“How the Power of One Can Take Your Blog to Many” plus 1 more

How the Power of One Can Take Your Blog to Many

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 01:06 PM PDT

This guest post is by Barb Sawyers of Sticky Communication.

Changing the world, one person at a time. I first heard this expression back in the eighties as the tagline for Apple Computers. Since then, it's been borrowed my thousands of causes and brands. It's that good.

But still, people are appealing to market segments, stakeholders and other big-box groups. Bloggers are often advised to know their niches. Though smaller, a niche is still an impersonal group.

Flip your model

If you're not getting the results you deserve, try flipping your relationship model from many to one. After all, that's how you make friends.

This individual should be the person you most want to connect with. Not your happy fans, customers or followers, nor the people whose minds are firmly shut to you. Pick the people who are sitting on the fence, just waiting for a gentle push to your side.

Just one

Actually, I should say person, not people, because I want you to think about one person who represents those fence sitters. Maybe this person resembles someone you know fairly well, from personal experience, market research or whatever. Probably you to have to use some imagination to fill in the gaps.

Now ask yourself: What gets this person up in the morning? What keeps him awake at night? Answer those two questions and you can tap into these deep passions and fears that nudge the fence sitter to your side.

For example

Let me use a cause blogger as an example. You blog because you are passionate about helping starving children. That gets you up in the morning. But you wake up in the middle of the night worried that you aren't conveying the passion or knowledge that will persuade people to donate.

Normally you write for your niche, well-educated, well-off people in urban centres and a list of other stakeholders. Today talk to one person who you have invented, based partly on the woman you enjoyed chatting to at a recent event.

You know that this person, Mary let's call her, is genuinely concerned about a lot of causes. She enjoys working as a family lawyer, but she loves doing what's right for her clients' children. She loses sleep when these kids get caught in tough situations and because her grown children no longer need her. Now write for Mary.

You will not only connect with Mary, but you will attract people like Mary. Your tribe will grow.

Let's take another example, the blogger selling search engine optimization services. Make me your fence sitter.

I get up every morning excited about what I'm going to blog about, how to connect with more people through writing. But I 'm often lying awake after midnight, worried I'm not getting enough page views but afraid of choosing an SEO dude who will rip me off or, worse still, incur the wrath of the algorithm gods.

You need to reassure me with examples of real people just like me who you’ve helped. You need to explain, in non-nerd terms, why the search engines are cool with your approach.

That said, I don't expect any quality improvements in my SEO spam. Although they pretend, the spammers don't read my posts, let alone think deeply about people like me.

Catch the best

Sure, there wouldn't be so many spammers and other blind mass marketers if it didn't work. If you cast a wide enough net, you will haul in some stupid or desperate fish.

But if you want me, Mary or other smart, nice people to jump over to your side, start with just one.

Take a bite of the apple in the knowledge that everything starts with one person.

Barb Sawyers writes, blogs, teaches, talks and plays in Toronto, Canada. Her book Write Like You Talk—Only Better, available soon in print and for e-readers, can be previewed here.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

How the Power of One Can Take Your Blog to Many

How to Get More Eyeballs on Your Affiliate Links

Posted: 25 Sep 2011 07:07 AM PDT

This guest post is by Peter Lawlor.

The more articles I publish on my niche websites, the more knowledgeable I become about keywords, and more importantly, the search habits of my target audience.

During the early days of my affiliate marketing business, I would write a post promoting a particular product or service as an affiliate and move on. That was a big mistake, but one that is easily solved.

My “Aha” moment as an affiliate marketer

As I dug deeper into my niches, I realized that people use different search phrases and terms when looking for the same solution.

This was a major eye-opener to me and presented a profitable “aha” moment. I discovered in one instant how to leverage my existing content and get far more eyeballs on my affiliate links. The result was a more revenue from my blogs.

Affiliate marketing is a numbers game. The more people who see your affiliate links, the more clicks you’ll garner and the more commissions you’ll earn. Granted, your pre-selling must be up to snuff as well.

One simple technique to increase the number of eyeballs on your affiliate links is to write a series of posts segmenting your target audience.

Segmenting your target audience

No matter how narrow or broad your niche, your audience can be further broken down into groups.

It’s a no-brainer that exhausting the keywords in your niche is a good idea. However, there may be more keywords when you segment your audience. If you get creative, you’ll be able to expand the profitable keywords you can target with audience segmenting.

How do you segment your target audience?

You can segment your target audience by:

solution sought
price
best of…

1. Solution sought

Segmenting by solution sought means thinking about the different uses or purposes the product you promote can meet.

For example, if you promote washing machines, people look for different types of washing machine such as “washing machines for apartments” or “small washing machines” or “stackable washing machines.”

Voila, you have three new ways to promote a washing machine or a product line of washing machines. In fact, you can create posts that feature the “top 5 washing machines for apartments”, “top 5 small washing machines”, and “top 5 stackable washing machines.”

2. Price

Segmenting by price is particularly effective if you promote big ticket physical products. Many consumers search for big ticket items by price. Returning to the washing machine example, there are sufficient monthly searches to warrant a “washing machines under $500″ post. In the post you feature washing machines under $500.

3. Best of …

Many consumers begin a search with the word “best.” So why not create “best” of articles with your affiliate promotions? The post could feature a single product or several products you deem to be the best.

Combine segmenting techniques

You can often combine the “best of” segmenting technique with “price” and “solution sought” techniques. For example, you could create a web page targeting “best stackable washing machines.” This keyword is actually a combination of two decently searched keywords being “best stackable washing machines” and “stackable washing machines.”

Taking it further…

The aim of any blogger should be first and foremost to provide valuable information for readers. One way to do this is to link to other resources, including other posts on your site.

In your segmented posts, you can link to individual reviews or posts profiling a particular product.

For example, if you have a post featuring “washing machines for apartments” and list ten washing machines, why not link from each featured washing machine to a dedicated profile or review?

This way you:

enhance the readers’ visit
keep them on your site longer
build credibility with your knowledge of washing machines
improve the odds visitors will click your affiliate links.

The result: you leverage your affiliate promotions

If you are an affiliate marketer, you know it takes time to become familiar with a product or product line and publish quality content. When you segment your audience with multiple posts as set out above, you leverage your existing content resulting in more eyeballs on your affiliate links.

Do you segment your audience with multiple posts? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Peter Lawlor is a successful affiliate marketer and contributing author to the Definitive Guide to Affiliate Review Websites and B2Web.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

How to Get More Eyeballs on Your Affiliate Links