ProBlogger Podcast: Blog Tips to Help You Make Money Blogging

Today I am talking about the topic of juggling priorities and finding time to do the work we need to get done. I'll answer a listener's question with 7 ways to find time for product creation. Product creation is something that can really pay off over time. A recurring income stream is a great thing to have. I would encourage you to find a way to get it done.

Today I’m wrapping up the mini series we have been going through that is all about warming your readers up. We have been talking about how to take readers from being completely unaware of who you are or cold to being fully engaged with you or warmed up. I’m going to wrap this series up by sharing a case study of how one blogger, who had a relatively small list of readers, used the principles that we have been talking about in this series to generate over $28,000.

Today, I am talking about the final step which is getting engagement. In the process of getting readers warmed up, we have people who subscribe, but they never actually comment or connect or engage with us. Today, I will be giving strategies for getting our readers to talk back to us.

Today I am talking about building a connection with your readers. Even when you get that first eyeball or a second look, chances are, they will leave your site and never return. Today I am giving some practical tips on how to get them to subscribe or give you permission to connect with them again.

Today I’m talking about getting readers to take a second look at your blog. In episode 112, we started this mini series on warming your blog readers up to your blog. In that episode I presented you with four different stages of warming your readers up. In the last episode 113, I talked about how to get the first eyeballs on your blog, how to get the reader to take a first look. The first step of warming up your readers is to get their attention. Today I’m going to give you some strategies on getting readers to take a second look at your blog.

This episode is part of my current series on the 4 different steps you want your readers to go through if you want them to be fully engaged. Listen in and lean how to get more attention for your content and how to get people on your blog for their first view.

Today I am kicking off a mini-series of podcasts that are designed to help you to move your readers from being cold towards you and your blog, to being fully engaged towards you and your blog. I’m going to talk about the benefits of getting your readers warmed up, and walk you through a series of steps to do that. Then over the next four upcoming episodes I’m going to get strategic and tactical and give you some practical exercises that you can do to help move your readers through these four stages.

Why a Start Here Page? We recently put a start here page on ProBlogger. For us, the start here page has replaced the about page. If you have been blogging for awhile, it becomes challenging for a reader to know where to begin. A start here page can help a new reader find the most relevant content to them, and direct them on how to use the site. It is also very clickable. Start here is a compelling call to action. Learn how to create a start here page on today's episode

Note: this episode is available to listen to in the player above, on iTunes and Stitcher Learn All About the ProBlogger Training Event 2016 Today we are talking about the ProBlogger event. I’m going to tell you the story of how the event came about, and run through what will be happening at the event. For those of you interested in coming – you can grab your ticket (and save $100) here. If you aren’t able to make it to the live event in Australia, we also have an option to purchase a virtual ticket. The first ProBlogger event in 2010 started on an impulse. I had just come home from Blog World Expo, a discontinued event in the States. I was so excited about what happens when bloggers got together. I tweeted about having a mastermind blogger event in Australia. More people than I realized were Australian bloggers. I got a cheap hotel convention room, and we put on the event about six weeks later. It ended up being a great day. The common question was “when I we doing this again” and things grew from there. Last year the event was at the Royal Pines Golf Course and about 800 people attended. In Today’s Episode What Will Be Happening at the Problogger 2-day Event Friday September 9th and Saturday September 10th These are the two main days of the conference We do have some things going on the thursday before and the Sunday afterwards Thursday night we kick things off with orientation for newbies This will kick off around 3:30 and I’ll give you a brief overview of how things will run, it’s also great to socialize and get acclimated, and network with people in your niche There will also be a master class by Shayne Tilley on Product Creation (additional ticket) Friday kicks off with a full day of content for Friday and Saturday – starting with Keynote Speakers Keynote Speakers Brian Fanzo – Digital storytelling, leveraging multiple platforms to tell your story Natalie Sisson – getting the most from the event Daniel Flynn – Turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones Dan Norris – How to blog like an entrepreneur Emilie Wapnick – How to combine your many passions in one blog Me – Opening on Friday and Closing things out on Thursday In between the keynotes, we have sessions. The amount of choices can be a bit overwhelming, but we record everything. We will divide these into tracks. Fundamentals of Blogging Tools, Tactics and Techniques Strategy, Ideas and Inspiration All of our session ideas came from feedback from previous attendees. Some of the session topics will include: How to Create Amazing Content without Killing Yourself Youtube session SEO tools and how to use them How to create Online Products How to create great content How to find readers for your blog Visual storytelling Email list building tactics How to build community on your blog Affiliate Marketing Strategy Writing Great Sales Copy Sponsored Content How to write great blog content Social good Instagram Session Intro to Monetization Legal Issues for Bloggers New Media for Small Biz, Brands and influencers (live streaming) How to increase your organic reach on FB Blog Design Sexy Sales Funnels that Sell FB and Instagram Advertising We are also adding a fourth stream. These will be in smaller rooms and will give you the opportunity to ask questions and di...

People want to know if they should have a personal blog as well as a niche focused blog. I actually think having a personal blog is a good thing. Just about everyone at one point or another should have a personal blog. Listen in as I give you 15 reasons why you should have a personal blog.

On today's episode, learn seven steps that can help you combat content thieves. Today’s podcast was inspired by a question from Grant. He asks: “I just discovered another blog is republishing my content in full on their site. They seem to be scraping every post using my RSS feed. Can I stop them and is it worth my time to do that?” In this episode I talk about how I respond to and combat content thieves.

Today's topic is about affiliate marketing and where the links should point to when sending an email promoting a product to your list.

Note: this episode is available to listen to in the player above, on iTunes and Stitcher  7 Things That Contributed to Allow Me to Be a Full Time Blogger Today I’m going to talk about going full time as a blogger. I received this question from Charlotte. “When did you make the transition from blogging being just a hobby to blogging as a profitable business?  What was the turning point for you and/or what were the major changes you made to get where you are now?” Today I’m going to share the 7 things that happened when I went full time. These aren’t a blueprint or a step-by-step, these are just what happened with me and my blog. For a little context, I started blogging in 2002 as an experiment and a hobby. After a while, I got hooked on the idea of creating content and interacting with readers. After about 12 months, I started dabbling with AdSense and Amazon ads. Gradually after about another 12 months, it became a part-time job. Two years in things started to escalate, and I knew this was going to be a full-time job for me. In Today’s Episode The 7 Things That Contributed to Going Full Time In this episode I want to share 7 things that contributed to me taking my blog from part time to full time. Note: I also highly recommend you listen to episode #48 How to Make $30,000 a year Blogging in which I talk in very practical terms about building different income streams up to make a living from blogging. Partly it was a tipping point in traffic – Once I started making money, I became more pro-active about traffic. Growing your traffic is important. Thinking more about my readers than me – I started to write for my readers, instead of writing for self expression. I started paying attention to what they are searching for and tried to anticipate their needs. There was also a bit of a mind shift – If you want your blog to be a business, you have to treat it as one. pushing harder with finding advertisers thinking more strategically about content thinking about diversifying traffic streams starting new blogs/projects looking what others were doing learning more about SEO Setting a deadline and treating my blog like a business Diversifying income streams – I decided not to just rely on AdSense, and added other networks like Amazon. I also started exploring direct ad sales and affiliate marketing. Later on, I even created my own products to sell. Work towards finding a second income stream. Another thing that I think contributed was that I focused more on what others were doing, collaborating with other bloggers – I became more of a collaborator with other bloggers. I went to conferences, invested in my learning, and started partnering with other bloggers. I partnered with Andy Wibbels on Six Figure Blogging. There are still opportunities for other bloggers to promote each other. Having a product to sell – My income streams really began to escalate when I had a product to sell. My first product with Andy didn’t last that long, but it was a great learning experience. Think about how you can create something to sell on your blog. Thinking not just about search traffic, but about a longer term connected reader strategy – Nothing wrong with SEO, but it is risky. The customer is also gone forever once they leave. Building a relationship that keeps readers coming back is a great strategy. Search strategy can open the traffic door.

For most people, selling doesn’t come easy. If you are trying to sell a quality product that will enhance other people’s lives, you might want to give the exercise in today's episode a try. In today's episode, I will explain the exercise that will take you through the pains and gain of producing better sales copy.

Note: this episode is available to listen to in the player above, on iTunes and Stitcher. A Walk-Through of Reasons Why My Recent Top Posts Have Done Well Today I’m going to talk about some posts that have worked for me in the last month on Digital Photography School, my main blog. This episode comes about from a question received by one of our readers, Matthew. He asks if I could walk through a number of posts that have recently done well and why they have worked. We have done this before on the blog and it worked really well, so let’s try it for the podcast. In the last month, these four posts have all been in the top 20 on Digital Photography School. I checked Google Analytics for the most read posts, and I tried to pick ones that I haven’t talked about in the past. In Today’s Episode 4 of My Most Viewed Blog Posts This Month and Why They Worked 21 Settings, Techniques and Rules All New Camera Owners Should Know Written in 2010. It’s always been a strong performer. Over 100,000 views this month. It’s shareable. It’s a sneeze page – it links to 21 other posts Topic – good big picture overview Generates a load of page views Makes a bit claim Generates curiosity Gets a lot of shares – over a million, people recommend this post to beginners they know Feature image – has been tested and honed, something our readers love about dials works great on social because it signals topic and builds reader anxiety/curiosity This post promotes our course which solves a problem What we could do better – specific opt-in for the post Better formatting – looks a bit tired Replicate this format for specific niches of photography 11 Stages That Every Photographer Goes Through This was written by James Maher a guest writer. I had reservations about this post. It wasn’t a tips post. It was written tongue in cheek a humour story It didn’t have a “hero” image or hit the inspiration angle It worked because it was relatable – I shared on facebook with a question of which stages do you relate to? Touches on a pain point, stage 6 everything sucks Key lesson – you don’t have to always solve a problem, you can create content that shows the reader you know where they are at and can relate to that Everyday Carry – Must-have Tools for Photographers This one surprised Bulk of our articles are tips related This is an accessory or gear article Writer put all of these things in a small tin, which created a strong visual The items were affordable and accessible We claimed must have tools – the word tools works well The post has a hack/DIY perspective EveryDayCarry – is a movement that people are obsessive about, possible share on EveryDayCarry forums How to Make Colors Pop in Your Portraits – Without Using Photoshop I had a feeling this would work well