Entries Tagged 'Tips' ↓

Over the last few months, I’ve tweaked this blog a bit and added a few pages.

So I thought it would be good to let you know about them.

1. I removed the “no follow” tags from this blog.

I did this on Fred Black’s recommendation. You can read his post about removing “no follow” tags here: I’ve Removed the No Follow Tag from My Blog — You Should Too!

Basically, what this means is you now have a greater incentive to comment on my blog. Because PageRank will pass to your web site should you include a site when you submit a comment.

2. I’ve added an incentive for subscribing to my blog’s email list.

Earlier this month, I created what I call the “Conversion Booster Check List.” Whenever you write an ad or sales letter, simply use the check list to make sure you haven’t overlooked any obvious ways to boost response.

When you subscribe to my blog email list, you’ll get this check list free. (You’ll also get this check list free if you “Follow Me” on Twitter.)

3. I’ve created a page of Ad Copy Samples.

Every once in a while, a potential client will ask to see some of my copy samples.

In the past, I would dig up past projects, attach them individually to an email, and send them off. This was tedious, so I created the new page.

It doesn’t include entire ads or sales letters (it’s not a swipe file), although it does give you a good idea of my style. The page is located here: Ryan Healy’s Ad Copy Samples

4. I’ve created a “Ryan Recommends” page.

Since I’ve been involved in online marketing for 6+ years, I’ve encountered (and used) a lot of products.

So I’ve built a page that includes some of my favorite products. Some are free, some are paid. Some use my affiliate link, some don’t.

I’ve designed the page with an eye towards making it useful for you. That’s why I’ve written a short blurb about each tool to explain how/why I use it. If you’d like to see what I recommend, go here: Ryan Recommends

(I just added five new tools to my “recommends” page today.)

Enjoy!

-Ryan M. Healy

Popularity: 14% [?]

Pssst! Did you know you can get automatic blog updates when you join my email list or subscribe to my RSS feed?

FeedBurner is the #1 service for tracking blog readers through RSS. If you have a FeedBurner account, you can log-in and track how many readers you have, and whether your readership is growing or shrinking.

You can even publish a widget on your blog that dynamically displays the number of blog readers you have. For instance, Michel Fortin’s FeedBurner widget says he has 22,838 readers today.

Once you’ve got a sufficient number of readers, displaying a FeedBurner widget becomes a good form of social proof, and could possibly encourage more people to subscribe to your blog. (”Hey, if he’s got 250 readers, it must be a good blog!”)

But FeedBurner’s numbers are not always a good indicator of the value of a blog. For instance, FeedBurner says my old Typepad blog has 169 readers today… even though I haven’t posted to that blog since early January!

And for this blog, FeedBurner only reports 13 readers today. (I know those numbers are low based on traffic statistics and my Aweber email subscribers, which FeedBurner doesn’t track.)

So if not the number of readers, how should you judge the success or value of your blog?

I suggest it’s not about how many readers you have; rather, it’s about how loyal and responsive your readers are.

On a secondary level, it’s also about how many people of influence you’re reaching.

When I write a blog post, my aim is to provide value, spark critical thinking, and encourage interaction. And if some readers decide to link to what I’ve written, so much the better.

I would much rather build loyalty with a few influential and connected readers than gain exposure to thousands of disconnected readers with little or no influence.

Said another way, exposure is meaningless, but loyalty is priceless.

The same principle is at work in advertising.

There are many headlines that will grab a reader’s attention. But a headline’s job is not only to get attention. It’s also to drive the reader into the advertisement.

So in the case of an ad, getting attention is meaningless, but getting a sale is worth something.

When I write a blog post, I’d rather attract 15 people who actually read and respond than 100 people who read the headline and leave.

And when I write an ad, I’d rather attract 5 people who actually read and buy than thousands who read the headline only.

I share all this because it is far too easy to become obsessed with meaningless numbers. To place importance on statistics that are of little import.

As you write articles for your blog, adopt a proper mindset. Don’t try to get the most readers or a bunch of transient traffic from Digg. Simply focus on developing a loyal and responsive readership. The rest will fall into place.

-Ryan M. Healy

Popularity: 48% [?]

Pssst! Did you know you can get automatic blog updates when you join my email list or subscribe to my RSS feed?

I’ve been blogging on at least a weekly basis since 2004. During that time, I’ve written hundreds of blog posts… and I’ve read even more.

One thing I’ve noticed is that most bloggers pay little attention to the quality of their writing. To simply publish another blog post is good enough.

It seems to me, in the “daily grind” of blogging, there is more emphasis placed on the quantity and frequency of posting than the quality of the posts themselves. Now, every time somebody has a “brain fart,” it seems they must share it with the world.

Two schools of thought

I’ve observed two different schools of thought when it comes to blogging.

One says to post no less than once per day, and sometimes more often than that. Following this model, you might need to crank out 8-12 blog posts per week.

Certainly, it is possible to blog this often, especially if you derive your entire income from blogging. But I’ve noticed that the quality of posts suffer from such frequent posting. I usually lose interest or pay less attention to blogs like this.

The second school of thought says to post only when you have something of value to say. This means you might post only once or twice or three times per week, but certainly not every single day.

This is much more achievable. Rather than write about every fleeting thought that crosses your mind, you must go deep with the best thoughts, ideas, and personal experiences you wish to share. As a result, you will post quality articles on a less frequent basis.

Are you delivering value
or demanding attention?

The person who posts once or more per day, seven days a week, demands an unreasonable amount of attention from his readers. It is like a person yelling into cyberspace: “See, I have lots of things to say! Look at how important I am!”

The person who posts on a less frequent basis (say 1-4 times per week) is talking in a normal voice. He commands attention based on the quality of his posts and the value of his content.

He does not need to “yell” to keep the attention of his audience. Rather, he attracts readers because he is focused on delivering value instead of demanding attention.

Which model is best?

Personally, I’ve tried both. And I like the second model better. I’m learning that I prefer to write a few quality posts every week rather than a pile of mediocre posts. In my opinion, less is more.

From observing other well-known bloggers, it seems the second model is also what is most effective over the long-term. I can think of a few examples right off the top of my head: Michel Fortin, Christine O’Kelly, Terry Dean, etc.

I personally believe that posting in-depth articles less frequently is better not only for me, but for my readers as well.

Why?

Because interruptions hurt productivity. The more I interrupt you from doing what is required for you to succeed, the less you get done.

Furthermore, too much information
can become counterproductive.

Can you really absorb and apply even 10 blog posts a week? Probably not. If my gut is correct, you’d be doing well to absorb and apply even one blog post a week.

In fact, I believe too-frequent blog posting can transform an ordinary blog reader into a human version of Pavlov’s dog.

Every time he gets a new blog post notification, he starts salivating because that’s what the blog author has trained his reader to do. And so the reader begins to redefine success by how many blog posts he reads instead of taking action to achieve his goals.

Does this mean the “more is better” model of blogging doesn’t work? No. For some bloggers it works just fine. I just personally find it’s not a good fit for me. Which, by the way, is one reason why I haven’t been posting as often lately.

So which blogging model do you prefer? What advantages and disadvantages have you personally observed?

-Ryan M. Healy

Popularity: 100% [?]

Pssst! Did you know you can get automatic blog updates when you join my email list or subscribe to my RSS feed?