I just discovered a new blog author that trully inspired me. Chris guillebeau, someone, who just as Tim Ferris, has the capability to trully inspire. He has an overall vision but also has a really pragmatic, really hands on approach. I am currently reading his “279 Days overnight success” which explains how to make a carreer out of blogging. If you are looking for a quick rich scheme, this is definitely not it. Chris suggest that it take a year or even two to build a solid community of followers around your blog.
Here are some key elements that will make your blog project a success
- What? A remarkabke story
- Why? What is in it for the users. As far as I’m concerned I think it is the most important question to answer. A good approach is to put yourself from the user perspective. What they have to gain? Inspiration, education, entertainment….there must be something. The answer will change over time, so you always need to have it in mind.
- Prioritze Writing and Marketing. To be honest, this is one I still struggle with. It is important here to differentiate between what is important instead of what is urgent. Yes it is hard, especially for a person as me that is so good at multitasking. Yes sometimes it is beneficial to be able to do many different things, but the best way to get something done well, is to have your focus entirely and only on this thing. What Chris is suggesting is have a schedule and stick to it (no matter what urgent matters come up) time for writin your 1000 words post (something substansial) and also time for 5 marketing actions such as reaching to experts, affiliates or journalist (using the web, emails, twitter…)
- Be bigger then you are
- Build long term relation. No empire was build in a day. Therefore you need to bet on the long run. You are building a relationship and it takes time, it takes patience, it takes persistency.
- Strategic introduction of product and services. You need to be carefull with your blog.
