Most marketers say they now have a process in place to vet social media influencers, according to recent research from ACTIVATE. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
from https://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2019/40956/how-marketers-vet-social-media-influencers
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The list of social apps, networks, sites--platforms of all sorts--is growing longer by the day. This timeline highlights nearly 50 social platforms that have left a mark in social media history. Some are no longer with us (RIP), but others are... and they have become part of our daily lives. ... Read the full article at MarketingProfs
from https://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2019/40974/a-timeline-of-select-social-media-platforms-infographic
The list of social apps, networks, sites--platforms of all sorts--is growing longer by the day. This timeline highlights nearly 50 social platforms that have left a mark in social media history. Some are no longer with us (RIP), but others are... and they have become part of our daily lives. ... Read the full article at MarketingProfs
from https://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2019/40974/a-timeline-of-select-social-media-platforms-infographic Itâs almost too easy. By using sensory words to evoke sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell; smart and attractive writers just like you are able to make their words burst to life in their readersâ minds. In this post, youâll learn:
Letâs dive in.
The Colossal Power of Sensory DetailsRemember the final scene in Field of Dreams when Ray Kinsella has a catch with his dad? You can smell the grass on the field. You can hear the sound of the baseball hitting their gloves. And you can feel Rayâs years of guilt melting away as he closes his eyes, smiles, and tosses the ball back to his dad. (Be honest. Youâre crying right now, arenât you?) Field of Dreams made you feel like you were in Rayâs shoes, on his field, playing catch with dad. The scene creates such a vivid experience for many viewers that whenever they think of playing catch, this scene will come up alongside their own childhood memories. Hereâs why: When you paint a strong scene in your audienceâs mind, you make it easier for them to pull it back up from their memory. Youâve essentially bookmarked it for them so they can easily find it when something â a sight, a smell, a sound â reminds them of it. Thatâs the power of content that incorporates sensory details. And this power isnât limited to cinema classics capable of making grown men cry. For centuries, literary giants have been packing their prose with powerful words that evoke the senses:
In addition to The Bard, authors like Maya Angelou, Edgar Allan Poe, and Charles Dickens excel at sensory language. So do literally every famous poet you learned about in school. And that begs the obvious question⦠Why are Sensory Details so Effective?Short answer: Our brains handle sensory words differently than ordinary words. In a 2011 study published in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, experts found that our brains process âtangibleâ (i.e. sensory) words faster than other words. And in a study published for Brain and Language in 2012, psychologists found that a certain part of our brain is âactivatedâ when we read sensory words. In other words: So, we know why sensory details are powerful. And we know writers have been tapping into their power for a long, long time. Now letâs define them and go over a few examples: What are Sensory Words?Sensory words are descriptive words â using imagery, they describe how we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell the world around us. Letâs break each one down: #1. Sight Sensory WordsWords related to vision describe the appearance of something (its color, size, shape, and so on). Examples of visual words:
#2. Sound Sensory WordsWords related to hearing often describe the sound they make (known as onomatopoeia), but this isnât always the case. Examples of hearing words:
#3. Touch Sensory WordsTouch words describe the texture of how something feels. They can also describe emotional feelings. Examples of touch words:
#4. Taste Sensory WordsTaste words are interesting. Though they can describe food, theyâre often used in comparisons and metaphors. Examples of taste words:
#5. Smell Sensory WordsWords related to smell describe â yes, you guessed it â how things smell. Often underutilized, sensory words connected with smell can be very effective. Examples of smell words:
Note on Taste and Smell:Because theyâre closely related, some sensory words can be used for both taste and smell. Examples: fruity, minty, and tantalizing.
Sensory Details: Examples in the WildImagine the following headline came across your Twitter feed:
Would you click it? Better question⦠Could you read the headline without falling asleep? The answers are probably ânoâ and âheck no.â Now imagine you saw this headline: Much better, right? The simple addition of the sensory word âcringeworthyâ changes the tone of the entire headline. Instead of yawning, youâre thinking of an awkward or embarrassing moment you really donât want to relive. Letâs look at a few more modern-day examples of sharp people using sensory language to spruce up their content: Using Sensory Words in Author BiosIâll pick on me for this one. Hereâs the author bio I used for one of my first-ever guest posts:
Now look at the author bio my friend Henneke wrote for Writerâs Block: 27 Techniques to Overcome It Forever:
My bio is devoid of sensory words (or any interesting words at all, if weâre being honest). Hennekeâs is chock full of them. Her bio is interesting. Mine is boring. The lesson? Add at least one sensory word to your author bio. Using Sensory Words in Social Media ProfilesSome people opt for brevity when writing their social media profiles, and thatâs fine. But if you want your Twitter profile (or Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media profile) to stand out from the crowd, sprinkle in a sensory word or two. Like so: Mel Wicks is a veteran copywriter who knows a thing or two about the effectiveness of descriptive words, so she uses them to spice up her Twitter profile. Hereâs an example from my badly-neglected Instagram account: âEnchantingâ and âadorably-jubilantâ are wonderful sensory words â so wonderful, itâs a shame theyâre wasted on a profile no one sees. Look at your own profiles and see if thereâs a place to add a sensory word or two. Theyâll help your profile jump off the screen. Heck, see if you can use enchanting and adorably-jubilant. They deserve to be seen. Using Sensory Words in IntroductionsThe opening lines of your content are so important. If youâre a student, your opening sets the tone for your teacher (who we both know is dying to use his red pen). If youâre an author, your opening can be the difference between someone buying your book or putting it back on the shelf in favor of one of those Twilight books (probably). And if youâre a blogger, writer, content marketer, or business; your opening can hook the reader (increasing dwell time, which is great in Googleâs eyes) or send them scurrying for the âbackâ button. Itâs why we put such an emphasis on introductions here at Smart Blogger. Sometimes our openings hook you with a question. Sometimes we strike a note of empathy or (like this post) focus on searcher intent. And sometimes we give you a heaping helping of sensory words:
In the above opening for How to Become a Freelance Writer and Get Paid $200 â $1K per Post, Jon Morrow uses sensory language to set a scene for the reader. And itâs highly, highly effective. Using Sensory Words in Email Subject LinesLike you, your readers are flooded with emails. And with open rates in a steady decline, people are trying anything and everything to make their email subject lines stand out:
You name it, people are trying it. Want a simpler, far-more-effective way to help your emails stand out from the crowd? Add a sensory word. Brian Dean loves to include words like âboomâ in his subjects: The folks at AppSumo and Sumo (formerly SumoMe) regularly feature descriptive words in their subjects and headlines. Hereâs one example: And sensory language appears in most everything Henneke writes, including her subject lines. In this one she also uses an emoji related to her sensory word. Very clever: Now that weâve covered several examples, letâs dig a bit deeper⦠Letâs discuss some practical steps you can take that will make adding sensory language to your writing a breeze: How Descriptive Words Can Pack Your Writing With Sensory LanguageIf youâve taken a good English or writing class, youâve probably been told a time or two to âshow, donât tell.â This means you should create an engaging experience for your audience; not just tell them what you want them to know. You accomplish this by using descriptive language that conveys sensations and lets readers experience your words (rather than simply read them). And how do you do that, exactly? Ask yourself these five questions when youâre writing: #1. What Do You See?It isnât enough to tell your readers there was a scary house in your neighborhood when you were a child. Describe the house to them in vivid detail. What shade of gray was it? Were the doors boarded up? Precisely how many ghostly figures did you see staring at you from the upstairs bedroom windows, and how many are standing behind you right now? Paint a mental picture for your readers. #2. What Do You Hear?We listen to uptempo songs to push us through cardio workouts. Many of us listen to rainfall when weâre trying to sleep. Some of us listen to Justin Bieber when we want to punish our neighbors. Want to transplant readers into your literary world? Talk about the drip, drip, drip of the faucet. Mention the squeaking floors beneath your feet. Describe the awful music coming from your next-door-neighborâs house. #3. How Does it Feel?Touch sensory words can convey both tactile and emotional sensations. Can you describe to the reader how something feels when touched? Is it smooth or rough? Round or flat? Is it covered in goo or is it goo-less? Paint a picture for your reader so they can touch what youâre touching. The same goes for emotions. Help the reader feel what you (or your character) are feeling. Draw them in. #4. What Does it Taste Like?Does the beach air taste salty? Is the roaring fire so intense you can taste the smoke? Is the smell of your roommateâs tuna fish sandwich so strong you can taste it from across the room? Tell your audience. Be descriptive. Make them taste the fishiness. #5. How Does it Smell?It wasnât a basement you walked into â it was a musty, moldy basement. And you didnât simply enjoy your Momâs homemade lasagna. You inhaled the aromatic scents of sauce, cheese, and basil. Evoking the sense of smell is possibly the most effective way to pull readers out of their world and into yours. So when you sit down to write, ask yourself if itâs possible to describe how something smells. And if you can? Do it. The Massive Sensory Words List: 581 (and Counting) Descriptive Words to Supercharge Your WritingOnce youâve asked and answered the five questions above, your writing will be packed with sensory details. In time, youâll build up your own massive list of sensory words you can reference and sprinkle throughout your work. But in the meantime, hereâs my list. Bookmark them. Print them. Use them often:
Are You Ready to Unleash the Power of Sensory Words?Itâs time to say goodbye. Goodbye to lifeless words that sit on the page. Goodbye to indifferent readers ready to move on to something, anything, else. You now know why sensory details are so effective. You know how to sprinkle descriptive words throughout your content. And you now have a massive, ever-growing list of sensory words to bookmark and come back to again and again. Variations of the following quote have been attributed to everyone from Carl W. Buehner to Maya Angelou, but regardless of who said it, and how they said it, itâs true:
Itâs time to make your readers feel. Are you ready? Then letâs do this thing.
About the Author: When heâs not busy telling waitresses, baristas, and anyone else who crosses his path that Jon Morrow once said he was in the top 1% of bloggers, Kevin J. Duncan is the Blog Editor and Social Media Manager for Smart Blogger.
The post 581 Sensory Words to Take Your Writing from Bland to Brilliant appeared first on Smart Blogger. from https://smartblogger.com/sensory-words/ Here’s the thing: There are many tutorials that can teach you how to write a blog post. They can educate you on the mechanics of blogging, what to do, and what not to do. Read them and you can learn how to craft a perfectly serviceable blog post. Heck, you might even write something that wins you an adoring fan or two. But if you dream bigger, if you want to know how to write a blog post that cuts through the noise and wins you legions of fans, you need something better than a run-of-the-mill tutorial. You need an ultimate guide. In this post, this ultimate guide, we’ll share tips used by professional writers to create spellbinding posts that are adored by thousands. You’ll learn the secrets to crafting irresistible headlines, seducing introductions, captivating advice, and motivational closings. You’ll even learn how the pros refine and polish their posts once they’re finished writing them. These are secrets many bloggers would gladly pay real money to learn, but it won’t cost you a thing — other than a few minutes of your time. Let’s dive in.
Want Smart Blogger’s Ultimate Editing Checklist — a 22-point cheatsheet for polishing your post to perfection? Click here to download it for free.
Step #1. Craft a Headline That Readers Can’t ResistWant to know one of the biggest mistakes bloggers make? Writing the blog post before the headline. Without a headline, they have no roadmap to follow. And so their post goes in multiple directions, leaving readers feeling dizzy, confused and disoriented. And then they try to create a headline that embraces all that madness. Bloggers, have mercy! If you want to write a blog post full of clarity, conciseness and conviction, spend some time crafting a quality headline that sets a clear destination, lures readers in, and leaves them eager for your advice. Your headline will be your map, your writing navigation system, letting you know which literary roads to choose and which to avoid so that readers reach the intended destination as easily and efficiently as possible. Follow these 8 rules to craft your killer headline: Headline Rule #1. Pick a Mouth-Watering TopicWant your blog post to get opened? Then your headline must promise readers the very answer to whatever is tormenting them. The thing that keeps them up at night. Your headline should not promise them a trip to the moon and back — readers are way too swift for such shenanigans. Keep the benefit specific and narrow, and readers will feel compelled to click and get the solution to what’s bugging them. How do you find out what’s bugging your readers? Research:
You have one responsibility as a blogger — yup, just one. And that is to serve your audience. The better you know them, the better you serve. Before you know it, you’ll know them so intimately they’ll feel like you’re reading their minds, and your headlines will reflect that. Example:Let’s say you’re in the self-improvement space and you wrote the headline below:
This headline is so broad it’s unlikely to draw readers in. No one loses sleep over “wanting to create an amazing life.” They lose sleep over specific aspects of their lives that have left them unfulfilled. So you are better off narrowing in on something specific that’s bugging your readers, such as:
Narrowing in on something specific makes readers feel like you have the answers they’re looking for. Headline Rule #2. Steal from the ProsOkay, you’ve done your research and you know exactly what your readers need. Now it’s time to turn your topic into into a killer headline. The easiest way to master the art of writing headlines? Steal. Not in the unethical way. In the smart and efficient way. Decades of copywriting and advertising research have revealed the types of headlines that have proven to be successful. The types of headlines that zap readers out of their info-overload comas and compel them to open. Why mess with that research? If you want your headlines to grab readers, stick with what works. No, your headlines don’t need to sound like they came straight from BuzzFeed. They can reflect your voice and style. But until you’re as skilled a writer as Jon Morrow, let the proven templates be your guide (how do you think he got so good at writing headlines?). Blogging is hard enough, so if you have templates at your fingertips, why not use them? The easiest templates to start with? “How to” headlines and list post headlines. They are classics and they work. In fact, 75% of Smart Blogger’s most popular posts use these formats. Examples:Here are a number of Smart Blogger headlines that follow the “how to” and list post templates. “How to” Headlines:
List Post Headlines:
Note: You can download Jon’s free 52 Headline Hacks, where you’ll find more template options than you’ll ever need.
Headline Rule #3. Engage Your SensesVague headlines leave readers feeling empty. Tangible headlines leave them feeling understood. How to you create tangible headlines? Put yourself in the shoes of your reader. How do they feel? What do they see, taste, or smell? What do they hear? Engage all of your senses. The more your headline gives voice to their exact experience, the more they’ll feel like your post was written for them. Example:Let’s say you blog about health and wellness and you wrote a headline called:
This headline follows a proven list post formula, and it narrows in on something that’s bugging readers. All in all it’s not too bad, but it could be even more concrete. To step it up a notch, put yourselves in the shoes of your readers. Think about exactly what they’re experiencing. Perhaps that would lead you to the following:
If you suffer from migraines, there’s no way you could resist clicking such a headline. Headline Rule #4. Tease, Don’t SatisfyA common mistake you may not even realize you’re making? Giving away too much in your headlines. Your headlines should lure readers in like a literary temptress. They should catch readers’ attention and invoke their curiosity, not give a solution. Give a solution in your headline and readers feel no need to go any further — they’re bored by the very thought of your post. When this happens, not only do you lose but your readers lose as well, as they trade the richness of your post’s advice for the quick fix offered by the headline. Example:Let’s say you blog about personal finance and you write the headline below:
Sadly, readers will see this and think they’ve got all the advice they need — if they want to save for retirement, they must create a monthly budget. No need to read more. On the other hand, a possible revision could be:
For anyone living paycheck to paycheck, this headline would pique their curiosity. Nothing is given away, it speaks to an audience with a very specific problem, and it promises a solution they’d love to get their hands on. Headline Rule #5. Honor the Headline CommandmentWhen it comes to headlines, there is only one commandment you can never break: “Thou shalt not deceive.” This may seem obvious, but writers inadvertently do it all the time. How? They over-promise. Big no-no. The content of your post must fully deliver on exactly what the headline promises. If the post only delivers part of the solution, readers will feel misled and lose their trust in you. Let’s never do that to them, yes? Examples:Let’s say you write a post called:
But then the post only talks about following your dreams, which is really only one aspect of living a happy and peaceful life. Even though you didn’t intentionally deceive them, readers will feel shortchanged. Another example — perhaps you write a post called:
But then the fifth way contains no useful advice and instead leads to a sales page to get the solution … no bueno. Headline Rule #6. Trim the FatWant to overwhelm readers right from the start? Fill your headline with weak and flabby words. What are weak and flabby words? Empty, unnecessary words that add no real value. Instead, they create clunky phrasing and leave readers scratching their heads in confusion. The mistake many bloggers make is writing headlines the way they speak. While that’s okay when you write the post (to a certain extent), when you write headlines that way it waters them down. You want your headlines to be as ruthlessly concise and powerful as possible. So chop out weak words and throw in power words (if appropriate). Examples:Let’s say you draft the following headline:
There are just so many words! We can cut them down as follows:
We can then add some power to it:
Much better. Another Example:Here’s a mouthful:
My head is spinning. This can be cut down to:
We could even make it more tangible and powerful:
Nice and trim, but packs a punch. Headline Rule #7. Don’t Be a Smarty-PantsYour headline should make sense to all readers no matter where they’re coming from or in what context they’re approaching your post. They shouldn’t have to guess what the benefit is. After all, you’re supposed to be reading their minds, not the other way around. So you’ll want to avoid using metaphors (unless their meaning is painfully obvious), jargon, rhymes, made-up terms, or anything that tries to be overly clever or complicated when drafting your headlines. Examples:Where to begin with this one:
A headline like this tries to be too clever — readers don’t give two hoots about not acting sappy, obviously. Don’t prioritize cute tactics like rhyming over delivering clear benefits in your headlines.
A headline like this is also trying to be too clever. “Apple of Your Eye” is a common metaphor readers are likely familiar with, but there’s no concrete benefit being offered here. A headline must always contain a strong benefit, not a cute phrase.
No clue what this means … and I just wrote it. If there isn’t a singular and clear interpretation of what the headline’s benefit is, it’s trying too hard. So save the metaphors for the actual post where they will (hopefully) make more sense.
Perhaps you effectively explain in the post how people treat love like a captive animal, and it may make for a great analogy, but readers scanning headlines will have no clue why they should stop to read this, and so they likely won’t. Headline Rule #8. Rock Your StyleThe more consistent you are with your audience, the more trust they’ll feel for you. If you generally keep your headlines pretty simple and then suddenly write one jam-packed with power words, your readers will feel confused. The more you write, the more of a style you’ll develop. Once you determine what that style is, use it consistently (or make slow and gradual changes to it if necessary) so your audience learns and trusts your brand. Example:If most of your headlines read like this:
Then you might not want to suddenly write a headline that reads:
Your readers will think your blog got hacked! How to Write a Headline: Bonus TipWhen writing a headline, try crafting 5–10 different versions of the same headline. The more you play with the words, the better you will get at creating clear, concise and curiosity-invoking headlines that readers cannot resist. Editor’s Note:I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss a question we hear often:
Ever notice how some headlines in SERPs (search engine results pages) are truncated? It’s based on your headline’s width in pixels, but as a general rule: right round 60 characters Google will cut off your headline. Since a truncated headline can result in fewer people clicking your link in SERPs, it’s a common SEO practice to keep your headlines 60 characters or less. Of course, things are never that easy. In a recent study, Brian Dean of Backlinko found that longer (14-17 words) headlines generated more shares on social media than shorter headlines. (76.7% more social shares, to be exact.) As with all things, your mileage may vary.
Step #2. Write an Introduction That Grabs and SeducesYou’ve lured readers in with your headline. Now you’ve got to keep them. No easy task, my friend. Readers are fickle. Known to take a quick glance and then vanish from your online sanctuary, lickety-split! You must fight to keep them there, and the way you craft your introduction plays a huge role in their browsing commitment. Follow these rules to craft an introduction that captivates your readers: Introduction Rule #1. Slip into Their ShoesA common mistake that reeks of amateur blogging? Trying to sound too academic in your blog openings. You know, those posts that start like this:
Don’t get me wrong — as a lawyer, I value solid research. But in the blogging context, this approach bores readers. If you want to captivate instead of bore, you must make readers feel like you’re reading their minds. A powerful way to achieve this? Empathy. Step into their shoes and write from their perspective. Show them you understand exactly what they’re going through. After all, you likely struggled with the very topic you’re writing about and learned how to overcome it. We teach what we most wanted to learn, right? So show readers that you “get it.” You’re not some corporate slog, you’re in it with them, fighting the good fight and sharing the tools that brought you to the other side. Example:This introduction is a masterclass in empathy:
As writers, we all share the deep longing to embrace our calling and express our ideas, but we also share the fears that so often sabotage those longings — the fear that we don’t have what it takes, that we’ll crash and burn, and that our dreams are just that — dreams. In his introduction, Jon addresses all those longings and fears and immediately makes you feel like he gets you so intimately, it’s almost creepy. Creepy, but effective.
Note: You don’t need to open like this in every post. There are certainly other approaches, like telling a powerful story. But if you’re working on mastering your craft and getting the most impact for time invested, an empathetic opening is an approach you’ll want to use frequently.
Introduction Rule #2. Get into CharacterIf you want to captivate readers, you must trigger their emotions. So as you sit down to write, think of the feelings you want them to experience: Fear, anger, sadness, hope, joy, disgust, shame, comfort, love, courage, and so on. Then get into character and feel them yourself as you write, and your words will read with undeniable authenticity. When Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the heartbreaking lyrics in Hamilton that have left tears on the faces of millions, it was his eyes that first shed tears as he put his pen to paper. So play with your emotions. Map out the emotional journey you’re taking readers on, and infuse those feelings into your writing. Feel what you want your audience to feel and your words will exude those emotions. This tip applies to your whole post, but in no place is triggering your audience’s emotions more important than your introduction. You feel me? ? Example:I once wrote an emotional post about my two little girls which addressed how delicate their emotions are, as well as my own vulnerabilities and my longing to give them the patience, presence and love they deserve. Here’s a portion of it:
I felt that longing intensely and definitely shed some tears as I wrote the introduction. The feedback I got from readers was that they felt the same intensity, and even cried as well. When we write, our feelings seep into our words. Introduction Rule #3. Lure Readers Down the PageWant readers to commit to your post? Accelerate their experience. Lure them down the page. The faster they get pulled down, the more committed they’ll feel. Too many bumps in the road early on, and off track they go, never to return. Here are three copywriting tips to use in your intros to lure readers down the page: #1. Open With a Short Sentence or QuestionKind of like how I opened this section. ? This is how all of Smart Blogger’s posts open, and for good reason. It’s a copywriting technique proven to pull readers in. Start a post with a long clunky paragraph and they’ll feel exhausted just looking at it. #2. Take a Knife to Your WordsSlash as many words as possible. If the first draft of your introduction is 200 words, try cutting it down to 100. The more you practice this, the more efficient your writing becomes. And when you write efficiently, your words have power. That power will grab your readers. #3. Set the RhythmAll writing has a pace and rhythm. You want your introduction’s pace and beat to be somewhat quick. You can slow things down later. How do you achieve this?
The best writers, like the best music composers, take readers on a journey. Fast and slow, loud and soft, urgency and ease. The more you pay attention to this, the more rhythm you’ll infuse into your words. Example:Shane Arthur sends readers’ eyes flying down the page by using crisp sentences and short paragraphs to create a fast rhythm:
He then appropriately slows things down in the section that follows with longer sentences. A masterful composition! Introduction Rule #4. Make Them BegWant readers begging for your solutions? Add a little fear to your opening. What are readers worried about? Do they know what will happen if they don’t solve the problem the post is addressing? What is the worst-case scenario? Bring those fears to the surface. Expose them. By doing so, not only will readers feel a camaraderie with you (because you understand their fears, so clearly you’ve tip-toed through the dark side yourself), but they’ll feel more eager than ever for the solution you present. We all have fears. We think we need to hide them, but the more we give voice to them, the easier they are to set free. Do that for your readers. Example:In his introduction, Glen Long brilliantly taps into the fear of failure all writers experience by addressing the dream of making a living as a writer and then quickly smothering that dream with the doubts that creep up at the mere thought of it:
The fear of failure is painful, yes. But giving voice to it is validating and makes readers eager for the solutions that will set that fear free. Introduction Rule #5. Hint at the Promised LandFinally, as you wrap up your intro, hint at the promised land. The place readers will get to when they master your methods. The destination your post promises to take them. But whatever you do, do not give it all away. Just one sentence that says too much satisfies your readers enough to send them clicking away. Why? Because readers bore easily. You must keep them on their toes. And the point of an introduction is not to give answers, it’s to set the stage for all the hearty advice your post will provide. Example:In the introduction to Meera Kothand’s post, she addressed a problem all new bloggers face: How do you get to know your audience when you don’t have one yet? She goes on to talk about the big mistake many of them make (making assumptions) and why that’s ineffective. Then, she uses the simplest phrase to hint at a solution:
How could anyone not want to keep reading? How to Write an Introduction: Bonus TipWhen writing an introduction, try drafting two completely different versions approached from different angles and triggering different emotions. Doing so will highlight the techniques and emotions that work best for both your audience and the content of your post. Editor’s Note:A word of caution: No matter how eloquent your words… No matter how powerful your prose… If your introduction doesn’t satisfy user intent, readers will click the “back” button and never return. What’s user intent? It’s the purpose behind the Google search. If someone searches for “how to lose weight” in Google, they’re expecting search results that will help them lose weight. If they click a headline that reads “7 Easy Tips For Losing Weight Fast”, and the post begins with an amusing Nicolas Cage anecdote, there’s a good chance they will leave — never getting to read the rest of the post, which is filled with weight loss wisdom. And when they leave, what they’re essentially telling Google is this:
And Google will respond by ranking your post lower in its search results.
Step #3. Deliver Advice That’s Easy to Consume and Impossible to IgnoreOkay, you’re doing great. You got readers to click on your headline, you lured them down the page with your intro, and now it’s time to deliver on all that you’ve promised. If you want readers to love you and look forward to every post you write, you’ll over-deliver. If you want them to take a quick look and vanish for good, you’ll under-deliver. The choice is yours. Use the guide below to deliver valuable and easy-to-consume advice: Content Rule #1. Add PitstopsSubheads — use them. Why? Because readers are scanners. They have no choice. There’s a behemoth amount of content at their fingertips, and not all of it is good. And so they scan (as do you, I’m sure). Subheads are your chance to prove to readers that your content holds value. To keep luring them back into your post, when their instinct is to leave. Blogging is a battle, remember? Keep these four tips in mind when drafting your subheads: #1. Add a Subhead Every Few ParagraphsSprinkle subheads throughout your post. Why? Because they gently guide readers along the route your post is heading, making their experience feel clear, easy and enjoyable. And never forget, your blog posts are all about your readers’ experience. If readers see too much text when they’re scanning without enough pit stops, they’ll feel overwhelmed. It’s like getting on a bus tour and being told there will be no bathroom breaks … oh, the anxiety! Example:Every single post on Smart Blogger. Seriously. That’s how important this is. #2. Avoid the 3 Subhead Blunders That Make Readers BounceSubheads have the same function as headlines; they must make readers curious so they keep reading. So you should follow similar rules when drafting them and avoid the following common blunders:
Example:Let’s say you’re writing a post about the impact sleep has on anxiety levels and you include the following subheads:
See how the first subhead is way too plain, the second gives too much away, and the third, well, it probably made no sense to you, right? The subheads below would do a better job at grabbing readers:
#3. Compare Each Subhead to Your Main HeadlineEach subhead should clearly deliver on the overall headline of your post. Again, if you’re viewing subheads as pit stops, they must all lead to the ultimate destination — what was promised by your headline. If the subheads get off track and move away from that destination, readers are left feeling lost and confused. In that case, either the subheads need to change or the headline needs rethinking. Example:Say you’re writing a post called “How to Silence Your Nagging Inner Critic” and you include the following subheads:
The fourth subhead’s sudden twist in topic is jarring. It does not deliver on the overall headline, which had nothing to do with your day job. Perhaps you intended all along for the post to be about not letting doubts stop you from following your dreams and quitting your day job, but readers scanning subheads will not understand that. They will simply feel confused. #4. Follow a FormatIf you are listing various “ways,” “steps,” “methods,” “signs,” etc., to achieve what the headline of the post promises, keep the format consistent. If you don’t, the post comes across as unpolished. Bloggers overlook this all the time, but it’s easy to fix once you’re aware of it. If you separate your subheads from the post and list them back to back, you can see if any stray from the course. Example:Say your post is called “12 Ways to Cure Insomnia” and you have a subhead for each of the 12 ways. You’ll want those subheads to follow a consistent format. Let’s say your first few subheads read as follows:
Something there feel a little off? The first three subheads start with an action verb instructing readers what to do. They are also fairly consistent in length. But then the fourth subhead suddenly changes the format and breaks the flow. It doesn’t start with a verb and it’s much longer than the others. This inconsistency may seem fairly innocent, but it’s distracting to readers. Content Rule #2. Unleash the UnexpectedLet’s face it, readers today are info-holics. We all are. So tired old advice isn’t going to cut it. Your post must be unique, bold, and eye-opening. My advice? List your main points and see if you can add a unique perspective, experience, or twist to them. Something readers aren’t expecting. What belief systems have you learned to challenge? What do you know that most people don’t? How can you shed new light on an old problem? What methods do you use that others won’t know about? You don’t want to go overboard just for the sake of adding shock value. Your advice must be authentic and truly helpful. But regurgitating old advice doesn’t challenge you as a writer, nor does it enlighten your audience. So pour your readers a little espresso for their info-hangover by delivering the unexpected. Example:Countless articles have been written about blogging, but how many have called you out for being dumb or told you to replace your friends?! Jon does just that by knocking you over the head with some hard truth bombs about what it takes to make it as a blogger. Content Rule #3. Follow a FormulaNotice how this post follows a pretty consistent formula? Each section is relatively similar in length. Every subhead follows a pattern. Each section ends with an example. The more consistency you weave into your posts, the better the reader’s experience. Let’s say you write a list post covering five steps to achieve something. If the first step is 500 words, the second and third steps are 100 words, the fourth step is 200 words and the fifth step is 400 words, it looks sloppy. As though you didn’t bother to edit it before hitting publish. Your readers deserve the best, and minor details like this matter as they affect the fluidity of their experience. Want to go even more pro? Look at the the beginning, middle and end of each section you write, and create a guiding formula. Perhaps you start each section with a bold statement or personal experience. Then you flesh out your advice in the middle. And then you end each section with a one-sentence call to action. The more formulas you add to your posts, the easier they are to write and the more they look like polished works of art. Example:In his post on getting traffic from Twitter, Brian Honigman uses hashtags for each subhead, each section is consistent in length, and each includes a graphic. Readers know exactly what to expect from each section, making for a fluid reading experience. Content Rule #4. Be Ridiculously GenerousMany bloggers worry about giving away too much in their posts. After all, they want readers to sign up for their paid coaching calls or products. So they hold back, barely skimming the surface of their advice. Truthfully, if you’re not generous with your readers in your posts, they won’t get a good impression of your paid products. Don’t hold back on your readers. Fully work through the problem with them. Give them complete solutions and powerful advice. Wow them with your generosity and they will stick around as loyal readers and customers. Example:Want to learn everything there is to know about affiliate marketing? Holy smokes. At 10,000 words, that insanely generous post by Leanne Regalla is basically a textbook on the subject, and reader comments praise it as such. (Let’s all bookmark this one, yes?) A post of this magnitude is quite an undertaking, but don’t let it scare you. You can also wow your audience with your generosity and thoughtfulness in a 1,000-word post. Content Rule #5. Start and End StrongJust as your introduction and conclusion should grab readers, you want the main body of your post to start and end strong as well. Of course, every section should have valuable content, but if you’re offering five ways to achieve something, save your absolute best tips for the first and fifth ways. The first way will grab your readers’ attention, and the fifth way will leave them feeling fully satisfied. On the other hand, if each tip successively decreases in value, readers will feel like your post is deflating. And their excitement will deflate with it. Let’s leave readers feeling pumped when they finish your post. Example:Linda Formichelli gives ten crafty ways to write 1,000 words per hour. While all ten ways are excellent, I’d argue that the first (about writing under the pressure of a full bladder) and last (about gambling with your reputation) are the most bold and attention-grabbing (bathroom break, anyone?). Writing a Blog Post: Bonus TipBefore writing the main sections of your post, flesh out an outline to nail your points down. The clearer and more simplified your outline is, the more clarity and conviction your post will have.
Step #4. Close with a Motivational BangWe’re almost at the finish line! It’s time to close your post with a bang. This is where you rally behind your readers. Show them that you believe in them. Make them believe they can achieve the goal promised by your headline (because after reading your generous advice, they certainly can). Follow these rules when crafting your motivational conclusion: Conclusion Rule #1. Give Your Readers a Pep TalkMotivate your readers. Show them how far they’ve come, what they’re capable of, and what life will look like once they’ve implemented your advice. Give them the pep talk you longed for when you were struggling with the topic your post presents. Empower them by raising your expectations of them. They can’t just read your post and pretend it never happened — they must take action. Immediately. Make them see that no matter what they’ve experienced or how hard they’ve struggled, their time is now. Example:In this post’s conclusion, Jon uses all he’s had to overcome in life to show readers that they have no excuses: no matter hard things get, they can accomplish anything they set their minds to. He encourages readers by letting them know that he believes in them and then he raises his expectations of them by telling them they need to get started … “right freaking now.” By the time you’re done reading the conclusion, you feel like you can conquer just about anything! Conclusion Rule #2. Avoid New InformationA common mistake many bloggers make? Suddenly inserting new information or tips in their conclusions. It’s like reaching the last ten minutes of a spellbinding movie. You’re on pins and needles waiting to see how it ends, and suddenly a new character is introduced. What the … ?! It’s jarring. Don’t do that to your readers. Example:In his conclusion, Robert van Tongeren motivates you to repurpose old blog posts by comparing them to epic musical classics; if they disappeared into obscurity simply because they’re old, we’d all be at a great loss. Imagine if in the midst of such a conclusion, Robert quickly threw in one more way to repurpose content, or one small caveat to his post’s advice, or one more general tip to keep in mind? It would throw the whole closing off and leave readers feeling ruffled instead of jamming to Bohemian Rhapsody. How to Write a Conclusion: Bonus TipWhen writing your conclusion, put yourself back in the shoes of your readers. What will their lives be like if they accomplish the advice in your post? How will they feel? The more you can hone in on your readers’ point of view, the more you can motivate them to take action. Editor’s Note:Too many bloggers put too little thought into their closings. That’s a shame. Let’s face it… Most people don’t read 100% of our posts. Heck, most people don’t even read half. So how do we reward the precious few who read and absorbed the words we poured our heart and soul into? With a closing we whipped together in 20 seconds. Someone who makes it to the end of your post is primed. They trust you. They like you. They want you to tell them what to do next. So tell them. Don’t waste this opportunity.
Step #5. Polish Your Post So It’s Smoother Than a Slip ‘n SlidePhew! You’ve written your post. Next up? Take a well-deserved break. Step away for a day or more so you can come back to it with fresh eyes. Once you’re ready, it’s time to do some editing. I know, the mind reels that there’s more work to do! But editing your post is essential. If your post doesn’t provide a smooth reading experience, your reader will lose attention and bail. Use this checklist when you’re ready to edit your post:
Want this 22-point checklist as a handy, printable PDF? Click here to download it for free.
How to Edit a Blog Post: Bonus TipA great way to self-edit your posts is to read them out loud. Doing so will help you catch many of the issues listed above, particularly things like overly complicated wording, run-on sentences and choppy rhythm.
Win the Battle for Your Reader’s AttentionBlogging is a battle. A war to get your ideas the attention they deserve. Your enemy? The dizzying array of online distractions that devour your readers. This battle is not for the faint of heart. There are so many learning curves. Blogging platforms and plugins you’ll need to install. Social networks you’ll need to employ. Marketing techniques you’ll need to try. But none of that stuff matters if you’re drowning your ideas in amateur writing. You might as well lay your sword down in defeat. Readers don’t have time for amateurs. So before you venture any further down the blogging rabbit hole, you better make sure you know how to write a blog post like a pro. Skip that step, and nothing can save you. Your battle is lost. The good news is, writing effective blog posts is a skill you can learn. And it’s one you must learn. You have powerful words and ideas that can transform readers’ lives. Those ideas are worth fighting for. So when you’re ready to enter the arena, arm yourself with this ultimate guide and fight the good fight. Your readers are counting on you.
About the Author: Liz Careathers, Esq. worked as an instructor in Jon’s guest blogging course for two years editing the posts of hundreds of students. She now writes to empower her readers at StrongSensitiveSouls.com while raising her two little girls. Download her free Checklist for Writing Blog Posts that Emotionally Engage Your Audience.
The post How to Write a Blog Post in 2019: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Smart Blogger. from https://smartblogger.com/how-to-write-a-blog-post/ Whether your blog is brand new or already established, you can never have enough traffic. Seriously… I work at an SaaS company called Ahrefs, and even though the Ahrefs blog pulls in over 200k organic traffic every month, we still experiment with ways to promote our blog and bring in more traffic. Because let’s face it: It’s 2019. Simply sending an email blast to your subscriber list doesn’t cut it anymore. But don’t fret. If you’re stuck coming up with new ideas for how to promote your blog, here are 9 tried-and-tested tactics that have worked for us. Let’s dig in. #1. Work with PodcastsLet’s start things off with the buzzword of the year: podcasts. Thanks to their flexibility (you can listen to them while you’re at work or when you’re on the go), they’re the most popular form of audio content. They’re also widely available on services like iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify. Some quick facts:
Ahrefs has had great success with sponsoring podcasts (paid advertising) as well as guesting on them — that is, sending a member of our team to be interviewed on a show. Here’s an actual comment from a new customer and blog reader of ours: For sponsoring podcasts, think of this tactic as a type of influencer marketing. Your job is to sell your blog to the podcast host and the podcast host’s job is, in turn, to sell your blog to their audience. How to Promote Your Blog by Sponsoring PodcastsIf you have the budget, sponsoring podcasts is a great way to promote your blog. Here’s how you do it: Step #1. Do Your ResearchCreate a list of podcasts whose audiences are a good match for your blog. If you have no idea where to start, here’s a tip: Try using a specialized podcast search engine like Listen Notes. Browse the shows and pick your favorites. Step #2. Make ContactOnce you’ve created a list of targets, you’ll need to contact the podcasts and inquire about sponsorship details. What are their pricing packages? What dates do they have available? Are there any gotchas? Prices can range from $50 to $5,000 and beyond per episode, so work within your particular budget. Step #3. Iron Out the DetailsThis includes your ad copy, delivery, and any other deliverables like your blog’s logo and elevator pitch. In my experience, organic reads do much better than “scripted ads.” The goal is to get the podcast host to sound like a fan and regular reader of your blog. Step #4. Wait for Your Ad to AirIf anything is off, be sure to let the podcast know as soon as possible! How to Promote Your Blog with Podcast InterviewsIf you’re strapped for cash (or simply don’t want to do podcast advertising), another approach is to appear as a guest on podcasts. This is usually free — unless you’re approaching extremely-popular podcasts, which tend to charge a one-time appearance fee. The catch is you’ll need some kind of credibility to your name. In other words, you’ll need to convince the podcast host that you’re someone their audience would love to listen to. The process for this is similar to the one detailed above: Step #1. Create a Target ListUse Listen Notes or a similar tool to create a list of podcast targets. Step #2. Check if They Accept InterviewsOften, podcasts will explicitly state on their websites whether or not they accept interview requests. And if they don’t accept interview requests? Ask anyway. Send in your pitch and convince them you have lots of value to add. Step #3. Follow the Host’s LeadEvery podcast will have their own process. Some may want to do pre-interviews, some may want to work on a rough content online with you, and some may want to just “wing it.” Whatever the process, remember to be courteous and respectful — you’re a guest, after all. Just don’t forget to mention your blog! Editor’s Note:Appearing on podcasts is one of our favorite promotion strategies here at Smart Blogger — as evidenced by our appearances on EOFire, James Altucher, Duct Tape Marketing, the Write Podcast, and Loz James’ Content Champion. Just make sure you’re prepared:
#2. Republishing on MediumSure, you can publish tons of absolutely amazing posts on your own blog. But if you never extend your reach, whether it’s by growing your list of email subscribers or boosting your number of social media followers, your audience will be limited. So what do you do if you don’t have time to create promotional content and extend your reach? Try this: Republish your existing posts on blogging platforms like Medium. Your content will be seen by a whole new audience — some of which will then visit your blog and discover all the great content you have to offer. For example, look at this blog post I published on the Ahrefs blog last December: It got 463 shares and 43 comments — very decent engagement considering the fact that the topic likely didn’t appeal to our blog’s core audience (people interested in search engine optimization). In a bid to push the post out to a wider audience, we republished it on Medium. It turned out to be a fantastic decision. Here are the stats as of March this year: That’s 13.6k views in total, with 22% of readers actually finishing the whole post. Plus, the Medium publication of this post averages a steady trickle of 10-30 readers every day.
Note: For the SEO-conscious among us, Medium uses canonical tags when you use their republishing tool. So no worries about duplicate content issues.
How to Republish on MediumMedium has made the process of importing and republishing content super simple. Here’s how you do it: Step #1. Choose a Post to RepublishIdeally, pick one of your top performers (since it’s already proved it’s popular). You can use a tool like Ahrefs’ Top Content report in Site Explorer to see which of your posts have the most shares on social media. Since they’ve proven themselves on social media, these posts are the most likely to resonate with audiences beyond your blog’s existing one. Editor’s Note:Though they aren’t nearly as detailed, there are a few free tools to track social media shares if you aren’t an Ahrefs customer. As an example, SharedCount.com lets you copy and paste URLs of individual posts; however, they only show counts for Facebook and Pinterest: Step #2. Import Your Post Into MediumEnter the URL of your post into the Medium import tool and hit “Import”. Step #3. Publish Your Post on MediumFollow Medium’s guidelines to format and polish your post, then click “Publish”. That’s all there is to it! #3. Smart Social SharingI know, I know. It’s 2019, and promoting your blog posts on social media is by no means a new strategy. BUT — there’s more to social media promotion than pasting a link and clicking a “Tweet” button. Here’s an example of the success we’ve seen from smart sharing on the Ahrefs Twitter account: Pretty impressive, right? Here’s another example: These tweets received amazing engagement, but we actually spent very little time creating them. We achieved this ROI by working smarter, not harder. How to Promote Your Blog Using Social Media (Smartly)Here’s our process: Step #1. Brainstorm Ideas and Organize ThemThe great thing about social media content is it’s all fleeting. Even if an idea is a flop, it’s easy to turn the page and try the next idea. But to make the most of these (admittedly fleeting) opportunities, you need two things:
To brainstorm ideas, get a pen and paper (or launch Google Docs, Microsoft Word, etc.) and jot down things you would like to try. Get as creative as you want. Think memes would be popular with your audience? Write it down. Believe infographics or inspirational quotes could be successful? Write them down. Believe posts or tweets on Topic X or Topic Y could receive high engagement? (You get the idea.) By listing all of your ideas, you’ll then be able to group them into categories. This will help you track which categories are successful and which are not. Step #2. Craft and Publish (and Monitor) Your ContentYou can use social media management tools like Buffer and MeetEdgar to schedule your content and keep it running automatically. Once your social media posts begin making their way into the wild, you’ll be able to track their progress. Do some receive more comments, while others receive more shares and retweets? Are some more popular in the mornings, while others receive more engagement during the evenings? All data, both good and bad, will help you in the next step. Step #3. Review the ResultsAfter an appropriate amount of time has gone by, hold a review. Drop the categories that didn’t perform well. Keep the ones with potential and refine them. You want to focus on the categories your audience likes and tweak them. Do they like emojis, or do they gravitate towards a more “serious” tone? Do they like infographics, or long chunks of copy with statistics thrown in? And so on. From here, keep repeating steps 1-3 until you’ve locked down the type of content your audience loves. And once you’ve figured out what they love, keep giving it to them. Step #4. Advertising (Optional)If you want to try advertising, the above process will save you some serious money. Pick your top organic performers from Step #3 and put money into promoting them. Since they’ve already proven themselves to be popular, this is a safe and effective way to buy ads to promote your blog (without wasting time and money on losers). #4. Create Roundup PostsThe perks of this strategy pretty much sell themselves. Here’s what happens when you publish a good roundup post:
So… what’s a roundup post, anyway? Here’s an example: Essentially, a roundup post features a compilation of answers to a single question, ideally by established experts in the field. A great roundup post adds immense value to readers since they offer a range of expert opinions in one place. Plus, they tend to bring in lots of traffic since the experts featured in them will often share the post with their own audiences. What’s not to love? How to Create Roundup PostsHere are the basics of roundup posts so you can create your own: Step #1. Craft Your QuestionDon’t take this step lightly. If you ask too much of the experts you’ll be polling, most won’t have time to participate (even if they want to). And if you ask a question they’ve heard (and answered) a million times, most won’t be interested. Your question needs to be clear, succinct, and something that will appeal both to your readers and the experts you’ll be asking to participate. Step #2. Create a List of InfluencersOnce you’ve crafted your question, it’s time to create your influencer wish list. These are the influencers (“experts”) you’ll be asking to participate in your roundup post. Since not everyone will respond to you, reach out to significantly more experts than you need. For example, if you need 20 people for your roundup post, reach out to 40 experts (or more). Remember: A roundup post is only as good as the people you feature. While it takes exponentially more time and effort to get a response from a more recognized name in your industry, it’s likely worth it. With that said, don’t expect the Michael Jordans of your industry to respond to your outreach — try to find people with a reasonable level of influence who aren’t complete titans. Step #3. Reach Out to the ExpertsYou can use specialized tools like BuzzStream or Mailshake to streamline the entire outreach process by making it easier to hunt down email addresses, batch send messages, and conduct follow-ups. Quick tips for the message you send:
Step #4. Follow Up (But Only Once)There’s a chance your first email will slip past the expert you’re trying to reach. After all, they’re very busy and likely receive dozens (or hundreds) of emails every single day. This is why sending a follow-up email is helpful: However, please don’t follow-up more than once — any more than that and you’re just being a nuisance. Step #5. Compile Your ResponsesAt this point, you’ll have a bunch of answers ready to sift through. Now all you need to do is turn them into a cohesive post. Try to find trends in the responses and sort them into sections. Next, add your own introduction to each section, as well as your opinion on why certain trends occurred. This is how you put your stamp on the roundup post and make it your own. Step #6. Publish Your Post (And Tell the Experts)Once your post is published, it’s time to let everyone know about it. Email everyone who responded to your outreach emails (whether they ultimately contributed to your post or not) and thank them for their time. Include a link to your post, and be sure to send them well-wishes. You can also ask them (politely) to share your post with their audience, but this is often implied. Editor’s Note:Want to let influencers know your post has been published and promote the post at the same time? In addition to emailing them, tag the influencers on Twitter too. #5. Advocate In-PersonWhile all blogs are digital in nature, your promotional efforts aren’t limited to the digital world alone. It might be a step (or ten!) outside your comfort zone, but try this: Approach a local event in your niche and pitch yourself as a speaker. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world or how big the event is — it could even be a small meet-up session. The idea is to reach out to new people and give the work you do a huge visibility boost. How to Promote Your Blog by Speaking at EventsIf you’re interested in this advanced promotional tactic, here’s how to get started: Step #1. Shortlist a Few Events or Meet-Ups You’d Like to AttendIf you’re not sure where to start, look around on Reddit, Facebook groups, or Slack groups and join some communities in your industry. Chances are good people are organizing and promoting events in these communities. Make a list of potential targets, underline your favorites, and move on to the next step. Step #2. Pitch Yourself to Event OrganizersWhen pitching yourself, propose some topics that you’d be comfortable speaking about and explain how your content will add value to their audience. Hopefully it goes without saying, but you should know these topics very well.
Note: If you have no experience with public speaking, it’s a good idea to start small. Save the conference keynote speeches for later.
Step #3. Craft Your PresentationTry to deliver as much value as you can and position your blog as a great resource. This is also a good time to promote your social media accounts, which are ideally already geared towards driving traffic to your blog. Just be sure not to make it all about you. Your job is to teach, to impart your know-how to others. And when you’re able to do this well, promoting your blog will happen organically. Step #4. SpeakShow up to the event, deliver your speech, meet lots of new people, and enjoy converting some new readers! Editor’s Note:To improve your chances of landing speaking engagements, make sure you:
There’s a lot more to it than we can unpack here, so be sure to check out Grant Baldwin’s post How to Get Speaking Engagements. In fact, browse his entire website, The Speaker Lab. It’s chock-full of helpful information. #6. Integrate Your Blog with Your ProductMost businesses have blogs that are completely disconnected from their main product. If you blog for a brand or business, why not align your messaging and integrate your blog posts directly into your UI (for software products) or in your product descriptions and previews (for e-commerce)? This lets you direct traffic over to your blog and gives your customers a more seamless experience. How to Fuse Your Blog and ProductFor software products, one way to notify people of your newest blog posts is to include a (preferably unobtrusive) in-app notification. Here’s what it looks like when using Ahrefs: Click the bell icon and we display a simple drop-down menu listing all our newest content. So simple, but so effective. If you have an e-commerce website and your blog posts are educational in nature, you can promote them directly on your homepage. Beardbrand does this beautifully: Another way to do this is by scattering in individual links and excerpts of your blog posts wherever they’re relevant. This is how Mr Porter does it: Time to get creative! Editor’s Note:Here’s one more tip that’s missed by a surprising number of business websites… Include a prominent link to your blog in your website’s navigation menu. Ahrefs, MeetEdgar, Elegant Themes (affiliate link), and many other smart businesses feature their blogs in their navigation, which helps drive traffic to them. Here’s how Quuu (affiliate link) does it: In other words: If people have to hunt to find your blog ON YOUR OWN WEBSITE, you're doing it wrong.Click To Tweet#7. Collaborate with Other BlogsCreating content in collaboration with another blog means you’re able to tap into each other’s audiences and can promote yourself to a whole new set of blog readers. You can even split the work! Here’s a post that Ahrefs did with Buffer, a social media management tool: How to Join Forces With Another BlogFair warning: Collaborating with blogs significantly larger than yours probably isn’t in the cards. However, collaborating with a site similar in size is definitely doable. Here’s how to get started: Step #1. Find Opportunities in Your NicheLook for opportunities to work with blogs within the same niche as yours. Start by approaching bloggers you have an existing relationship with and ask if they’d like to collaborate. You should leave cold pitching as a last resort. If you have no idea which blogs to approach, Ahrefs offers a nifty trick: In Content Explorer, enter a relevant keyword phrase in your niche. Set the “published” filter to “Last 12 months” and the “Language” filter to “English”. Next, highlight the “one link per domain” option. Finally, you’ll want to set one more filter: DR (“domain rating”). The higher this number, the more authoritative the website; however, the more authoritative the website the harder it will be for you to get the blogger’s attention. In the screenshot below, we set the DR to 40: This will pull a list of active blogs in your niche. From here, just sift through the possibilities and pick the ones you’d like to approach. Step #2. Make Your PitchThe process is pretty similar to advocating in-person: you need to make your best pitch. Focus on explaining why you want to work with that particular blogger, as well as how collaboration will benefit them. Feel free to suggest a couple of topics you feel would work well. Step #3. CreateCreation time! Finalize your content with the blogger you’re working with and remember to stay prompt and gracious throughout. This is not the time to get pushy or rude and make an enemy out of a would-be ally. Step #4. Publish and PromotePromote the post to your newsletter and social media accounts. Make sure to tag and give credit to the other blogger too. #8. Repurpose Content Into Other Formats to Reach New AudiencesYou’ve spent all this time and effort to create amazing content in the form of blog posts. Why not get more out of the same piece of content? Since your customers hang out in multiple places online and have their own preferences when it comes to content formats, you should try to reach audiences beyond blog readers. And you do that by repurposing your content. How to Repurpose Your ContentSome examples:
Or, do it in reverse. We published a YouTube tutorial on WordPress SEO. It has over 20,000 views and 70 comments — not too shabby. We decided to turn it into a blog post. Here’s how it performed: By re-creating our video in written form, we were able to reach an entirely new audience on an entirely different platform. And the best part? We didn’t have to come up with fresh content for the post. We took what we already had and created something new with it. #9. Monitor Online Conversations for Opportunities to Promote YourselfPeople talk about all sorts of things on the Internet, including your niche. If you monitor these conversations, you’ll get lots of chances to slide into the discussion, add value, and (subtly) promote your blog. Here’s a pretty meta example of this tactic in action. I once mentioned Talkwalker alerts in a blog post I wrote, and an employee commented on the post to provide the link: How to Monitor Conversations for Promotion OpportunitiesTracking online conversations is surprisingly easy. Here’s how you do it: Step #1. Set up Your AlertYou can use a free tool like Google Alerts, or services like Talkwalker Alerts and Ahrefs Alerts. For Ahrefs, go to Alerts, Mentions, +New Alert, and enter your keyword you’d like to track. What these tools do is send you an email every time a keyword is mentioned on the web. From there, you can simply follow the link in the email to find out where you’ve been mentioned. Step #2. Carefully Monitor Your MentionsWhether your mention comes in a blog article or a forum discussion, look for suitable areas where you can add value. For example, if you’re a food blogger and you receive an alert for a discussion of a restaurant, it’s your time to shine by talking about your own experience. However, a word of warning: It’s extremely important not to shoehorn yourself into conversations. If you’re clearly only there to advertise your own blog, people will catch on pretty quickly. So, be sure to link to your own blog strategically, and only after you’d added value to the discussion. Editor’s Note:You can also track mentions using Twitter’s advanced search. For example, let’s say I wanted to find every English-speaking tweet in 2018 that mentioned Jon Morrow by name: Twitter’s advanced search results would return a veritable smorgasbord of tweets: Cool, right? Use this feature to find keywords and mentions that matter to you, roll up your sleeves, and then get to work. The applications are nearly limitless. Over to YouIf you sometimes find yourself lying in bed at night wondering, “how do I increase my blog traffic?”, I feel your pain. I did my best to stay away from the more common methods of blog promotion, so hopefully you found something new to try. Of course, not all of the tactics we discussed will be suitable for, or will work for, your blog and your particular niche. You’ll need to experiment and find what works for you. When it comes down to it, marketing is always about experimenting — experimenting, failing, and going at it again and again until you succeed. Now, go forth and get that traffic! The post How to Promote Your Blog in 2019: 9 Creative Strategies appeared first on Smart Blogger. from https://smartblogger.com/how-to-promote-your-blog/ Looking for a tutorial showing you how to install WordPress, but keep finding resources that tackle every method except the one you need? Weâve got your back. In this post, we break down every conceivable way there is to install WordPress. Youâll learn how to install WordPress using cPanel, Softaculous, MOJO, Fantastico, and QuickInstall; locally on both Windows and Mac; manually using FTP; and weâll break down popular hosting providers like GoDaddy, Bluehost, and HostGator. Youâll also learn how to install WordPress Multisite, how to install WordPress in different languages, and more. Just click the appropriate link in our Table of Contents to jump to the section you need. Ready? Letâs go. Table of Contents
How to Install WordPress on cPanel (Softaculous, MOJO, Fantastico, and QuickInstall)So, you decided to start a blog. Awesome. Now itâs time to roll up your sleeves and get to work installing WordPress. Thankfully, many of the popular WordPress hosts offer some form of simplified (or even automatic) installation. If youâre using a âsharedâ WordPress hosting plan, thereâs a good chance your host will use cPanel.
Editorâs Note: cPanel is an online control panel many web hosts use to simplify the whole âhow to host a websiteâ thing for users. Go here to learn more about it.
Letâs walk through the cPanel process⦠Step #1. Find Out How to Access Your Hostâs cPanelUnfortunately, the way you get to cPanel is not standardized across the web. Different hosts access it differently. So, before you can do anything, you need to find out how to access your hostâs cPanel. The easiest method is to find the emails your hosting provider sent you when you signed up for your account. Among other valuable bits of information, the URL to your cPanel will be in one of those initial emails. But if you canât find the right email, donât worry. Just Google the name of your web host and âcPanel loginâ. That should do the trick. Step #2. Get to Know cPanelThe main cPanel dashboard can be a little intimidating. Relax. You donât have to understand all cPanel has to offer. Weâre here to do one thing â learn how to install WordPress. For that, letâs look for the cPanel installer tools, which are usually located near the bottom of the page. Your host might be using any of the following installers: Softaculous, Fantastico, QuickInstall, or MOJO Marketplace. Weâre going to focus on Softaculous since itâs the most popular. But donât worry if your host uses a different installer. While the specific interfaces might be a bit different, the idea behind every installer is the same. Plus, they all ask you for the same set of data and inputs. Step #3. How to Install WordPress Using SoftaculousTo begin, look for the Softaculous section in cPanel. Click on the WordPress logo. The installer tool will open: Click on the Install Now button to begin the installation process. Softaculous needs only a handful of details from you. Here are the fields you should pay special attention to:
Hereâs what the form looks like: Click Install to proceed. When the process finishes, Softaculous will show you a final confirmation screen along with links to your WordPress dashboard. And thatâs it! Youâve installed WordPress using cPanel.
Note: The WordPress dashboard of your newly-installed site should be available at yoursite.com/wp-admin/.
How to Install WordPress on Localhost (Or, How to Install WordPress Locally)The instructions for how to install WordPress locally depends on whether youâre using a PC (Windows) or a Mac. Weâll go over both methods. First up: Windows. (If youâre on a Mac, click here to jump ahead.) How to Install WordPress on WindowsWordPress is a great tool for local web development. Hereâs how you install WordPress locally on Windows: Step #1. Get XAMPPXAMPP is a local web server for your computer. Itâs an all-in-one package with everything you will need to run software (such as WordPress) locally.
What About WAMP?
You might have heard of a similar tool called WAMP. Under the hood, WAMP and XAMPP do the same thing. However, in my opinion, WAMP isnât as reliable as XAMPP. For this reason and others, weâll focus on XAMPP in this tutorial. From the XAMPP website, click on the download button for Windows and save the XAMPP package to your desktop. Launch the XAMPP installer and follow the prompts on the screen. First, select the individual components you want to have installed. To be safe, you can choose all of them: Next, select the installation folder for XAMPP.
Note: Avoid installing XAMPP in Program Files. The read/write restrictions of Windows might prevent it from working correctly. Installing in C:\xampp is a safer bet.
XAMPP will take a minute or two to install. When itâs finished, youâll see this confirmation screen: When you click on Finish, youâll see the main XAMPP config panel. In it, click on the two Start buttons next to Apache and MySQL. Like so: You should see the two labels change to green: When you see green, your local server is working! Step #2. Create a Blank Database for WordPressFrom the control panel of XAMPP, click on the Admin button in the MySQL row: This will launch a tool called PHPMyAdmin, which is an open-source database management tool. Go into Databases (from the top menu). Enter a name for your new WordPress database (something simple) and click the Create button: You should see your new blank database in the sidebar: You can now exit PHPMyAdmin. Step #3. Download WordPressGo toWordPress.org and download the most recent version of the software. Donât worry. Itâs free: Next:
Note: The name of this folder will also become part of the local address of the site. With mynewsite being the folder name, the address of the site is going to be localhost/mynewsite.
Take the contents of the WordPress archive and move them to this new subfolder (âmynewsiteâ or whatever you named yours). It should look like this: Step #4. Install WordPress Locally on WindowsOpen your web browser and navigate to localhost/mynewsite. What youâll see is the on-screen WordPress Installation Wizard. The first step is choosing your language: The next screen is an info card to get you up to speed with whatâs going to happen. Click on Letâs go! once youâve read it. The next step is a crucial one in the installation. This is where you get to enter the details of your WordPress connection to the database. Here are my settings based on everything Iâve set in the previous steps so far: Important parts:
The next step is where you get to set the name of your site and the details of your main admin account:
Note: With the exception of username, youâll be able to easily change these later in your WordPress dashboard.
Click on Install WordPress to finalize everything. And thatâs it. Youâve installed WordPress locally on Windows. How to Install WordPress on MacWhile installing WordPress locally on Mac isnât the usual âget app from App Storeâ experience weâre used to, it can still be done with relative ease. Hereâs how to install WordPress on Mac: Step #1. Get MAMPMAMP is a local web server that works quite well on Mac. (Itâs also easier to install than some of its alternatives.). From the MAMP website, go to the downloads section and choose the option for macOS: Save the package to your computer. Launch the MAMP installer and proceed through the on-screen wizard. When the installation finishes, open MAMP from Macâs Launchpad. In the config panel, click on the main Start Servers button. Congrats! Your local server is working. Step #2. Create a Blank Database for WordPressAs soon as you start your server in MAMP, you will be taken to the serverâs homepage. Usually, itâs âhttp://localhost:8888/MAMP/â (without the quotes). From there, click on PHPMYADMIN under TOOLS: As mentioned earlier in the post, PHPMyAdmin is a handy, open-source database management tool. We use it to create a new database for WordPress. Go into Databases (from the top menu): Enter a name for your new WordPress database (something simple) and click on Create. Like so: You should see your new blank database in the sidebar. You can now exit PHPMyAdmin. Step #3. Download WordPressGo to WordPress.org and download the most recent version of the software. Next:
Note: The name of this folder will also be part of the local address of the site. With mynewsite being the folder name, the address of the site is going to be localhost:8888/mynewsite.
Take the contents of the WordPress archive and move them to the new folder you created. It should look like this: Step #4. Install WordPress Locally on MacOpen your web browser and go to localhost:8888/mynewsite. What youâll see is the on-screen WordPress installation wizard. The first step is choosing your language: The next screen is an info card to get you up to speed with whatâs going to happen. Click Letâs go! once youâve read it. In the next step, you will enter the details of your WordPress connection to the database. Here are my settings based on everything Iâve set in the previous steps: Important parts:
The next step is where you get to set the name of your site and the details of your main admin account:
Note: With the exception of username, youâll be able to easily change these later in your WordPress dashboard.
Click on Install WordPress to finalize everything. And thatâs it. Youâve installed WordPress locally on a Mac How to Install WordPress via FTP (Or, How to Install WordPress Manually)Installing WordPress via FTP takes only minutes, but you do need to have a couple of things ready beforehand. Chiefly, you need to have access to a web server â aka, a web hosting account.
Editorâs Note: Two WordPress hosting options we recommend to our Smart Blogger students are SiteGround (affiliate link) and WP Engine (affiliate link). Both are great options.
Start by going to your host of choice and purchasing one of the available web hosting plans. If you already have a web host, youâre ahead of the game! Next: Step #1. Download WordPressGo to WordPress.org and download the latest version of WordPress. Save the package to your computer and extract its contents. Step #2. Upload WordPress Files to Your ServerThe next step involves connecting to your web server via FTP and uploading your just-downloaded WordPress files. Youâre going to need to use a third-party FTP tool to do that. FileZilla is a popular one. Weâll use it for the purposes of this demo. Now, in order to connect to your server, youâll need your connection details. This information should have been provided via email when you first signed up for your hosting account. But if you canât find it, no worries. You can find your FTP information inside your hostâs cPanel. Go to the FTP Accounts section (under FILES): Youâll find your FTP accounts there. Or, alternatively, you can create your FTP account if one doesnât already exist. Next to your FTP account, thereâs a link labeled Configure FTP Client. Click on it: This will reveal a new section. In it, click on the FTP Configuration File button under FileZilla: You can open that file with FileZilla and set up your connection details immediately. With that done, the only thing left to do is upload your WordPress files to the server. Depending on your hosting setup, you might need to upload WordPress to a specific directory. However, for most users the directory will be called public_html or public_www. If in doubt, verify with your web host. Step #3. Create a New Database for WordPress in cPanelWordPress, just like any other modern CMS, cannot work without a database. The database is where all your posts, pages, comments, and other site content are kept. To create a new database, go back to cPanel, scroll down to the DATABASES section, and click on MySQL Database Wizard: From there, youâll be guided through the steps to create a new database. First, pick a name for your database: Next, create a new user account that WordPress will use to access the database.
Note: Be sure to jot down the username and the password. Youâll need them in the next step.
Lastly, assign sufficient access rights to the new user account. Itâs best to do that by simply selecting ALL PRIVILEGES, like so: Your database setup is now complete! Step #4. Install WordPress Through the Online InstallerThis is the last step on your journey to getting WordPress installed via FTP. Simply fire up your browser and navigate to your siteâs URL. Youâll see the main page of the WordPress installer. First, choose the language of your site: The next step is a crucial one, and itâs where youâll need to provide your database details. (Hopefully you jotted those details down earlier!) Hereâs a breakdown for each:
The next step is where you get to set the name of your site and the details of your main admin account:
Note: With the exception of username, youâll be able to easily change these later in your WordPress dashboard.
Click on Install WordPress to finalize everything. And thatâs it! Youâve successfully installed WordPress manually using FTP. How to Install WordPress MultisiteWordPress Multisite is an interesting feature built into WordPress. Simply speaking, with WordPress Multisite, you can launch multiple WordPress websites, all working on the same WordPress install. This is great for businesses and organizations that need multiple websites, but want to keep the cost of managing them low. WordPress Multisite is also a great choice for universities where itâs very common for individual courses or teachers to have their own sites. Hereâs how to set up and install WordPress Multisite: Step #1. Install WordPress Locally, via cPanel, or via FTPTo begin your journey with WordPress Multisite, you first need to install WordPress using any of the methods described earlier in this guide. Go here to install WordPress locally on Windows or here to install WordPress locally on a Mac. Finally, go here to install WordPress using FTP. Once youâve installed WordPress, youâre ready for the next step. Step #2. Enable WordPress MultisiteConnect to your server via FTP (explained previously in this guide), and download the wp-config.php file from your main WordPress directory. Open the file in Notepad (or similar software) and add the following line at the bottom: define (âWP_ALLOW_MULTISITEâ, true); Save the file and re-upload it to your main WordPress directory via FTP. Youâll want to overwrite the original file. Step #3. Set up Your WordPress Multisite NetworkAt this stage, WordPress is ready to let you configure your network of sites. Hereâs how: First, go to your plugins and deactivate all of them. Next, go to Tools > Network Setup. This is where you create your network of WordPress sites. Click on the Install button to begin. On the next screen, WordPress will give you specific instructions for finalizing the setup. This will involve editing two files in your WordPress directory (similarly to how we did it a minute ago with wp-config.php). Example setup: Step #4. Create your WordPress Multisite SitesOnce you log back into WordPress, youâll see an updated version of the admin interface with one new section in the top left corner: This menu is where you can switch between your WordPress sites (and where you can add new sites to the network). Each website is independent, can feature different content, different user accounts, different themes, different plugins, and so on. Congrats! Youâve successfully set up WordPress Multisite. (Feel free to re-activate all your plugins!) How to Install WordPress in Your LanguageDid you know WordPress has been translated into 113 (and counting) languages? Itâs true. You can install WordPress in everything from Afrikaans (South Africa) to é¦æ¸¯ä¸æç (Simplified Chinese). In short: You can install WordPress in your language, no matter what that language might be. Hereâs how to do it: #1. Download WordPress in Your LanguageGo to WordPress.org. Since WordPress is quite predictive and helpful with international users, based on your location, youâll see a note encouraging you to download WordPress in your language. Hereâs an example: What the above box says is: âWordPress is also available in Polish.â When you click on the language â in this example, âPolskiâ â youâll get redirected to a new, localized WordPress website. Once there, download the WordPress package and save the ZIP file to your desktop and extract its contents. #2. Install WordPress via FTPNext, follow the same instructions we discussed earlier in this guide. Click here to jump to Upload WordPress Files to Your Server. Bonus Tip: Installing Language Files from the Admin DashboardIf youâve already installed WordPress in one language, but youâd like to use a different language, donât fret. WordPress makes switching your language a breeze. In your Dashboard, go to Settings > General > Site Language. Then simply choose the language youâd like to use. And thatâs it! Youâre done. How to Install WordPress on 12 Popular Web HostsThe following section covers how to install WordPress on 12 popular hosting providers. Click on a link below to jump to your host:
How to Install WordPress on SiteGroundSiteGround (affiliate link) offers a cool wizard tool to get your WordPress installed in minutes. Thereâs no need to deal with any coding, settings, or uploading things a server. Hereâs a video showing you the process: But, if you prefer written instructions, here are the steps: When you log into your SiteGround user panel for the first time, youâll be greeted by a message asking if youâd like to have a new website set up for you: Click on the option labeled âStart a new websiteâ and select WordPress as your platform. SiteGround will also create a new admin account for you. All you need to do is provide the login details: Thatâs all there is to it. How to Install WordPress on BluehostWhen you sign up for a Bluehost WordPress Hosting plan, the latest version of WordPress is installed automatically for you. All you have to do is configure it. Here are the steps: If youâd like to set up additional WordPress sites, itâs easy to do so via the Bluehost dashboard. Go to My Sites, and then click on Create a Site. Enter your site details and proceed through the individual screens. First, youâll need to pick a name for your WordPress installation: You will then enter the domain name and directory, plus any optional plugins you might want: Finally, set your admin user login and password. How to Install WordPress on GoDaddyGoDaddy uses cPanel for installing WordPress on their hosting plans. Hereâs their official video walking you through the entire (simple) process: And if you need to add another WordPress site, thatâs easy too. Log into your GoDaddy user panel, go to Managed WordPress > Manage All. Click Add Site. From this point on, GoDaddy will take you by the hand and do most of the work for you. All youâll need to do is enter a name for your site and your desired login credentials for the admin user. When the installation finishes, GoDaddy will show you a WordPress Setup Wizard to help you customize your site: You can click No thanks or Continue. How to Install WordPress on WP EngineWP Engine (affiliate link) is one of the original âmanagedâ WordPress hosting platforms. They handle all the technical heavy lifting for you, so you can focus on whatâs important for your websiteâs success. What this means in practice is WP Engine will install WordPress for you when you create an account. You donât have to lift a finger. You access the site from your user panel: If you want to add additional sites to your WP Engine setup, itâs pretty easy. Hereâs a video tutorial showing you how: If you prefer written instructions, hereâs WP Engineâs official guide for adding or deleting WordPress installs. How to Install WordPress on FlywheelLike WP Engine, Flywheel is a managed WordPress hosting platform. They take care of the technical aspects â including installing WordPress â for you. All you have to do is provide a few pieces of info. Hereâs a video walking you through the process: If you would like to create additional sites, from your user profile click the Create a New Site button: Next, provide all the necessary details such as site name, admin user login, password, and your preferred payment method. Once youâve completed the form, your site will become visible in your user profile. Thatâs all there is to it. Hereâs Flywheelâs official guide for adding new sites if you need more information. How to Install WordPress on KinstaKinsta is a newcomer to the managed WordPress hosting market. Like WP Engine and Flywheel, Kinsta installs WordPress for you when you create your account. If youâd like to add additional WordPress sites to your Kinsta plan, follow the steps in this video: If you prefer written instructions, hereâs Kinstaâs official guide for adding WordPress sites. How to Install WordPress on HostGatorLike many shared WordPress hosts, HostGator gives you access to cPanel. With it, you can easily install WordPress using the steps in the video below: Canât play the video? No worries. HostGator also offers an extensive how-to article for installing WordPress on their platform. How to Install WordPress on DreamHostFor each of their WordPress hosting plans, DreamHost provides WordPress pre-installed. All the work is done for you. If youâd like to add additional WordPress sites, hereâs a video showing you how itâs done: Prefer written instructions? Here is Dreamhostâs how-to article for using their handy 1-Click WordPress Install. How to Install WordPress on A2HostingA2Hosting offers both shared and managed WordPress hosting. For shared hosting, they offer 1-Click WordPress installation using Softaculous. Hereâs a video to walk you through the steps: If you opt for one of their managed hosting plans, WordPress will come pre-installed with your A2Hosting account. If youâd like to add more WordPress installs to your account, hereâs the official A2Hosting video to show you how: How to Install WordPress on InMotion HostingLike its managed-hosting competitors, InMotion Hosting provides pre-installed WordPress on your hosting account from the get-go. This means that you donât need to install WordPress on your own. If youâd like to install WordPress on an add-on domain, InMotion offers this handy tutorial video: How to Install WordPress on iPageJust like other âmanagedâ WordPress hosting companies, iPage provides WordPress pre-installed with your account. (You also get a set of pre-installed WordPress themes and plugins.) Hereâs a helpful video showing you how to configure your iPage WordPress site: If you need to install some additional WordPress sites on iPage, click here to read their guide. How to Install WordPress on HostingerHostinger offers a quick-and-easy auto installer for WordPress. Hereâs their official video showing you how itâs done: If you prefer written directions, hereâs Hostingerâs tutorial for installing WordPress (using various methods). Frequently Asked QuestionsBefore we wrap things up, letâs go over a few common, related questions we often hear: Do I Need to Install WordPress?Answer: It depends. If you use a âmanagedâ web host like WP Engine, installing WordPress is taken care of for you. You donât have to do anything (beyond filling in a few pieces of information). However, if youâre using a âsharedâ hosting plan, youâll need to install WordPress. The good news is that most web hosts have made the process easy. A few clicks and youâre finished.
Editorâs Note: This is all assuming, of course, you want a WordPress site. WordPress is awesome, but itâs not the only game in town â there are many blogging platforms out there.
Does WordPress Cost Money?No, the WordPress software is 100% free. Anyone can go to WordPress.org and download it for free at any time. The typical costs for running a WordPress website come from other factors, such as purchasing a domain name and choosing a hosting provider. Does WordPress Include Hosting? (Or, Does WordPress Host Your Site?)If youâre using WordPress.com, the answer is yes. WordPress.com is a free, hosted version of the WordPress software offered by the company. (You can upgrade to various paid plans if you need more features.) However, if youâre using the self-hosted version of the software available for free at WordPress.org, the answer is no. Youâll need a hosting provider. Which Hosting is Best for WordPress?WordPress.org officially recommends Bluehost, DreamHost, and SiteGround. At Smart Blogger, we recommend SiteGround (affiliate link) and WP Engine (affiliate link). Since SiteGround is on both lists, itâs safe to say itâs a solid option. How to Install WordPress Themes?Your WordPress installation will come with several free themes (designs), but there are thousands of additional themes â both free and premium â you can add. Hereâs a quick guide for how to install WordPress themes from inside your WordPress dashboard. How to Install WordPress Plugins?Though you have to be careful not to go overboard with them, WordPress plugins are one of the softwareâs best features â they allow you to add all sorts of functionality to your WordPress site thatâs not available out of the box. SiteGround has published a helpful tutorial for how to install WordPress plugins if you would like step-by-step instructions. How to Install Facebook Pixel on WordPress?If youâre interested in running Facebook Ads (either now or in the future), you need to install a Facebook Pixel on your WordPress site. Whatâs a Facebook Pixel? Itâs a piece of tracking code you add to your website that collects data whenever someone visits your site or takes a specific action. Hereâs a video explaining it in more detail (including how to install it): If you prefer written instructions, here is Facebookâs help article on Facebook Pixel, which includes steps for creating and installing them. Itâs Time to Install WordPressInstalling WordPress can be overwhelming â especially if youâve never done it before. Hopefully, this in-depth guide has been able to point you in the right direction. Use it, bookmark it, and feel free to share it with a friend. And if thereâs an installation method we missed, tweet us or let us know about it in the comments. Weâll happily add it.
About the Author: Karol K. (@carlosinho) is a WordPress figure-outer, blogger, and published author of WordPress Complete. His work has been featured all over the web on sites like: Ahrefs.com, Smashing Magazine, Adobe.com, CodeinWP.com, and others.
The post How to Install WordPress in 5 Minutes or Less (2019) appeared first on Smart Blogger. from https://smartblogger.com/how-to-install-wordpress/ With Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), you can self-publish your book on Amazon and start making money in as little as 24 hours. Sounds a whole lot better than waiting months or even years to find an agent, get a book deal, and go through all the rigmarole of working with a publisher, right? And thatâs not even the best partâ¦
In short: Kindle publishing makes it so that anyone self-publish a book and sell it on Amazon. The only problem? If you want your book to be a hit, if you want it to make real money, you canât simply âpublish and pray.â You need a strategy. Thatâs why I created this comprehensive, step-by-step guide. Iâll show you how to validate your book idea before you begin writing, how to set set up a pre-launch sequence, how to properly price your book, how to promote it, and more. Letâs jump in⦠Table of Contents
How to Validate Your Book Idea (Before Youâve Written a Single Word)If you want your powerful words to be read by millions, you need to make sure thereâs an existing audience of millions waiting to read them. No one wants to waste their time writing a book nobody will want to read. Thatâs why itâs important to validate your book idea by sizing up the competition. You do that by answering three questions:
You can find the answers to these questions in three steps: Step #1: Find Your Category On AmazonFirst, youâll need to find a suitable category for your book idea on Amazon. Hereâs how: Go to amazon.com and navigate to Departments > Kindle E-Readers & Books > Kindle Books. Next, click Best Sellers & More in the menu. Scroll down until you see the menu below and click Kindle Best Sellers. Select Kindle eBooks from the menu. Pick a category and subcategory that fit closest to your book idea. For my book, I chose the category Self-Help and the subcategory Personal Transformation. Once youâve picked a subcategory, itâs time to investigate your potential competitors. Step #2: Check Your Categoryâs Top 20 Books For Similar TopicsThe premise for my book was self-reinvention. I didnât need to find a book with the exact word âreinventionâ in the title, but I did need to find books with similar themes like behavior change, personality change, and life change. I found some books that were similar to mine (#3 and #5 below explicitly state theyâre about change, while #4 is a book about improving your life in general). At the end of this step, youâve answered the first question. You know whether there are similar books to your idea. If you canât find any similar books, you need to go back to the beginning. Go through your list of book ideas and try again. However, if there are similar books to yours, you can proceed to the next step. It will answer the final two questions:
Step #3: Check The Best Seller Rank Of The Top Books In Your CategoryIf you want to know whether you can compete in a category and whether there are enough buyers, you need to know how well the books in your category sell. You wonât find any actual sales numbers on Amazon, but through their âBest Sellerâ rank you can get a decent estimate. You can find a bookâs Best Seller rank by scrolling down its product page. The rank will be listed under Product Details. The higher the rank (with #1 being the highest), the more copies it sells â but also, the harder it will be to beat. You have to look for categories where the average best seller rank is neither too low nor too high. Hereâs how it generally breaks down:
As you can see, the sweet spot is in the middle. You donât want a category thatâs too competitive, and you donât want a category with low sales numbers. Aim for categories where you think you can crack the top three books. If you follow the strategies laid out in this post, you should be able to reach the top three in categories with medium competition. And if you can get your book featured in the top three when you launch, the chances your book will be featured highly in the Hot New Releases list will skyrocket. If you appear high enough in that list, your book will get lots of exposure. Amazon will feature your book in a highlighted section above other books that are similar to yours, like this: People browse for books by categories, but they tend to skim through the category pages. The higher you are in a category, the higher the chance that someone will click through to buy your book. Thatâs why picking the right category is crucial. If you donât think you can crack the top three books in your initial category, see if you can feature your book in an alternative category where the competition is less heavy.
Final Note: Even if you think you have a great book idea, itâs important to validate before getting to work. Donât skip this step.
How to Package Your Book Like a BestsellerYou can write the most amazing book on earth, but if you donât package it in an appealing way, few people will read it. In this section, weâll cover four important steps to packaging your book:
Step #1: Create a Memorable, Descriptive Book TitleAccording to bestselling author Tucker Max:
What you title your book is the most important book marketing decision youâll make, period.â
Or, to put it another way:
A good title wonât make your book do well. But a bad title will almost certainly prevent it from doing well.
In short, itâs imperative you nail your title. And to do that, youâll need to spend considerable time brainstorming the two components of your title: the main title and the subtitle. Your main title should be punchy and memorable. It should hint at the bookâs topic, and it should resonate with your audience. Your subtitle is a bit different. You want it to clarify how your book will help your reader. So, ask yourself:
For my book, I brainstormed 50 different main titles and 25 subtitles. They werenât all fantastic, but thatâs the point. When brainstorming titles, write down whatever comes to mind. Then review, crossing out the options you donât like (or donât like as well). Your favorites will remain. To give you a glimpse of some ideas I had, here were some contenders for my main title:
And these were some favorites for my subtitle:
The final title became: You 2.0: Stop Feeling Stuck, Reinvent Yourself, and Become a Brand New You â Master the Art of Personal Transformation.
Note: If you already have an email list, I suggest you poll your readers on which are their favorite titles and subtitles. If you donât have an email list, you can use a polling site like Pickfu.
Step #2: Get a Cover That Grabs AttentionI cannot stress the importance of this step enough. You need a good cover for your book, or it wonât sell. The cover gives potential buyers their first impression of your book. If it looks cheap and sloppy, theyâll assume itâs not worth their money. A good book cover has, at the very least, the following characteristics:
Now, if youâre tempted to design your own cover, I have one word of advice: Donât. Unless youâre a professional cover designer, youâre better off handing this responsibility over to someone else. This is not something you want to pinch pennies on. Personally, I hired Happy Self Publishing to create my cover. Their name kept coming up in writing communities, so I gave them a try. I was not disappointed. They struck a good balance of professionalism, quality, and price.
Editorâs Note: Author and illustrator Jaime Buckley is another great option. If youâre on a super-tight budget, you might also try Fiverr. Just be sure to check the designersâ samples. You want your book to look professional, not amateurish.
When I hired Happy Self Publishing, they sent me a questionnaire to gather my book information (title, subtitle, description, etc.) and my preferences for the cover design (preferred colors, fonts, etc.): I filled out the questionnaire, gave the designer my directions, and submitted samples of covers I liked. Within days, he came back with several mock-ups. We went through several rounds where I told him what I liked and disliked, and heâd send me new mock-ups based on my (and my audienceâs) feedback. Eventually, we settled on my final cover. Hereâs how my cover evolved over time: Step #3: Make Your Book Look Pretty InsideIn addition to your cover, you also need to make the inside of your book look good. If all the text is mushed together, itâs full of syntax errors, or itâs written in a terrible font, people wonât want to read your book. To prevent this, you need to format your book â specifically, you need to format and save your book in a Kindle-friendly file-type like .mobi or .epub. Now, you can do this yourself, or you can hire a professional to do it for you. I formatted my book myself using an easy-to-use piece of software called Vellum, which uses a simple WYSIWYG (âWhat You See Is What You Getâ) editor. You just copy and paste your chapters into it, change the formatting as desired, and export. The only problem? Vellum is only available on Mac. If youâre on a PC, you have alternative options like Reedsy and Book Design Templates. A do-it-yourself approach will save you some money, but if youâre not very tech-savvy and want to make sure the book is formatted properly, hire someone. Happy Self Publishing, the company I used for my cover, also provides an affordable formatting service, or you can find hundreds of freelancers on Upwork who can do it for you. When the formatting is done, donât forget to proofread the book with a Kindle or on the Kindle app. Make sure there are no formatting bugs that need to be fixed. Step #4: Write a Description That Sells Your Book for YouAfter your title and cover have lured someone to your Amazon sales page, the next thing theyâll do is read your book description. Readers will want to know exactly what your book is about and how itâll benefit them. If your description is flabby and packed with weak writing, it wonât be compelling enough for readers to click the buy button. Now, the key thing to understand when writing your book description is that you shouldnât treat it like a summary of your book; rather, you should treat it like a sales letter. Your description shouldnât inform potential buyers of the contents of your book â it should persuade them to buy. Hereâs mine, for example: See how I focus the description on benefits to the reader? See how I use the bullet points to foster curiosity rather than give away the main points of the book? These are basic sales letter techniques you should use in your description. Imagine if the second bullet had read, âGoal setting doesnât work because [reason].â Giving the reason away would defeat the need for the reader to purchase the book. Instead, I trigger curiosity by leaving it open. If you want to learn more about writing persuasive descriptions, the following resources helped me a lot while writing mine:
Before Your Book Launch: How to Create a Rock-Solid PlanYour launch makes or breaks your book. So, you shouldnât wait until the week of your launch before you start planning it. Instead, you want to have a plan in place and have your marketing materials prepared weeks before you hit publish. Here are a few things you should do to prepare for the launch of your book. Step #1: Create Your âStreet Teamâ (Launch Minus 6+ Weeks)Before your launch, you should assemble a so-called âstreet teamâ to help write reviews for your book and promote it during launch week. I reached out to people in my network â fellow authors and bloggers Iâd met over the years since I started my blog â and asked them to join. If you donât have a well-established network, you can leverage your email list, like Kevin Kruse (a New York Times bestselling author) explains in this video: When you reach out to people in your network, explain whatâs expected of them. Ensure they understand what it means to be a member of your street team:
For the number of reviews you want, double that number of people on your street team, because chances are only half of them will actually review your book. At minimum, aim for 25 reviews. This means having 50 people on your launch team. Step #2: Start Teasing Your Book to Your List (Launch Minus 6+ Weeks)Once youâve written your book and you can see your launch on the horizon, you want to gently tease your subscribers so they know itâs coming. You need to build anticipation. Up to this point, I had been keeping my list engaged by sending Monday Motivation emails every week, as well as an update every time I published a new blog post. As I was preparing for launch, I added teasers at the end of my emails, like this:
Example:
P.S. Iâm finished with my new book, You 2.0.: Stop Feeling Stuck, Reinvent Yourself, and Become a Brand New You. It details everything Iâve learned in the process of transforming my life from broke, addicted, and depressed to finding my passion, tripling my income, and succeeding. Iâm really excited about it. Stay tuned. You donât have to sell it hard at this point. Just make them aware the book is coming. Step #3: Map Out Your Launch Plan and Prepare Promotional Materials (Launch Minus 6+ Weeks)You should never be winging it when you launch a book. If youâre smart, youâll plan every single step youâll take leading up to the launch, as well as the days and weeks afterward. You need to create a schedule so you know exactly which promotion happens when, and what actions you should take each day. (Iâll share my own promotion timeline in the next section, which you can emulate.) Once you have planned everything, the next step is to prepare everything. In the weeks leading up to my launch, I prepared:
For the promotional articles, I also prepared a few new incentives geared toward promoting the book: When you donât prepare for your launch beforehand, you will feel frazzled and frustrated throughout the launch. Youâll be scrambling to promote the book instead of having a strategy that makes you feel confident the book will sell. Plan ahead, and youâll launch with a bang. Book Launch: Step-by-Step Guide (with Examples)Now we get to the good stuff. You may think your launch happens when you publish your book on Amazon and put it up for sale. And youâre not wrong. Technically, that is when you officially launch your book. But the launch process is a bit more involved than just clicking a publish button, and it starts much earlier than your official launch. It starts with your first big promotion. Thatâs when you start selling your book. Below, youâll find the timeline I used when launching my book. Feel free to copy it, tweak it, and use it as your own. Step #1: Send âFree Sampleâ Emails (Launch Minus 4 Weeks)Four weeks ahead of your official launch, you want to send your subscribers free samples. Send them one free sample each week. This will give them a taste of whatâs inside your book. I sent my own subscribers the introduction to my book, Chapter One, and Chapter Two. Of course, you donât have to use your first chapters. You can choose to share any chapter you wish. Share the ones you think will make your readers hungry for more.
Hereâs an example of one of my âFree Sampleâ emails:
Hey friend, The launch date for my new book, You 2.0: Stop Feeling Stuck, Reinvent Yourself, and Become a Brand New You, is just around the corner. I put my heart and soul into writing this book and I wanted to share some of it with you today because Iâm confident reading some of it will inspire you to want to read the whole thing to transform your life. As follows is the introduction to the book: [Book Intro Goes Here] In the next week or so, Iâll share even more sections of the book. Why? Because my primary goal is to get you to read the book and use it to change your life. That matters to me more than money. Keep an eye on your inbox ? Step #2: Publish Your Book on Kindle Direct Publishing [And Set Your Price] (Launch Minus 1 Week)You should never wait until your official launch date to publish your book on Amazon. You should publish it one week in advance. This way, you can ask your street team to write early reviews. These early reviews are important â youâll need to have at least 10 reviews if you want to use book promotion sites during launch week. (And you do, as they can give you a huge surge in early sales. Weâll discuss them later.) To publish your book on Amazon, you need to create an account on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. Then follow these steps to publish your book: #1. GO TO âCREATE A NEW TITLEâ AND CLICK â+ KINDLE EBOOKâ#2. ENTER BOOK INFORMATION (LANGUAGE, TITLE, SUBTITLE, ETC.)#3. ENTER YOUR BOOK DESCRIPTIONNote: You can use HTML tags to change the way the content appears on your book page. #4. CHOOSE YOUR KEYWORDSAmazon allows you to use up to seven keywords to help readers find your books. You want to match your keywords with the terms readers will typically type into the search box. To find good keywords, you can:
#5. CHOOSE YOUR CATEGORIESInitially, youâre only allowed to choose two category/subcategory combinations from the list Amazon provides. Strangely, their list doesnât include all their categories. Youâll find a lot of the more niche categories are missing. (Youâll have a hard time trying to crack the top three in most of the broader categories.) For now though, just pick two categories/subcategories that your book fits into: After you publish your book, browse books that are similar to yours and see which categories they are in. Then contact Amazon and request to have your book added to those categories. In fact, if youâre smart, you can follow this process to be added to TEN categories, rather than just two. Hereâs a video from Kindlepreneurâs Dave Chesson that explains how to approach this: #6. UPLOAD YOUR COVER AND MANUSCRIPT FILES#7. ENTER PRICING INFORMATIONHow should you price your book? Before we get into that, you need to understand Amazonâs pricing and royalty model:
Now, you might think that pricing your book somewhere between $2.99 and $9.99 is the obvious way to go, as that will get you the most royalties. But to start, I priced my book at $0.99. I suggest you do the same. Hereâs why: The point of this isnât to make a lot of money early, but to get a lot of sales early. Amazon doesnât look at the price of your book to determine how well itâs selling. It looks at the number of copies sold. If you can sell a ton of 99-cent copies in the beginning, youâll benefit from some algorithmic momentum even after you raise the price. Plus, when you price the book at $0.99, you can use promotional sites to get your book in front of massive audiences during launch. (You can also give your subscribers an incentive to purchase early â before you raise the price). #8. SCROLL DOWN AND CLICK PUBLISH YOUR KINDLE EBOOKOnce youâve clicked to publish your book, it will appear on Amazon in 24 to 48 hours. Step #3: Ask Your Street Team for Reviews (Launch Minus 6 Days)When youâre self-publishing books on Amazon, whether theyâre written by you or a trusted ghostwriter, those first few days are critical. If you donât have anybody buying your book or leaving reviews as soon as you publish, the chances of it taking off are slim to none. This is where your street team comes into play. The moment your book goes live, you should send an email to your street team asking them to leave their reviews. And this is important: You should ask them to download the book from Amazon first, and then write their reviews. If they donât do it in this order, their reviews wonât be verified. They will still show up, but Amazon wonât give them as much weight. If youâd rather not ask them to pay $0.99 in order to leave a review, you can enroll in âKDP Selectâ and run a free promotion for 72 hours. That way, they can âpurchaseâ the book for free, and Amazon should still mark their reviews as verified. Step #4: Schedule Promotions (Launch Minus 5 Days)I mentioned book promotion sites earlier. So what are they, exactly? Basically, theyâre sites that promote books while theyâre free or priced at $0.99. These sites have massive lists of subscribers who love reading books, and theyâll all receive an email that links to your book. These readers can give you a gigantic boost in early sales. Here are the sites I used myself, along with the cost to use each:
I found these sites from a list compiled by Dave Chesson at Kindlepreneur. Now, considering youâll only make $0.35 per sale on a $0.99 book, you wonât make much profit from the use of these promotional sites. You might even lose some money. So why use them at all? Because you want to create a track record of sales success. Amazon will promote your book for you if it sees you have sales of your own. When authors make money, Amazon makes money, but like any good business, it wonât recommend products without profit potential. You donât have to use five services like I did. But use at least three. Step #5: Launch Your Book With a Bang (7-Day Plan)Alright, this is the moment youâve been waiting for. Itâs time to officially launch your book to the public. During launch week, you should promote your book hard. Hopefully, youâve done the work to prepare yourself so youâre not overwhelmed. You should promote your book by:
Hereâs how I scheduled these activities during launch week: Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4:
Day 5:
Day 6:
Day 7:
Here are some examples of each email in my sales sequence:
Example #1 â Announcement Email:
Do you wish life came with a âdo overâ button? We all make mistakes. Time can pass quickly and we can come to a point where we ask ourselves, âHow the hell did I end up here?â If youâve ever felt this way, my new book, You 2.0 â Stop Feeling Stuck, Reinvent Yourself, and Become a Brand New You, might provide the answers youâve been looking for. And itâs only 99 cents, a special price Iâm revealing to subscribers only for the next 5 days. Iâm setting the price so low because I want you to read the book. At this point, I care about getting the book in as many hands as possible over making money. Click here to learn more about the book. Talk soon, Ayodeji
Example #2 â Soft-Sell Email:
Hey friend, For the past few weeks, Iâve told you about my new book, You 2.0 â Stop Feeling Stuck, Reinvent Yourself, and Become a Brand New You, which is available for 99 cents for the next few days. (To those who have bought already, thank you SO MUCH â the book is now #1 in its category!) The book tells the story of how I transformed my life and how you can too. It doesnât tell theories, it shows what Iâve actually done. See, before I reached my dream of becoming an author, my life was headed in the wrong direction. I was addicted to drugs and alcohol, working a dead-end job, and had no hope in sight. Then, I decided I didnât want to live my life that way and went through a ton of trial and error to become who I am today. Iâve more than doubled my income, gotten rid of bad habits, and have done many of the things I used to only dream of doing. In the book, youâll learn:
I try my best to share the message without the typical theme of most self-help books that are often judgmental and critical. See, I donât think youâre âtoo lazy to succeedâ or âmediocre.â Life sucks sometimes, and weâre all doing what we can to cope with it. I wrote this book to share ideas to inspire you to change, not to shove inspiration down your throat. So, Iâm inviting you to check out the book at the price of 99 cents because I care about the message and want to spread it far and wide. Click here to learn more about the book. Talk soon, Ayodeji
Example #3 â Hard-Sell Email:
Hey friend, For the past few days Iâve been telling you about my new book, You 2.0 â Stop Feeling Stuck, Reinvent Yourself, and Become a Brand New You. Today, I wanted to share a few reasons why Iâm promoting the book and why I think you should invest in yourself by purchasing it. I think you should invest in the book because:
Click here to learn more about the book. Thatâs it! Talk soon, Ayodeji
Example #4 â Price Change Email:
Hey friend, Todayâs the last day you can get my new book, You 2.0, for the low price of 99 cents. After that, the price goes up to $2.99 and itâll only go higher from there. Why the low price and continued promotion? To get the message out there. Iâm guessing youâre a part of this community because youâre looking for a change in your life and if Iâm able to help you do that, itâs worth all the effort I put into writing the book. Click here to learn more about the book. Until next time, Ayodeji After Kindle Publishing Your Book: Keep the Sales Going and the Royalties Coming InTo make money writing, your book canât be a flash in the pan. You have to continue promoting the book to keep the sales rolling in. Like I mentioned earlier, you want to give the book a good start with a boost of early sales to benefit from Amazonâs algorithms. But you should keep your momentum going longer than the first week. During the weeks following the launch, you should continue engaging your list and keep spreading the message about your book to new readers. Here are a few things you can do: Step #1: Raise Your Price Once Per Week (and Let Your Subscribers Know)As mentioned earlier, I set the price for my book at $0.99 for the first week. If I kept sales going at this price, my royalties would continue to stay low. So, after the first week, I raised the price to $2.99, then to $3.99, and finally to $4.99. Every time I was about to raise the price, I sent my subscribers a price change email. This not only reminded casual readers to buy the book, but gave them an incentive to do so. If they didnât get in on the low price that day, theyâd miss out forever, and nobody likes missing out on a good deal. Step #2: Keep Publishing Posts to Get People on Your ListAfter publishing your book, you should continue publishing articles with links back to your sign-up form. Every new subscriber is a new potential buyer. Set up a welcoming autoresponder sequence that gives subscribers your incentive (and then pitch your book to them). You can use the same (or a similar) sales sequence that you used for your launch. I wrote a total of 30 posts for 30 days on Medium to promote the book, and this added 150 more sales during the first month of my launch. Step #3: Create An Amazon Ad Campaign for Sales on AutoPilotAmazon Marketing Services provides a âpay per clickâ advertising program for authors. I highly recommend you use it. Hereâs how you can create your own ads: Sign up for AMS through your Kindle dashboard by clicking Ad Campaigns in the top menu. Click new campaign: Next, choose Sponsored Product Ads. Select the book you wish to advertise. (If youâve only published one book, youâll only have one option.) Set your campaign name, budget, and select Manual Targeting. Initially, $3â$5 per day is a good budget because you can get useful data without breaking the bank. Less than $3 wonât give you enough data, and more than $5 can cause you to lose money if youâre not careful. Scroll down to the Add Keywords section and click Add Your Own Keywords. Next, find relevant keywords. Youâll need a lot more keywords for your ad campaign than you did earlier when you published your book. But you can use similar techniques to find them:
Set the bid price for your keywords: A bid price is the largest amount youâre willing to spend if someone clicks on your ad. I added 1,000 keywords â the maximum amount allowed per ad â and set the bid at 10 cents. I didnât want to spend too much money until I knew the type of results Iâd get. If the ads worked well, I planned on increasing both my daily budget and keyword bids. Once youâve set your bid price, youâre ready to enter your adâs marketing message: Finally, itâs time to preview your ad. If you like what you see, click Submit Campaign for Review. After 24â48 hours, your ad will be live (if itâs approved, of course). Step #4: Boost Your Winning Ads and Drop Your LosersAfter publishing your ad, let it run for two weeks. Then itâs time to analyze the data. Hereâs a screenshot of my ad dashboard: The key metrics you want to look at are:
Important note: You must keep your royalty rate in mind when factoring ACOS and ad spend. For Kindle books, you pay 30% in royalties, which means only 70% of every dollar you make lands in your pocket. That means if your ACOS is 70%, your ad is breaking even.
You can click into the campaign itself to see these same metrics for individual keywords. Use those metrics to adjust your campaign. For instance, when you see a specific keyword is costing you more than it earns, you can pause that keyword. Once you see how your keywords are performing, you can expand your campaign reach in the following ways:
Common Questions (Not Covered Elsewhere)Alright, weâve covered a lot here. And yet, thereâs much more we could discuss. Letâs try to go over a few common questions some of you may still have: Do I Need an Established Audience Before I Can Self-Publish on Amazon?Not at all. I only had 250 subscribers when I launched my first book. And even though I took a relatively passive role in promoting the book â I did a few promotions during launch to give me an early bump and then mostly counted on Amazonâs algorithm to drive sales â it earned its first $1,000 within five months. Thatâs not a result worth bragging about, but it was enough to inspire me to write a second book and do much better. So, for my second book, I was much more strategic, grew my audience larger, and promoted the book a lot more. And this time around, I got to $1,000 within the first month. Even better: The book went on to make over $10K in its first year, which was a big improvement from the first book, which made $2K in that same time span. The lesson? You can make money writing even if you have a tiny list, and even if you take a somewhat passive role in promotion. But that said⦠What Can I do to Grow My Audience Before I Dive Into Kindle Publishing?Hereâs what I did to grow my audience larger for my second book: Step #1: Create an Alluring Incentive For People to JoinPeople rarely part with their email addresses for nothing in return, so you need to offer them an incentive to join your email list. To be honest, I cheated a bit here, because I offered something that I already had available. I offered my first book, The Destiny Formula. Ideally, you want to offer an incentive thatâs a perfect complement to the book youâre writing. For example, if you were writing a book about the Paleo diet, you might offer one of these incentives:
Step #2: Set Up a Landing Page for Collecting Email AddressesIf you want to build your email list, you need two things: an email marketing platform to store your list and a landing page where people can sign up to your list. Now, you have a number of choices when it comes to email marketing platforms, but these are three popular ones: Personally, I opted for ConvertKit because they built it specifically for professional bloggers. It comes with easy segmentation features that let you promote your book in a more targeted way. I highly recommend it, but any of these platforms will work. Once youâve set up your email marketing platform, you can create a landing page to capture peopleâs email addresses. I used Leadpages to do so, which makes it simple to create landing pages. It comes with ready-made templates that you can modify with its drag-and-drop builder. You can choose one of their templates and customize it to your wishes. Hereâs a screenshot of the landing page I created: Once you have everything in place, all you need to do is send traffic to your landing page. Step #3: Drive Traffic to Your Landing PageMy personal goal was to hit 3,000 subscribers before I published my book. My main strategy for reaching that number was publishing articles on Medium, each with a link back to my landing page. Every article I published on Medium would include this offer at the end: But I didnât stop there. I also guest posted on Huffington Post, Thrive Global, Addicted2Success, Thought Catalog, The Pursuit, and more. While I got most of my traffic from Medium, publishing on these sites still grew my subscriber base by a significant chunk. Between publishing on Medium and guest posting on these sites, I reached my goal of 3,000 subscribers within six months. You donât need to hit that same number of subscribers, but I do recommend you build your list to at least 1,000 before launching your book. Itâll make things a lot easier.
Editorâs Note: For more tips on building your email list, check out 9 Irresistible Incentives Thatâll Grow Your Email List Like Crazy and How to Run a Simple Contest and Add 500 New Subscribers to Your List.
How Can I Come Up With Ideas For My Own Book?One of the worst mistakes you can make when self-publishing is picking a topic you know little about. If you donât have a concrete idea in mind yet, donât fret. Hereâs an exercise to help you generate ideas. Grab a pen and paper and answer the following questions:
Once you complete your inventory, review it to look for patterns. Maybe youâre a great communicator. Maybe you have excellent financial habits. Or maybe you have a knack for motivating others. The traits, knowledge, and skills you possess can be translated into topics for books. Review the list and use your answers to come up with a few book ideas. Are You Ready to Dive Into Kindle Direct Publishing?Iâm working on my next book right now. With an even larger audience than I had when I launched my last book, my goal is to sell at least 10,000 copies of my third book within the first year. How about you? You now know how to validate your book ideas, package your book, create a pre-launch sequence, launch your book, and promote it. You now know what to do and when to do it. In short: You now have a proven blueprint you can follow for writing a bestselling book. So, there are no more excuses. Itâs time for you to join the ranks of bestselling authors. Itâs time for you to make some real, tangible income as an author. Itâs time for you to stop dreaming and start doing. Are you ready?
About the Author: Ayodeji is an author, writing coach, and the Digital Marketing director at MLT Group, a Minneapolis SEO company.
The post Kindle Direct Publishing: How to Make Real Money on Amazon appeared first on Smart Blogger. from https://smartblogger.com/kindle-publishing/ You want to make money as a writer, right? You’ve told everyone on Facebook (including your weird aunt) that you’re available to write. You’ve been writing guest post after guest post to showcase your talent and get your name out there. Maybe you’ve even landed a few jobs already. (Good for you!) But then a potential client emails you with the question, “Do you offer ghostwriting services?” And you’re stumped. Maybe you’ve heard of ghostwriting. Maybe you have some idea what a ghostwriter is. Or maybe you wonder if it involves ouija boards in some way. You don’t want to look like an idiot by emailing back to say, “Err… what do you mean?” That sounds like a good way to send your potential client running for the hills. But don’t worry — I’m about to tell you everything you need to know about ghostwriting, starting with… What IS Ghostwriting?You might already have some hazy ideas about ghostwriting. When I first heard of ghostwriting, I thought it was just used for celebrity memoirs. It turns out memoirs are just the tip of the iceberg. Ghostwriting is everywhere — from independent authors using Kindle Direct Publishing to popular bloggers using WordPress. So what is it? When you ghostwrite, you let someone else put their name on your work. That is, you don’t get any credit — at all. Typically, the person who commissions the work will own the copyright, which also means they can modify or republish the work in any way they see fit. So why would someone hire a ghostwriter? Are they too lazy to write their own stuff? Not necessarily. People hire ghostwriters for many different reasons, but the most common ones are:
It’s nothing new, either: ghostwriting has been around, in one form or another, for centuries. To give you a better idea what being a ghostwriter may involve, my own ghostwriting has included:
As you can see, ghostwriting has a spectrum from something akin to an editing relationship to writing a piece from scratch. And it’s growing in popularity. The demand for ghostwriters is so high it’s now taught in schools — California State University, Long Beach offers a Ghostwriting Professional Designation Program led by Claudia Suzanne. Of course, I’ve only ghostwritten for blogs. Authors like Roz Morris have written whole books as ghostwriters, which is a far more involved process that includes extensive interviews with the client. But Why Would You Let Someone Else Take Credit for YOUR Writing?Assuming you want to build up your own brand as a writer, why would you want to be a ghostwriter? After all, you won’t get any of the credit. Your name won’t appear anywhere on the piece, and you probably can’t tell anyone you wrote it. So why do so many writers ghostwrite, and why do so many love it? Well, because there are major benefits: Benefit #1: Being a Ghostwriter Pays Exceptionally WellOne huge reason to be a ghostwriter is money. Ghostwriting tends to pay better than regular freelancing. After all, having your name attached to your words is valuable for you as a writer. When you have a byline, you can use that piece of work to showcase your talent, build your reputation, and potentially attract new clients. So it’s appropriate (and standard practice) to increase your fee to compensate for the loss of these advantages. There’s no exact rule of thumb for how much extra you should charge for ghostwriting over regular freelancing. Personally, I tend to increase my fee by about 15%–20%. On top of that, once you’ve established a ghostwriting relationship with someone, it often results in ongoing work for you. Most people want their writing to be consistent, so it makes sense to stick with the same writer. In other words, you have consistent work at a higher rate than usual. That’s quite a plus, isn’t it? Benefit #2: Ghostwriting Lets You Develop Closer Relationships with Big Names in Your FieldAs a ghostwriter, you’ll normally work quite closely with your client. You may be privy to their rough notes or mind maps, or you might interview them on the phone or in person. Chances are, you’re also focusing your ghostwriting on a particular area of expertise (especially if you’re writing for a blog). This means you’ve got a brilliant opportunity to get to know and be affiliated with someone well-established in your field. You’ll find that you get valuable insights into the “behind the scenes” of a top blog, or you get a clearer idea of how a big-name author works and thinks. This may be eye-opening! It could give you some ideas for how best to move forward with your own business when you start your own blog. And as you build up closer relationships, or even friendships, with your client, they might share your other work on social media, bringing you a lot of extra traffic. (Several of the people I ghostwrite for have supported me in that way.) If you ever need a favor or need some advice, there’s a good chance they’ll be very happy to help. So much of blogging success depends on getting a helping hand from other bloggers — particularly those with a large audience and a great reputation in their field. Ghostwriting brings you into close contact with exactly those people. The Counterpoint: Why You Might NOT Want to Be a GhostwriterThere are a couple of big concerns that writers have about ghostwriting: “But surely that’s not ethical?” “But why should they benefit from my hard work?” “But what about building my platform?” These are real, valid concerns. And for you, they may be deal-breakers. So let’s dig into them. Objection #1: “When You’re a Ghostwriter, You’re Helping Someone Fool Their Readers — That’s Unethical”When you’re a ghostwriter for someone, they pass your words off as their own. Which begs the question… The authors who hire ghostwriters certainly think it is! But not all writers or readers agree. Many feel that some types of ghostwriting are more ethical than others. For instance, think about these two scenarios, which are on opposite ends of the ghostwriting spectrum:
Personally, as a reader, I’d feel comfortable with situation #1. The thoughts in the e-book belong to the blogger, but the ghostwriter has helped shape them. Situation #2, however, seems a lot thornier. As a reader, I’d feel cheated by that. I’m buying the e-book because I want the blogger’s expertise — not that of a ghostwriter I don’t know. If you’re thinking of ghostwriting, you have to make up your own mind about what is — and isn’t — ethical. Where would you personally draw the line as a ghostwriter, if at all? For more thoughts on the rights and wrongs of ghostwriting, check out Patty Podnar’s post Is Ghostwriting Ethical? Also, Amanda Montell’s Your Favorite Influencers Aren’t Writing Their Own Content—These Women Are is quite eye-opening about some of the less ethical practices in the ghostwriting world. Objection #2: “It’s Too Painful Watching Someone Else Get Praised for YOUR Work”It may sound silly, but not getting recognition for your writing can be quite painful — unbearable to some. I have to admit that, as a writer, it can sometimes sting a little to see a blogger receive lots of lovely praise for a post that I wrote every word of. And I’m not alone; many writers find themselves missing the attention and craving the recognition. It’s no fun watching someone bask in glory that should be yours. But think of it this way: All that praise is a sign you did a great job. You can be proud of that, and you can feel confident you’ll get hired again! Also, as ghostwriter Roz Morris points out in an interview with whitefox, it’s not just ghostwriters who go unnoticed by readers:
There are many unsung heroes in the creative industries, and ghostwriters are only one of them. Editors can also make a huge difference to a book and are rarely credited.
So, if you can’t stand watching someone else take the praise, that’s okay. Many writers feel that way. But maybe we should also keep things in perspective. Objection #3: “Ghostwriting Keeps You from Building Your Platform”Even if you’re okay with someone else getting the praise, you may still oppose the idea of letting them take credit. Some writers feel that, to become a successful freelance writer, you need to take credit for every powerful word you write and create an impressive body of work with your name on it. They believe that ghostwriting is essentially a waste of time. After all, when you’ve got a bio (or at least your name) on every blog post you write, each of those posts helps raise your profile. You’ll be bringing in new readers and potentially new clients through your work — without any additional marketing. This is essentially the argument that Demian Farnworth puts forward in The Brutally Honest Truth About Ghostwriting:
The first thing every writer should ask is this: What do you want to accomplish as a writer? Is building a personal and visible platform important to you? Will it help you in the long run? If you have to ghostwrite to make ends meet, fine. But beat a hasty path out of the business as soon as possible. It’s your turn to run the show.
I certainly think it’s worth putting some serious thought into how best to make ghostwriting work for you. It might be that you want to solely focus on your own platform (heck, you might even hire ghostwriters of your own, some day down the line!). But there’s no shame in taking ghostwriting jobs to generate a steady income while you build your platform. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can do both at the same time. Ghostwriting takes some focus away, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. By the way: We’ve created a handy visual summarizing this post that you can share and embed on your own site. Check out the image below (click to see a larger view): Embed This Infographic On Your Site
How to Become a GhostwriterIf you’ve been nodding your head while reading this post, you’re probably wondering… “Okay, but how do I become a ghostwriter?” Answer: The same way you become a freelance writer. Here are the keys: #1. Build Your Content Creation SkillsIf you want to be a ghostwriter, you have to learn how to create quality content. What’s this mean? It means:
…and more. Nothing will impact your ability to earn real, tangible income as a ghostwriter more than your ability to create amazing content. So, if you don’t know how, learn.
Further Reading: Check out our resource How to Write a Blog Post – The Ultimate Guide. Once you’ve mastered the basics, read How to Create Content People Will Still Remember in 5 Years’ Time.
#2. Learn the Ins and Outs of SEOIf you can create content that will rank on Google, clients will pay you. Happily. Heck, they’ll throw money at you. So how can you help your content rank on Google? By learning all you can about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and applying what you learn to the content you create.
Further Reading: Don’t know SEO? Brian Dean has a great guide that will help you learn the basics of SEO fast.
#3. Build an Awesome Portfolio of Sample ContentIdeally, you’ll have three levels of portfolios:
But when you’re just starting out, you need to focus on the first level: A portfolio that proves you know how to create a decent piece of content. If you don’t already have your own blog or website, create an account on a free blogging platform like Medium. Two or three sample posts are enough, and you can get started right away. #4. Find Your First Paying ClientIn the early days, finding those first few clients will be difficult. Even with solid content creation skills, SEO know-how, and a great portfolio proving you know how to write, finding paying clients without word of mouth and referrals won’t be easy. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
It’ll be a slow process at first, but once you get those first few clients you’ll be set. Do a great job, make your clients happy, and referrals will happen.
Further Reading: Bookmark this giant list of content marketing agencies. It’ll come in handy.
Ghostwriting 101: A Quick RecapWe’ve covered a lot, so let’s review:
What Is Ghostwriting?
Ghostwriting is when a writer (“ghostwriter”) is hired to create a piece of content for a company or individual, who will then publish the work as their own.
Do Ghostwriters Get Credit for Their Work?
Ghostwriters are paid to let someone else put their name on their work — they do not receive any credit, and they usually cannot tell anyone they wrote it.
Why Do People Hire Ghostwriters?
There are numerous reasons why someone would want to hire a ghostwriter, but two big reasons are time restraints and a lack of desire (or ability).
Regardless of their reason, parties who choose to hire ghostwriters do so because it’s advantageous. (They’re getting something out of it, in other words!)
What Are the Benefits of Being a Ghostwriter?
There are two huge benefits to ghostwriting:
Because they miss out on auxiliary perks like bylines and having their name attached to the content, ghostwriters are usually well compensated.
How Much Do Ghostwriters Make?
It varies from writer to writer, but an increased fee of 15% or more from their standard freelancing rate is reasonable when ghostwriting.
What Are the Typical Objections to Ghostwriting?
Those who throw shade at ghostwriting typically do so for one of three reasons:
We’ve covered each of these objections in detail. Whether any of them are deal-breakers is up to you.
How to Become a Ghostwriter
The process is very similar to the one for becoming a regular freelance writer:
In short:
Will You Give Ghostwriting a Try?Ultimately, ghostwriting can be a little divisive. Some writers feel — passionately — that readers deserve to know exactly who wrote the words they’re reading. Others feel building your platform is too important to let someone else take credit. But ghostwriting is a good way to make money as a writer. And it doesn’t mean your platform is off the table. You can be a ghostwriter and have a writing career under your own name. Many writers, including me, simply use ghostwriting as a way to supplement or support their writing passions. Personally, I think it’s worth it. Only you can decide whether it’s right for you.
About the Author: Ali Luke blogs about the art, craft, and business of writing at Aliventures. If you’re interested in going further with ghostwriting or any type of freelance writing, check out her epic post: Freelance Writing: Ten Steps, Tons of Resources.
The post Ghostwriting 101: How to Get Paid Big Bucks As a Ghostwriter appeared first on Smart Blogger. from https://smartblogger.com/ghostwriting/ You want to make money as a writer, right? You’ve told everyone on Facebook (including your weird aunt) that you’re available to write. You’ve been writing guest post after guest post to showcase your talent and get your name out there. Maybe you’ve even landed a few jobs already. (Good for you!) But then a potential client emails you with the question, “Do you offer ghostwriting services?” And you’re stumped. Maybe you’ve heard of ghostwriting. Maybe you have some idea what a ghostwriter is. Or maybe you wonder if it involves ouija boards in some way. You don’t want to look like an idiot by emailing back to say, “Err… what do you mean?” That sounds like a good way to send your potential client running for the hills. But don’t worry — I’m about to tell you everything you need to know about ghostwriting, starting with… What IS Ghostwriting?You might already have some hazy ideas about ghostwriting. When I first heard of ghostwriting, I thought it was just used for celebrity memoirs. It turns out memoirs are just the tip of the iceberg. Ghostwriting is everywhere — from independent authors using Kindle Direct Publishing to popular bloggers using WordPress. So what is it? When you ghostwrite, you let someone else put their name on your work. That is, you don’t get any credit — at all. Typically, the person who commissions the work will own the copyright, which also means they can modify or republish the work in any way they see fit. So why would someone hire a ghostwriter? Are they too lazy to write their own stuff? Not necessarily. People hire ghostwriters for many different reasons, but the most common ones are:
It’s nothing new, either: ghostwriting has been around, in one form or another, for centuries. To give you a better idea what being a ghostwriter may involve, my own ghostwriting has included:
As you can see, ghostwriting has a spectrum from something akin to an editing relationship to writing a piece from scratch. And it’s growing in popularity. The demand for ghostwriters is so high it’s now taught in schools — California State University, Long Beach offers a Ghostwriting Professional Designation Program led by Claudia Suzanne. Of course, I’ve only ghostwritten for blogs. Authors like Roz Morris have written whole books as ghostwriters, which is a far more involved process that includes extensive interviews with the client. But Why Would You Let Someone Else Take Credit for YOUR Writing?Assuming you want to build up your own brand as a writer, why would you want to be a ghostwriter? After all, you won’t get any of the credit. Your name won’t appear anywhere on the piece, and you probably can’t tell anyone you wrote it. So why do so many writers ghostwrite, and why do so many love it? Well, because there are major benefits: Benefit #1: Being a Ghostwriter Pays Exceptionally WellOne huge reason to be a ghostwriter is money. Ghostwriting tends to pay better than regular freelancing. After all, having your name attached to your words is valuable for you as a writer. When you have a byline, you can use that piece of work to showcase your talent, build your reputation, and potentially attract new clients. So it’s appropriate (and standard practice) to increase your fee to compensate for the loss of these advantages. There’s no exact rule of thumb for how much extra you should charge for ghostwriting over regular freelancing. Personally, I tend to increase my fee by about 15%–20%. On top of that, once you’ve established a ghostwriting relationship with someone, it often results in ongoing work for you. Most people want their writing to be consistent, so it makes sense to stick with the same writer. In other words, you have consistent work at a higher rate than usual. That’s quite a plus, isn’t it? Benefit #2: Ghostwriting Lets You Develop Closer Relationships with Big Names in Your FieldAs a ghostwriter, you’ll normally work quite closely with your client. You may be privy to their rough notes or mind maps, or you might interview them on the phone or in person. Chances are, you’re also focusing your ghostwriting on a particular area of expertise (especially if you’re writing for a blog). This means you’ve got a brilliant opportunity to get to know and be affiliated with someone well-established in your field. You’ll find that you get valuable insights into the “behind the scenes” of a top blog, or you get a clearer idea of how a big-name author works and thinks. This may be eye-opening! It could give you some ideas for how best to move forward with your own business when you start your own blog. And as you build up closer relationships, or even friendships, with your client, they might share your other work on social media, bringing you a lot of extra traffic. (Several of the people I ghostwrite for have supported me in that way.) If you ever need a favor or need some advice, there’s a good chance they’ll be very happy to help. So much of blogging success depends on getting a helping hand from other bloggers — particularly those with a large audience and a great reputation in their field. Ghostwriting brings you into close contact with exactly those people. The Counterpoint: Why You Might NOT Want to Be a GhostwriterThere are a couple of big concerns that writers have about ghostwriting: “But surely that’s not ethical?” “But why should they benefit from my hard work?” “But what about building my platform?” These are real, valid concerns. And for you, they may be deal-breakers. So let’s dig into them. Objection #1: “When You’re a Ghostwriter, You’re Helping Someone Fool Their Readers — That’s Unethical”When you’re a ghostwriter for someone, they pass your words off as their own. Which begs the question… The authors who hire ghostwriters certainly think it is! But not all writers or readers agree. Many feel that some types of ghostwriting are more ethical than others. For instance, think about these two scenarios, which are on opposite ends of the ghostwriting spectrum:
Personally, as a reader, I’d feel comfortable with situation #1. The thoughts in the e-book belong to the blogger, but the ghostwriter has helped shape them. Situation #2, however, seems a lot thornier. As a reader, I’d feel cheated by that. I’m buying the e-book because I want the blogger’s expertise — not that of a ghostwriter I don’t know. If you’re thinking of ghostwriting, you have to make up your own mind about what is — and isn’t — ethical. Where would you personally draw the line as a ghostwriter, if at all? For more thoughts on the rights and wrongs of ghostwriting, check out Patty Podnar’s post Is Ghostwriting Ethical? Also, Amanda Montell’s Your Favorite Influencers Aren’t Writing Their Own Content—These Women Are is quite eye-opening about some of the less ethical practices in the ghostwriting world. Objection #2: “It’s Too Painful Watching Someone Else Get Praised for YOUR Work”It may sound silly, but not getting recognition for your writing can be quite painful — unbearable to some. I have to admit that, as a writer, it can sometimes sting a little to see a blogger receive lots of lovely praise for a post that I wrote every word of. And I’m not alone; many writers find themselves missing the attention and craving the recognition. It’s no fun watching someone bask in glory that should be yours. But think of it this way: All that praise is a sign you did a great job. You can be proud of that, and you can feel confident you’ll get hired again! Also, as ghostwriter Roz Morris points out in an interview with whitefox, it’s not just ghostwriters who go unnoticed by readers:
There are many unsung heroes in the creative industries, and ghostwriters are only one of them. Editors can also make a huge difference to a book and are rarely credited.
So, if you can’t stand watching someone else take the praise, that’s okay. Many writers feel that way. But maybe we should also keep things in perspective. Objection #3: “Ghostwriting Keeps You from Building Your Platform”Even if you’re okay with someone else getting the praise, you may still oppose the idea of letting them take credit. Some writers feel that, to become a successful freelance writer, you need to take credit for every powerful word you write and create an impressive body of work with your name on it. They believe that ghostwriting is essentially a waste of time. After all, when you’ve got a bio (or at least your name) on every blog post you write, each of those posts helps raise your profile. You’ll be bringing in new readers and potentially new clients through your work — without any additional marketing. This is essentially the argument that Demian Farnworth puts forward in The Brutally Honest Truth About Ghostwriting:
The first thing every writer should ask is this: What do you want to accomplish as a writer? Is building a personal and visible platform important to you? Will it help you in the long run? If you have to ghostwrite to make ends meet, fine. But beat a hasty path out of the business as soon as possible. It’s your turn to run the show.
I certainly think it’s worth putting some serious thought into how best to make ghostwriting work for you. It might be that you want to solely focus on your own platform (heck, you might even hire ghostwriters of your own, some day down the line!). But there’s no shame in taking ghostwriting jobs to generate a steady income while you build your platform. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can do both at the same time. Ghostwriting takes some focus away, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. By the way: We’ve created a handy visual summarizing this post that you can share and embed on your own site. Check out the image below (click to see a larger view): Embed This Infographic On Your Site
How to Become a GhostwriterIf you’ve been nodding your head while reading this post, you’re probably wondering… “Okay, but how do I become a ghostwriter?” Answer: The same way you become a freelance writer. Here are the keys: #1. Build Your Content Creation SkillsIf you want to be a ghostwriter, you have to learn how to create quality content. What’s this mean? It means:
…and more. Nothing will impact your ability to earn real, tangible income as a ghostwriter more than your ability to create amazing content. So, if you don’t know how, learn.
Further Reading: Check out our resource How to Write a Blog Post – The Ultimate Guide. Once you’ve mastered the basics, read How to Create Content People Will Still Remember in 5 Years’ Time.
#2. Learn the Ins and Outs of SEOIf you can create content that will rank on Google, clients will pay you. Happily. Heck, they’ll throw money at you. So how can you help your content rank on Google? By learning all you can about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and applying what you learn to the content you create.
Further Reading: Don’t know SEO? Brian Dean has a great guide that will help you learn the basics of SEO fast.
#3. Build an Awesome Portfolio of Sample ContentIdeally, you’ll have three levels of portfolios:
But when you’re just starting out, you need to focus on the first level: A portfolio that proves you know how to create a decent piece of content. If you don’t already have your own blog or website, create an account on a free blogging platform like Medium. Two or three sample posts are enough, and you can get started right away. #4. Find Your First Paying ClientIn the early days, finding those first few clients will be difficult. Even with solid content creation skills, SEO know-how, and a great portfolio proving you know how to write, finding paying clients without word of mouth and referrals won’t be easy. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
It’ll be a slow process at first, but once you get those first few clients you’ll be set. Do a great job, make your clients happy, and referrals will happen.
Further Reading: Bookmark this giant list of content marketing agencies. It’ll come in handy.
Ghostwriting 101: A Quick RecapWe’ve covered a lot, so let’s review:
What Is Ghostwriting?
Ghostwriting is when a writer (“ghostwriter”) is hired to create a piece of content for a company or individual, who will then publish the work as their own.
Do Ghostwriters Get Credit for Their Work?
Ghostwriters are paid to let someone else put their name on their work — they do not receive any credit, and they usually cannot tell anyone they wrote it.
Why Do People Hire Ghostwriters?
There are numerous reasons why someone would want to hire a ghostwriter, but two big reasons are time restraints and a lack of desire (or ability).
Regardless of their reason, parties who choose to hire ghostwriters do so because it’s advantageous. (They’re getting something out of it, in other words!)
What Are the Benefits of Being a Ghostwriter?
There are two huge benefits to ghostwriting:
Because they miss out on auxiliary perks like bylines and having their name attached to the content, ghostwriters are usually well compensated.
How Much Do Ghostwriters Make?
It varies from writer to writer, but an increased fee of 15% or more from their standard freelancing rate is reasonable when ghostwriting.
What Are the Typical Objections to Ghostwriting?
Those who throw shade at ghostwriting typically do so for one of three reasons:
We’ve covered each of these objections in detail. Whether any of them are deal-breakers is up to you.
How to Become a Ghostwriter
The process is very similar to the one for becoming a regular freelance writer:
In short:
Will You Give Ghostwriting a Try?Ultimately, ghostwriting can be a little divisive. Some writers feel — passionately — that readers deserve to know exactly who wrote the words they’re reading. Others feel building your platform is too important to let someone else take credit. But ghostwriting is a good way to make money as a writer. And it doesn’t mean your platform is off the table. You can be a ghostwriter and have a writing career under your own name. Many writers, including me, simply use ghostwriting as a way to supplement or support their writing passions. Personally, I think it’s worth it. Only you can decide whether it’s right for you.
About the Author: Ali Luke blogs about the art, craft, and business of writing at Aliventures. If you’re interested in going further with ghostwriting or any type of freelance writing, check out her epic post: Freelance Writing: Ten Steps, Tons of Resources.
The post Ghostwriting 101: How to Get Paid Big Bucks As a Ghostwriter appeared first on Smart Blogger. from https://smartblogger.com/ghostwriting/ |
AuthorHello everyone I am Julia Dillon 20 years old living in Los Angeles with my parents. I just finished my high school and started social media marketing. I have been reading about it for 3 years and finally decided to become social media expert. ArchivesNo Archives Categories |