This Simon Sinek audio delves into this topic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5q-RaPzV2E
If you follow Jeffrey you know you are about to here some sage advice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkOT0Oamg3o
Here is one of my favorite John Maxwell quotes about courage and leadership.
“Courage teaches us what should be feared and what ought not to be feared. Only by taking action do we gain that knowledge. And from that knowledge comes the inner strength that inspires us to persevere in the face of great adversity – and inspires others to follow. In the most difficult of times, courage is what makes you a leader.”
If your were like me, you could be wondering why other get tons more traffic to their blogs than you do. Well here are a few things you should definitely be doing to alleviate that problem.
Are you trying to build your blog?
Does it feel like an uphill battle?
When you consider how to best market your business, there aren’t many options better than blogging.
But, yet there’s no doubt about it. Building a successful business blog can be a challenge.
While a blog provides an inexpensive way to share your expertise, diving in without a plan is a recipe for disaster.
From the most basic mistakes to those that hurt your site, avoiding common pitfalls is critical.
In this article I share some of the mistakes you might be making and how to fix them.
Ready to expand your reach, drive more traffic and improve your blog results? Let’s get started!
Blog Mistakes You Should STOP
1. Not Setting Goals
If I asked you what your blog purpose is, could you tell me? Could you sum up in a few words what your overall goals are?
Too often, defined goals are overlooked. Bloggers become scattered, lacking vision and a purpose.
Did you dive into blogging without a plan? If so, don’t worry. It happens to the best of us.
The good news is this. Setting goals and clearly defining your purpose can happen today.
Want to better understand who you are as a blogger?
ASK YOURSELF A FEW QUESTIONS:
- Why do you write?
- What purpose does it serve?
- How will your blog support your overall marketing goals?
- How does a blog integrate into your offline marketing efforts?
- What type of writer are you? Are you funny, quick-witted and social or are you serious, to the point and eager to educate?
- How will you use your blog to better connect with your target audience?
If you don’t identify why you’re blogging, success will always feel out of reach. Take time to spell out what blogging affords your business.
It’s a noisy online world. Simply creating a blog and pushing out content won’t get you noticed.
If you’re already knee-deep into blogging, this is a perfect time to take a step back. Analyze, brainstorm and reinvigorate your blogging with a strategic plan.
Lisa Stauber of Blog Elevated has a simple way to help you get started:
“Having short and long-term goals is key for your blogging success. Break down your yearly goals into monthly and quarterly goals. As you are planning your calendar and schedule for the year, include these smaller attainable goals. Yearly goals are the big picture, quarterly goals are measures through the year to achieve the yearly goals, and monthly goals are breakdowns of the quarterly goals.”
2. Not Blogging Consistently
Blogging inconsistently hurts you in multiple ways. Not only does it make it difficult for your audience to find you, but also the search engines.
Think about it. When was the last time you revisited a blog that wasn’t recently updated? Probably never.
Likewise, why would anyone return to your blog if you post sporadically? Create a schedule and a blog post calendar to keep you focused and on track.
Use a content calendar like the one below from HubSpot. If you’ve already been blogging for a while, dive into your Google Analytics to identify your top posts. What topics can you expand upon or update?
Also look for the top keywords and phrases your audience is using to find you. That’s valuable insight you don’t want to overlook.
3. Not Writing for Your Audience
Take a look at your latest blog posts. Is your blog about you or your audience? Are you solving potential client problems or simply pontificating?
While it’s important to infuse your thoughts and expertise into your writing, make sure you use that knowledge to help, not shout at potential clients.
FILL IN THE BLANKS BELOW
1. My target audience is __________. (Hint: Be specific. “Everybody” is not your market).
For example:
- Past clients
- Potential customers
- Industry experts
- Existing social media connections
2. My audience top characteristics and traits are ___________.
3.When my target market lands on my blog, the content they’re looking for is __________.
4. Promoting Rather than Writing
5. Expecting Your Readers to Find You
6. Not Installing (or reviewing) Google Analytics
7. Forgetting How Powerful Your Blog Title Is
Discover the details about these mistakes and more at the source article
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfptYDoxtNM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHITtjaJuTw
Here is a wonderful info graphic which describes how to make money from your mobile presence.
Here’s how to get started in mobile advertising.
Image source
featured image
There are ways to make your blog posts a whole lot more interesting.
Do you use some of these techniques?
You should.
What do you see when you look at this image?
OK – so it’s two flies right? Yes it is…. but look a little harder.
Have you ever used one of those crazy eye cross eye 3D multidimensional pictures? This is one of them. Relax, cross your eyes a little and stare (for a more details version of how to see the 3D impact read here). Do it right and the the ‘flies’ become one very 3 dimensional ‘fly’. If you like the effect I’ll show you some more in a link at the bottom of this post.
What does a 3D image have to do with Blogging?
In this post I want to share 13 ways to make your blogs go deeper and become more multi dimensional.
- How deep do your blog posts go?
- Do you bang out a post that covers the basics of your topic and then hit publish?
- What would happen if you just took a few extra minutes once your next post was finished to ask yourself – how could I make this post more useful to readers?
Over the last few weeks we’ve been exploring 10 points in the writing of a blog post where it is important to ‘pause’ and take a little extra time in crafting the blog post.
Today I want to explore a question that you can ask yourself after writing a blog post (and before hitting publish) that I have found can exponentially increase the impact and effectiveness of a the post.
It is a question that I think can help good posts great and help it to stand out from the clutter of millions of posts going around the blogosphere at any given time.
The question is simple:
“How can I add more depth to this post?”
A theme that I continually go on about here at ProBlogger is ‘creating useful content‘ for readers. The question about ‘adding depth’ is all about making your post more useful. An alternative way of asking it would be:
“How can I make this post more useful?”
13 Ways to Add Depth to Your Next Blog Post
Following are 13 of simple techniques that can add a new dimension to your post – techniques to make good posts great:
1. Use Examples
Too many bloggers simply talk in theoretical terms and don’t ground what they are talking about in reality. There’s nothing wrong with ‘theory’ but you can do your reader a real service with two simple words – ‘for example’. Show how the theory can be applied in an actual situation and you’ll make your post much more effective. Readers will not only come away with an idea of how to do something – they’ll have seen it in action – something which takes them a step closer to actually implementing it in their own lives.
Adding examples to posts is something I’ve been doing for years without really thinking about it. I just searched on Google for “for example” on ProBlogger and found it used over 1000 times.
For example (I had to add one here didn’t I) – check out my post on how to find new RSS subscribers to a blog where I give give examples on every 2nd point that I make.
2. Add an Analogy, Story or Metaphor
An example need not just be a ‘link’ – it can be some kind of story or analogy that helps readers to unpack what you’re writing about.
As I’ve discussed earlier in this series – stories are particularly effective ways of opening blog posts – however they are also useful within and at the end of posts. They engage the imaginations of readers, help to reinforce what you’re saying and can be very persuasive tools.
As Brian Clark of CopyBlogger writes – “Stories allow people to persuade themselves, and that’s what it’s really all about.”
Personal stories can also be very effective at establishing common ground between you and your readers – something that makes people be able to relate to you.
Read more on using different types of stories on a blog.
3. Add Your Opinion
If you’re writing about ‘news’ or linking up to something another blogger is saying – don’t just report the news or tell your readers to go read something because ‘it’s good’ – tell your readers what YOU think about what you’re linking to.
Giving your opinion takes your post to a new depth, it stimulates readers to think about their reaction to what they are reading, creates conversation, adds value and helps to make your post unique. Don’t just echo the news around the blogosphere – inject something of yourself into it.
4. Suggest Further Reading
One of the simplest ways to add value to a blog post is to recommend other reading that a reader could do on your topic.
Read 9 more ways in the source article.
Do you have a positive attitude?
You may want to ensure you do after watching this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMogDrHnMQ
Want to listen to more Zig Wisdom? – The visit this site.
In this video Will Smith talks about dreams and belief, action and focus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfWGoLj1JCM
If you expect them to share, comment, take a poll or hit one of the social media buttons, dream on. And as to subscribing to your news letter or buying your products, well it won’t happen unless you have a darned good call to action.
Yes that’s right you have to ask them to take action in a convincing manner.
In this article you will discover 12 tips to break your readers out of their passivity:
The Problem of Passivity on Blogs
I still remember early in my blogging expressing my frustration to another blogger. At the time my main concern was that while I was getting a lot of visitors, so few of them left a comment.
He responded to me with a question that was like a SMACK to the side of the head with a BRICK – it was so simple yet stupidly I’d never thought of it. He said:
“Do you ever ask for comments?”
He went on to explain to me a ‘secret’ that copywriters have known for ages – ‘Call to Action‘ – if you don’t call your readers to action they are far less likely to take it:
- If you want people to comment, invite them to do it.
- If you want people to subscribe, don’t assume that they’ll think to do it themselves, ask them to. If
- If you want people to buy something – give them a way to do it.
- If you want people to come back tomorrow, give them some motivation to do so and show them how to remind themselves.
- If you want a vote on Digg or StumbleUpon – ask.
Call me ‘Captain Obvious’ – but so few of us bloggers have mastered the ‘Call to Action’ in their blogging that it is no wonder that so many of us struggle with passive audiences.
Why Calls to Action are Important
After my friend gave me the above advice I began to experiment with inviting readers to comment on my posts. Here’s what I found:
- Some People Respond to Invitations - When I invited comments and didn’t assume that people would leave them I noticed a marked increase in comments. While the majority of my readers still ‘lurked’ I’d estimate comments were up by between 50-100% on posts.
- Action grows Reader Engagement - I began to notice that when people commented once it would open a floodgate of comments from them over future days. When I questioned a few of these readers I found that some had been ‘lurking’ a while, too scared to comment but once they had they felt more ‘ownership’ and ‘confidence’ to do it again.
- Action brings loyalty – I noticed that first time readers would become loyal readers – they’d often come back to the blog in the days after their comment to see how other people responded to it.
- Action breeds Action - When you grow the interactivity on your blog it draws others to be interactive. When a first time visitor to your blog sees that you have thousands of subscribers and hundreds of comments they take notice and many will be drawn to do likewise (it is called social proof).
In time I saw similar things as I ‘asked’ readers to do other things (vote in polls, subscribing to feeds etc). I learned that as obvious as it might seem to us as bloggers to do these things – many readers don’t think to do these things unless asked to.
12 Tips for Calls to Action:
So how do you effectively use Calls to Action on your blog?
Let me say that the following Call to Action Tips come out of my own experience of experimenting with this type of thing. I’m by no means a copy writing expert (although am about to start some training in it) and would love to learn from your own experiences of Calls to Action so please do feel free to share you own experience in comments below.
1. Know what Action you want Readers to take
Sounds almost too basic to include in these tips but I think it’s really important to be clear about what you’re trying to achieve with your blog post. This really builds on the last post in this series which talked about making your posts matter and identifying purposes for posts. What’s the purpose of your post? What do you want readers to do as a result of reading the post? Answer these questions before writing your call to action and you’ll be in a great position to write an effective one.
2. One Call to Action Per Post
Early in my own experiments with Calls to Action I wrote a post that was linked to by the uber blog Slashdot. It sent more traffic to my blog than I’d ever seen before and so I decided to update the post with some calls to action. Problem was that I stuffed so many of them into the post that no one did any of them. I asked for comments, pointed to my RSS feed and newsletter, asked for people to link to the post… etc. I find that I have a lot more luck with just one call to action per post – it gives people a simple next step rather than overwhelming them with choices.
3. Make it a Win/Win Call to Action
There’s nothing wrong with benefiting from the actions that your readers take on your blog. Don’t be afraid to ask things of them – but do make sure that what you ask of them will have an upside not only for you but for them.
4. Make the Action Simple and Achievable
I was recently asked by a reader to look at a competition that they were running on their blog and to give my opinion on why no one had entered it. Upon looking at the competition it became clear that while the prize was great and the blog did have readers – that the requirements to entry were too complicated. The blogger was asking readers to leave a 500 word comment, write a post on their own blog linking to their competition AND subscribe to his RSS feed (and to prove it take a screen shot of the subscription confirmation page). Ask your readers to jump through too many hoops to do the thing you want them to do and you’ll get significantly less of them to take that action.
5. In Post Calls to Action Work Best
Positioning is everything in many aspects of your blog and calls to action are no exception. In the same way that click through on ads increase when you put ads near or in content – responses to calls to action will work significantly better for you within posts than if you slap them on your sidebar. This doesn’t mean you can’t have an invitation to action in your sidebar (almost every blog I know does this with RSS subscription invitations for example) however in post invitations will generally work best.
6. Express Clearly what you Want People to do
This really builds upon the ‘simple and achievable action’ point Discover more on the source article.
Let us know in the comments below.
Do you even know what a mobile cross channel sale is? The mobile age is upon us and those that embrace it will be the winners.
Here is a short article that can help you get started:
Cross-channel sales, also known as web-influenced sales, are purchases that are touched by a digital channel but are not completed online. According to US data from Forester, cross-channel sales are becoming increasingly important and are worth four times more in total than online sales alone. In fact, the analyst estimates that cross-channel sales will reach $1.8 trillion by 2018.
A big part of this new trend involves people using mobile devices at the pre-shop phase to gather more information about products and comparing different options before they buy. Often this is while they are actually in-store ahead of making an online purchase.
That’s not to say that mobile sales conversions are not rising also. According to UK figures from IMRG, much of the £91bn shoppers spent online in 2013 was driven by mobile commerce, with over a quarter (27%) of internet sales coming directly from tablets and smartphones.So consumers are increasingly more inclined to both use their mobile devices in-store ahead of making offline purchases, as well as using their tablets and smartphones to buy online.
Consequently retailers need a clear mobile strategy that is integrated into the customer journey if they are not to fall behind.
This isn’t just about retailers having a mobile optimized web site. Retailers need to think about the wider customer experience. Questions to consider include:
- Do they provide free Wi-Fi in-store to make it easier to engage with customers on mobile devices?
- Do they know the type of information in-store customers tend to look for on their mobile devices – and is it quickly available on their sites?
- Are online assistants armed with up to date information?
- Can customers scan barcodes for more information?
- Do you provide money off coupons via mobile?
- Is it easy for customers to see view social media conversations about specific products?
Tell it something over and over and it will begin believing it and little thing by little action it will turn that belief into reality.
So the question is – What are you going to tell yourself?
And that is why mantras work.
6 Mantras By Isabeau Miller:
So many of us set out to change the world, and find yourself roadblocked at the corner of “impossible” and “never been done before.” We allow input from society, our family, our peers and the media to dictate what is or isn’t achievable and what our limitations are.
It’s easy to forget, but our world has been built by people who refused to acknowledge the impossible, who pushed past societal standards and created once-unimaginable systems, infrastructures, necessities and conveniences that never would have existed had they not tried something “crazy,” inconvenient or challenging.
Here are some mantras that help me, and my clients, work through barriers and find happiness, success and love that once seemed unattainable:
1. I can do anything exactly as I am.
For years, my “if only” was hinged on my weight. I believed until I was 130 pounds and a size 4, I just couldn’t have my dream job, be in a fulfilling relationship or truly love myself. My own beliefs about what I didn’t deserve because of my weight became a crutch and an excuse I used every time I failed, was rejected or didn’t get what I wanted — even when it had NOTHING to do with my weight.
I ultimately decided my weight only had power over me and my life because I allowed it to. I started telling myself every day that I could do anything exactly as I was, at that moment. Your weight, your income, your past choices, your level of experience are not the things holding you back; your insecurities about them are. You can do anything exactly as you are.
2. I’m allowed to want what I want.
Just because what you want might be different from what you think the world wants for you, doesn’t discount the value or your own ambitions or the possibility that they’re actually achievable. Want what you want, and work your butt off for it. Otherwise, you’ll spend the rest of your life working your butt off for what someone else wants.
3. My actions are based on purpose and happiness.
I’ve worked at soul-sucking jobs because of the benefits and salary. I’ve been in relationships because someone else said it fit me really well. I’ve done workouts a magazine swore would reduce my cellulite by 300%. And not shockingly, none of these things have brought me closer to my purpose, or filled me with happiness.
Live your life based on who you are, and what brings you joy. Focus on moving toward those every day, and success will not only follow, but it will be redefined by how lit up you feel and how impactful you are, rather than how much stuff you accumulate and how big your bank account is.
4. Life is easy.
I sat at the dinner table with some extended family not too long ago, and one of my family members said something that made me cringe: “Life is hard.” *** Read More ***
Can’t remember what to tell yourself? Well print out this image on some card stock and carry it with you. Every time you get some down time pull it out and read it to yourself, out loud if possible.
This is just to get you started.
On the back of this card you print out write your own mantras based on your goals.
Here a former young entrepreneur passes on what he discovered starting up his business.
Tips he wishes he had when he started up a few years ago.
1. Do what you love.
When I graduated from college I worked at a job that I didn’t like because it paid me well. I hated to go into work each day. I admit that entrepreneurs typically make the worst employees because they want to be out there growing their own enterprise. Figure out what you love and then become the best that there is at it.
Your passion for your product or service will keep you motivated and get you through the tough times. Yes, there will be challenging moments. But when you work on something that you actually care about (as opposed to just trying to make a quick buck), you’ll probably be happy, have direction and fight as hard as you can to make this crazy idea of yours become a reality.
2. Stay focused.
It’s awfully tempting to jump from project to project, especially when it seems as if a million opportunities are flying by. But don’t become distracted from the big picture. Instead of working on multiple projects, stay on track and complete the task at hand. If you’re working on multiple projects, you can spread yourself too thin, which will have an effect on your performance, productivity and resources. Perfect that one thing instead of working on five so-so projects.
3. Exploit online resources.
The Internet is a gold mine of resources. For example, visit the site of the U.S. Small Business Administration for advice about writing business plans, legal considerations, loans and even local resources to help you get that startup off the ground. Other awesome online resources are the websites of SCORE, America’s Small Business Development Center, Bplans, VentureBeat and, of course, Entrepreneur.com.
Related: Overcoming Youngest Person in the Room Syndrome
4. Find a mentor.
Whether you turn to a local entrepreneur, a business leader or a weathered vet that you meet through LinkedIn, having a mentor is one of the best resources you can have. Not only might a mentor have experience (such as dealing with venture capitalists), he or she also could possess an extensive network and help you connect with the right people to make your startup a success.
Don’t be afraid to cold call or email a big name in the industry. Many of these big names like to help younger entrepreneurs as a way of giving back. I met my mentor when I was 12. He was the owner of a large carpet store. I was his paper boy. I delivered his paper in the perfect location every day for three months till one day I saw him. I asked him straight up, Will you be my mentor? He said yes. He’s still a mentor to me today along with many other people.
5. Take care of yourself.
I was a young go-getter once. (At age 12 I started my first candy stand and had three at one point.) I know exactly how it is: You think that you’re invincible. Here’s the breaking news: You’re not.
As an entrepreneur, you might find it easy to push aside healthy lifestyle essentials, such as getting exercise, eating a balanced diet and securing enough sleep. But what good will you be if you’re tired or your immune system if weak? Plus, exercise is a great way to relieve some stress.
Don’t forget to make time for yourself. You need to take a break from work or you might burn yourself out. I personally love to listen to books and have since I was a kid. I’m not very good at reading as I have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder so I listen to books. Find what works for you!
6. Define your market. – More Insights At The Source Article
You need a lot of passion for what you’re doing because its so hard. Without passion, any rational person would give up.
So if you’re not having fun doing it, if you don’t absolutely love it, you’re going to give up.
And that’s what happens to most people, actually.
If you look at the ones that ended up being successful in the eyes of society, often times its the ones who love what they do, so they could persevere when it got really tough.
Watch this video – Steve Jobs views on success:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuNQgln6TL0
This is one of my favorite Jim Rohn talks.
I know Jim had a huge impact on my life dating back about 15 years ago. His urging his followers to learn and grow,and most importantly to take action when it came to personal development has had a big impact on my life.
Watch and enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoW_jAzZKcs
This is a great quote from John Maxwell.
” A leader knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. “
It’s simple really. Just ask yourself. Would you follow someone like that?
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When you think about it, it boils down to taking action.
Actions that allow you to learn what you need to know.
Taking action and go do what you learn.
Helping others do the same thing.
And of course it always good to have a vision, a goal, a direction to take that action towards.
When blogging opening lines matter. That first line can draw the reader into the post or cause the reader to go away.
How many tricks do you have up your sleeve to get readers to keep reading?
In this article you’ll discover 11 of them.
‘Hi Michael, it’s nice to meet you’
These were the first words my wife spoke to me.
Not the most spectacular start to a relationship…. considering my name is Darren.
Opening lines matter – particularly when it comes to blogging. If you don’t get them right your posts will go largely unread.
Do you want to discover how to make opening lines effective?
In my last post in this ‘how to craft a blog post’ series I identified your blog’s title/headline as the most important words that you’ll write in a blog post and I said that the purpose of the title is to get people to read your opening line.
The second most important words in your blog post are those that follow the title – your opening line. Their purpose is to get people to read the next line – to draw people deep within your post.
11 Techniques for Opening Lines
So how does one craft an opening line to a post that effectively engages readers and stimulates enough interest to get them to read your blog post? Here are a few tips that I’ve found helpful.
1. Identify a Need
Sound familiar? It should – I’ve talked about reader needs and problems in my post about choosing a topic and crafting your post title.
If you haven’t got it by now you should be starting to see that I place a lot of importance on identifying a reader’s need and solving it as a key to writing successful blog posts. You don’t have to solve the need or problem in the opening line but an effective way to get readers to read deep into your post where you do solve it is to tell them that you will in the opening line.
2. Ask a Question With Only One Answer
This is a technique that copywriters have been using for a long time and it works. To do it, ask a question in the opening of your post which leaves your reader little room to answer anything but ‘yes’. I did it in line three of this post (‘Do you want to discover how to make opening lines effective’) but it could also effectively be used as the very opening to this post.
Asking this type of question does a couple of things. For starters you’re communicating what the post is about and the need that it will fulfill in the reader – but secondly (and more importantly) you’re drawing out a response in your reader and one which puts the need that your post will solve squarely in their mind. Anyone reading and answering ‘yes’ to my question above enters into this post having just said that they want to discover how to write engaging opening lines – this ‘buy in’ helps in the communication process that follows.
Asking ‘yes’ questions can actually be something you use more than once in a post. Ask a series of them scattered through your post and you can actually take your reader on a journey that leads them to your call to action.
3. Ask an Intriguing Question
Another type of question that is effective at getting readers interested in reading further into a post is one that leaves them hanging and wanting to know the answer.
‘What does Bill Gates and Martha Stewart have in common?’ – ‘How did I take my RSS subscriber numbers from 0 to 51,346?’ – ‘Is the Nikon D700 the best Digital SLR Camera Ever Invented?’
All of these questions will appeal differently to different audiences – but all leave readers wondering what the answer will be and give them a reason to read on further into a post.
4. Say Something Unexpected
The opening line of this post (where I tell about my wife getting my name wrong when we first met) breaks most of the techniques that I’ve stated above – but attempts to do something a little ‘different’ or ‘surprising’ to grab readers attention by sharing something personal and at a first glance ‘off topic’.
I don’t talk about my family often on ProBlogger – so this opening line is designed to break the pattern and encourage readers to take a second look.
I find that when I do this it seems to ‘snap’ readers out of the way that they normally approach your blog and take a little extra notice for a moment or two (which can be enough to hook them into reading your post).
Of course – the unexpected opening line should relate to your post’s topic on some level.
5. Tell a Story or Share an Analogy
Building on my last point – I find that telling ‘stories’ to open posts can be one way of snapping people out of their ‘ho hum’, ‘eyes glazed over’ state that many of us have while surfing the web… Click Here to go to the source article and discover more.
This is one of my favorite quotes from Alexander Graham Bell:
“Concentrate ALL your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought into FOCUS.”
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Another Great Tony Robins Video On How To Have Self Confidence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUShaG9ygBM
Watch this video and get critical insight into the most important skills we have at our disposal to make big things happen.
Here is an amazing interview with Tony Robbins by Peter Guber and Winning Voices series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsZOc6tvUgI
Yet it’s something which escapes most people in the world.
“Success Demands Singleness Of Purpose.” — Vince Lombardi
Do you have dreams?
Have you turned those dreams into goals?
Have you written those goals down?
Do you review your goals every day?
Do you live, breath, make those goals your single purpose every day?
The title can be the difference of your post being read or totally ignored. An better still it could be the critical thing that can make a post go viral.
So in this article you will learn 8 free and easy secrets to create absolutely stunning titles that will increase the odds of your posts spreading like wild fire.
While there will usually only be a handful of words in your post title – they are the most powerful words that you’ll write because for most of your readers the decision as to whether to read the rest of your post rests upon them.
Why Blog Post Titles Matter
Blog post titles appear in:
- Search engine results
- RSS feeds
- Links from other bloggers
- Social media sites
- On your archive pages (depending upon how you format them)
In each of these occassions the title can be the only thing that people see and the sole thing that people make the decision to visit your post on. Write a boring, complicated or confusing title and it doesn’t matter what you’ve written in the post – very few people will ever read it.
What should a Good Blog Post Title Do?
There are many techniques that copywriters use in crafting titles or headings both online and offline – but there’s generally one common goal behind them all. It can be summed up in the words of David Ogilvy who in Oglivy on Advertising (a great copywriting book) again and again echoes the refrain that:
“the purpose of a title is to get potential readers to read the first line of your content.”
This is one of the lessons that has helped me the most in my own blogging and I’ve seen it’s power again and again.
Write a captivating and intruiging title and you’ll draw people into reading it every time.
How to Craft a Blog Post Title – 8 Tips
How do you craft a blog post title that get people to read your blog posts opening lines?
There are many techniques for crafting blog post titles that will draw readers into them. Below I’ll outline a few (you won’t be able to do all of them in every single post).Before I share them – let me give one universal tip – Don’t Rush – this is the main point of this whole series on crafting content. If there’s nothing else you come away from today – take away that if you rush your titles you could well be wasting the time that you invest into your actual posts. Invest time into your posts, it’s something that will pay off!
Now that we’re taking our time – here are 8 tips that I use in the creation of blog post titles. Note:you’d not be likely to use all of them in the one post (although for fun I did my best to get quite a few of them into the image title above). Different techniques will work better in different situations.
1. Communicate a Benefit
This is SO IMPORTANT. If a potential reader comes across your post in Google search results or your RSS feed or on a site like Digg and they see a title that promises to meet a need they have – they’ll click that link on almost every occassion. Identify a need in of potential readers (we talked about this in yesterdays post) and communicate that your post will solve this problem or need in your title. This is why posts with titles like ‘How to Hold a Digital Camera’ and ’10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits’ (LINKSSSSSSS) have driven hundreds of thousands of readers to my photography blog in the last year. They are not ‘clever’ or ‘cryptic’ titles – they simply SCREAM at those that see them what they’ll get if they visit the post. These titles don’t draw everyone that see’s them to them, but they’ll certainly draw in people with the needs that you’re aiming the post at.
2. Create Controversy or Debate
Another technique that can be very good at drawing people into a post is to set the scene for controversy, debate or a strong opinion. You need to be willing to back these types of titles up with posts that reflect the title – but controversy is one of those things that tends to pique people’s interest. Keep in mind that when you create controversy you’ll attract strong reactions in people.
3. Ask a Question
When you ask a question those who read it are wired to respond (or to see what the response is). I find that questions at post titles can be very popular at not only drawing in readers – but particularly effective at getting readers to leave comments – particularly if the comment directs a question AT the reader (ie use the word YOU in the question) rather than just being a random question. I’ll write more on personalizing titles below.
4. Personalize Titles
When you write blog posts you are potentially writing to vast audiences of many thousands of readers – however readers can feel like the post is laser targetted in on their own specific situation, particularly if you personalize the language that you’re using. One of the easiest ways to do this is simply to use the word ‘you’ in your posts. I wrote a little about this in First Person Blogging about ‘You’ but mainly talked about using the word ‘you’ in the post itself but in the title of your posts it can have an even bigger impact. Example – 21 Ways to Make Your Blog or Website Sticky.
5. Use Keywords
Keywords in titles are good for two main reasons:
Discover the reasons At The authors original post — Source
Some images were sourced from the original blog post
Burning of fossil fuels is not the main cause of climate change. I believe that turning forests and grasslands into parking lots and as you vill see in this video, the process of desertification of a large percentage of our land mass is having a huge effect on our planet. There are solutions that require changes in our beliefs that have been held for hundreds or maybe even thousands of years. So watch this video, this ray of hope for the world.
“Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert,” begins Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And terrifyingly, it’s happening to about two-thirds of the world’s grasslands, accelerating climate change and causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory has devoted his life to stopping it. He now believes — and his work so far shows — that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim degraded land that was once desert. .
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTHi7O66pI
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As an entrepreneur can you provide more green space in the environments you control?
In this video Simon will lead you to understanding it’s mastery.
What makes a great leader?
Management theorist Simon Sinek suggests, it’s someone who makes their employees feel secure, who draws staffers into a circle of trust.
But creating trust and safety — especially in an uneven economy — means taking on big responsibility.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmyZMtPVodo
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Success takes time, especially when you’re first getting started. In this video, you’ll learn why it’s a good thing to start off small and/or sucky — and how it’ll help you get further faster.
Every pro starts off as an amateur.
Don’t get hung up in a perfectionist mindset.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcvXcZd5TSQ
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There’s no reason to get stuck when you have a list of ways jog your memory like this.
So here’s over 10 ways to come up with that elusive blog post topic.
Choosing the right topic to write about on your blog is vital if you want to write a post that engages your reader.
Rushing the choice of topic can set you off in the wrong direction and end up wasting both your time and that of your reader.
While sometimes the idea for a post hits you and needs little adaption – I find that many (if not most) times the first idea that comes to me for a post needs a little molding (or marinating) before it’s just right. I will often come up with a post idea and end up evolving it into something that is quite different – but which is much richer in terms of how interesting it is.
Here’s how choosing a blog post title often works for me:
- I’ll jot down an idea for a post topic in a text document on my desktop (this usually happens while I’m doing something else).
- Once a day I scan my ‘idea’ text documents and look for a topic that connects with me for that day (I like to work on things that give me energy).
- With that document open I’ll begin to brainstorm points that I could write about, title ideas and think particularly about reader needs that the post might overcome). I often use a mind mapping technique to do this brainstorming – it can actually lead to hundreds of post ideas.
- As I brainstorm a post begins to take shape and more importantly the topic emerges. While I have points and title ideas jotted down it is the ‘topic’ that I’m particularly trying to nail down at this point. Anything else is a bonus and will help cut down work later – but it’s the topic I’m attempting to identify.
- Quite often as I engage in this process I’ll end up with more than one topic – many of these i’ll put aside for another day but some will emerge into a series of posts.
Other tips on choosing a topic for your next blog post
- Identify a Need - As mentioned above – I’m particularly trying to name a need or problem that my reader has. I find that if I can have this in my mind as I write a post that it not only ends up being a well focused post – it ends up being useful to readers. So as you choose a topic to write about – identify concrete needs that you’re aiming for the post to fulfil and questions that you want the post to answer.
- Picture a Reader – Chris Garrett often talks about how he has a number of readers in mind as he blogs – he keeps their situation, needs, questions and challenges in front of him as he writes and even pictures them in his mind as he chooses topics and writes them. In this way he doesn’t just end up theoretical or abstract topics – but is closer to writing concrete and applicable posts that will connect with readers.
- Break out of the Echo chamber – one trap that many bloggers fall into is producing blogs posts that simply regurgitate what others are writing on their blogs. If the topic I’m wanting to write about is one that others are also covering one of the things that I attempt to do in this phase of choosing topics is to find a new angle. How can you bring your own spin to the topic? How can you give your readers something unique to ponder? Read more about breaking out of the echo chamber (and also here).
- Write Something that Matters to You - I find that when i write a post that matters to me (as opposed to one that is merely reporting news or tapping into a popular topic) that it tends to connect on a deeper level with readers. I guess it is logical really – when something matters to you it shines through in the way you communicate about it and this has a way of engaging others who also think it matters. Another way to say this is to ‘let your topics choose you’ rather than you choosing what topics you want to write about.
- Write Something Topical - Writing on a topic that is currently popular or that people are searching for information on is defitely something to keep in mind as you select a topic to post on. Use a tool like Google Trends to watch trends of what people are searching Google for, keep an eye on social media sites to see what people are voting for there – these topics can be well worth tapping into – particularly if you find a fresh way to explore them (see above point on breaking out of the echo chamber).
- One Topic per Post – this will vary a little from blog to blog depending upon your niche and style of writing but I find that posts that really hone in on one particular topic and communicate one main idea tend to do best. There is nothing wrong with writing long sweeping posts that cover many things, but do keep in mind that most people’s reading style on line is to scan content, flip between pages and not to dwell on any one thing for too long. So refine the topic for your next blog post down to one simple idea. If you have more than one write a series of posts or put those that you’re not going to focus upon into your ideas journal for another day. After all, you’re writing a blog and can expand upon your other ideas every day for the rest of your blogs life.
- Plan Ahead – one thing that has helped me a lot in my blogging when it comes to choosing topics to cover is to think ahead about my blogging and develop an editorial calendar. I do this in my computer’s calendar program (I use iCal) where I have a calendar dedicated to each of my blogs. I don’t use this all of the time but find it particularly useful when I know I’m going to have a busy week or two (or when I’m traveling) as it helps me to think clearly and plan ahead for my blogging. Chris G has a nice post on planning blog post topics with an editorial calender.
- Looking for more ideas? – Darren has even more ideas for you.
Growing up, no one predicted Hillary Biscay would someday become a world-class athlete. As a competitive swimmer, she competed for 10 years at the local level, way behind most of her peers. But this late-bloomer found a way to keep showing up and training hard, even when her choices didn’t make sense to anyone else.
Today she is a triathlon champion who has finished more than 60 Ironmans, making her one of the most prolific leaders in her sport. In this talk, Hillary explains the mindset that has helped her reach her goals and the mental tricks she still uses to keep crossing the finish line.
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In this video Lon takes us back to some basics you need to cover in order to make your videos. Have a look and see if you are still doing the basics effectively.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJJV_mcWD3g
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Lon’s 3 top tips are:
1. Don’t complicate things!
2. PLAN more to work less…
3. Get good templates, tools, and resources
And Lon posted this additional video on his blog post all about mind mapping for video planning.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD6QKBZ-66g
Have you ever wondered whether or not you are having success with your social media accounts? Success can be hard te measure given that most of us have so many different social media accounts.
I was delighted when I came across this article which gives you 6 things to do to get that elusive success measurement.
Top Ways to Measure Social Media Like a Pro
Social media measurement is a challenge faced by most businesses today.
Think about it. When was the last time you tracked the effectiveness of a tweet? How about the positive response of a Facebook post?
My guess is that you’re in the same boat many businesses and brands find themselves in. To reel off social media data is next to impossible.
More than likely, those details are in an Excel spreadsheet. One that even the most trained professional can’t navigate.
If you’re eager to wrangle your social media measurement once and for all, then read on.
Below you will find six actionable ways you can begin to track, measure and measure your social media results.
How to Measure Social Media
1. Don’t Rely on Typical Data
Likes and shares feel great, but are they contributing to your bottom line?
While it’s important to gain visibility, driving real results should be your number one goal.
Do not limit your analysis to the typical likes, shares, comments and +1’s. Instead, analyze social media data from a holistic point of view.
How do those likes and shares translate into paying customers? Where do they fit into your integrated social media strategy and how are they supporting monetary growth?
Test each entry point (e.g Facebook landing page) and split test your content. Pay close attention to Google Analytics to see what’s converting into your next steps.
2. Define Success
“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself. ” – Henry Ford
Don’t base your social media success on a “Me-Too” model. Develop your own definition of success.
What does it look like to your company? What are you trying to achieve and how does social media complement your marketing strategy?
Whatever the case, get everyone on board that vision and move forward in unison.
Otherwise, you’ll never know when to bake that victory cake.
3. Set Measurable Goals
Social media goals should be in line with the overall goals of your business or organization.
Just as you need to create your own version of success, you also must know your specific goals.
A FEW GOALS MIGHT BE:
- Reach new markets
- Improve brand reputation
- Generate leads
- Drive traffic
- Improve customer support
- Reduce overhead
- Establish brand advocates
- Turn a single event into ongoing marketing dollars
- Decrease current advertising spend while increasing results
4. Understand Lead Conversion
Are you currently tracking your lead generation efforts? Do you know what social channels are generating traffic?
Read more about lead generation at the source article
Leadership is one of those qualities that is hard to define. There are military leaders, political leaders, business leaders, community leader and the every day leaders aroud you who touch your life on a daily basis.
So it was interesting when I came across tthis article that asked what kind of leader I was. Investigate further and get some insights into what kind of leader you are:
I was chatting with a client today about creating some leadership training, and they asked me what was the one thing I would want people to take away from the training?
As I thought about that, it really got me to focus because trying to boil 3 days of training down to one core message is a very interesting process. It really makes you question what’s truly important.
Anyway after a while thinking I came up with my answer, and much to my surprise it wasn’t what I expected. It wasn’t be authentic, or look to create influence, or build trust, it was something much simpler.
My answer was be the kind of leader that you would want to follow.
This is such a simple concept but not one I have ever seen written down anywhere, I haven’t heard it mentioned on a course, or read it in a book.
But if I could have just one thing that people remember from the training, then it would be that.
When I got to thinking about that, and how we were describing what a good leader would look like in the training, it then made me question this.
Should we be describing the type of leader people should be, or should we be asking the people taking the training what kind of leader would they follow?
Too often we think about leadership from the position of the leader, but maybe we should make the change and thing about it from the position of the follower.
Get the people being trained to define the types of qualities that they would look to follow, get them to describe the behaviours that would inspire them. Let’s face it as trainers we don’t have exclusive rights to the correct answers, and when it comes to leadership there is more than one way to skin a cat.
Read on For more of Gordon’s insight.
Is blogging one of those rush jobs for you?
Do you take the time to put just the right amount of polish on your posts?
Do your really know what is essential in a blog post?
Well in this article from Daren he will give you those essentials:
It hits you like a TON of BRICKS! It’s an idea for that KILLER blog post that is just bound to bring you all the traffic that you’ve ever dreamed of.
With the idea fresh in your mind you sit down at your keyboard and BANG it out – desperate to hit publish as quickly as you can for fear that someone else will beat you to the PUNCH!
As SMOKE rises from your keyboard you complete your post, quickly add a title to it and proudly hitPUBLISH!
Visions of an avalanche of visitors, incoming links and comments swirl before you.
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Instead of rushing through a post – I find that if I pause at these key moments my post rises to a new level of quality and posts tend to get more traction with readers. They don’t guarantee the perfect post – but they certainly take you a step closer to a good one.
- Choosing a Topic – take a little extra time defining your topic and the post will flow better and you’ll develop something that matters to readers.
- Crafting Your Post’s Title – perhaps the most crucial part of actually getting readers to start reading your post when they see it in an RSS reader or search engine results page.
- The Opening Line – first impressions matter. Once you’ve got someone past your post’s title your opening line draws them deeper into your post.
- Your ‘point/s’ (making your posts matter) - a post needs to have a point. If it’s just an intriguing title and opening you’ll get people to read – but if the post doesn’t ‘matter’ to them it’ll never get traction.
- Call to Action – driving readers to do something cements a post in their mind and helps them to apply it and helps you to make a deeper connection with them.
- Adding Depth – before publishing your post – ask yourself how you could add depth to it and make it even more useful and memorable to readers?
- Quality Control and Polishing of Posts – small mistakes can be barriers to engagement for some readers. Spending time fixing errors and making a post ‘look’ good can take it to the next level.
- Timing of Publishing Your Post – timing can be everything – strategic timing of posts can ensure the right people see it at the right time.
- Post Promotion – having hit publish – don’t just leave it to chance that your post will be read by people. Giving it a few strategic ‘nudges’ can increase the exposure it gets exponentially.
- Conversation – often the real action happens once your post is published and being interacted with by readers and other bloggers. Taking time to dialogue can be very fruitful.
Taking extra time at each of these 10 points looks different for me in every post that I do – but I believe that every extra moment spent of these tasks pays off.
