Monday, January 23, 2017

Matthew Woodward | How To Build A Successful Blog

I feel if you want to learn how to do something you need to go to a pro, someone with a proven record. Matthew is just that person. He has won several awards and is able to make a living from his on-line endeavors.

In the above video, Matthew Woodward tells you how to build a successful blog.  Here is an overview.
  • The first this you need to do is to define your blog's purpose. Don't rush into this. You need to plan for this. If you are creating a blog with the sole purpose to make money, chances are you will not succeed. Create a blog with your interest and passions in mind. Then grow from there. 
  • Content Strategy is very important. It is what will keep people coming back. You need to stand out; create the very best content on the web. He states that if you do a Google search in your niche, you will find the majority of other websites lack  good content. You need to put effort into each of your post, he spends about 8-16 hours per post. The post you write is a business asset that stays with you for life.
  • His content strategy is based on problem solving. You need to find out what people want, then you need to give it to them. You can browse around on forums. People will tell you what they want and what kinds of problems they are facing. Engage those people and create content that will solve their problems. Google that problem, see what is in the top ten results, Make a few notes about what you like about it and what you don't like about it.
  • Promotion Strategy: 1. Keep it simple,  2. Hang out where your audience hangs out. 3. Engage people by solving their problem If you have not yet created content, write a detailed reply and then file it away for future content.4. Become part of the community. Start by giving to that community and build relationships. 
  • You will need a good logo & branding. First impression are important. It will help people remember you and it also helps to set you apart from the competition.
  • People want to be educated and entertained so don't be afraid to show your personality.
  • You need to prioritize value. 1.  Full-time subscription 2. Social shares 3. User generated content (i,e, comment, forums) 4. Shared content will give you new traffic. 5. Affiliate clicks and sales.
  • When people join your list (I.e. newsletter)  you need to treat that with respect. They are giving you permission to invade their privacy. He only sends emails when he was new content to share. He doesn't stick affiliate links in those emails. People will stop opening or ignoring your emails if it is full of advertising material. He has a years worth of material in his auto responder.
  • Comment redirect (plug-in) converts 80% of the time. This is where you redirect people to a set page to thank the people who left a comment and then gets them to subscribe.
  • Social Sharing: Use the default icons, people are psychologically trained to look for them. To get people to share something on social media, tell them you have something to give them if they share it on social media.
  • Create a forum. It gives you new fresh content. It gives you new pages for google to find when someone ask a question. It gives people a reason to come back, it gives them a sense of community. He uses a plug in called thirsty affiliate so if someone mention a topic it will replace it with the affiliate link for that topic.
  • Put in the time and effort to make a great first impression.
  • Product Reviews: Get down to the nitty-gritty. Show people how to use it, how it can apply to them. Most reviews tell you how it works and what it does.
  • Competitions Approach a merchant ask for them for prizes to give away. (i.e. license, software, lifetime membership to their website etc..) Ask if they can provide an exclusive discount, available for 3 days only. Still take an affiliate commission for yourself. When you launch the competition you are building a list of people interested in that product. (make sure that the url has the words product review in it) You then direct them to a page telling them to tweet (share on social media) about the competition (this is a mandatory requirement to enter the competition) With the competition page, turn that into a bit of a product review...people enter the competition...they share the page...that sends social signals to that page. At the end of the competition, close the page and announce a winner along with a 3 day discount for the product. The sales then go crazy. He then does a bit of bate & switch by making that page a full product review. Goggle will then see a page full of comments and social signals.
Here is his link for the Affiliate Summit Resources

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