Niche Site Project 3 Update: September and October Traffic and Earnings

Welcome to another update for Niche Site Project 3!  As you may have noticed, we are now doing updates every other month for Samara, Colleen, and Ryan.

The good news is that all 3 students continue to see growth for their websites both in terms of earnings and traffic!

In particular, Samara and Colleen are now in a rinse and repeat mode for the most part.  They have set up their site and can now just focus on continuing to product great content and do basic link building each month.

Samara also hit a nice milestone of hitting her first $100 month!  And Colleen’s traffic has doubled since August!

Each of the students is making great progress, and much of their results now come down to the amount of time and effort that they continue to put into their sites.

Here’s the updates from Samara, Colleen, and Ryan:

Samara’s Update

Hey everybody!

I’m excited to bring you an update on all things Tiny Fry!

October was slightly complicated for me as I was visiting family, so I had less free time than usual, but I still tried to work as much as possible on my niche site. As you probably guessed, I have been busy implementing Spencer’s long-term strategy: publish content, do outreach, get a few backlinks.

I continue to look for low competition, long tail keywords for my articles, of which I published 7 in September and 5 in October. I’ve also started to add comparison tables, which I’m hoping will help turn visitors into actual buyers.

I have, unfortunately, dropped the ball with my social media accounts. For a while I was sharing articles every day, and then… I don’t know what happened. I guess I got distracted. It’s actually quite a bit of work to find useful information to share with your audience every single day; I didn’t think it would be so time consuming but it is. I’m hoping to get back on track this November.

I’ve seen a steady increase in traffic since the site was launched, and as you can see from the screenshot, traffic continued to grow over the last few months.

As for backlinks, I have done a whole handful of guest posts recently (including one for a site with a DA of 56), and am now exploring other strategies to mix things up a bit. My main focus is still on publishing content and then looking for a few links here and there, and that will continue to be my plan going forward.

My Amazon earnings are on the rise, which I’m very excited about. In September I earned $90, and one of my guest posts paid $50, which technically brought my total monthly earnings to $140. In October, I made $105 on Amazon. Breaking the $100 barrier is a milestone, and I’m hoping to set a new record next month. I’m also hoping to develop some kind of self-control that allows me to stop checking my earnings every few hours, which has become something of a new obsession (anyone else do that?).

I hope everyone is making great progress on their niche sites and you guys are also in it for the long haul like I am!

Colleen’s Update

Hello from the Rocky Mountains!

It’s been a busy couple of months. I’m currently living in Colorado and enjoying the views of the mountains and hiking every chance I get. I’ve put a hold on traveling to focus on work, saving money, and building Coustii! I’m hoping that all my hard work pays off before I jet set off to Bali after the New Year.

According to Moz, Coustii.com has a Page Authority of 39 and a Domain Authority of 32. It’s crazy to think my site has come this far since only January! As mentioned in the last update, I have put a hold on my link-building strategy to create more content for Coustii. I’m now ranking for almost 6,000 keywords. My goal is to keep that number going up, up, up!

In October I saw a big growth in traffic. Back in August I had about 2,200 sessions, now I have 4,500! This means my traffic has doubled in only 2 months!

This month I’m working on getting a higher Amazon conversion rate. Right now, my average is about 3.5%, which converted only to about $40 in earnings. Still not a lot, which is why I’m working on going through all of my affiliate links. I want to make sure I’m still recommending the best, quality products for my audience.

Ryan’s Update

Wow, these months fly by. I mean, we’re rapidly approaching a year into this project. Yikes.

Okay, so, as you can see my site got a little boost in October. I wonder why? Oh yeah, that’s when we finally revealed the site.

I’ll admit, it was really nice to see some traffic come in – even if it wasn’t the hard earned kind. And it did give me a mental boost So, yay for that.

Here’s the other thing… I was expecting the spike in sessions, but I wasn’t expecting that to raise the overall organic traffic for the weeks after the initial reveal. Yet, so far at least, that’s what’s happened. So, organic traffic is up quite a bit (for me at least) and I’m looking to build off that momentum.

Organic Traffic:

All Traffic:

As far as whether I’ve made any money from the site yet? That would be a resounding no. However, I let my Amazon Affiliate account lapse after they rejected me for not making any sales. There just didn’t seem to be any point in having live affiliate links until I’m really seeing traffic.

I’ll probably re-apply soon if I can keep the traffic growth coming. It would be nice to at least see one sale before we hit a year on the project. Pathetic, I know, but we’ve already been over that.

Anyway, we’ll see what these next few months have in store. Hopefully, Colleen and Samara are seeing some great numbers starting to come in. Good luck everyone!

The post Niche Site Project 3 Update: September and October Traffic and Earnings appeared first on Niche Pursuits.

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9 Ways to Generate Sales from Your Last Blog Post (Without Being Salesy)

These days, “sales” is perceived as a negative four-letter word.

Sales has gotten a bad rep. When you hear the word “sales,” you probably think of pushy salespeople or telemarketing calls.

The stigma of sales affects bloggers too. Lots of bloggers are afraid to sell to their readers. They don’t want to lose the audience they worked so hard to build.

Well, I’m here to tell you that you can successfully use your blog posts to sell without being salesy.

And no, I’m not going to recommend ads. (Surprise!)

You might be wondering how blog posts can increase your revenue.

The answer is simple: reciprocity.

Most of you have probably heard about reciprocity from Dr. Robert Cialdini’s renowned book Influence. It talks about psychological triggers that make people respond in certain ways.

Reciprocity happens when you give immense value to your audience. In return, they feel compelled to help you out. In our case, that happens when they buy from you.

It’s a simple formula. If your blog posts are top-notch, your readers will be open to buying from you. But they’re not just “buying.” They’re supporting a resource they love.

And when you pair reciprocity with blogging, the results are powerful. You’ll sell, but your readers will never think you’re selling to them. It’s a friendly offer.

I know, it sounds too good to be true. Let me prove it to you with these 9 ways of using your latest blog post to generate sales.

1. Provide a ton of value

Value should be your number one priority as a blogger. I’ll even go a step further and say that it’s impossible to run a truly great blog without providing a crap ton of real value.

But can you sell based on value alone?

It’s a good question. So let’s look at what happens when you take price out of the equation.

Tom Morkes had a blog that people really liked, but he realized it wasn’t profitable. So he wrote an e-book and released it to a whopping 166 subscribers. Don’t laugh yet—the results will astound you.

Tom chose a pay-what-you-want method so his readers would have a choice. And lots of his readers chose a price of $0.

But Tom’s readers contributed an average of $15 per e-book. And he made an impressive $493.50 in the first month by offering something free.

See the numbers for yourself:

This is a fantastic case study to show just how well value can sell. If you have immensely valuable content, you can sell like crazy even if you offer it free.

2. Link to a relevant product

Linking to one of your products is a simple but effective strategy for getting eyeballs to your storefront.

But here’s the catch: you have to share a relevant product.

If your blog post is about making the best pumpkin pie and you include a link to your guide to wine tasting, the conversion rate won’t be very high. That’s because your readers are there for the pumpkin pie.

But if you share a link to your guide to pumpkin-pie-making with those same readers, you’ll see much better results.

Here’s Carol Tice from Make A Living Writing using this strategy:

To give you some context, Carol’s post is about a freelancing scam. By sharing this product at the end of the blog post, she’s letting readers in on a surefire method of revenue.

Solve your readers’ problems by sharing relevant products with them, and you’ll make their day.

3. Describe an insanely valuable use of your product

It makes sense why no one would want to buy your product unless they saw its benefits.

So don’t beat around the bush—show off your products’ benefits.

But it’s important that you’re not just praising your product as the best thing since sliced bread. You have to give readers specific, detailed reasons why your product is great.

MailChimp does this excellently. Their post “Why Clients Render Email Differently” mentions their Inbox Preview feature, but it doesn’t read like an advertisement for that feature.

Instead, it talks about the similarities and differences in email clients that readers should be aware of.

This part is crucial: You can get value from this article even if you don’t buy their product.

Your blog post should still be value-packed. You’re simply letting your readers know that your product provides a shortcut to the results they want.

In other words, don’t dangle your product in front of your readers’ faces and say, “You have to buy this to get anything good.” Give them the good stuff in the post itself.

4. Blog about your customers

Sharing your customers’ experiences with your product can work wonders. Your readers get to see how your product is benefiting real people, and they’ll become more interested without feeling pressured.

TOMS does this with its “Locals Who Give Back” blog post series. Each post profiles a TOMS customer who is making a difference in their local community.

Don’t worry—you don’t have to be TOMS to do this effectively.

All you have to do is make heroes out of your customers. Listen to ordinary people’s stories, and broadcast them to your audience. Your readers will instantly connect with these stories, and that means they’ll connect more with your brand.

5. Do affiliate marketing (the right way)

There’s a reason why tried-and-true methods are tried-and-true. Affiliate marketing is no exception.

But you know what I can’t stand? When bloggers try to hide the fact that they’re using affiliate links.

If your readers really love your blog, they’ll be more than happy to help you out by buying something they were already interested in anyway.

Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income has two great rules for affiliate marketing:

Don’t be an intrusive salesperson who hawks products to their readers. Be your readers’ friend, and recommend products that will improve their lives.

6. Fix a problem

People will always have problems, and they will always want to fix those problems. That’s where you come in.

By fixing your readers’ problems with your blog posts, you’re earning their trust. Eventually, they’ll want to check out what you have to offer.

SumoMe does this by regularly posting monster guides that cover a subject exhaustively. And if you look at their articles (like this guide on content upgrades), you’ll see they go over everything. They leave no stone unturned.

But you don’t have to write thousands of words to fix problems—shorter can work too. No matter the approach you choose, make sure you’re thorough when fixing your readers’ problems. Don’t give them a temporary duct tape fix—give them a long-term remedy.

7. Give away a preview

You know what the trouble with a lot of products is? They’re all talk. Any product can sound great with a well-written description.

But if you know you’ve got something good, give your readers a free preview. Let them in on the action so they can see for themselves just how great your product is.

If you have a subscription service, give your readers a free trial. If you have an e-book, give away the first chapter.

Here’s my challenge to you: Give away more than you think you should.

When Seth Godin released his book Permission Marketing, instead of just giving away one chapter, he offered the first four chapters free. (And the offer still stands!) That free preview didn’t stop the book from creating a legacy with marketers all over the world.

And make sure your free preview is packed with good stuff. Don’t give away a limited free trial or an introduction. Give your readers the good stuff, and when there’s no more free content, they’ll likely pay for more.

8. Hold a contest

No one can resist the offer of something free. You can leverage this by holding a contest on your blog.

You’re probably thinking, “How can I generate sales if I’m giving something free?”

This is how. Contests help you grow your audience and build interest in your brand. After a successful contest, you’ll have a lot more people to share your products with.

To get the best results with your contest, go social. For example, use Rafflecopter to give extra entries to people who perform certain social actions, such as liking and sharing your page:

(Bonus tip: You can also use contests to get tons of user-generated content.)

9. Give your readers an exclusive deal

Every time your readers make the choice to check out your latest post, they’re investing their time in your work. By giving your audience an exclusive deal, you’re thanking them and giving back.

Don’t make the offer public anywhere else. Make it a readers-only deal, and say so. You want your readers to feel special.

Conclusion

Selling doesn’t have to leave you feeling slimy.

When you do it right, selling equals helping your readers. Only promote products you know will improve your readers’ lives.

After you’ve been blogging and interacting with readers for a while, you’ll realize it’s a small community. These people aren’t facts and figures. They’re humans with problems that need to be solved, and you can help.

It’s all about helping. If you’re focused on providing value, the selling part becomes a lot easier.

Your readers want to support you. All you have to do is ask.

How do you use your blog to generate sales?

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How to Spice Up Your B2B Blog if It’s Mind-Numbingly Boring

Feel like something’s missing on your blog?

Maybe it’s your font…

Maybe your theme…

Or could it be your logo?

While most B2B bloggers focus on improving minutiae, the truth is their content is just plain boring.

As a B2B owner who engages in online marketing, you were probably told that a blog would propel your company to the top of the search engine results pages.

Little did you know, however, how tricky it would be to come up with engaging blog posts on a regular basis.

People often assume that trade blogs are dry and uninteresting by their very nature. That isn’t—and shouldn’t be—the case.

After all, who will keep coming back to your blog if they’re bored to tears whenever they visit?

Luckily, there are plenty of easy ways to spice things up.

Here are 25 useful tips to turn your B2B blog into something that delivers the returns you deserve. It’s never too late to make your B2B blog an effective part of your online marketing strategy.

In fact, I’m bursting with ideas for making industry blogs more dynamic and engaging. Here are my 25 best tips:

1. Use a talented writer

I can’t emphasize this one enough: Whoever writes for your blog should be an innately talented writer.

Moreover, they should actually enjoy writing, and their enthusiasm should shine through in their work.

It’s plainly obvious when an industry blog has been written by someone who lacks the necessary writing chops.

Even if you must pay for it, make sure your content is penned—or typed, as it were—by someone who can truly do it justice.

2. Write in the first person

Blogs are meant to be personal. Readers want connect with the human being, not the letters on a screen.

Start with a simple introduction that explains who you are and why you’re qualified to talk on the topic.

It’s okay to sprinkle in a bit of humor if you like, but not necessary.

Whatever you do, avoid the impersonal third-person writing style, which looks like this:

“[Company Name] has made several advancements in recent years.”

Instead, stick with the first person, which switches the example above to the following:

“We have made many advancements in recent years.”

Feel free to use the second person too by addressing readers as “you” from time to time.

3. Convey authoritative industry knowledge

If you decide to run a B2B blog, it should revolve heavily around your industry. The more niche you make it, the better off you will be.

With that in mind, stay abreast of the latest industry happenings, and touch upon important topics as they arise.

Stay in the loop about the latest news and trends concerning your industry, and pay attention to what thought leaders in your industry are doing and saying.

This will have you jumping out of your seat with new, creative ideas.

4. Let your personality shine through

Industry blogs are often stifled by the notion that they should be formal and professional at all times. The result is stilted, dull language and bland, uninspired content.

Go ahead and let your personality shine through in your blog. It’ll make it more fun to write, and your readers will appreciate it too.

5. Don’t overthink it

Because a B2B blog represents your company, it’s natural to want each blog post to be absolutely perfect.

However, editing it to within an inch of its life won’t do you any favors.

While posts should be proofread prior to publication, don’t fret over every last thing.

That’s a surefire way to sap your creative energy and to start hating everything about running your blog.

6. Keep it niche

To broaden their horizons a little, B2B owners often stray from their niches to cover completely unrelated topics.

This may make it easier to brainstorm new ideas, but it has the negative effect of alienating your audience.

Readers will turn to you for specialized information, so give it to them.

Padding your blog with posts covering random topics does more harm than good in the long run.

7. Skip posts about blog or website updates

To you, updates to your blog or website are probably pretty exciting.

Trust me, though: no one else cares. Sharing such news in your blog only shows that you are completely out of ideas.

If you find yourself tempted to share news about technical updates, sit down and start over. Better ideas can and will come to you—I promise.

Source: Quickmeme.com

8. Be prophetic

Be like Nostradamus from time to time by making predictions about the direction of your industry.

It may feel a bit risky—will readers come back and call you out if you turn out to be wrong?—but it’s a great way to expand your horizons when coming up with new topics to cover.

You don’t need a crystal ball to make this work.

Just stay informed about your industry and share educated predictions with your audience.

9. Express emotion

A big reason for running out of writing inspiration is feeling like you must hold in your emotions.

Here’s the thing: Readers appreciate it when you do, and it makes your content a lot more relatable.

Go ahead and express how you feel about stuff from time to time. For example, are you excited about that upcoming trade show, or are you dreading it?

Expressing your emotions should open up many new possibilities for spicing up your blog.

10. Share inside stories

Let readers in on how your company operates by occasionally sharing inside stories about interesting happenings.

Giving them a glimpse “behind the curtain” will keep them engaged and give you a lot more interesting fodder for your blog.

For example, in the weeks leading up to an important product launch, create posts about how the company is preparing.

When important new employees come on board, share the news.

11. Be personable but professional

Writing blog posts is much easier when you keep it personable. Still, because it represents your company, your blog should maintain an adequate level of professionalism.

Spice up blog posts with occasional quips about how you’re thinking or feeling about certain topics. Write as if you are having a face-to-face conversation.

Everything else will fall into place from there.

12. Go in-depth

All too often, B2B blogs merely skim the surface of the topics that matter to their audiences. Generic, fluffy posts are easy to churn out, to be sure, but they leave a lot to be desired.

Your industry blog will be far more compelling when you delve deeply into topics from time to time. If you’re worried about holding your audience’s interest through such topics, create a series of posts to break things up into digestible chunks.

This has the added bonus of keeping your readers coming back for more.

13. Interview people

I know, you’re not a journalist.

However, getting out there and interviewing important people in your industry is a great way to come up with interesting topics for your blog.

Of course, you don’t have to literally interview people face to face.

Through email and social media, you should be able to conduct at least occasional interviews that will give you all kinds of blog fodder.

14. Add images and other types of media

Internet users dislike being presented with walls of text.

A great way to enhance your industry blog is to sprinkle it with relevant images, videos, and other media.

Get a subscription to a stock photography service to ensure you have plenty of options at your disposal.

Include your own photos, videos, and other creations too to keep your audience engaged.

15. Load posts with facts and data

Online, you can find statistics and other data about virtually any topic under the sun.

Fill your posts with data from reliable sources to make it more engaging and useful.

Don’t stop there, though. Share statistics and other data regarding your business and industry too. In other words, be your own source.

16. Become an expert

Since you own a B2B, you are surely very knowledgeable about topics that relate to your industry.

Kick things up a notch by focusing your attention on a very niche area, and learn everything you can about it.

By becoming an authority on a particular subject, you will be swimming with ideas that matter to your audience.

As you learn new things, additional ideas will spring to mind more easily.

17. Write listicles

A B2B blog needn’t be stodgy or overly prim and proper (in fact, quite the opposite).

Like Buzzfeed does, create posts in a list format, publishing listicles from time to time.

Listicles are easy to write and fun to read even if they are written on dry topics.

18. Tackle tough topics

B2B blogs tend to shy away from especially difficult topics.

Getting to the bottom of something that tends to stump people who rely on your products or services requires a lot of work, but it also gives you incredible ammunition for generating interesting blog posts.

Zero in on issues nobody seems to be trying to resolve, and commit yourself to solving them.

Whether you’re successful or not, share your findings with your audience.

19. Share memes

Source: memegenerator.net

I don’t care how niche your B2B business is—there are sure to be plenty of pertinent memes out there regarding it.

Dig them up, and share them on your blog from time to time. Provide commentary regarding the meme to keep your blog plugging along.

If you strike out and can’t find many memes, create your own.

There are tons of apps for this, so there’s no excuse for not giving it a go!

20. Don’t promote constantly

Yes, you primarily write on your B2B blog to promote your business.

However, constantly posting overtly promotional posts is not the way to go.

Tooting your own horn from time to time is fine, but don’t let that become the overriding theme of your entire blog.

Your audience will be bored to tears, and they’ll probably be annoyed to boot.

21. Share findings from surveys and polls

Use apps and widgets to quickly and easily survey clients and prospects. Share the results, and comment on them in your posts.

Don’t be afraid to seek out surveys and polls from other sources too.

Even if they are not very recent, they will probably be interesting to your audience, and creating posts around them is fun and easy.

22. Be empathetic

On the one hand, you want to come across as an authority in your industry.

On the other hand, though, you want to connect with your audience to keep them engaged.

You can’t do that without showing a little empathy here and there.

When the situation warrants it, use phrases such as “…like many B2B owners…,” “…I know how it is…,” and “…I see that all the time…” to show your audience you understand them and to give your posts more personality.

23. Tie posts to current events when applicable

If a newsworthy event impacts your industry—even if only tangentially—go ahead and write an article about it.

On social media, this has the added bonus of potentially having your post appear in trending topic feeds.

Don’t go too far, though. You may find yourself trying to tie every current event to your industry, and that just won’t fly.

When it makes sense to do so, however, this tactic can work wonders.

24. Tie related topics together

Write crossover blog posts that tie seemingly disparate ideas together from time to time.

For example, let’s say you run a business that provides uniforms to the hospitality industry.

You spend time marketing your business too, so why not write a post that explains how the right uniforms can enhance your marketing efforts?

This is great because it subtly promotes your products while allowing you to showcase your expertise in a whole new way.

25. Go there

The vast majority of industry blogs give controversy of any kind a wide berth.

This is generally a wise move, but rocking the boat a little here and there wouldn’t be the end of the world either.

Go ahead and “go there” regarding the proverbial elephant in the room from time to time.

Get stuff off your chest. Just make sure to stay tactful and professional while doing so.

Conclusion

As you can see, B2B blogs tend to be dry and boring due to preconceived notions about how B2Bs should express themselves online.

While your blog shouldn’t come across as careless and sloppy, it shouldn’t be formal to the point of complete dullness either.

Commit the above tips to memory, and keep them in mind to transform your B2B blog from one that’s mind-numbingly boring to one that’s absolutely fascinating.

Be honest: Would you voluntarily read your own B2B blog?

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41 Tutorials That Teach You How To Become A Blogger

What if I could teach you how to become a blogger?

And, that learning how to blog, doesn’t need to be hard or expensive.

That for every $1000 course, $500 mastermind, $100 coaching session and $5 eBook, there’s a free tutorial online that teaches you everything.

And, that you can find them all with just a couple of quick Google searches.

In fact, scratch that – you can find every single blogging article you need right here.

In this article I’ve curated every single article you’ll ever need to learn how to become a blogger. No trick. No catch. Just to help you learn the trade the free way.

All you have to do is read on…

What You Will Learn

This list, like my list of SEO Tutorials and Traffic Generation Tutorials, doesn’t try to be the biggest or the longest.

Instead, this is here to be the best. Every article here has been hand-picked because it offers you the most useful advice for blogging.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner who’s yet to write your first post. An intermediate blogger who’s looking to get un-stuck. Or, a 10-year veteran who’s looking to freshen up your approach.

This article has been broken up into seven sections, and all you have to do is click the link below to jump to it.

• Starting your blog: Just starting out? Here’s everything you need to know about getting your blog off the ground.
• Blog content ideas: Make sure the well of content ideas never runs dry with these tutorials.
• Copywriting/Writing tutorials: Your ability to write, and write well, is the backbone of blogging. But don’t worry if you think you suck, after these tutorials, you’ll be a regular every day Stephen King.
• Headlines: Your blog posts don’t mean anything if you can’t get anybody to read them. These tutorials will help you craft the perfect headlines.
• Site optimization: Turn your site from just another blog and start capturing people’s hearts, minds, and email addresses.
• Monetization: Making money; that’s why you’re here, right? Well, these pro-tips will have you making an income in no time at all.
• Distribution, Promotion, and Social Media: You also need to be sure people see your blog posts. That’s exactly what you’ll learn here.

You’ll also find that every tutorial has a label attached to it as Easy, Medium or Hard.

That way you know what you’re getting yourself into and can filter out the articles you don’t think you’ll be able to replicate.

• Easy: Even if you’ve never written a blog post in your life, you’ll be able to follow this.
• Medium: You’ll need to have a few posts, and a couple of good ideas, under your belt.
• Hard: You need to have spent at least a year in the blogging trenches.

If that all sounds good to you, let’s dive into the tutorials

ATTENTION: Unlock My Award Winning Blogging Resources Instantly

How To Become A Blogger

When you first start your blog, it’s okay to feel confused.

There’s no guidebook, no manual, and you’re not always sure what success will look like. It’s the same for any business.

What you need is to take the right steps in the beginning to know you’re setting your blog up for a bright future.

In this section you’ll find step-by-step tutorials, tips and guides from people who have grown their own $100,000+ a year blogs to give you a solid foundation.

How To Start An Award Winning Blog by Matthew Woodward

• Style: Video Guide
• Difficulty: Easy

Want to know the specifics of how I turned my blog from just another Internet Marketing blog, into an award winning, money making machine?

Then look no further than this step by step video guide.

By watching, you’ll learn:

• How to start a blog over my shoulder step by step
• How to set everything up including your own domain
• The blog will be mobile responsive, secure & automatically backed up
• It will also be fully SEO optimised with social integration

If you’re more of a visual learner, this is the best article for you.

279 Days To Overnight Success by Chris Guillebeau

• Style: PDF/Manifesto
• Difficulty: Easy

This guide from Chris Guillebeau, the creator of the world famous The Art of Non-Conformity blog, talks you through how to become a blogger.

Now, this book came out in 2009, so some of the practical elements are out of date.

But, the core values are still true today. So if you want to create a blog that matters and makes money, take the time to read this book.

Inside Chris shows you through:

• How to set goals for your blog
• How to understand your audience and create content they want
• The most common blogging mistakes
• How to handle criticism and what people think of your work

By the end of it you’ll be able to put your work out into the world with purpose and confidence.

And, that’s one of the keys to blogging success.

How To Start A Successful Blog by Matthew Woodward

• Style: Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty: Easy to Medium

This is my personal step-by-step guide that I used to grow this blog to $73,334.09 profit.

Every section of this tutorial was followed, by me, to the letter to bring this blog to where it is today.

If you want a complete blueprint that you can use to unlock the potential of your blog, this is it.

In the tutorial I’ll show you:

• How I grew the blog from day 1 step-by-step
• How I created blog content
• How you can start making money right away
• How to share your content with the world (so that they care)

By the end of my guide, you’ll have the perfect foundation to grow a profitable blog in any niche.

Beginner’s Guide to WordPress by WPBeginner

• Style: Blog Post Series
• Difficulty: Easy to Medium

Okay, this isn’t one tutorial – it’s eight.

If you start a blog, you should do it with WordPress. It’s easy to use, simple to design and so user-friendly even a toddler could use it.

Over these eight guides you’ll learn:

• How to get started with WordPress
• How to upload WordPress to your site
• How to choose the right plugins for your site
• How to select the perfect theme for your site

By the end of this series, you’ll be familiar with WordPress and be able to address some fundamental technical issues, as well as design your site.

The 90 Day Blogging Strategy by Matthew Woodward

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty: Easy

Want to take the confusion out of starting your blog?

Well, this guest post from James Johnson shows you everything you need to do over the next 90 days to go from blogging zero to blogging here.

Inside you’ll learn:

• The importance of blogging with a goal in mind
• How to give your audience what they want
• The most effective ways to generate traffic
• How to monetise your site instantly

This guide will ease you along the path of blogging, from creating content to making money, and show you the simplest ways to stand out from the crowd.

19 Things to Know Before You Start a Blog by Blog Tyrant

• Style: List Blog Post
• Difficulty: Easy

In this guide, Ramsay, the Blog Tyrant, shares his 19 must know steps before you start your blog.

It’s not just a list post with hollow advice, though. This guide will help you make all of the important decisions you need to make before you start your blog.

Ramsay will talk you through:

• Why you should still be writing long content
• Why your blog needs a responsive design
• How to outsource the work you don’t want to do
• How to keep your information (and your site) secure

If you have no idea what running a blog is like, this gives you a great insight.

How To Build A $500 Per Month Niche Site by Location Rebel

• Style: Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty: Easy

Sean Ogle has built a career out of teaching people how to start niche blogs that make money.

In this guide, he gives away his specific strategy that has worked time, and time (and time) again.

He’ll talk you through:

• How to choose the right niche
• How to connect with journalists to grow your brand
• How to get started with guest blogging
• How to monetize your site

There’s not much more that you need to get started.

By the end of the article you’ll have a clear picture of what it takes to start a niche blog, the essential work you need to put in, and what success looks like.

How To Start A Travel (Or Any Other) Blog by Nichehacks

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty: Easy

In this article James Johnson (a contributor here, too) talks you through how he started his blog, One Day Guides as part of a niche site challenge.

Don’t be put off by the title, though; this applies to any blog.

He talks you through:

• How to launch a travel niche blog (or any blog)
• Why you don’t need to pay for a mailing list
• The reason you need to stop worrying about design
• The essential pages for your niche site

If you follow his step-by-step tutorials you can have your blog set up in just a few hours and for as little money as possible. Not bad, huh?

Blog Content Ideas

Once you’ve set your blog up, it’s time to start creating content for it. And, to do that, you’re going to need a consistent flow of good ideas.

When you first start out, it’s okay to worry that you’ll run out of ideas.

But trust me, even after blogging for this long, there are always more ideas. Sometimes they even just hit you in the shower.

But, with these tutorials, you’ll always have a sure-fire way to generate new ideas.

15 Content Creation Tools That Will Satisfy Your Audience by Matthew Woodward

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty: Easy

Are you like me and want to make coming up with good ideas as easy as possible?

Well, in this next article I’ll show you my personal list of tools I used to create content.

I’ll show you:

• How to use IFTTT to automate your ideas
• How to use Quora to find your audiences most painful topics
• How to use Udemy to steal content ideas (and use them for yourself)
• How to use automatically generate topics without even thinking

Save time. Generate ideas. Keep your blog alive.

150+ Blog Ideas That Will Absolutely Kill Writers’ Block by CoSchedule

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty: Medium

This article by Devin Joubert is just outstanding.

Instead of just telling you what to write, he gives you all the prompts you need to come up with ideas for yourself.

And, a little structure to give the new ideas context. Making the whole process replicable and sustainable.

Devin gives you ideas for a range of situations:

• Content Marketing
• Blogging
• Repurposing
• Creative

If you came up with one idea from each, you’d be able to create one post a week for nearly three years.

If that’s not value for (no) money, I don’t know what is.

The Ultimate List of 95 Blogpost Ideas for Creating Craveable Content by Buffer

• Style: Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty: Medium

Want to create blog post topics that will set social media on fire?

Then, you need this post from Buffer.

They’ve pulled together all of the resources you need to create a consistent flow of content that your social media fans will love.

In it, Kevan Lee goes through:

• Strategies for coming up with blog post ideas
• How to create and use a swipe file
• 36 instant blog post ideas
• 56 more questions to ask yourself (or your audience) to create content they want to read

Once finished, you’ll have almost one year’s worth of content (if you post twice a week). And, a few hundred more social shares to show for it.

How To Generate 105 Blog Topics In Under 1 Hour by Nichehacks

• Style: Case Study
• Difficulty: Easy

Short on time? This case study from Nichehacks shows you how to generate 105 topics in just an hour.

Now, they may not all be good ideas. But every blogger must go through the terrible ideas, to get to the gold. Don’t worry about that!

James will show you:

• How to find sexy, keyword rich, content
• What it takes to be an unconscious content idea generator
• A simple trick to leverage social media for great blog posts
• Free to use tools to generate ideas for you (so you can switch off your mind)

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve had to struggle for ideas; this method is guaranteed to get you unstuck.

Copywriting/Writing Articles

How to become a successful blogger? You have to know how to communicate with people through words.

Sounds simple, right? Well, yes and no.

The bad news is that it takes a lot of practice to get there. But, the good news?

You don’t have to be a great writer to start blogging.

You just have to have a clear message and a good work ethic. The rest you can learn from these tutorials.

Copywriting 101 by Copyblogger

• Style: eBook
• Difficulty: Easy

My.copyblogger is an excellent resource. And, one of their best freebies is this book about copywriting.

If you’re not sure what copywriting is, just think of it as what you’re reading right now.

It’s the type of writing that is used to sell, inform, intrigue and delight.

It’s what separates Bloggers from Novelists.

They’ll teach you:

• How to write to sell
• What makes up good writing
• How to write content people want to read
• How to unlearn everything school taught you

If you’re new to writing and aren’t too sure where to start learning, this book will give you all the basics you need.

3 Steps To Writing Content That Matters by SumoMe

• Style: Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty: Easy to Medium

Have you ever wondered what makes a blog post, well…good? SumoMe think they’ve cracked the code.

In this article their head content creator, Sean Bestor, talks you through the three major components every blog post should have:

1. Entertainment
2. Usefulness
3. Gooogle Ranking Ability

And gives you strategic ways you can apply them to all of your content.

If you find your content is falling on deaf ears, this article is the life-saving injection it needs.

A Step-by-Step Guide To Writing A Compelling Article Introduction by QuickSprout

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty: Medium

Introductions are the most important part of your blog posts.

If they aren’t gripping, enticing and value driven, nobody is going to read the rest of your content (where you win their hearts and minds).

In this tutorial, Neil Patel shares with you the perfect formula for crafting introductions so perfect your audience will by dying to read the rest.

You’ll learn:

• How to craft the perfect opening line
• Ways to tell a better, more gripping, story
• The benefits of speaking to your reader directly
• How to focus on benefits so people want to share your article

I learned the hard way that introductions are vital. Don’t make the same mistake and get your introduction skills nailed.

16 Powerful SEO Copywriting Secrets For More Traffic by Backlinko

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty: Easy

When people come to your page, it’s key to try and keep them there.

In this superb tutorial, Brian shows you all the tricks of the trade to keep people on your page for longer.

He goes into depth about:

• Creating introductions that decrease bounce rates
• How to get people to read more of your content
• Resources – like Udemy – you can use to create better content
• Words to add to your content that Google will love

By the end of the tutorial, you’ll have an entirely new approach to creating, and writing your content. And your readers will love you for it, no matter your niche.

How To Fix Weak Writing by Smart Blogger

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty: Medium

The biggest lesson I ever learned in Blogging is that almost everything English Class taught you is wrong. The words and phrases they drilled into your mind don’t translate into real writing.

In this tutorial, Shane Arthur talks you through the words you need to eliminate from your writing right now.

By the end of this, your blog posts will snap, crackle and pop.

10 Steps To Become A Better Writer by Brian Clark

• Style: Poster
• Difficulty: Easy (but it takes commitment)

This isn’t an article. It’s just this poster above. But if you want to be a good blogger, it’s one of the best tutorials you can follow.

There is no substitute for consistent writing, practice and creating content.

Not all of it will be good. Not all of it will be worth sharing. But this reminder to keep creating, no matter where you are right now, is paramount.

How To Spot, And Fix, Passive Voice by Men With Pens

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty: Medium

Have you ever heard of passive voice?

It’s a way of writing sentences that sounds, well…pretty weak.

If you want to create content that people want to read and hang on your every word, you need to weed it out from your writing. (Then you can learn how to use it in a good way).

In this article, James Chartrand shows you:

• What passive voice is
• How to identify it in your work
• Ways you can eliminate it from your writing
• How to write so your readers aren’t bored

For a blogger, I can’t think of a more valuable lesson in writing than this one.

How To Become A World Class Copywriter In 1 Month by QuickSprout

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty: Easy

Copywriting is a skill that can be learned. The belief you’re either born a writer, or you’re not one, isn’t true.

And, as Neil Patel points out here, even some of the best Bloggers in the world started out awful at writing.

All it takes is the time, dedication, and the know-how in this article to become better.

Here you’re going to learn:

• How to understand your audience (and write for them)
• How to promote benefits and not features
• How to strike emotional chords
• How to write specific headlines that convert

This is your write-to-make-money masterclass.

And it will show you how to become a blogger with much, much more ease.

7 Simple Edits That Make Your Writing 100% More Powerful by SmartBlogger

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty Easy to Medium

Editing is a skill that’s separate from writing. And while you don’t need to be of the standard of the Editor in Chief of The New Yorker, you do need to know some simple edits to make your writing better.

It makes your writing cleaner, easier to read and heaps more professional.

Here you’ll learn:

• How to identify filler words
• How to turn long sentences into short, snappy, prose
• How to upgrade your word choice
• The modern approach to grammar

Take this article and apply it to your next article (or go through and improve your old ones) and you’ll see the world of difference an edit can make.

Headlines

I’ve never met a successful blogger that can’t write earth-shattering headlines.

Your headline is your beacon. It’s what draws attention, captures their imagination and makes them want to do nothing more than read your blog post.

A good headline can make, or break, your piece of content. These tutorials will show you the tried and tested methods to create headlines that make sure your content is their top priority.

How To Write Magnetic Headlines by Copyblogger

• Style: eBook
• Difficulty: Medium (Simple, but takes testing and practice)

The headline of this book should be enough to share the potential inside. There’s a lot of information for a free eBook that you can devour and boost your headline writing skills.

You’ll learn, step-by-step, the core values of what make an attractive headline. The words, methods, and techniques needed to stand out from the rest of the crowd in your niche.

If your headlines suck, this is the place to start.

41 Copy And Paste Formulas That Get Clicked by Nichehacks

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty: Easy

Don’t want to take the time to write your headlines? Don’t worry; Nichehacks have you covered.

Here you’ll find a list of 41 headlines that you can simple copy, paste and fill in your words. And, with so many variations available, you’ll never have to write your headline again.

You’ll also cover:

• 41 copy and paste headline formulas guaranteed to grab your readers attention
• Which headlines work best for your niche
• Understand when to use each headline
• What makes the perfect headline

No matter who you are, or who you write for, by the end of this article you’ll have a bulletproof set of articles that are hard to ignore.

52 Headline Hacks by Jon Morrow

• Style: eBook
• Difficulty: Easy

This was the first book of headlines I ever read. And, even after all these years, I keep the PDF to hand when I write headlines, too.

Jon Morrow has been writing scintillating headlines for Smart Blogger for as long as I can remember. In this eBook here, he shares with you his secrets. Including:

• How to write painful headlines
• How to write Zen, Minimalist, and Short headlines
• How to use numbers to increase your readers
• Valuable lessons from century-old newspaper headlines that still work today

And, if you write a piece of content for every headline in the book, you have enough content to last you a year. Win, win, win.

Write Better Headlines With These 355+ Power Words by SumoMe

• Style :Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty: Easy

Power words are those words that make you feel something when you say them. For example; fast cash now. Hot coffee here. Explode your traffic.

There’s an emotion behind them which you can picture, and feel, in your bones when you say them. And this emotion is what makes people care about what you’re writing.

You’ll also find there is no better place to put them than in your headlines, either.

This article from SumoMe may just be a list of words. But once you learn how to use them, you’ll start to blog in the big leagues.

Site Optimization

Optimization is all about taking the traffic you get to your site and converting it into customers, email subscribers, and loyal fans.

These tutorials are going to show you how to design your site, create lead magnets and do the basic SEO for your WordPress blog posts.

If you want to learn how to perform Search Engine Optimization on your site, you should check out that list of tutorials right here.

How To Create A Lead Magnet In Under 10 Minutes by Robbie Richards

• Style: Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty: Easy

A lead magnet offers the people who visit your site a free product in return for their email address, social share, or any action that you want them to take.

Don’t worry, this isn’t an expensive product and doesn’t even need to cost you a lot of your time.

In this step by step guide, Robbie Richards shows you how to create a product in under 10 minutes that will convert your traffic into loyal fans in just a few clicks.

He’ll share with you:

• How to create killer content
• How to optimize it fully
• How to create a lead magnet from it
• How to create opt-in boxes that convert

By the end of this article, you’ll be able to create lead magnets for all of your content and see a drastic increase in your conversion rates.

How To Optimize Your Blog Design by SumoMe

• Style: Case Study
• Difficulty: Easy to Medium

You may think your blog design is just about how pretty your site looks when people land there.

But, your design can also impact how much money you make. And if they take the actions you want them to.

SumoMe saw this issue and took a much deeper look into it.

After researching the most efficient templates on the internet right now, they distilled the information into an actionable strategy you can learn to design your blog.

They’ll teach you:

• How to use a Hero Image to improve your read time
• How to eliminate choice paralysis
• How to increase your scroll rate
• How to use rows and get more eyes on more content

If you find your bounce rates are high, and not enough people convert the way you want, you should take a look at the strategies in here.

The Start-to-Finish Guide to Optimizing Your WordPress Blog Posts by Moz

• Style: Blog Post with Checklist
• Difficulty: Easy

SEO is one of the most talked about subjects in blogging.

It’s also one of the most misunderstood by bloggers. This post helps make that a little easier, especially if you’re a newbie blogger.

Serge Stefoglo shows you really basic steps you can take, like:

• How to correctly format HTML
• How to make your images Google friendly
• How to write a meta description
• How to use the YoastSEO tool

That will help you get your blog noticed by Google and drive you some well-deserved traffic.

Case Study: How to Collect 4,635 Email Subscribers by Robbie Richards

• Style: Case Study
• Difficulty: Medium

The amount of email subscribers you have correlates to how much money you make (more on that next).

So, it’s important to capture as many emails as you can from the people who visit your site.

Again, Robbie Richards is here to show you how to do that with ease.

In this excellent case study, he shows you how you can capture lots of emails even with just a tiny bit of traffic.

You’ll learn:

• How to create simple pop-ups that convert
• How to A/B test to double your sign ups
• How to 4x your email subscribers in five minutes
• How to get thousands of social shares

All of this is proven with real clients in a real environment. And you can replicate every step even on a tiny budget, and a minuscule amount of traffic.

Critical Blog Success Metrics by Matthew Woodward

• Style: Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty: Easy

Have you ever thought about what success looks for your blog?

It’s a simple question, but the implications are huge. And once you answer this question, you can optimise your site accordingly.

In this article Kristi Hines will show you:

• How to analyse blog engagement metrics to learn about the traffic coming to your site
• Email marketing metrics that will help you better optimize your content
• Social media metrics to determine content popularity and influencer reach
• Backlinks to increase your website’s authority in search

So you can measure, track and monitor your success. Leading on the road to money, success and a blog you’re proud of.

Monetization

This is why you’re here right?

A blog is an incredible way to make money online that comes with a lot of perks, such as: not having a boss, freedom, control over your income and making hundreds of dollars from topics you love.

The only question that gets in the way is, well…how do you monetize a blog?

Well, that’s where these tutorials and guides home in.

They show you how to become a blogger that makes money online, by highlighting the most effective ways. All you have to do is follow along.

31 Ways To Monetize Your Blog by Matthew Woodward

• Style: Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty: Easy to Medium to Hard

There are lots of ways to monetize your blog.

But, in this article, James breaks it down to the 31 ways you can start to make money right now.

These are plug and play strategies that work.

James talks you through:

• 31 simple strategies to monetize blog traffic
• How to start making money by the end of the day
• Why advertising isn’t the devil
• Why your audience is crying out for you to sell to them

That way you start to make money in minutes and not months.

And who doesn’t like quick money, right?

60+ Ways to Make Money With Your Blog by ProBlogger

• Style: Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty: Easy toMedium toHard

Want to know every way you can monetize your blog? Then look no further than this complete menu from Problogger.

This classic article shows you every single way you can monetise your blog effectively. You’re also talked through the pros and cons of each so you can make informed decisions.

This isn’t quite a tutorial. But, there’s so much here for you to consider it did need to make the list.

How to Learn a New Skill and Get Paid for It in 48 Hours by Jeff Goins

• Style:Case Study
• Difficulty: Medium

I love this case study from Jeff Goins. To run it he posed the question, “Can you start a blog and make money from it within 48 hours?”.

Taking his (second) passion, coffee, he was able to create a free blog and generate a new customer in just a two days period.

In this guide, he talks you through the entire process and how he did it.

Jeff shares with you:

• How to choose a skill you can sell
• How to create a brand around it
• How to deliver it to a community
• How to make instant sales

If you feel like stuck and just can’t seem to make money online, I’d suggest you try this article. It can break that belief and show you the internet is the place to make money right now.

8 Powerful Ways to Monetize a Blog That Generates Under 1,000 Visitors Per Day by Neil Patel

• Style: Blog Post with Case Studies
• Difficulty: Easy to Medium to  Hard

Just because you don’t have thousands of people landing on your site every day, doesn’t mean you can’t make money.

You just need to know how to deliver your product to the people you do have.

That’s exactly what Neil shows you how to do here. He’ll talk you through:

• How to create an in-demand online course
• How to become a coach (even if you’re an internet ‘nobody’)
• How to use your skills to become a freelancer
• How to write and sell Kindle eBooks

These are all proven ways to make money, and he has the case studies to prove it.

If you’re looking for the means to boost your income, you may have just found your answers.

How To Create And Sell Your Own Digital Product by Nichehacks

• Style: Blog Post
• Difficulty: Easy

A digital product is a product that exists only online. Unless they were to print it out onto paper, it doesn’t exist in the ‘real’ world.

That makes them one of the best products a blogger can create and sell. Why?

Because they’re cheap (even free) to make. You don’t need to package and send them. You don’t need to worry about returns.

And, you can put them together in just a couple of hours or days.

In this guide, you learn how to choose, create and sell your digital product. You’ll cover:

• The 60-second guide to digital products (and if you should sell them)
• Why most digital products fail
• Your two biggest problems and what to do about them
• A simple checklist for creating magnetic products

Even the smallest blog, with the least traffic, can start to make money from these digital products.

Content Distribution Tutorials

The final stage of everything is getting people to see your blog posts.

Because, without traffic, you’re trying to sell to an empty room.

In this section, I’ve collected tutorials that will help you take your content, and your social media pages, and get them in front of people who care.

But, if you want tutorials on getting significant traffic to your blog, check out this complete list here.

The Simple Content Promotion Strategy by Matthew Woodward

• Style: Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty:Easy

Content promotion doesn’t need to be hard or confusing. In fact, when you get your process in order, it can be really quite simple.

In this article, Chris Lee shows you through:

• How to promote content the smart way
• How to identify the right people to contact
• The right way to contact them that will maximize your success rate
• How to scale content promotion with ease

So you don’t have to work hard; you can work smart.

Effective Content Promotion by Copyblogger

• Style: eBook
• Difficulty:Easy

Copyblogger can give you a clear foundation for most topics in blogging. This guide to content promotion is no different.

Another free download from My.Copyblogger, this book takes you through the core values and strategies of content promotion. Showing you where, when and how you should share your content.

There is some information that’s dated, but the core principles are always the same. If you’re not sure what it takes to get a blog post out into the world, you should start here.

How To Increase Your Blog Traffic by Matthew Woodward

• Style: Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty: Easy to Medium

Trust me, you want to read this guide. Julian Sakanee shares his personal strategies that he’s used to grow traffic on multiple blogs. All you have to do is follow along step by step.

He’ll show you

• How to increase blog traffic easily
• What this traffic strategy is (plus some proof)
• Why this traffic strategy works
• How I did it and most importantly…how you can do it too

You can’t really ask for more from a traffic generation article!

16 Ways to Skyrocket Your Blog Traffic Through Content Distribution by Neil Patel

• Style: Blog Post Guide
• Difficulty: Easy to Medium to Hard

Getting your content in front of new people isn’t as simple a just putting it on social media and hoping for the best.

Instead, you need to manipulate your content to make it shareable, interesting and fit for different platforms.

In this article, Neil Patel talks you through 16 different ways you can manipulate your content, and your sharing, to get the most traffic per blog post.

Some of the strategies include:

• Turning your blog post into a shareable infographic
• Hijacking BuzzFeed and stealing their traffic
• Stealth marketing on Reddit
• Answering Quora questions with your content

This will give you access to thousands of people who otherwise would have no idea who you were And; that’s just the start of his strategies.

How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy From Scratch by Buffer

• Style: Blog Post Guide and Course
• Difficulty: Medium to Hard

Social Media doesn’t need to be hard. When you have a system in place, it can be easy to master and drive consistent traffic back to your blog. But where do you start?

This tutorial from Buffer shows you how to create an entire social media strategy for your blog from scratch.

Even if you’ve never posted a Facebook update (who are you?!) you’ll be able to follow along.

Kevan Lee shows you:

• How to choose the right social media channels for your blog
• How to create a social media tone of voice
• How often to post content
• How to time your shares for the best results

If you want to use social media to get big traffic wins on your blog, this is the best place to start.

The Complete Guide To Building Your Blog Audience by QuickSprout

• Style: Guidebook
• Difficulty: Easy to Medium to Hard

Finally, this in-depth guide shows you how to build your blog audience from scratch. Even if you have no idea who you’re writing to, you’ll be able to build a following here.

Across ten chapters, Neil Patel and Aaron Agius take you through:

• Whether you should be using paid advertising
• How to unlock a hyper-specific social media traffic source
• How to outreach to other bloggers
• How to repurpose your old content to attract new readers

If you want a complete understanding of getting your blog seen and growing an audience, you’re in safe hands here.

ATTENTION: Unlock My Award Winning Blogging Resources Instantly

Wrapping Up

There you have it. All the articles you need to successfully start, run and monetize your blog today.

To save you going all the way back through the article, you can click any of the links below to jump back to the section you want to visit:

• Starting your blog
• Blog content ideas
• Copywriting/Writing tutorials
• Headlines
• Site optimization
• Monetization
• Distribution, Promotion

So now you know how to become a blogger, what is holding you back?

Let me know in the comments…

41 Tutorials That Teach You How To Become A Blogger was originally published on Matthew Woodward

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