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 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 moreThe Sin of Originality (and the Truth about Building a Popular Blog)
Note from Jon: This is one of the most shocking lessons you can learn as a blogger. We’re all trained to believe originality is essential for standing out, but the fact is, it can be dangerous, even deadly. In this guest post by Henneke Duistermaat from Enchanting Marketing, she shows you when originality is good and when it’s bad, and she also gives you a strategy for exactly how to do it right. Enjoy.
Okay, show of hands.
Who else is still searching for that perfect, original angle that’ll make you stand out?
Yeah, most of us are. The fact is, the blogosphere is a crowded place, and if you want to stand out, you need to be original.
Right?
Well, yes and no.
As it turns out, sometimes originality isn’t quite as important as we all think it is. Sometimes, it can actually hurt you.
Let me explain.
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