Now That Your Blog is Running
Once you have your blog and website up and running, you can just sit back and wait for the people to start buying your products, right? Wrong!
You’re going to have to work on your blog on a regular basis to keep it current and profitable. We’ve talked about the need to update your blog with new content at least once a week and making sure the content is targeted before. But you’ve got to keep the look and feel of the site fresh and easy to navigate as well.
I think I went through 10 different themes while trying to find a look for heathergowrie.info that I liked. I spent weeks looking for the perfect free blogging theme and was never happy. I finally broke down and bought a theme. It wasn’t really expensive and I’m constantly tweaking it but it seems to be working.
When building your own sites look and feel, don’t settle for something that is alight. There are thousands of websites that offer blogging themes. It’s sometimes a little hard to find free professional looking theme that actually works but you can find them. If you’re really interested in building a professional looking site, you may have to pay for a well-designed theme but I can tell you, it’s worth it.
Confession Time
Ok, I’ll admit it – I have a variety of websites and blogs. My internet business is based on these websites but not all of them are as great as this one (ha, ha). And, if you know me you may be wondering why I have websites promoting and discussing some of the weird topics I’ve focused on.
Well – the truth is this – these sites make money. I’m building an internet business based upon profitable niches and the obscure topics make money. I enjoy building these sites and teaching others how to do the same thing.
Since this is confession time -
I’ll be completely honest. I don’t come up with the ideas for my websites and products alone. I also don’t spend hours (or days) doing my own keyword research. I’ve basically outsourced my keyword and niche research which allows me to focus on the parts my business building that I really enjoy. And I get the research for FREE. I have a great free tool that I use and I think you should use it as well.
Visit one of my other sites – freenicheideas.com to get more information.
Dazzling Shoes
I recently talked about my love for shoes and my love for the shoe service Just Fab. But the girl with all the shoes, can not live by one shoe service alone. The other service I really enjoy is Shoe Dazzle.
Shoe Dazzle is very similar to Just Fab. You take a quiz to find your ideal style and they offer you a selection of shoes that you should like each month.
Shoe Dazzle includes purses and jewerly in addition to shoes and offers a new shoe about three times a week. I end up checking the site daily just to make sure I’m not missing out on a new pair.
Help Your Blog Succeed
Whenever I start working on a new client’s marketing and promotion plan, I always start by building a blog and website. It doesn’t matter what kind of business you have, I really do believe that a blog and website are beneficial in building your business. Customers want to purchase products and services from people they know and trust – a blog can help you to build that relationship.
Blogging can build your business but unfortunately for many people, their blog will fail. What makes one person succeed while another person blogging about the same topic fail? It’s simple – Traffic. You need to bring customers to your store or site and you need to keep them coming back.
How do you avoid building a blog that is doomed to fail? It’s easy if you follow these tips:
1. Update content regularly – with a blog you need to post at least once a week to keep the search engines interested and sending traffic to your site.
2. Target the content to your site – if your content isn’t targeted and is too broad, no one will be able to keep your content or message straight. People want to know what your store or service is about and not everything that pops into your head.
Growing your business through your blog and website can take some time but once you build your audience – your profits will grow.
Who is Heather Gowrie?
Have you ever thought to yourself, “this job sucks – I would rather be making porn”? Well, I have. After having to call a major airline for the third time to beg them to change their flight schedule to meet my bosses sleeping schedule, I decided I had had enough. I walked right into her office and quit.
I had no plan. I would have rather be making adult videos.
I worked for myself for about 8 months. I loved working for myself. I loved setting my own hours and working on my projects. However, without a plan and without any guidance, I faltered really quickly. I wasn’t building a business, I was just trying to stay one step ahead of the bills.
I started out writing articles and doing odd jobs for people online. But I was taking jobs that didn’t pay more than $5.00 an article and I found that I couldn’t write enough every day to make money. You see, I like to write sentences that make sense. I like to write words that people may actually read and I was competing with international outsourcing where the going rate for articles is about $2.00 each and no grammar skills needed. I could produce 5 articles a day, but most vendors expected 10-to-15 badly written 500-word articles a day.
Not having a plan became evident very quickly. I ended going back to an office. And the cycle began again.
Instead of quitting, I have a plan. I’m building my business and sharing with you how to do what I do. Don’t be like the old me, your business will suffer and you’ll find yourself back in the work cycle again. I want you to be successful and I want you to learn from my mistakes.
Focus On One
There is this term – serial entrepreneur – that explains away the ADD of most American’s today. We accept the need to start a new business on a regular basis by calling ourselves serial entrepreneurs.
I will admit it – I’ve had this problem in the past but now I understand the need to focus. I’m here to build a business instead of serializing my life. I focused my own business on one business model and one idea at a time. I also work with my clients to understand the need for focus.
Without focus, you’ll find yourself struggling to keep your business moving forward. Without focus, you’ll find yourself overwhelmed and burnt out. Without focus, you’ll find yourself working on too many projects and never making any profit.
Thanks again to Liz Tomey for this great video that explains the need for focus.
Build Your Blog – You Can Do It
The first task I always give my clients is to set up their website and blog. A website and blog will help to make you a real person to your clients. People want to trust what you have to say and what your product promises to do and in order to do that they must trust you.
Even if you can’t possibility think of anything to write about, a blog can still be beneficial to your business. Start slow and easy – you don’t need to write 5000 words on fly fishing every day. Simply write short posts on a semi-regular basis. Your business blog will basically be a place to share your ideas, experiences, problems and solutions in a diary format that others can see.
It’s the 21st century version of reading your sister’s diary.
Just Fab Shoes
I love shoes. I’ll admit it. I also love finding a good deal on affordable products. After all, just because you’re building a profitable business doesn’t mean you need to spend all your money on shoes.
One of my favorite sites to buy shoes is Just Fab. It’s a shoe of the month club that offers you at least 6 different fashionable shoe choices each month based upon your own unique style personality. If you love shoes like I do, or simply need some quality business building shoes – sign up today.
Get More Done
One of the greatest struggles for anyone building their business is trying to find the time to do things. Especially if you’re working a full-time job and building your own business as well. In order to make money, you have to concentrate on the work that will make you profitable. Here is a quick video with a great method to get more done with limited amounts of time.
Thanks to Liz Tomey. I really do like the 3×3 method of working. It works well for me.
Business Builder?
I’m a freelance marketer and business builder. What this means is not only do I build and work my own business but I take on clients and join with them to build their own business as well. With my clients, I’m not a partner in their business but a tool that will guide and help them take the ideas and desires they want out of life to build their own businesses.
Some may call me a serial entrepreneur but I prefer the visual of building businesses.
Being a business builder means I understand the need for optimism when the work gets hard and the days get long. Yes, the old saying that if you love what you do it will not feel like work is true. However, I often find myself reminding my clients that even though we love what we do, we sometimes still have to find the optimism and enthusiasm to get through the day.
You can’t build a house in a day and you can’t build a successful business overnight. Working for yourself is still – work. You just don’t have to sit through a performance review every year.
Too Much Communication
I often have to wonder if there is too much communication in my life. Are there too many methods of communication? I’ve read those books about not checking email or hiring other people to do my work for me but in reality they simply don’t work. I find myself spending more time correcting and completing the work that was incorrect due to me nor checking email.
I think it’s time for a very long vacation. Or a new outlook.
Working from Home?
One of the most romantic ideas for anyone stuck in a cubicle, is the idea of working from home. Just imagine- you wake up, walk down the hall, and start working. Productivity just flows from your fingers and the money just keeps rolling in. Without the need to shower or put on lipstick. We’ll I’ve done it – and take it from me – working from home is not all that you want it to be.
I love working for myself. I love being my own boss and not having to deal with a human resources department. But I hate staring at the same white wall and talking to my cat all day.
I work while at home but find myself in this mathematical loop of productivity. My productivity is inversely proportional to the cleanliness of my house. If I want to clean my house; I work from home.
Productivity just doesn’t flow as easy when I’m surrounded by all these other things I could do. It’s taken me a long time to figure this out and accept my working style. I need to leave my house when I really have tasks and projects I need to work on. Simply shutting the door doesn’t work for me.
So, what have I learned? The romantic idea that working from home doesn’t work for me. I need to leave my house. Even getting as far away as the coffee shop on the corner is better than sitting at my desk and noticing the dust bunnies behind the door.
Where are you the most productive? I would love to hear your ideas.