a board, add a description, and add your image to their Pinterest.!I call it Stealth Pinning because you benefit from Pinterest without even setting up an account on Pinterest. !It’s simple and I love it.!You will too.!Pinterest Ready Images !Recently I noticed that the most savvy bloggers have been doing something different with their images. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out what they were going through the trouble of adding a watermark title to their blog photos.!Here’s an example from Pushing Social.!Adding that “Is Your Blog Boring” title box takes about 10 minutes but… !it turns the photo into a billboard ready to grab attention and stoke curiosity on Pinterest. This simple little addition is worth the extra 5 minutes.

YouTube  Dominator  !YouTube is gargantuan.!Here’s their stats:!• 1 BILLION users every dad-gum month• 6 billion hours of vide watched every month. That 1 hour of video

watching for every person on earth. That’s 50% more video than was watched last year. #scary

• YouTube reaches more US adults (ages 18-34) than any cable network(Source: YouTube)

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!Let me break it down for you. You must find a way to get video on YouTube. You really don’t have a choice if you want to attract more readers.!Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan for you.!How to Make It Happen !Three years ago I found a strategy called 10x10x4 that is incredibly powerful. Mike Koenigs created it and to this day I feel it is his most underrated strategy of all time.!I’ve modified it to fit the needs of bloggers. My new version is 10x10x2 and works just as well as the original.!The catch is that it requires work so it doesn’t appeal to the instant-microwave traffic crowd.!But if you are willing to put in a few hours work you will have an unstoppable video marketing strategy that will bring a whole new audience to your blog.!What’s Needed • Powerpoint, Keynote, or Google Presentations• A decent microphone. I recommend the Snowball • Video editing software. Use Screenflow (MAC) or Camtasia• Audio recording software. Use GarageBand for MAC or Audacity

(PC/MAC)!The 10x10x2 Process !Step #1: 10 FAQ VideosCreate 10 Videos that answer 10 questions your readers frequently ask about your subject or product. Each video should be less than 3 minutes in length.!For each video use Powerpoint to create the slides. Record yourself narrating the answer to the question, using the slides as visuals.!

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Step #2: 10 Questions You Should Ask VideosCreate another 10 videos that answer 10 questions your readers should be asking. The answers to these questions should highlight your expertise and unique approach.Use the same process as the FAQ videos. Create short videos using slides as visuals with voice narration.!Step #3: 2 Mini-Videos!Video 1: This video as added to the end of the 20 videos you just created. It tells the viewer where they can get access to all 20 videos you’ve produced. This video should be 1 minute (max) in length).!Video #2: This video is used as welcome/introduction video to your video series. This video will be used on the page where the person can register to download all of the videos!This video should be about 5 minutes in in length.!Step #4: Upload Video to YouTube!Upload your videos to YouTube. Put the complete question for the 20 videos in the Title field. !For the description, repeat your question and include a link to the page where the user can register to get all 20 videos.!For keywords, input specific keywords that you want to get higher rankings for. Short 2-3 word key phrases work best since they often have lower competition.!Step #5: Create Your Video Listing PageCreate a new page on your WordPress blog and create a list your 20 videos. Link each listing to the appropriate YouTube page. That’s it. !Step #6: Create a Video Landing PageThis landing page will promote your 20 video FAQ Series. It will have an option form for people to register to get access to all the videos.!

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I strongly suggest using landing page creation software such as LeadPages. With LeadPages you can select a template and create your page with point-and-click ease. I use this software for 90% of my landing pages. !With LeadPages, I suggest you select a landing template that works with video. When I write this, they had about a dozen options to select from.!Include an opt-in form on this pages that collects the visitors email address. When they submit the form, your email service should redirect them to your Video Listing Page.!You can make this page as fancy as you are able but remember…!Done is Better than Perfect !Don’t get bogged down in being the next Steven Spielberg. Just make sure you have a clear and simple script. Use a quality microphone to get good audio. !Combine the audio and slides in your video editing software. !I suggest recording your audio separately using GarageBand (MAC) or Audacity (MAC/PC). Once you have your audio, load it into your video editing software. Next load your slides separately and line them up with your audio manually.!Like I said, this strategy is a bit more involved so keep it simple and use Google to track down answers to any questions.!That’s it.!!

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!!Classic Blog Reader Tactics !This section dives into my Classic blog reader attraction strategies. These techniques still work but the are definitely old-school. You will want to review each tactic and make sure they are still applicable for your niche. !Here we go.

Mining  Forums  for  Readers  !Forums are untapped reader gold mines. Here’s the thing though… you need to be respectful and discreet. But make no mistake, you can (and will) attract hundreds of readers from forums.!Here’s how:

Find  Forums:  Use Google to do a search for forums focused on your subject. Adding the word “forum” to any search phrase should help you narrow down search results to forum sites.!Here’s a screenshot of what come’s up when you put in “homeschool forums” in Google.

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� !Next, use BoardReader.com to find more forums discussing your topic. BoardReader is specifically geared toward searching discussion boards. Just type in your search term and click Forums at the top to narrow your results to Forum URLs.!Here’s what you get when you enter homeschool in boardreader.com !

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� Once you’ve compiled a list we’ll use Forum Recon to narrow down your options.

Forum  Reconnaissance:  Although you could find readers in every forum, I doubt you have the time to participate in all of them. So we’ll narrow down the list to the best candidates for sending readers to your blog.!Work through the following checklist:

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•Is the board active? Check to see when the last time there was a post. If the last post is more than a 3 days old then look somewhere else.!

•Does the board have active moderators? Moderators enforce community standards and keep discussion threads on track. A moderated forum usually attracts high quality participation.!

•Is the board tightly focused on your subject? We are looking for targeted readers so we need to have a forum that attracts people interested in a specific subject.!

•Friendly community? Believe it or not, forums can be open and inviting or hostile. Read through a few threads to get a feel for the community.!

•Signature Policies: Are you allowed to put a HTML link in your signature? Are the rules for promoting yourself clearly defined? This is a deal breaker. You should be able to put at least one link in your signature.!

If you can check off on the Forum then add it to your short list. Select two forums to join. Register for the forum and move on to the next step; wooing forum participants.

Wooing  Forum  ParIcipants:  Our goal is to position you and your blog as a resource for forum participants. First, we need to do some research about the Forum and find opportunities for you to demonstrate your expertise.

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!Do this - •Find the search field and type in question phrases such as “How

To”, “Trouble With”, “Any ideas”, and “Need Help”. These phrases are used when a participant is looking for an answer from the community. Read through the search results and take notes.!

•Look through topics that have generated a lot of replies. These discussions often pull in a large number of forum members and contain clues to problems you can address. !

•Use your research to brainstorm blog posts and special reports.

Write  Your  Special  Report:  For a minute I need you to forget about writing blog posts. I know it’s heresy, but hear me out. !You should have two goals for your blog:•Goal #1: Getting New Readers•Goal #2: Keeping Them!

!The techniques we’ve been talking about will get you a steady flow of interested readers. They’ll be fascinated with your expertise and will head over to your blog to get more. !Here’s the deal. You need to get your reader to commit to reading your posts on a regular basis. The best way to do that is to get them to sign-up for your blog post updates via email. Since most people

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hate giving up their email address, you’ll have to “ethically bribe” them. That is where your Special Report comes in!!Don’t freak out on me though. This will be the simplest special report you’ll ever write. Just follow these steps:!•Go to your forum research notes and select just one problem.

Pick the one that seems to come up often in forum discussions.!

•Quickly write a 3-5 page report with specific actions they can take to solve their problem. Offer practical advice the reader can use right away. If you write more than 10 pages then you’ve written too much. You want your report to be a quick, tasty appetizer not a 10-chapter book.

!Hold on! Why is this Special Report more than 5 pages? Simple, I’m over delivering. ☺ I needed to explain some fairly complicated principles. Your report won’t need to be this long.

!•Add a specific, benefit-focused, title to your report. Use the

popular and proven “How to” headline template to catch your reader’s attention.

!•Save your report as a PDF. If you write your report using Google

Docs you can save the report as PDF directly from the program. Microsoft Word also can save your .doc as a PDF.!

That’s it. You’re done! The hardest part of the entire process is

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sitting down and writing the special report. But once you do, you’ll have an asset that you can use over and over again to fill your list and attract readers to your blog.

Register  using  Your  Real  Name  Always use your real name and photo when participating in a forum. You want to start building relationships with the forum participants and using a real name and photo is a great first step. Remember that customers buy from people not logos and taglines!

Signature  Magic  Here’s the secret sauce. Use your forum signature to promote your free lead generation special report. Go back to the forum, look under your account information for an option to customize your signature. Once there, create a signature similar to this one:!

Stan Smith Founder of PushingSocial – A Practical Blogging Resource for Busy Professionals. Get My Free “How to Attract Your First 100 Readers Report” at www.PushingSocial.com

!From now on your signature becomes a permanent billboard in the forum.

Stay  Focused  on  Answering  QuesIons  that  Show  Off  Your  ExperIse  !Only dive in and answer questions that are in your expertise sweet spot. You want to deliver crisp, in-depth answers to forum participant questions.

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!I suggest that you write at least 2-3 paragraphs per answer. Why? First, you want to answer the question and knock the socks off other forum participants. You want to establish yourself as the go-to authority on a subject. !Most importantly, your answers will become a permanent advertisement in the forum. People will bookmark your answer and refer back to it again and again. Every time they do, they will see your signature and your Special Report offer. They will head to your blog to get the report and become a repeat reader.

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!Comment  Traffic  Voodoo  !First of all, commenting for SEO benefit is dead. Most comment links are configured so that Google won’t give you love for getting your link on another person’s blog. !Next, it’s absolutely stupid and counterproductive to try to be the first commenter on a blog post. You look desperate and most of the time the first comment looks like a hack thrown together at the last minute.!Instead we use comments to audition for two people, your ideal reader and the blog owner. Great comments demonstrate that you know your stuff. Readers hungry for more information will follow your comment back to your blog. The blog owner will seek you out for guest posts or respond to your comment - juicing your credibility.!If you want to know the best way to get guest post gigs here it is: be a great blog commenter.!Here’s some comment voodoo to get the most from your comments:

Epic  Comments:      Write a few concise paragraphs where you teach a mini-concept that complements the post. This is a great way to steal the show. Make sure that your information matches well with the content of the post. You want the blog owner to sit back in their chair and say, “Damn, why didn’t I think of that!”

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Put  Your  URL  in  Your  Name:      When I leave a comment, I put Stanford @PushingSocial.com in the name field! This is a great way to snag people who are scanning comments. They come to your name, read your Epic Comment and boom they have your Blog address right there. If you have a long name you can leave off the “.com”

Landing  Page:    Almost all blogs ask for your web address in the comment form. Instead of putting your homepage, direct people to your special report-landing page. That’s right! Get the opt-in and build your list first. From there visitors can browse your blog.

Tutorial  Page:      Test this out. If you don’t have a special report ready to go, send your comment visitors to a “Tutorial Page.” A Tutorial Page shows 5-10 targeted posts on one specific subject. Here’s an example: http://pushingsocial.com/blog-promotion. At the end of the tutorial page, tuck in an opt-in form for your email list.!

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!How  to  Maximize  Guest  Post  Traffic !It’s amazing to me how many people misuse their guest post traffic. It’s super hard to get a quality guest post gig these days. You don’t want to waste your premium targeted traffic by sending visitors to your blog home page. That’s lame.!Here’s what you do instead.

Guest  Post  Recon  Use the Forum technique with this audience’s traffic. Remember those super sly Forum techniques we talked about? Use the exact same Kung Fu to analyze and zero in on great topics for guest posting. !Read through blog archives to see they type of posts the blogger prefers to publish. Look for holes in their editorial line-up that you can fill with your post. !Look for posts that have a lot of comments. Hit <ctrl+f> and search for “?” (the question mark) this should highlight all of the questions in the comments. Keep a list of questions that you can answer in your guest post. !Better yet, use the questions as the foundation for a 3-5 page free report that you can kick out in a weekend. Hold on to this little gem because you’ll use it for your “Special Page.”

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Write  a  killer  byline:      You only will get one “self-promotion” link with your post. It will most likely be in the “Author byline”, the box underneath the post that you get to brag about yourself. Don’t miss a golden opportunity to stand out and drive gobs of new readers to your blog.!I’ve tested tons of “templates” for squeezing in good information in the author box. The best formula happened to be the simplest (as always). It’s three sentences long (max). !

Sentence #1: Who You Are, Sentence #2: What You Do and Who You Do it forSentence #3: Call - To - Action

!So a homeschool blogger would write:!

“I’m Christina Pinket, mom of three, and full-time homeschooler and founder of HomeSchoolingRocks.com. I teach busy parents how to home school their children. Get my free Homeschooling ABCs guide today at www.homeschoolingrocks.com.”

!That’s it! Now let’s talk about where to send all your new guest blog post groupies when they arrive at your blog.!Create  A  Customized  Welcome  Page  Set-up a customized page on your blog for guest post visitors. Refer specifically to guest post site so that readers know that you

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are welcoming them specifically. Say something like:!

“Welcome Man vs. Debt Readers”“Glad You’re Here Mashable Readers!”

“C’mon in Lifehacker Peeps!”!This quick bit of customization will endear you to your new readers and show that you care about the relationship. !Next, add an opt-in for your email list directly on this page. I love visitors. I love email subscribers more. But don’t stop there. Make your opt-in irresistible by offering your Special Report as a bonus for opting in. !Last year, I received over 4,000+ visitors from guest posts. Almost 20% of them opted into my email list. The majority of these folks are regular Pushing Social Readers. This stuff works folks.

Promote  Your  Guest  Post  Like  Crazy  Think of your guest post as if it was the opening act for the Rolling Stones. The blogger has given you a stage and microphone to speak to their audience. It’s a huge honor. So you should bust your butt to promote your guest post like crazy.!Use every platform you have to get the word out. Tweet out your guest post at least 3x the day it’s published. Tell your Facebook peeps about it. Post an update to LinkedIn and share it with relevant groups. Hell, pin the image for Pinterest. Promoting like a madwoman will increase your chances of getting a repeat

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performance!

Get  Another  Post  in  the  “Can”  Quick.      The day your post is published, sit down and write another one. Don’t rest on your laurels. Don’t polish your pristine guest post achievement award. Look through your post comments and brainstorm new ideas for your encore performance. !Write the post, proof it, and send it off to your new guest blog BFF. You want to strike while your post and awesome promotion is still fresh in the blogger’s mind. Let ‘em know that you are good for another guest post whenever and wherever they need it.!!!

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!Why  I’m  So  Obsessed  About  Blog  List  Building !Scoot in close, I want to whisper this in your ear. <whisper> Once people sign-up for your list - you’ve got ‘em” </whisper>. Email subscribers will receive your blog updates via email and boogie on over to your blog. They’ll pass your emails on to their colleagues and friends. You can even use your list to sell products. !That’s why Copyblogger never misses an opportunity to add more reader to its list of 150,000. That’s why Chris Brogan’s opt-in form is the first thing you see on his blog. It’s how Darren Rowse founder of Problogger pulls in 6-figures a year from his 321,000 readers.!Email is the blogger’s best friend. Build your list and your blog will grow. Ignore your list and you’ll cripple your blog’s performance. It’s that simple.!!

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!Ok,  Get  Started  !17 pages, 3 reader-hoarding tips, and 1 person who needs to make the magic happen. That person is you. Don’t be a tip collector be a tip doer. !What you just learned will work. You just have to put it into motion. Do it. If you have questions, give me a ping on Twitter @pushingsocial.!“The World is Yours. Take It”!- Stan SmithPushingSocial.com  

Want  More?  !I have something special for you. Here’s a link to a private Blogging Success Secrets webinar replay that is only available to my Blog Review Plus Clients. !Now you have access to even more advanced blog building strategies and techniques. Click here to view the Webinar now.!!

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