Interviews have the potential to be so much more than just another element to add to your blog. When conducted correctly, an interview can produce a post that is truly one-of-a-kind and unique within your niche. Crafting quality interviews require care, consideration and these 5 essentials. read more

One of my favorite things about bloggers is their willingness to experience pain. We all know the classic stereotype of ‘basement bloggers,’ but it turns out that the blogosphere is comprised of millions of tough-minded people who are (mostly) slow to anger.

How can I tell?

After blogging and writing professionally for a handful of years, I can say with conviction that writer’s block is one of the most painful and frustrating experiences I have went through in my life. Staring at a blank page or a blinking mouse cursor in the wee hours of the morning is dreadful.

Yet, like every other blogger, I’ve willingly put myself in that situation time and time again as I’m attempting to craft a new blog post as an Internet marketer. Over the years, I’ve picked up a few techniques from newspaper editors, other bloggers and great writing minds that have not only helped free myself of a lot of writers block, but they have also improved the quality of my work.

These seven ‘writing hacks’ have optimized my blogging and I’m able to find the right frame of mind on a regular basis for writing blog posts that I’m extremely proud of. read more

Can you really write a quality blog post in 15 minutes?  Yes, but that should just be your time actually writing the post, and not the time doing the research and preparing to write.  I don’t want to mislead anyone here. If you are writing about a topic that you don’t know much about it could takes a couple hours just doing research.   But a quick 15 minute article should be written about what you know, what you enjoy, what you are passionate about.

The part of writing an article that can take the longest is doing research.  This is why I recommend making it a habit of doing research on a regular basis.  This way, when it is time to start writing you already have a head full of information.  But you can’t be expected to remember everything you read, so always do research with an eager mind and a ready pen.  Write down any stats, thoughts, and figures that you think might be useful. read more

Did you know there are some very simple things you can do on the social Web (and you might already be doing some of them) that can get you blacklisted, meaning you’ll be labeled as an annoyance, a person to avoid, or worse — a spammer?

Suffice it to say, if you want your blog and your foray into blogging to be successful, then you need to avoid the 5 ways to become a blacklisted blogger described below.

1. Fill your blog posts and comments on other blogs with links.

If you want to annoy people or be labeled a spammer, then fill your blog posts and the comments you leave on other blogs with links. This includes links back to your own site as well as affiliate links, text link ads, and so on. Links should enhance content. They should not detract from it making it impossible to find the links that are actually useful vs. those that are just self-promotional or revenue-generating.

2. Only talk about yourself.

Follow the 80-20 rule where 80% of the content and conversations you publish and participate in on the social Web are not self-promotional and 20% or less are self-promotional. No one wants to read what you have to say if all you ever do is talk about how great you are or your business is and try to sell your products or services. read more

How much time do you need to put into a niche before you can declare yourself an expert? Well, many bloggers seem to disagree, judging by their self-proclamations after only a few months, but once upon a time you were classified as an expert if you had spent roughly 10,000 hours on a skill, in a focused, structured manner. If we’re referring to a career job, at roughly 40 hours/week, that comes out to about five years. But when it comes to working online and establishing your expertise, the Web doesn’t wait around. Five years is too long, since Web technology is always changing.
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If you want your blog to be successful, then you need to start thinking immediately about how your blog is designed and configured. In other words, the way your blog is set up could ruin your chances of building a successful blog.

With that in mind, following are 10 of the easiest and most common ways that people ruin their blogs. Avoid them!

1. Too many ads
2. Blinding colors or colors that are too light to read
3. Pop-up ads – make them go away!
4. Keyword stuffing – you’re not fooling anyone with that list of keywords stuffed into the sidebar or footer.
5. Clutter – where’s the real content? read more

Currently, there are approximately over
150 Million blogs worldwide with a large majority of them talking about the same things, in same boring way. Millions of them look the same, many bloggers express themselves the same way and even more are blogging without passion, authority, concrete goals and without having a respectable brand. Many of us fail to realize that while we blog expecting to achieve success, we are also responsible for our personal brand.

Successful professional blogging is no longer for the average Joe with average goals. It is for the prudent who will approach their audience seriously and strive to build their company, and more so, personal brand.

Here is a massive guide that will get you started on the road to developing your blogging brand for success.

Set Goals, Huge Goals!

Before you register that domain or go crazy thinking about the right name for your blog, write down clearly defined goals for your site. Get a pen and paper, or however you write notes, and start jotting down everything you may require and what you NEED to be successful with your blog. Spend a week or two to decide your direction and focus on it. Your goals may not be set in stone for the entire lifetime of your blog since you will definitely grow, mature and learn so your goals should grow with you but remain in a general direction.

Aim for the sky! If your blogger friends want to achieve or are achieving $1,000 per month, shoot for $2,000 per month. Never limit your goals to match your peers or environment. read more

This is a guest post by Onibalusi Bamidele, a 16 year old young entrepreneur.

Building a better blog is not that easy, it requires dedication and sometimes it requires parting with your money. Why build a better blog you ask? Building a better blog is critical to your online success and all the elements listed below will help you have a better blogging experience.

Nice Design

So many people think this is not a criterion but so many people tend to leave some blogs if it does not have a good design. You need to have a nice and good looking blog, that has a
better design and that easily draws people attention. They all want information and there are several places to get the same information you provide on the internet so you have to give them a good reason to even read your blog, a good design comes in in this place because so many people believe people with good designs have good content while
those with a poor design have poor content. It might not be easy to get a free wordpress theme that will help your blog look more unique, you might need to buy a premium theme which makes your blog look even more better. The Thesis wordpress theme is a good example to use, you can get a custom designer to help you customize it to the look of your
blog. You are parting with your money but having the right theme will pay off later. read more

This is a guest post by Tom Walker, who blogs at The CreativeCloud.

So you have created a fantastic blog that you are passionate about and your traffic is increasing each and every day. Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of blogging! Now you need to ask yourself a very important question: can your blog successfully reach the unlimited number of potential visitors that are now using their mobiles to search online?

I used the word ‘successfully’ because your blog may still show up in a mobile search and reach potential mobile visitors, however the success of this will depend on how well your site appears on their somewhat cramped mobile screen and how user friendly it is at that size. People are impatient and often time-poor these days, and if they don’t find what they are looking for in an instant, they will simply go to a different site that does. You may have the best blog in the world, but if it is not mobile friendly, then you will be unable to convert potential visitors into subscribers and you will be missing out on the increasing number of people who use a mobile device as their primary means of browsing the internet.

Don’t fall behind your competition – lead the way! Here are some useful tips to help get your blog ready for the long term trend towards mobility. read more

Blogging success boils down to two things:

1. Get traffic

2. Convert it

“Convert it” means “get people to do what you want them to do,” which is usually clicking an ad, subscribing to your blog/newsletter, or buying something. (Or linking to your blog, or telling their grandma how awesome you are, etc.)

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you probably have a fairly constant stream of traffic flowing to your blog from one or more sources – search engines, social networking websites, online directories, and so forth.

But are you converting it as well as you can? read more