I got a chance to test the S&Q mode of the Sony A7 III camera at John Lawson Park West Vancouver. S&Q mode allows me to film footages from 1 frame per second up to 120 FPS. This can create dramatic slow motion or super fast time lapses videos.
Blogging can be a very powerful business especially if you are focusing on the right niche. If your niche has enormous demand, then you can generate enormous readership, and even generate income from your blog. However, many of us fail before even starting because we simply don’t understand the fundamentals when starting a blog. Over the years, I have mentored many clients into starting a blog, and engineered a series of steps that have been proven to be very effective. For all of you looking to get started online, and need help starting a blog, you’ve come to the right place.
Welcome to my Ultimate Blogging Series, where I’ll be focusing on the step-by-step process of starting a blog the right way. Each step is from my own experience with my objective being for you to focus only on what matters. This will push you in the right direction so you cover the MOST important aspects going forward. Let’s get started with Part 1, where we’ll be discussing coming up with the right idea for your blog.
Coming up with the right idea has 2 important elements, which I’ll split into Part 1 and Part 2. Today, we focus on blogging based on your passion and why this is very important. Let’s get started, and your feedback will be greatly appreciated.
I have worked with hundreds of people over the last 7 years, and have learned a lot about how passion plays a very important role in your success. Passion truly has a mind of its own, and if you choose to focus on passion, then you have a hidden driving force behind your blog. I believe passion will push you even when all else fails simply because you are working on a project you feel close to. You’ll keep pushing forward even when there is NO immediate monetary value provided.
What is passion? Here’s a quick definition from Dictionary.com:
Any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, such as love or hate.
Strong amorous feeling or desire; love; ardor.
The object of such a fondness or desire.
The desire and love will be strong enough that you’ll push yourself forward because of the emotional attachment you have. Here’s another cool fact…
Many bloggers who have succeed online have done so because they simply love what they are doing. They started just because they wanted to explore the topic, and introduce others to their passion. They kept pushing forward even when NO monetary value was the benefit.
Anyway, how can you start a blog simply based on your passion? Here are a few quick steps you can apply right now…
Whenever I start a new project, I always research online to find out what others are saying about my niche. This will also help me generate some cool topics, and understand my audience better. The more research I do, the better I know where to focus in the long run. For example, if I know people are searching my niche within forums, and have a handful of questions, then I know two things:
Remember, those of you who are passionate about your niche will want to make a difference, which is why it’s important to know what type of audience you have online.
You can do research within these “4” awesome channels that have always provided me with the information I need:
Google Search – Doing a quick search will provide you with results showing what EXACTLY the demand is for your niche. You’ll also find out who your competition is online.
Forums – These have been around forever, and provide you with real-time questions and answers within your niche. You can conduct research and find popular questions within your niche then answer them when you write content.
Google Trends – A very effective way to find out what keywords are trending related to your niche. You can find out how popular your niche is over a specific time-frame so you get a better understanding of the demand going forward. You can apply this knowledge to your blog, writing keyword-rich content that ranks high within the SERP’s.
Your passion can go along way when starting a business simply because you not only have knowledge already, but also because you’ll be ready to educate . Think about when you love doing something, and the effort you put into your work. Now apply this feeling to your online blog. It’s very hard to explain passion in business in-depth, but those of you with a passion for content writing and marketing will definitely understand the feeling.
In the next section, we’ll explore researching topics that are very popular, but NOT necessarily your passion. Many people get involved simply because there is enormous money in the niche and each year, there is growth at the same time.
Today’s lunch was at Cactus Club Cafe in West Vancouver. Born on the West Coast and growing across Canada, Cactus Club Cafe offers the best in global cuisine using local, fresh ingredients served in a vibrant, contemporary setting. Cactus has won best casual restaurant of the year for as long as I can remember.
If you’re anything like me, then you probably want to be great at what you do, regardless of whatever it is that you do. If you’re a photographer, you want to be a great photographer. If you’re a carpenter, you want to be a great carpenter. If you’re a blogger, you want to be a great blogger. We look up to the greats who have come before us and the greats who are with us now, and we can feel inspired.
But of course, as you’ve surely heard so many times before, by the time you see someone achieve greatness, they’ve already invested so much of their time and energy into their endeavor. We don’t see the countless failures and innumerable false steps along the way. How many times did they get rejected from how many possible investors before one of them finally gave them a chance? How many iterations of the mobile app did they go through before they landed upon a winning formula?
We look at these superstars and we admire all the incredible achievements that they’ve earned along the way. We see all their victories, we gaze upon their unfathomable fame and fortune, and we quickly come to the conclusion that this kind of success is so far beyond where we stand today. It just feels so out of reach, like scoring the winning touchdown at the Super Bowl or landing on Mars. Why even bother?
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”
That quote comes from the late American uathor and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar. He made a career of speaking about the business of sales, hoping to raise the image of salespeople in the country. Over the course of his career, he also authored 30 books. All said, he accomplished a lot in his 86 years of life and his quotes continue to be circulated around the Internet to this day, like in today’s blog post.
But he wasn’t always great. See You At The Top, his first book, was rejected nearly 40 times before it was finally published in 1975. And today, nearly half a century later, it’s still in print and is still widely read. That’s great. But it wasn’t always great. It only got there and he only got there, because he decided to start. And then he decided to persevere.
So many of us get caught up in all sorts of excuses and justifications for why we are unable to pursue our passions and achieve our dreams. We convince ourselves that such lofty goals are out of reach and we’ve got to pull our heads out of the clouds. We tell ourselves that the conditions aren’t quite perfect, but of course they will never be perfect. There’s always going to be something (or someone) holding you back.
Simply getting started with something obviously will not guarantee its success. When I started my first blog back in 2006 (if you don’t count my other websites and email newsletters, which date back to 1999, as “blogs”), I made a number of fellow blogger friends. We were all learning about this whole thing together and, well, the overwhelming majority of them are no longer blogging. To be honest, I have no idea what they’re doing. But I’m still here. They got started, but they didn’t stick with it. They didn’t follow through.
At the same time, we have to realize that NOT getting started WILL guarantee a lack of success. A lack of greatness. If you never get started, you leave yourself with absolutely zero chance at “making it,” whatever that means to you. By far the single greatest prerequisite to anything you want to accomplish is getting started. So whether that’s affiliate marketing, web development, freelance writing, blogging, YouTubing or anything else, just get started. And keep moving forward.
I’m in Vancouver to try more great restaurants. Our food tour starts with a local favorite. Phnom Penh Restaurant is a Vietnamese-Cambodian institution that draws fans with specialties including marinated butter beef ad the best chicken wings in town.
In order for a business to be growing for several years, it needs to make sales. Making a meaningful profit is the goal of every business. For this to occur, a business needs to have a sufficient number of customers, and it’s been noted that it is more facile and cheaper to retain a customer than to attain a new one. Research indicates that a five percent increase in customer retention can certainly improve the profitability of a company by up to ninety-five percent.
According to a recent study, sixty-eight percent of customers stop purchasing from a brand due to not liking the product or service they have attained; therefore, one of your main goals should be to address customer complaints in a timely manner so that they can be satisfied with your business. If you can do this, then you’ll be able to not only grow your business but excel as well.
As long as the issue was caused by some accident and not negligence, you’re still winning customer’s loyalty. There are a couple of things, in particular, that should be undertaken (below) in order for a business to thrive in the market.
Here are “4” elements every business should be aware of going forward:
A Listening Ear-
You should always listen to the customer from A to Z. Provide them as much time needed to vent, and explain the issue. This way you fully understand the issue, and take the right action.
Provide Empathy-
Find ways to connect with the customer. Remember that your concern should be placed in solving the present issue.
Provide an Apology-
An apology can go a long way, and you should always keep that on your mind. When you sound like a person and not a company, customers can be very understanding.
Solve to Retain-
Let the customer tell you how he or she believes the issue should be solved. You can also go ahead, and provide solutions for them to choose from. To maximize your chances of retaining a customer, you should always go the extra mile because customers see that and it adds to your value.
It has been noted that businesses only hear from four percent of dissatisfied customers. Why? Well, most businesses don’t provide visible contact information where customers can place a complaint; therefore, make sure that your customer service contact information is clearly on your website, letters, emails and receipts.
It’s true that hiring a service representative will cost you money, but its well worth it in the end of the day as you’ll make 10 times that in the long run from the customers that you’ll retain. Think about having a toll-free phone number because Its been noted that customers prefer to speak to an actual person. A live chat option should be also present on your website. This is a complimentary option, and you also want to make sure you follow up the same way that you were contacted.
A customer service representative who has been trained in capturing customer feedback can detect clients who are not satisfied or who are considering buying from the competition, and thus, they can pass this information to the company. A customer service representative must be trained to pass the competitive information so that your marketing department can take appropriate action.
Make sure you state the obvious on every product so it’s completely transparent to your customers. Customer are very aware about the product they are purchasing, and any issues will cause them to go to your competition. For example, what you see is what you get….right? This is EXACT what should be the bases of your company when selling products. State what the product is, and make sure it lives up to the hype…it’s that simple!
Not only that, but you should provide a FAQ (frequently asked questions) to eliminate a grand number of bad customer experiences. Remember, if you attain a complaint about a specific issue, this could reflect that there are other customers who have the same problem. It’s always better to prevent than have an ongoing issue.
A lot of businesses often forget about customers once they spend some money purchasing products. A relationship with a customer should be beyond the idea of just getting money from them for your products. They should feel that your primary goal is to improve their lives with the products that you provide.
Create an image of your business that’s positive. There are many companies out there that are doing something positive; take the company Tesla, for example. This company is trying to create an environmental-friendly technology to help planet Earth. This has helped them grow each year tripling profits, and customers.
Never stop communication with new or old customers as this will cause your profits to drop substantially. When a customer purchases a product from you they are building a special bond with your company. This means they expect to know about company changes, and updates going forward. I encourage all of you to make sure your company always highlights new products to your customer to show you care. However,
Before promoting your other products, you need to take care of every aspect of your customer’s order. After an appropriate amount of time, check in with your customer to find out if they’ve receive their product. Invite them to leave a review on your website which can grow your business through new customers. There are numerous companies that do this, like Dell, Nike, HP and Even Apple. For example, Dell will check in with customers 2-3 times per week after them placing an order. You want to check in order to find out if there are any issues with the product or throughout the process since is important to increase loyal customers.
There are a couple of things that you can do in order for customers to feel confident in purchasing a product from your company. For example, you can showcase happy customers in your case studies by providing them the option of writing reviews, etc. The goal should be to make customers feel confident before, and after purchasing a product. You want them to feel they have made a good decision, and thus feel happy about receiving your company product it in the mail. By delivering this good feeling, you can build loyalty and increase company growth.
With all purchases there are various risk factors. The two most common are functional and financial. The first is the risk that the product or service does not work as it should, and the second is the risk of paying more for something that is worth less. One way to make your customers feel good about doing business with you is to minimize those risks. By getting feedback from your customers, you’ll be able to take proactive steps to make sure risks are being taken care of.
Understanding the different types of customers that make up your customer database is very important. It is recommended that you separate the types of customers into groups so they can be analyzed better. There are loyal customers, those which are purchasing less than usual, clients who are no longer active, etc. This can allow you to tailor different offers that would be irresistible for certain groups. You can tweak along the way until you find a system which works.
There are a number of things that customers will forgive and forget, like when the company they are doing business with doesn’t meet commitments. For example, the biggest is shipping a product late then what’s expected. 80% of customer will forgive this the first time around, however there are some which will start shopping with your competition the 1st time this happens. It’s important you make sure you are 100% sure that you can deliver products and services as mentioned on the checkout page.
If you offer products, and services that your competitors don’t offer then you are one-up on your competition. You have to work to become a ‘one stop shop’ by adding new products, and services also improving your existing ones. This will keep you ahead of the competition making sure you keep customer retention high.
It’s important you keep track of every order which has been cancelled or lost throughout your business. Do not be afraid to ask customers why they cancelled an order or why they opted to take their business elsewhere. By getting this valuable information, you’ll be able to identify the necessary steps to recover from the loss of business, and thus avoid the same mistake in the future.
The price is always a concern for people when buying a certain product or service. What you do not want is to get into a price war with your competitors. It’s important to implement a pricing strategy which you’re not the cheapest or the most expensive. This is a bit tricky, but you’ll have to research competitors and how you manufacturer products. Find ways to save money so you can offer your customers lower prices than your competitors. When you do this your actually training your customers to look for discounts before ordering from your competition.
This is a gold strategy all businesses should strive to achieve, but it’s especially important for an e-commerce business. This will allow you create the foundation for a loyal customer relationship. Keep track of their buying habits, and then offer the discounts on those products. Engage with them and offer incentives to buy from you so you can gather the right research. After, you can implement strategies which work to engage new customers while improving customer retention at the same time.
Look Around –
It’s important that you look around at small or big businesses that are thriving in order to find out what they are doing so you can implement the same strategy into your business model. Pay close attention to the biggest chains within your niche, and find what they have done to grow throughout the years.
Wal-Mart believes that if every customer is treated with kindness, this will enhance their shopping experience, and thus, they will keep on coming back. By doing this you are NOT only growing your business, but expanding the retention element of your business.
There is a lot of information mentioned throughout this content, and it’s important you absorb as much as you can. However, it’s just as important you start implementing the strategies which have been discussed throughout because this will help your overall business model. Go through the content one more time making the right type of notes so you can implement later on into your website. In the beginning, it will be hard because a lot of time will be taken to research and collect data, but I promise this will get much easier. Next,
Once you have gathered all the data you can start to draw out your game plan going forward. You can start optimizing customer retention strategies which you by now know will work. This will improve your new customer rate, and improve customer retention at the same time. Overtime I recommend you keep testing because things will keep changing as new customers start buying your products or services.
Going forward, here are the steps to pay close attention to before implementing…
The show floor of the 2018 Affiliate Summit East in New York is where all the action happens. If you can’t find an affiliate program to promote here, then you won’t find it anywhere. With camera in hand, Syed and I hit the show floor to bring you all the action.
