ProBlogger Blog Tips (6 сообщений)
- The Humble Telephone is Making a Comeback … for Bloggers
This guest post is by David Edwards of www.asittingduck.com.
I’m not sure why, but when you start blogging, you forget all about how businesses run.
It’s true that there are bloggers out there who wake up to full PayPal accounts and affiliate cheques flying through their doors. But if you’re in the early days of blogging, this may not be the case for you. What could you use that’s sitting on your desk every day, and could help you make serious cash?
A telephone!
What I have done, which has set me up for a very profitable year, is built a sales funnel to increase the amount of revenue in my business.
I have guest posts and viral videos published, which get me some traffic. Then, I have an email subscription list that lets me build those relationships further—to the point where a phone call from me to a subscriber would not be intrusive at all. In fact potential clients, even if they didn’t buy from me, love to receive a call. Some have said it was great to talk to someone that has a good perspective on how to make money online.
This technique may not be for everyone—I know cold calling can be daunting. It really doesn’t feel like cold calling to you or your subscriber, though! Imagine Darren Rowse phoning to ask if he could help you at all with your blog. What would you say? “Not interested, Darren!”? Probably not!
Do it right, and you’ll enjoy a positive reaction for your call. You may think that because you only have a few subscribers, you’re not worth as much to your fans as a big player. But you have the advantage, because a big player doesn’t have time to call his subscribers.
Here are my tips for making successful sales calls:
- Work on giving a free gift to subscribers that will whet their appetites for future products. I use a very short PDF on traffic generation.
- Send out an email once a week or once a month to build your relationship with your subscribers.
- Offer further free training videos or helpful blog posts and give them a chance to email you directly.
- Once you have a few emails in, offer to call them.
- Once you have made the calls and spoken to your subscribers, let them know about your more highly priced services.
- Repeat the process.
The humble telephone is making a comeback, and I would love to hear that some of you still use it to build businesses from your blogs.
David Edwards is a freelance marketing consultant and the founder of www.asittingduck.com.
His character “Candy The Magic Dinosaur” will be starring in his very own iPhone Game this Christmas!
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
The Humble Telephone is Making a Comeback … for Bloggers
Boost Your Blog #10: Create a Hire Me Page
Continuing our discussion of things you should be doing right now to improve your blog, today’s tip is:
10. Create a Hire Me page
This won’t relate to all bloggers but if you have a skill or service that you can offer your readers, don’t just assume that they’ll come knocking. Sometimes they need to see that you offer a service and hear about what it would entail.
A page linked prominently on your blog that shows the needs you’re able to help with, and outlines how the service might work (the costs and logistics) could be something that drives you significant income over the long term. Hat tip to Chris Garrett for this suggestion.
Does your blog have a Hire Me page? If not, should it?
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Boost Your Blog #10: Create a Hire Me Page
The 7 Cs of Business Communication: Make Your Posts Shareworthy Every Time
This guest post is by Marya of Writing Happiness.
When I finished my MBA degree about a decade ago, I undertook a course which taught me how to write great content for my blog.
Sceptical? I know what you are thinking: blogging wasn’t even around then! I know. Allow me to explain.
Doing MBA, I did many subjects like Marketing and Management which are great for anyone who is a webpreneur or looking to become one. That being said, Business Communication was, by far, the most enjoyable subject of the whole course. And I knew it would come in handy one day.
I just didn’t know that blogging would be the area that would benefit the most from it.
Time to dig through the dusty old boxes, locate the Business Communication textbook and revisit the well thumbed pages once again!
Blog writing is effective communication
We all agree that at the heart of great content lies effective communication. If you don't, you are almost guaranteed to fail at whatever you are trying to accomplish with your posts.
To compose effective written or oral messages, there are certain principles that we need to apply. These also provide guidelines for your choice of content and style of presentation, be it a post or a video on your blog.
These are 7 Cs of communication:
Completeness
Your post is only complete when it contains all the info that your reader requires in order to have a reaction you want them to have.
Remember when you are writing a post, only you are aware of what's happening inside your head—the readers don’t. They don’t have access to all the voices in your head. For them to interpret the message as you intend, make sure you provide them with all the necessary information.
That could be a back-story to your post; it could be the questions you were contemplating while that thought popped into your head to do your post. Readers need to know what motivated you to write your post. Answer all the questions that are bound to come up and relate to your purpose.
Give your readers the whole picture, laying down the benefits, and talking about the results to convince them. Bring your reader to the page where you begin, or much context will be lost or misinterpreted.
Conciseness
Ahh… I am really partial to this one—it’s easily my favourite child of them all!
Conciseness is saying what you have to say in the fewest possible words—without sacrificing the other C qualities. Pay attention to the last bit as this is gold. It won’t help you to write briefly if you haven’t provided complete information, lack clarity, and are not courteous.
A concise message saves time for both you, the blogger, and for your readers. By being concise you are showing respect for your readers’ time. You lay emphasis on important ideas by eliminating unnecessary words, including only relevant information and avoiding needless repetition.
Wordiness has been the bane of writers for ever. So avoid long introductions to your post, omit unnecessary explanations, and don’t insult your readers.
Cut down pompous words, trite explanations, and gushy exclamations. Stick to the purpose of your post. When combined with the “you view,” which I’ll explain in a moment, concise posts are that much more interesting to your readers.
Consideration
Write each post with your readers in mind. What do they need? How much of a difference will your post make in their lives? Be aware of their desires, problems, circumstances, emotions, and expectations.
Put yourself in their shoes. This is “you view.”
Most new bloggers are actually surprised to find that the most important word in their posts is you and not I. Yes, it might seem contradictory; I mean, you started blogging to air your thoughts, right? Well, that’s probably not entirely true. Don’t let your posts become an exercise in navel-gazing: write with the goal of helping your readers in some way, be it educational or entertainment.
Show them the benefit of reading your posts, and gently encourage them to take the desired action—sharing your post, commenting on it, or buying something from you.
Clarity
Getting the meaning from your head into the head of your reader—accurately—is the purpose of clarity.
Choosing the right words to convey your message will work wonders for your writing.
Be conversational, and avoid being superior in your writing. Your writing doesn’t need to be pretentious to be taken seriously. It doesn’t matter how big your vocabulary is, you won’t achieve any results if nobody understands you. Use familiar language, and words that you are well versed in, and are appropriate for the situation.
Use short words if you have a choice between using long or short. Avoid using technical jargon and, when you have to, explain it once for people who might be beginners in this area.
Construct effective sentences and paragraphs by laying emphasis on the main idea. Generally, short length works best, and be sure to have unity and coherence in your sentence structure. Look into style elements if you feel you need some help in this regard.
Courtesy
Do you reply to your comments? Do you thank people for sharing your posts, tweeting them, and linking to them?
Your sincere “you attitude” makes you courteous—and it makes you likeable. Courtesy is politeness growing out of respect and concern for others.
Be thoughtful, appreciative, helpful, and truly respectful to your readers. Remember you are building a community here, so you want to promote values that define you as a person.
Concreteness
Be specific, definite, and vivid in your writing, rather than vague and general.
Use active verbs rather than passive, and choose image building words. Use analogies to make comparisons when appropriate, and avoid dull language. Show off your personality and your voice—that's what makes readers hang on to every word.
And lastly, an extension of that is the final C.
Correctness
This issue is the easiest to fix, and should never ever see the light of the day—there is simply no excuse for it.
Use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Check the accuracy of facts, figures, and words. For oral presentations, substitute spelling with speech etiquette. Enough said—you are a bright reader, I can tell.
Do you follow these 7 Cs of communication when you write your blog posts? Tell us your approach in the comments.
Marya is a communicator of ideas, exploring the human face of blogging. She offers quirky insights into personal development for bloggers. Catch more of her posts at Writing Happiness.
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
The 7 Cs of Business Communication: Make Your Posts Shareworthy Every Time
Online Success Need Not Be Measured in Enemies
This guest post is by Margie Clayman of margieclayman.com.
One of my favorite Elvis Costello choruses goes like this:
"What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?"
I have always liked that song, but I never really thought I would live in a time where that question would resonate. I always thought, "Well, that was written when peace and love seemed hokey, perhaps, or maybe impossible. It was more than a rhetorical question when Elvis first sang it."
And yet, as I sit here in the year 2011, I have to ask the same question. What is so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding? It sure seems like all three concepts are running into a PR crisis in the online world.
“You're nice. That's so boring.”
I have gotten picked on a bit over my year in the world of social media. Why? Because I'm nice. I'm lovey dovey. People have told me that it's really boring listening to someone like me because I never ruffle any feathers.
To put it kindly, I think that's a totally ridiculous sentiment.
Sure, you get a powerful response if you call someone out, bash someone, hurl insults, or say that someone is really stupid. There's no question that ruffling feathers tends to be great for attention-grabbing and traffic spikes. So what?
If you want to entice people to read your blog posts, what about the concept of writing really good content? Really thought-provoking content? What about writing about something people aren't writing a lot about? Like, I don't know … like being nice, maybe? Why does excitement in the online world, or interest, have to be synonymous with cruelty or malicious intent? I'd rather be boring and nice than enjoy a modicum of success at the expense of others.
"If you don't have haters, you're doing something wrong."
This is another phrase I've seen a lot in the online world over my year navigating the wild Internet waters, and I also think it's utter nonsense. Why are we measuring success by how many people hate us? There is no other realm that I can think of in the human world where we measure success that way.
"Congratulations, Daisy. Everyone in your department hates you so we're going to promote you now!" That just doesn't happen. So why do we need to pull out haters instead of a yardstick when we talk about measuring online success? What is this need to have people attack us all about?
How do I measure my online success? I look at how many people say they enjoy my posts. I look at the solid relationships I have built. It's not exactly a revolutionary concept, folks.
"Women can't be successful because they can't be narcissistic morons."
My friend Sean McGinnis ran into a post that made this claim: that women may not find as much success in the world because women just can't be egotistical or selfish enough.
First of all, let me tell you about some of the women I've encountered in my life. If you want to know about knife stabbing, in-it-for-herself, ruthless, downright cruel women, I could spin ya a yarn, sonny jim. That's not an issue.
Second of all, what?!? Are we really saying that success rests on how much you make people want to throw up when they see you? I mean, that doesn't sound like success to me. That sounds kind of like, I don't know … crazy-sauce?
The glorification of “Ick!”
Next to the glorification of failure, I find the glorification of crassness or cruelty to be the most nauseating thing I've encountered on the Web. You should not be applauded for breaking your Censor button. You should not gain accolades because every other post has an f-bomb in it. Surely there is more to online success than being someone who invites comparisons to male and female genitalia? I mean, really. Can we aim a little higher?
Then again, maybe I'm just a boring nice person.
You tell me what this is all about.
Margie Clayman represents the third generation at her family’s marketing firm. She is the resident librarian at the Blog Library and is the resident blogger at www.margieclayman.com.
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Online Success Need Not Be Measured in Enemies
Boost Your Blog #9: Create a Resources Page
Continuing our discussion of things you should be doing right now to improve your blog, today’s tip is:
9. Create a Resources page
One page on ProBlogger that has worked well for me is a Blogging Resources page (it is actually a page I need to update further).
The page serves as a starting point for bloggers when creating blogs, and includes a mix of free and paid resources (some of which are affiliate links to paid options). This page is linked to from numerous places on my blog. I’ve been thanked for it by readers, and it’s a page that has made me money over the years, too.
Hat tip to Dr Mani for the suggestion.
Do you have a Resources page on your blog? Can you build one today?
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Boost Your Blog #9: Create a Resources Page
What's Your Blog Worth? How to Value Web Properties
This guest post is by Sunil of Extra Money Blog.
I have sold an ecommerce website for $250,000 and several other niche websites for a five-figure price tag. I want to share with you one valuation method you can use to put a price on your web property today.
Whether a website owner or a blogger starts with the initial goal of selling their site one day, it is my belief that every successful blog owner has at some point thought about the potential of selling their web property. At least they will have wondered how much their web property is worth—especially when it begins to generate a decent amount of money.
Copyright Jakub Krechowicz - Fotolia.com
When a website becomes profitable, it has the potential to become saleable. You may deliberately be contemplating selling either because of boredom, because you’ve found a better alternative use of your time, because of a potential use of the financial proceeds, or any of several other reasons.
If so, do you know what your website is worth?
When a web property starts to generate profits, it becomes an income-producing asset, much like a rental property or a small business. Just like property and businesses are valued and sold in the open market, a website or blog can be too. Therefore, valuing a web property is not much different from valuing any other income-producing asset.
The quantitative aspect of web property valuation
The quantitative aspect of valuation is not rocket science, in my opinion. You take a site's current earnings and expenses, figure out what the net cash flows are, and then project a value based on an earnings multiplier.
The net earnings, or cash flows, is commonly referred to as EBITDA in the business world. That means: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. The multiplier is applied to this number to come up with a value, or price, for the property.
Earnings and expenses are what they are: they are not subjective by any means. But where do you get an earnings multiplier from? Evaluate recent sales of websites that are similar to yours to get an idea of what kind of multiplier was paid for each one. This number will be larger in stronger economic times, and smaller in weaker economic times like those we’re in today.
There is no standard multiplier, however. Similar to real estate, if figures are available from recent blog sales, great. But if not, your website's value is only as much as someone else is willing to bid for it. Obviously you have the option not to sell for what you might feel is a low-ball offer.
One more thing to consider is whether the website is as monetized as it can be today. Is there opportunity to add more private ads to the sidebar, and generate more profits on a residual basis, for example? A buyer would definitely evaluate this monetization potential and factor it into their purchase decision.
The qualitative aspect of web property valuation
Here is where the subjectivity in blog valuation comes into play. An active business sold at an earnings multiplier of two may not be comparable with a same-size passive business, because a passive business requires a lot less effort to manage and sustain. Consider how much cost and effort the owner of the web property will have to invest in the passive business to generate a dollar in profits. Then ask how this compares with an active business.
Factors such as effort, operating cost structure, sustainability, long-term relevancy, and prospects all play an important part in determining what the reasonable value of a particular web property should be. At the end of the day, none of this is exact science, but these are some ways to arrive at a justifiable or rational price.
For example, no one knew the long-term scalability of Google or LinkedIn. In fact, no one knows today. The market had a certain estimate (multiplier) set at the time each company went public, and has a different one today. It will likely have another one by the time you are done reading and commenting on this post. Expect the multiplier to evolve, especially in an ever-changing and dynamic industry like this one.
A practical example
When I was initially solicited by an Ebay power seller to potentially sell my ecommerce business, the business was generating roughly $60,000 annually in profits. After weeks of discussion back and forth, we settled at a sale price of just under $250,000, or roughly four times the annual earnings of $60,000.
The quantitative piece of the deal was straightforward. The qualitative piece is what dragged out the negotiation. The power seller had previously purchased a similar ecommerce business at an earnings multiple of three. They had paid $90,000 for a business that was generating $30,000 in annual profits. However, I was not willing to accept a price of $180,000, which was three times the annual earnings of my site. Further, my business showed a consistent rising trend in terms of web traffic, customer acquisition, sales, and profits. These qualitative measures needed to be "baked" in to the deal for it to be viable for me. I was able to persuade the buyer of that, and we sealed the deal at four times the annual earnings.
The key lesson here is that although acquisitions based strictly on earnings multiples sound good in theory, they rarely work out practically, whether at my level or at the Fortune 500 level. Our repeated attempts to narrow the nature of deal making to a pure science have never worked, and likely won’t in future. Valuations, although driven mostly by the underlying financials, rely heavily on qualitative aspects that are subjective and unique to each buyer and seller.
What do you think of this valuation method? Do you have any alternatives to share? Is this a fair way to value your web property? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
If you want to be brave and bold and open your kimono to me and fellow readers: what do you believe your web property worth is today in the open market, if you use this valuation method?
Sunil owns over a dozen profitable niche websites and is the author of How to Go from $0 to $1,000 a month in Passive and Residual Income in Under 180 Days All in Your Spare Time, a FREE report you can download instantly from his Extra Money Blog, where he discusses how to create multiple streams of passive and residual income, entrepreneurship, internet marketing, blogging and personal finance.
Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
What’s Your Blog Worth? How to Value Web Properties
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