An Open Letter to All the Bloggers Cluttering the Web with Forgettable Content
Have you ever gotten an email from a reader who said your writing changed their life?
How about other bloggers? Are they still talking about a particular post years after you published it?
Or is it the opposite?
Visitors just seem to come and go, never commenting, never linking, never sharing, just quickly scanning your posts and then moving on, forgetting about you forever.
If that’s the boat you’re in, I certainly sympathize, but brace yourself, because what I’m about to say will be painful:
You’re not trying hard enough.
Yes, I know those are impossibly high standards. Yes, I know it takes everyone time to learn their craft. Yes, I know there are only a few dozen bloggers in the world who can answer yes to both of those questions.
But if you’ve been blogging for a year or two, and you still can’t answer yes to either of them, then Houston, we have a problem.
Fortunately, it’s a problem we can fix. Let’s start by going back to where it all started.
read more7 Ways to Fascinate Your Readers and Build a Hugely Loyal Following
Are you spellbinding?
Let’s be honest.
It’s a huuuuge challenge.
Probably the biggest challenge each blogger faces.
Because your readers suffer from many distractions.
Social media. Email. Other blogs. TV. Radio. Phone calls. Texts. A car driving past. People talking. Music.Thoughts popping up.
How the hell can you keep your readers spellbound?
How can you keep your readers glued to your content until your last sentence?
How can you keep them yearning for more?
It’s not easy.
But you can learn how to master the art of being fascinating. Enchanting. Captivating. Almost mesmerizing.
How?
You just need to understand the triggers to being fascinating. Once you apply these triggers, your readers will hang on to every word you write.
read moreThe Brad Pitt School of Blogging Superstardom
This is a guest post by Johnny B. Truant. Johnny is offering a great deal right now for anyone who hasn’t yet launched their blog or is looking to start a new one: Until November 30th, Johnny will set up your blog for free.
Let me ask you a question…
Do you think people would pay Brad Pitt $1,000 to fix a toilet?
Of course they would.
Because he’s Brad Pitt.
It doesn’t even matter if Brad knows how to fix a toilet. He’s Brad Freakin’ Pitt.
Thousands of people would pay simply to have him hang out in their bathrooms — and, honestly, probably break their toilets even further. They’d pay because Brad is famous, and fame makes us like people.
When we like people, we want to be around them… and then, if those likable people have products and services, we want to work with them and buy things from them.
read moreHow to Write an eBook That Goes Viral and Gets You Tons of Traffic
Note from Jon: Sometimes, it’s nice to throw all the principles and strategies and other ephemeral gobbledygook out the window and look at a good old-fashioned case study of what’s working in the trenches right now. That’s exactly what this post is. Enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of Danny’s new free report, the Naked Marketing Manifesto. 
Reports, e-books, manifestos.
If you’ve been blogging for long, you’ve probably toyed with the idea of writing one. Not because you enjoy the idea of writing a 10-20 page document, necessarily, but because the benefits are undeniable.
Like traffic, for example.
And links.
And authority.
Maybe you can even pick up a few thousand subscribers while you’re at it, transforming them over time into raving fans of your blog.
It’s a reasonable dream. Snoop around the web, and you’ll find dozens of stories where bloggers had free reports go viral, bringing them an avalanche of traffic.
So why haven’t you done it already?
Well… you’re scared, right? Reports and e-books are a dime a dozen these days, and you’re probably wondering if yours will be different enough to stand out from the crowd.
So you procrastinate. You change your mind about the topic. You write a few pages and never come back to finish.
Sound familiar?
Well, consider this a friendly kick in the rear. In this post, I’ll show you what it takes to create an e-book, report, or manifesto that gets you all the traffic you can handle, and then some…
read more
