Tag: small business advice

8 Things You Should Know Before Starting A Blog

Starting a blog has been the most popular thing on the internet recently. In this article, I share 8 things you should know before starting a blog that will save you headaches later.

 

With more bloggers than ever producing content on the internet, blogging has become extremely popular. While blogging may seem like an attractive thing to do, there are a lot of things you should know about it before getting started.

 

 

Many bloggers think that success and traffic will come easy, but they’re in for something else. While blogging is easy to set up, it’s extremely difficult to consistently write great content while bringing relevant traffic to your site.

 

 

In this blog article, I will share with you 8 things you should know before starting a blog.

 

 

1. Focus Your Content

 

Before writing your content, you need to focus on one specific topic. Typically, your topic choice should reflect your skills, expertise, and passions.

 

 

Once you have focused in on the type of content you want to write, make sure all your articles somehow revolve around the general topic you choose. The quickest way to lose traffic and readership is to write about things that your audience doesn’t care about.

 

 

2. Consistency Is Key

 

Bloggers rarely know the huge responsibility they’re getting themselves into. By blogging, you vow to write great content on a consistent basis. If you promise your readers that you will post every 3 days, you HAVE to post every 3 days.

 

 

Many blogs disintegrate quickly because the blogger loses interest or cannot keep up with the posting schedule he/she started with. It seems like lots of fun when you get started, but you HAVE to be consistent.

 

 

3. Traffic Has To Come From Somewhere

 

Many bloggers start a blog and get extremely frustrated when they cannot bring in much traffic. On paper, bringing in traffic to a blog seems easy since most people don’t know what struggles bloggers go through.

 

 

Just opening up a blog alone will not get you much (if any) traffic. You need to spend 25% of your time writing great content and the other 75% of your time finding ways to bring free or paid traffic to your website.

 

 

4. Don’t Lie In Your Titles

 

Many people think a great way to promote their articles and get a lot of readers is to write amazing titles. Typically, these amazing titles end up being fake or cannot deliver on the promise.

 

 

When you write a title and someone sees it, they are expecting you to deliver on the title that you have promised them. Always make sure your title backs up the content in your article!

 

 

5. 6 Figure Incomes, 4 Hour Work Days, and Vacations Don’t Come Easy

 

The blogging world has been corrupted by many individuals who have sold people on false hopes and dreams. While it’s definitely possible to live a great life by making passive income from running a blog, the chances of it happening are very low.

 

 

Even more than that, most of the successful bloggers who make 6 figure incomes and take vacations all around the world entered the blogging sphere in the early 2000’s. Don’t start a blog thinking this will happen to you in a few months because it takes years of hard work and great content to be on this path.

 

 

6. Quality Outweighs Quantity

 

Marketing a blog can be very challenging. You can spend $100 on a PPC campaign, bring 500 visitors, and get zero positive value out of it.

 

 

Bringing in a shit ton of traffic to your blog won’t make your website popular. Blogs need to have a community of loyal readers who return to the website on a regular basis. Instead of looking for ways to bring large amounts of visitors, find ways to bring a few visitors who you know will convert to long-term readers.

 

 

7. You’re On Your Own 

 

Unless you have a budget to outsource design, development, or online marketing work to third party companies, you’re truly on your own with your blog.

 

 

You’re in charge of uploading pictures, editing/cleaning up the website, adding new information/content, and running your own marketing campaigns. Blogging isn’t for slackers and you have to be committed to your craft.

 

 

8. Do It For Anything But The Money

 

If you’re starting a blog, do it because you love writing about a specific topic. Don’t start a blog because you see someone living an amazing life as a professional blogger.

 

 

If you do it for the money, your content stinks and your judgment is clouded by your desire to make some cash. It’s great to make money off any website, but it shouldn’t be the main reason why you’re starting.

 

 

Conclusion 

 

Blogging is a very exciting, but challenging thing for people to take on. It’s extremely fun and rewarding, but be sure to know these 8 things before starting a blog.

 

 

photo credit: Telstar Logistics via photopin cc

What I Learned From Cold Calling 300 People Out of a Directory

Entrepreneurs have to hustle at all costs. Yesterday, the hustle got real. Here’s what I learned from cold calling 300 people out of a directory selling my products and services.

 

Many people think the art of cold calling is dead. I still think cold calling is alive, but there are just a lack of people willing to give it a shot.

 

 

When the hustle gets serious enough in entrepreneurship, you should try cold calling. Cold calling is an easy way to test your market, validate a product, and generate sales for your business.

 

 

Yesterday, I picked up the yellow pages and started calling random individuals who I felt would be prospective customers for my product.

 

 

This was the first time I had really ever cold called a mass group of people, but I learned a lot from the experience. Here’s what I learned from cold calling 300 people out of a directory:

 

 

1. Write Your Pitch Down

 

Before I began pitching, I took some time to craft a well-writen pitch. Every time I picked up the phone, I had my pitch sitting right in front of me to limit any mistakes I could be making.

 

 

If you write your pitch down, you’re much more organized and calm on the phone. Being organized and prepared are extremely important to successfully cold call.

 

 

2. They Just Hang Up…..

 

If people weren’t into my pitch or the product I was selling, they would simply hang up. It’s really not as bad as people think!

 

 

The worst thing someone can do is just hang up on the phone or say a few mean words. Once I realized that, I was far more confident.

 

 

3. Don’t Stop Calling

 

I got a lot of voicemails when I started, but that didn’t stop me from continuing. I left voicemails and kept calling. I spent over 4 hours cold calling person after person through the directory.

 

 

Cold calling is truly a numbers game. The more numbers you call, the higher chances of conversion you have for your product or service. Never stop calling!

 

 

4. Experiment 

 

Test and experiment pitches with different people. See which pitches have the highest success rates and which ones don’t.

 

 

Once you figure that out, you can consistently use one pitch that you know has the best chance of working.

 

 

5. Analyze Your Audience 

 

I quickly found out that a certain ethnic group wasn’t going for the product. I was also able to isolate an ethnic group that was far more interested in the product and decided to focus on them.

 

 

Before cold calling, it’s very important to analyze who you’re calling and how they’re reacting. If you can figure out a more targeted audience to call, your closure rate dramatically increases.

 

 

Conclusion

 

No matter what anyone says, cold calling is not dead! It just takes the right mindset and attitude to successfully cold call individuals. Share your best tips for cold calling success below.

 

 

photo credit: How can I recycle this via photopin cc