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Jan
19

Women Who Mean Business – With a Giveaway!

By | 12 Steps to Success

18 Comments

Today’s post in the 12 Steps to Blogging Success series in an interview with Danielle Smith and Aliza Sherman, authors of Mom Incorporated: A Guide to Baby and Business. In this interview we’ll explore ways to excel, and pitfalls to avoid, when it comes to developing that business mindset.

 1. What is one way you see mothers excelling when they set their mind to running a new business?

There is something about being a mom: we just figure it out. We don’t always know the ‘right’ answers, but we have a level of perseverance that pushes us through the toughest of circumstances. Learning to juggle a new business while giving your family the love and attention they need? It IS tough and it does require determination and focus. But somehow, we manage.

We view our budding business as a new addition to our family, and we nurture it as such. We recognize it will require late nights, it will cost us sleep, we will alternately love it to death and want to throw our hands in the air, certain we are doing everything all wrong. But as we do with our small people, we keep going. We don’t give up. We may switch tactics and then try again, always striving to do our best.

2. Once someone decides to build a business, what steps do you encourage them to take?

The beautiful thing about this decision is that you have options. You might want to start a business that allows you to have a certain lifestyle or one that generates serious income. You might want a business that will grow into something ‘big’ or could be looking to ‘go big’ right out of the gate. In Mom, Incorporated, we detail each of these types of businesses because we believe that deciding what type of business you want to build will dictate your next steps.

We’re also big on planning and outline how to put your ideas for your business down on paper and create a business plan. What else do you need? Do you need to hire help or carve out some space in your home to work? We provide information on how to do this.

We also suggest that you have a long conversation with your spouse or significant other about your plans. Not only will it help you to map out a clear picture of where you are going and what you need, but it will allow your partner to better understand how to support your plans.

3. I love how Mom, Inc discusses several business models and types but I’ve found that many principles of good business are relevant to all businesses. What is one of the big mistakes women make in business?

Many women find it challenging to ask for the help they need, both in their home and in their actual business. On the home front, it can be hard to ask for help, and yet it is often this work – childcare, cooking, and cleaning – that can keep us from accomplishing the work we need to do for our business. On the business side, we often feel as though we are supposed to be a master-of- all-things and that only we can do things “just right.”

But the reality is, we should rely on professionals to tackle specialty tasks: web design, accounting, editing – and even turn to someone to assist us with the “busy work” so we can focus on the parts of the business that makes us money.

4. What was the biggest change you went through in your own mindset while you were building your OWN businesses?

Danielle: How much time do you have? :) I think, for me… the biggest challenge has been acknowledging the evolution. I have needed to embrace the fact that my business is evolving…. and initially I was surrounded by people who refused to take me or my ‘business’ seriously. And that makes it difficult to take yourself seriously. But I made a conscious choice. If I want this to be ‘real’, I must treat it as such. I need to create my own destiny. No one is going to do it for me.

Aliza: I think delegating has been my greatest challenge and biggest mindset change. It took a really long time to learn how to let go, assign tasks, and be okay with the process and the outcome. I’ve learned that there are people out there who specialize and excel at certain things – like booking travel or researching things on the Internet or data entry – things that aren’t the best use of my time. If I assign the right tasks to the right people, the result is I can focus on the big creative work and the revenue generating work. This is a lesson we teach in our book, and one that I continue to learn and refine over time. I still catch myself trying to “do it all” sometimes, but I catch myself and then hand off the task and feel a sense of relief.

Win Your Own Copy of Mom, Incorporated

Mandatory Entry – Leave a comment with one aspect of your business that presents the biggest challenge for you, and one step you’ve taken recently to address that challenge!

Winner will be drawn January 30th, 11:59pm CST. US residents 18 and over only, void where prohibited by law. 

Jan
14

Blogging With Professionalism and Productivity Revisited

By | 12 Steps to Success, Conferences

4 Comments

Heather Solos of Home-Ec101 and I are both firm believers in the idea of treating a business like a business. When we had the chance to speak at BlogWorld Expo LA this is precisely what we spoke about.

Here is the slideshow and audio of our presentation. You will find a couple main focuses in this conference session.

YouTube Preview Image

Professionalism as a Blogger

Speaking with Heather Solos at BlogWorld Expo LA 2011

We talk about the benefits of professionalism and why it’s important. From there we touch on the hallmarks of professionalism, what it looks like, and how to increase yours.

Blogging at the next level doesn’t mean you have to put you into a corporate mold – you can still be yourself and keep a flexible schedule. However, if you want to be paid well for your blogging, you have to make sure that you are worth paying!

Acting with professionalism as a blogger means cultivating the business knowledge and experience that you need (see my list of must-read business and blogging books). Other hallmarks of professional blogging behavior include clear communication, acting with reliability, and knowing where you are heading.

Productivity as a Blogger

The other thing that happens when you are blogging as a business is that you have to get stuff done. Bottom line. You can’t not blog for weeks or months at time and expect to be taken seriously in this arena. I’m not saying you have to blog 5 times a day, or even every day. But you should be blogging regularly.

Our tips for getting more done aren’t magical in any way. Most are common sense but sometimes you need a reminder. Consider this your friendly kick in the pants. Plan your goals ahead. Prioritize your task list carefully. Delegate wisely and be sure you’re making the most of every opportunity. And use your tools wisely – you don’t have to do it all on your own with today’s level of technology.

I hope you enjoy the BlogWorld Expo presentation Heather and I put together. If you want to see the rest of the incredible BlogWorld Expo sessions from far more experienced bloggers than me, check out the BlogWorld Expo Virtual Ticket where you’ll get access to nearly every session.

See all Twelve Steps to Successful Blogging for more in this learning series.

What are your favorite tools for productivity? What areas are you best in when it comes to being professional?

Jan
09

12 Business and Blogging Books for Your Bookshelf in 2012

By | 12 Steps to Success, Resources

8 Comments

This post is part of the 12 Steps to Blogging Success Series for Step One.

One of the things I do to help develop and grow a business mindset is to invest in quality reading and educational material. Here’s a list of 12 must-read books for business and blogging that you should add to your bookshelf this year.

(Note – if one of your favorites didn’t make the list, let me know in the comments. And realize – some books will be reviewed and mentioned in the step where they are best suited. This list is specifically about business skills and general blogging information.)

1. The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success by Jeff Olson

This is one of the top books on my list for everyone – it’s such a simple concept but so profound when you begin to apply it to your life. And not just in business, but in every area. Jeff Olson just released a new edition of the book available in paperback or Kindle. This book is a true life-changer, no doubt about it.

the new relationship marketing must read book for bloggers2. The New Relationship Marketing: How to Build a Large, Loyal, Profitable Network Using the Social Web by Mari Smith

I just picked up a signed copy of The New Relationship Marketing at BlogWorld Expo in November and love it. I think this book will benefit bloggers because we inherently are seeking to build up a network. Whether huge or small-but-passionate, Mari covers a lot of really useful information. She also provides tons of additional resources that will hep you prioritize your efforts and maximize your time. The book was almost worth the cost for the spreadsheets and worksheets alone. Priceless!

 

3. 31 Days to Build a Better Blog by Problogger

While this is an ebook, it is one that I consider a must for all bloggers. If you don’t have this book  yet, you need to pick it up. Bottom line. I worked through this series on angengland.com and you can see the full 31 Days to Build a Better Blog series and work through that when you pick up a copy of the book or need a refresher course. This is a book I turn to when I’m feeling stuck or in need of motivation in my blogging.

4. Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

This book is a good one for you to read, in my opinion, because bloggers really do build up an equity of trust with their readers, colleagues and clients. And it’s not just in terms of trying to sell them, but in all aspects of the relationship. My readers expect a high level of information, because I work hard to provide quality posts or a unique, personal perspective. That is a trust I take seriously – it makes me a Trust Agent. And you are too – or should be. Trust Agents explains what that entails and how to not screw it up.

5. The Flinch – By Julien Smith

A free download on Kindle it is everything you would expect from a book by Julien Smith – insightful and thought-provoking. When I asked a group of speakers from BlogWorld Expo about their goals in the coming year, one of them mentioned she wanted to reach out and explore more opportunities without letting fear hold her back. That’s precisely what The Flinch is about – embracing the flinch and moving beyond fear and self-doubt.

6. Mom, Incorporated: A Guide to Business and Baby by Danielle Smith and Aliza Sherman

Mom Incorporated is spot-on in exploring the unique challenges of creating a new business, any business, as a mother. I think much of the advice and conversations in this book would be relevant to any parent pursuing a new business. Not just applicable to bloggers, the business advice in this book will help you understand the must-know basics of business that you should be addressing. Watch for an interview with Danielle and Aliza coming soon!

7. The Radical Leap Re-Energized: Doing What You Love in the Service of People Who Love What You Do by Steve Farber

I had the privilege of hearing Steve speak at SOBCon Chicago 2011 and he was fabulous. We received a copy of his new book, The Radical Leap Re-Energized and it rocketed to my top must-read list. It’s not technical, and it doesn’t read like a typical “self-help” or leadership book. It’s intelligent and an easy read book that leads you through an entertaining novel-like story and teaches you something along the way. Learn how to leap into your OS!Ms and take your life in an exciting direction with confidence.

8. Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin

One of the areas in which all of the top bloggers really excel is in creating a feeling of community. Whether that is centered around their blog, a cause, a passion, or a journey, there is some sort of community being built around that. And that’s the case that Seth Godin makes in his book, Tribes. Don’t expect this to be a leadership “how-to” book, but rather to be a book that will motivate you to think about and consider what YOUR tribe might be and to remember why it’s important.

 

 

9. The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice by Todd Henry

The Accidental Creative snags you right from the start and plants little splinters of interesting thoughts in your mind. Bloggers definitely fall into the category of “creatives” and learning how to do that on a consistent basis is one of the biggest roadblocks to long-term success. How often have you seen a new blogger quit after only a couple of months? Learn how to avoid “burnout” by combining three elements: Brilliant + Prolific + Healthy = “producing great work consistently and in a sustainable way.” After all, isn’t that what every blogger wants?

10. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown

This isn’t specifically a business book or a blogging book, but like The Slight Edge, The Gifts of Imperfection is a life book. It’s a book that explores what it means to be wholehearted and the huge ramifications this type of wholeheartedness can have. This book explores the tools that vulnerability puts at our disposal and guideposts to help us remain wholehearted in life, love and work. The echoes of this type of courage are profound.

11. Beyond Basketball: Coach K’s Keywords for Success by Mike Krzyzewski and Jamie Spatola (Coach K’s daughter)

While “Coach K” as he’s called, is a basketball coach this is a book I would add to the top twelve must-reads in the coming year. Beyond Basketball is precisely that, a book that looks at principles of success reaching far beyond the court. My husband bought the audio version of this book because he loves basketball and I came into the book about halfway through. After we finished, I made him replay the audio book on our road trip so I could listen to rest. Coach K shares some action words and what they mean to him in a series of essays that are easy to read and process, but profound and inspirational to listen to.

12. Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months by Melinda Emerson

I like that this book doesn’t sugar coat the reality of running a business. It’s. Not. Easy. There is a reason why most small business fail within the first few months – because they never should have been started in the first place. Melinda does a great job of starting this book with a look at evaluating and planning. I’m a huge fan of having a plan in place and Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months will help you do exactly that, while staying flexible enough to cope with the unexpected you’re sure to encounter. From the very first chapter you begin working through a series of questions that will be eye-opening about whether or not this is the right path for you. And if it is – you have a friendly guide to hold your hand along the way.

 

The links I used are affiliate links. Some of these books were given to me and some of these books I’ve purchased.  They are all on my bookshelf or Kindle and are books I recommend!

I hope you will invest in a book or two each month this year – it’s one of my non-negotiable expenses. Feeding my mind with quality content is essential and I generally pick up one or two books like these each month. Do you have a favorite not on the list? Share it in the comments!

In future steps I’ll cover topic-specific books like Mom Blog SEO and List Building for Bloggers but I think it’s important for bloggers who want to develop a business to invest in BUSINESS and life-development books, not just technical tutorial books. A well-rounded blogger is a more successful blogger in life and work both!

Jan
04

Step by Step Analysis of a Better Blog – Day 4

By | Beyond 31 Days

8 Comments

In Day 4 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog we learned how to analyze a top blog in your niche. The reason that this is important is because of the immense amount of information you can learn through this exercise. It’s like keyword research for geeks.

Analyzing a Website Step-by-Step

So how can you accomplish this? What does this process actually look like? I am going to analyze the website of #blogchat Founder Mack Collier since he covers fairly similar, but not duplicate, content as I do. His audience is larger, but it’s not a gigantic, seemingly unreachable website so it would be a good one to take a look at.

So the first place I’ll is to Website Grader where I can evaluate my blog. The cool thing about Website Grader is that you don’t have to own a blog in order to evaluate it, AND you can enter a second url so compare the two results.

A few results of the site comparisons.

One of the things that stands out to me is the big difference in number of linking domains. This is NOT the same as the number of incoming links, but the number of domains that link in to our sites. In otherwords if I link to Mack’s site ten times, that is ten incoming links but not according to website grader – my one site linking in counts as one linking domain.

Another place to be sure to check out is Alexa. Here is the Alexa page for my site. And the Alexa page for Mack’s site.  I guess it’s not a huge surprise that he is higher in search terms about social media, whereas I’m higher in search terms about freelance writing. One really interesting thing to me is that while our sites are rather close in our Alexa rankings for the US, Mack’s ranking internationally is much better than mine. That’s something to make note of.

Now I’ll check out Mack’s actual site and poke around a little bit. I see that he has a site meter set up so I’ll click over into a new tab and check out his page view information. I see now that he is getting around 100 visits per day more than I am, as I average around 60-75 visitors (not page views, that’s unique visits) per day on this site.

Taking Action On What You’ve Learned From Your Analysis

Once I’ve done that I’m going to consider what I’ve learned and, most importantly, create a few good action steps that I can take based on what I’ve seen.

I should find a way to increase the number of websites linking in to me. I think that I’ll reach out to offer some guest posts on blogs I’ve not contributed to before – perhaps one per month.

I also think that because most of the freelance writing websites that I have talked about are open to US writers only I will make a point of thinking more globally in my blog content choices. Lowering my overall Alexa rating will be a good thing, since my US rating is so low but my overall rating is much higher.

The other thing that I notice is Mack’s consistency in posting…he doesn’t post every day, but he doesn’t go more than a week between posts. That will be my biggest challenge heading into the new year is to remain consistency in providing the quality content my readers expect, while juggling all my other responsibilities.

So now it’s your turn – Choose another blog in your field that you admire, as I do Mack, and go through some of these steps. Or all of these steps. Try to find a blog that is a step or two above yours, as I would consider Mack’s to be above mine but not something that’s been in place ten years longer with 12 times the content…our blogs are rather comperable giving me a lot of good feedback. Make a list of action steps based on what you see – not with the intent of copying, but with the intent of LEARNING. Of challenging yourself. Of seeking additional tools to add to your tool box so you can become increasingly successful as a blogger.

What did you learn through this process today?

Jan
03

Create Incoming Links For Vital Posts Through Remote Blog Posts – Day 3

By | Beyond 31 Days

6 Comments

Build up your web of interconnected links.

We all know that incoming links can provide benefits for our blog beyond just direct traffic. The SEO value of incoming links from outside sites is important for promoting a blog. It can help boost your blogs rankings – especially in competitive topic areas.

When I was first getting started with Untrained Housewife and AngEngland.com I focused on this a lot more. It helped to get the ball rolling so to speak. I don’t do it all the time, but there are times when being a little strategic in creating your incoming links, can really pay off.

How to Create Quality Incoming Links

So let’s say you’re breaking into a competitive topic area and you’ve written a few related posts. What you can do is to write a wrap-up piece or a couple different summary posts elsewhere on the web, and point back to your current content.

The trick is that you want the content you’re linking from to be relevant and unique. Here’s a few examples I’ve created over the past couple years.

This HubPage is Pregnancy Fitness related and points to a lot of my articles across several sites on how to stay healthy while pregnant. Here is a similarly themed Squidoo Lens that I created with the same intent. While these individual web pages may only bring me a dozen or so direct traffic hits to the articles listed, they work best in a different way. These remote blogs help boost my page rank and search engine results with Google by creating incoming links.

Here’s a couple other examples that might give you tips for how to construct your own incoming links. For example in this recipe I left the main post, as well as the recipe itself, on Untrained Housewife. But used this HubPage to describe another use for the recipe – An Alternative Thanksgiving Sauce idea.

This HubPage links to several of my fragrance garden articles and provides lots of incoming link Google juice for what can be a very competitive topic area.

Here’s a round up Squidoo Lens I created for writers that features several paying site analysis posts that I originally wrote on this blog. It actually needs to be updated because I’ve written several more posts since this was put together, but it served it’s duty.

Other types of incoming links can be created simply by posting the opening introduction paragraph and a simple link back. This is a common way for bloggers to link back to eachother, and is something you can use to your own benefit as well.

Tips for Creating Incoming Links Effectively

There are some tips for creating incoming links that work effectively for you, of course. You don’t want to waste your time and efforts and not maximize your benefits.

  • Make sure your incoming links are not nofollow. Many social bookmarking sites are set to create nofollow links so unless you get good direct traffic from the posts there, don’t waste your time.
  • Don’t make every link on a remote blog post to the same site unless there are only one or two links. If you have lots of links you want to include, make more than one, unique post.
  • Imbed your links in high-quality anchor text. You’ll notice my links are almost always imbedding on a descriptive phrase. You can tell before clicking over that the post will be about. And so can Google.
  • Don’t be afraid to link to more than one website. Especially if you write or guest post or contribute in multiple places. Link to one post from each of the sites, as long as the topics are related.
  • Link to specific posts and articles. Don’t just link back to your main blog url – link to an actual individual post because the deep links are very valuable.

Where Can You Go to Create Remote Blog Posts?

I’ve mentioned a few good places to post already. Some of them will even generate small amounts of revenue in their own right.

  • HubPages – Splits revenue 60/40 and allows one or two affiliate links. Doesn’t allow multiple links to the same site.
  • Squidoo – Splits revenue 50/50 and is very flexible in content allowed. Able to post multiple links to the same website.
  • Tumblr – Another very easy-to-update posting system that is great for posting little snippets of content with links back. Here’s an example of a tumblr I set up a long while back and haven’t updated in awhile. It was set up to autopost via RSS feed.
  • Guest posts – Whenever you guest post on someone’s site ask about their linking policy. Most times you’ll be able to link back to a relevant article – this incoming deep linking is fabulous. Make sure it’s highly relevant and not spammy in number…one or two is probably plenty.
  • Twitter and Facebook – At the very minimum you should all be using Twitter and Facebook to promote your blog posts. Connect with my on Twitter and Facebook if you haven’t already, just give me a shout out!
  • Untrained Housewife – A site with several categories such as health, cooking, family, self-sufficiency and hobbies, etc that not only welcomes contributing writers with no minimum requirement, but gives 90% of the adsense revenue to writers.
  • TypeAParent – Another collaborative site that gives 100% adsense and chitka revenue to writers. Unsure of the current minimums.

What have you written about quite a bit lately that you can link back to in a wrap up post?

Or think about creating back links to some recent content through a xomba or tumblr account, posting intro content with a link back. There are literally hundreds of places where you can create backlinks – make sure you can make relevantly anchored links and that your links will be dofollows and then select a handful that you feel comfortable with. Don’t be afraid to test a couple websites this week, and then test another in a following week.

Do you have a site, method, or collaborative blog you use to build incoming links? Tell us about it in the comments.

Jan
02

Plan Posts for Each Major Post Type on Your Blog – Day 2

By | Beyond 31 Days

3 Comments

In 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, Darren talks about writing a list post, and eases you into understanding the various types of blog posts you can put on your blog or website. I liked Day 2′s teachings a lot because it can stretch you from just the typical ramble-on-for-five-paragraphs-and-call-it-a-post blog post type. There are several other types of posts that can be important for readers.

Yaro Starak has a great philosophy about the Pillars of Blogging and he talks about the main types of blog posts that every blog should have. I wrote about them for another group I was working with and want to post that here for you. It will help you see the several different types of posts that each blog should have at least some of.

A Pillar blog post is an informative, core content piece – think this post. Or like the Ten Habits post which got expanded into a full series, and later a blog conference session. These meaty posts become the core pillars upon which your blog success is built.

The List Post is a Pillar Post

So what are these types of blog posts that become pillars for traffic, readership and audience engagement? Well Day 2 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog covers one type very well – the List Post. If you haven’t yet read my overview of how to write a list post on your blog, or checked out the ebook, you’ll want to do that.

How-To Posts for Solid Blog Content

The second type of pillar post, and probably one of the most common for many websites, is the how-to post. Untrained Housewife is built almost entirely of how-to posts just because of the goal and mission of the site. These are posts that solve a problem. That provide step-by-step information or tutorials.

Some of my most popular how-to articles include:

All of these popular how-to articles are good examples of the core quality of content that Yaro calls how-to pillar pieces.

How to Use a Definition Article or Blog Post

The next type of blog post Yaro describes as pillar content for your blog are the definition articles. No, not a glossary or dictionary type entry. A post where you, the one who knows the lingo, takes the time to explain a more complicated topic in a way that is easy for others to understand. By putting your personal twist on the information, you create a compelling piece.

Let me show you some examples of these kinds of posts and how you can structure them.

In this post about understanding ectopic pregnancy I not only show a reader what a tubal pregnancy is, but identify risk factors and emphasize the importance of seeking medical attention.

This article compares and contrasts types of online payment - not only defining terms like “affiliate” and “revenue” but also comparing these types of money making techniques to eachother.

This gardening article that a colleague contributed to Untrained Housewife is another type of definition article – the differences between two similar things. In this case, highlighting the difference between oriental and Asiatic lilies.

Look for terms, lingo or things in your topic areas that create confusion, questions or uncertainty and help define these things for your readers in a way they can understand.

The Theory or Argument Posts

These posts are the types I tend to use less often, focusing more on how-tos, but I find that these posts can bring in more comments, traffic or buzz than other types. In fact, it was one of these types of posts that generated a very negative comment on my blog – which generated a huge amount of buzz, readers, subscribers and ultimately lots of fodder for posts. Ultimately setting the tone for this blog long-term.

Sometimes, as my example above, a post isn’t intended to be an argument until the comments start coming in. Other times, as in my next example, an argument post is purposefully “argumentative” in that it is written in response to a specific event, post, or happening.

This post was an argument or counterpoint I wrote specifically in response to a New York Times article that was dismissive of “mommy bloggers” and made some assumptions I found insulting.

Create a Resource For Your Readers

That would of course be what I’m doing here. This blog series is being provided free of charge for you all here on my blog as a true e-course. Very in-depth and meaty information that will hopefully bless you in your blogging efforts. Ten Habits was the same way, and it’s no surprise that my first Ten Habits index post is one of the most linked-to posts on the entire website.

In a future post in this series I’m going to talk about brainstorming entire article SERIES – ebooks worth of content. That is the type of resource you can create for your readers that will bring them back to your site, and get them talking about your site to others.

What printable, learning course, or other resource would be relevant to your readers?

Your challenge? Evaluate the current content on your blog and see where you are weak. Maybe you’ve never created an argument or response post. Maybe you’ve never thought about what resource you can provide in your topic area. Guess what? That time has come.

Which pillar is missing from the foundation of your blog? What steps can you take to remedy that?

Jan
01

Examining Your Blog’s Content – Does it Fit Your Purpose?

By | Beyond 31 Days

7 Comments

Cut away what doesn't fit to keep blogging true to form.

In Day 1 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Darren has you create your elevator pitch for your blog. Go back through this elevator pitch exercise if you haven’t done so already. This has really helped me in the past year hone in on what my websites are really about.

So then you have to take this to the next logical step. Does your blog content fit your stated purpose? You’ll notice that angengland has been not only redesigned, but my categories reworked and moved in such a way that they better reflect the purpose and passion of this blog.

That’s not to say that I can’t write “what I want” – but I can be more logical about doing so. I’m now well connected into other sites and contribute to a variety of places online. Why not place each article where it best fits the purpose and passion of the site, instead of placing them willy nilly about the web with no thought.

I’m even to the point of importing older blogs into a newer site – Untrained Housewife – to consolidate too-similar content. I am also creating new sites, like Birth Renaissance, to give a passion and continuing interest of mine a place to shine. Instead of cramming my pregnancy and infant care articles here on a site that has become more about blogging, writing and social media, it makes more sense to pull those over to another website. I can still be me in each site – but I had to polish up the blogs a lot more and make sure that I was being true to each “elevator pitch” or stated purpose.

Why Does it Matter if My Elevator Pitch and Content Align?

Here’s the deal….your elevator pitch is like a store’s advertisement or sign. If you’re driving past a convenience store and it says “The All-in-One Stop and Shop” and then you walk in and they have 18 shelves full of flower vases and that’s it, you will feel cheated. However, if the sign outside says “Crazy Vases – Flower Vases for Every Situation” and you walked in and found one shelf of flower vases, three shelves of miscellaneous groceries, two shelves of office supplies and a row of clothing, you would not be happy.

Are You Saying a Have to Have a Blog Niche?

No – After all you’re reading someone who’s tagline is “The Renaissance Woman” so that I can cover a wide variety of topics without too much trepidation. What I am saying is that you have to stay true to your stated purpose! If you say that you blog is about faith, fun and family – but you never talk about your faith and you never talk about your family, you have to do one or two options.

Fix your elevator pitch. Or fix your content.

Bottom line is – what did you tell people your site is about. Look at your current design – what categories are obvious and “front and center”? What does your tagline imply readers will find when they click over?

Now take a hard, honest look at your actual content. What are you writing about? What photos are you displaying? Are there categories you never write about? Are there topics that are overwhelming your blog to the point that the balance is skewed? If you aren’t staying true to reader expectation, you know it’s time to rethink your content.

So today’s challenge is to go way beyond just posting your elevator pitch. Today’s challenge is to examine both your stated elevator pitch, and your tagline and categories on your actual blog and determine what a reader would expect to see when they come to your website.

Now the hard part. Is that what you are delivering? Are readers getting their expectations met with the content you are providing? This is where things get tough.

Are you covering one specific topic so often that you need to pull the articles out into a new blog? Or contribute them to a collaborative site somewhere else and build up your platform in that area? Or do you need to make a point to cover a neglected category a little more often?

How Can You Revamp the Content or Blog?

Maybe you need to do like I did and revamp your website to better reflect the direction it’s taken. When my site started, I really intended angengland.com to be a throwaway site where I could just ramble about whatever I wanted. But as questions began to pour in about writing, web content rights and payment, blogging, etc. my site changed drastically just through answering the questions you guys asked! So my redesign took that shift and growth change into consideration.

It wasn’t an intentional change of focus on my part – but rather being led by my readers and those I speak with at conferences. And sometimes that’s what happens as you blog. Don’t be afraid to rework your tagline, your elevator pitch and even your blog design, to reflect that growth. Just like you might purchase a new jacket that better fits your figure after trimming off 25 pounds, you can redesign to better suite what’s going on with your blog and life NOW.

2 Part Challenge – What does your elevator pitch, tagline, categories and site design say your blog is about? And what does your content, passion and focus say that your blog is about?

How well are those two lined up? And what can you do to better align your purpose, and your passion?

Jan
01

Beyond the First 31 Days – Taking Your Blog to the Next Level

By | Beyond 31 Days

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I want to do a new blog series for the first month of the year – last year in January I did Ten Habits of Successful Blogging. In August I worked through the fabulous ebook 31 Days to Build a Better Blog (learning series here). If you’ve never read the book yet, I highly suggest it for getting the foundation of your blog set.

What I’m going to do in this series is to take us day by day through what I would consider to be the next step. The higher level. Beyond what was covered in the first stages.

Not to in any way discount Darren’s amazing book. Indeed, if you haven’t yet read it and worked through the first 31 days, some of the what we’re going to cover may be too overwhelming. But rather to just expound on what are logical next steps to move beyond the basics – beyond the foundations.

The first post is going up today! I just wanted to explain the reasoning behind the new series and to encourage those of you who have not yet gone through the original 31 Days to Build a Better Blog ebook, to do so. I bought it well over a year ago and still refer to it when starting a new website or blog.

Who’s ready!?

Day 1 – Examine Your Blog Content – Does it Fit Your Purpose?

Day 2 – Plan Posts for Each Major Post Type on Your Blog

Day 3 – Create Incoming Links For Vital Posts Through Remote Blogs

Aug
30

Make a Blogging Plan – Day 31

By | Build a Better Blog

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Well we’ve reached day 31 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog and you should find yourself with many tools to use on your blog. Some will fit better than others, some will be used more often. All are important parts of a good blogging arsenal.

One of the things I talked a lot about in my Ten Habits of Successful Blogging series was the need for a PLAN. And this is what the challenge today is about.

Get out your calendar. Makes a list of the blog related things you want/need to accomplish in the next month. And now start plugging stuff in.

If you have an hour every night after the kids go to bed to dedicate to working on your blog then you will look at your list and start planning what to do in that daily hour time frame.

Maybe the first day of the month will be a brainstorm session to create two or three dozen blog post ideas. Two days per week will be publishing blog posts. That leaves two day per week to promote your blog via Twitter, facebook, forum posts, and comments. And another day per week (excepting the first week) for site maintenance, guest posting or statistics analysis.

Or maybe your blog has a theme so you’ll be planning your Monday Marvels, Tuesday Tips, Wordless Wednesday, etc.

Or maybe you have private clients that you’ll need to schedule in research and writing time. Administrative tasks like pitching new clients, invoicing, etc.

Whatever your unique situation is, you need to include those tasks on the list for you to schedule in the time. I’ll be honest you guys. I hate schedules. I hate writing down when to work on what on the calendar. Mostly because I tend to fail within three weeks enough to just drop the system entirely.

But then the chaos is too stressful and I plan stuff out again and things are much better for a couple weeks again. Sad, but true. With four children and a husband who works odd days, that’s the simple truth of my life.

What I have found is that having a flexible, but outlined schedule tends to work the best for me. I can’t plan things down to the second because, well – dirty diapers happen. But I can plan a day-by-day plan that tends to be followed more or less. Email day (catching up on the emails that need to be addressed and weren’t taken care of right away), administrative day, writing days (I get two, sometimes three), etc. And I’m always sure to include a catch-up day that is for any extra projects or last-minute things that come up.

But that’s what works for me. The challenge for you is to discover your OWN plan and that will be uniquely yours because you are uniquely you in a unique blogging situation. But I’d love to hear about it!

Aug
30

Tracking Analytics and Reader Stats on Your Blog – Day 30

By | Build a Better Blog

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OK so you’ve been working through 31 Days to Build a Better Blog for 30 days now. How do you know whether of these improvement steps have been successful? How do you know who is reading your blog? How do you know which blog posts are the most popular? How do you know which blog posts need to be re-written or freshened up?

Your blog statistics.

You want to know your overall stats (ie number of visitors and page views), your most popular posts, what questions people are typing in to find your blog (often great future blog posts), referrals (what sites are sending readers directly to your site), your bounce rate (the percentage of people who visit a page on your site and then leave again immediately), exit page stats, and much more.

Some bloggers can get almost addicted to stats and get sucked into every little jump and wiggle. Other bloggers literally hate statistics and analytics and will never check their stats. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. Personally I have become too lax about checking my stats because of the new baby, but as we’re settling into a routine with his eating and sleep habits I will be checking back in more frequently.

Before Adam was born I checked page views once a week minimum to see if there were posts getting an unusual amount of traffic suddenly, to see where that traffic was coming from, etc. I also check more in-depth at the end of each month, comparing this month’s numbers to last month’s numbers. This gives me a chance to notice where I have much higher bounce rate, or very low time-on-site and schedule a time the following month to brush up on those posts.

Beginning Bloggers – Remember that not all blogs have hundreds of thousands, or even hundreds of readers each month starting out. In the book, Darren mentions that two years ago he analized the top 100 blogs on Technocrati and found they had been up for an average of three years! Success with blogging takes lots of content, exposure, incoming links and all of that takes TIMES.

Set percentage based goals for yourself. For example you might adapt some of these ideas:

  1. I want to average three comments per post this month.
  2. I want to raise my page views by 10% this month over last month.
  3. I want to decrease my bounce rate by 5%.
  4. I want to gain five new subscribers to my blog this month.

Whatever your goals are you can use stats to find out if your outreach is successful or not. Don’t be afraid of delving into analytics a little bit, but be prepared to act on what you find.

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