HOW TO BLOG SUCCESSFULLY by Cheri Parrag of TheWateringMouth.com WHAT IS A BLOG AND WHAT ARE THEY USED FOR? Blog is short for “weblog” • • • • Blogs – text based Vlogs – video based Podcasts – audio based Microblogging – small posts only (Twitter, Facebook) • Blogazines / infographics (Pinterest) YOU NEED A NICHE TOPIC Choosing Your Niche Brainstorm / Mindmap • Immigration • Student Loan Debt • Weddings, Birthday Party Planning, Funerals, Going Through Puberty, Kite Flying, Alcoholism, Stamp Collecting, Positive emotion / must be willing to write several times per week? HOW TO SET UP A BLOG How to Set Up a Blog • • • • • Blogger/Blogspot YouTube Pinterest Tumblr WordPress .com vs .org Consider: Business Plan Hosting? How big will it get? Downtime? Expandability? E-commerce? CONTENT AND WRITING Tips for Blog Writing How you were taught to write in high school is not internet writing. • Breaks, lists, subheadlines, shorter paragraphs, flow control • Vary your sentence structure, topics and post length • Stay on topic • 1-4 times per month • Vary post topics – how to, lists, stats, authority Content is King Sources of Inspiration: • Competitors blogs • Google Trends, Google News, Google Alerts • News stories • Facebook/Twitter • YouTube / Flickr BLOG PROMOTION PROMOTE TILL YOU’RE BLUE IN THE FACE Consistency Research: social, forums, google.com/adplanner • Twitter • Facebook • Pinterest • LinkedIn • Podcasts • Google+ Other Related Blogs • Relationships • Commenting • Guest posting • Where are your followers? • Q&A sites HOW DO I PROMOTE TWM.COM? PROMOTE TILL YOU’RE BLUE IN THE FACE CONSISTENCY via SEO moz (everywhereist) PROMOTE TILL YOU’RE BLUE IN THE FACE CONSISTENCY -- theWateringMouth.com TheWateringMouth.com HOW TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING • • • • • Ads on blog, RSS feed, YT videos Affiliate links (Amazon, etc.) Paid reviews – merchandise, services, etc Email marketing auto-responders/sales pushes Partnering with Brands • • • • • • • Ads Sell your own products (physical, or e-books) Contests and Sweepstakes Mini-guides Webinars Mini-courses Full Courses • • • • • Writing for Other Websites, paid gigs Sponsored Posts White papers Videos for sale Begging – PayPal donation, mailed donation, “Like This Post? Buy Me a Cup of Coffee!”, Amazon Wish List EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL BLOGGERS YouTube: CommunityChannel ($101,000/year ads only, 2010) Over 120 million subscribers. Almost 421 million video views. Blog: DoughRoller.net (5 figures per month) Blog: PerezHilton.com ($111,000/mo ad revenue only) TheWateringMouth.com Launched February 27, 2012. How do you define success with your blog? 1. Nominate Your Favorite Local Restaurant for Review! 2. Facebook.com/TheWateringMouth Like TWM on Facebook! Thanks for putting up with me! Check out my blog at TheWateringMouth.com