A new year brings with it a new beginning and a new start. You can look at it as the same old same old or you can look at it as an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start fresh. Here are some tips to make 2011 your best blogging year.
Take Your Blog Seriously
Because a blog cost next to nothing to start, most bloggers don’t take it as seriously as they should. If you want your blog to advance beyond the hobby stage, you need to take it seriously and treat it like a real business. Don’t let 2011 be the year you’ll give blogging a try or make a half hearted effort to start blogging again. Instead, make 2011 the year you take your blog to the next level because your blog is just as serious as a $100,000 “real” business.
I know many business that cost over $100K to start that makes no where close to what my blog makes. Yet, my blog was started for the cost of a domain name. Very few normal businesses can be started for the cost of a domain name and grow into a $500,000 operation in four years. But that is the power of blogging if you take it seriously and continue to work at it on a consistent basis. Treat your blog like you would treat a $100,000 business and your entire blogging outlook will change.
It’s Time To Get Your Own Domain Name and Web Hosting
If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to give your blog a domain name and get out of Blogspot or WordPress.com and into a professional web host. Taking your blog seriously means having your domain name and a professional web host. Fortunately, the cost of these items are so low that any normal business would kill if that’s the only expense they have to pay for.
From my personal experience, I can tell you to that you should chose your domain name registar and web host very carefully. I do not have an official endorsement on where to get a domain name but I’ve heard good things about Name Cheap. Whoever you use, you should stay away from GoDaddy at all cost.
John Chow dot Com is hosted by HostGator and CDN is provided by MaxCDN. The two combination creates a blog that can handle virtually any amounts of traffic. Their service is top notch and I highly recommend them. HostGator offers John Chow readers their first month hosting for $1 by using coupon code JohnChowRocks at checkout. You can get 20% off your CDN bill at MaxCDN when you use coupon code JohnChow.
Make a Commitment to Post On A Consistent Frequency
Many new people read this blog and think it had always made a lot of money. The truth is, I started just like you did. For the first eight months of my blog’s life, it made zero and barely cracked 1,000 page views per day. It also didn’t look anything like it does today.
If I were to nail down one ingredient to blogging success, it would have to be a consistent posting habit. Most bloggers fail because they want instant gratification and mistakenly think that blogging is the quick road to riches. When they first start, they’ll post like crazy for a few weeks, maybe even a few months. When nothing comes from it, they quit and become a statistic.
The key is consistency. On again, off again blogging doesn’t work. I have averaged two posts per day since the day this blog was created. There has never been a single day when there wasn’t new post to read. Even when I go on vacation (like I am now), the posting frequency does not change. It is this kind of consistency and commitment that will lead your blog to success in 2011. You should choose a posting frequency and make a commitment to stick to it for the entire year.
Start That Mailing List NOW
You’ve heard me talk all year about how the money is in the list. Well, it is! I can not stress enough how important it is for a money making blog to have a mailing list. The list is the number one reason my blog makes the income that it does. If you don’t have one yet, then the first thing you should do in 2011 is get a mailing list.
My recommended mailing list provider is Aweber. They are by far the best in the business and have features that put them light years ahead of the competition. Aweber offers a $1 trial account for all new customers. The account is just like a normal Aweber account and includes unlimited email campaigns, newsletter, broadcasts and follow ups. If for some amazing reason, you can’t make the $1 back, then email marketing and making money by blogging is clearly not for you. Send Aweber an email and they’ll give you the $1 back.
Have a Marketing Plan In Place
Most bloggers think making money online is like the movie Field of Dreams, where the main character was told, “If you build it, they will come.” The truth of the matter is you can build it but if nobody knows about it, they’re not coming. Marketing is what separates the big blogs from the small ones. It takes a lot more than good content to build a big blog. There are tons of smaller blogs that have better content than me. The reason they don’t get bigger is because they do little or no marketing. If your blog is not where you want it to be, ask yourself what you’ve been doing to market it. Content is only half the formula. You have to get your blog out there. That means you need to have a marketing plan in place before you start your blog. How do you plan to market your blog? If you don’t have the answer to that, then you need to sit down and work out a plan.
Tell Your Story
Blogging is all about forming relationships. There’s the relationship between you and the readers and relationship between you and other blogs in your niche. Make a commitment to get to know them and form that relationship.
In addition to getting to know your readers, you should have your readers get to know you. If you haven’t done so yet, then make 2011 the year to create your about page and tell YOUR story. Where did you come from? What are you goals and dreams? Introduce your family members. The more the readers know about you, the more they’ll connect with you and trust you.
Be A Highly Effective Blogger
If you ever read the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, then you’ll know about the time quadrant. Basically, Every activity we do during the day can be put in one of four quadrants:
- Urgent and important (crises, pressing problem, deadline)
- Not urgent and important (Relationship building, planning, exercise)
- Urgent and not important (Interruptions, some calls, emails, etc.)
- Not urgent and not important (Busy work, time wasters, pleasant activities)
Answer this question: What one thing could you do in your personal and professional life that, if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in your life? Chances are, whatever you name, it’s a Quadrant two activity.
Quadrant two is the heart of effective personal management. It deals with things that are important but not urgent, like building your blog, forming relationships, long term financial planning, exercising – all those things we know we need to do, but seldom get around to doing because they are not urgent and can be put off until some other day. Well, we all know that someday never comes.
Don’t put off what you know you need to do just because it’s not urgent and you can always get to it someday. For many, someday will turn into years or never. I know people who said they were going to get into blogging years ago. I’m still waiting to see their blogs. The main difference between a highly successful blogger and an unsuccessful one is the successful blogger knows blogging is not urgent but it’s important enough to actually get started and keep going.
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{ 137 comments }
“Content is only half the formula”, i believe in this becoz very recently i started to realize the importance of blog marketing. In fact, i took blog marketing at the first place in my priority list for 2011.
I think, i got a chance to write a very first comment for this article
Thanks John !
Yes, marketing is one of the other factors.
But, if you feed your blog with new contents regularly, it will make those promoting a lot easier.
Feeding with regular new content is important but the content has to be relevant and worth promoting too.
Actually, I think the content needs to connect with your reader and that’s the most important part. That means it might not be relevant to the blog, but it gets the reaction you want.
Hey John,
This is a very helpful and insightful post. It is one of the longer ones too. I’ll make sure to refer to it several times.
I like a lot your admonition to start an email list. I know that a lot of new bloggers wait a long time before they do that.
Content is definitely king, but if you don’t market no one is going to read it.
still have a problem with my feed… donno what happened
I know few blog in India copy all content from site like Mashable and Techcrunch and still rock in term of traffic and earning. Content is Half King. True Very True.
Yes, marketing is one of the other factors.
But, if you feed your blog with new contents regularly, it will make those promoting a lot easier.
I also saw the same that only creating great content not matters in the blogging business and that’s may be the another reason behind a great blogger is unknown.
It’s not worth it in the long run. They’ll eventually run into trouble.
im agree witth you
Ikki,
Who do you agree with and what makes you think that this lip service comment of yours is a comment of value?
Try to be a bit more creative.
I hope 2011 will be a great year for me and for all bloggers !
Wish you the same..
All the best to a successful 2011! I heard the blogging niche should explode this year, so much money to made.
If it explodes, then it’ll be harder to make money because of all the competition
I hope too that 2011 will be a great year for me and for all bloggers !
Ikki,
This is another example of a useless comment. All you did is add just one word to the comment Rosell A Bakar made.
You only added an unimaginative word too to his comment.
Pathetic copy cat behavior.
Taking the blog seriously will definitely help us to be in blogging no matter what happens.
Also, finding out the motivational factor of blogging, will be helpful to make 2011 better for bloggers.
Thanks for a nice post John
I agree, the motivational factor is huge. If it inspires your readers to take action, you’ve got a tremendous opportunity to get them to come back.
John has personally admitted that there are better bloggers out there, (although, I’m not sure I can name somebody that I like better) but the difference is that John’s able to connect with his readers in a way that most can’t.
It’s not about the techinical, it’s about the emotional side. That’s where most bloggers make the biggest mistake.
hi ,you are great!
Since 2006 I’ve been reading your blog, and it continues to deliver and reinforce the most important things to making money online. Sure a lot of the lessons are recycled from prior posts but it’s always just as informative and effective to read the lessons for the 100th time as it the 1st.
I owe A LOT of my success to this blog. Thanks and let’s have a great 2011!
hi John,
I’m a blogger for more than a year.i agree with u john , maybe i need to prepare the marketing plan and do posting consistently .
Traffic on my blog not so good and after reading this post i realize that i need to do something about it .
thanks john for the great post
yes, a blog needs time
The last point was something new and really good. Will check out that book for sure.
Great article, of course what else could someone expect from a man like you
Thanks for sharing the thoughts and happy new year!
You rock as always John,
I know I’ll continue absorbing some great ideas from your posts in this 2011 year too.
Thanks,
Togrul
John, Nice post.
Happy new year to you. My goal this year is to follow more on your blog posts & duplicate your blogging success on myself.
Thanks.
Kent
Excellent Post John, I’ve followed your tips on your ebook(make Money Online) and has recently got a domain name for my site and started to take all my site like a business. super post….keep them coming…
Good luck Zaks! Hope it works for ya!
Of course, you can see some loyal visitors coming to your blog from this comment. All the best!
Hi John
Thnx for the great info and tips. I am starting my blog very soon, may be on 15th Jan. This article comes at right time. Will also seek your guidance and help.
Adil
Great new year start John.
I know how blogs become successful but as I don’t act and prioritize things it;s getting more and more difficult for me to manage and progress at the same time.
BTW, I want to know one thing from you. You mentioned a blog should have a solid marketing plan, but when you think of marketing plan what exactly thinks you want to focus on?
Can you share some marketing plans/outlines any blogger can follow and those worked for you?
Vijay, I would like to offer my oppinion even though I know you’re looking for an answer from John.
Try using a mind map to lay out your content. You can design your site structure and then link all your articles to it and have a visual of what’s going on inside your blog.
Search for FreeMind which is an open source version and costs nothing to use.
Yeah, I Will take my blogs seriously this year, I hope can make $3000 per month. Good post John!
I hope can make $1000 per month till the end of this year, but there is the surety of not saving a buck also instead of investing that all on the same blog that gives out what.
some excellent points there john. I am guilty of some of them. 2011 is going to be my year. Thanks mate
Wish you luck..
Make sure you don’t loose your way anyhow.
I feel and always what ever you say it is oke and as far you make it in an action..really action..just do it..thank
Great!!
But its easier said than done.
Once again; an inspiring post from John Chow! Whenever I feel down and just don’t want to do nothing anymore… I read an article here on your blog and I leave inspired and with new ideas! Thanks for that and a happy and (no doubt) successful 2011.
Hope soon that i have my own domain as you.
Owning a domain is not a big deal.. It costs same as one or two cups of coffee..:)
But it does have a huge impact on your blog.
Exactly, just give up coffee and you can buy a domain!
Hi John,
Thanks for all the tips. They are very useful especially the tips on marketing the blog. This year I will take blogging seriously. I think I need to read your previous posts since I’m new here.
Cheers,
Noel
thanks bro, …
just started my cstm domain on des 8, 2010 with 50 unique visitors/day.
i’ll implement ur sugstion n see what happen
happy new year,
trigonal
Thanks for sharing your experience, John !
I like the part : “Content is only half the formula”,
I am starting to believe it, seeing others blog content…
I think I actually focus on internet marketing in 2011.
My wishes for best year to everyone.
All the best for your quest to glory–although Internet marketing is bigger and tough playground. Hope you win with flying color. Eric
Wonderful and very helpful John as always, You actually have 8 or more great posts that you create just by expanding on each topic of the post, Marketing plan, tell your story, be more effective, those would be very helpful to many I am sure.
I think that is where most of us get lost, we get bits and pieces and never really figure out how to put the whole thing together. I know over the years I have learned so much from you but still kinda struggle in many areas.
That is a another money making idea for you, Make A system that is so simple all we have to do is connect the dots
Dot to Dot Cash lol Because some of us, namely me, are quite simple minded and need easier instructions.
Nice post John..
People who want to make money online, but doesn’t take blogging seriously may learn a lesson from this.
Post frequency is the key…it drastically lower down alexa Ranking and improve traffic.
Alexa Rank is crap.. Just forget it and concentrate on getting traffic.
I completely agree. Does anyone still use Alexa?
John, this message is right on time. I’ve done most of what you recommend, so for 2011 I have to focus on posting consistency. I’m not at the 2 posts a day rate yet, but I will start where I can and work my way up there. Excellent post, and Happy New Year!
Jamie
Good point! In marketing if You build something but nobody knows it, then it won’t come.
Excellent points, John.
The thing I miss in my case is the consistency. I hope that I do not follow the same trend this year and maintain to post atleast once a day.
Thanks for such worthy points… Cheers…
Great article.
As you say blogging is not the quickest way to rich. it has lot of hard works.
John, what a New Year “GIFT” your post is. I just created
a blog. It has been hosted on Hostgator and I will
impliment your tips to position my blog among the best.
Thank you and have a prosperous new year.
Great Info – Would you please elaborate a little more on marketing your blog – what should be the best way for a newbies. It will help them if it comes from the master.
I would be glad if you kindly write a post on marketing in blogging.
Posting frequently is one of my blogging goals for 2011. It will seriously impact my traffic.
Thanks for the post John
Really nice.
Yes start the mailing list NOW. Even the monetization or the ad banners. You would not want to re arrange again your blog because you have not put the ads before.
A question though; How would we really market our blog?
I don’t have an earth shattering comment, but I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy reading your posts and appreciate your ever flowing tips on how to become successful online.
Wishing you a very Happy New Year.
Yes, I have read about those quadrants and I frequently have spend time in that quadrant, it’s a nice thought that that time has been the seeds for future traffic
to my Blog(s)
Only I still have plenty to improve for 2011
Thanks for your insights.
All the Best,
To your Happy – Home Business Lifestyle – Inspiration,
HP
I am at a crossroads right now in choosing a domain name and subject of my next blog. On the one hand, it seems that using your own name as the domain and building the blog around your passion is good.
On the other hand, choosing a lucrative phrase for your domain, like as you suggest in your interview with Chris about selling as an Amazon associate, and building around that, seems also good. I guess one should have both, but if your going to focus on one, which is the better direction to go, in order to make money?
Thanks for sharing man. I’ll be more committed this year and start raking in more visitors to my blog each.
Most people do not realize what blogging can do for their personal image and their brand. Even if you do choose to work at a company, what do you think the first thing that they are going to do? They are going to Google your name and look around the web for your social profiles to learn more about you. Now if you had a blog, it will add tons of credibility to your character because it shows that you are willing to go the extra mile to improve your own abilities.
Great post Donny, You’re exactly right and even more importantly, you protect your ideas and strategies by making them public through your blog.
Have you ever had someone take credit for something you did? If you write about it in your blog, it makes it harder for them to take credit.
See you in Vegas!
Consistency is the key!
Thanks john, but do you have some marketing tips as well? Do you mean investing in adwords and so on?
Just take action and see what happen…more then likely good things will happen for you.
“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
Happy new year John… Great post!
A mistake I see some bloggers making is posting rubbish content daily. A short 250 word post won’t cut it. You need good content that people will come back and read.
Personally I blog once a week and focus more on getting traffic to the blog. Those posts are high quality 1,500+ words with graphics and a lot of detail.
My Google Analytics is showing that since I started doing this the average length of stay on my blog is over 10 minutes and the bounce rate is less than 10%. I am happy with that.
I use my bank balance as the score card and 2010 was an excellent year for me, so 2011 will be even better… woohoo
Cheers
Ian McConnell
Western Australia
Excellent post John, I hope you do a follow up on how to market your blog.
Hostgator is great. Take the plan where you can create as many sites as you want. It’s worth it!
Nice post, JC… Building a list from early-on is definitely one of the most critical aspects of online success. They need to get to know, like, and trust you. When this happens, you now have “fans” that buy your stuff and listen to your recommendations.
Awesome Takeaway John, I’ve been reading about everything you mentioned in your post from reading your “make money online” book with Kwan. Excellent stuff, if your readers want to advance, they really need to read your work. Very subtle things that i’ve taken from the book has helped me as well and i’m not even in the make money online niche, so know it works.
Dwight Anthony
Financially Elite Blog dot Com
Thank you John. Your blog serves as my inspiration and your post and advices serve as my guide in blogging. It is indeed true that being consistent in posting articles is a must for a blog to grow.
My 2010 blogging experience was a great one. With a one-year old blog, i managed to get at least 2,500 pageviews daily and my target in 2010 is to reach 5,000 daily page views. I already purchased a domain and it is 3-month old now. Still i’m hosted at blogger but i’m also planning to host this blog to a reliable hosting company.
Again, thank you for sharing your blogging tips.
Great tips here, its all comes down to having the right focus, have the right focus and determination, and let 2011 be the year of your Blog.
Great post John! Lots of good advice for any blogger. As several commentors have said, I really like the comment about great content being only half the battle. If no one knows about your blog, then it doesn’t matter how great the content is.
Great post john and I completely agree with you! I have been one of those people who plans to ‘get to it later’ for years and I have finally learned the value of a consistent schedule. I also noticed that last year I had 10 new years resolutions that were all pretty difficult things. The end result for me in 2010 was only achieving a few of them and feeling that I let myself down because of it. I decided that to get where I want to go this year there is only one new years resolution, make my first million. I think that only having that one goal allows me a clear cut focus and by completing that everything else will follow. Happy New Year!
Neil Macpherson
Splitting those priorities into 4′s is a good idea. My worst problem is with time management. I think I waste too much time with things that aren’t going to pay off.
Great Post John! I’v been Blogging for a yr now! and I’m still learning about the right things to post and when, I sure need to step up and take it too the next level! Posting two times aday is a good start!
Great ideas for the new year. I plan on implementing all of them.
Hi there John – great post.
However, I’m a fairly consistent blogger (mostly all unique content) on both BusinessSuccessFactory.co.uk and NicolaCairncross.com but I can’t seem to break through with the big visitor numbers.
Even my previous blog which went for over 10 years, had members, thousands of backlinks etc., never topped 5500 uniques a month. What is the secret APART from blogging consistently that makes the difference?
I’d love to get 1000 a day rather than 1000 a month!
Warm regards
NIcola
Great and inspiring
Great post John! Lots of good advice for any blogger. As several commentors have said, I really like the comment about great content being only half the battle. If no one knows about your blog, then it doesn’t matter how great the content is.
Nice inclusion of the Covey book principles. I tend to get caught up in the urgent, but not important stuff too easily. Good to have a reminder!
You are right, blogging seem easy at the beginning, and after 3 days 95% of newbies stop updating their blog.
Because it’s not a huge investment, and because they think that the job will be done easily, those peoples failed with blogging.
Great post, I hope a lot of new bloggers will read it and start for real this time!
Thanks!
I’ve been following your advice for a few months and set a deadline for Dec 31 to get my blog up and running with first story posted. Done. And now I’ll use your latest tips and advice to keep it going effectively. Thanks John.
I encourage everyone here to check out Michelle’s blog – she has some really great stuff going on there.
Thanks John. I am making 2011 the year that changes my life because I am focusing on becoming an effective person! Will keep on blogging consistently too.
Excellent post John, tactile and motivational for the new year. I love posts like that, keep em coming!
I am also motivated a lot to take it to the new level of my blogging journey to become a fultime blogger like the big bloggers.
Yep. Marketing. For over a year I have been blogging to 15 people. Some days all 15 show up. Other days only a couple of them.
I went from daily posts to every other day. Sounds like I should think about every day … but first, I guess, I have to make that marketing plan. Without it, I might as well start each post with, “Hi mom!” (except that she hardly ever visits my site and it’s other loyal readers that make my tiny statistics.)
I keep waiting to be discovered with occasional guerilla raids that get me a week of 50 visitors. Yah, the trend is in the right direction but one new loyal “fan” per month is just not cutting it.
You’ll get a reader/commenter today Caitlyn! It’s all about networking.
Thanks for sharing, posting everyday is a good idea when you have a lot of people visiting your blog in a daily basis. But what’s about if you have an average of 10 visitors and most of them come to spam your blog with all kind of irrelevant comment?
Sounds like you need to make some changes and experiment with different types of posts. Create engaging content and use a comment spam filter for Wordpress. Leave valuable (not copy/paste) comments on other blogs like yours and you’ll increase your comments without question.
A lot of really great tips here for the new blogger. Thanks for taking time to create valuable content even though you’re on vacation.
Nice article! My blog has broken around 1,000 hits per month, so it sounds like I need to redouble my posting efforts and explore marketing more vigorously than I have been. Thanks for sharing your insights!
What are some effective ways you have promoted your blog to get to the 1k mark? Im rather new to blogging
Wow! Great post, one of the best I’ve seen on JC. I will print out and post this on my wall.
Great idea here Ian! Thanks for the clever tip.
Regular building will boost the business as you thinks it should be in a year.
This is powerful stuff John, I am currently following your template for a successful blog and let me tell you that with dedication and a strong commitment your blogging template really works. Thanks for showing me the way!
Many Regards
A very nice post. I hope to implement this advice this year.
John,
This post is great motivation to promote a blog. Some tips on how to effectively promote a blog would help us newbies to blogging profitably.
Thanks,
Mel
I’m with you, I design websites for a living in Idaho but blogging is something kinda new to me.. Do you have your own blog?
Happy New Year!! Great post as usual. Very informative and I will apply all of your ideas to promote my blog. Thanks John.
Agreed great post for beginning bloggers.
You can have the best content in the world but if nobody come to read it then it’s not worth the time it took to write it.
You could have the worst content but if 50,000 readers come to read it a day then you will do well.
Most people over focus on the content.
Look at the successful people — they market, market market.
me too, i will follow these steps from john
I have had my blog for a little over a year now and have it filled with pretty juicy content, but what are some good (unique) ways to market it? I am a web designer from Idaho and blogging is kinda new to me..
Thanks:)
Hi John, really an interesting article. I am going to do exactly what you have said here. I am making money with my blog, but that’s not enough for me right now. I will consider my blog as a business and I am going to promote as hard as I can.
Thanks,
Sathish
Lots of bloggers (including me) have a problem deciding what to write about. We see blog posts like yours and wonder how you come up with this stuff. Others have some great ideas, but just don’t know how to articulate what they want to say.
A lot of professional bloggers recommend to just start doing it. They say you learn and get better as you go. I guess that is why it takes so long for many bloggers to become successful.
Thanks for all the blogging tips John!!!
Another great post John.I came to your after one month.So,I have to read all those articles published in one month.BWN Happy New Year.
Very interesting post.
Especially the point on consistency which is in my humble opinion the most difficult to achieve at least as regards finding every day something interesting to write about. All advices are good and who better than John Chow can talk about success at blogging? 
Happy Holidays!
“How Make” are you serious?
Shoemoney doesn’t have these kinds of typo issues… have you considered using one of the several grammar plugins for Wordpress?
I’m also wondering how you consider Host Gator to be professional web hosting? If you were to go to any Web Hosting community forum or site they would tell you it is a budget hosting provider.
I use a professional host for my blog in fact I use the same hosting provider as Shoemoney
and my site loads faster than John Chow dot Com every time.
Thanks for the post. I think content, marketing (SEO) and luck are the most important aspects of blogging.
this is a great tip on fixing the new year strategy
Excellent read, I just very glad to c your article. And I want to thank U because I found very helpful information. Thanks!
thanks john for always sharing great information
Thanks for the tips. Great stuff you’ve got on your blog.
Wow. First off, that took forever to read through all of the comments on here. You are definitely one popular guy who appears to have created a blog people love to come and read and comment on. This is when we now we are doing a good job. It isn’t always about the money(although we all know that is a great motivator)
I have been blogging since 2005 but have not been consistent. I was as you said, a dedicated poster of every day blogging when I first started, then over the years I posted once or twice a month sometimes but tried to keep it at least once a week.
Then I came across OnlyWire which has a plugin you can use with Wordpress. Once I had signed up to all of the social media sites I was interested in and had good things about, it was simply a matter of making sure the option was checked to submit the post once it was completed and it was sent to all those places. I saw a big jump in my visitors per day.
Also adding the SEO plugin to the blog had a pretty big impact as well.
There are many things you can do for marketing but the key is to employ them on a consistent basis just as you need to for your posting. It does not have to take all day. I know successful bloggers who only work 1-3 hours a day and make six figures a year.
I have a goal of making $36k by the end if this year($3000 a month) on my blog. I am going to concentrate on building up my email list and selling the new ebooks I just wrote and published. This may not seem like much to some people but right now I am making around $500 a month so it is a good challenge.
Good luck to all. I feel this will be a good year.
Happy new year to you too !!!!! . I’m planning to post regularly but i need to put a little bit of extra effort from my end…hope this year I’ll make at least $100 / month
I moved from blogspot to my own domain about a month ago. A lot of work, but totally worth it! Have some financial skin in the game has made me take my blogging more seriously.
“Not urgent and not important (Busy work, time wasters, pleasant activities)”
Would that include checking your stats and affiliate $ every 5 minutes?
Biggest waste of time for us bloggers.
In John’s email to me 2 days ago he said “I register all my domain names at GoDaddy.com.” But in this article, he said to avoid them at all cost. I was just about to use GoDaddy and then I read this
post. Why the sudden change in opinion?
That is one great article. I’ve never read Stephen Coveys book but I think I might now. Thanks…
Hi John,
I’m new to blogging and have started a blog about something I’m passionate about – making money from money! And money from nothing, i.e. your time and effort. So, true that you have to keep at it even if no one is reading it. Don’t give up, keep at it and you’ll get found online and hopefully it will pay off big. Have fun with your blog, be sure to exchange links with other like-minded sites and post in forums, keep going and don’t stop.
All the best,
Joe Nickels
http://www.EarnOnADime.com
I read this all. This is a great article for whole blogger community. After reading this I thought I need to be more creative, motivated and more tactful to attract more people to my blog. I think I need to restructure my blog and post more content more regularly. And I thought It is the time to buy my own domain for my blog. Thanx for the great article.
Wish you a happy new year wit great success.
This is an awesome article, I’ll be checking out more of your site! Bookmarked!
Hi John,
Thanks for all the tips. They are very useful especially the tips on marketing the blog. This year I will take blogging seriously. I think I need to read your previous posts since I’m new here.
One of the areas where I never concentrated on, is the mailing lists. I always took my blog seriously, but still 2010 was not that productive. Let’s see that this year.
Definitely an inspiring post to help motivate us in this new year!