Those examples mentioned above are quite common day to day risks. They are things people do all of the time without even realizing they are taking risks in most cases. My point is, we are constantly risking something whether we are aware of it or not. What about taking bigger risks though? You know, the ones that involve making big and sometimes difficult choices when it comes to business and/or self-employment? Those are the type of risks I’d like to discuss today. So, if you were hoping to find dating advice you’re on your own, sorry if I got your hopes up in that opening paragraph.

As most of you know, at least those who have read any of my previous articles on this blog, I like to share advice based on my own personal experiences. I don’t just randomly pick topics or write stuff just for the sake of writing, I pick topics that I believe might possibly help others one way or another. The reason I selected risk taking for this weeks topic is because earlier this week I experienced a major setback all as a result of taking a rather big risk. It was not pleasant, but if nothing else I learned a lot from it, thus the reason for this article so that perhaps I can share any lessons that were learned.

How to Guarantee A Risk Will Pay Off

I’ll be completely honest with you, the truth is you can’t always know for sure that a risk will be worth taking. In fact, most times you’ll never know if taking a risk is worth it until you actually take action. It’s not always so simple as for example 2+2=4, thus the whole reason it’s called a ‘risk’.

Even if you plan well ahead, do your research, are 100% confident that the risk you are about to take will pay off it still doesn’t guarantee that it will. The real question is, are you willing to take that risk and most importantly are you prepared to accept the consequences whether they be good or bad?

How Much Are You Willing to Risk?

Of course I can’t tell you what to do, but my advice would be to really spend a good amount of time weighing out the risks you’re considering before you actually take them. Think of it like this, risks can in some ways be a bit like gambling. Just because you’re on a roll or a lucky streak doesn’t mean you should risk everything all at once. You could be at a casino and over the course of a few hours rack up say $100k, then bet that entire amount on one game and lose it all within a matter of seconds.

Personally, I’m not a gambler, at least not when it comes to card games or casinos, but I just thought it would be a good example. The point I’m trying to make is, when you are considering taking a big risk in hopes of increasing the value of and moving forward with your business, it’s wise not to risk everything. This way, if the risk you take fails at least you won’t necessarily lose the shirt off your back in the process.

Why It’s Important to Take Risks

Let’s face it, if we lived our entire lives without taking at least a few risks then what’s the fun in that? Most of the time no risk equals no reward, especially when it comes to marketing, business and being your own boss. If you are passionate enough about something and have a great desire to succeed then chances are a few risks will be required along the way.

It’s healthy to take some risks because they test and challenge us in ways that nothing else can. Even if certain risks you take fail at least you can say you tried and that in itself can be rewarding and outweighs coasting through life constantly being uncertain about what might have happened if you had only tried.

Fears Involved In Business and Risk Taking

Fears can be our worst enemy but they can also be the greatest motivator. Don’t feel bad or doubt your abilities just because you have fear. You are a human being and it’s normal to experience fear every now and then. Taking risks and facing our fears can be the tricky part, but we all have it in ourselves to do so whether we realize it or not. Yes, that means you too, I’m serious! This applies to self employment decisions as well as typical day to day life in general.

Some of the worlds most successful business people are those who faced their personal fears and took risks that the average person wouldn’t even dream of taking. This is what separates such individuals from the so called norm. The truth is, you might read about their success in the headlines on major news outlets but what you don’t always hear about is how many times they had to fail as well as face their fears in order to get to that point of total financial independence and extreme wealth.

Like Bob Marley states in his timeless and classic “Redemption Song”;

[quotes]Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds[/quotes]

This is quite possibly the most profound piece of advice you will ever need or receive. Facing your fears in a lot of ways can result in freeing your mind. Rather than being a slave to your fears embrace them instead and start using them to your advantage.

How Risks Can Create Opportunity

Opportunities can present themselves in many different shapes and forms even when we’re not looking for them. The problem with that is, a lot of times we aren’t even aware of those opportunities until they are long gone and it’s too late. In other words naturally occurring opportunities come and go but the ability to create opportunities for yourself is always present whether you believe it or not, no matter what your personal situation or financial circumstances.

During the past decade or so the economy has been very bumpy and unstable at best. Filled with recessions, home foreclosures, vanished pensions, entire industries collapsing, higher than usual interest and tax rates, etc. Regardless of this, to every disadvantage there is an advantage. Just because the economy constantly goes down the drain, resurfaces and then gets flushed back down to the pits of despair over and over doesn’t mean you have to live your entire life being a victim of this as a result. Sometimes you just have to take risks and create your own opportunities. Easier said than done sometimes I know, but not impossible.

Conclusion

It was a risk for me to write this article in the sense that a lot of it was just sharing general knowledge and common sense. Does it add any value to the web and will it stand out or have any real impact or influence on those who read it? I can’t say for sure at this point but it is a risk I’m willing to take because if it can help, inspire and motivate just one person then in my opinion it was well worth it.

I may not have gone into any great detail about the recent risk my company took which resulted in a loss of valuable time and money, that’s more a private matter, however my goal was to turn a bad experience into something positive which was a big reason I chose this topic today. Besides, if you learn something from any situation then it’s better to refer to it as a learning experience rather than a total write off or bad experience. Wouldn’t you agree? There is no shame in openly admitting that a risk you took failed, not every thing you do in life will pay off, but if you don’t take some risks every now and then how will you ever know?

What are some of your thoughts, opinions and experiences when it comes to self-employment and taking risks? Have you had certain risks fail and did you learn any valuable lessons from it? I’d love to hear your comments below!

Oh those dreaded things we refer to as dates and deadlines! Now before I get started, please understand that I acknowledge the fact there are certain things you just have to be on time for. A couple examples of this would be arriving on time at your own wedding or perhaps your daughters 5th birthday party. Last I heard at least the marriage success rate for people who did not attend their own wedding was quite low. I can’t say I know how accurate that fact is since I’m too busy blogging and designing websites to know first hand, heck I don’t even make time to go on dates, pathetic I know. But let’s stay on topic here, this article is not about laughing at my relationship status, although feel free to do so if it makes you feel any better!

On that note let’s proceed. One of the main reasons I refuse to work for other people is because most employers expect far too much out of their employees and give little to nothing in return for your hard work. They want things done and they want them done yesterday and good luck trying to squeeze another red cent out of them if you do a fantastic job and even complete a task ahead of schedule. How backwards is that?

I realized at a very young age that you will never go far in life or be happy working for someone else and feeling forced and rushed about things all the time. I don’t mind working WITH other people, but I’m the type who has to be my own boss, make my own rules and get things done at my own pace. Don’t even get me started on the amount of scumbags I’ve had to work for over the years, ok too late. I learned the hard way that you will never in a million years get the opportunities you deserve while taking orders from some heartless, greedy, selfish, lowlife thug also known as a ‘boss’. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur you have to create your own opportunities, the alternative is having someone else suck the life out of you for their own gain while paying you the most insulting wage, far less than you deserve.

Of course you have to be strict in many ways and have deadlines if you plan to be your own boss, but at the same time you need to have some level of flexibility. By nature I’m a very driven, motivated and self-disciplined type individual. I set realistic goals for myself and my company but do my best not to get all bent out of shape if a particular project takes a bit longer than planned. In some cases things take however long they take and you can’t possibly foresee or predict every last detail ahead of time.

Case in point, my company is prepping to launch a new premium WordPress theme soon. After the theme was designed we then estimated roughly how much time it would take before the theme was coded and complete. Well you know what, our timing was way off on this one and unexpected things came up which caused a few lengthy delays. Sure it sucks, but like the title of this article states “get over it“. Can you imagine if your boss approached you and started breathing fire down your throat about something not getting done on time and you reply by saying “Yeah, too bad huh, get over it pal“. Well for starters you’d probably be suspended without pay or perhaps even lose your job all together. The beauty of being your own boss however is having that freedom and flexibility to say such things without fear or worry.

Let me put it into perspective for you. I worked at a factory once (well more than once during my 33 years on this planet) and there were times for example when some ‘thug’ would stand near my station for hours at a time with a stopwatch. First of all buddy I’m not one of your lab rats or projects, and secondly having you try to intimidate me with your status and fancy stopwatch is not going to speed up the process of production or put you any further ahead at the end of the day, in fact it will probably have the total opposite effect of what it is you desire. If you want things done quicker then put down that stopwatch, yes sir it’s really O.K. so please step away from the stopwatch, change into some work clothes, heck wear your fancy shirt and tie for all I care, and run the damn machine yourself.

Not to mention, on top of that, God forbid you so much as say “Good Morning” to such people. They’ll be speechless and have this daunted look on their face as though they have witnessed some sort of animal speak English for the first time in history. In other words freaks like prefer to dehumanize people rather than treat you with respect. Believe it or not, this type of thing still occurs more often than not even in 2011, it’s enough to make you sick how people get away with such cruel behavior. All they care about is the ‘bottom line’ and how much production they can suck out of you all the while making themselves richer while you get further and further into debt and have nothing to show for your life because you choose to be stuck at some dead end job that will only take valuable years off of your life.

Anyway, I realize that perhaps I’m getting a bit off topic here, but the point I’m trying to make is, things don’t happen overnight and things don’t always go according to plan. In other words, there’s nothing wrong with aiming to accomplish things by a specific date, but if it takes a week or even a month longer than you had hoped for so be it, it’s not the end of the world. Some things you just can’t force or rush and that’s all there is to it. There are only so many hours in a day and you can’t beat yourself up over the fact that no matter how good your intentions are not all deadlines can gracefully be met. As long as you know you are doing, or have done your absolute best then that’s what matters most!

I’m a huge gadget lover and I’m all for technology, but the fact that things keep getting faster and more advanced does have its downfalls as well. What I mean is, sure technology has its advantages but this fast paced society we live in can be a bit much at times too. Centuries ago it would take months or longer to send a message overseas, now you can tap a digital screen and your message can be practically anywhere on the globe within a split second. This is wonderful, but we must not forget to slow down sometimes, breath, enjoy nature and not put added and unnecessary pressure on ourselves when it comes to deadlines. Just relax, some things are beyond your control and will simply happen when they are meant to and the time is right.

When it comes to life in general one thing people tend to struggle with more than anything else is finding the right balance. This applies to everything including work, family, money, love life you name it. If you spend too much time focusing on certain things more than others then chances are there will be areas of your life that will get neglected or be sacrificed.

People often dream about being wealthy, having total personal and financial freedom and breaking the chains that bind them to being trapped working for someone else. The truth is though, being your own boss can be very demanding and time consuming, especially in the beginning when you’re just making that leap from your dreadful dead end job to being financially independent.

A lot of it all comes down to proper planning. Also, you should always expect the worst and hope for the best. Throughout history many ideas and inventions flopped and not because they were bad ideas but because they weren’t approached realistically and/or lacked in the department of planning.

In this article I’d like to share some tips about good planning and finding balance based on my own personal experiences. Being your own boss is not all roses and rainbows, but it can be the most rewarding experience if you are able to plan well ahead before taking action.

Balancing Your Business & Personal Life

I have been guilty many times of putting myself in situations that involve all work and no play. I practically shut off the outside world around me and completely focus on whatever new blog or project I am working on. Not that there’s anything wrong with having a very sharp focus on your work. In fact, having focus is a great quality which a lot of people lack without years of negative reinforcement and practice. However, you can have better focus than anyone else but without proper balance this can work against you.

For example, if all you do is focus on your work and nothing else then your friends and family could possibly get the wrong impression and feel as though they are being neglected. This is not a good thing. After all, what good is being successful and self-employed if you can’t share that wonderful experience with anyone?

I have learned there are ways to avoid such situations though. Yes, there are times when certain projects or new product launches can take months of preparation. Money could also be extremely tight especially with the economy how it has been the past decade and in some cases the success or failure of a new project can in fact make or break you. With that said, you should at least do your best to take time to breath, relax and balance your life as much as possible. Here are some ways you can do this.

Give Your Family & Friends a Heads Up

If all of a sudden you begin avoiding friends and family for the sole purpose of launching a new brand, company, project or marketing campaign this can be a bad thing. It’s always wise to warn your friends and family ahead of time that you will be working on something big that will in fact consume the majority of your time and efforts. Give them a rough estimated time frame and explain to them that this is only temporary and urge them not to take it personal if you don’t have as much time for leisure events.

Make it clear to them that you are not abandoning them and ask for their support and understanding during the time it takes for you to get things rolling and off the ground. Anyone who cares enough about you will in fact appreciate what it is you’re working to accomplish and this will also help prevent any confusion or misunderstandings. In the long run you’ll be glad you took the time to do this and your loved ones will also appreciate your fair warning & honesty, or at least they should and the ones who don’t (family or not) are probably not worth your time to begin with anyway.

Don’t Forget to Take Some Time Out

Some people think the idea of being their own boss is easy, or that the grass is always greener on the other side. The truth is, there’s a lot of pressure, stress and ups and downs that come along with being self-employed. In some ways it’s more difficult being your own boss than it is working for someone else at a job you absolutely hate and can’t stand. However, like the saying goes though the greater the challenge is the greater the reward.

Whatever the case, sometimes you have to discipline yourself to taking a well deserved break. Spend some time with family, go for a walk, take a day or two off just for yourself. This will enable you to recharge the batteries so to say and will help you be more at ease and to be able to better approach whatever it is you’re working towards launching.

Social Media Marketing Campaigns

With all of the social media services out there it would be next to impossible to use each and every one of them at first to help promote your new product or business. Such campaigns require a great deal of money and planning and it’s wise not to stretch yourself too thin. This is another area you need to have balance.

I recommend that you pick between 1-3 different social media services to use for your launch campaign. It’s better to pick the best ones for you and do a great job promoting your new product or service rather than trying to tackle say 50 or more of them and do a poor job. After all, for example marketing your new product with Google+ can make or break your brand so it only makes sense that you market properly the first time because you’ll never get a second chance at making a first impression.

Partnerships: Who’s Responsible for What?

As you know by now this article is all about planning and balance and partnerships are no exception. It took me several years to finally find the right person to partner with when it comes to business. I learned the hard way more than once why exactly most partnerships fail. Never assume and never have false expectations. Lay everything out on the table right from the get go to prevent setbacks and disappointments later on.

Before proceeding with a partnership always make sure it’s clear on both ends who will be responsible for what. You know the saying “Great minds think alike“, well this is not entirely true in my opinion. The truth is, each and every one of us is unique and have our own way of thinking and approaching things. In order to have a successful partnership you don’t have to think exactly alike, but make sure your short term and long term visions are clear right from day one.

Business partnerships can be a great thing but without proper planning and balance they can also be a recipe for disaster. I’m very fortunate that I have finally found a business partner I can fully trust and rely on, but it took a lot of suffering, failure and loss of HUGE amounts of time and money to get to this point. It was not a total loss though because at least if nothing else I learned a lot from my past mistakes.

Take On Only What You Can Handle

At the end of the day always remember you are still human and not a robot or machine. Even mechanical robots and machines crash and fail if they are pushed beyond their limits.

You can be the most intelligent, driven and hard working individual on the planet but if you take on too much at any given time you will burn yourself out quickly which will most likely result in not accomplishing anything. It would be similar to doing a burnout with a sports car, you’d be spinning your wheels and there would be a lot of smoke but you’d be going nowhere fast.

To give you an example, with all of the things happening with my company right now I have recently had no choice but to limit the amount of articles I post here on my personal blog. This is yet another balancing act. I have made the decision to on average post one in-depth article per week here rather than publishing a new article on a daily basis. I love helping people and sharing knowledge but I also have to be realistic about weighing my priorities and right now my business is priority #1.

As I mentioned above about giving people a heads up, I value my readers and fellow bloggers who support me a great deal and I hope you understand this blog will not become stagnant. At this time I simply won’t be able to update it as much as I have been as of late. This is not a farewell or goodbye, simply a transition that is taking place. Like I said I will still be writing articles just not as frequently and I hope despite that you still support my blog and continue to visit.

Conclusion

The great balancing act of being your own boss and of life in general, something so many of us struggle with each day. In the back of our minds there’s always questions like “What if I had done this?” or “What if I had done that?”, well there’s always a million different ways of approaching things but the important thing is just do the best you can. Proper focus, outlook and planning can have a huge impact on how well balanced our business and personal lives are.

On that note I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on these subjects. Please feel free to speak your mind in the comments section below. Your turn, go!

I know in a lot of ways I’m going back to basics here, but this particular article is geared towards helping new bloggers who may not necessarily know where to start when it comes to blogging. Hey, we all have to start somewhere and I’m just trying to do my part to help in any way that I can.

The following is a list of 5 important things to plan ahead for before making your blog public. Before I get started, if you already have your blog’s domain registered, have chosen a host and also have WordPress installed, it’s good practice to disable search engine crawling and indexing of your site until you’re ready to go live. Also, while your blog is in the early stages of development you might also be interested in installing a useful plugin called WP Maintenance Mode, this way you can view your blog design and customization process while keeping the site hidden from public viewing.

Layout & Design

When a visitor first lands on your page they will quickly be able to establish a lot of things about your blog based on it’s appearance. You don’t have to have the absolute most visually stunning blog of all time, however you should make it as appealing and aesthetically pleasing as possible.

Being a website and graphic designer myself for well over a decade I can understand and appreciate the importance of a good blog layout and design. Perhaps design isn’t necessarily your gig though, and there’s absolutely no problem with that. There are however a lot of great graphic artists and design companies out there who can help you in this area, including myself for starters.

You must also consider how your site appears on various different browsers. Cross-browser compatibility is very critical and you don’t want to limit your audience when a few design changes or tweaks with code can solve such issues.

Site Category Structure & Navigation

Remember how way back in olden times when people use to use a pen and paper? Well believe it or not but this can still be very effective even in this modern digital age we live in. Before launching your blog I highly recommend taking a piece of paper and a pen (or pencil if you so choose) and begin planning your blogs menu navigation structure as well as what categories you plan to include and write about.

When it comes to categories, this is something that might very well change and evolve as your blog matures, but just do the best you can to define what those categories will be beforehand.

Choosing the Right Website Hosting Company

Having the right host for your blog(s) is vital to how your site will perform. For example, it’s been a known fact for quite a while now that Google does actually take page load times into consideration when ranking sites.

You should also consider how much bandwidth you gather you’ll need to boot and if expanding your bandwidth as your sites traffic increases is an available and feasible option.

It can get pretty involved when it comes to finding the right host for you. Try not to get overwhelmed though. It’s wise to just do your research first, check out pricing and read previous and current customer reviews on a particular host before making your ultimate decision.

Target Audience

Who would you like your target audience to be? Are you launching a general/personal blog or one that is more niche specific? Have you checked out other similar blogs in your desired category or niche to help determine what makes them successful?

Whatever the case you should always know ahead of time who exactly your target audience will be and then build your site around that. Narrow this down as much as possible and I do suggest picking a topic or niche you are highly familiar with.

Sitemap, Permalinks & About Page

Sitemap

In my opinion, and you can take it for whatever it’s worth, but typically the last thing I do before making a new blog public is generate the sitemap and then make the blog visible to search engines.

SEO Permalink Structure

Before that, I also ensure my permalinks are structured in a way so that they will be better optimized for search engines. It’s much better to have the following style structure for example:

myblogwhateverthatblogis.com/my-cool-new-article

…as opposed to the default which is:

myblogwhateverthatblogis.com/?p=123

It’s easy to customize this. Just login to your WordPress admin panel, go to Settings > Permalinks then choose “Custom Structure“. In that field enter “/%postname%/” without the quotations of course. See the screenshot example below for reference.

About Page

It’s extremely important that you have a well written about page before going live with you blog. Not only will this help major search engines determine what exactly your blog is about, it will also inform new visitors about what your blog provides and aims to achieve.

Always be sure to include a section that describes what your blog can do for others. Whether it be to help them become a better cook, learn about new technology, become better at using Photoshop with custom tutorials you provide or whatever the case may be.

Final Thoughts

In this article I only covered a few important things to consider before launching and even building your blog. The more prepared you are beforehand, chances are the better your blog will perform. Of course there are many other factors and things to plan for, but I hope this at least helps you get started. Of course if you require any further assistance you can contact me directly or ask your questions below and I’ll do my best to help, after all that’s what I’m here for!

Blogging Today For A Better Tomorrow Part 1
Blogging Today For A Better Tomorrow Part 2

So let’s see, so far I’ve briefly covered the following areas:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
2. Blog Visitor Retention
3. Blog Post Consistency
4. Monitoring Blog Traffic & Other Stats

Today I’d like to touch on 2 other topics that are equally as important as the others I’ve already discussed. As you are likely becoming aware of, if you haven’t already realized, When it comes to blogging there are many different ingredients involved. Once you learn to combine all of those ingredients together you should be well on your way towards having a successful blog or network of blogs.

Keep in mind there is no ultimate or magic ingredient that will guarantee your success as a blogger, but these are some of the blogging practices that have worked well for me over the years.

Write Blog Articles For Your Audience Not For Money

When it comes to blogging the majority of people out there are hoping to make some sort of revenue from their blogs. Whether it be part-time for some extra passive income on the side or enough to cover all of your bills, expenses and then some. There are also individuals who simply blog just for fun and either aren’t interested in the money aspect or don’t need additional funds, it’s more just a hobby that they enjoy.

In my case, I do the best I can to run my blogs like a professional business. With that said, however, primarily I always ensure my blogs are a location that people can visit to learn about and gather useful tips, insight and other information absolutely free of charge.

Either way, whatever category you fit into it’s always good practice to write articles that are geared towards being enjoyable for your audience. If you cover good enough content that is unique, entertaining and informative then the money will eventually come. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make some cash from your blog, just don’t be pushy about advertising products. The last thing you want to do is make your readers feel inundated and overwhelmed with in your face product advertising approaches.

I suppose at the end of the day it’s all about finding that proper balance. The thing is, a soft sell will always be more effective than a hard one no matter what product or service you are marketing. One thing that remains certain is original and high quality content should always outweigh whatever advertisements you use.

Establish a Healthy Level of Patience

I cannot stress enough the importance of having patience. I realize I do tend to talk about patience quite a bit, most recently while discussing how good things come to bloggers who wait. A well performing and good quality blog that people frequently visit is often one that is nurtured quite a bit over time. Think of starting a blog similar to planting a seed. It starts out slow but the more you water it the more it will grow over time.

Just like an outdoor plant has to survive and weather many storms and circumstances, the same can be said in a lot of ways when talking about a blog. Some days you might feel as though your blog isn’t going anywhere, or perhaps even going backwards, but times like these are when you just have to be more patient and continue to push forward.

I’ve seen it all too often, people get so close to achieving success and then end up tripping at the finish line without even knowing it. They can sense that change is possible or perhaps already coming but then give up right when things start to get a little more involved and challenging. Don’t let this be you. Even if you’ve failed countless times before it doesn’t mean you’re a failure. Blogs can be tricky and in the beginning a lot of times you will find yourself working extremely hard for what seems to be for little to no return.

The truth is, those who are the most patient and persistent are typically the ones who will go the farthest in life, whether that be as a blogger or in any profession for that matter. When I was younger I was always very anxious, I wanted things and I wanted them right now. It wasn’t until I got a little older that I began realizing how rewarding it can be to have patience. If you try to rush your blog to success you will only add unnecessary pressure to yourself that will not do you any good in the short or long run.

Conclusion

Well that wraps up part 3 of this series. What are some of your thoughts about the blogging tips that have been covered so far? Have they been helpful at all? Is there anything in particular you’d like me to cover next? Please feel free to speak your mind and share any questions or advice you may have.

So the other day I came across an article that basically implied that the blogosphere is slowly rotting away and that good bloggers are becoming far and few between. It’s not the first time I’ve come across such an article either. It went on to describe how things are getting worse and mentioned how blogs nowadays are saturated with outdated content and advice, making it more difficult for new bloggers to pinpoint what information is legit by today’s standards.

This article I read also went on to describe how it’s more difficult nowadays to make money blogging, yet new blogs continue to surface at a faster rate than ever before. More people are hopping on the blogging bandwagon so to say and believing all the hype of the so called latest proven strategies for blogging success. Why is this? Is this information accurate or false? Well, this inspired me to dig a little deeper and try to be more a voice of reason for bloggers out there.

Some people may not like what I’m about to say in this article but but I’m going to say it anyway. I’ve spent more than 55,000+ hours working online since 1998 so I know a thing or maybe even two about blogging. I will openly admit it, I find it rather upsetting when I see some bloggers with nothing more than a doom and gloom view on the blogging world and would rather frustrate new bloggers instead of providing them with real answers and solutions. As the saying goes, we are the product of our parents so if you see that these are difficult times then be the change you’d like to see rather than complain about it and toot your own horn.

Now that I got that rant out of the way let’s get down to business.

The Hard Facts About Blogging Today

1. Yes there is a lot of useless, outdated and saturated information out there. More so now than ever.
2. Yes it’s true that making money online nowadays is not the same as it was 10 or 15 years ago.
3. There’s more untrustworthy people online now claiming to be authorities on various topics.
4. The amount of SPAM and garbage information is increasing each year.

The Real Truth About Blogging Today

Ok, here’s where that ‘voice of reason’ is about to kick in, like it or not. I won’t argue the fact that there is a lot of useless and saturated information out there. With more bloggers online it can be overwhelming and difficult knowing who the ‘real’ authorities are. However I see this more as evolving rather than rotting. Please allow me to explain what I mean by this statement.

First of all, with all that was mentioned above in the ‘Hard Facts’ section, I mean seriously, what else would you expect? You still have to see every angle and understand that these are all simply growth phases that the Internet is going through and things are not always as they seem. Sure there’s more irrelevant blogs and sure there’s more people you can’t trust, and sure making money nowadays is not like it was 15 years ago before the big bubble burst. In reality though not that much has changed.

Ratio and percentage wise there were just as many shady and fraudulent people online in the free for all glory days of the Internet, perhaps it was even worse back then in fact. Unfortunately yes there are many people that don’t deserve the status they have, but in all honesty not much has changed, yes I said it again. What I mean is, there have always been those who are the real deal and those who simply claim to be. It just seems for some people like it’s getting worse and escalating because there are plenty more people with Internet access today than there were 15 years ago.

In the same breath these bloggers could also say that at the same time there are also plenty of intelligent and helpful bloggers out there who are in fact working hard to educate and make the Internet a better place.

Some bloggers think they have all the answers. New strategies, old strategies, best and worst strategies and blah blah blah. Some tactics that work and generate large amounts of income for one blogger may not necessarily work for the next. There are far too many variables and factors involved for each individual.

Let me break it down for you. For example, I’m a long time graphic and website designer who has used Photoshop for over 12 years. I have a tremendous amount of knowledge on how to use the program as well as a very creative mind. However, even with all of my experience I would never call myself a Photoshop expert. People tell me all the time it’s amazing what I can do and can’t believe how modest I am about it. My work speaks for itself, sure I have some talent but there is always someone out there who knows more than I do or has an easier method of doing things, thus the reason I refuse to label myself as an ‘expert’. I know what I know and that’s it. I don’t try to oversell it because I don’t see the point in doing so.

What I’m trying to say is, things are not always so black & white, and perhaps some of these doom and gloom minded bloggers are just afraid of change themselves. Sure, some things are quite consistent meaning if you do ____ (you fill in the blank) then you will get a very specific type of result. This however cannot be said for every single method in existence. We are all unique and have our own approaches, that’s what makes things even more exciting is sharing our unique abilities and knowledge with others. What we do with that information is up to us.

Perhaps I’m not seeing the whole picture myself, and I’m sure there’s some validity in these articles that state blogs are getting worse. In some ways I’m sure they are but in other ways they are evolving as well. It just disappoints me to see well versed bloggers using fear and discouragement tactics to so sell some silly eBook rather than encouraging and educating new bloggers and being better leaders.

ATTENTION NEW BLOGGERS:

Bottom line is, nobody is entitled to getting rich quick. You have to work hard, be patient, deal with a lot of trial and error, do your research & also network and communicate with others. Try not to get overwhelmed by all of the information out there, whether it be true or false. There are just as many useful resources out there to help you along the way. You should try and have an open mind but it’s also important that you have the ability to think for yourself on some level too.

I’ll never be the type to preach false guarantees to newcomers. As real as it might seem that the economy both online and offline is experiencing a lot of ups and downs lately, try not to be discouraged by this and if it helps at all always remember there is an advantage to every disadvantage. At the end of the day you just have to make blogging work for you, if this is your desire, to the best of your ability. Continue to learn and grow and take things one day at a time.

Not every method you use will succeed, and not every product will ensure you’ll make a profit. Not all bloggers really know what they’re talking about. There are however several descent and well educated veteran bloggers who are willing to help. Also, like the saying goes if you throw enough crap against the wall eventually something is going to stick. Expect the worst and hope for the best, but most importantly NEVER give up on yourself or your dreams and goals in life.

Setbacks happen and they are not fun but they also make us stronger and much wiser. People can blame failure on countless different things but you and ONLY you are responsible for whether you succeed or not. It’s easier to point the finger at someone or something else rather than take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Believe in what you’re doing, go with your gut and don’t let anyone discourage you or get in your way of achieving the success you know you can gain.

This new blog project has consumed a great deal of time and has required a lot of financial investment and SEO research. Sure, there were moments when we felt as though we weren’t making any headway but we kept plugging away at it and continued to write unique and high quality content. We added a forum and also networked a great deal using social media services including Facebook and Twitter, and now of course the newest member of the social media family Google+. Working on good quality dofollow backlinks was also a big part of our agenda among other things.

Fast forward to today and in just 3 short months our newly launched blog has gone from a PR0 to PR4. Targeted traffic is constantly on the rise and our Alexa rank is improving by the day. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t my first blogging rodeo by any means. Having worked online for over 13 years I’m well aware of the fact that there’s a lot more involved with overall success of a blog than page rank, but even small triumphs like this can be very rewarding and motivational. Also, there’s numerous blogs out there with good Alexa ranks which don’t perform well at all and make little to no profit. Mind you, had we simply given up, threw in the towel or let ourselves be intimidated by the competition we would not be in this exciting position. Of course it’s just a start, but a positive one at that.

So, what are some of the reasons that we managed to get to this point?

Be Persistent and Never Give Up

To help give our new blog a boost we decided to run a campaign on Facebook with a paid advertisement. Well, sadly it flopped and was a waste of money. Well, not a total waste actually because we learned a lot from it. If you have the ability to look at times like these as learning experiences rather than bad experiences than you are already several steps ahead of most other bloggers.

Needless to say, we never let our first failed attempt bring us to a halt, instead we let it motivate us even more to do better the next time, which is exactly what happened.

Be Proactive

We knew that in order to stand out and gain exposure to our blog we had to be proactive with our approach. This was achieved in several different ways. For example, we contacted manufacturers regarding possible giveaways, worked hard to get exclusive interviews and also did a great deal of research and covered some in-depth topics that weren’t yet covered all that well just to name a few.

At no point did we have any illusions that our blog would be an overnight success, but we are in it for the long haul and we know from experience that being proactive does eventually pay off, some times quicker than others but it becomes more a question of when rather than if good things will happen.

Have Lots of Patience

If you were whipping up the most delicious blogging meal patience would probably be the the single most valuable ingredient of all. Some things simply need to take their course and cannot be forced or rushed. This applies to blogging as well as many other aspects in life just in general. Think of it like this, a slow cooked meal that is well seasoned is always healthier and tastes so much better than some frozen microwave dish. Well, as the title of this article states, good things really do come to bloggers who wait.

Conclusion

This is not an article designed to brag about page rank. The reason I shared this information with you is to give an example of what rewards can come to bloggers if you are passionate, work hard, have persistence and most importantly have patience. Heck, even if it takes 6 months or more to establish page rank and blog visitor retention don’t sweat it, just keep at it and the traffic will eventually come.

Whether you’re a veteran or new blogger did you find this article to be helpful at all? Do you have any questions or possibly some advice to share regarding this topic? Please feel free to comment and speak your mind and let’s help one another achieve success!

Blogging Today For A Better Tomorrow Part 1.

In part one I briefly covered topics including SEO, establishing long term visitor retention as well as the importance of blog post consistency. For your benefit, today I’d like to tackle the topic of monitoring blog stats. I hope you find the points below to be useful and informative. Some of these blogging tips will help you get results faster but keep in mind this is directed more towards long term traffic and success for your blog.

Monitoring Your Blogs Traffic & Stats

Whether you’re a blogger or not it’s hard wired in most people’s brains to pay close attention to numbers. It seems practically everything revolves around numbers in one way or another either directly or indirectly. It’s common for a lot of bloggers to be stat junkies who constantly monitor numbers such as changes in traffic patterns, amount of followers, revenue totals and the list just goes on and on.

It’s important to pay attention to numbers, in fact it’s critical that you do so, but you must be careful when it comes to the frequency of doing this. It’s all about finding that proper balance and routine, which of course is not always easy to achieve at first, but it can be done. When you work online as a blogger it’s typical to feel eager about finding out if your sales and traffic are rising. Just be careful you don’t spend more time checking stats than you spend actually working on your blog.

Self discipline comes naturally to some while others need to practice hard at it. We check stats primarily to gauge where our site was, where it is and to get a rough idea where it’s going. If you do this too often though you could be crippling your blogs performance without even knowing it.

Top Reasons For Not Checking Your Stats Too Often

1) It Takes Time To Establish A Blog

We would all love instant or quicker results. The truth is though, blogs take time to become established. Things take however long they take and having a successful blog is no exception. Spending more time checking your traffic and revenue will not speed up the process, if anything it will slow it down.

2) You Risk Becoming Easily Discouraged

It’s very rare that a blogs traffic will instantly spike, and even if this does happen out of the blue it will most likely just be a short lived traffic surge. We’re talking long term here though. Checking your stats every hour and constantly seeing no improvement could potentially lead you to becoming very discouraged. This will have a very negative impact on your productivity as well as the success of, or shall I say lack of, your blog.

3) Sidetracks You From Producing Quality Content

If you’re the type who is constantly worried about blog traffic and revenue don’t sweat it, you’re not the only one. However, just think how much time you’ve wasted each time you check those numbers. Trust me, a few minutes here and a few minutes there, over and over, really do add up big time whether you realize it or not. This is time wasted that you’ll never be able to get back and time you could have spent improving the content on and optimization of your blog instead.

Solution

Try to schedule a specific window of time each month to gauge your blogs performance. Although this may not be an easy task, it can be done if you discipline yourself enough. You could even start at closer intervals such as once every week or two weeks and work your way up. Think of it this way, all of these Forbes top 100 companies that release Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 income reports, do you think they’d be even half as successful and wealthy as they are if they had to prepare these reports every hour or even every day? Heck, they’d never get any real work done. Just think about that analogy for a moment, really think about it and tell me if I’m wrong.

This information I’m sharing is not meant to make you feel bad, but sometimes the truth hurts. I would be doing you no justice by sugar coating the matter. The truth is, I’m trying to help you and believe me if you are driven enough things will improve the longer you blog. I have been guilty in the past of being obsessive compulsive when it comes to checking stats myself if it makes you feel any better. I’ve spent over 55,000 hours working online since 1998 and believe me, in my early years I had to learn the hard way about time management. Staring at revenue stats, how many Twitter or Facebook followers you have, or traffic numbers won’t magically make them change is all I’m saying. You have to work hard at your blog to make those numbers change.

Final Thoughts

I hope today’s information was of some value to you. Blogging is meant to be fun and rewarding, but it does require a certain amount of discipline in some areas. I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions, please feel free to speak your mind in the comments section below.

Some of us are very patient while others not so much. Many of us want instant results from our blogs but the truth is it’s more involved than that. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that patience and true understanding is one of the best qualities people can have, this is no exception when it comes to blogging. The following is a list of tips for ways to start improving your blog today to help it become a long term success. I lightly touch on these topics but will get into more detail as the series continues.

Search Engine Optimization

Take SEO for example. Optimizing your blog for top search engine rankings can be very challenging and a lot of hard work. It’s also something that you won’t necessarily see instant results from. If approached the right way though good SEO can have tremendously positive results over time.

The amount of research involved when it comes to good SEO can be overwhelming and quite time consuming, even for those who provide SEO services for a living and work with that sort of thing all the time. Getting your blog to rank for particular keywords and phrases can be a long and tedious process but when it does eventually pay off it sure is worth it.

Establishing Long Term Visitor Retention

Getting visitors to land on your site is one thing, but keeping them there and also having them return is something else all together. When you’re first starting out as a blogger the thought alone of how you could ever possibly achieve visitor retention can be daunting. This is certainly not something that occurs in a day, week or even months in a lot of cases.

Today I read a very useful article by Pat Flynn called Are You Taking Advantage of Recurring Posts? He goes on to explain the many benefits there are when it comes to practicing the art of recurring posts and giving your blog visitors a reason to come back. No matter what type of blog(s) you write for this is a strategy that can work for practically any niche or topic.

How Important Is Blog Post Consistency?

Oh my, if only I had 10 cents for each time I’ve witnessed this topic being up for debate. If that were the case I’d probably be living on my own private island somewhere and blogging from there instead (yes I would still blog even if I was a multi-billionaire). I’m still waiting for that check though so for now I have to settle for my cozy home office here in the city. Hey, life could be much worse!

The truth is, there’s a lot to be said for consistency. However, there are still times when things that are beyond our control get in the way and prevent us fellow bloggers from writing. If you make it part of your schedule to write quality blog posts daily and every now and then there are days when, for whatever reason, you are not able to write, well don’t sweat it because it’s not the end of the world.

It is important to do your best when it comes to remaining consistent, this will in fact have an impact on your return traffic. Despite that, many things in life can happen at the most unexpected times, so just do your best when it comes to this. Always remember, you are still human and not a machine and quality will always be better than quantity when it comes to blog post writing.

Blog Update Frequency and SEO

I’ll admit I don’t have the proof to back this up but I do believe that to some degree the more consistent you are at updating your blog the more weight you will be given by major search engines in the long run. This again is not always something that is instantly established, but just another example of how your approach in this area today can have either a positive or negative impact on your blog tomorrow.

Final Thoughts

This barely touches the surface when it comes to ways of improving your blog today which will ultimately work in your favor for the long haul. It is a start though and covers a few important points. I hope you find these blogging tips helpful. Be sure to visit again soon for part 2. In the meantime I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on all that was mentioned above or any other advice for bloggers you have to share.

UPDATE: Bloggint Today For A Better Tomorrow Part 2.

Spend More Time Commenting Than Writing Quality Content

This is one of the greatest methods bloggers use to go broke. It’s quite an effective strategy but the only problem with this approach is that you might get some quality dofollow backlink traffic. Hey don’t say I didn’t give you a heads up! There is a solution for this however, just don’t include your website link in the URL field when commenting. Problem solved. Hey I’m all about helping people find answers!

Believe Everything You Read

Everything that bloggers write about and tell you is 100% accurate, just about as accurate as non-vaporized water not being wet. If going broke is your goal then it’s important that you believe everything you see and hear from other bloggers.

But what if 2 different blogs have two entirely different points of view on the same subject?

Even if you read something on a similar topic on another blog that is entirely opposite don’t over think it, they are both right in their own way. It’s important that you trust this information, otherwise you might in fact be on to something called thinking for yourself that could potentially earn you revenue.

Never Create Backups

Creating backups is one of the biggest mistakes that bloggers who want to have negative bank balances make. Let me put this into better perspective for you, say for example your site is hacked or your database becomes corrupted one day, why on God’s green earth would you want to have a backup somewhere? Times like these are when you learn the hard way, but hey live and learn I guess.

Ignore Your Readers

The more you engage with people who read your blog the more you are entering very dangerous territory. I must admit, this is one area I struggle in and tend to be a bit hypocritical when it comes to this, but hey we can’t all be perfect.

Signs That You Are Paying Too Much Attention to Your Readers

1) You might notice increased popularity in your blog
2) Your blog earnings could potentially rise
3) Others might recommend your blog to their friends and fellow blog readers
4) Your readers might begin to comment frequently
5) Creditors and bill collectors might not call you anymore (Yikes!)

If you have noticed any of the above mentioned signs you might be in desperate need of a blogging intervention, but don’t worry you are not alone.

Expect To Become Wealthy Overnight

I have often been told that reverse psychology works quite effectively. By expecting to earn an extremely high profit overnight from your blog you will inevitably realize that the opposite will come true. This might be difficult to grasp but trust me, it’s a strategy I strongly suggest you work on otherwise you could become a victim of long-term wealth.

Final Thoughts

I hope the advice mentioned above helps you on your journey to becoming poor. There are plenty of other methods of course but these will hopefully help you get started. As a bonus and special offer I’m also willing to charge you for this advice, all you have to do is contact me and I will provide you with a PayPal donation link (the link itself is free of charge, sorry) which should help speed up the process of going broke. In light of tip #1 about commenting, I strongly urge you to comment below and share your opinions on the advice here today or perhaps share some of your tactics when it comes to poorly managing your time and money!