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Nate Rifkin | How To Write Better Copy and Make More Sales

Barry Dunlop — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 21:00:10 +0000

Nate Rifkin is one of the most prolific and successful young Copywriters of his generation.

His clients include publishing behemoth Agora, as well as starting his own nutritional supplement company.

But, unless you have a large budget it is almost impossible to hire him!

So we are very fortunate that Nate agreed to do a Skype Interview for us.

In this interview, Nate reveals his…

# 5-step Formula For Writing Sales Copy.

# How he researches a product,

# How he makes sure he is speaking his customers language

# Why sometimes too much knowledge can be a hindrance.

Enjoy!

Barry Dunlop

PS: We are including a very detailed edited transcript which we recommend you print off and read. There is also an audio recording for those that prefer to listen. This was a Skype Interview so in places the quality of recording is a little crackly – but this should not distract from your enjoyment too much;

Nate Rifkin Copywriter | Secrets To Writing Better Copy and Making More Sales

We started our interview by asking Nate how he got involved in being a copywriter?

Nate Rifkin: 5 Step Formula For Writing Sales Copy

1) Who should get this product? In one sentence, tell me who they are and what their problem is.

2) What’s the story behind your product or service?

3) What problems does it solve? Big and small, tell me all of them.

4) What’s your offer? What are you charging, why is it a bargain, and why should I buy it right now?

5) In one, short sentence, tell me what’s so great about this product.

Edited Transcription – Nate Rifkin Interview

We started our interview by asking Nate how he got involved in being a copywriter?

Nate Rifkin: …when I was around college age, in fact just entering my first year, I’d be surfing the Web. I’d find these odd, really long letters. They were sales letters. I didn’t know what they were.They just read like these letters where someone who had just written a book or put together a DVD course, let’s say it was on fitness or health or something, they would describe this amazing story of the struggles they went through, what they did to overcome them, all the things they learned, and talked about this product that they self-published and that they’re offering.

I would buy these courses. They were pretty cool. That’s when I start to actually discover this is a whole business. It was a way of bypassing a traditional publishing house or even just lucking out and getting involved with a massive business that creates products and being your own business owner and creating your own products.

I always loved writing, so I decided I was going to scour the Internet and search around, and study, and buy everything I could on how to write these kinds of letters, because I wanted to be in business for myself, and I was just some little guy. I didn’t have any connections.

I figured this was the best, and maybe the only way someone like me could do that. That was about 12 years ago, and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since.

Barry Dunlop: Thanks, Nate. The most important thing, probably, is the last thing you said. You’ve “been obsessed with it ever since.”

You mentioned you bought some books or you read something? Was there any particular mentor you wanted to give a shout out to? Is there anybody’s writing who, in particular, influenced you?

Nate Rifkin: Yeah. There’s a big one. The one that changed my life, that one is Gary Halbert. He’s pretty easy to find online. Unfortunately, he’s passed away now, but he did leave behind a legacy called the “Gary Halbert Letter. This is someone who got started in direct mail.

Gary Halbert is someone who generated millions and millions of dollars in a plethora of different businesses, who in time went on to teach how he did it. The Gary Halbert Letter is essential reading for anyone serious about about becoming a copywriter.

Barry: It’s remarkable how many people tell me Gary Halbert was the big influence. As you say, he’s no longer with us, but his influence lives on.

Nate, your 5-Question Formula For Writing Copy is a huge help for any copywriter, but are there any specific steps you may suggest for a first time copywriter?

Nate: One of the biggest problems I hear is overwhelm.

There are a million different ways to talk about something that you want to sell.

# Before you write any copy you need to know exactly where your audience is at in terms of the problem they’re facing?

# Do they know what options / solutions they have available?

# What solutions have they already tried?

For example, let’s say your potential customer has heart disease.

In addition, perhaps they have high blood pressure.

And they have already been to see their doctor.

Before you write any copy you must do your research.

If available, survey existing customers – what issues did they experience? What persuaded them to buy your product?

Another place to look is on social media sites – they are particularly good for identifying the PAIN your prospect has.

It is this PAIN you address in your sales copy!

I also recommend Amazon.com for doing research – reading the reviews is another great place to identify pain.

The best copywriters are human data-gathering machines

Coming back to a prospect who has heart disease…

Are they aware of the various prescription options?

Have they considered natural health supplements?

What have they tried, and what are they trying right now?

Then – and this is personal to everyone – you have to take stock of your solution and figure out if they’re even aware of its existence, if they’ve tried it before, and if they were satisfied (or not) with it the first go around.

Barry: That is very interesting Nate:

You need to know what they’ve used already and what happened when they used this previous solution.

Nate Rifkin: Yes, either way, you have to know.

I prefer ‘speaking’ to audiences that already have tried some standard solutions that didn’t work out. That’s when copywriting can be at its most powerful!

At its best, copywriting is education-based marketing.

However there can be some pitfalls…

Let’s say you’re offering a solution for heart health that has to do with lowering levels of homocysteine.

You could write a headline being like:

“New breakthrough solution cuts your levels of homocysteine in half. Read all about it,”

But there is a problem…

Hardly anyone knows about homocysteine!

Barry: I don’t know what it is, Nate.

Nate: Exactly. I have failed to research the awareness of my audience, and as a result, everyone will ignore my message.

On the other hand, contrast that with say blood pressure, where I write a headline saying,

“Amazing natural breakthrough lowers your systolic blood pressure 20 points overnight.”

Someone who has just been to their doctor, and discovered they have an issue with high blood pressure will want to read more.

Indeed, anyone with high blood pressure will want to read more!

You must speak your prospect’s language – no matter what the product or service. This is why the research is so important.

Imagine that instead of saying the above I had said…

“New threat to heart health that has to do with the pressure to your veins and your arteries”

It would have nowhere near the same impact!

People understand blood pressure – Like I said, you must speak your prospects language.

What’s funny about all this is I haven’t even really talked about writing yet.

The phrase is copywriting, but all I’m talking about it getting familiar with your audience and knowing where they’re at.

From there on, your sales message continues in the form of education.

You figure out where they’re at. You figure out what they know, what they’ve already tried, and then you educate them on what the pitfalls were and what they should do next.

For instance, in the blood pressure example, they already know about it, so you basically educate them on why other solutions are not as good. You may say, “You’ve probably heard of these prescription drugs. Sure, they might lower your blood pressure, but here is the problems with the side effects,” and then you continue from there.

In the case with, like you said, you’ve never heard of homocysteine. Right off the bat, even before I mentioned the term, if I’m writing to prospects interested in heart health, I would describe how there is a certain threat to your heart that you have not heard of, and here’s why you haven’t heard of it.

“Let me tell you the story. Let me tell you about this threat and what the science is behind it,” and then I would say, “OK, it’s called homocysteine,” and then — and only then — will I get to the part of the formula where I actually describe the solution, because I can’t describe the solution unless people know what the issue is.

Barry: That sounds amazing. I think actually the key takeaway for me is “education-based marketing.”

Nate: Yeah, but I do need to give credit. This is commonly referred to as “the state of awareness of the market”, and it was the book “Breakthrough Advertising” by Eugene M. Schwartz , who really broke this down.

That book is out of print, decades old. You can find copies on Amazon selling for over 350 bucks per copy, but the secret juice of that book is pretty much what I just revealed, knowing where the state of your market is.

Barry: That’s a good way of putting it, again, “the state of your market,”

Nate: I think that’s good for now, because the rest will be revealed as we go along. That’s kind of what I really wanted to hammer home, that first part of the state of awareness, so please fire away with what else you’ve got.

Barry: You’ve semi-answered some of this question already, but just for clarification, what do you do first when you are asked to write copy about a product or service you have no personal experience off?

Nate: The first thing I do is I stay away from that blank page, and I stay away from any heavy writing.

As in the example above I dive deep into researching the background of the product, researching how it works, researching the problem it addresses, and researching the folks who are most in need of the product, because they’re the ones experiencing the problem.

The market, the problem, and the solution, I research all that stuff.

I’m looking for how does it work, and what is the news story I can tell in my education-based marketing?

I’m learning about the folks who need it, because I want to make sure that I don’t, basically, say something stupid that they’re just reading it and going, “What? You obviously don’t know me. This obviously doesn’t apply to me, and it’s kind of a turn off.”

I’m also researching the problem itself, because I want to make sure that I understand it properly, for basically the same reason I understand the market. I want to make sure everything matches and aligned.

I guess I might as well go with the same example.

I will research what high blood pressure actually is, the science behind it, why it’s a problem, and in doing so I will find out some interesting things that I can reference in my education-based marketing.

For instance, with High Blood Pressure I’m going to look pretty terrible if I wrote a piece of copy that says…

“Have you felt the strain of high blood pressure when you suddenly get up, and it really hurts?”

You see that is not how high blood pressure manifests itself and I will almost certainly break rapport with my audience, because they see that I don’t know what I am talking about.

However, if on the other hand I said:

You may feel fine right now, and not know you have a serious blood pressure issue.

Then that is more likely to grab attention.

Then I want to research the mechanism behind the product, what makes it work, because I want to find out what makes it superior. I’m going to find out if there’s an herbal solution for blood pressure, I’m going to find out it actually brings levels, keeps it to the normal range, keeps them in the normal range, and it does this without any side effects.

I need to know all these facts because people are so jaded today.

You can’t just scream bigger and bigger benefits at them.

In copywriting you have to address customer skepticism and given them a reason why something is going to work.

I have to do my research, because if I don’t know my stuff, I’m going to be a terrible educator and then the entire sales message becomes a deck of cards and someone kicked at it like it’s a soccer ball. It’s all going to fall apart.

That is the first thing I do. If I’m entering a new market with a new product, it’s even more important than ever.

Someone asked me recently, how much of what you do is research compared to actual writing? Unless I know my stuff, it’s going to be like 80 percent research.

Barry: 80% research! That is remarkable.

Another big takeaway here is saying something that’s not correct.

I mean, if that’s not what they’re experiencing, they’re catch you out and say, “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” and close the page, and go somewhere else.

Nate: That’s crucial, and it’s very tricky, because kind of by definition it’s not something you can 100 percent watch out for, yourself.

You may be working the project alone locked up in your room, but eventually, this is going to go out to other people and they are different people from you. It’s very helpful if you have someone you can share your writing with and get feedback. Someone who perhaps knows the product and industry better than you.

You are not requesting a marketing opinion – rather you want to know:

“Am I addressing you properly? Am I speaking to you, what your experiences are?”

And most importantly, “Am I saying something where you’re like, ‘No, that’s not how I feel. That’s not something I’m going through'”? That one little extra step can kind of save you from tripping over yourself with your words.

Barry: Excellent, I like that a lot.

I have been told that when writing copy, the headline’s the most important thing, and if you don’t get that right, you might as well not write at all. Do you have any particular hacks or secrets for coming up with great headlines? What is a good headline?

Nate: I agree with what you say, because a headline…just think of it this way, it’s like a first impression when someone walks up to you and shakes your hand. In that five seconds, there is a lot going on. There is a lot of impressions being made, and a lot of them will never be unmade, even if you hang around that person for the next year. It’s kind of similar with headlines, even more so because if your headline isn’t going to grab the reader’s attention, they’re not going to hang around at all, much less for a year.

When you’re aware of your audience’s awareness, when you know what they know, and you know where they’re at, you can craft a great headline that speaks to them exactly where they are, and introduces them to a new idea.

Your headline’s job is simple. You want to grab their attention in a way that’s relevant to the issue they’ve got, and then presents them with kind of an inkling, a curiosity, where they realize, “You know, I gotta pay attention to this.”

Just as important as what a headline does is what it does not have to do. I didn’t say you had to sell your product. I didn’t say you had to get them to bust out the credit card and buy anything, or even believe you, or even necessarily trust you, not yet.

You just want to get them to say, “OK, I’m gonna check this out.” That’s it.

It’s kind of like a newspaper. People are aware of a current event going on. That newspaper headline grabs their attention because it speaks to what they already know, that something’s going on. It’s sort of an implied promise that they’re going to learn more information that’s very valuable to them.

Barry: That’s perfect. I like that a lot.

Do you have a best-ever headline that you’re particularly proud of, that you’d like to share with us? And if you have one, why did it work so well for you?

Nate: Let me think. There is one that, not only, it’s very successful and I think could be a great example, here.

The headline is:

“Toss Your Alkaline Water Down the Drain.”

Barry: Nice.

Nate: There’s a number of reasons why it works pretty well.

The audience that sees that headline is an audience that is interested in their health.

If you walk into a Whole Foods, or a store like that, there are rows and rows of these premium-priced waters boasting of their alkalinity, so it’s on people’s minds.

They’ve seen it. It’s something they can reference and it’s something they traditionally view as healthy, or positive, or certainly socially acceptable.

A headline saying toss it down the drain, it’s going to make them go, “What?

Why would I want to do that? As far as I know it’s good for me.

Is it dangerous? Is it bad? Is it just stupid? Why?

Is it wrong in some way that I should be even keeping this alkaline water in my home?”

There’s only one answer and that is to keep reading to discover this reason why.

Barry Dunlop: You’re really on fire, my friend. I appreciate your time.

I was wondering do you have and ideas or thoughts on creating lead magnets or offers that gets people to opt into your sales funnel?

Nate Rifkin: Sure. I’m not as involved in that as I am in the longer copy that sells the actual product, so I’ll be quick about it. I do have my ear to the floor of what’s working very well.

Answering one bit of curiosity is always what works best with lead magnets.

Just today, I saw a headline for a lead magnet that read:

“What oatmeal does to your body”

That got my curiosity. Made me ask:

Is oatmeal good for me? Or is it bad for me?

Naturally I want a copy of the report so I can discover whether or not oatmeal is good for me.

One little thing is all it takes.

One is infinitely better than two, three, four, five, or six.

When creating a Lead Magnet pick one thing that sparks folks so much they just need to know the answer to it.

Barry Dunlop: Yeah, that’s great. Now that all makes sense, my friend.

You’ve been a copywriter for a little while now and things change. Is there anything in particular that used to work and doesn’t work now, or vice versa, for example? What’s working right now that people really should know about that is relatively new on your scene?

Nate Rifkin: There’s two things that come to mind:

First is what’s not working well.

In terms of the state of awareness of the market people have increasingly already tried a lot of different solutions for their problem and have not been satisfied with those solutions. This is quite a different scenario from say a few decades ago.

People and prospects generally are a lot more jaded these days.

When you’re writing an ad and you’re not addressing the facts that people have tried other things and they did not work, you’re going to have a real tough time selling them.

You need to address their previous disappointments in your sales copy. (Again all part of your detailed research)

I mean, how are they not to know that what you offer them will not FAIL them also?

The second thing I would mention is that your marketing should match the media that the buyer is consuming on a regular basis.

Let me break that down.

30 + years ago, when Gary Halbert was in direct mail, he would send out sales letters that looked like letters because that’s what the person wants to read, a letter. It didn’t need to be a fancy catalog with amazing graphics.

However, when Gary ran ads in magazines, he made sure to format them like magazine articles because that’s just the easiest, most convenient thing for people to consume. Their defenses are down and they’re open to your message.

It’s the same thing with television when infomercials came out, they would often be in a format of news programs and interviews. That is what I mean by matching your message / sales copy with the media format that your buyer is used to watching / reading.

Then this funny thing called the Internet came along and marketers for a while struggled like, “What are people wanting to see on the Internet, and how do we align our sales messages with that? What’s the format?”

Today we’ve kind of figured that out in terms of presenting things with video, and also presenting things with pages that have pretty nice graphics that make it look like a nice WordPress blog.

Those are the two things — making sure that you’re up-to-date with just how many solutions your audience has tried and failed with, and also making sure that your sales message matches what people are used to seeing on the Internet.

By the way, an easy hack for that is to just look at the most popular media blogs and publications and social media sites. If you can mimic the look and feel and experience of them, you’re going to be delivering your content in a way that your audience will appreciate and consume better.

Barry Dunlop: That’s a very strong tip, Nate.

Do you have anything else you’d like to share with us that you feel would be valuable to our audience?

Nate Rifkin: Sure. My last little warning to entrepreneurs and would-be copywriters is a simple one:

Beware of the curse of knowledge.

It’s an advantage that you know your stuff, you have your product line, and you have your facts down cold. The curse of knowledge is you might be speaking to your audience in a way that’s a little bit too in-depth or fast for them.

My words of wisdom would be, take a step back. Make sure, even before you’re selling or asking for an order, make sure your audience gets it. Make sure you understand where they’re at.

Make sure that they get why your solution is better.

If you can show them that you know where they’re at and why your solution is better, they’ll credit you with knowing your stuff and more importantly, buy from you!

Provided the above is applied then the selling part will be a very easy, natural, and mutually-beneficial process from all!

Barry: Thanks Nate, that is an awesome summary. A great deal of value for here, for both the apprentice copywriter and the seasoned pro!

=> Nate Rifkin is one of the busiest and most in demand copywriters on the planet. Contact Nate via his website at NateRifkin.com

Nate Rifkin – 5-step Formula For Writing Sales Copy

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Ted Nicholas Interview – Master Copywriter Reveals His Billion Dollar Secrets, Creating Killer Copy That Sells

Ray Edwards Copywriter – Interview

The post Nate Rifkin | How To Write Better Copy and Make More Sales appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

21 Smart Ways To Increase Website Value

Barry Dunlop — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 19:56:30 +0000

The subject of website value – attracts a lot of conflicting opinions!

Worse still, there is a multitude of so-called online “website value” calculators that claim to tell you how much your website is worth! Think about it – how can any website claim to give you a website valuation, without knowing your revenues, your profit?

No wonder website owners get confused!

If you own a blog, an eCommerce site, an Amazon FBA site, a lead generation site or any type of website here are:

21 Smart Ways To Increase Website Value

Special Note: No matter if you intend to sell your website now, or indeed never sell, there is much information here that will help you build a better website business.

#1 To Increase Your Website Value, Start With the End In Mind

It was Stephen R. Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, who in habit #2 introduced us to “starting with the end in mind’.

This one ‘simple strategy’ makes the difference when it comes to building website value – but it is often overlooked!

Fact is – you are never going to build website value and worth without first acknowledging it and stating it as a GOAL.

So let us start with this thought…

What is your exit plan?

Who will buy your website business?

Why will they buy your business and for how much?

A wise friend once said:

The Biggest Mistake A Small Business Can Make Is Thinking Like A Small Business

If your goal is a successful exit with a life-changing sum of money in the bank, then thinking and acting like a small business is one of the first things you will need to stop doing!

Millions of dollars (or Pounds, or Euros or whatever your currency) does not fall into your lap by accident.

There is lots more we could add here – but perhaps the most important thing is knowing who your potential buyers are.

Even if it may be many years in the future, now is the time to appear on that buyers radar, to make connections with them, to network with them.

Knowing the largest players in your market and understanding their intentions is invaluable when it comes to finding buyers for your website..

Do You Buy Websites?

Join Our Website Buyers List – subscribe below:

Subscribe to Website Buyers

#2 Use Diversified Traffic Sources

Bloggers and online business owners boost about getting huge amounts of business from SEO, or Facebook or whatever the latest Hot Traffic method is.

But what if Google no longer likes your site or suddenly advertising on Facebook doubles in cost – where are you then?

Experienced buyers of websites and online investors will down value your website business if most of your income/traffic comes from one source.

Having most of your traffic coming from a single source leaves you vulnerable to future changes in search engine algorithms, increased competition, and other factors.

Diversity in traffic is also a factor that search engine algorithms increasingly consider more and more.

You should try to get traffic from a multitude of the following sources:

Search (Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.)
Social Media (Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, etc.)
Direct
RSS Feeds
Partner Websites
Other Industry Specific Blogs
Industry Specific Forums
PPC Ads

#3 Create Unique Evergreen Content

Over the past few years, online marketing has shifted from ‘outbound’ to ‘inbound’ marketing. For you, this means that you must educate your customer, not just sell to him or her.

Unique content is one of the best ways to provide educational material about your industry, which informs the client and explores his needs and concerns. In addition, through such content, you can position yourself as an authority in your industry. Having a blog is one of the best ways to present your own content.

When possible, your content should also be “evergreen” – meaning it should preferably be on topics that are unlikely to change significantly in the future. Evergreen content will keep attracting visitors even in the long-term future and will keep generating new clients.

You can find many content writers for your business through freelance platforms such as:

For an example of evergreen content check out this IncomeDiary post from 2012 – Thoughts On Success

Over 5 years later this one post still brings this website traffic every day!

#4 Secure Domain variations | Major Social Media Extensions

With so many domain extensions available today it is difficult, not to mention impractical and costly to secure every domain extension.

Our advice – focus on securing at least the .com plus your local domain extension [e.g .co.uk and .com.au]

Then if you are serious about your brand also secure .net and .org

Website buyers are impressed and reassured if you own all the major domain extensions for your brand.

If you are a Startup, a great place to check both Domain Name combinations and social media username availability is NAMECHECKR

In test search below, you will see that the .com plus Twitter handle is not available – while the .net, FACEBOOK and YouTube extensions are.

Website buyers like to see that you have secured your [brand name] in all the major social media channels.

Having a different username on Facebook compared to say Twitter or YouTube is not ideal.

Again being on every social media channel is impractical – focus on the BIG ones like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Linkedin. In short, establish yourself on the social media channels that your customers frequent most often.

A lot of social media can be automated – but we discourage anything spammy or BOTS crawling across the Internet auto liking certain hashtags!

Suddenly losing your Facebook or Twitter accounts because of spammy practices is a way to decrease website value!

A great way to automate your social media is to use IFTTT

For example, with IFTTT you can easily set INSTAGRAM up so that every time you do a post it also posts to Twitter, your Facebook page, and Pinterest account.

By automating your social media marketing and presence, you increase your website value faster.

#5 Increase Website Worth Through Testimonials and Star Ratings

Social proof is an essential persuasion tactic.

It creates trust with your customers, making it more likely that they will commit to making a purchase. It will also make the information you provide appear more reliable.

And there’s no better way to give social proof than by using testimonials and Star Ratings.

By placing testimonials on your website, you significantly increase your website value.

Customers relate to your brand more easily when they see active engagement coming from others like them.

Today’s evolved entrepreneur doesn’t just deliver a product – they deliver an experience!

How will buying from you differ from buying from a competitor?

It is that difference that will create the biggest increase in website value!

Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit put it brilliantly:

“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.”

This is why testimonials and endorsements are essential when building website value.

How Do You Get Testimonials?

In short – ask for them!

Follow up with customer satisfaction surveys that ask questions like:

What, specifically, was your favorite part of my product, and why?

If you were to recommend my product to your best friend, what would you say?

Of course, some customers will give you testimonials without asking – but the best policy is to ask.

You can add a link on your website where customers can provide their testimonial.

See the Expert Photography Submit Testimonial Page

Star Ratings are a slightly different subject and one that worries some entrepreneurs.

What if your competitor or a disgruntled ex-business partner decides to give you a nasty review?

Yes, that could happen – but most Star Rating services give you the opportunity to respond.

A website with thousands of 4 and 5-star reviews you will have a lot more website value than one without any star review scheme.

Accept it entrepreneur – transparency is essential in the modern business.

Businesses such as Amazon and Tripadvisor would not be the massive sites they are today without a Review Scheme.

TrustPilot and YELP are two of the biggest review sites.

Also, check out: 19 Online Review Sites for Collecting Business & Product Reviews

Want even more proof?

Check out useproof.com

This website helps deliver higher conversion rates on your website by displaying recent sales and opt-ins.

#6 Get A Premium Domain Name

Premium domain names are short, memorable, easy-to-spell names that end in popular extensions like .com. They cost more than normal domains (often a lot more) – because they are more likely to drive traffic to a website.

Also, when it comes to branding and authority – owning the generic keyword domain name (especially the .com) adds a lot of value to a business. You can use these Premium Domains to point at your main website or develop new websites on them that compliment your business. See also #8 below – Turn Your Website Into a Hub

My Own Experience:

Back in the early 2000’s, I was running a portfolio of successful lead generation sites in the home improvement niche. As that business became successful we invested in a number of generic keyword domains that added to the authority and reputation of our business. This strategy paid off handsomely when we eventually sold the business.

And it doesn’t even have to be an obvious strong generic term – check out this example:

SumoMe pays $1.5 million for Sumo.com domain name

Getting a premium domain that relates to your industry or products can give you a significant and lasting competitive advantage.

Quality domain names can also help your website achieve higher rankings in search engine results, giving you greater visibility and increasing your website value.

To purchase premium domain names, you can visit any of the following markets and search for key terms in your industry:

Of all the suggestions we are making for increasing website value this one has one of the highest cost implications – but if you have a successful business and are serious about building a valuable brand this is still one of the best things you can do.

#7 Inbound Link-building (Backlinks)

Getting back-links from reputable, high authority websites is a great way to build value. Overall, it helps you achieve two things.

First, getting back-links from highly reputable and authoritative websites makes your own domain more authoritative. Higher authority means you to rank higher in Search Engine results resulting in more traffic and greater revenue.

Second, back-links increase the diversity of your traffic sources directly by adding referral traffic.

That’s two benefits into one!

A good way to start link-building is to join the conversation on other blogs in your industry, provide valuable content to other websites in your industry through guest posts, and get links from partner sites. [ see #13 Guest Posts]

#8 For Maximum Website Value Turn Your Website Into a Hub

A good copywriter friend of mine once told me that as soon as he discovered a winning product or offer he would ‘knock himself off”.

Success breeds copycats – and my friend’s strategy was that in this instance, he may as well “compete with yourself” by creating a related but not identical product. (It could be a superior product with better features and more expensive or even an inferior product with fewer features and cheaper)

A hub is the center of activity. If you can turn your website into the center for your industry, it will become a strategic asset. You can achieve this by providing access to vital resources about your industry through your site or a series of related sites.

In point 6 above – we emphasize the advantages of buying Premium Domains.

For example, if they are 6 main keywords that describe your product offering and you own most or all of them as .com’s you will be default be creating a HUB and recognized as the premier authority.

Education of the customer is essential.

Customer education can come in the form of your own content, links to other highly authoritative industry leaders, as well as a place where customers can come and discuss.

So long as customers can navigate to everything they would need from your website, you are achieving this goal.

Reality is there will always be those who will try to emulate you – and unless you have a patent-able concept it will be difficult to protect yourself from them. The successful entrepreneur knows this and will of course also do all they can to protect their Intellectual Property (IP)

Indeed another way to add website value is to create IP (Courses, software, systems) related to your websites. If you can show that you are doing this and successfully protecting yourself, buyers will be encouraged and more likely to make you a substantial offer.

Talking of copycats here is a brilliant 2.15 min video that is too good not to share.

#9 Keep Good Records

Prepare for your buyers’ due diligence – in particular financial, legal and website due diligence.

If you run your website keeping in mind you plan to sell it one day, this kind of information will be at your fingertips.

Keeping financial records for a website is relatively straightforward – just make sure that if for example, you have more than one website that all income attributable to each website is clearly defined in your accounting. Likewise with costs. This is essential if you only plan on selling some of your websites and not all of them.

Likewise keeping track of traffic and sources of traffic is pretty straightforward with Google Analytics.

Again, make sure if you have multiple websites that you can show each website’s traffic individually.

Are there any skeletons in the closet?

Disagreements with former business partners, disputes with suppliers? unpaid bills? unhappy customers?

Don’t be naive and think the due diligence process will not discover these ‘issues’.

Indeed nothing puts off a buyer more than that feeling you are trying to hide something.

A sensible buyer will require you to sign a disclosure making you liable for any undisclosed issues that come up after the sale is concluded. All the more reason to disclose everything remotely legal or negative – even if you think it is not that important.

In fact, disclosing issues is more likely to make a potential buyer feel confident in purchasing your website business.

#10 Make Sure To Optimize Your Website For Mobile Access

OK, this should be obvious but it is remarkable how many ‘old websites’ with good evergreen content have never been updated to mobile friendly. Of course, this represents an opportunity for the entrepreneur who can pick them up cheaply and convert them to mobile-friendly.

The ever helpful Google have a mobile friendly test

Without a well optimized mobile experience, you’re likely to lose a lot of traffic, and with it significant revenue.

Not to mention that given how fast the mobile age is developing, you’re liable to fall behind the competition. If you want to increase the value of your website, it’s a must to ensure that it is mobile-optimized.

You can use an online tool, such as HubSpot’s Website Grader, to check how well your site is doing in terms of mobile optimization amongst other things.

#11 Use Great Copywriting

Effective copywriting is key to communicating your brand’s message to the consumer. It’s also the key to more sales. With well-written copy, you can tap into your buyers’ psychology, and start getting the results you’ve always wanted.

In this manner, you can increase customer engagement, click-through rate, conversions, and purchases. Great copywriting will make your online real estate more attractive and more valuable – and this is true regardless of your monetization method.

Related: How to Create a Killer Offer

#12 Use Multiple Monetization Channels

Buyers like websites that have multiple sources of income.

For example, if you are a blogger you can make income from selling your own informational products, creating a mastermind group, run your own events (seminar/conferences), run Google Adsense, website sponsorship and as an affiliate.

If you have an eCommerce store, you can also add Google Adsense to your site or launch your own affiliate program.

If you train your mind to look out for opportunities for additional revenue streams they will appear.

One store we know was selling herbal teas – but then discovered there was a huge demand for the tea caddies the teas got shipped in. (all because one customer emailed to ask if they could buy the empty tea caddies)

Whatever the case, multiple sources of revenue make your business stronger.

#13 Guest Posts | Write For Authority Websites

Quality guest content is a great way to form relationships across your industry. You can invite other authorities from your industry to post articles on your blog. And you can also get your content on other valuable sites as a guest writer.

Note the word Quality here!

IncomeDiary gets a huge number of guest posting requests but publishes very few.

The reason is simple.

Most of the so-called guest bloggers are more interested in getting a quality link back than they are in delivering quality content!

If you are going to write for an authority website take the time to produce something of real value, something that adds value to the readers’ life, something that makes the reader appreciate the website more.

Writing a load of average commentary that could be found on just about any average website is a waste of your time and the authority websites time!

IncomeDiary guidelines for writers include:

=> Your post must be original — NO SPUN CONTENT;

=> You agree you will not publish the content anywhere else (i.e., in your own blog or as a guest post in other blogs);

=> Author bios/bylines which are displayed on the post page can include one link (no keyword stuffing);

=> Articles can include non-self-serving useful and relevant links, none in the first paragraph (spammy and self-serving links will cause the article to be rejected);

=> Great grammar and spelling required — US or UK English and

=> Guest posts need to be no less than 1,500 words. (ideally in excess of 2000 words)

Guest posts are a wonderful way to generate high-quality back-links, get referral traffic and increase your brand awareness.

Creating quality guest posts is also one of the best ways to increase your site’s rank in Google search results. An incredible asset to have, which will certainly increase your value.

#14 Create A Sales Funnel

Not every website is a Sales Funnel.

Many websites are just information sites – where the visitor leaves and buys elsewhere!

A Sales Funnel, on the other hand, collects your information (usually with a lead magnet or offer) and SELLS you something.

Or as a friend of mine likes to put it:

“Give me your information, let me sell you something”

Without a properly thought out Sales Funnel your website will not be able to convert adequately.

A sales funnel involves integrating all elements of your website such that everything works together to drive sales.

From building customer awareness to gathering leads, to finally monetizing them, a sales funnel helps you bring everything together.

It also helps you clarify your strategy, and understand where future growth may come from. Such understanding can help you extract a higher value from your existing customer base.

Being able to demonstrate a sales funnel that works is one of the best ways to add value to a website.

#15 To Add Website Value – Build An Email List!

If you have been following IncomeDiary for any time, you will know the importance we attach to email marketing.

An email list of clients is precious since it provides access to a particular, targeted group of people. And you already know that your services and products interest your subscribers.

Putting out future offers to your list of subscribers is likely to give off much better conversions than cold emails. Not to mention that if you ever decide to sell your business, this will be a precious asset. A list of customers is one of the key assets buyers are looking for and without question a sure fire way to add website value.

#16 Make Use Of Original Image & Video Content

The use of image & video content is one of the best ways to drive user engagement.

Having a multitude of ways to present content, marketing material and products increases conversions and customer enthusiasm.

Video content, especially when hosted on YouTube, can also help improve search rankings. It will also improve user engagement and will increase share frequency on social media.

Visual content is also essential to create a clear brand image. With original pictures and video, you can increase the value of your online real estate.

Well produced videos are a great way to add value to not only an article but your website.

For example 21 life Lessons from Steve Jobs

#17 Deliver Your Content Through a CDN

A CDN, or Content Delivery Network, is a series of cache servers that store your online content and provide it to users from the closest server. Nowadays, CDNs deliver more than half of all traffic over the web.

A CDN adds value to your website for the following reasons:

Faster page loading speed.
Can handle high levels of traffic.
Blocks spamming bots.
Increases security against DDoS attacks.

The speed benefit is the most important. Delays in page loading time cause significant drops in conversion rates. You can check your current page loading speed here. You should preferably aim for pages that load under 3 seconds.

There are both free and paid CDNs. From the free CDNs, two excellent choices that integrate well with WordPress websites are Cloudflare & Incapsula. From the paid options KeyCDN, MaxCDN and Amazon’s CloudFront are all good options.

For more on CDN and ways to increase y0ur website speed see click here.

Also, 18 Things making your website slow.

#18 Use an SSL Certificate (HTTPS)

Acquiring an SSL certificate is essential to assure your customers that their connection to your website is secure. Its presence significantly increases customer trust, as well as the value of your online property.

Among the many other benefits, SSL encrypts data your clients send to the server. The certificate ensures that the data can only be read by the intended parties.

Other advantages include:

Protects against phishing.
Required for Payment Card Industry (PIC) compliance.
Provides certification that the website is yours and not a carbon copy.
Increases customer trust and conversions.

Despite the cost of acquiring an SSL, the benefits it provides are well worth it!

#19 Use Personalized Content

Many successful websites today make use of personalized content. Such content is most effective in eCommerce businesses, but it can work with other monetization methods as well.

Personalized content allows you to target the products/information shown to users based on personal data. This data includes:

Geographical Location.
The device used to access the website.
Search terms used.
Local time.
Referring URL.
Visit frequency.
Client behavior on the page and viewing history.

With personalized content, you can increase conversions, improve lead nurturing, and be more customer friendly. Besides, you can also target your customers with more specific marketing material.

This is why having personalized content can have a significant boost in your website’s value.

#20 Build A Network of Internal Links

The following is especially important for BLOGs.

It is a fact that every time IncomeDiary publishes an article it appears on other websites (scrapped) often within minutes.

The worse culprits get a cease and desist – but even those who get past our radar will find that this article they have ‘published’ will have lots of links embedded within it linking to our content. This article alone has 14 links to other related articles within the site.

A website without a proper system of internal links is very difficult to navigate.

Isolated, un-linked content is also more easily stolen by competitors or internet bots.

If you publish an article with many links to other pages of your website, it’s easier for users to navigate to resources they may be interested in.

In addition, it’s harder to copy your content since internal links will still redirect to your domain.

Such links also help you build the relevance of individual pages with regards to search engines.

Of course there is content (such as in a Sales Funnel) where you would not wish to cross-link or take the visitor away from the task at hand, but generally speaking, that is not the kind of content that gets stolen.

#21 Ensure You Have High-Quality UI/UX Design

Get a professional design for your site’s user interface and user experience. It will help you build a stronger brand image and will increase your website’s conversions as well.

Having a professional image that customers can relate to is one of the main ways to increase the value of your website. You can contract professional designers through crowd-sourced design competitions on the following sites:

Alternatively, you could also use the freelance platforms previously mentioned especially if you’re looking to work primarily with only one designer.

Implementing a high-quality design plus the other 20 steps is essential if you want to sell your website at the highest price as quickly as possible.

Final Thoughts!

To create a truly valuable website business you should:

a) Systematize and automate as many procedures as possible.

With the technology available it has never been easier to automate tasks. If you can show to potential buyers that you have been reinvesting profits in making your website more efficient and that they can reap the benefits when they buy your website, they will pay more for your website.

b) Remove Yourself

For a successful exit, you should be able to demonstrate that the business can operate without you.

A business that relies on an owner to succeed is going to sell for less than one that can operate without the owner.

You know you have a successful business when you can remove yourself and the business operates perfectly well without you.

Looking for a Website Broker?

Our grateful thanks to Logan Chierotti and the team at BizSold.com^SM for their assistance with creating this article.

BizSold are masters at extracting website value with over 500 successful sales and 10 years of website broker experience.

Have Logan and the BizSold team provide you with a Free Website Appraisal & Exit Strategy

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Your Main Website Address:*
Telephone Number:*
Please provide the best numbers to contact you on. (include area code and country)
Turnover / Revenue*
Details of your recent annual turnover (at least last 12 months, ideally longer)
Tell us about your business
When did you start? Who else is involved? Major achievements?

Author Bio:
Barry Dunlop is a lifelong entrepreneur, Mastermind Facilitator and sales coach who launched his first Internet Business in 1998. He invests in renewable energy technology, Domain Names, and Website Flipping.

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The post 21 Smart Ways To Increase Website Value appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

10 eCommerce Trends Every Blogger Needs To Know About!

Mark Binns — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 10:51:54 +0000

eCommerce trends have a habit of becoming blogging trends.

Especially with regards to design and usability.

What you see in an online store today, you will often see in a blog tomorrow.

Do you want to take advantage of these trends?

This post from Mark Binns will help…

Top 10 eCommerce Trends:

No 1 eCommerce Marketing Trend: The OmniChannel

Everyone is doing it!

Researching a purchase on their smart phone on the commute to work and completing the sale later in the office or home desktop!

And, where appropriate, some of these ‘researchers’ will actually visit a physical store.

The modern business can no longer rely on one particular channel to conduct business!

Currently and for the foreseeable future the OmniChannel Shoppers will reign.

Google is reporting that 85% of users begin a purchase on one device and complete it on another, eliminating the distinction between ‘mobile users’ and ‘desktop users.’

It’s now more important than ever that you optimise your store for visitors on smartphones and tablets.

Overall, retail eCommerce sales have been forecasted to exceed $2 trillion worldwide this year so it’s high time that you make the most of your site’s potential by checking out the eCommerce trends that will provide you and your customers with the greatest value.

No 2 eCommerce Trend: Live Chat

“Hey, how can I help you today?”

You wouldn’t expect to hear that on an online store but you’d be surprised!

A trend that accelerated in popularity in 2016 and will only continue to do so in 2017 is the live chat feature that has become available on many of your favourite eCommerce stores. Whether they’re speaking to a human staff member or, increasingly, an automated bot, by offering the one-on-one interaction received in a physical store, this real-time engagement has proven to help potential customers make faster decisions.

No 3 eCommerce Trend: Chatbot

Closely related to Live Chat.

In simple terms, a Chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users – over the Internet.

The chatbot is fast becoming the first point of contact an individual has with a brand.

As artificial intelligence becomes more and more mainstream and chatbots ‘learn’ more from the questions being asked of them, you can expect to see their use becoming common place.

Still on the fence about installing a chatbot?

Studies show that users of live chat spend around 5-30% more on your site and the conversion rate increases by 5-10 times more after a chat session.

Have we convinced you now?

With these kind of results, we highly recommend that you place your new chatbot in a prominent location on each page, and make sure that it’s visible at all times so you can maximise your sales.

No 4 eCommerce Trend: Infinite Scrolling vs Pagination

Imagine if you only saw 10 posts on your Facebook timeline and then you had to go to the next page to see more. Feeling frustrated just thinking about it? I know I am. Yet pagination remains a common factor across the category pages of eCommerce stores even in 2017.

Now think about the benefits of infinite scrolling. From a technical perspective, adding new content to the current page instead of loading a completely new, one improves both load times and overall performance. From the all important user perspective, it allows people to view more content without being interrupted.

If this is true then why haven’t all eCommerce stores followed the path of social media sites and switched away from pagination in favour of adding infinite scrolling to their category pages?

Turns out there are downsides to both methods. What research has found is that with infinite scrolling on eCommerce stores, users focused less on individual products and quickly scanned through a large volume of items. However, as you may have experienced with traditional pagination, users get tired of having to load page after page and so they end up viewing a lot less products.

So what’s an eCommerce store to do?

Luckily for you, you can actually have the best of both worlds by combining elements of these two methods. This is done by showing the first 10-30 products of the category on the initial page and then lazy loading another batch until there’s 50-100 products on the page. You then give the customer the option to “Load more” products with a button, then load another 10-30 products and repeat the process of lazy loading batches, before eventually showing another ‘load more’ button.
By implementing this change to your online store in 2017, you can encourage a user to seamlessly view a larger number of your available products compared to before. In doing so, they can be sure to find the right product for them.

No 5 eCommerce Trend: Cinemagraphs

Cinemagraphs are still photographs in which a minor and repeated movement occurs, forming a video clip.

Example below…

via GIPHY

If you’ve scrolled through your social media feeds lately, you’ll know that the best way to immediately grab someone’s attention is with large, eye-catching visuals. This is also very important to keep in mind when designing your eCommerce store, as a whopping 92.6% of people state that visuals are the most influential factor when it comes to making a purchase decision.

In short, a great design full of high quality and flashy pictures along with videos is the way to go! Having said that, bear in mind that customers on their mobile phones are wary of videos eating up their data. Therefore, a novel method of presenting something that may rise in popularity this 2017 is the use of cinemagraphs.

Often published in the GIF format, cinemagraphs are still images with a minor repeated motion.

See some great examples at Kitchen Ghost and you can purchase cinemagraphs at websites such as ShutterStock.

Also see: 5 Ways to Use Cinemagraphs in Your Marketing Campaigns

They are visually arresting, yet maintain a small file size. As such, they are incredibly versatile and can be used to engage customers in emails and on websites – specifically as headers, product images and more.

No 6 eCommerce Trend: Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics is an area of data mining that deals with extracting information from data and using it to predict trends and behavior patterns. Often the unknown event of interest is in the future, but predictive analytics can be applied to any type of unknown whether it be in the past, present or future

Analytics and hard data should be used when it comes making informed decisions – and this has never been truer in 2017.

You wouldn’t want to waste resources optimising for large screens if the majority of your customers visit your store on their mobile!

Consumer data is now incredibly rich and will continue to grow as more and more transactions are taken online. Who would’ve thought that everybody being glued to their smartphones 24/7 was a blessing in disguise?

Using real-time analytics, you can now track how customers navigate around your store – where they click, what pages they visit, and whether this results in a conversion, abandonment or bounce. This data can then be used to create segments and buyer personas.

Buyer personas and other forms of predictive analyses are some of the best uses of big data as you can use your greater understanding of your customer’s preferences and purchasing habits to optimise your site for conversions. This information can also be combined with marketing automation processes in order to target a potential customer with incredible accuracy.

An example would be sending them a triggered email campaign at the time of day when they’re most likely to make a purchase. Easy and effective – what more could you ask for?

No 7 eCommerce Trend: Advanced Personalisation

Do you ever worry that your customers are missing that face-to-face engagement that they’re used to when they’re at a physical store? Well, your instincts are right.

Much like how you love it when the coffee shop you frequent remembers your order, your online customers want you to know their preferences and to tailor their shopping experiences with that information.

You’ve likely already been doing this by chatting with your customers on social media and sending out emails that address them by name. Soon, this is going to be considered the bare minimum.

Online shopping experiences will become more and more unique to each customer.

Rest easy though, this doesn’t mean you’ll be buried in a mountain of work as most of these processes will be automated. With these systems you’ll be able to automatically recommend products and related add-ons to a customer based on their past purchases, physical location, demographic groups and more.

In 2017 we will also see a marked improvement in the responsiveness of sites. As such, you will witness how technology adapts to each user based on factors such as their age; whether they’re right or left handed and how they hold their phones. The magic of technology, am I right?

No 8 eCommerce Trend: Hyperlocalisation

Hyperlocalisation will also be a major eCommerce trend, where a customer’s online and offline activities will be linked through geolocation technology that tracks the whereabouts of individuals’ mobile phones. Communications with customers based on this real-time data will give them the unique brand interactions that they now seek.

No 9 eCommerce Trend: Mobile Optimisation

Increasingly, website optimisation means mobile optimisation. This is one of the biggest eCommerce trends of recent years!

70% of mobile searches result in further action in less than 1 hour. However, 40% of users will switch to a competing site if the current one isn’t mobile-friendly.

If you’ve noticed that your pages have high bounce rates, this could be the key to retaining those potential customers.

In order to fully optimise your online store for the smartphone revolution, you’ve got to change the way you think about it.

Desktop sites should no longer be considered the default, instead mobile sites should.

What this means is that designers ought to think of the mobile version of the site as the original and then ensure that the page has a responsive web design so that it can adapt to larger screens.

Due to this mobile-first approach, you’ll see changes including eCommerce stores having larger CTA buttons that are placed in areas that thumbs can easily reach. Overall, the number of actions a customer has to take in order to successfully complete a transaction will be greatly reduced.

The checkout page in particular should be streamlined, with all inessential form fields removed so that users don’t have to input excessive amounts of text. To make things easier for customers, the right keyboard should be triggered for each form field depending on whether the user is inputting their mobile, email, postcode and so on.

Also, remember to turn off auto-correct for certain fields like name and address.

Instead of discouraging customers with a long form, use progress bars or accordions on your checkout page to guide users through.

All these small changes should result in a marked improvement in your online conversion rate.

No 10 eCommerce Trend: Google’s Material Design

What’s Material Design, you ask? How does this relate to eCommerce trends?

Introduced by Google in 2014, Material Design is a set of design styles and principles for intuitively laying out a mobile app or website. For those who have used an Android device, Google Docs or a related product lately, you’ll be familiar with the card-based look and feel.

But what exactly does this mean for you?

It means that eCommerce stores should seriously think about incorporating aspects of these designs into the layout of their sites so they don’t get left behind when everyone heads down the path of minimalism.

For some inspiration – check out this article about Airbnb design.

Signs you should look out for which herald the rising popularity of this design template are larger, finger-friendly buttons and more white spaces on web pages which ensure that users are able to click the links that they’re intending to.

Also keep your eyes out for an increase in websites using hidden menus instead of navigation bars. Also known as ‘hamburger menus,’ these are already a common feature in mobile apps as they are readily accessible at all times and can save valuable screen space.

In turn, you’ll see a decline in hover tunnels on menus where you have to move your mouse along a certain path in order to keep the menu open. In fact, all hover features may become a thing of the past as desktop devices transition to becoming touchscreen enabled as well.

Keep on top of these eCommerce trends to ensure your future blogging success.

Author Bio: Mark Binns is Digital Marketing Manager at acidgreen, a Magento Enterprise and Google Premier Partner specialising in eCommerce.

Related:

Highly Recommended: Ray Edwards Podcast

9 Things Most Sales Pages Are Missing (fix these today to increase conversions!)

Mobile and Desktop Only Popups from PopupDomination

The post 10 eCommerce Trends Every Blogger Needs To Know About! appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Create A Perfect Blog Post, First Time, Every Time!

Matt Press — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 14:46:39 +0000

The Perfect Blog Post Formula!

The start, middle and end: an autopsy of the perfect blog post.

You would think that writing a blog post is straightforward, wouldn’t you?

Just bang out the words, hit ‘publish’ and make a coffee!

What’s the big deal?

After all…

There’s not much to creating articles?

It’s just you, your thoughts and your keyboard!

If only it was that easy!

Businesses must either prioritize content marketing – or get left behind.

There is no middle ground!

Astonishingly 50% of online content gets a measly 8 shares or less.

Is that you?

When you stop and consider how much global content is pushed out on a daily basis, it is not surprising that standing out is getting more challenging.

Readers are getting lazier and often not taking in more than 20% of words on a web page.

But some bloggers don’t have this problem.

Their following, hang on every word they write.

Bloggers like Jon Morrow for example.

Now, Mr Morrow is an exceptionally gifted writer with a powerful story and yes you may never write a blog post that gets 65000 shares.

But the truth is, you can do much better than you currently are by following the Perfect Blog Post Formula.

But first, lets get back to basics, because when it comes to content, the little details make a big difference.

Let’s break the Perfect Blog Post down into 3 sections: the start, middle and end.

How to write a seductive opening that will get people hanging off your every word.

We’ve heard it all before:

If your content doesn’t have a good headline, then your strategy is stuffed right from the start.

[See these 9 Classic Headline Templates That Consistently Get More Clicks ]

The trouble is, if the only decent thing in your article is the headline, you’re nothing but click-bait.

People will leave in droves.

Quickly.

If clicks are all you’re after then that’s great.

But if you’re serious about getting the right traffic onto your website, then you’re going to need more than just a polished headline.

You also need a headline that is not too long, not too short.

Opinions vary, but as a generalization the ideal length of a headline is 6 words.

If you want shares, links and comments, you need to walk the walk too.

You need an opening to your post that will impress.

Something that will make people read on.

The best way to open a blog post is to do 2 things.

Firstly, reveal the value of your article as quickly as possible.

Don’t waste a moment.

Hanging around, ignoring any real-life distractions and committing to reading what you’ve got to say is a big ask.

As such, whoever is reading your piece needs to know what’s in it for them… fast.

Assuming that you’ve done your homework and you’re writing about a common pain point experienced by your target audience…

The second thing you need to do is to try to make your topic relevant.

You can do this simply by speaking in a normal, personable way.

Get people to really think about the issue you are covering.

What problem is it causing?

What will happen if it doesn’t get dealt with?

And end your introduction by revealing exactly how you’re going to help.

Don’t worry about sounding like a teacher, because people like to be told what to do.

How to write an article that stifles yawns and stops people bailing out.

It might sound old-school, but list out all the different points that you’re going to want to make in your post on a piece of paper.

The ultimate journey for the reader is to go from A to B, where A represents the start of your piece and B is a satisfying resolution.

Arrange them in an order that would make sense to a layman.

This is the road-map for your article.

That’s the plan for your post. It’s key for maintaining a smooth read and a rhythm to your words.

The next stage is to try and create a story for this journey.

And there’s good reason for this.

You have heard it before – stories sell.

According to Stanford’s Jennifer Aaker, stories are 22 times more memorable than facts alone.

[Which, by the way, is worth thinking about the next time you’re listing out all the benefits of your product or service.]

Craft a journey that’s enjoyable and pleasurable to read.

Of course, ensure that your copy is suitable for digital consumption. By that, I mean, space out your sentences.

More people are reading content on a mobile device than ever before, so the last thing that they’ll want is a huge, intimidating block of text in front of them.

Plus, choose a nice font for your blog, since typography is an important, yet underestimated factor for content marketing success.

Fonts are essentially clothes for your words, so choose them carefully and pick something that’s large enough to read.

How to finish a post in style and get the reaction you’re hoping for.

After putting a lot of effort into a piece of content, the temptation is to rush the conclusion.

You see it all the time. I don’t know whether I just have an unnatural hatred for the word ‘summary’, but most conclusions are staid and boring.

But forgetting to craft a meaningful conclusion a huge error, for 2 reasons.

Firstly, anyone who has read your entire article and reached the end is obviously a pretty engaged reader.

They’ll probably never be more likely to do you a favour than they are at this point.

So, whether we’re talking about a share on social media, a comment, download or subscription, if you want something, just ask.

You’ve earned the right.

Secondly, humans are odd little creatures.

Conclusions are often one of the first things we read. It might sound counter-intuitive, but think about it.

I’m sure you’ve seen an interesting headline, clicked on a link, read the first sentence and immediately scrolled down to the bottom of the article.

Bearing that in mind, you want to use your conclusion to wrap up what the reader has gained by reading your copy.

You need to summarize the point of your article existing, if you like.

The idea is that we want them to realize what these kinds of users could be missing out on if they leave.

We need them to scroll back up to the top and read the article properly.

What is the purpose of your blog post? | What is the Big Picture?

So, now you know how to write an intro to a blog post, structure the main section and end an article with a flourish.

You’re already one step ahead of most bloggers out there.

You’ve greatly reduced the chances of one of your articles going by the wayside.

I’ve been a copywriter for a long time and if there’s one content tip that I’d always believe in, it would be this:

Always understand the purpose of your post.

Having a clear idea of the purpose of your post, or as I like to put it – The Big Picture, will make your introduction, main points and conclusion much more impactful.

So what is the purpose of your blog post? What action do you want the reader to take?

Do you want your reader to buy something?

To request information?

To share on social media?

Or build your reputation as an authority on a subject?

In truth, it is in knowing the PURPOSE that your perfect blog post is created. That is the starting point of all perfect blog posts!

Author Bio: Matt Press is an experienced copywriter who has written words for some of the UK’s biggest brands, such as Sky, Three and Vodafone. Matt also helps businesses in London to master SEO with a unique, yet highly logical take on SEO.

Related:

Highly Recommended: Ray Edwards Podcast

10 Blog Post Creation Tips Every Blogger Should Follow

10 Article Headline Examples That Got Us 10 Million Readers

The post Create A Perfect Blog Post, First Time, Every Time! appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Blog Post Inspiration Is All Around You – Open Your Mind

Nic Rowen — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 14:42:59 +0000

Blog post inspiration is everywhere – Don’t ever be stuck for blog post ideas again!

My 6 Steps To Blog Post Inspiration Every time!

When I was in grade school, I used to complain about my classes a lot. I’d come home with some unfinished homework or some mediocre test score I’d have to explain away and my defense was always the same, “the class is just too boring!”

And my mom would sigh, look me straight in the eye and tell me “there are no boring subjects, just boring people.” What a devastating burn. Of course, I was nine, so I’d just huff and say “yeah, but what about MATH?”

Checkmate.

Too often I see bloggers complaining the exact same way as they struggle for blog post inspiration!

Please don’t blame the subject matter!

Often, when bloggers have trouble coming up with new topics or ideas for their blogs, they blame the subject matter. They don’t think there are anymore good topics to blog about in their field. They complain that their subject is too dull to make for compelling blog posts, or too overly saturated with posts to come up with a decent angle.

Apologies to my fellow bloggers, but my mom was right (of course).

There are very few things in this world that are truly boring, that are so dull there is just nothing to say about them. Complaining that your niche is “too dull” to come up with many ideas is a cop out. It didn’t pass muster when I was nine years old, and it won’t pass now.

Follow these tips, and you should never find yourself scratching the bottom of the barrel for blog post inspiration again…

For blog post inspiration, always remember:

1) If you want to be interesting, you have to be interested!

Austin Kleon said it best in his creativity guide Steal Like an Artist, if you want to be interesting, you have to be interested.

You have to be able to get into what you’re writing about. To find what makes it exciting, cool, scary, impressive, or profound to you, and share that with others. If you’re not interested in what you’re writing about, why would anyone care about what you have to say?

For those of us who are writing for our own blogs, this shouldn’t be an issue. Presumably, you started your blog specifically because you care about the topic you cover. Even so, sometimes it’s worth stepping back and making sure you’re as tuned in to your topic as you can be .

Be an enthusiast yourself.

Stay up to date on your industry or niche, be a regular reader of other blogs dealing with the same ideas. Join conversations on social media and forums related to your topic and see what other people have to say.

But what about the hired guns out there? The copywriters and bloggers for hire that keep the web nice and full of content? You don’t always have the luxury of choosing the topics you get to write about, so how can you become an enthusiast?

Be open to what you’re writing about and take the time to discover what the topic, SPEAKS to you. As an ‘outsider’ you will often be the one to come up with unique and interesting ideas!

As a freelance blogger, I’ve written for everything from dream publications in the entertainment industry on topics I love, to incredibly specific niche interests I knew almost NOTHING about.

What To Do When You Know Nothing About The Subject?

One of my first jobs was writing content for a business that sells greenhouses. Now, I’ve had a legendary black-thumb since I was a boy and I’ve killed every single plant, bush, and cactus someone ever made the mistake of giving me. I’m not the kind of guy to be interested in agriculture, plants, or farms in the slightest.

There is no such thing as a boring subject.

The more I read about greenhouses preparing for the job, the more interested in them I got. It turns out there is a rich history to greenhouses that dates back to the Romans (there’s a topic right there), huge differences in what kind of greenhouse you’ll want depending on your crop (another topic), and endless arguments to be made about what kind of bench system a garden center greenhouse should use (yup, that’s a topic too).

I let myself get into it. I read about cold frames and DIY greenhouses until eventually I got so curious I made one of my own. All of this fed into easy to write posts about home gardening, seasonal forecasts, and common mistakes rookies should watch out for.

Find the thing about your subject that speaks to you and share it with your readers.

Enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm – the more you explore what interests you about the subject, the more questions, topics, and ideas are going to pop into your head.

2) When seeking Blog Post Inspiration – Look for the things people want to know about

While your reading about your subject, always keep an eye on the kinds of questions people are asking, what they want to know about. One of the easiest ways to formulate blogs posts is to simply think of them as an answer to a question. Figure out what your audience is curious about, and you’ll never go hungry.

Now, you could do this the old fashion way and keep your eagle eye ready to spot opportunities and a big old word document on your PC full of notes – or, you could take advantage of some of the new tools available to writers.

Answer The Questions People Are Asking

Answer The Public for example is an easy way to pinpoint the most popular conversation points about a topic. Simply place your topic or keyword in the search bar, click, and you’ll be treated to a full list of the most frequently searched Google phrases related to that search.

Coming up with new ideas couldn’t be simpler.

There is no excuse for being stuck when a simple search query can provide you with over 100 questions your audience is dying to know about.

Answer The Public Results for “inspiration” – 126 questions to inspire blog posts!

3) For Blog Post Inspiration – Look for the things people don’t know they want to know about

Using analytics about keywords and search terms is a nice shortcut that I absolutely recommend you use to keep up a steady stream of blog ideas. However, there is also value in asking new questions, in looking for the gaps that other people seem to be missing.

These kinds of blogs, by their very nature, take longer to write and are more of a gamble. But, if you’re committed to a topic for the long-term, it can be extremely valuable to contribute a completely fresh idea to the conversation.

Looking at what other bloggers are writing, what the audience is searching for, and adding your own spin on those ideas can take you a long way.

Keep an eye open for any completely new ideas

If you want to make a real mark, you’ll want to keep an eye open for any completely new ideas you can introduce. That’s the way to build real evergreen content that other bloggers will be linking back to for years to come.

And remember, you don’t need all the answers yourself. While blogs are certainly meant to help project authority and knowledge about a topic, that doesn’t mean you have to act like the wise old man on the mountain who knows the answer to all of life’s riddles.

If you find an interesting gap or problem that isn’t being addressed in other blogs, THAT can be a topic itself, let alone the solution! Why aren’t people talking about it? Has anyone else noticed? What do YOU think about blank? Even if you don’t know the answers, you can still start the conversation!

4) For Blog Post Inspiration – Flip the script

Always try to see your topic from every possible angle. While working from the perspective of answering questions for your readers, and writing blogs like “5 ways to make small talk in an elevator” is a good start, try thinking of the opposite some time – “5 things you should NEVER say in a crowded elevator!”

That’s a cool trick isn’t it? Not only have we turned one topic into two topics, I think we found a way more interesting angle in the process! I know if I saw both of those articles side-by-side which one I’d click on first (I just can’t help but rubber-neck a disaster).

This idea can be applied in so many ways.

Did you write a blog a little while ago talking up a product or idea and why it is so much better than the other options out there? Revisit the idea later with a blog about why some people are still sticking with the competing Brand-X (and maybe why they’re wrong). Work from the opposite direction.

Brainstorming and idea generation is much less stressful when you become adept at taking one core idea and turning it into three separate post ideas.

5) Let your best ideas MULTIPLY!

Never let a good idea die.

When you write a post that does well or you found particularly interesting, that shouldn’t be the end, it should only be the beginning!

Learn to mine content you’ve already written for more ideas and better angles. This can be a simple as recasting the same idea as an update or a sequel, such as “5 MORE things you should never say in a crowded elevator.” Or, you can use the same content, but change the format (articles can turn into lists and vice versa so easily).

You can write something specifically as a companion piece. “Last month you all when crazy about my tips on what not to say in an elevator, so here are 5 things you should NEVER say at a funeral.” If you have a really hot idea, look for ways to turn it into a regular series.

Ever wrote a great post and gone back to it sometime later and thought, I could do a better post now?

You could even have changed your opinion or view in the meantime. This is the perfect opportunity to create a “I Was Wrong About…” post. [People like reading “I was wrong about..” posts!]

Never be too proud to learn from yourself, and never let a good idea rest.

6) For Blog Post Inspiration – Step away from your desk

(AKA – Get out of the office, go for a walk, go for a swim)

This may sound like some hippy-dippy thinking, but take time to stretch your legs occasionally and explore the world around you, literally and metaphorically.

Like any other machine, the brain needs input if you expect output. Spend too much time staring at a word processor trying to punch out another quick blog all day, every day, and your sure to burn through your mental supply until all that’s left are a few singed neurons.

Get away from your desk from time to time, take some shore leave from the war of words and recharge your batteries.

A great way to do this is to try something new and different. Try a new type of food, play around with a new program or tool and see what you can do with it, meet some new people, try to hit a three-point hoop for the first time in 15 years. Do something different.

Getting outside of your comfort zone from time to time and expanding your horizons is how you keep your mind limber and lean. Inspiration can come from the oddest sources, and even something that doesn’t seem at all related to your blog topic can shake something loose or help you see an idea from a new angle.

If you find you’re having trouble coming up with new ideas, it might be time to stop digging and to come up for air. Stretch your legs, do something different, and come back in a better head space.

Remember, Isaac Newton didn’t come up with his theory of gravity in his study, reading what other people had already written. He took a walk in an orchard one day and made history.

Author bio – Nic Rowen is the content manager for Lifeline Design. Hailing from a background in writing, Nic believes great stories make great sites. Follow Nic on Twitter.

More Blogging Inspiration

=> 8 Easy Ways to Generate Blog Post Ideas That Get Attention

=> Unusual, Cheeky and Fun Ways To Get Inspiration For Your Blog Posts

=> Creating a Successful Blog Post – From Idea to Promotion

=> Highly Recommended: Ray Edwards Podcast

The post Blog Post Inspiration Is All Around You – Open Your Mind appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

How To Create A Blogging Schedule That Works For You

Nic Rowen — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 12:00:49 +0000

Do you have a blogging schedule? Or is blogging something you fit in and around other things?

Dan Poynter famously once said ‘If you wait for inspiration to write you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter.‘

A modern play on that might be something like…

“If you don’t have a blogging schedule, your not a blogger, you’re a wannabe writer”

Not such clever wording, but hopefully you get the point.

You cannot have one without the other. You cannot be a blogger without a blogging schedule.

In this article, gifted writer Nic Rowen explains the importance of a creating a blogging schedule along with the 5 steps you need to take to create a rock-solid blogging schedule of your own.

Why Create A Blogging Schedule?

Pledging to write a blog is the new “I’m going to start a diet after the holidays” of broken promises.

It’s something many of us aspire to, but ultimately fail to achieve.

Some people manage to post one or two blogs, only to fall off the wagon as soon as their schedules get busy or once they’ve used up the most obvious material.

Others fail to get started at all, constantly pushing their plans to start a blog into the hazy and distant realm of “sometime.”

So how do the successful bloggers out there do it?

Do they know some extraordinary secret about writing that you don’t?

Do they have more hours in the day than you do? Nope!

All that separates the would-be bloggers of the world from the successful authors is a plan, a schedule, and a bit of self discipline.

You can do the same.

Follow the five steps below to jump start your blog, and more importantly, keep it going once its started.

#1. Make a Plan

Skyscrapers don’t happen by accident, and neither do great blogs. You don’t just start hanging steel beams or writing posts while hopping for the best, you need to plan things out from the start!

First, ask yourself why you want to write a blog.

You might be surprised how many aspiring bloggers don’t really know when you poke them about it.

Do you want to write a blog to support your business?

Are you hoping to generate traffic, interest, and build your business’ reputation through a regular blog series?

Is this going to be a money-making endeavor?

Are you hoping to make a living by writing?

Or is your blog your side-project, something you’re personally interested in and hoping to grow into something more?

Knowing your goal will help direct what kind of articles you write, what kind of structure you’ll need, and who you’ll be writing for. It gives your blog shape and direction out of the gate.

Speaking of who you’ll be writing for, do you know your audience?

You might think this is easy, after all, if you’re writing about a specific industry or niche interest, your audience is fairly obvious, right?

Well, yes and no.

You might know the broad strokes, but the best blogs always have a laser focus. They don’t speak to a market, they speak to a person.

Create a mental image of the kind of person who will respond the most to your kind of content and always keep them in mind as you plan and write.

Blogs that read more like a direct conversation are far superior to loftily written blogs trying to appeal to as broad a base as possible.

Before you start off the races, take the time to outline a few ideas.

Spend 20 minutes brainstorming some potential article ideas.

They don’t have to be fully fleshed out, just one line, a leading title, or a general idea is fine.

Fill up a page or two with ideas and hang on to them – you’ll be glad a few weeks from now when you’re racking your brain for a topic and all it spits back is “file not found.”

Brainstorming early also helps identify potential problems. If you’re having trouble filling up a page or two of general ideas before you even start blogging, you need to stop and think about that.

A blog is a long-term commitment, ideally, you’ll be writing it for years to come. If the topics you want to cover are so thin that you’re not sure how to fill up the first month of editorial content, you need to go back to the drawing board.

#2. How often do you want to update your blog?

Decide how often you want to update your blog. You can only create a blogging schedule after you have decided how often you plan to write?

The key to a successful blog is consistency, a regular schedule of updates.

It doesn’t matter how great your blog posts are, if your update schedule roughly matches that of a lunar eclipse.

That said, if you’re just starting out, be careful how high you set your sights.

Many would-be bloggers burn themselves out by setting ridiculous expectations on themselves (“I’m going to write a 1500 word blog every day!” *heart attack*) which they inevitably won’t be able to achieve.

Once they miss the first day or two, they lose all motivation. Soon enough they’re not blogging at all.

At the same time, you don’t want to make a goal so flimsy that there are no stakes.

I promise to update my blog at least once every three months with a 400 word post” is not exactly the kind of motivational goal Hallmark would frame with a cute picture of a sail boat or windmill

I’ve always found that for beginners, one solid post a week is the pace you should strive for.

As for word count, there is no need to be slavishly devoted to an arbitrary number, but you should always be sure your blogs are long enough to be meaningful, while short enough to be interesting. 800-1600 words is a good ballpark. (A side note for those concerned with SEO – the longer the post, usually the better it ranks)

The important thing is to set a schedule and stick with it. You do need to be consistent and disciplined with your updates before anything else.

Once you start getting into the writing groove, you might find that one blog a week is too easy. Cool!

You can always bump that number up to jive with your ability and what you want to accomplish.

Just make sure you know how to walk before you try to run a marathon.

#3. Set a daily word goal for your blogging schedule

So now that you have a weekly blogging goal, how are you going to go about meeting it?

Are you just going to wait until Friday afternoon every week before cranking a post out under the wire like a collage undergrad who played one too many rounds of beer-pong the night before?

That’s not a recipe for success (just ask my old profs), so let’s find a more stable way of blogging.

I’ve found the absolute best way to stay honest is to stick to a daily writing goal. Don’t wait for the day you need to post to start writing, don’t save it all for the weekend or one particular night. Do a little every day and never stop.

Writing on a daily basis will help make blogging a regular part of your life.

When you’re busy with work, life, and everything else, it’s so easy to make blogging the sacrificial lamb. The first item to be cut whenever your schedule get’s crowded.

Writing to a word goal every day prevents that. Plus, the constant practice will make you a better writer than sporadically rushing off a post one day a week. There’s only one way to get to Carnegie Hall after all.

Set a daily word goal for yourself and stick to it five days a week, rain or shine.

Take the weekends off – even bloggers need to rest and recharge. If you feel like getting a little extra done that’s fine, but give yourself permission to rest like a human on your days off.

Your daily goal doesn’t have to be massive. In fact, I’d say that when you’re just starting, an overly ambitious goal is only going to do more harm than good. Think smaller. Think of something you can get done before hitting your morning commute, or during a dull lunch break.

300 words a day is all you need to get started. That’s it. Honestly, 300 words isn’t much. You can write 300 words by accident. 300 words can fall out of your pocket while you’re fishing for your keys.

If you sit down to write 300 words a day, you’ll hit that goal easily. No sweat. In fact, it will probably be too easy. Once you’re sat down and in the mood to write, you’ll likely be hard pressed to stop at just 300. But, that’s the beauty of it.

Writing may or may not be your salvation; it might or might not be your destiny. But that does not matter. What matters right now are the words, one after another. Find the next word. Write it down

~ Neil Gaiman

The idea isn’t to create a new mountain to climb everyday. The goal is just the kick in the rear you need to keep on track.

The good news is, if all you write is 300 words a day, five days a week, that’s still a nice crisp 1500 word blog at the end of every week.

If you write more, that’s all bonus.

You can increase your posting schedule, create more nuanced content, bump that goal up to 400 or 500 words a day, whatever you like.

The point is, your writing.

#4. Getting started and keeping that momentum

Getting started is the hardest part of almost any endeavor. So how do we jump start our blogging ambitions?

Well, if you have a steely resolve and ironclad willpower, you can just jump into it and make it happen. For the rest of us mere humans, we might need to employ a few psychological tricks to get us started down the right path.

For starters, unplug. You can’t write if you’re checking your twitter feed every five seconds or responding to texts. Turn off your notifications and close those distracting browser tabs.

If you have a serious case of “ooh, shiny!” syndrome and find yourself unable to stop checking on your email and all those hilarious cat videos, you might need to take extra steps.

There are a number of concentration apps out there that will prevent you from using other features for a certain period of time or until you meet a certain word goal.(essential if you are going to keep to your blogging schedule)

However, I still find one of the simplest techniques works best – just use a timer. Grab a regular old egg timer and set it to ten minutes or so. During that period, don’t do anything but write. That’s it, just ten minutes. We’re all capable of ten minutes of focused, dedicated work, right?

Can you hit your 300 word goal in ten uninterrupted, focused minutes? Great! Call it a day if you want or write more if you have a hot streak going. Ten minutes not quite enough time for you to make 300 words yet? That’s fine, go grab a coffee or stretch your legs for a minute or two and then reset the clock for another round.

The important thing is that you stick to it. Both in the immediate (“I will keep writing until I hit my word goal for the day”) and in the big picture.

It’s tragically easy to never start a thing. It’s easy to give up completely if you’re giving a half-heated or irregular effort. But, it’s hard to walk away from something you’ve been building for weeks, months, or even years.

This is exactly the technique Jerry Seinfeld used to build his comedy skills. Every year, he would buy one of those huge wall calendars with the entire year on it. And on each day where he put his nose to the grindstone and wrote new jokes (whether they were good or bad, whether they’d go in his act or in the dumpster), he’d mark off a day.

Once you’re looking at a long string of successes, it becomes more and more important that you “don’t break the chain.” A good streak becomes its own kind of motivation.

#5. Find a blogging schedule that works for you

Writing isn’t a science. While there are tips and tricks we can share to help us get started, writing is ultimately a very personal thing. So make sure you’re approaching it in a way that works for you.

If you find you’re dreading your daily word count, take a minute to figure out why that is.

Do you not enjoy the kind of content you’re creating? Does something feel forced or phony?

Course correct where you can and make sure you are writing on topics your comfortable with.

Find a time of day that works best for your creative juices. Plenty of writers swear by writing early in the morning. However, if you’ve always been a night owl (like myself), you may be more comfortable writing in the evening when things have settled down.

Find a place that works for you. Some people can write wherever they can lay down a keyboard or flip out a pad and pen. Others might find it difficult to write in the same space and on the same computer where they crush the rest of their work day (the temptation to check your email instead of buckling down can be overwhelming).

If possible, try writing in a different space. Whether it’s a coffee shop, a cozy nook in living room, or even just a different room in the office, find a spot where you feel comfortable and can concentrate on writing.

Every successful blogger needs to forge their own path, but the fundamentals of having a blogging schedule are the same.

Consistency and determination are the two most important elements for a great blog that achieves its goals. Figure out what you want to achieve, write a schedule that will support those goals, and stick to it, day after day, week after week.

Author Bio: Nic Rowen is the content manager for Lifeline Design. Hailing from a background in writing, Nic believes great stories make great sites. You can follow Nic on Twitter

The post How To Create A Blogging Schedule That Works For You appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

8 Easy Ways to Generate Blog Post Ideas That Get Attention

Kimberly Crossland — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 08:26:20 +0000

Success at Content marketing requires a constant supply of new blog post ideas.

Ideas that will spark intrigue and fire the readers imagination.

But what happens when you run out of blog post ideas?

8 Easy Ways to Generate Blog Post Ideas That Get Attention

How do you stand out in a sea of words and wisdom?

With so many people blogging these days, how do you continually find topics to write about that haven’t already been covered in depth?

We’re called on to be prolific content creators, yet finding topics to write about day in and day out (let alone new, interesting, and relevant ideas) is a challenge. More than a challenge, actually.

It’s downright one of the biggest struggles business owners face today.

Can you relate?

If so, you’re probably still using the tried and true methods of finding new blog post ideas:

Scouring your brain for new opinions to share
Listening intently to your customers questions then answering them on your blog
Spying on what the competition is writing and then putting your own spin on it

These ideas are good, but they’re not enough. If you rely on these to fill your blog post arsenal, you’re probably missing a huge chunk of what your readers actually want to read about on your website.

The struggle is real. I know because I’ve spent the last four years building a business around nothing but crafting exceptional content. In doing so, I’ve uncovered a few gems of resources (FREE resources, at that) and places to look for blog post ideas – 8 to be exact.

How To Find Great Blog Post Ideas That Will Bring You Traffic

1. Keywordtool.io

This is a free website available to, well, anyone. Go ahead. Type in the URL. When you do, you’ll see a page that looks an awful lot like this:

Type in a keyword related to your business. Up will pop several keyword suggestions. That’s not where the inspiration lies.

At the top, click “Questions.”

Here! Here is where you can get some serious inspiration.

These are the questions that people are asking about your keyword. For example, when I typed in “blogging” I came up with the following topic ideas:

What are blogging tools?
What are blogging rules?
Can blogging be profitable?
Corporate blogging do’s and don’ts
Has blogging changed journalism?
How blogging helps SEO

The list goes on. Go ahead and give it a try with your keywords to see what topics you can find. No creativity required.

2. Help A Reporter Out (HARO)

If you’ve never heard of HARO, consider this a double punch of opportunity for you.

HARO is a free resource that lets journalists reach out to sources with questions for potential news stories. The sources are businesses that have signed up. The journalists are writing about what you sell or do. Chime in when it makes sense, or hit delete on the email notification if it doesn’t.

From a publicity standpoint, this is a great opportunity to spread the word about your business by responding to reporter requests.

From a blogging standpoint, you can see what others are writing about and what’s getting people excited. Then, you can use those story ideas to elaborate with your own angle.

It’s free to sign up for and easy to take yourself off the mailing list if it ever becomes too much (and at three emails a day, it can sometimes feel like too much).

3. Google Trends

To be a thought leader, you need to jump on the latest topics that are trending. That’s hard to do if you’re not sure what’s getting people excited.

Enter: Google Trends

Google Trends is a free tool offered by the search giant to point out how popular certain topics and keywords are.

You can use this tool in a couple of ways.

First, you can use it to uncover specific issues that are getting talked about. On the front page, you’ll notice some ultra-broad topics, such as the latest football game or the Presidential election. You can dig deeper by choosing a specific category, such as business or entertainment.

Then, jump into the conversation where it makes sense.

Another way to use Google Trends is by typing in your keyword. Enter it under “Explore Topics” and you’ll find out how popular your specific topic is. Scroll down to “Related queries” and “Related topics” for more ideas on what’s trending around your business’s subject matter.

4. Google Keyword Planner

Trends are good to keep an eye on, but the real perk is knowing what people are typing into the search box.

Google’s Keyword Planner (available in your AdWords account, which is free to setup) is a gold mine of ideas. But not just any ideas. Ideas your audience wants to hear about and read about. [More info on setting up an adwords account without creating ad campaign]

Enter in your keyword (or keywords) and up will pop a list of related keywords. These are taken from actual search queries in Google, so you know how many people are typing them into the search box to find answers.

This is a treasure trove for bloggers because it shows you without a shadow of a doubt what people want to read about. Pull blog post topics from these keywords and you’ll not only provide compelling content, but you’ll also help boost your blog to the top of the search results. Win, win.

5. Google’s Autofill

This is the last Google hack I’ll mention, but it’s a good one (and sometimes a fun one too).

Ever notice when you’re typing a search into the search box on Google and a form drops down trying to guess what you’ll type next? That’s called Google Autofill and it can help you uncover blog post ideas you never realized existed.

Type in your keyword and see what related search terms appear. You never know what’ll pop up.

Take this for example. If you’re wondering where you could niche, try typing in your topic to Google and see what appears.

Teachers and realtors don’t seem like likely audiences but Google thinks otherwise based on searcher behavior and data.

6. Amazon

Amazon is a whole other world online. It’s a storefront, business opportunity, publisher, review site, and more. It’s this combination that gives bloggers a tremendous advantage when trying to stir up some ideas for blog posts.

Here’s how it works.

On Amazon, go to the bookstore. Type in your topics. Chances are there are more than a few books written about what you do.

Click on a book title that closely resembles what you’d like to write about. Then, click to read the 3-star reviews.

1-star and 5-star reviews are too bias. You need the middle ground to uncover popular topics.

Dig through the 3-star reviews to see what the people liked and what was lacking from the book. Then, fill in those gaps on your blog.

7. Facebook Groups

If you’re on Facebook, then chances are you’re in a Facebook group (or two). Are you hanging out in the groups where your customers appear? If so, you’re probably hearing a lot of chatter about your industry.

That’s the gold.

Instead of waiting for your customers to reach out and ask you a question, listen to the questions they’re asking their peers and their friends. These are the questions that they’re:

Too afraid to ask you for fear of being pitched or sold to
More likely to type into the search box
Looking for someone to offer a trustworthy answer

You can show up under all three of those scenarios if you know what they’re asking.

8. Cold, Hard Facts

Sometimes, your audience doesn’t want your opinion. They want the facts. The cold, hard facts.

The good news is, data provides a wealth of information that you can pull from.

Are there any research reports that have been published in your industry recently? Write about them.

Are there any statistics you’ve uncovered? Write about them. [and link to them]

Write about the facts that you’ve uncovered and then offer your opinion as to why they matter. Your audience will appreciate the data-backed approach, and you’ll appreciate having something to write about on your blog.

What Do You Do With All These Blog Post Ideas?

With luck you now have some many blog post ideas that you wonder what to do with them?

So many ideas that you will be able to advance schedule publishing your blog posts.

Now that’s something to look forward to.

Remember, what gets scheduled gets done.

Also remember that although these resources make it easy to uncover blog post ideas, they don’t force you to put the fingers to the keyboard and type up your latest thoughts.

Taking action and implementing those great is the secret sauce of all successful bloggers.

When you research and plan, writing blog posts becomes easy.

And easy sounds pretty refreshing as we head into a new year, doesn’t it?

More Reading: How to Come up with Killer Blog Post Ideas

Author Bio: Kimberly Crossland is the owner of The Savvy Copywriter, LLC where she helps entrepreneurs sell online using words. Download your free customer avatar worksheet on her website to learn more about who you’re selling to.

The post 8 Easy Ways to Generate Blog Post Ideas That Get Attention appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Blogging – How To Make Money Online

Nate Rifkin | How To Write Better Copy and Make More Sales

Nate Rifkin: 5 Step Formula For Writing Sales Copy

** Edited Transcription – Nate Rifkin Interview **

The best copywriters are human data-gathering machines

You figure out where they’re at. You figure out what they know, what they’ve already tried, and then you educate them on what the pitfalls were and what they should do next.

In copywriting you have to address customer skepticism and given them a reason why something is going to work.

When you’re aware of your audience’s awareness, when you know what they know, and you know where they’re at, you can craft a great headline that speaks to them exactly where they are, and introduces them to a new idea.

When creating a Lead Magnet pick one thing that sparks folks so much they just need to know the answer to it.

Nate Rifkin – 5-step Formula For Writing Sales Copy

21 Smart Ways To Increase Website Value

21 Smart Ways To Increase Website Value

#1 To Increase Your Website Value, Start With the End In Mind

The Biggest Mistake A Small Business Can Make Is Thinking Like A Small Business

Do You Buy Websites?

Subscribe to Website Buyers

#2 Use Diversified Traffic Sources

#3 Create Unique Evergreen Content

#4 Secure Domain variations | Major Social Media Extensions

#5 Increase Website Worth Through Testimonials and Star Ratings

“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.”

How Do You Get Testimonials?

#6 Get A Premium Domain Name

#7 Inbound Link-building (Backlinks)

#8 For Maximum Website Value Turn Your Website Into a Hub

#9 Keep Good Records

#10 Make Sure To Optimize Your Website For Mobile Access

#11 Use Great Copywriting

#12 Use Multiple Monetization Channels

#13 Guest Posts | Write For Authority Websites

#14 Create A Sales Funnel

#15 To Add Website Value – Build An Email List!

#16 Make Use Of Original Image & Video Content

#17 Deliver Your Content Through a CDN

#18 Use an SSL Certificate (HTTPS)

#19 Use Personalized Content

#20 Build A Network of Internal Links

#21 Ensure You Have High-Quality UI/UX Design

Final Thoughts!

Top 10 Content Creation Steps For Bloggers

The 10 Most Important Steps For Successful Content Creation

1. Choose a Topic To Write About

How does your blog post benefit the reader?

2. Deciding On What The Goal Of Your Blog Post Is

3. Research Keywords For Blog Post

4. Creating Your Blog Post

5. How to Display Content For Readability

6. Adding Images To Your Blog Post

7. Optimize Text For SEO

8. Optimize Images For SEO

9. Add Internal And External Links

10. Marketing Blog Post For SEO and Social Media

Final Thoughts on Content Creation…

10 eCommerce Trends Every Blogger Needs To Know About!

Top 10 eCommerce Trends:

No 1 eCommerce Marketing Trend: The OmniChannel

No 2 eCommerce Trend: Live Chat

No 3 eCommerce Trend: Chatbot

No 4 eCommerce Trend: Infinite Scrolling vs Pagination

No 5 eCommerce Trend: Cinemagraphs

No 6 eCommerce Trend: Predictive Analytics

No 7 eCommerce Trend: Advanced Personalisation

No 8 eCommerce Trend: Hyperlocalisation

No 9 eCommerce Trend: Mobile Optimisation

No 10 eCommerce Trend: Google’s Material Design

Keep on top of these eCommerce trends to ensure your future blogging success.

Create A Perfect Blog Post, First Time, Every Time!

The start, middle and end: an autopsy of the perfect blog post.

How to write a seductive opening that will get people hanging off your every word.

Firstly, reveal the value of your article as quickly as possible.

The second thing you need to do is to try to make your topic relevant.

How to write an article that stifles yawns and stops people bailing out.

What is the purpose of your blog post? | What is the Big Picture?

Always understand the purpose of your post.

Blog Post Inspiration Is All Around You – Open Your Mind

My 6 Steps To Blog Post Inspiration Every time!

Please don’t blame the subject matter!

1) If you want to be interesting, you have to be interested!

Be an enthusiast yourself.

What To Do When You Know Nothing About The Subject?

Edited Transcription – Nate Rifkin Interview