MOST Important Questions to Ask Before Starting a Blog – Part 1

Blogging is a tough business and it becomes tougher if you don’t know your objective and mission. However, over the years, I’ve found there are certain questions I can ask that will help me outline my purpose so I’m better in charge of the questions I’d like to answer through my blog. I’ve been a true believer that if you want to succeed, then you should have a clear purpose that solves a common problem within your niche. Only then will you be able to attract the right type of audience and keep pushing forward. If you can attract traffic and build loyalty, then it just makes it easier for you to prosper in the world of blogging. If you don’t believe me, then simply ask some of the MOST success bloggers within the industry. With this said,

I’d like to start this “2” part series, where I go over some of the MOST common questions to ask before you sit down and outline your blog’s purpose. These are very simple questions, but they will have a huge affect on your success.

Let’s get started…

The Audience

Once you’ve established your audience, you’ll have a better idea of your purpose, which we’ll discuss in the next section. However, you need a great outline of your audience so you know which way to aim your focus. By doing some research beforehand, you’ll be able to find out who your audience is and then create content to stir their interest, which is very important for your success. Keep in mind, blogging is very competitive and the ones that survive are those that attract a wide enough audience. Here are a few things you can do to research your audience…

• Research “target” keywords
• Visit competitors and see what they are doing
• Use Alexa.com because they provide a good breakdown.
• Test of Facebook ads because they have a great filter system.

The Purpose

It’s one thing to know your audience, but a completely different thing to have a clear idea of what you are trying to do. For example,

• Are you trying to solve a problem?
• Are you creating a debate?
• Are you trying to make money?
• Are you selling products and/or services?

All these questions will allow you to guide your content writing and create something engaging. This is important if you want to build momentum and have a successful blog. However, purpose comes after knowing your audience because it’s only when you know who you are writing for that you can create what they are looking for.

Why am I Unique?

It’s no secret you’re going to have competition so you have to ask yourself: Why am I Unique? This will make you think long and hard about the things you can do to stand out compared to others within your niche. Some blogs will focus on “expert interviews” while others will focus on “infographics” so think of ways you can stand out. I know many bloggers who have done very well by doing live case studies.

If you can find ways to stand out then you’ll have a way to build momentum against your competition and this will help spurt your growth quickly. It’s a simple question to ask yourself and something you should think about before you start blogging so you don’t hit a roadblock afterward.

The Content Types

If you decided you’re going to be unique because you’ll be a tutorial blog, then you have to figure out the ways you will present your content. For example, you will solve common problems within your niche so now write down ways you’ll achieve this. At this point, you have many content types available, all proven to be very effective, like:

• Video posts
• Infographics
• Images
• Text content

These are all great ways to present content and some will work better than others. I encourage all of you to try different things and find out how your audience engages with each. By doing this simple trial and error, you’ll be able to find what works well and increase engagement on your blog. With higher engagement comes a better chance of building more social shares and conversions. Here’s a quick tip:

It doesn’t matter what you’re doing online because you have to split test to find out what works compared to others. After, it’s time to simply optimize and push forward.

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Exploring ROI Beyond the Numbers

If there is at least one thing you can learn from television shows like Dragons’ Den and Shark Tank, it’s that you should always have a great handle on your numbers. Whether your business is online or offline, physical or digital, you need to know your numbers. How much revenue did you pull in last year? How many units were you able to push last quarter? What is your profit margin on a per-unit basis? Can you get a better wholesale price?

These are all important figures to keep in mind as you determine the overall profitability of your business, because you need to know where you have opportunities to grow your revenue and reduce your expenses. You need to know what ventures or projects are worth investing your time and money into, and what opportunities are better off being pushed aside. What does your year-over-year growth look like?

Now, there are all sorts of different systems, software and programs you can use to track all of this kind of data. You’ve got plenty of spreadsheets and accounting software to help you stay on top of this sort of thing. If you’re into affiliate marketing and other similar avenues, you’re likely already using a number of built-in and third-party tools for tracking such key metrics as CTR, CPC, eCPM, and so on.

These all lead back to perhaps one of the most important metrics of them all: ROI. At the end of the day, return on investment is the number that really matters the most. If you bring in $10 million in revenue, but it cost you $100 million to get it, then you’ve probably got some pretty big problems. The kind of ROI you can expect will vary wildly based on a number of factors, but it is definitely something you need to keep an keen eye on.

But here’s the thing. Not everything can be summed up using raw numbers alone and return on investment (ROI) is no exception. Allow me to illustrate with a couple of key examples.

Several years ago, I agreed to co-author a book with John called Make Money Online. The book is largely from the perspective of John and his online journey up until that point, offering insights and advice into how to make a full-time income from part-time blogging. At the time, John basically offered me two main options.

First, he could pay me a flat rate (or a per page rate) to ghostwrite the book for him. I’d do the work, he’d publish the book, and my name would have never been attached to the project in any official capacity whatsoever. You’ll find that this is oftentimes the case with a lot of celebrity memoirs and other similar kinds of autobiographies. No one really cares about the ghostwriter. They want to know about the celebrity. Fair enough.

Alternatively, he could provide me with zero up-front payment whatsoever and I’d get a cut of the resulting royalties from book sales. Now, it would be easy enough to compare how much I’ve earned from my share of the royalties against how much the up-front payment would have been in a pure ghostwriting arrangement, but that’s only part of the picture. With this second option, which I chose, I would share the byline with John.

Instead of having just “John Chow” on the cover, the cover to Make Money Online reads “John Chow with Michael Kwan.” That’s huge. I cannot say with any real certainty how much work I’ve received as a freelance writer as a result of this shared byline or how “better known” I am as a result, but there is a definite intangible value to it, just like having my own byline for this blog post. The ROI goes beyond the raw numbers.

Here’s another example. In 2017, I set out to vlog each and every week. My YouTube channel has been around for years, but this was the first time I was sticking to a set publication channel. The content of the videos range from travel to fatherhood to local events, but the goal was to have a new personal video up every Monday morning. And I accomplished that goal.

When I first set out, I had hopes that this would help to grow my YouTube channel significantly and, by extension, grow my online reach and exposure in general. It helped, to some degree, but in all honesty, I haven’t exactly been getting as many views as I had hoped. Does this mean the vlog experiment was a waste of time and energy and effort? Not at all.

The intangible ROI goes far beyond view and subscriber counts. Through the vlog, I was able to connect with some other local YouTubers in Vancouver. Through the vlog, I was able to exercise a different set of creative muscles and learn so much more about video production, as well as video editing and the whole YouTube ecosystem. I learned a lot and these lessons can be applied to other endeavors I may have in the future. The ROI goes beyond the numbers.

Many people have the misconception that success is a straight road paved only by success after success. The truth of the matter is that the road to success is littered with innumerable failures and shortcomings, and it is through these experiences that you learn how to keep moving forward, taking the lessons with you to the next project or opportunity. That’s the real ROI.

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These Email Marketing Statistics To Watch

I’ve always stated that email marketing is the best form of engagement. Many will agree, however, some will say with the introduction of social media, the conversion rate has been lowered. Every now and then, I like to set out to find some statistics to help prove and reiterate the power of email marketing. By understanding the power of social media, you can embrace for the future and make sure it is part of your marketing campaign. Let’s get started and explore some cool email marketing statistics that I uncovered over the weeks. If you have a solid email marketing program, then you can apply these into your next campaign.

Let’s get started and feedback will be greatly appreciated going forward.

Highest ROI

Did you know email marketing has the highest ROI in marketing?

If you didn’t, now you do, and much of the success can be attributed to the personal connection you have with the people on your list. You have built this list over time and many of the subscribers trust your judgement and this increases CTR. With social media, you are going head to head with competitors so you really need to do things to stand out. However, with email marketing, you know your readers and understand what they like. You can adjust your content to provide EXACTLY what they are looking for and this will increase ROI going forward.

Give it a try and see what happens by scheduling an email campaign and social media for the same date and time.

Email has 44% Customer Conversion

Did you know email marketing converts visitors to customers 44% better than social?

Remember, people on your list might not be customers but a solid email marketing campaign can convert them more quickly than simply going through a social campaign. Why? First, they trust your brand, which is why they opted into your list in the first place. Secondly, they trust your value and will MOST likely purchase any product you recommend going forward, which is important when converting visitors to customers. Here’s the problem with social media…

You have a lot of competitors all within your niche who could be promoting the same type of content. This gives people enormous options on content, products, and services. Next, you have NOT built credibility with many of them so the likelihood of them converting in a short period of time is very slim.

It’s been proven time and time again that email builds loyalty and converts visitors better compared to any other type of marketing strategies.

Email = Mobile Conversions

People are using mobile phones much more and this means people are reading, skimming, and clicking on emails on smart phones. Statistics show email opens have grown on mobile phones by 30%, which is awesome for people who have a huge email following. Now you don’t have to wait for subscribers to hop onto their PC to read your emails because this can be done through their phones. What does this mean? Simple…

• More conversions on products and content
• Increased traffic
• Increased engagement
• More brand awareness

All of this will be done more quickly compared to years back when everything had to be done through desktop PC’s.

Dynamic ESP’s

ESP stands for email service providers and we are now in a time where almost everything can be automated. This means NOT only will you be able to increase ROI, but you can automate the entire process, which is perfect for you. You can split test forms, landing pages, and create an optimized follow-up sequence, all with the click of a button.

In the end, email still provides more automation options than social media, which is why bloggers prefer to use it to build momentum to their blog. I’m not saying social media is NO good, but if you want to build true engagement, then consider using email as your first option before trying any other.

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Stop Trying to Be More Efficient

Technology continues to get more advanced and more tasks continue to get automated. I don’t have to boot up my computer, wait for it to the connect to the Wi-Fi, open up a web browser, type in the URL, enter my username and password, search for the item I want, add it to the shopping cart, and go through the checkout process entering my mailing address and payment information just to buy some more dish soap.

Instead, I can just say, “Alexa, reorder some dish soap,” and the magical smart speaker in the corner of my living room takes care of the rest. We’re living in the future, folks!

And yet, despite all these modern conveniences and seemingly miraculous developments, we find ourselves even more pressed for time than ever before. How is that possible? Because we have all these things we need (and want) to do, we are oftentimes tempted to be as efficient as possible. We’re constantly looking for so-called “life hacks” that can help us get more things done more efficiently.

That’s precisely why we are drawn in by the purported appeal of multitasking. We delude ourselves into thinking that we can totally check our email, write a blog post, listen to the latest podcast, and eat lunch at our desk, all at the same time. But of course that isn’t true. We can’t focus on more than one thing at a time, so when we divide our attention between multiple tasks, the net result of any and all of them will suffer.

But there’s so much to do! You want to update your blog. You want to post a new video on your YouTube channel. You want to work on your email marketing. You want to post on social media. You want to research new affiliate marketing opportunities. You want to do this. You want to do that. So you try to be as efficient as possible to accomplish as much as possible in as little time as possible.

Stop that. Stop it.

I’ve written on my blog on several occasions how I feel like there is never enough time to do all the things that I want to do, especially since become a dad. Balancing my professional responsibilities with my responsibilities as a father isn’t easy, not to mention that I still want to have some room for leisure activities and downtime, of course.

All this being said, lack of time is not the problem. It was never the problem. If you look around at all of the most successful people in the history of the world, they all had the same 24 hours to work with each day, the same 365 days to work with each year. They had just as much time as the least successful people in the history of the world too. Lack of time is not the problem.

So, what is it then? It really boils down to two main concepts.

First, we all need to stop trying to do as many things as we can as efficiently as we can, because that is ultimately self-defeating. Instead, you should try to do fewer things, but do them better. Instead of trying to score a 5 across the board, understand that life is a game of tradeoffs. Zero in on the small handful of things where you want to score a 10 and don’t worry too much about the zeroes you may be scoring on the other items. The 10s are where you’ll find success, not in a seas of 5s.

Second, when you have to work on something, actually work on that something. Don’t mindlessly scroll through Facebook. Don’t fall into the bottomless pit of YouTube. Don’t walk to the kitchen to grab yourself a snack. Focus on the task at hand and get it done, remembering that done is always better than perfect.

When you work a more traditional job, especially one that pays hourly, you get paid just the same no matter how much actual work you do. (Yes, you’ll probably get fired eventually if you slack off too often, but the general point here holds true.) When you work for yourself as an Internet entrepreneur, there’s no such thing as an hourly wage or a salary. You need to earn every dollar, even if that means putting in the hours to develop a passive income stream. Sitting for 40 hours in front of your computer isn’t going to do you any good unless those 40 hours are actually productive.

Efficiency is not the objective. It doesn’t matter if you tick 100 items off your to-do list if none of those items really moves the needle forward. Instead, strive to be effective. Do the things that matter and do them well.

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Content Marketing Changes to Keep an Eye On – Part 3

Welcome to Part 3 of my series and I hope you have enjoyed the previous content. This is going to be the final part of this series and I want to wrap it up by discussing “2” more important content marketing changes taking place within the industry. Many argue content marketing is NOT important, however, the MOST success bloggers have stated numerous times that content marketing is going to be the only thing that matters going forward. Through a solid content marketing campaign, you can do the following:

• Add value
• Marketing products
• Increase traffic
• Increase social shares
• Build momentum
• Increase brand awareness

The internet is all about information and today, this can be provided through images, videos, text, podcasts, or even infographics. All of these formats can be used going forward to build your brand, too. Let’s jump into Part 3 and talk about “2” more important elements. Your feedback and opinion will be appreciated so leave your thoughts in the comment box below. Let’s jump right in.

Analytics Matter Even More

I’ve always believed, no matter what type of content you’re marketing, it’s important to keep track of your statistics. Having data will help you optimize your campaigns going forward, which is important because this can help with increasing conversions. However, I’m surprised by the amount of people who don’t make use of the tools available to them and I think it can be for the following reasons.

• They don’t know about the tools available
• They are lazy
• They don’t want to keep statistics
• Not serious about their business

Keeping stats will help you get the MOST out of your user engagement, which is why I recommend everyone implement some sort of tool in their backend. For example, imagine having a landing page where you are offering an eBook in exchange for their email address. It helps to know what types of form, headline, colors, and information converts the best. This way, you can continue to do what needs to be done to get as many conversions as possible. Google Analytics is a great tool you can implement in your backend. It’s FREE and very easy to install using a simple code.

For you to achieve optimal conversions, I recommend testing what works and then optimize your campaign.

Content will be Interactive

This is a tricky one to understand, but many have mentioned content will be heading this way going forward. As a matter of fact, you can start to see interactive content implemented into blogs already. Why is this important and what does it do?

First, it gets people involved in your content and builds the personal connection. When you have interactive content, it’s a great way to provide value by making certain elements clickable and this will help readers understand the value better. Next, it’s a different type of content than the usual available online so people will find it more engaging. Imagine when people share it on social media platforms and the response you’ll get. The point I’m trying to make is you’ll have to think outside the box to engage a new breed of readers. Blogs are not new and reading content is something that has been around from the start. It’s time to publish different types of content that will catch people off guard, but provide value at the same time.

• Make content interactive
• Add charts and graphs
• Add movable objects

Final Thoughts

To implement each type of strategy will take time, but after analyzing the data, you’ll find how some work better than others. Then you can optimize and add the same strategies to other content when you publish because you know they have worked well in the past. Content marketing continues to grow so you have no choice but to add it to your blog. The only difference is finding what works better for you compared to others.

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Instant Gratification and Mountain Climbing

We live in a glorious age of technology where we can get (almost) anything we want. Not only that, but we can get (almost) anything we want nearly instantly. Want to listen to a certain song? You don’t have to wait for it to come on the radio and you don’t even need to rewind or fast forward through a cassette tape to find the right place. Just fire up your Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube and you can get that track right now.

Want to watch a movie? You don’t have to wait for a specific showtime at a specific movie theater in a specific location. Just fire up Netflix on your computer, TV, smartphone, tablet, or any number of other compatible devices and you can watch that movie right now. Want to watch a TV show? You don’t have to wait for it to come on at a certain time on Thursday night, because it’s right there on Netflix too. Not only that, but you don’t have to wait seven whole days for the next episode, because you can binge through the whole season (or seasons!) back to back to back.

All this instant gratification is tremendous, because it has allowed for an incredible level of choice and convenience. You can order almost anything on Amazon and have it arrive on your doorstep within a couple of days. Depending on what you want and where you live, you might even be able to get it within a couple of hours! But the problem with all this instant gratification is that we’ve come to expect it from every other area of our lives too. And a lot of things don’t work that way.

Want to have a deep, meaningful relationship with your significant other? You may have been able to meet one another by simply swiping right on a mobile app, but the kind of strong bond that you desire takes time and patience. You can’t just binge through your relationship like how you binge through every season of The Office on Netflix. You can’t just order a trusting, loving lifelong partner through Amazon Prime. It doesn’t work that way.

And as much as you may be attracted to the innumerable “get rich quick” schemes online, the truth of the matter is that anyone who achieves grand success with them will always be the exception rather than the rule. You stand at the foot of a path and all you see is the summit at the top. You turn a blind eye to the treacherous mountain between where you stand and where you want to be.

Because these kinds of obstacles and barriers have been removed from so many other aspects of your life. It used to be the case that you could only eat certain food at certain times of the year, because of the seasonality of crops and harvests. These days, you can import almost anything from almost anywhere and eat it all year round. Want to read a book? You don’t have to wait for the store to replenish stock, because you can have it delivered to your Kindle instantly. There’s no waiting. There’s no work.

Success in business doesn’t work that way. You might see the fancy cars, the big mansions and the extravagant trips, but you don’t see the years of hard work and dedication that went into building that kind of lifestyle. It is absolutely true that anyone can do it, but it’s also true that you’ve got to fight your way through some bad weather to get there.

But the view once you get there is pretty spectacular. And it’ll be all that much more rewarding because you’ll know what it took to get there.

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Content Marketing Changes to Keep an Eye On – Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of my series and I am discussing some content marketing changes happening over the next few months that will impact blogging. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or experienced because you will have to ensure you start incorporating these changes to stay ahead of your competition. Content marketing can be awesome to generate traffic, conversions, and profit, but you’re still going to have competition. This means you have to continually tweak your content to understand the way your audience engages with it going forward. In Part 1, we discussed how the following:

• Mobile friendly blogging
• Images and infographics

This will help push you in the right direction and allow you to engage more people with your content. Please provide your feedback on Part 1 and let me know if you agree or disagree with my statement. Today, I’ll be discussing some more important elements of content marketing that you have to pay close attention to. Let’s get started…

Personalization

I can’t explain how personalization and building a connection with your audience is important when blogging. You have to find a way to stand out compared to your competition and building a “personal” brand is the best way. This is why many bloggers have decided to start a blog using their name, for example:

• JohnChow.com
• NeilPatel.com
• ZacJohnson.com

This strategy is NOT only important within blogging because you see other successful entrepreneurs doing the same, like Donald Trump. Personalization within content marketing is especially important because if you can build trust and credibility, it’ll help promote your content when your name is mentioned within inner circles. Imagine how many pieces of content you have read simply because of the author. This is because you know the author will provide value and you can trust their opinion on a product or service they are endorsing. I know many of you are asking how can you implement this into your content marketing…right?

Here are a few ways:

• Always provide value
• Be genuine
• Answer feedback
• Provide unique content that can’t be found anywhere else

Going forward, I can promise you that blogging and content will be more personalized going forward. You want people to hear your name and know right away that they’ll find something special on your blog.

Networking

Here’s a new trend developing and you might have noticed it if you are online a lot reading blogs. First, you’ve noticed many people are guest blogging on other popular authority blogs. It’s also not uncommon to find expert posts, interviews, etc., about influential bloggers within your niche. Building these relationships opens huge opportunities for both the experienced and beginners within the industry. This is why, going forward, you should try to network as much as possible so you can build your brand.

Here are a few ways this content marketing strategy can help going forward…

First, writing content on other bloggers builds your initial connection with them so the next time you reach out, you have a better chance of them replying. Secondly, by writing guest content, you have the potential to drive traffic to your blog, which, again, increases your brand and conversions. Expert posts help because after publishing, they often get shared, which is great to build social momentum. For example, here is a quick roundup I did months back: 14 Expert Bloggers Discuss Their Most Effective Link Building Techniques

Investing in Content Marketing

Here is a short one that I think will apply to those with a budget but is very important. Many bloggers and companies will shift how they spend their money toward content marketing. This change is, again, because they understand the importance and know how an investment now can produce long-term success. If you are starting, then you might not have the investment, but this won’t stop bigger companies from doing it. You should try and learn from them so you can maybe one day implement the same strategies into your content marketing.

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