- The Secret Fairytale Magic to Irresistible Blog Posts
This guest post is by Amy of Harrisonamy.com
From Jack and the Beanstalk, to Little Red Riding Hood, to Cinderella, fairytales have been enchanting audiences for thousands of years. They are constantly being retold, modified and even made into blockbuster movies. Despite their apparent simplicity, they enrapture and engage audiences time and time again.
Copyright Arto - Fotolia.com
1. Create desire
Every fairy story starts with some desire. Whether it's Cinderella wanting to go to the ball, a poor man wanting to be king, or a girl taking some food to Grandma's house, the story starts with a desire for something.
No enchanting tale starts without some kind of hope, dream, want, or wish. Even if it's the wish for things to stay the same, the characters have to want something.
So how does this relate to your blog? Well your customers are reading your articles because they also want and are hoping for something, whether it's entertainment, advice, or tips on a particular subject.
One of the best ways to stimulate that desire is by using your headline to show them that you have something they will want. For example:
- 7 Ways To Go To The Ball If You Are A Beautiful But Poor Step-Sister
- The Best Way To Get To Grandma's House While Avoiding Wolves
- How To Get Your Magic Beans To Grow In Just 2 Days
2. Overcome challenges
In every good story, there’s some kind of challenge or obstacle and your blog readers are experiencing the same thing.
The challenge is usually stopping them achieve what they truly desire. Red Riding Hood had to face the wolf, Cinderella had to get past her wicked step-sisters and Jack had to try and get round the giant to get his treasure.
So what is it that your blog readers desire and what is their ugly step-sister, wolf, or ogre that stops them? Perhaps your blog readers desire more traffic but are confused by the different methods to attract more readers. Or perhaps they want to write a novel but are getting stuck with writer's block.
When writing a blog post, ask yourself what challenges come between your audience and what they desire, and how you can help overcome them.
3. Give them a hero to help
You might not be a woodcutter, a fairy godmother, or a king, but on your blog, you are your reader's hero! Heroes have experience, knowledge, and special skills, and your blog is the perfect place to show your readers that you are the right person to help them on their adventure by:
- explaining how you've done something that they want to do
- pointing out mistakes you've made on the way so others can avoid them
- giving them shortcuts and tips to get results quicker than learning first hand.
If your audience grows to see you as their own fairy godmother of marketing, crafts, or blogging, they'll want to keep coming back for more.
4. A transformation
Fairy tales always include some kind of transformation. It might be a pumpkin into a chariot, or a wolf into an old lady, but the most popular transformations are the ones that satisfy our desire for the fairytale ending.
So we love Cinderella becoming a princess, or Aladdin becoming a prince, and your readers are also looking for a positive transformation when they visit your site.
For example, after reading your blog post:
- Can they do something they didn't do before?
- Do they feel better and inspired, or not so alone?
- Do they have access to resources that will give them results?
Try and give some form of transformation, and your reader is more likely to not just enjoy your post but bookmark it and come back to it again and again.
5. A happy ending
Most fairy tales have happy endings. Now that doesn't mean every blog post you have has to end on a high note, what it means is that your reader should be satisfied that they got what they were looking for.
So if they were coming to your blog for satirical remarks on celebrity relationships, then a photo casebook of embarrassing shots of the latest A-list couple is going to be their happy ending. If others are looking for mediation advice, finding out how to turn their office into a centre of calm is going to be their happy ending.
Consistency in delivering to your audiences expectations is important when writing a blog. You are essentially writing stories every time that you publish and just as we want a happy ending when we decide to read a fairy tale, your customer wants that same consistent experience when reading your blog.
Now it's over to you. Are you already using these five fairytale elements, or do you have a different approach in writing irresistible content? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below!
Amy is a copywriter for entrepreneurs and in addition to writing for clients, she coaches others to smash through their copy obstacles and get their message out to their audience. She provides free copywriting and content marketing advice on her website Harrisonamy.com
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
The Secret Fairytale Magic to Irresistible Blog Posts
- Sell $20,000 Worth of Your Next Ebook
This guest post is by Sarah Mae of MarketandSellYourEbook.com.
Marketing is the act of buying or selling in a market.
Where is your market?
Do you have one? Do you own one? Do you shop at one? In the new world of invisible wires where connections are made 24/7 all around the world, the starting place for successful marketing begins at your market … your space … your platform.
How is your platform looking?
Once you have established yourself as an influential voice in your market (your blog, other blogs you’ve created, social networking, conferences, meet-ups, etc.), then you can expect to sell at least $20,000 worth of ebooks if you do a few simple but significant things (assuming the ebook has been written, edited, and is ready to go with content people need).
Have a slammin’ cover
People judge a book by its cover, if it weren’t so people wouldn’t be hiring designers to create something magnetic for the cover of our words .. .we want to draw people in. My advice? You must have a professional looking cover, so unless you’re a graphic designer (and a good one), hire someone. I recommend Insight Blog Design (brilliant, easy to work with, affordable).
Involve your community in the ebook process
The more you involve your community, the more your community is going to want to be a part of what you’re doing. Some things you could do to get your community excited about your ebook:
- Have them come up with the title or subtitle of the ebook.
- Ask for their tips on the subject matter and include the best ones in the ebook.
- Ask their opinions on things regarding the ebook.
- Have them vote on the cover (two choices).
Get your ebook on Kindle and Nook
Have you read this? Digital sales are dominating—take note and get on the ships that are delivering! If you aren’t tech savvy, hire someone to format your ebook to Kindle and Nook. You have to do this if you want to be a serious contender in the game. Some tips:
- Make sure to fill out your author profile with your blog/s and Twitter handle … also, a nice picture.
- Before you tell the world that you’re on these platforms, make sure you have reviews (you’ve got to ask!).
To get your book on Kindle, go here For Nook, go here
Send your ebook to your friends and network community
Ask your friends to read your ebook, give you a quote if they like it, and leave a review on Amazon. Also ask if they would be willing to review it on their blog and/or host a giveaway.
Prepare a community … that you’re a part of
You need to set up a website dedicated to your ebook that includes:
- a one-liner at the top that effectively describes your ebook and makes it desirable
- quotes from people who have read it (try and get quotes from well-known people/bloggers)
- a call to action—”Buy the Book!”—with links
- pages: about the book, about you, people involved (link love is good), sample chapter, forum, blog, reviews, and anything else you can offer that benefits your community
- a video of you talking about your ebook—this is no time to be dull (unless that’s what people like about you)! Also, keep it to two minutes or you’ll lose people!
You also need to set up a Facebook fan page and Twitter hashtag or handle.
- Get your Facebook page up and ready with your ebook picture, description, and links—you will need to be involved in the community for it to work—leaving quotes, interacting, starting discussions, etc. Always answer questions!
- Have a hashtag ready to go (that isn’t being used at all) and if you will work it consistently, a Twitter handle as well—you need to interact with your community!
Create a video
It’s all about connection. You want to make a connection with your audience, your community. A video allows people to hear and see you, your expressions, your passion, and your heart for what you have written. Creating a thoughtful video (not something just slapped together) will significantly increase your reach and your sales. Tips:
- If you’re selling your book using E-junkie, use their YouTube branding to get more traffic to your ebook website.
- Make sure to put the whole URL of your ebook website in the description—make it the first thing there.
Price it right
There are tons of opinions on how you should price your ebook, and you can utilize Google to find them all out. My opinion is that you should consider your audience and then make a decision. My audience is made up of mostly stay-at-home moms, so I decided to price my ebook at $4.99 (also, no weird numbers please, like $4.97 or $6.93—simple is always better). My reasoning? Who doesn’t have five bucks?
Build buzz
The minute I decided I was going to put out an ebook, I began to talk about it and get my readers involved. Build excitement. Read Top Things I've Learned in Selling an Ebook, by Tim Ferriss.
Launch!
This is the fun part! You have worked hard and are ready (albeit nervous) to get your book out “there”! Here’s what you need to do:
- Have a launch day celebration with giveaways. I contacted companies and had them donate to the release of my ebook. I used both of my blogs to launch, and had different giveaways for each. Giveaways and fun build excitement and spread the word.
- Be everywhere. You’ve got to get (and keep) your ebook in front of people. Ask bloggers to do reviews and/or giveaways (get tons of these … and don’t stop). Guest post. Perhaps even pay for advertising on strategic sites—but only if they write a post along with an advertisement. The posts are gold.
- Give your ebook away. Free is always good. I gave my ebook away free for one day only to anyone who would spread the work via social media channels. I gave over 2000 away for free, but this proved to be the best decision I could have made. You’ve got to break through your own sphere of influence. Giving away my ebook by having others spread the word everywhere in the online space broke through. I gave away over 2000, but I’ve also sold over 11,000.
- More freebies! What can you offer that will reward those who have purchased your ebook? Think “free printables” or “extra chapters”, “bonus material,” etc. Have a readers-only downloads page.
- Find a way to keep your ebook fresh. For example, my ebook has challenges in it. I listened to the feedback from readers, and decided I needed to have easier challenges for those in a different stage of life. I created the new challenges and then made them available for free to those who purchased the ebook. Be creative, and listen to your readers.
- Find a way to make your ebook work in groups. The power of groups can make your ebook go viral. Can you put together a group challenge of some sort? A book club with questions (that you perhaps put on a reader downloads page)? Again, think creatively.
- Pay attention to what bestselling authors do, and then do it. Look at @garyvee and @tferriss—brilliant marketers.
What tips can you add from your experience launching and selling your own ebooks? Add them below!
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Sell $20,000 Worth of Your Next Ebook
- Lovely Little Leaps of Faith
This post was written by the Web Marketing Ninja—a professional online marketer for a major web brand, who's sharing his tips undercover here at ProBlogger. Curious? So are we!
For most people, spending money isn’t an automatic thing. You’ve worked hard for your money, and when you’re about to part with it, you want to believe your hard work will actually mean something.
Copyright malcam - Fotolia.com
But with the inherent desire for meaning, there's always a little voice inside us looking for a reason not to spend our cash. As bloggers and online marketers, we're often our own worst enemies. With some of the tactics we use, we're basically handing a megaphone to our readers’ little voices, and encouraging them to scream, “Get the heck out of here!”
When I'm evaluating my own work, or that of others, I often refer to these as leaps of faith. The bigger the leaps of faith you expect your customers to make, the less likely they’ll be to make them. Let's look at ten of the most common, and see how you can make them lovelier!
Not making it clear what your blog is about
Some say three seconds, some five, and some ten—but so often to I come across blogs that I can't even figure out in five minutes! If a user’s thinking, “I don't know what this site is about,” how could you expect them to give them your email address, or their money?
Not communicating what's going to happen
Our fear of the unknown is strong. Chances are low that I'll give you my email address or my credit card number if I have no idea what's next in the process. If you’re collecting email subscriptions, make sure your reader knows what they’re singing up for; if it's a ebook download, make sure they know as soon as the payment is made that they'll be emailed instructions on how to download; if it's a physical product, tell them the fulfillment process up-front. This is simple stuff, but it’s important.
Making people feel like you've gone back to 1999
Design isn't that important, right? Wrong. If your website looks like it was built in the 90s, then all I'd say is you'd want to have some pretty awesome content. You're blogging on the web, so it needs to looks like it fits here. I doesn’t need to be a work of art, though—good is enough.
Not showing people how secure you are
If your readers or potential purchasers feel in any way that giving you money is going to compromise their information, they'll scamper. Use PayPal as one payment option—it’s widely regarded as secure. Use Visa and MasterCard logos and “secured by” messaging to show that your site and checkout processes are secure.
Making people jump through hoops
More clicks makes for fewer sales. Equally, the more convoluted you make your sales process, the more clients will drop out. We're busy people with short attention spans, so only ask for the information you need to complete the transaction—ask for all the nice-to-haves later.
Breaking down before their very eyes
If your sales process breaks somehow, only the most motivated buyers will tell you about it. And by the time you realize, customers—and their money—will have left for somewhere else. Make sure your key buying processes are bulletproof from reliability, validation, accessibility, and cross-browser compatibility perspectives.
Not showing safety in numbers
We like to buy in crowds—it makes us feel safe and secure. If 10,000 people purchased your product and they’re all okay, then I’ll see the purchase as low-risk, and I’ll buy. As a matter of authenticity, show real numbers rather than a figure you made up. Users are pretty switched on to those kinds of errors now.
Not showing the past or the future
If you have a lengthy sales process, which for some products is a must, then make sure you show people the journey, so they know where they have come from and how far there is to go. It puts the process (its length and level if intensity) up front, and keeps users motivated, as they know there’s an end in sight.
Asking for too much too soon
Passwords are a common factor in this point. Unfortunately, too many people use the same password for every site and service they use, so asking for a password on a small purchase can be like asking people for access to their bank accounts. On the flip side, people will likely trust you pretty quickly if you ask for a password, but there is a time to do this, and it's after you've proven your worth to them.
Looking, talking, and thinking small
There's nothing wrong about being small, but you can make yourself bigger buy showing you keep pretty good company. It might be mentions in mainstream press or from larger personalities, or perhaps just showing you keep good company. Be small—but only when it works in your favor.
I had a conversation with friend this week about a checkout process that, after three attempts, I simply couldn't figure out. He mentioned that it was complicated because the tax rules in his country were complicated. I responded with the same comment I say to everyone:
Don't make your customers’ lives hard just because yours is
After 30 minutes of exploring different options, we found a way to make it work—you always can.
… and that's the real secret to lovely little leaps of faith.
Stay tuned for more posts by the secretive Web Marketing Ninja — a professional online marketer for a major web brand, who's sharing his tips undercover here at ProBlogger.
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Lovely Little Leaps of Faith
- Is It Time to Hit the Reset Button on Your Blog?
This guest post is by Joseph of Blog Tweaks.
Don’t worry, nearly every blogger knows the story. You’ve been writing for six months or more, but haven’t seen a significant increase in traffic. Some of your posts have have been successful, but the majority have gone unnoticed.
Quite frankly, you’re ready to quit.
But should you?
No. Don't give up just yet.
Why you shouldn’t give up yet
Did you know that most professional bloggers weren't successful with their first blogs? This list includes Darren Rowse, Jon Morrow, and Johnny Truant.
With so much to learn in the first year, it's almost impossible to start a successful blog on the first try.
But you also learn a lot in that first year. You learn how to write better posts and how to craft compelling headlines. You learn how to use Facebook and Twitter for promotion, and how to work the technical side of WordPress or Blogger or whatever platform you’re using.
After a year of blogging, you've got a lot invested in your blog. If things are going rough 12 months, it’s not time to quit just yet.
So what should you do instead?
Hit the Reset button
Instead of giving up on your blog, you should hit the Reset button.
It’s not that your blog isn’t any good—you just didn’t know what you were doing when you started. This is the case with most bloggers.
When starting, they don’t know what they want to write about, and they don't know how to write for an audience. Most people don't even know how to write a simple post or headline.
It makes sense that you wouldn't be successful with your first blog. Does a magazine owner start a successful magazine without any experience? Of course not.
Magazine owners start successful magazines after being in the industry for a decade or more. After years of experience, they're ready to start a publication. That's what the first year of blogging is all about—gaining industry experience.
So now that you have some experience, how do you use it to run a successful blog? And what do you do if your current blog isn't performing as well as you'd like?
Here's what to do—instead of giving up, hit one of the two blog Reset buttons.
Reset button #1: the Refresh button
If your blog is good enough, you may be able to get away with hitting Reset button number one—the Refresh button. This means cleaning up the clutter, giving your blog a new look, and planning for the future.
To refresh your blog, mercilessly delete any weak or unnecessary posts. After this, take a serious look at everything else on the site. If there are any tags or widgets that are creating clutter and adding no value, get rid of them. All of them.
Widgets shouldn’t just take up space. If you can’t think of what value that they add or if they take away from something important, it’s time for them to go.
Here’s an example: Do you really need a calendar widget for your blog? Do people actually use it? And even if a handful of people do, should it really sit above other important sidebar elements like your subscription widget?
The answer is no. It’s got to go. If there’s anything else like this, it needs to go as well.
The goal is to have a clean, uncluttered site that doesn’t distract from the steps that you want people to take. That means reading your posts, subscribing for future posts, clicking on ads, or anything else that is really important for you.
If there’s anything that doesn’t fit into one of these important categories, it needs to be removed. Immediately.
After cutting out the unnecessary clutter, the next step is to refresh your blog's look. This is the time to invest in that premium theme you've been looking at. They're usually around $80 and totally worth it.
If you want people to take your blog seriously, you need a professional looking site. To get one, invest in a premium theme.
This is how to hit the Refresh button. If your blog needs more help than this, it may be time for the Eject button.
Reset button #2: the Eject button
It’s possible that your blog is in worse condition than the refresh button can help with. When you started, you really didn’t know what you were doing. Your blog was totally an experiment, and you don’t even like your topic any more.
In this case, you need to hit Reset button number two—the Eject button.
If you're really tired of your blog and you know you’re ready to start over, now is the time to do it. Hit the Eject button and get out of your blog while you still can. It's time to start over.
The harsh reality is that you have a limited amount of time to write for your blog. Everything you write needs to be creating value for the reader and needs to contribute toward your long term goals. If you feel like your blog is headed in the wrong direction, don’t just try to wash it up a bit—get out as quickly as you can.
If you do, don't quit—start another blog. Take some time to decide what you really want to write about, and then get to work.
Pick a topic that will get you going in the direction that you want to go. Then, start a self-hosted WordPress blog with a premium theme that will give you the flexibility and look that you need to create a professional impression that readers will take seriously.
After getting these pieces in place, it's time to start writing again. Go ahead, make that keyboard work.
A fresh start
Don’t worry, it’s okay to start over. A fresh start in a new direction may be exactly what your blog needs. You may not realize it, but most bloggers have done it already. Most successful bloggers didn’t start out with the site that they’re currently writing. Most of them hit one of these two Reset buttons.
So what do you think? Is it time for you to hit the Reset button?
Joseph recently started Blog Tweaks which specializes in helping bloggers reset their blogs. Check out the site to see how you can get your blog tweaked.
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Is It Time to Hit the Reset Button on Your Blog?
- 5 Reasons to Blog Anonymously (and 5 Reasons Not To)
This guest post is by Phil (not his real name) of somehighschoolblog.
It used to be impossible to run a business anonymously. Sure, some authors could pull it off, but if you worked at an office, what were you supposed to do? Go to work with a bag over your head? But today anyone can accomplish this, because anyone can author a blog (and you thought I was going to tell you to work with a mask on, or something).
Copyright Ovidiu Iordachi - Fotolia.com
• your only motivation is to become "famous"
• your blog connects to another part of your life
• you are blogging to build more connections with your friends or boss.
You should consider blogging anonymously if:
• you're planning on touching on a sensitive or taboo subject
• you don't want to be identified with your blog
• you are worried about negative real-world consequences that could arise from your blog.
If you've already started your blog, it is too late to change to an anonymous persona (but you can always create another blog). However, if you are thinking of blogging anonymously, you should consider these points.
Reasons to blog anonymously
The concept of anonymity has always held a special enchantment for some people, and, for others it is purely practical. Whatever your blog topic, there are a five strong reasons to blog anonymously.
No pressure
If no one knows the "real you," then they can't tell you, in person, any thoughts they have on your blog. This means that no one will be able to make fun of, disagree strongly with, or ask to be featured on (using peer pressure) your blog. If your blog is a total flop, you won't be publicly embarrassed.
While I wouldn't advise disregarding your manners and morals, you don't have to worry about close acquaintances or family members being offended by your posts.
A fresh start
Creating an anonymous identity also allows you to create a new character, if you so choose. Let's say you are working full-time as an auto mechanic, but you are trying to create a blog on entrepreneurship. Your readers might not think you could be an authority on this subject as an auto mechanic, but an anonymous identity removes this doubt.
Instead, you could create a back-story to fit your blog; for this case, it could be something about how your latest entrepreneurial project is to build a blog anonymously.
You're shy or unsure
Were you one of those people who is unwilling to put yourself on a blog for all to see, you should choose to blog anonymously. This way, you can hide behind a fake identity and not worry about what others think (similar to there being no pressure). You could also use anonymity to discover how people will react to your content before associating yourself with your content.
It's a gimmick
Blogging anonymously might fit your content. For example, if you were to start a blog involving content that you received anonymously. Also, blogging anonymously places a shroud of mystery around the author and limits your personality to how you network and write your blog.
Additionally, you could make it into a marketing scheme, such as offering to reveal your true identity after reaching a certain number of subscribers.
Reasons not to blog anonymously
As an anonymous blogger who uses a pseudonym, I've been able to experience many of the negative aspects of choosing to remain anonymous firsthand. However, I have not yet encountered any one thing that was impossible to work around or ignore, so I have remained an anonymous blogger.
It’s harder to build traffic
Some of the initial things that many blogs recommend new bloggers do to build traffic cannot be done anonymously, and, thus, must be ignored or adapted to anonymity. For instance, many of the tips here and around the web encourage you to put your link in your email signature.
The only thing I use my anonymous e-mail address for is my blog, so this is redundant (it would be odd to have it in my real email). Also, linking to your blog from your Facebook page or Twitter account ruins your anonymity.
And, while you can (hopefully) trust your family not to share your blog's identity, you can't tell your friends or acquaintances to check out your blog and to spread the word, which is a great initial traffic builder.
More pressure
This is the exact opposite of "No Pressure," but depending on what type of person you are, blogging anonymously could actually be more stressful than blogging as yourself.
You have to constantly watch yourself to make sure your anonymous identity never reveals your true identity (even in something as simple as signing your name to an e-mail) and vice-versa. Often, extra measures must be taken to ensure anonymity, and, while I won't delve in to all of those, you must always check when giving any real information that it is not easily accessible.
Take this into account when creating user profiles for services or when registering a domain name (but you can choose to keep your information private for an extra $10 in this case).
No real-life connection
Since you can't tell your friends about your blog, you can't ever reference your blog in conversation.
You will need to depend on the digital world for feedback, and there will be no "Did you like my last post?" conversations. Instead, you will have to rely entirely on comments to gain a sense of how your readers feel about your blog.
The truth always appears
In such an interconnected society, if enough people put effort into it, they will discover your true identity. If/when this happens, you need to consider whether or not your readers will feel betrayed or angry towards you. You should consider this even if you plan on going public with your identity yourself at some point.
Feeling a loss of accountability
Many people think blogging anonymously protects them from whatever they write, so they are incredibly rude, untruthful, or worse. You should always know that people can find your true identity, and it is just plain useless to write this way. After all, no one will want to read it.
Furthermore, though, (and I can attest to this) it may sometimes be easier to excuse not posting for an extra few days, or not pursuing a guest-posting opportunity, because no one holds you accountable but yourself (no inquiries from friends or family). Therefore, you must be responsible and motivated to successfully blog anonymously.
Should you blog anonymously?
While there are both pros and cons to blogging anonymously, I feel that the negatives don't outweigh the positives in certain situations. Each blogger is different, but, in my case, it is the lessened pressure combined with the creation of a new character that led me to blog anonymously.
Also, because it is harder to build initial traffic with previous connections, I think it is more challenging to build an anonymous blog (therefore, any experienced bloggers looking for a new project should try building a blog with an anonymous persona, disregarding any previous connections they've accumulated).
Do you have any experience, or advice for those thinking of blogging anonymously?
Using the pseudonym of Phil, Phil is a high school freshman who writes for, markets, and manages a humor blog about all aspects of high school life. Phil is unsure of what career he wants to pursue, but a few possibilities can be found here.
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
5 Reasons to Blog Anonymously (and 5 Reasons Not To)
AskWoman.ru : новости
Многие из нас задумывались о перепланировки своего жилья. Любая перепланировка отнимет у вас много времени. Ведь по закону сломать стену и передвинуть ее как вам вздумается, запрещено. Необходимо пройти законодательно утвержденную процедуру.
Разрабатывая бизнес-план вам необходимо четко разобраться в его сути. Самостоятельно определить объем рынка, возможную прибыль и будущих конкурентов. Для инвестора наиболее важна безопасность его капитала, который он вкладывает в стартап. Поэтому лучше в бизнес-плане продемонстрировать низкий уровень развития бизнеса. Указав «железобетонный» вариант, вы страхуете себя от лишних вопросов инвестора, и удачное развитие стартапа будет «бонусом».
