Monday, September 20, 2010

Trouble Choosing a Niche? Start a Personal Blog

“I’m having trouble deciding what topic to blog about.”

This was a statement I heard three times at the ProBlogger meet up in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago and is a problem that many PreBloggers face.

I’ve written numerous times about how to choose a niche or topic to write about but it struck me while talking to the Brisbane folk asking the question that the biggest factor in helping me to narrow in on my own niches was having a personal blog.

When I started blogging in 2002 I had no intention of doing it professionally. Instead I, like almost every other blogger at the time, started a blog (pictured below – no longer active) which was quite personal in nature. In many ways it was an extension of my brain and was simply a place to talk publicly about what I was thinking about, learning and experiencing in life.

personal blog

As a result I wrote about many topics including spirituality, culture, photography, starting a church, movies, holidays, family, emerging forms of media and blogging.

It was a bizarre mix of topics and I know that some of my readers struggled to make sense of my somewhat eclectic interests – but as I look at the three blogs that I currently operate today I see the roots of them all in that first personal blog.

I blogged on that first blog for a year and a half before starting any other blogs and before I even began to think about making money from this medium but while that particular blog didn’t make much money (I played a little with AdSense on it but it never really worked) it was probably my most important blog in shaping what I now do.

Why was that personal blog such an important place for me?

A few thoughts come to mind as I look at how important that first personal blog was.

1. A personal blog can be a testing bed for ideas and niches

In many ways that first blog became a testing bed and launch pad for new blogs. ProBlogger is a great example of this. After a couple of years of blogging I began to start other blogs and experiment with making money from blogging. As I did so I also began to journal some of the lessons I was learning about blogging on my personal blog. I started a blog tips category and got to a point where I had 50 or so posts in it.

These posts were quite popular and in time I realised that my blog tips were resonating with and helping more and more people – to the point where they perhaps justified starting a blog on that topic. This led me to registered ProBlogger.net and start this very blog.

The great thing about launching ProBlogger this way was that I’d already worked out that there was an audience for the topic, I already knew that I enjoyed writing about the topic and I already had 50 or so posts that I could transfer over to the new domain.

In many ways when I started ProBlogger I was able to leapfrog over some of those startup headaches that many bloggers face because I’d already tested the idea on my personal blog.

2. A personal blog gives you a place to find your voice

Over the years I blogged on my first blog I experimented with many ways of blogging. Not only did I chop and change that topics I covered – I also wrote in different styles and voices and was quite playful and experimental in working out what types of posts connected most with readers.

3. A personal blog helps you understand blogging

The other great thing about that first blog for me was that it gave me a taste of the technology and culture of blogging. I was very overwhelmed by the technical aspects of blogging in those early days and quite intimidated about putting my ideas on the web. I was also confused about how to find readers and interact with them.

Starting a blog is the best way to learn about blogging – until you experience the process of publishing a post and having people read and interact with it you’re not really a blogger.

The great thing about learning all of this on a personal blog is that people’s expectations may not be quite as high as if you launch a ‘professional’ blog.

Are Personal blogs for everyone?

I’m not convinced that everyone should have a personal blog to help them launch their new blogs. For me it was helpful but some bloggers are much more ready to launch into niche focused blogs without going through that process.

However if you’re convinced that you want a blog but don’t know what topic to focus in on then a personal blog might be a step forward to help you find your voice, identify topics and to learn the ropes of blogging itself.

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Join Me at Facebook Success Summit 2010

One of the excellent upcoming conferences that I’m speaking at is the Facebook Success Summit 2010. It’s run by Mike Stelzner of Social Media Examiner. I’ve been involved in Mike’s summits before and they are packed with information.

This conference is a live online conference (so there are no travel costs) that is packed with amazing speakers. All sessions are recorded so you don’t have to be on live calls to participate but can listen to those you miss later.

All up there are 22 experts sharing what they know about how to use Facebook to build their businesses. Speakers include:

  • Brian Solis
  • Mari Smith
  • Michael Stelzner
  • Justin Smith
  • Others from Intel, Xbox and Cisco

Topics are varied and cover everything from the ‘why’ of getting a business on Facebook through to many aspects of how to best do it effectively.

My own session (which I’ll be running with Mike Stelzner) is titled ‘Building Community with Facebook and Blogs’ and the description of the session is:

Are you looking to build a loyal community on Facebook? If so, look no further. In this session, Darren Rowse (founder of Problogger.net) and Michael Stelzner (founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com) reveal how Facebook has enabled them to build a loyal following of tens of thousands of Facebook fans who engage and promote their content and ideas. You’ll learn about the apps, widgets, and blog enhancements they use to keep their readers engaged.

The price for Facebook Success Summit goes up by $200 later this week (on the 22nd) so if you’re thinking of attending make sure you get in at the early bird rate today.

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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Three Reasons You Need Search Engine Optimization

More and more people are asking what search engine optimization is and what it’s all about. People who have websites either for Internet-based businesses or personal reasons all seem to understand that looking into search engine optimization as it’s called is a good idea, but not everyone seems to understand why.

Simply put, people all know how a well-built home is a good investment although only very few know how to build one properly.

It’s the same with search engine optimization; the sometimes complicated and ever-changing mathematical algorithms Google uses to rank the pages that fit any search description are encrypted and tucked away from all but the most savvy tech people, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few simple ideas that simplify the process so that business owners and recreational users alike understand why they need to hire the professionals who implement this technique.

1)      Getting great business cards made up with just the right wording and graphics are all fine and well, but leaving them in the box they came in from the printer won’t get you any results. Having a professional website put together and just leaving it to its own devices on the web is the same idea. You need to work with the right content writer who understands how to use seo to alert the search engines every time someone searches for your goods and services. That’s the crux of how you get a better page ranking.

2)       Seo is constantly changing to suit the changing web landscape. One of the biggest requirements is fresh content. You need to be sure that you’ve got a steady stream that alerts the search engines because they all look for fresh content and that’s the domain of the professional content writer because these experts keep on top of the tools of the trade like keyword placement and where the links go so you get the best results. Besides, most people don’t have the time to keep up with those demanding requirements.

3)      Search engine optimization is not trendy. Unlike social media and even the latest trend toward using videos as a method to get some exposure, seo is like an anchor for all those other techniques because it deals directly with the frontlines in the Internet marketing battle—the message on your website. Regardless of whether you use the limited characters on Twitter or even Facebook, everything is pointing back to the foundation of your message which is the search engine optimized content on your website.

Sometimes when people see the leading words and phrases that light up and take you to another web page, they don’t always understand those conveniences are really part of the bigger search engine optimization picture and part of the researched and carefully laid out plans of a content writer that understands how to work these keywords and links to your best benefit.

When all is said and done, you need search engine optimization so that your website will get noticed and be able to compete on the web.

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Creating a Blog In a Niche You Know Nothing About

A guest post by Adam from Things To Learn.

I’ve been blogging for over two years now and I will be the first to admit that I haven’t been the best blogger in the world. Far from it. There were several stretches where I didn’t blog regularly or I wrote posts that just didn’t cut the mustard.

The blog that I was maintaining was in the ever crowded personal finance (PF) niche. Frankly, I know a lot about financial planning (I have a master’s in it) and I thought that I would thoroughly enjoy writing about it. Man was I wrong. If you ask any expert in the field, they will tell you that everything PF has already been written. In order to separate yourself from the hundreds of PF blogs out there, you have to put your own spin on the topics or just talk about your personal experiences. Well, I wasn’t that great at putting a spin on the topics and my wife and I don’t really live a fascinating financial life.

So, I slowly continued the blog. I stuck to it for about 2 years and decided that I just wasn’t having fun with it. I still enjoyed writing, but I was just burnt out writing about personal finance. I knew it was time for a change but I just didn’t know what. I don’t really have any hobbies and everything else just seemed so saturated already.

Blogging On Something You Don’t Know

As I was enjoying a nice walk around Washington DC with my wife, something caught my eye. None of the buildings were tall. I wondered what the deal was and figured that plenty of other people may have thought the same thing. I did some quick research at home and found out that there is some crazy law that doesn’t allow the buildings to be tall in the city. Weird.

After I learned about the topic, I had other random questions/things pop into my head and they just kept coming. An endless supply of blog posts! I wrote them down on a piece of paper with the title “Things To Learn”. I knew right then and there that I needed to create a blog on the topic. I was going from writing about things that I knew inside and out to something that I had no clue about. Why would I do that?

Why Should You Blog In a Niche You Know Nothing About

You Have An Almost Endless Supply of Blog Posts

Many great bloggers started writing about things that they wanted to know more about. For example, J.D. from Get Rich Slowly started his site when he was $35,000 in debt. Obviously, personal finance wasn’t his strong point at the time but he started the blog to learn more about the subject and it has now grown to one of the most popular blogs on the web. Heck, even Darren started this blog because he wanted to learn more about making money on the web.

Personally, I have been thinking about my new blog for weeks now. To date, I have approximately 100 “things to learn” in my Wordpress drafts. You know what, the ideas keep coming too. Whether I am reading a book or having a conversation with a stranger, the thoughts keep flowing. You can do that with any niche too. Especially if you are constantly trying to learn more about it.

It Never Gets Old

Most new bloggers fizzle out after a few months because they feel like no one is listening. Hey, it happened to me a few months after I started. But, I stuck with it and my blog has made a few bucks here and there.

Believe it or not, I don’t really care if my new site has readers. I mean, there is a small part of me that likes the interaction but I am doing it more for me. I want to learn and blogging about things I am interested in gives me pleasure. The place that I want to get my interaction is from other sites like this one. I am saving some of my better posts for other blogs and I will be interacting with the readers here.

I think that by blogging in niche you know nothing about, it will be difficult run out of things to write. I mean, I bet it may get a little old after a while. If I had to guess, I would say that many of the bloggers that have been around for a long time will tell you that it’s starting to get old. I imagine the thought of quitting has crossed their mind. Even though they started out knowing nothing about the niche, now they do and it would get old. However, they are now probloggers and are making good money. How many small bloggers that burnt out posting about what they know can say that?

* * * * *

How many of you started blogging in a niche you know nothing about? Have you seen the same results that I mentioned? What other positives can you see with blogging in a niche you know nothing about?

Adam spends his time finding out what the closest city to the north pole is or what the largest country is. He enjoys learning new things every day and sharing them with those who are willing to listen.

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Saturday, September 18, 2010

Weekly Trends + Using Polls

This column is written by Kimberly Turner from Regator (a great tool that gathers and organizes the world’s best blog posts). – Darren

Last week, along with the list of the ten most-blogged-about topics of the week, we talked about how to get more comments on your blog. But the truth is, some readers aren’t going to comment, no matter what you do. If you want them to interact, you need to give them another option. Polls are quicker and easier than comments and many readers who won’t take the time to form a fully thought-out comment are more than happy to hit quick button to share their opinion via poll. When used for the right reasons, polls can increase interaction and participation.

Every week, we look at the ten most blogged-about stories of the previous seven days (trends provided, as always, by Regator) and today, in addition to those, we’ll see how some bloggers made use of polls in their posts…

1.  MTV Video Music Awards/VMAs
Example:
Gold Derby’s “Poll: Will Chelsea Handler flourish or flop as MTV VMAs host?
Lesson: Be sure your polls work with your blog’s topic matter. Occasionally, I’ll run across a blog that is hosting a poll on a question unrelated to its subject matter in the sidebar. I assume that questions about political affiliation or age on a parenting blog, for example, are done for either the sake of marketing research or the blogger’s own curiosity, but they are useless because they aren’t fulfilling a need for your reader. In this example, the blog is about awards shows and the poll is on how a particular celebrity will fare as an awards show host. It’s a great fit.

2.  September 11/9-11
Example:
Gallup’s “Nine Years After 9/11, Few See Terrorism as Top U.S. Problem
Lesson: While not a blog, I have included this example from Gallup because the site can be a good resource for poll results and statistics. You need not run your own poll to make use of a poll on your blog. Seek out results from places such as Gallup, which allows you to search for polls on a variety of topics, then deliver commentary or start a discussion around the results.

3.  Tea Party
Example:
Poll Watch’s “Beyond the Primaries: How Much Impact Will the Tea Party Have Now?
Lesson: People love stats. People love stats twice as much when you present them in some sort of infographic, pie chart, or line graph. I can’t really explain why, but you know it’s true. Present your findings (or the findings of the poll you’re referencing) in a visual way for maximum impact, even if it’s just a very simple pie chart like the one seen in this example.

4.  Lady Gaga
Example:
Ministry of Gossip’s “Lady Gaga wears a meat dress — need we say more?
Lesson: Give voters enough options to accurately portray their feelings on the subject. When you’re selecting the options for your poll, think beyond a simple “yes” and “no” system. In this case, the blogger could’ve asked, “Did you like Lady Gaga’s meat dress?” and provided two simple options. Instead, she broadened the choices to: “A cutting-edge political statement,” “A cutting edge-fashion statement,” “Tasty,” and “Pathetic.” Do note, though, that three of the four available options are positive. Try to provide balanced choices so as not to subconsciously guide voters.

5.  Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell/DADT
Example:
Joe.My.God’s “CBS Poll: 75% Support Gays In Military”
Lesson: Hosting polls can give readers an alternate means of interacting with your site, but posting results from polls—either your own or another source’s—can be a way of starting a discussion in the comments. This example provides results with minimal commentary, but it prompts a conversation in the comments.

6.  Google Instant
Example:
Lifehacker’s “Do You Like Instant Search?
Lesson: When you display results, take caution not to look like a ghost town if your blog is still working on building its readership to a good level. In this example, Lifehacker displays not only percentages, but the actual number of votes cast for each option. Their total is 7,857 votes—pretty darned respectable. If you run a poll for several days with only eleven votes cast, you run the risk of showcasing your lack of traffic. Use percentages instead.

7. Mexico
Example:
Immigration Chronicles“Illegal Immigrants or ‘Illegal Aliens’”
Lesson: Use polls to find ways to improve your blog. In this example, a blog focusing on immigration issues is polling its readers to learn about the specific terminology their readers prefer. If you’re not sure what your readers would like to see more (or less) of, how they feel about a particular issue you cover regularly, or if they’re tired of a certain feature, what better way to find out than to ask?

8.  Pope Benedict XVI
Example: Politics Daily’s “Pope Benedict’s Visit to the U.K. May Be a Flop
Lesson: We’ve all heard the “lies, damned lies, and statistics” warning…and for good reason. You can find numbers to support nearly any hypothesis. You can increase your credibility by citing several sources and, most importantly, clearly indicating where your data came from. This example compares results from a British Social Attitudes poll with a Guardian/ICM poll.

9.  Toronto International Film Festival
Example:
IndieWIRE’s

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Friday, September 17, 2010

Interview: Justin Goff

Justin Goff runs 31DayFatLossCure.com, which is a fitness/fat loss product that helps people to lose belly fat (here’s affiliate info). He’s also one of the highest paid copywriters when it comes to sales letters & video scripts for the fitness & internet marketing niches...

Tell us a little background info about yourself. Where are you from? How old are you? How long have you been working in this industry?
I grew up in a very small town in Ohio - after graduating from high school I went to Ohio State, where I majored in Sport & Leisure studies (real tough major ;) . I actually got started with affiliate marketing in college to pay off some gambling debts that I got myself into. I'm currently 26, and this has been my career ever since...

What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
I’ve busted my ass for the last year to become a good copywriter and that’s really paid off lately. I’ve written copy for some of the biggest internet marketing product launches, and also copy for the sales video for our own product which I’ve actually gotten some kudos from the big A-list copywriters for....

I’ve spent tons and tons of hours learning how to write copy and I feel like it’s all coming together for me now...

How did you come to learn about this industry? Why did you choose this career? When did you first realize the full potential in affiliate marketing? When did you first “hit the big time?”
I used to be a big sports bettor in college, and I was really good at it. I wouldn’t bet much, but I would win like $5k for a college football season, and that would be enough money to keep me from having to get a real job in college.

One of the seasons though, I got in over my head, went on a little bender and ended up owing some shady people over $3,000. At the time, I didn’t have the money. I ended up getting a job as a valet to pay it back - and then I also made a website where I decided to sell my football picks. The site was ugly as HELL, but I made like $1,000 that first year and I was absolutely hooked.

From there, I went on to dabble as a poker/gambling affiliate. I did that for a few years and learned a ton about SEO. Since then I’ve sold most of that stuff off, and now I focus solely on the 31 Day Fat Loss Cure site....

What do you think it takes to be successful as an affiliate?
1. The right mindset
2. The willingness to see failure as a learning experience
3. The willingness to find a mentor
4. A deep understanding of what influences people
5. Discipline

What have been your biggest failures and frustrations?
I had a lot of bad “mental blocks” when it came to making money when I first started.

Growing up in a small town in a middle class family I always thought that $50k was a ton of money to make in a year...

That kind of thinking really held me back in a lot of ways. I would make a bunch of money with something but when it came to leveraging that and making even more money, I would always put my foot on the brake and sabotage myself.

I read Dan Kennedy’s Wealth Attraction For Entrepreneur’s book and within about 2 months my income went wayyyy up. Dan’s been one of the biggest influences on my business and this book really helped me get over a lot of mental blocks that I had that were preventing me from making money (I highly recommend this book to all entrepreneurs)

What is the single toughest problem you've had to face, and how did you get through it?
Honestly one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with are going through a break up. I’m sure I’ll catch shit for saying that in the comments, but it’s true. When you work from your house and you don’t interact with co workers throughout the day, going through something tough like a break up, or a death in your family is 2x as hard.

I think a lot of entrepreneurs are constantly thinking about their business so we mostly live “in our heads”. And when you live like this, you don’t have the same outlets that most people have with a typical office setting...

Is there anything that you don’t like to do, that you just hate working on?
Honestly I hate writing copy. I’m really damn good at it, and I get paid a boatload of money to do it for clients, but I just don’t really like to do it. Just the thought of writing for 5 straight days makes me tense up.

That’s why I'm pretty picky about who I take on as a client. I probably get 3-4 proposals a week from people who want me to write a sales letter/video for them but I only take on the projects I really want to do...

I really like to play around more with the testing side of things once the copy is done. That’s when it gets fun for me...

If it’s possible for you to share, are there any particular niches that you currently favor? Or that you aren’t necessarily in right now but that you would recommend?
All I do is the fitness/fat loss niche right now. I’m pretty much just focused on promoting our product and helping our affiliates to promote our product so that I can build a real, sustainable business.

But being in this niche, I do know there are a lot of opportunities...

Here’s one that I think is going to blow up...

- Gluten free diets

If you’re not familiar with it, gluten is a protein found in foods like wheat, barley, oats etc...

A lot of people are intolerant to it, and millions more are intolerant to it and they don’t even know about it. It’s catching on with a lot of people, and the Hollywood crowd is beginning to notice it as well. It’s probably a smaller niche now, but easily something that you could build a product and make 6 figures a year with.

As we get more and more health conscious, more people will start to learn about it and it’s going to be the next big “diet craze” in this country...

What niche has worked best for you?
I used to be in the poker/gambling niche and did really well in that. A lot of my friends are still in that niche and they’re all raking in the dough.

Anyways, poker/gambling and then fat loss are the only 2 I've ever really done any serious work with...

Which methods of promotion do you favor?
I used to be a big SEO & blogging guy, but I've fallen in love with paid traffic. I'm just getting my bearings with paid traffic since I could never use it back when I did poker stuff. But I’m doing a lot with Facebook, POF and some smaller media buys...

If anyone wants to coach me with media buys I’d be forever grateful to you ;)

What have you been up to recently? What projects are you working on?
Mostly recruiting affiliates for our product, and then working on dialing in our upsells so that we can make more money off each sale. We’ve seen a big increase in the value of our customers from testing our upsell process.

What are your greatest strengths?
I understand what influences people and I truly understand the fat loss market. I’m pretty relentless when it comes to learning new things, so you’ll always catch me reading 1-2 books on advertising, and then I’m always learning new things from the guys in my mastermind group as well.

If you want to be successful you have to keep learning from other people...

What are your greatest weaknesses?
Getting complacent. I always have to remind myself to not settle when stuff starts going well. This was a big problem for me back when I had a lot of the mental blocks about money. I would let off the gas before things got really good and just try and stay in my comfort zone. I've learned to recognize that now, and I understand that I need to keep pushing when I get to that point...

What motivates you?
Hitting my goals. I’m nowhere near where I want to be financially, but I make sure I remind myself everyday about what my goals are and what I need to do today to get closer to them.

What is the best advice you’ve been given and try to apply to your life?
The day I realized that I was solely responsible for everything (good or bad) that happened in my life was a big day and a big shift in my mindset for me.

I used to have a victim mentality when it came to a lot of things - so once I got over that and figured out that I was solely responsible for all of my success, I really started to see a big difference in how I looked at everything.

As human beings, whenever we don’t reach a goal or we aren’t satisfied with where we are in life, we always rationalize it to ourselves and put the blame on something outside of ourselves. Sometimes we even say it’s our own fault, but deep down there’s a rationalization that we let ourselves use.

It’s this kind of thinking that allows us to rationalize our existence when we’re not living up to our potential.

Understanding that was probably the biggest change in my life...

Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
Dan Kennedy and Shoemoney - I've read almost all of Dan’s books, and I get so much out of every book & seminar I listen to of his. You can pick them up on Amazon for like $12 each, and they are just filled with useful business knowledge.

And then Shoemoney has been a massive help ever since I met him 2 years ago at Elite Retreat. He’s one of the most helpful people I know, and he’ll do anything for people that he actually knows and cares about... Just getting to know him and helping him out has opened a lot of doors for me...

What kinds of people do you have difficulties working with? Any good stories?
I'm a terrible employee. I really am. If you were to ask any of my former bosses back when I had a job in high school, they would probably all tell you I wasn't cut out for being an employee, haha...

What are some of your long-term goals? How much is enough? If money was no object, what would you be doing?
Honestly, I love what I do. I wake up on Saturdays and Sundays and have to force myself to not get on the computer and work. Even if I had 50 million in the bank, I would still be doing stuff like this...

How do you like to spend your free time? What does work-life balance mean to you?
Working out, boxing, being on the lake. I'm a pretty simple guy. Anything to do with sports or the outdoors is where I like to be...

I also spend a lot of time with my dogs... I usually take them to the park or for a long walk everyday. They hang out in my office with me so making sure they are worn out is always a priority when I have work to do...

If you could go back to being 18, what different career choices would you make?
Start with building my business sooner - and also stick with 1 business until it was successful. I fell into the trap of jumping from niche to niche for a while before I really settled on the fitness niche.

Once you have a plan, just stick with it until it works. Most people don’t need more information or the “newest thing” to get started. All of that is useful as you have a business is growing, but just get started with 1 or 2 things and make those successful.

Do you have a Twitter account or Facebook “Like” page?
facebook.com/justingoff is my personal one. I have a Twitter, but don't use it anymore...

Ending
I personally work with our affiliates for the 31 Day Fat Loss Cure - if you’re interested in promoting a legit product with high conversions, and no shady rebills then get a hold of me. You can check out the affiliate page on our site here....
- Justin Goff

Build Your Platform and Leap

The chap in the photograph is called “Chambers”, despite the freezing cold water and the 15c temperature of the dock he enjoyed repeatedly diving and the adulation it bought him.

I think there are a lot of folks just like the Chambers dude.

We can say he did some things very well. He was getting attention, inflating his ego, and he worked his audience. While he was clearly enjoying the thrill, it was just as clear as he grandstanded for the onlookers that he wasn’t doing it just for the adrenalin rush.

The audience, for their part, were egging him on and gettting entertainment.

A couple of kids tried to emulate him, but out of fear they chose lower heights to leap from, with less impressive results. Chambers did not pay them any mind. Nor did he rise to the jeering from the critic gallery who were hoping and praying that he would crack his skull on one of the many hazards around the water.

He chose his course of action, built his platform, attracted attention, and executed his plan.

What Next?

Then, just like with a lot of blogs that you see, the moment passed and everyone started to drift away. This left Mr Chambers shivering in his wet clothes, and with a withering entourage.

The problem is, often what looks like decisive action is just one step towards a goal.

Activity is not necessarily productivity.

We didn’t witness what came next, we had places to be, but I like to imagine that he at least got a Fish and Chips supper for his troubles. Some kind of reward for his stupid spectacle.

Lessons?

So many people only focus on the reward part. Had this guy turned up and gone around the folks in the bay with the offer of “Stunts for Chips” he would likely have received either a brush off at best or maybe a bruise or two. Many people on the other hand go too far the other way, they build an audience but then do not take a next step, they don’t take that audience anywhere. You need a platform and a reward (even if that reward is getting a message out, enjoying the process, or simply making new friends).

  1. You need to build your platform first. Attract a core audience, then get some momentum, and it is far easier to then build that platform even further.
  2. Discover what your audience wants, investigate and drill down to find the challenges, goals, wants and needs of the people you are attracting.
  3. Serve that audience with valuable contributions and make offers that are relevant to their interests and needs.

Bottom line: Before all this, know your end goal. Otherwise after the thrill is over you might end up on the sidelines, cold and alone.

If you want to learn how to launch a product or program that people actually want,
check out the Mojo Marketing Action Plan

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