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The 2-Step Process to Make Guest Posting 100x More Effective

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effective-guest-posting

Traffic. Traffic. Traffic.

That’s what you’re craving for, right?

After all, you can’t build a business using your blog without traffic.

And you were told to guest post to get traffic.

Jon Morrow did it, and he built a successful business. Danny Iny did it. Even in the old days, Brian Clark did it on Problogger to promote his blog.

So, you thought, “well, if they built their business that way, I should try it.”

And you try it, and then you get 10 subscribers per guest post, or 25 subscribers on a good one.
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Everything You Need to Know About Evergreen Content

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I am so tired.

Do you ever have those days where nothing seems to go your way?

Today was the mother of all ‘nothing-is-going-my-way’ days.

I was late for work after waiting round for a repair man to come and take a look at my bath.

Well, I use the word ‘bath’ lightly.

What I seem to have, and have had since I moved in a few months ago, is a large tub with taps on it. The funny thing about these taps is that they’re apparently just for show.

They’re a constant reminder that mocks me every time I look at them.

Every now and again I would like to relax in a hot and steamy soak – perhaps with a few bubbles here or there (yeah I’m that guy) – but my bath just isn’t going to play ball.

In fact, even if I wanted a freezing cold soak, it’s still not possible.

It turns out my bath is just for show. A decorative ornament that takes up over half of my bathroom.

It also turns out that the repair guy actually didn’t come round to fix it, he simply arrived (late) to tell me it didn’t work.

I was so grateful for this, because I hadn’t realised the twenty-or-so times I’d previously gotten into it and just pretended to have a wash.

So, off I went to work for a busy day. A busy, long day.

Staying two hours or so late to make up for the time spent having my groundbreaking bath diagnosis, I got home and thought I’d treat myself to a delicious fudge brownie hot chocolate.

I’m still too hurt to say what happened next, but this picture accurately describes everything you need to know:

Enough About My Day

I’m not really here to discuss everything that happened to me throughout today, even if it did help a bit to vent my frustration.

So,?why did I write that nonsense at the start?

Well, it turns out that you could really benefit from it.

More specifically, you could really benefit from spotting what the most glaring problem with it is.

Have you spotted it yet?

It’s not all that interesting…but that’s not the answer I’m looking for.

It’s also pretty much all about me, which is mistake numero uno on Successful Blogging’s 7 blogging mistakes to avoid.

However, neither of these things are the true downfall of this post. Blogs can still be a success even if they are somewhat boring or ego-driven.

The main downfall of that short introductory section is that it’s not?evergreen. More on that in a moment or two.

Are you looking to get more visitors, more views, more shares, more exposure?

If you’re a blogger or content marketer – and I’m guessing there’s a good chance that you are at least one of these if you’re reading this – all of the above should be targets of yours.

After all, why would you be content with only sharing your wise words or hilarious and interesting stories with just a small circle of people?

We’re all chasing that all-important internet fame, myself included.

Myself? How foolish of me, I’ve not even introduced who ‘myself’ is.

I’m Luke, by the way. I run Intergeek.

It’s such a pleasure to get the chance to speak to you on Be A Better Blogger, a website that I’ve followed and admired almost since its inception.

When I read the recent post on here about blogging through personal tragedy, which was delicately touched upon but also really insightful, it gave me an idea for a new post of my own.

There were some great takeaways, including creating ‘rainy day’ content.

Rainy day content is where you create a small backlog of posts that you can save to go live at a time where you’re not particularly interested in blogging; such as whilst you’re on holiday or suffering for any reason, whatever that may be.

Another area that particularly interested me in that post was evergreen content, and I wanted to enter a deeper discussion about this.

It plays such a pivotal role in the growth and sustainability of a blog.

What is Evergreen Content?

An evergreen tree is something that stays green all year round.

Evergreen content, by and large, is exactly the same. These blog posts, articles or infographics stay interesting and insightful all year round, no matter what the season, weather, holiday, whatever.

What I wrote at the start of this post is the exact opposite of evergreen content.

Even if I somehow had thousands of people interested in the daily challenges that I’d faced – unsurprisingly I don’t – they’d only be interested for that day.

I could only promote it for that one day, too.

It might even do well (unlikely), but traffic would dwindle away after 2 to 3 days at most.

After this, or until I next post at the very latest, it becomes old news.

How often would I get natural search traffic to a post about my terrible day??Never.

With evergreen content, you’ll gradually start to build up a base of organic (natural) traffic that lands on your post every single day of the year; picking up engagement and linkbacks slowly along the way too.

You can also return to older posts and re-promote them whenever you wish as they’ll still be relevant; perfect for if you’re stuck in a content glut.

How to Put an Evergreen Spin on Your Content

Before you even start to write a piece of content, it’s vital you learn to adapt it to become evergreen. This will help so much in the long run.

Hopefully, with the help of a few examples, you can start to picture evergreen content ideas at all times.

It really is a case of once you get it, you?really get it.

Let’s consider the intro to this blog post again about my crappy day. In order for it to become evergreen (and ultimately more successful) what could we do?

Well, it could be broken down into several different, useful?posts.

Some evergreen article opportunities in that text were:

  • How to Fix a Broken Bath
  • Top 11 Excuses When Being Late for Work
  • How to Make the Perfect Hot Chocolate
  • Top 10 Things to Hate About Cleaning

It’s worth noting that I didn’t have any evergreen article ideas in mind when I started to write about my day, I was just writing the first things that came into my head.

It’s important to plan?beforehand?when creating a post that is going to succeed for weeks, months and years to come.

Let’s consider some of the times you may be tempted to produce something that isn’t evergreen:

  • Valentine’s Day
  • Easter
  • Christmas

I’m sure you’d see a big spike in traffic each year by writing a post about “Top 55 Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas” – but what’s your end goal?

Would you rather see 2,000 visitors a day for a week to your post, or 250 visitors a day for a year?*

If you need the math on that, there’s a whopping?77,250 visitor difference between the two over a 365 day period.

Whilst your Valentine’s Day post could be updated and recycled each year, why not spend your time more wisely and create something evergeen?

You could change this to “Top 55 Unique Presents to Buy For a [New] [Girlfriend].” Substitute as appropriate: girlfriend, wife, long-term girlfriend, etc.

There are some excellent ways that you can reach a more niche audience all-year round with evergreen posts like this.

Some other ideas to go with all three of the aforementioned seasonal topics:

  • Best Chocolate Gifts to Buy for My Girlfriend
  • Top 21 Non-Chocolate Gifts to Buy for My?Wife

By adapting posts to prevent them from being seasonally related, you can promote them (and reap the rewards) all-year round.

*Figures were plucked at random from the top of my head. I can not guarantee you would ever receive a single visitor from writing about Valentine’s Day, or any subject at all for that matter.

Other Evergreen Tips

It’s not just all about the content that you’re writing.

When it comes to blogging and content marketing, the most successful things aren’t always written down.

Often, it’s images, infographics or interactives that go viral.

It’s vital, therefore, to create visually appealing media that can be shared time and time again.

It’s typically considered most?profitable for a blogger or business to produce content that doesn’t revolve around specific incidents, events or holidays. This way, you’re spending time creating pieces that are going to be loved every day for years to come.

I’m thankful to Andrea over at The Branded Solopreneur?for a recent tip she shared on Google+, which is to make things?pinnable.

In other words, with every post you create, make sure they’re optimised to be shared on Pinterest, or other social media sites too, with incredible, unique images.

(Cue incredible, unique image)

Evergreen Content promotional image created on CanvaAs you can probably tell, design isn’t really my strong point.

However, I created this in just a few minutes using Canva?- and it was free!

Having images like this is a great way to ensure your evergreen content gets shared as often and as naturally as possible.

Is There Ever a Time for Non-Evergreen Content?

Of course.

If you have an opportunity to reach a large amount of people in a small timescale, by all means create something that will have a shorter lifespan; if you think the results will be worth it.

An example of this would be Kevin’s recent post about the Super Bowl. He used the game as inspiration for some great blogging tips, but as he noted in the post it’s not going to be relevant five years from now. It’s not going to be evergreen.

Another example would be if a brand new Google penalty came out. Let’s call it Google Dolphin.

No one knows why this penalty has come out, until you see a message in your Webmaster Tools that tells you exactly why you’ve been penalized.

You take it upon yourself to create the single greatest guide ever made on Google Dolphin – who cares if it’s the first one? – explaining how you diagnose the penalty on any website and make a step-by-step guide on getting the penalty removed.

This post would have a longer life cycle than a day or a week and you’d be likely to see some great benefits, huge exposure, and an influx of newsletter subscribers and backlinks.

However, in all probability, your guide isn’t going to be relevant in a year’s time with the amount of updates Google carries out.

Not forgetting the fact that bigger sites will jump on the bandwagon and overtake you in the search results.

How?dare they have a better website than us. Life is so unfair.

As time goes on you could try editing your post to become more relevant, but chances are you’re unlikely to pick up serious volumes of visitors on it ever again.

Some blogs can even thrive by producing?nevergreen content, but chances are tyours isn’t one of them.

Make the Most of What You’ve Got

If you’re going to be creating posts or infographics with a short shelf-life, you’re probably going to need to have an established audience already.

If you’re looking to build an established audience – that’s what most of us are doing – look to make the best possible use of your time: write content that will appeal for years to come.

Wouldn’t you love to be making money in five years from something that you wrote?today?

With evergreen content, this is more than just a possibility.

Flickr Creative Commons Images via Kim Seng.

5 Timeless Tips to Making Friends with Popular Bloggers

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You researched for hours.

Wrote your heart out, edited your prose until it was lean, powerful and actionable.

Your post isn?t as good as a popular blogger?s – It?s better. Clearer. More in-depth.

Your readers can implement your practical tips, without delay.

The problem is your blog?s a ghost town.

Your post goes largely unread. Unshared. Ignored.

You can?t figure out what went wrong.

But the problem isn?t with your content ? it?s with your connections.

[Read more…] about 5 Timeless Tips to Making Friends with Popular Bloggers

The ONE Person Who Can Give Your Blog Clarity and Increase Engagement

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one-person

What kind of an audience do you want for your blog?

You want a mob of fanatical fans who eagerly check their inboxes for your latest post, right?

Fans who are actively engaged, leaving comments and sharing each post.

Fans who send you emails from time to time just to let you know that you?ve inspired them.

Fans who get so excited over your blog that they forward your opt-in link to their friends without even being asked.

(No, that doesn?t make you a big, ego-maniacal jerk-face. After all, you want people to get that excited about your stuff because you?ve genuinely helped them, right?)

So you sit down with a cup of coffee, determined to write the post.

The one that will go viral, generating buzz throughout the blogosphere.

The one that will reach all the people you want to speak to, making them go, ?Oh wow, this chick knows what she?s talking about. I?m pretty sure if we met in real life we?d be friends because she just gets me.?

But?you?re drawing a blank.

What exactly should your message be? What should you write in order to get tons of comments? What kind of a brand identity do you need to cultivate in order to inspire tens, even hundreds of thousands of people to become your fanatical fans?

If you?re struggling with clarity over the direction of your blog, you?re probably missing one crucial element.

The good news is that you can get it in under an hour and it won?t cost you a cent.

What is it?

An imaginary friend.

That?s right, I?m telling you to dredge your imaginary friend out of childhood retirement and get his or her help in making your blog a raving success.

How can an imaginary friend help me find clarity?

You already know the importance of finding your niche and having focus.

(If you don?t, I?m sure Kevin has some fantastic posts about it.)

What?s the first step in finding your niche? Defining your target audience, of course.

You can?t create content without a clear understanding of your audience.

You might think you know your target audience, but if you?re still grappling with clarity, chances are you don?t know them as well as you think you do.

So tell me, right now, who is your target audience?

Since, unfortunately, someone has yet to invent a device that grants me omniscience, I?ll go ahead and pick on myself here.

When I first started my travel blog, this was how I defined my target audience:

?Someone in their late 20?s to early 30?s who doesn?t like their job and wants to travel more.?

According to LiveYourLegend.net (and a Deloitte?s Shift Index survey), 80% of people are dissatisfied with their jobs. 72% rank travel as more important than buying a house or a new car.

So, basically, my target audience was half the population.

If you are a “blogger’s blogger” you might define your target audience as:

?Someone who wants to become more successful at blogging.?

There are approximately 156 million blogs on the Internet. I don?t know the exact number of owners who want to be more successful, but suffice to say, not many people are starting a blog with the intent to be terrible at it.

In both cases, that?s a whole lot of people. In fact, it?s waaaayyyy too many people.

You might think that?s a good thing ? after all, if you want 100,000 raving fans you need to speak to as many people as possible, right?

Wrong.

Being that vague is like hopping in a boat and heading out to sea with a map of the world as your only navigational tool. Hope you enjoy chatting with a soccer ball for the next 3 years.

The more people you try to speak to at once, the more diluted your message is going to be. And the more diluted your message is, the more ineffective it is.

Instead of thinking in terms of ?target audience,? try thinking of the ONE person that you exist to serve with your message.

You don?t need to be a lot of things to a lot of people. You just need to be insanely inspirational to one person. If you inspire enough of that one person, you will rise to the top of your niche.

So, let?s try again.

For a travel blog, I might say:

teacher-teaching?Natalie. 27 years old. Elementary school teacher who enjoys teaching but hates the politics that come with the job. Recently dumped her jerk of a boyfriend. Dreams of traveling the world but doesn?t have a lot of money saved up. Environmentally-conscious. Loves working out but has a weakness for apple martinis.?

Doesn?t Natalie seem a lot more like a real person? Isn?t it much easier to come up with things to talk about with her?

For a blogger?s blog, we could go with:

man-in-suit?Pete. 36. Investment banker. ?Enjoys his work but doesn?t like the company he works for. Recently started a personal finance blog to help supplement his income when he found out his wife was pregnant again. Dreams of blogging full-time in order to spend more time with his family. Has the knowledge and technical skills but isn?t sure where to go from there.?

Isn?t it so much more fun to think about helping Pete than ?person who wants to be a more successful blogger?? When you don?t feel motivated, just think about the baby on the way. Pete needs you!

(In business class, we would refer to this as a ?customer profile? but that sounds SO dry and boring. I don?t like to think of my readers as mere customers; I like to think of them as friends.)

So from now on, don?t talk to your target audience, talk to your friend.

Think of what he/she is struggling with right now. How can you help them get through it? What are they dreaming of? How can you help make it a reality?

Won?t talking directly to one person alienate everyone else?

This is what scares a lot of people. They don?t want to ?niche themselves? because they?re afraid it will limit their prospects and make them less relatable.

If I only talk to one person, won?t that shut everyone else out?

Nope.

Let?s take a look at Facebook. When Facebook first came into existence, it was targeted towards college students. More specifically ? ivy league college students.

For the first few years you needed an email address ending in .edu to even sign up. Instead of trying to market to as many people as possible, they actively excluded people from using their service.

Well?we all know how that story goes. Facebook exploded into a multi-billion dollar company, and these days everyone from grandparents to dogs have a profile.

In fact, it?s become so mainstream that it?s actually lost cachet among its target audience.

How about Apple? Who do you think their imaginary friend is?

22 year old, urban, hipster, tech-savvy, on-the-go. That?s probably what pops into your mind when you take a look at their advertising.

Are those the only people carrying around iPhones? Ummm, hardly!

Your ?imaginary friend? isn?t going to be the only person reading, commenting on and sharing your posts. (Actually, if your imaginary friend does start commenting, you might have bigger problems…)

They?re just the one you should be speaking to at all times in order to:

  1. Stay consistent with your message and branding.
  2. Come up with relevant, useful content for your readers.
  3. Help you find and keep your voice as a writer.

When you?re clear on who you?re talking to, you?re going to attract other people who feel an affinity with that person.

Maybe they want to be ? or not be – that person. Maybe they share a similar struggle. Maybe they admire what that person represents.

Those people are your readers. They are your advocates. They are your potential raving fans.

(In my case, most of my fans are already raving, but that?s a whole other story?)

Back to picking on myself here for a moment.

My imaginary friend happens to be a woman, which means I sometimes write posts like ?10 Reasons Every Woman Needs to Travel Solo at Least Once.?

I?ve been asked a few times why I wrote that post only for women ? surely men can benefit from solo travel as well?

Of course they can. I actually had a number of men comment on it. And share it. I even had one guy email me to tell me he had forwarded it to his sisters who were nervous about traveling alone. Wow.

What might have seemed exclusive ended up being my most viewed/commented-on post to this day.

In fact, since I clearly defined the one person I was talking to, I went from 5-6 comments /post to 40-50 comments a post.

So how do I define this one person?

I thought you?d never ask. This is the fun part.

Think back to when you first started your blog. Or, when you first decided to transition from a personal blog to a purposeful blog. Who did you have in mind that you wanted to help?

If your answer is along the lines of, ?I just wanted to dispense my general awesomeness to the world,? you?ve got some homework to do.

Here are a few questions to help you define your imaginary friend, because I?m nice like that:

  1. Are they male or female?
  2. Are they single, married, dating??
  3. Do they have kids? Pets? A cactus?
  4. How old are they? (Pick an age, not an age range)
  5. What?s their level of education? What?s their degree in (if they have one)?
  6. Where do they work? Is this a career or just a job? Do they enjoy it or want to stab their eyeball out with a fork every morning?
  7. What does their 5-year plan look like? Do they have one?
  8. How would they define themselves?
  9. What are their ?vices?? Do they drink? Do they swear? Do they struggle with anxiety or depression?
  10. What is their deepest desire, greatest dream, or most pressing issue?
  11. What?s the number one thing holding them back or standing in the way of their dreams?
  12. What does their typical day look like? What habits do they have? Which ones are helpful and which ones would they like to get rid of?
  13. What do they like to read? What movies do they watch? What music do they listen to?
  14. Where do they get their info from? Who do they trust?
  15. What excites them so much that they forget to eat or sleep?
  16. What do they find annoying? What sets off their BS detector?
  17. What are their values? Spending more time with family? Traveling the world? Gaining financial freedom?
  18. What?s their greatest fear?
  19. Are they religious? Spiritual? An atheist?
  20. Finally?what?s their name?

This may seem like a lot of work, but it doesn?t have to be.

My imaginary friend is really just a combination of myself from a few years ago and two of my closest friends who struggle with different aspects of job dissatisfaction.

Want to meet her?

Her name is Janey. She just turned 30 and is having an existential crisis over what she?s accomplished in her life so far. Single, no kids. Been through a few crappy relationships but has just started dating someone promising. Has a bachelor?s in political science and a job as an account rep for a financial company where she makes $38,000/year and feels undervalued. Thinks about going for a promotion, but is terrified that she?ll end up working there for the next 15 years if she gets it. Does yoga a few times a week, enjoys cooking, and occasionally splurges on semi-expensive wine that she drinks with her small, close group of friends when they blow off steam. Loves cheesy rom-coms. Desperately wishes for more freedom to spend time doing what she loves ? being outdoors, riding horses and traveling. Feels unfulfilled at her job, but isn?t sure which path she should take in order to be happy.?

Whenever I write a post, I ask myself, ?Would Janey like this? Does it help her? Inspire her? Brighten her day? Would she think I sound pretentious or full of crap??

Sometimes if I?m lacking a live human sounding board I?ll even read my blog posts out loud with Janey in mind. She keeps me in check when I try to use snooty-sounding words like ubiquitous.

So how about you? Do you have your one person in mind when you write?

I would LOVE to hear about everyone else’s imaginary friends so I don?t feel like the only nerd here. 🙂

Flickr Creative Commons Images via Endre Majoros, cybrarian77, and Miguel Librero.

Making Your Split Personality Work For You (aka Me, Myself and Them)

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I?m grateful to Kevin for allowing me an opportunity to share what?s left of my sanity with you. Be A Better Blogger is the only blog I’ve joined in nine years of blogging?just because.

Maybe it?s the wit. Perhaps it?s the unique character and voice?I?m not altogether sure. What I do know is, this is a community I?m excited to be a part of and to share what meager knowledge I have. So thanks for that, Kevin!

Chances are, by the time you?re done reading this article, you?ll think me insane. FYI?that?s perfectly alright, and not altogether uncommon. The hope here is to make sure to impart some clever principles behind the madness?then it?s all good.

You see, I lie to kids for a living.

[Read more…] about Making Your Split Personality Work For You (aka Me, Myself and Them)

What the Movie ‘Newsies’ Can Teach us About Blogging Success

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feature_newsies

Have you ever seen the Disney musical classic, “Newsies”? If you haven’t, stop what you’re doing immediately and rent it, or better yet, buy it! You must have Newsies in your life. You must.

And while we’re on the subject, if you’re not happy with your blog traffic (and who is these days?) it might be about time to start listening to the sage advice of one Jack Kelly — the ringleader of the movie’s gang of paper-peddlers, played by the incomparable Christian Bale.

[Read more…] about What the Movie ‘Newsies’ Can Teach us About Blogging Success

Writing Sponsored Posts: Where to Draw the Line When Blogging for Passion and Money

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Are you a sellout?Passionate bloggers are the ones who make it big.

They are the ones who get massive traffic, high conversions, and great engagement on their sites.

That’s because their passion drives them to create valuable content and give their readers what they want. They’re willing to write until the wee hours and spend every waking hour thinking of how they can improve their blog.

Eventually, their blogs will become so good people will start to take notice. They’ll get more views, social shares, and subscribers.

It’s during this time when their blogs catch the attention of companies and get proposals for money-making ventures like banner ads, affiliate products, and paid posting.

The realization that you’ve done a great job with your blog?

Companies are on the lookout for blogs they can use to promote their products and/or services.

If someone approaches you, then it’s great news. That means you’re doing something right.

This is when you realize that all the hard work you’ve put in your blog has finally paid off. You can now monetize and make a steady stream of income through banner ads, affiliate links, and paid posts.

Sponsored posts are one good way to make money. Blogging about a product can make you a lot of money. It’s like being a celebrity endorser. Everybody wins in this situation. The company gets the exposure they need. You get paid. And your readers discover a new product they can enjoy.

Then the post becomes so successful the company wants you to do one more. Of course, you’d say yes.

It becomes another hit: lots of comments and shares, which lead to improved traffic for the company’s website, and more money for you.

Plus, your readers are excited with the new products you’re introducing to them.

You start to think you can get used to it.

Soon, other companies are sending you paid posting requests.

You can’t believe the fortune that came your way. During the next few weeks, you find yourself busy writing for these businesses.

The clients are happy with the quality of your posts and your bank account is even happier.

Empty SeatsThen you start to lose your readers?

But there’s one problem: you start to notice a decline in traffic and engagement. You then wonder, what the heck just happened?

This is a natural consequence of paid posting, or what others would call “selling out.”

Your readers have grown sick of the paid posts you’ve been publishing. It was fine for the first few times, but when all you blogged about was marketing collaterals for companies, they began to get annoyed and eventually fed up.

They miss the kind of content you used to write.

Your blog, which used to be a great resource of information, has become a portal for press releases and paid product reviews.

You’ve sold out.

You’ve thrown your passion away, ditched your audience, and became a messenger for businesses.

You live and breathe for paid opportunities.

You’ve lost sight of the reason why you blogged in the first place because you got excited with the profits.

Selling out is betraying your loyal audience

Selling out means doing something that’s motivated by making a profit. It’s when you discard your passion?the one thing that fuels you to produce magnificent content that changes people’s lives?and blog just because you’re getting paid for it.

You may have heard of this from musicians. Underground bands that hit the mainstream are often accused by hardcore fans as sellouts.

It must hurt to get accused by your fans of selling out. It’s a form of betrayal.

And for bloggers who’ve spent a long time building a quality blog and a great community of readers, to be viewed as sellouts is tough.

Are paid posts bad?

Just to be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing paid posts. When an opportunity presents itself, grab it. Don’t miss a chance to monetize your blog.

BUT make sure that you know how to balance it. There is a fine line that separates grabbing opportunities and selling out. It’s when you step beyond this line when things get crazy.

Selling out will hurt you. You’ll lose readers and hurt your reputation. All the work you’ve done in building your brand will go down the drain. You’ll be left with nothing.

Sounds grim? Don’t think I’m exaggerating. Picture this:

Your followers will stop reading your blog because all you do is publish sponsored content. They’d find no value in your posts since all you’re doing is promote stuff. The obvious next step for them is to unsubscribe and completely stop reading your blog.

Eventually, companies will notice that you’re no longer giving them results they want (your blog doesn’t have the same amount of traffic and engagement) so they will stop sending you work.

There’s no reason for them to pay you when you?re not getting people to buy from them.

You’ll be left with nothing but a blog full of sponsored posts.

BalanceCan you avoid selling out?

So you see how selling out is damaging?

It’s clear that you mustn’t sell out. But what if you want to monetize your site?

The answer here is balance.

If you’re going to post sponsored content, make sure that you don’t do it all the time. Practice the 80/20 rule. For every ten posts, limit the paid posts to just two. The rest should the usual, awesome stuff you provide your readers.

That way, you keep everybody happy.

It helps to always go back to the reason why you’re still blogging: your passion. At the end of the day, it’s still what matters.

Don’t be too focused on generating income because the interesting thing is, the more you concentrate on making money, the harder it’s going to be. Why? I honestly have no idea.

But I know one thing, though. When you focus on quality and providing value to people, when you pour your energy in helping others, things will line up and give you what you want.

So don’t actively pursue money-making opportunities IF it’s going to go against your purpose. Concentrate first on creating value. The money will come later. And when it does, don’t get too overwhelmed and change directions.

Remember what I said at the beginning of this post?

Passionate bloggers are the one who make it big.

Maybe not now or the day after tomorrow, but it sure will happen one day. Don’t rush because that’s one of the reasons you may sell out.

Are sponsored posts something you would consider for your blog? Have you ever written one? A big thanks to Irwin for contributing this post. Let him know you enjoyed it by leaving a comment, and by visiting him at?one of the links in his bio.

Flickr Creative Commons Images via Tax Credits (adapted), drocpsu (adapted) and Kristina Alexanderson (adapted).