Here's 7 Steps to Guaranteed Online Profits
This thread is for those who want to make money online with an authority
site, and probably won't appeal to those who are into building a lot of
niche websites. I'm going to address the "quality over quantity" approach
here, not to say that niche marketing doesn't work (it does), but as a
heads up, that's not the money-making "method" I'm going to cover here.
If you follow the steps below, and try your absolute BEST not to get
distracted by other "shiny things" along the way, your site will not only
gain a significant rise in traffic and readers (which equals more income,
especially for the long-term), but your blog/site will be well on it's way to
becoming the next "authority" in your online field of choice.
STEP 1: Select a Field You're Interested In
The bottom line is, if you're going the "authority website" route, it's going
to be hard to stay persistent with your efforts if you're not interested in
the topic you're trying to pursue. A passion for your topic is highly
recommended.
STEP 2: Stick to a Consistent, Do-Able Posting Schedule
Notice how I said "do-able"? Make sure you don't burn yourself out.
Posting to your blog should only encompass about 20% of your efforts, so
make sure you have a consistent schedule that you can keep up with. I
prefer two posts a week (Monday and Thursdays).
STEP 3: Guest Post to Established Blogs *Regularly*
Guest posting is simply contacting the owner of another blog in your field
and asking if you can contribute an article to their blog. They get high
quality content, and you get a back-link to your blog.
If you do this to established blogs in your niche on a regular basis (I
recommend weekly for best results, especially in the beginning), the
benefits are almost unsurpassable. Not only do you get great links, but
you normally get a surge in traffic and an increased likelihood of being
approved as a guest blogger on that same blog in the future.
STEP 4: Social Bookmark Your Posts After Publishing
I personally find this process annoying, but I hear it's good for getting
initial back-links to your posts and getting them "out there" in the
beginning.
The *least* annoying way to take advantage of this is to use
IMAutomator.com's free service. It's very easy and takes minimal time
away from my other tasks, so I got in the habit of using it for my new blog
posts (and my guest posts I submit to other blogs).
STEP 5: Take Advantage of Social Networks
You can do this whatever way you like, as long as you are not
over-promoting your stuff or spamming in any way. I honestly don't put
much weight on this, as the only social network I use for my online
business is Twitter. I simply post a few tips a day (at the most), make
some retweets, reply to a few others' tweets, and announce my blog
posts.
That usually does it for me as far as social networking goes. You can
obviously put more emphasis on this and leverage it however you want,
but don't stress out about it too much.
STEP 6: BUILD YOUR EMAIL LIST
I can't stress this enough. If you want your blog or authority site to go
anywhere anytime soon, especially amongst the growing competition of
other websites out there, you need to be building your list to keep your
visitors COMING BACK.
Your list serves as your blog's "insurance" because it's like taking a piece
of your niche and saving it for yourself. But you have to treat your list
right.
Not only will you increase your sales (as long as you treat your list right by
providing them value on a regular basis, and the occasional promotion of a
high quality product).
I recommend creating a short, free report that directly pertains to the
subject matter of your blog. It doesn't have to be long, but it has to be
useful and convenient. Just offer the report in exchange for a name and
email address and you'll build your list as you drive traffic to your blog.
I personally use a squeeze page and drive traffic to it using article
marketing and forum participation. In fact, all of my article marketing and
forum participation efforts are ultimately to drive traffic to my squeeze
pages. The high quality list subscribers will end up on my blog eventually
anyway.
Guest blogging and social networking drives traffic to my actual blog.
STEP 7: STICK WITH IT***
All the advice I just gave you is useless if you give up eventually. Most
people can do it... but only for a few weeks. Some people a few months
but the fact is, MOST people give up on the whole thing before they're
even able to see results.
HOWEVER, if you do take action on all 7 steps (or 6) on a regular basis,
week-in and week-out, you'll start seeing results faster than you think!
Stick with it for 6 months and you'll be surprised. Stick it out for ANOTHER
6 months and you'll be absolutely AMAZED.
The bottom line is: whether you decide to go the "authority blog/website"
route (as I just described), or use another method when it comes to
making money online, you HAVE to STICK WITH IT... and if you can
manage that, just about anything will work (granted it's a legitimate
method).
Good luck Warriors!
-Jonathan Beebe
P.S. Please leave your comments, input, and other feedback as a reply to
this thread. Do you have any questions, or anything else to add? Post a
reply!