After achieving success with his own personal blog Smart Wealth Rich, Jonathan Phillips decided to launch a collaborative blog for freelancers. Launched just 6 months ago in July of 2007, Freelance Folder proved an instant success.

Contributors at Freelance Folder include Dave Navarro, Amrit Hallan, Naomi Dunford, Jonathan Bostrom, and many others with a wide range of talents and experiences.

Have you ever thought about taking your blog from a solo project to a multi-author project? If so, here’s an exclusive look into why Jonathan decided to start a multi-author blog and what it’s like to manage one.

Why Did You Decide to Start a Second Blog?

The main reason I wanted to start a second blog was because I realized my goals and interests changed a lot since I started blogging, SmartWealthyRich is my first blog, and I did a lot of experiments with that blog. I’m really happy with the results I got with SWR, but my interests changed so much over the past 4-5 months, starting another blog in a different niche seemed like the thing to do, and I’m pretty happy with the results so far.

Why Did you Decide on a Multi-Author Collaborative Approach for Freelance Folder?

I wanted to start a multi-author blog for 2 reasons, first because I thought it would be less work than running a blog all by myself (not quite ), and I like to work with small teams, share ideas and all – and also because I know I would not be able to write 4-5 posts about freelancing per week. So having writers and people to help me out is great. And of course this blog can be used to launch other projects and get some nice exposure. For instance the 30 Hours A Day program that Dave Navarro is working on.

What are the Challenges of Running a Multi-Author Blog?

3- There are some differences and challenges, but it’s pretty much the same as running your own blog. Though I really like to ask questions and start conversations with my readers, I find it’s a little more difficult on a multi-author blog, readers go there for the content, not necessarily to ‘chat with you‘ as they would on a personal blog. In other words, you have to share the ‘spotlight‘ with other writers, and that’s what’s fun

How Did Your Grow Your RSS Subscriber Base So Quickly?

I just checked and right now on FreelanceFolder we have 1900 rss subscribers. We started this blog in July 07, and within the first week we got posts featured on LifeHack, and other authority blogs, and recently we got linked to from LifeHacker, ABC News, and other high profile sites and blogs. Of course making the Digg frontpage a couple of times definitely helped, I’m really into social media sites like Digg, Stumble Upon, Reddit, etc.. so that helped a lot.

What Advice Would You Give to Others Who are Thinking of Starting a Multi-Author Blog?

I could probably write a mile long answer to that question, but I’m still learning, every week I learn something new, I’m no expert as this is my first multi-author blog, but I think the best piece of advice I could give would be to network with people in the same niche. And that’s for single author blogs too, not only for multi-author blogs, but if you’re thinking of starting a multi-author blog, networking with other bloggers is crucial, this is how you get writers, links, guest posts. Even better if you already have your own blog, you can then use this one to kick start your new one

How Did You Attract Authors to Write for Freelance Folder?

I simply wrote a post on my other blog, SmartWealthyRich, told my readers I was planning on starting a new blog and I was looking for writers, and I got a really good response, 8-10 e-mails, some were interested in writing 1-2 posts, others wanted get more involved and write on a regular basis, and others wanted to write only 1 post as guest bloggers. I don’t really have any requirements when selecting writers/bloggers, I simply ask for some writing samples – it’s even better if the person already has a blog. It’s not like it’s a job

Tags: Interviews by Adam - 1 Comment »

Catherine Seda is a 12-year Internet marketing veteran, Entrepreneur columnist and author of two books: How to Win Sales & Influence Spiders and Search Engine Advertising.

Cat is (obviously) a very busy woman! I interviewed her by email to pick her brain about how does she does what she does and to get the inside scoop on her suggestions for building a powerful online presence and strengthening a personal brand.
You write for some pretty impressive publications – how did those relationships manifest?

Marketing! As I share in my new book, five years ago an Entrepreneur columnist recommended me to write a new “Net Sales” column for the magazine. When the Articles Editor e-mailed me about this opportunity, I immediately e-mailed her a sample of my newsletter and links to web articles I had written. I was offered my own column within 24 hours. I still can’t believe how fast it happened. Just start writing on the web and journalists will find you. Write articles, comment on influential bloggers’ blogs, write your own blog, send out press releases—just get your message out there.

What is one thing that small business owners could do (or not do) to see some business growth results within the next 30 days?

My #1 favorite is still pay-per-click on Google AdWords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search. It’s the quick and easy way to bring in new business NOW. I was interviewed by Dr. Ralph Wilson just recently and I shared three of my valuable secrets:

What is the biggest mistake of most “do-it-yourselfers” in terms of:

Building their website

Not clearly stating WHAT you do and for WHOM. You’ve got less than 30 seconds to get your message across. If you don’t do this, visitors will hit the “back” button and leave your site.

Writing content

Not writing for prospects, press and search engine spiders. Your site needs to appeal to all three to bring you the most business opportunities.

Promoting their website

Not starting simple. You can’t do everything at once or you’ll die! Start with pay-per-click or blogging, for example. Set goals for the campaign, create an action plan, and dedicate time to doing it every week (1-3 hours a week can be a great start). By being consistent, you’ll soon see if that schedule works for you, if you should invest more time into it, or if you should outsource this task.

In your opinion, after speaking to audience and consulting with different companies, are there one or two main things that companies are doing (or not doing) that limits their growth and earning potential?

First and foremost, set goals for your marketing campaigns. Identify primary goals (get more sales) and secondary goals (grow e-mail list). If you can get more specific, GREAT. For example, “Attract 2 new consulting clients within 30 days” or “Make $10,000 in sales.” Doing this helps you establish benchmarks for measuring the success of your campaigns before you even start. Plus, writing these goals down helps you see new marketing opportunities as well as stay away from ones that you can tell won’t come close to delivering your goals.

When you first discover your passion for writing?

In elementary school, I’d write short stories for fun. Hey, I wonder if my mom kept those? I’ll have to ask her.

Writing a book is a monumental task – and you’ve written two! How did you organize the project so that it was more manageable? Any lessons learned during the writing process?

Um, I’m not going to lie—some crying was involved. My fellow authors can probably relate. When working with a publisher, your deadlines can be intense, your work days long and your own critical voice can make you obsess over your writing. Here’s my advice to future writers (whether you self-publish or work with a publisher): after you develop your unique angle, flesh out as much of a detailed Table of Contents as you can. This will probably change as you write. However, the TOC is your road map. It’ll keep you focused.

And as best as you can, schedule times to check e-mail and do your daily tasks. While you’re writing, turn off your phone and ignore e-mail. Do these things on your scheduled breaks. I wish I had done this a bit better.

Finally, give yourself an incentive for completing your book—like a fun vacation. You deserve it!

Why did you decide to try skeleton? You say you like speed – that’s interesting! Why?

Probably because I have a hard time slowing down! After writing my first book, I needed to let loose. About six months earlier, I was on a tour of the Utah Olympic Park. I was sold on skeleton training. It’s like luge, only you’re on your stomach sliding head-first on your sled…at 70 mph. That was my incentive for finishing my book. Uh, it was an unforgettable experience, that’s for sure! I survived three days of training. Some of my fellow sliders weren’t so lucky: three needed facial stitches, others suffered concussions, cracked ribs, chipped teeth and massive bruises (I even have photos). Although I’m pretty sure I won’t ever slide from the top of the track again, it’s still one of my favorite stories. Any thrill-seeker should check out the adventure camps at the Utah Olympic Park or Lake Placid Olympic Park.

If I write a third book, I’ll celebrate at a spa.

Thank you Cat for these gems of wisdom!

Each month, we feature someone in a NON-sponsored interview like you just read above. You can learn more about “Interview Me” by reading this page. If you would like to recommend someone (including yourself) to be featured, please e-mail Christine [at] Create Business Growth [dot] com and tell us the WHY behind your recommendation.

Tags: Interviews by Adam - 1 Comment »

He’s beaten the odds on many fronts – from battling cancer to establishing a profitable freelance writing career – both of which are no small feat.

Now Chris Bibey, author of 2 books and the blog ChrisBlogging.com shares the details of how he built his profitable freelancing career on his daily blog, which offers “tips, tricks, and strategy for earning a full-time income through writing, blogging and internet marketing.”

After graduating from college with a journalism degree, despite battling a completely unexpected and persistent cancer in his thyroid throughout his entire college career, Chris took the path of many aspiring writers – a completely unrelated job in sales and marketing.

But his encounter with cancer had taught him a valuable lesson that many of us don’t learn until far too late. He felt completely unfulfilled in his job and didn’t feel he was getting paid what he was worth. And while most of the population of the world feels this same way yet continues to drone one, Chris knew that life was too short to waste time doing anything he didn’t enjoy. In response, he quit his job and set out to pursue what he loved – writing.

It was a good thing that I got sick. Now I see life with a different perspective. I don’t want to put myself through the day to day stuff that I don’t like. A lot of people think working at a job you don’t like is just a part of life that you have to deal with, but it doesn’t have to be.

During his first month as a freelancer, he made $53 by doing a “horrible freelance writing job” that he found through FreelanceWriting.com. Discouraged but not beaten, Chris continued to scour the freelance writing job boards and the next month cleared $850.

That second month I did a job for a real estate company in FL who needed a lot of work – it made me realize that there WAS work out there and that I could make a substantial amount.

In the third month, he brought in $2287 and that figure continued to rise. Now Chris is quite comfortable and doesn’t regret leaving corporate America one bit.

Could You Do It?

Could you jump ship from your current job – whether it be working for someone else, or abandoning your own business that you no longer love to pursue your dreams? The idea can seem scary, but as Chris’s story proves, it can be done. Here’s how he did it.

• Jump in with both feet. You can have some success trying to start a business part time, but it’s not as effective as if you commit yourself to it entirely and have no other option but to succeed.
• Before leaving his job, he saved enough money to get by for 4-5 months
• If you begin earning more than you thought faster than you thought, keep that money around in savings just in case
• Figure out exactly how much money you’ll need each month to get by
• Work on securing steady, regular clients that bring in enough to pay the bills. This way, no matter what, you’ll get by. Make sure you have enough time left over after doing this work to make additional income
• Venture out and try new things to bring in the “extra” cash. Never tone down the marketing side of things even when you’re comfortable
• Keep regular clients engaged by connecting frequently by email, IM, or phone – even if you don’t have a current project on your plate
• Pitch ideas to current and past clients rather than waiting for them to come to you with projects

Whether your freelance writing or starting a business selling goods, these tips are universal.

Becoming a Published Author

In the midst of all this, Chris also wrote two books. Not only was this a personal success, but also greatly increases his reputation as an expert on his subject matter and as a writer. His first was about West Virginia Football and more for fun.

His second book titled, Open Your Heart With Basketball: Mastering Life Through Love of the Game has cover quotes by Regis Philbin and Dick Vital, and a forward written by University of Arizona men’s coach Lute Olson.

Although it is based largely around the game of basketball, it also teaches life lessons at the same time. To give some details, Open your Heart with Basketball touches largely on how my life and basketball career were affected when I was diagnosed with cancer. As you can imagine, the lessons taught in the book can help you succeed in life, sports, and of course, business.

It was no accident that his book now sits on the shelves of Barnes and Noble backed by star-studded cover quotes and forwards. Chris went about the publishing of his book with the same persistence the cancer had shown when challenging his thyroid. Rejected by numerous publishers as can be expected by any new author, Chris persisted and landed a publishing contract and an advance with Dreamtime Publishing in Miami.

The publishing company helped to get the book in the hands of several celebrities such as Regis. Then Chris set to work, personally contacting big names on his own list to write the forward.

When I tried to reach Lute Olsen, I talked to the secretary and lots of other people and eventually got through. I’ve talked with Dick Vital on the phone a few times. You can make a lot of friends and meet a lot of people with your writing career.

Chris’s blog offers daily insight about the steps he has taken to achieve success. His approach to helping others through transparency of his daily activities, successes, and setbacks make this blog an interesting read for any entrepreneur or any one dreaming of becoming one.

Thank you Chris for this inspiring story!

Each month, we feature someone in a NON-sponsored interview like you just read above. You can learn more about “Interview Me” by reading this page. If you would like to recommend someone (including yourself) to be featured, please e-mail Christine [at] Create Business Growth [dot] com and tell us the WHY behind your recommendation.

Tags: Interviews by Adam - 1 Comment »

Are the experts speaking on radio and television shows “better” than you are, or do they just know how to leverage the media better than others do? Cathy Lewis, president of the book publicity firm C.S. Lewis Publicity regularly takes virtual unknowns to public figures by strategically positioning and delivering their messages to the right media contacts.

This week I talked with Cathy to discover what it takes to become recognized as the go-to person for your particular area of expertise.

As a publicist, Cathy’s role is to coach people on how to make themselves and their messages more marketable. Step two is then to raise their profile through radio interviews, television programs, newspapers, magazines, websites, and blogs. But how does this monumental challenge begin?

Establishing a Unique Message

The first thing Cathy looks at when assessing whether or not she will take on a new client, is if their message is marketable. She specifically looks for:

• A unique message that resonates with people
• A brilliantly executed idea
• A well written book
• Something that appeals to a specific niche of people

Bloggers already have some sense of whether or not their message is marketable. If your blog is attracting lots of subscribers and sparking interaction between readers, then you got something that people want to hear.

The harder part is defining that message…

Establish Talking Points

Quick! In 30 seconds, tell me about the purpose of your business, your service, your book, or your blog. If you can’t sum up your message in a powerful statement, then Cathy says you’re not alone. Most people can’t do this and that’s where she comes into play. TV and radio hosts have no time or patience for guests who ramble on and never get their point across.

She says that it’s critical to fine tune and practice your message of purpose and specific talking points about your product that can be delivered in less than 3 minutes in total.

When someone goes on the tonight show, people think it’s off the cuff, but it’s not! It’s all planned out. These people have practiced their talking points.

Your talking points must be something newsworthy, something of interest to your audience, not something about you. Your role is to be the expert who delivers the information.

What are your talking points?

Media Preparedness

Think it’s difficult to talk to a new prospect or a big name guru in your industry? Try talking to the media! She says that most television hosts won’t put people on the air unless they can show that they can perform on camera first.

For this reason, she sends all of her clients to a media coach to learn how to perform on air. The media coach films each practice interview so that clients can go through the painful process of learning how they behave on the air and learn how to become more effective.

Cathy suggests starting with local radio and TV shows first, saying that this is an important part of building confidence. “Local stations and publications are usually very interested in anything that is happening locally,” says Cathy. Even those who can’t afford to hire a publicist can work on making themselves a local celebrity.

Sell Your Ideas

One of the most important jobs of a publicist is selling story ideas to various media contacts and media outlets by packaging up tidbits in different ways. This means knowing exactly how different key individuals like to receive their information and pitching it in a way that will get noticed and then be well received.

It’s not enough to say “here’s someone you might be interested in.” Instead, Cathy produces email pitches that are highly targeted to the receiver’s interests. For example, for client Nicholas Aretakis, author of No More Ramen: The 20-Something’s Real World Survival Guide, Cathy sent out emails with catchy subject lines and in it listed bullet points that would resonate with the press contact and their audience.

Providing precise, print ready points makes it easier for a media publisher to understand exactly what type of value their readers could take away from story were they to cover it.

She ends each email with an invitation to send out an even more detailed article, a copy of the book (or sample of the product), and perhaps a press kit. Having content prepared for publication is critical. She says that many times, content publishers will literally print what you provide them.

Send a Press Kit

A press kit is one of the first items that a publicist creates, but Cathy says these are meant to be sent out once a media contact has already “taken the bait” of an email pitch and are ready to go to the next level. A good press kit includes:

• Bio
• Picture
• Website address
• Segment suggestions
• Interview ideas in a format ready to hand to a producer or editor
• A “cliff notes” version of the book
• Different ideas about ways they could look at the book (or product) depending on their particular angle

Cathy’s press kits are printed as bound books and you can see several sample press kits on her website. If you choose the do-it-yourself route, you can create your own professionally bound press kit by having your content finished by a print on demand publisher such as Lulu.com.

Do It Yourself, Or Hire a Publicist?

The real benefit that a publicist provides is the very valuable media contacts and the knowledge of what exactly those contacts are looking for. Publicists have a broader picture of what the people out there are looking for. However, Cathy encourages those who may not have the funds to hire a publicist try establishing himself or herself as a local go-to person.

What do You Think?

How much would it change your business if you were known in the media as the go-to person for advice on your area of expertise? Have you ever been interviewed on a radio show or TV program or been quoted in the newspaper? What other questions do you have for Cathy about creating a public profile or working with a publicist?

Every week, we feature someone in a NON-sponsored interview like you just read above. You can learn more about “Interview Me” by reading this page. If you would like to recommend someone (including yourself) to be featured, please e-mail Christine [at] Create Business Growth [dot] com and tell us the WHY behind your recommendation.

Tags: Interviews by Adam - 3 Comments »

She’s a search engine optimization expert and the assistant editor of Andy Beal’s A-List blog Marketing Pilgrim.

She’s also the proud mom of a 17 month old and the author of MamaBlogga, a blog chronicling her adventures in motherhood and helping others to find fulfillment and meaning in motherhood.

She’s Jordan McCollum, and you’ve likely seen her face on some of the blogs you visit from Marketing Pilgrim to Web Pro News to Search News.com.

If you’re wondering how she so quickly and successfully branded herself as an industry/blogging expert and how you can too, read on.

The fact that 6,000+ subscribers at Marketing Pilgrim read Jordan’s search engine marketing news and opinions every Monday through Friday didn’t happen by accident. Jordan is a fantastic example of someone who knows how to promote herself and seek out new opportunities.

Before leaving the corporate environment to spend time with her new son, Jordan gained an immense amount of internet marketing knowledge as an SEO copywriter for an online marketing firm.

As an SEO industry professional, she was a subscriber of Marketing Pilgrim and decided to participate in a guest posting contest that Andy offered. The rules of the contest were that whichever posts received the most unique visits would win an SEO scholarship package.

Her post was a success. And although Jordan didn’t win the contest, she was a finalist. Once on Andy’s radar as a person that could definitely pull in some traffic, she sent him an email asking if he was looking for regular contributors. It turns out, he was. And Jordan’s knowledge was soon regularly broadcast to an audience of more than 6,000 avid readers, including some of the big name SEO professionals.

Key Point: Take opportunities when they arise to post on other blogs. You never know where those opportunities may take you.

The reason Jordan was a finalist was because her post received 3 more unique visits than the next highest visited post that week. The reason hers received more visits than the others is that Jordan actively promoted her post by sending the link to prominent SEOs.

Key Point: If you want to stand out when you’re guest posting for another blog, drive some traffic to your link. The blog’s author will certainly see which posts are driving traffic and generating comments.

Right now you may be thinking – wow, I need to do some guest posting. You don’t have to wait for a contest; you can sell your ability to guest post any time. However, as someone behind the scenes of one of the most trafficked SEO blogs online that receives requests for links and guest posts, Jordan says there are some right ways and some wrong ways to go about requesting a guest posting opportunity.

Jordan’s Advice for Getting A Guest Posting Spot

• Send a sample post

The authors of high volume blogs with thousands of readers get a lot of email. So much that they need to make quick decisions on how to answer it. If a busy blogger doesn’t know about your writing style, there’s a high probability that you won’t get a chance to pursue the opportunity further. Sending a sample post eliminates any guess-work on the part of the blogger that your writing is a match for the blog.

• Link to the bloggers other posts in your post

A blogger wants to know that you understand their blog and their audience if you’ll be writing one or more guest posts. One great way to show that you understand the target audience is by linking to other posts by that blogger in your sample post.

• Sell your credentials

Any blogger has a reputation to maintain as far as the integrity of their information. List any credentials you have to write on the topics you’re suggesting.

• Explain why the post will benefit their readers

Explaining how a particular post will benefit the blogger’s readers not only tells the blogger that you understand their audience, but makes it easy for the blogger to understand why they simply can’t turn your post down.

• Make a personal connection

Jordan says she is big on personalization when it comes to people writing to request links. She suggests that you identify yourself up front and mention specifics about the blog so that the request doesn’t sound generic. Generic inquiries are a big turn-off.

• Become a regular commenter

With so many emails, it can be difficult to stand out in a crowded email box. However, if the blogger recognizes your name they are more likely to pay attention to your email. Jordan says that providing regular, high quality comments on posts and being among the first to comment is a great way to get noticed by a busy blogger.

Making a Name for Yourself in the Blogosphere

By guest posting on several blogs within the same industry, people start to really take notice. Jordan named off a few bloggers like Leo Babauta of Zen Habits and Lorelle VanFossen of Lorelle on Wordpress that “seem to be popping up everywhere” as guest posters. Jordan too appears all over the web, not because she is writing for multiple blogs, but because Marketing Pilgrim is syndicated by several other top industry blogs like Web Pro News.

Key point: Why stop with a guest post on one blog? Set a goal to become published on multiple blogs.

Another key point that Jordan says has helped to establish her personal ‘brand’ is the fact that each Marketing Pilgrim post includes a thumbnail of the post’s author. With multiple authors on MP, readers were getting confused about who was writing what. The reason for including the images was to clear up this confusion, but it turned out to have an even greater impact.

When attending the Search Marketing Expo Advanced conference earlier this year, she was recognized by several big name bloggers who she never assumed would know who she was. When you’re a blogger, you are your brand and, an image works wonders to reinforce that brand.

Key point: If you are the sole author of your blog, include a picture of yourself in the sidebar. If yours is a multi-authored blog, include thumbnail photos of each guest poster.

How Jordan Manages a Healthy Work/Life Balance

Several of our readers mentioned that they are very busy trying to juggle work life and a family life. Jordan feels the same pressures. Though she is an author for two blogs, she still considers herself a full time mom. Surprisingly, she manages to handle all of her tasks in relatively few hours per week.

Jordan sets a goal for herself based on how many hours she will work per day and does her best not to exceed that. For many workaholics, this can be a challenge – especially if you work at home. She tries to work early before her son wakes or while he is napping so that she doesn’t miss these precious and fleeting moments of her son’s toddlerhood.

Even more amazing is that she’s managed to build a name for herself in less than one year since that first post on Marketing Pilgrim. Instead of writing more posts for one blog, Jordan is spreading her wealth of knowledge further by writing for multiple blogs and gaining even more exposure in the process. It’s not that Jordan is working harder at making a name for herself; she’s working smarter and enjoying her life and her family in the process.

Every Tuesday, we feature someone in a NON-sponsored interview like you just read above. You can learn more about “Interview Me” by reading this page. If you would like to recommend someone (including yourself) to be featured, please e-mail Christine [at] Create Business Growth [dot] com and tell us the WHY behind your recommendation.

Tags: Interviews by Adam - 16 Comments »

She’s the creator of the SOB badge you see so many Successful Outstanding Blogs wearing proudly. She’s both an inspiration and hero to bloggers all around the world who are passionate about building better blogs and businesses that are founded upon authenticity and community.

She was the mastermind behind this year’s first annual SOBCon where bloggers joined together to learn the insight of blogging experts and to explore ways to create better, more meaningful online communities.

She is Liz Strauss, the voice of Successful-Blog.

Although Liz has the reputation of a guru in the blogging community, while on her blog I feel that I can easily strike up a conversation with her in the comments box that she will participate in. Liz feels approachable. The first time I visited Successful-Blog, I got the immediate sense that she honestly cared about her readers and that she made time to listen to them and thoughtfully respond to each one individually.

When I talked to her for this interview, we traveled by phone in a taxi through the streets of Chicago to a restaurant where she would be having a good-bye lunch with her son before he moved away for the first time. Still, she made time for me – and for you, so that you could learn how to become a better blogger.

I hope that you’ll get as much out of Liz’s sage words of blogging wisdom as I did.

Liz’s 4 “Rules” of Blogging

Though she doesn’t like “rules” per say, she does say that there are a few to blogging if your goal is to build relationship-driven communities.

1. Leave your posts incomplete

Our eight grade teachers burned it into our minds that we should end our writings with a nice neat conclusion. But Liz says that when blogging, you’re not writing for your eight grade teacher.

By over editing to tie up all of the loose ends on your post, you leave no room for readers to add to the conversation.

Blogging is a dialogue – a conversation, and a good conversationalist invites others to join in by leaving room to talk.

If your post is a list, Liz suggests posting the first several things that come into your mind and not hunting for more things to add to the list. Leave some stones unturned and let your readers join in the conversation by allowing them to add ideas to the conversation.

2. Don’t be a reporter

Liz says that unless you’re a journalist, don’t be a reporter. For one, unless you’re a trained journalist, you open yourself up reporting misinformation. For example, if your post is review of a particular site, talk about the way the site made you feel (crowded, comfortable, etc), instead of spouting facts about the site. No one can argue with the way you feel.

Secondly, Liz says that people come to your blog to read about your unique point of view – your presence.

The more you talk about my own experience, the more people can find themselves. If you’re general, the less people can find themselves. You can’t find yourself in a piece of white bread.

3. Don’t be an expert

Liz says that most bloggers take themselves too seriously. They try to be experts when they would be better off just being genuine.

Most people think that if you’re sitting in the blog post box that you’re supposed to be an expert. It’s more fun not to be one. You can become an expert by not being one.

She says that the more you try to become an expert, the more people will try to knock you down. Instead of approaching topics from an authoritative point of view, take a more community-based approach.

Instead of being authoritative, try going on a quest to find information and asking others to come along.

Liz makes a good point about how portraying yourself as too much of an expert can weaken your community. Many people already feel intimidated about leaving comments and setting a precedence that you’re a high authority expert only increases this level intimidation. In order to build a relationship-based community, your readers must feel comfortable engaging in dialog with you and other readers.

Come down off the podium and don’t lecture. The minute you’re up on the podium people don’t want to talk anymore.

4. Engage in comment conversations

2 years and 39,000+ comments ago, in an email from reader Hartley Singer asking that the comment feed be fixed, Singer so wisely said “half the show is in the comments.”

With lively dialog between readers being such a critical part of a blog’s success and attractiveness, Liz says she’s amazed at the number of bloggers that don’t respond to a second comment from a reader in order to carry on the conversation.

When you answer my comment and I answer back, answer again!

The statement just makes so much sense. Instead of considering replying to comments as a way to be polite or because a blog how-to guide said this was a good idea, reply to comments because you want to continue the conversation, to dig deeper into the thought, and to get to know your readers! Leave it to Liz to point out the elephant in the middle of the room that no one else seems to notice.

So much more than a list of tips

I don’t want to turn this into simply a list of tips on blogging. What I learned from Liz I found between the lines of the words she spoke to me –something that revolutionized my thinking.

I was curious; how had Liz become such an authority in the blogosphere after just 2 years of blogging? How does anyone rise to the top of their profession while others labor for years hovering somewhere around the middle?

The answer again comes back to the importance she places on people and the value of their perspectives and ideas – the same principal she is so passionate about when it comes to blogging.

She truly values the perspective, experience and knowledge of other people. She genuinely wants to know what you think. She talks to a blogger every day on the phone because she is interested in bloggers. In her words, “It’s just one of the things that I do.”

She’s gained a wealth of knowledge by first respecting the insight of others and then by actively seeking it. Couldn’t we all do more of this?

How has Liz affected you?

Liz regularly turns the spotlight onto others. She never seems to make a big deal of herself, though she has impacted the lives of thousands of bloggers out there – maybe even you. I want to know, how has Liz impacted your blogging, your business, or your way of thinking?

Every Tuesday, we feature someone in a NON-sponsored interview like you just read above. You can learn more about “Interview Me” by reading this page. If you would like to recommend someone (including yourself) to be featured, please e-mail Christine [at] Create Business Growth [dot] com and tell us the WHY behind your recommendation.

Have you joined the NEW CBG Social Network? It’s a great way for all of us to get to know each other better. It has a forum and so much more. It’s FREE… Go here to request your invitation!

Tags: Interviews by Adam - 14 Comments »

In late February of this year, he began blogging with zero knowledge of blogging. Today Jonathan Phillips, the friendly persona behind the Smart Wealthy Rich blog receives hundreds of comments per week from avid readers who just can’t seem to get enough of his very personal, yet professional and useful posts.

For anyone thinking about starting a blog, frustrated by what may seem like a monumental task of establishing a foothold in the crowded blogosphere, Jon’s is a success story that you can’t afford to miss.

Jon lives his life doing exactly what he loves. When I first talked with him, he was in the studio recording tracks for his first album with laptop in tow for the purpose of responding to his reader’s comments. He is adamant about replying to every single one – no doubt one of the reasons why a typical post is followed by somewhere between 30 and 100 comments.

His story began with a dream that had absolutely nothing to do with blogging. Two years ago, Jon quit his job working for 5 years in sales and marketing for an internet service provider to follow his passion for music. He quickly learned that a budding career in music doesn’t pay the bills (although it certainly can and no doubt will for someone with Jon’s tenacity and history of success) and began a job in network marketing which he felt wasn’t for him. After one year, he decided enough was enough and set out to find another source of income.

He had heard of a thing called blogging. He had heard of Wordpress, so downloaded the software and gave it a go with no idea about how to attract readers, design a blog, or build a community. Five months later, his blogging is responsible for a large part of his income.

How Jon Went From No Knowledge of Blogging to Blog that Pays His Bills in Just 5 Months

Jonathan immersed himself in reading successful blogs. He became active on social networking communities like MyBlogLog and Blog Catalog, meeting people, commenting on blogs, and soaking in an immense amount of knowledge.

The importance of social networking can not be stressed enough – whether in blogging or in any other area of life. As a new member to MyBlogLog, he added “successful-blog” to his friend’s list, thinking the name sounded interesting.

He didn’t know that the face behind “successful-blog” was Liz Strauss, blogging guru and the originator of the infamous SOB badge. He didn’t know that one of Liz’s primary focuses is to take new bloggers under her wing, helping them to fine tune their blogs, and mentoring them in the ways of blogging, but that’s exactly what she did. She helped him to fine tune his blog design and featured his blog on hers.

The design change was a remarkable improvement, but something was still missing.

10 weeks after the post appeared on successful-blog, Jonathan flew from his home in Montreal Canada to Chicago for Liz’s SOBCon 2007 and that is where the real “ah ha” moment occurred that changed everything.

Until that point, Jon had been mirroring the voice and style of other successful bloggers. During a “blog reboot” session at SOBCon hosted by David Armano and Liz Strauss, someone said something to the effect of “stop trying to look like a problogger – be yourself and they will come.” (paraphrasing here) The precise words weren’t important. In that moment, Jon knew that a lack of original voice is what was holding his blog back.

When he returned home, he began to write posts from his heart, and that is when the transformation began. Instead of writing like an authority, he began chronicling his journey, tying his personal stories with topics of interest to entrepreneurs, bloggers, and others searching for success.

A post last week on content theft told of his personal experience when a blogger copied one of his posts without permission and has generated 61 comments so far. His top commented post written back in May titled “If I Could Only Read Just 5 Blogs” generated an amazing 104 comments and is still collecting more.

How is Jon Generating So Many Comments when Others are Struggling for One or Two?

Jon is very serious about connecting with people. After attending the SOBCon event in Chicago, he decided that what he really wanted from his blog was to connect with people.

Each week, he surfs through MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, or Stumble Upon in search of 5 or 6 blogs on marketing and entrepreneurship, adds them to his reader, reads them daily for about a week, leaves comments on posts that compel him, and keeps the blogs that he feels provide him with value.

Jon is not just focused on his blog. He is genuinely interested in meeting new people, reading their ideas, and contributing to their conversations. As a result, he has built an incredibly active community in a record amount of time.

Jon’s Advice to New Bloggers

• Find your own voice – write from the heart
• Respond to every comment
• Write thought provoking posts and ask for opinions
• Allow people to subscribe to comments – when he added this feature, his traffic shot up dramatically
• Participate in social networking communities

For more insight on how Jon manages to gain so many comments, take a look at his recent post Surefire Ways To Get A Truck Load Of Comments On Your Blog Posts.

Some people measure blogging success by RSS readers or by traffic, but in my opinion, one of the hallmarks of a successful blog is the dialogue of its readers. Interestingly enough, by choosing not to mirror other successful bloggers and finding his own voice, Jon became just that – a very successful blogger.

Every Tuesday, we feature someone in a NON-sponsored interview like you just read above. You can learn more about “Interview Me” by reading this page. If you would like to recommend someone (including yourself) to be featured, please e-mail Christine [at] Create Business Growth [dot] com and tell us the WHY behind your recommendation.

Tags: Interviews by Adam - 35 Comments »

Ben Casnocha is 19 years old. He is also the chairman and former CEO of Silicon Valley software company Comcate and the author of the recently published book My Start Up Life.

There are a few times in life when one person’s perspective can rock the foundation of what you believed to be possible. My 30 minute phone conversation with Ben had that very effect on me.

A little background on Ben: At the ripe “old” age of 14 Ben and his friends arrived at a San Francisco 49ers game to find the seats very dirty. He wanted to lodge a formal complaint, but when he tried, he found that there was no infrastructure in place to handle such requests.

He was curious and began to investigate how government agencies organized and managed their communications. What he found was that unlike businesses that were already equip with highly developed CRM systems, government agencies were behind the times. This discovery led to the birth of Comcate, a company that creates and provides customized CRM software applications specifically for government agencies.

Like you probably do, I wanted to know how a 14 year old had the clarity and insight to realize such a hole in the marketplace and further, how over the past 5 years, he had grown the business into a successful venture which currently serves 75 local government agencies.

Like many of us who are driven to forge our own entrepreneurial paths, Ben showed an interest in business as a small child selling gumballs and pens around his house and neighborhood. But that’s about where the similarities end. What has separated Ben from the average entrepreneur still struggling to reach their goals is quite unexpected yet painfully obvious and based upon principals that any passionate entrepreneur can adopt.

Ben steered clear from giving ‘how to’ bullet points to others seeking success but instead offering several insightful processes by which others can discover their own path to success.

Seek out Mentors and Advisors

What strikes me as most interesting about Ben is his humility and his willingness to lend credit to the many intelligent people who have guided him along the path to success. These people haven’t wandered into his life by chance. He seeks them out and he doesn’t take mentor relationships lightly.

Before you start thinking about finding a mentor, you must first define your overall business philosophy and then ask yourself if you are willing to commit the time and energy necessary to building a long term relationship. Good mentors and advisors come from good relationships, and good relationships come from investing time.

Many success coaching books talk about the importance of mentors, but they often leave out the critical steps that lead up to a rewarding relationship. Ben says it’s not as hard as many think, but it’s also not as easy either.

Start by asking someone to have coffee or trade emails. You’ve got to take initiative. There are so many people who are willing to help but not many people willing to ask. However, it can take at least a year before you have a true mentoring relationship. You’ve got to be willing to invest the time and give back to the relationship as well.

Discover Your Own Path

The reason that Ben is hesitant to offer specific tidbits of advice is because he says advice is so easy to come by and that no one person’s advice will work for everyone.

During the past 6 months in book/publishing/advice industry, I’ve found that it’s easy to become a guru and an advice peddler. It’s easy to be confused about whose advice to listen to. The smartest thing someone can do is learning to discriminate.

He says that instead of taking one person’s advice literarily, it’s more effective to soak in as much as possible and then step back and pause in reflection. Remember that you are your own person, not Jack Welch, not Donald Trump – you are who you are and what is important is to is to arrive at your own plan and your own strategy.

Cultivate a sense of introspection. Look at your own strengths and weakness from a third party perspective.

“Luck”

Many people would say that Ben is lucky. He was fortunate enough to grow up in one of the wealthiest cities on earth during a time when the technology revolution was in full swing. However, he says that “luck is randomness” and something that anyone can create more of in their life.

While his upbringing may have made opportunities more readily available, there is no reason why any person can not create opportunities for themselves by seeking out influential people, by expanding there perspective by visiting new places, and by experiencing new things. In short, invite more randomness into your life.

You must do what you can to create more luck by exposing yourself to more people, more places, and more ideas on a continual basis.

Becoming an Author

Now in addition to being a 19 year old chairman and former CEO, Ben is the author of a book published by Wiley Press. He chose Wiley not only for its reputation, but because the publisher promised to take the book to print quickly – a very important selling point considering that Ben is taking a “year off” between high school in college.

That year off involves a jam-packed schedule of appearances from lectures, to book expos, to publishing conferences.

I don’t know about you, but I’m purchasing this book right away. If you’re not convinced yet, just read some of the reviews. Ben is not only a 19 year old whiz kid with a string of successes, his insight spans far beyond his years.

Within his story, you may just discover what I did during our phone conversation, that there are endless possibilities just waiting to be discovered if you will only go out and find them.

Every Tuesday, we feature someone in a NON-sponsored interview like you just read above. You can learn more about “Interview Me” by reading this page. If you would like to recommend someone (including yourself) to be featured, please e-mail Christine [at] Create Business Growth [dot] com and tell us the WHY behind your recommendation.

Tags: Interviews by Adam - 9 Comments »

If you’re looking for a real story of inspiration that will jump start you into taking action to grow your business, Chris Hanisco’s story and these 4 success tips based on her lessons learned are something you won’t want to miss.

Chris’s internet presence launched her specialty dips company from her kitchen to a feature on ABC World News, to the pages of Family Circle and Diet and Nutrition Magazine.

She’s been a guest on Start Up Nation radio, been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers, and managed to grow a successful company almost completely on her own.

Chris Hanisco, home-based business owner and founder of the Dippy Chick Company, started her company less than 2 years ago with only $1500 that she says she “definitely could have used for other things.”

“I wish I could say that it started with a grand vision” she says, “But I didn’t. Things just sort of came together.” Though in talking with her about her journey between then and now, there were some significant decisions that paved the road to her success.

The story begins like many success stories—with an entrepreneurial spirit and a catalyst that caused her to jump in to her venture with two feet rather than just testing the waters. When she learned she was pregnant with her second child, she didn’t want to continue as a real estate agent and left to pursue her own business full time.

Having been to numerous craft shows and seeing the success of other packaged food items, she decided to develop a series of packaged vegetable and chip dips to sell online and at shows.

With a baby on the way and only a small sum left over from her final real estate commission check, she had to build a profitable and sustainable business quickly. When working with an extremely limited budget, decisions about where to spend money can make or break a fledgling business.

Here’s where the power of Chris’s choices begin to pave the way for her success. She put some of the money went toward things like web hosting, packaging, and ingredients to create her initial product line inventory. However, most of her money went toward obtaining a state license for her facility that is not even required in her state of New Hampshire. Regardless, Chris felt that this quality measure was instrumental for success.

Success Tip #1: Be fanatical about quality

Though The Dippy Chick Company is an online retailer, Chris knew that she was going to have to get out into the community to begin making sales quickly. For most of her first year in business, Chris spent weekdays creating product, and almost every weekend at craft shows.

Being face to face with shoppers at craft shows led to a critical turning point. She thought that “it might be fun” to experiment with a new, more artistic label, and a humorous name. “I was just having fun with it,” she says. At the next show, she noticed that browsers tended to gravitate toward the sillier packaging and expressed a great deal of excitement over that particular dip mix.

This enticed her to replace more of the original bland labels with more whimsical artwork and add funny names like “Crabby Ole Beach,” “Don’t Squat with Your Spurs On,” and “Atomic Wedgie Veggie.” The funnier the packaging, the more people raved.

Had she not gotten out into the community and seen how people reacted to her products first hand, she could have missed this critical element. Had her business only been online she would have missed this golden opportunity to learn from pure customer reaction. Though analytics tools can certainly aid an online business in identifying successful products, new business often don’t have large enough amounts of traffic to paint a full picture. In the end, even the best analytics software can’t compare with live, genuine customer feedback.

Success Tip #2: Test your product or service on real people

The lighthearted humor and down-to-earth tones of packaging are also reflected on The Dippy Chick website. You won’t find stuffy corporate logos here or photos of executives forcing canned smiles.

Instead you’ll be introduced to Chris and her family through photos. You’ll find out that her and her two sons have Celiac disease, a type of gluten intolerance. She calls herself dippy and talks about how her husband and their friends would eat dip while playing board games into the wee hours of the night. Just about everything on her site is a fun read because of the high-spirited, fun-loving tone.

She learned about the power of personal photos during her career in real estate. Instead of a Glamour Shots pose, she used a candid photo of herself and her son. She wanted to convey to people that she was a person just like them—a parent, interested in schools and safe neighborhoods, not just another person who could sell them a house. People responded well to this more personal approach that helped her to stand out from the crowd and sell homes.

The decision not to try and hide behind a website that made her look bigger than she actually was would become another critical factor in her success. When the press did begin to find her through various channels, it was personal nature of the site that caused them to want to interview her.

Journalists are always looking for the personal angle behind a story. People make interesting stories, not businesses. Chris has been featured ABC World News with Charlie Gibson, Start Up Nation radio, The Rockingham News, and WCCM AM 1490. Once they found her site, journalists knew they would have a winning interview and story because of Chris’s decision to be candid with her personality and her story on the website.

Success Tip #3: Don’t be afraid to reveal the people and the story behind the business

Getting a business off the ground is tough work—especially when you’re running the show solo. Though Chris has a wonderfully supportive husband, he works a full time job as well. With 2 kids and a craft show almost every weekend, this leaves little time for one woman to maintain a website, create packaging, purchase supplies, balance the books, ship orders, and produce the product.

Being an entrepreneur can be overwhelming, scary, and lonely at times, especially in the early days when you really don’t know if anyone even notices your efforts. In order to keep the momentum, Chris talked with other business owners in online forums like Startup Nation, Switchboard, and Momprenuer. This would lead to another critical turning point—one that would introduce her business to millions of people.

Chris visited various message boards to share genuine experiences with others in the community by contributing valuable information and helping others find solutions to problems. Meanwhile, someone at ABC was searching these message boards for interview leads for an upcoming show on mothers who were also entrepreneurs. One night she received a call from ABC, and several weeks later there was a film crew at her house.

Message boards are an ideal place for media scouts because posts reveal a lot about how a person might react in an interview. The person at ABC found her through an introduction post on one of the message boards, visited her site, liked her personality, and called her for the show.

Success Tip #4: Be active on community message boards – offer genuine advice and become part of the community.

At the time of our interview, The Dippy Chick Company hadn’t even reached its second year anniversary. Chris is still in awe about her success and is the first to admit that it did not begin as a grand vision. Things just fell into place as she made decisions that were in line with her ideals and her personality.

Dippy Chick dips are sold in 60 stores across the country. If there isn’t a store in your area, pick up a few of these amazing dips on the Dippy Chick website and support a fellow entrepreneur!

Tags: Interviews by Adam - 3 Comments »

Despite the title of his blog, Patrick Schaber of Lonely Marketer is not lonely whatsoever. He’s running a popular blog, is part of a team of branding experts that just launched BrandingWire, and is a full time marketing manager for a successful hardware manufacturing firm. Pat is a master of branding and marketing in the highly competitive tech arena and offers a no-holds-barred look at what makes some businesses popular while other struggle for visibility and business.

Like many successful bloggers, Pat says that he began blogging wondering if anyone would ever read what he had to offer. However, Pat’s expert insight on marketing quickly made Lonely Marketer a favorite blog among bloggers and business owners looking for smart ways to boost their visibility and build their brand image.

“I didn’t go into this thinking that anyone would read my content,” says Pat. But when he read a post by favorite blogger Matt McGee at Small Business SEM listing the Lonely Marketer as one of the 5 new blogs he was reading, he knew he was onto something.

Pat faced a challenge experienced by many online bloggers – striking a balance between sharing business insight and exposing his company’s strategies to the competition. Not only were the businesses owners and bloggers that he wanted to help reading, his insider knowledge was also readily available to any of his employers competitors to indulge in freely.

Soon traffic and readership levels to Lonely Marketer increased to a point where he felt it necessary to let his employers in on his project. Luckily, his company is a big believer in blogging. The success of Pat’s blog has inspired them to launch a corporate blog in the coming months.

Corporate Blogging: Striking a Balance Between Personalization and Too Personal

Many businesses have concerns and questions about the role of a blog in their business communications. Pat says that one of the most important elements of any blog, business or not, is to have well defined personalities and profiles of its authors.

“If readers aren’t able to connect, they may not come back. There is a risk of the personality developing badly and turning people off. But the rewards far outweigh the risks. If you’re producing content that is relevant to their job, readers are going to engage,” says Pat.

But how much personality is too much? As Pat warns, there is always a risk of going too far. At the same time, there is also the potential that one personality will become too dominate and define the brand of the blog itself. Were this personality to leave, they could potentially take the brand and the business with them like what occurred with Danny Sullivan and his departure from Search Engine Watch.

Pat’s Advice for Business Bloggers

Pat’s advice for business bloggers is solid and a must read for any company currently blogging or thinking about blogging. Pat says:

Have multiple contributors: Different people will connect with different personalities. People will come and go within the company so it’s not safe to rely on one dominant personality.

A variety of personalities: Pat says that defining the ideal business/personal personality can be difficult to develop. “The personality should be professional, yet engaging.”

Have a dedicated and detailed “about” page: Readers want to know from whom they’re getting advice. Does the writer have credentials? Can they relate to you personally? What are your reasons for blogging? “I don’t think that labeling a post with “by so and so” is enough. It’s important that the name link to a bio page – why not have a personality? When I can’t find a good bio page on a blog, I normally don’t stick around.”

Consistency: Even with multiple contributing personalities it’s important to strive for a consistent approach. Don’t go for all of the same personality types however, instead, strive for a consistent approach with mixed personalities.

Assign a moderator: With so many different personalities and the fine line between personalization and getting too personal, use a single moderator to review posts before they go live.

Have an opinion: “Businesses have got to take a stance and can’t be afraid to state their opinion. That doesn’t mean they have to bash anyone – I try to find something positive, but if I’m going to reference something on my site, I’m going to add my opinion.”

Step off the pulpit: One of the most compelling things about Pat’s blog is that although he’s a professional, he is open to ideas and opinions from his readers. “I’m always looking for alternate views. Who is going to come to listen to you preach? I’m not on a pulpit. I’m interested in getting feedback from the community.”

Provide Actionable Content: Write content often that people can read and then implement immediately to see results.

Don’t go overboard with promotion: People come to your blog primarily to read content that relates to them and how they can improve some aspect of their life, not to read your marketing material. Instead, “try to maximize the engagement. Draw your target market in deeper with engaging content. Engage and converse and convert.”

Prepare to do the time: “Blogs are time draining. Time is money. You have to define your goals, understand your goals for the site, and understand what your outcomes could be and what is going to define a positive result.”

Redefine ROI: If you’re at a traditional company, no doubt the boss will ask “what’s the ROI on this blogging thing?” Pat says the businesses must define an ROI on engagement. “An ROI on engagement might mean number of comments, inbound links that help the site’s optimization, bounce rate vs. high click through rates, or number of subscribers.”

Pat’s Recommendations for Businesses on Tight Marketing Budgets

As a marketing manager for a small company, Pat gets to dabble with all kinds of tools from Pay per Click, to print ads, to creating a presence at tradeshows. But what about those of us that don’t have deep pockets for marketing?

“You don’t have to have thousands of dollars to create a great campaign,” Pat says offering his top picks for budget spending for companies with marketing budgets of $100 to $500 per month:

Press releases: Using PR Web, you can get your press release in front of thousands of readers for anywhere from $80 to $200.

Blogging: He uses WordPress, calling it one of the best platforms out there, which costs only your investment in time and the hosting should you decide to host off of WordPress’ free hosting platform. Set up a blog and start creating buzz online.

Go for longtail keywords in paid search: You don’t have to put a lot of money into paid search by executing smart strategies. “You can get away with a couple hundred bucks a months by focusing on longtail keywords. You may only get a couple hundred clicks, but they will be a couple hundred better qualified people than using more generalized search terms.”

Optimize landing pages: One of the biggest money wasters is to not optimize landing pages that are linked to your paid ads. Make sure that landing pages deliver on what the ad says they will.

Social Media: The key to social media is getting people who are well connected to link to your content. Become connected in the social media networks.

Relevant, interesting content: One thing Pat mentioned several times is that “content is king.” The phrase may be becoming clique, but its truth is absolute.

The Lonely Marketer and Branding Wire are both a goldmine of useful information for anyone serious about marketing their business and strengthening their brand. And this marketer says that blogging itself is one of the most powerful tools for doing both. Believe it or not, the Lonely Marketer has only been online for six months at the time of this post. In that time period, he has made a number of important business connections and met a great deal of professional friends and contacts.

“Lots of people are trying to calculate the ROI on blogging, but no one has successfully accomplished this yet. I foresee that blogging will produce positive results for businesses that we aren’t even aware of right now.”

This is NOT a sponsored interview

Tags: Interviews by Adam - 7 Comments »