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• How to Use Blogging to Get Clients Flocking after You
  

  This guest post is by Onibalusi from YoungPrePro.com.

  I have been writing for others as a freelancer for over seven months now and within that period I have made over $20,000 just by writing for others. I keep on getting new client requests every month and due to an agreement with my current and main clients, I have rejected almost ten clients in the past six months.

  I have also noticed that in the blogosphere and in the freelancing world, less than 20% of the people get 99% of the results, so I decided to write an article on how to use blogging to get more clients to your business.

  Before I continue I’d like you to know that the tips in this article won’t help you get “cheap clients” who really don’t care about the quality of your work. I’ll be giving you tips that can help you get high paying, recurring clients that you can choose from.

  I’d also like you to know that every aspect of this article is essential. Don’t think you can skip my first point to go to the next and then expect the results to come. This is definitely not the ultimate guide on getting clients—I’m far from someone to write an ultimate guide on the subject. The tips in this article can also be modified to give you better results than I’m getting, but some people like to skip the main parts and try to rush into it for the money, then expect the results to come. That just won’t happen!

  Okay, let’s get to the tips.

  Focus on what you’re best at

  Try to put yourself into the shoes of your client first. Let’s say you’re a small business with a tight budget and you want to get the word out about your business. You think the best thing to do is to hire a marketing consultant to give you advice based on your business model and you decide to go out in search for one.

  You came across two people—the first is someone who is really desperate to make money and is therefore claiming the title of a “marketing consultant” because he hears that others with that name are making it big. The other, however, is a dedicated marketing consultant who lives, eats, and breathes marketing and who has helped several people with marketing their business. Which of the two will you go with?

  You might try to play smart and think clients won’t be able to see through you but as someone who hardly advertises my service but keeps on getting client requests regularly, I will tell you that the best thing to do is to focus on what you’re best at. Doing so won’t only increase your chances of getting a lot of clients, it will ensure you’re paid double what you’re worth, and it will also ensure your clients stick with you for a very long time.

  After all, the only thing your clients want is results, and once you can give them a lot of those, they will happily stay with you forever.

  Know which kinds of clients you want and tailor your blog posts to them

  I’m not trying to tell you to start writing blog posts every day inviting clients, or to be writing aggressive blog posts with the sole aim of getting clients. I’m taking about being specific about what you talk about, and letting potential clients see you as an expert on your subject.

  Take a look at Darren Rowse, for example. If a big client is looking for someone to give the best advice about building successful blogs, you can be sure they will hire Darren. Not only does Darren have three very popular blogs in different niches, he also has the most successful blog in the blogging niche (which has been the most successful for several years now). That alone speaks a great deal to show that this guy knows what he’s talking about.

  If you want clients to hire you to do their website design work for them, you need to be blogging about web design, and doing case studies that help analyze other people’s blog designs for better results. The more you can show someone that you know your stuff, the higher their chances of hiring you will be.

  I try to know how my clients have found me, and I have noticed that every single one of them discovered me through my blog posts about guest blogging, which assures them that I know my stuff as far as writing is concerned.

  Be a living example of what you have to offer

  If you’re a web designer who wants to have clients flocking after you, having a very poor website design won’t help you go far. The best way to get clients is by letting them know that you know your stuff—and what better way to do this than to be using your services yourself?

  Why will people ever hire you to write for them when you don’t even have a blog? Why will people hire you to help design their websites when you have never designed for someone else and the website template you use is one of the worst they’ve ever seen? Why will people hire you for SEO when you hardly get any visits to your blogs from the search engines? Why will people hire you to write their copy when you can’t even convince them to use your service?

  Since I’m human, just like you, I’d like to tell you that my number one concern isn’t my mother, it isn’t my siblings, it isn’t you either. It is me, and since every human thinks alike, I’d like to believe this is the same for everybody. Our major concerns are ourselves, and we think about ourselves before others. No one will hire you if you can’t prove to them that you’re an example of what you have to offer and that hiring you will be their wisest decision.

  Market yourself

  You will notice here that I’m not actually saying you should market your service.

  I’m not against marketing your service altogether, but my point is that being a living example of what you have to offer is enough marketing of your service in itself. So spreading the word about yourself will let a lot of people see you, and will result in them asking to buy your services.

  Look for the best tactics that those who are getting results in your industry are using, and start making use of them yourself. Don’t just rush after guest blogging because people in the IM niche says it is working for them. Facebook might be what’s working in your niche. Search engines might be the best friend of those getting the most results in your niche.

  So instead of following the general approach to marketing, try to take a look at how some of the people getting the most results in your field are marketing themselves. Then, start marketing yourself using the same approach.

  Use your blog

  Getting clients flocking after you isn’t as difficult as most people think. It isn’t about joining one freelancing site or the other. Blogging is the most powerful tool at the disposal of everybody, and you can easily make the best use of it to your own advantage. Utilize the tips above to get clients flocking after you—and let us know how you go in the comments.

  Onibalusi Bamidele is the founder of YoungPrePro.com, a blog where he teaches people how to write for traffic and money. Get his free 7 series eCourse on How to Build a Successful Online Writing Business

  Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
  

  How to Use Blogging to Get Clients Flocking after You

  
  
  

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• Take 5 Minutes to Make WordPress 10 Times More Secure
  

  This guest post is by David Wang of The ClickStarter.

  Hacktivist groups Lulzsec and Anonymous are on the prowl again. Their actions have generated lots of attention for hacking, and you can be sure that many bored kids and shady characters are interested to start hacking too.

  What if your blog was the target of a rookie hacker, honing his skills to make it to the big leagues? All of your hard work building a better blog, growing traffic and readership, and making money with your blog would be jeopardized—or, worse, lost forever.

  Thankfully, WordPress is pretty secure out of the box and they provide frequent security updates. Even better are the following super-simple actions that you can take to make WordPress ten times more secure. (Not scientifically verified! Your mileage may vary.)

  Move wp-config.php up one level

  The wp-config.php file contains all of your WordPress configuration information and settings. It’s game over if hackers gain access to this file—they would be able to inject malware into your blog pages, or *gulp* delete all of your blog content.

  A little-known feature of WordPress is that you can move the wp-config.php file one level above the WordPress root. On most Linux servers, wp-config.php would be located in:

  ~/home/user/public_html/wp-config.php 

  Simply FTP into your server, and then move wp-config.php above the public_html directory so that it is located in:

  ~/home/user/wp-config.php 

  

  This way, wp-config.php is outside of the public-facing web root, and no longer accessible to scripts and bots that hackers may employ over the Web.

  There are no other settings to configure—WordPress will automatically know to look for wp-config.php one level above. Easy, right?

  Caveat: This tip will not work if you install your blog in a subdirectory (e.g. public_html/blog) or as an add-on domain in cPanel (e.g. public_html/yourblog.com).

  Time required: 1 minute

  Delete the ‘admin’ account

  The default Administrator account on WordPress has a username of ‘admin’. Every n00b hacker would know that, so using ‘admin’ as the username is like having a back door to your house that every thief knows about. Do not ever use this as the main account. Choose a different username when installing WordPress.

  If you have been using the ‘admin’ username, go into the Dashboard » Users » Add New User screen. Create a new user with the role of Administrator. Now log out, and log back in as the new user.

  

  Go to the Users screen again and delete ‘admin’. You can transfer all of the content created by ‘admin’ to your new user account before confirming deletion.

  Time required: 1 minute

  Update WordPress, plugins, and themes

  WordPress makes it so easy to update itself, plus plugins, and themes, to the latest version. It’s so easy that you (almost) deserve to get hacked if you don’t stay updated. Spending one minute installing updates will save you hours or days of frustration and headaches if you ever do get hacked.

  

  Plugins and themes should also be updated regularly. All plugins and themes from the WordPress directory integrate with the automatic update feature. Many premium plugins and themes also have automatic updates, which is another great reason to invest in a high-quality theme framework for your blog.

  Time required: 1 minute

  Install WP Security Scan and Secure WordPress

  Finally, plugins that deal with security are another great way of reducing the likelihood of your blog getting hacked. Two really good plugins that do this are WP Security Scan and Secure WordPress by WebsiteDefender.

  WP Security Scan comes with several tools to help make your blog more secure:

  

  • The Scanner checks the permissions of the WordPress files and highlights any with the wrong permissions. FTP into your server and change the permissions accordingly.
  • The Password Tool tells you the strength of your password, and also generates random and super-strong passwords that you can use.
  • The Database tool allows you to backup the WordPress database and change the database prefix. Use it to change your database prefix to something like ‘7yhj2_‘. This makes it difficult for hackers to guess your database table names when trying to perform SQL injections.

  Secure WordPress takes a different approach and helps improve security by removing clues that can help hackers detect vulnerabilities in your system. The plugin’s settings screen is a simple list of checkboxes that do everything from removing login error messages, removing WordPress version numbers and even blocking malicious URL requests. I recommend activating all the checkboxes, unless you have a specific need for one of the features that it blocks.

  Time required: 2 minutes

  Stay vigilant

  The steps above will drastically improve your blog security and prevent it from becoming a target of opportunity for rookie hackers. However security is an ongoing process, and also involves practicing security as a habit.

  Stay vigilant and make it a point to keep up with the latest security news for WordPress, especially if you use it to run your business. You should also learn as much about security as you can. The ProBlogger archives are full of great posts that contain much more information on keeping your blog hacker, spammer and spyware-free and even planning for a blog disaster!

  Now, please take five minutes and perform all of the steps above. I wish you good luck and hope your blog stays hacker-free!

  David Wang blogs about his journey to generate the majority of his revenue online at The ClickStarter. He is also a WordPress evangelist and recently launched a free online course called Getting Started with WordPress. Follow David on Twitter – @blogjunkie

  Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
  

  Take 5 Minutes to Make WordPress 10 Times More Secure

  
  
  

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• The 5 Must-read Books for Bloggers in 2011
  

  I’ve read dozens of marketing books in the past six months, and these are the titles that really stood out. Reading these will dramatically help you improve your blog. I promise!

  Launch

  I used to work for a launch coach so assumed I knew everything about product launches. Until I read this book. This is the best business book I have read in the past year.

  The author, Michael Stelnzer, focuses on the "Elevation Principle." He talks about how to give away digestible how-to content that creates a loyal, well-fed business community.

  He applied these concepts to Social Media Examiner which was started at a time when he had little industry experience. Within two weeks of its launch, Social Media Examiner joined the ranks of Technorati’s Top 100 Small Business Blogs and remains in the Top 10.

  This book will resonate with bloggers who are struggling to launch products from their blogs, or who are shying away from aggressive launch tactics. You can also use the book as a case study on how to create a popular, profitable blog.

  The last chapter focuses on the “momentum launch,” which is the concept most Internet marketers are interested in. If that is your main interest, I’d recommend getting Ebook Evolution or How To Launch The **** Out Of Your Ebook instead.

  Learn more.

  Curation Nation

  Many bloggers are embracing the concept of the human curator. There is too much information to filter, and aggregation tools aren’t as good as a real person. We’ve developed a need to go beyond aggregation to break through the digital noise. Learning about curation will become increasingly important for bloggers who want a competitive edge due to their knowledge about content marketing.

  In Curation Nation, Steven Rosenbaum "curates the curators". He does the homework by interviewing collection of thinkers from the fields of media, advertising, publishing, commerce, and web technology.

  This book is essential reading for those who want to stand out. It’s not a “how-to;” instead, Steven takes you on a journey that shows you how curation is relevant to your business. I believe that all micro-publishers should read this.

  Learn more.

  The Accidental Creative

  

  A lot of demands are made on a blogger’s creativity. It goes beyond content creation. We have to be creative when it comes toother parts of our online presence, like marketing and monetization.

  It’s hard to separate yourself from your blog. A lot of us use the Internet for fun and it’s easy to allow work to creep into our recreation time.

  The Accidental Creative taught me that a lot of the activities I’d been doing were contributing to the exhaustion I’ve been feeling. This book taught me about managing my energy, fostering the kinds of relationships that aid creativity, and how to create a rhythm that supports my creative process. Since reading this book, I’ve had so many creative ideas that I can’t keep up. I also feel a lot happier and more engaged with my work.

  If your blog or client work involves a lot of creative energy, then this book will really help.

  Learn more.

  Clout

  Creating compelling content isn’t easy, but it’s the only way to influence online. This book will guide you through planning, creating, and evaluating your content.

  The information would be familiar for many bloggers, however Clout gives you an insight into how content marketing can support businesses. You’ll learn:

  • how to increase the influence of your blog content
  • how to measure the effectiveness of your content
  • how to develop and implement content strategies.

  Clout helped me realize that my haphazard approach to blogging was causing issues which resulted in a large drop in income. Since then, I’ve adopted many of the ideas and am enjoying a lot of success with my latest blogging venture.

  I would recommend this title if content marketing forms a major part of your blogging income.

  Learn more.

  Real Time Marketing and PR

  Real Time Marketing and PR is primarily written for businesses, but a lot of the information still applies to bloggers. Social media is real time, and you will have times where people rally against you. Writing a blog post may take too long and allow a negative situation to get worse.

  This book will teach you how to respond in real time. You’ll learn the tools and strategies that will help calm angry community members and foster positive discussion. If your blog is a part of a larger community, this book is a must-read.

  Learn more.

  Over to you

  A number of good books have been released in the past year, but these were the ones that helped me improve my blog. What books have helped you in the past year? Are there any upcoming releases you’re looking forward to?

  This post was written by Jade Craven. She used the information in these books to create Launch Watch—a site that covers the latest information products for bloggers and online marketers.

  Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
  

  The 5 Must-read Books for Bloggers in 2011

  
  
  

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• How to Make Getting Sidetracked Work for You as a Blogger
  

  If you’re ever stuck for ideas to write about on your blog, here’s a little discipline that I’ve gotten myself into over the years that helps me a lot.

  It’s all about capturing those moments when you get sidetracked while writing blog posts.

  Make getting sidetracked work for you

  I doubt I’m the only one who gets sidetracked while writing.

  It happens for me with almost every post I write. I start out writing about one topic and at some point through the post I find that I’ve gone off on some tangent. The tangent starts off relating to the main topic that I’m writing about, but quickly takes me away from what the post is really about.

  When the realization dawns on me that I’m off on a tangent there are a few choices that can be made:

  • Leave the tangent in: Sometimes. getting a little sidetracked in a post actually works. It can add a bit of interest, serve as an example, and make your post better.
  • Delete the tangent: This is what I used to do most often. I’d sigh to myself about my rambling, highlight the offending paragraphs, and hit Delete.
  • Use the tangent as the basis for a new post: One day as I was about to delete a tangential paragraph, it struck me that while it didn’t belong in the post I’d been writing, it still contained value and could probably be used elsewhere. Instead of deleting it, I copied and pasted it into a new text document, which I returned to later to turn into a new post.

  These days, I do it all the time (in fact this post started as a tangent in another). I’ve now extended the idea, and almost every time I finish writing a post I take a moment or two to re-read the post and look for places where I could have gone off on a tangent.

  Look for those parts of the post where you could have said more, where ideas weren’t completely finished, or where you think the reader might be left asking questions and wanting to know more about something that you’ve said. It’s those parts with which you could start your next post.

  The beauty of building this discipline—of making tangents and getting sidetracked work for you—is that you not only come up with new things to write about, you also build momentum on your blog. One post leads you to another one, and you’re able to take your readers on a journey with you by linking the posts together.

  Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
  

  How to Make Getting Sidetracked Work for You as a Blogger

  
  
  

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