ProBlogger: Kick-Start Your Blog With These Engaging Content Suggestions

Kick-Start Your Blog With These Engaging Content Suggestions

Posted: 22 Apr 2014 08:47 AM PDT

This is a guest contribution from Jonathan Long of Market Domination Media.

Image via Flickr user mkhmarketing

There is not a specific content strategy that is set in stone for bloggers to follow. Every single blog has a specific target audience, requiring content that engages that blog's particular audience. What works well for "Blog A" might not work as effectively for "Blog B," requiring each blog owner to test different content approaches to determine what performs the best for his or her particular blog.

Here are some content suggestions that can be used to help spark some interest in your blog:

1. Free Giveaway

Want to build a loyal blog following quickly? Give something away for free! People love free giveaways, but don't think that you will need to break the bank to attract attention to your giveaway.

Think of something that your target blog reader will see a value in, and this doesn't mean monetary value. Sure, it could be a physical product such as a t-shirt or prize, but it can also be an eBook packed full of information that they will want to get their hands on.

Use your giveaway to gain an action such as an opt-in to your email list, a Facebook like, a follow on Twitter, or any other action that you deem to be beneficial for your blog's growth (ensure it is done legally, however – you will find different states and countries require different specifications). You can create one-time giveaways or even weekly giveaways in order to gain traction.

When done successfully, it will snowball the blog’s growth. The first giveaway can be used to increase the blog's social media following and subscriber list, making the audience for the second giveaway much larger. Now repeat this over and over and watch the growth occur.

Share Knowledge

Blogs are a great way to develop a special connection with your readers, and you will build up a loyal following if the audience feels that the information being shared with them is genuine. Use your knowledge and share it with your audience.

This applies to business blogs run by large corporations all the way to personal blogs started about a topic of interest. For example, if a super fan of the New York Yankees starts a baseball blog about the team then they should share as much knowledge about the team as possible. The readership and engagement will increase as the blogger presents knowledgeable information to the readers.

Avoid sounding like you are trying to sell them something. Your blog isn't the place to pitch products or services. If the blog is an extension of a big brand, then post useful information. If the reader finds it valuable, they will naturally want to do business with the brand after making that connection.

Answer Common Questions Publicly

While this applies many to blogs run by a brand, this same approach can be used by virtually any blog out there. Keep track of customer service inquiries and develop a list of commonly-asked questions. Once it is determined that a particular question is asked frequently (like this one Darren spoke about recently), then address it via your blog.

There is a good chance that a large percentage of the audience has the very same questions but hasn't taken the time to contact the blog with their question. You can even group these into your FAQ section and continue to add to it over time.

If you see an increase in a specific question due to a current event or something that is time-sensitive, then take a moment to address it on the blog. If you answer your readers’ questions before they have to ask, it makes your blog appear to be a great source of information in the eyes of the reader.

Data & Case Studies (Visual)

Many of us are visual learners by nature, hence why infographics have become such a popular and successful form of content marketing. If you have data that you feel your blog audience will enjoy and find useful, present in a visual manner and make sure you encourage them to share it.

The same applies to case studies; if you have interesting information, then share it. Virtually every blog out there, regardless of the topic, can gather some interesting data for their readers. Taking the same baseball blog we used as an example above, that blog could post interesting statistics about upcoming opponents, previous games, or stats in specific categories. Presenting them visually will attract more interest and result in more social sharing love.

"How-To" Posts

You will find "How-To" posts on almost every blog out there, and for a good reason: they are very well received. These types of informative posts are a great way to spark conversation and they do not necessarily have to be straight-up text posts. You can create "How To" posts using infographics, video, images, or even slide shows (or even a combination of these).

It all comes down to providing useful content that creates an action from the reader, whether that is a comment, a social share, a follow or like, or even an email list opt-in. Over time you will understand what types of content your audience responds to the best and can create informative "How-To" posts based around your most popular blog topics.

Are you currently utilizing a content engagement strategy that is producing amazing results for your blog? Feel free to share what is working for you in the comments below.

Jonathan Long is the President/CEO of Market Domination Media, a web design and online marketing firm that specializes in creative outside the box marketing with a focus on ROI.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Kick-Start Your Blog With These Engaging Content Suggestions

Shoemoney - Skills To Pay The Bills

Why I Stopped Reading Articles about Success

Posted: 22 Apr 2014 06:56 AM PDT

Lately, as I’ve been getting all kinds of experiences trying to raise money for my startup the PAR Program, I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes people successful.

Sure I’ve sold a few companies, and I wrote a lot about this topic, but I don’t think there is one single successful person that thinks about this topic when they hit some snags. If you’re trying to hit new level, you’re going to hit new challenges. As a wise man once said “new level, new devil”.

But one thing that really pisses me off are these articles about what makes people “successful”. For example, Techcrunch wrote an article about the “billion dollar club” and the patterns they were able to extract about what made these companies successful.

I don’t read them. Why? Because these articles are basically circle jerks – articles written to please the readers, not to actually tell it like it is.

Companies fall somewhat evenly into four major business models: consumer e-commerce, consumer audience, software-as-a-service, and enterprise software.

It has taken seven-plus years on average before a "liquidity event" for companies, not including the third of our list that is still private. It's a long journey beyond vesting periods.

Inexperienced, twentysomething founders were an outlier. Companies with well-educated, thirtysomething co-founders who have history together have built the most successes

San Francisco (not the Valley) now reigns as the home of unicorns.

Ninety percent of co-founding teams comprise people who have years of history together, either from school or work; 60 percent have co-founders who worked together; and 46 percent who went to school together.

Remember, this article was written by a venture capitalist who lives in bay area and is writing for tech people, who mostly want to be in tech & in bay area.

But if you were to read this, you would think.

oh wait, i’m not that young

oh wait, i ain’t in consumer-anything

oh wait, i don’t live in SF

oh wait, i work alone

Result? You’d think you can’t be part of the billion dollar club.

That’s why I don’t read these articles either. They don’t talk about the one guy toiling away and ends up makeing it. They don’t about that guy in Nebraska building a kick ass marketing software. They don’t talk about anything that doesn’t resemble what they want to see.

I’m not going to lie. When I read these articles, they make me think for a second, “do I have what it takes?”. Then I realize these articles were written not for their true substance, but for entertainment purpose. One of the ways is to give them what they want to read so that they’ll keep reading and buying more of their shit, so that these media companies can sell more ads.

So, I say .. screw them.

Let me tell you a contrary point of view.

1) “You can’t build a huge business without co-founders”

Yeah i would agree that it’s definitely easier to start a company with people. It’s like workign out – your chances of losing weight and getting in shape is exponentially higher when you have a workout buddy that you’re accountable to, not to mention it’s way more motivating.

But at the same time, I wouldn’t necessarily make a prediction that solo founders won’t be successful just because they work alone.

For example:

Amazon (Jeff Bezos)
Walmart (Sam Walton)
eBay (Pierre Omidyar)
FedEx (Fred Smith)
Spanx (Sara Blakely)
PlentyOfFish (Marcus Frind)
ClickAgents/BlueLithium (Gurbaksh Chahal)
KFC (Harland Sanders)
Wendys (Dave Thomas)

Yeah, these guys did alright.

2) “Starting business with your husband/wife/family is a bad idea

VCs are notorious for being anti-family business (here’s why).

I think these families did alright:

Cisco Systems (Leonard Bosack & Sandra Lerner)
McDonalds (Richard and Maurice McDonald, granted they sold to Ray Kroc)
WebMethods ( Phillip & Caren Merrick, acquired by Software AG)
Clif Bar & Co. (Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford )
Fiji Water (Lynda and Stewart Resnick)
VMWare ( Diane Greene and Mendel Rosenblum)
Flickr (Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake)

Yeah, you get the point.

I don’t know if I would recommend to anyone that they should or should not recruit their family members as co-founders or partners of a company, but think of it this way. What are the odds that your wife/brother/sister would walk away from you when things go bad? Probably not as high as if they were complete strangers, especially if you’re not funded and your personal cashflow isn’t very stable.

3) If you’re not in Silicon Valley or NYC, you have no chance.

If “billion” is about the only measure of success, I would say people outside these two areas did alright:

Ok, you want US? Statistically speaking, Connecticut or Nevada seems like a better choice than California (where all the “innovation” is happening)

By the way.. the richest (or 2nd richest dude) isn’t even American. Carlos Slim Helu lives in Mexico!

What is success to you?

Dollars and cents can’t be the ONLY measure of success because I would classify Nelson Mendela or Mother Theresa (neither of which were “rich” materially) as wildly successful. So I say, go for how YOU define success to be in your own life.