There is an excitement that comes with change! When we look back and see how far we have come and can see all the little steps we have taken along the way.
Monday to Friday I work on a building site – labouring. One of the houses we are building at the moment is a 2 story one and just Wednesday we got to my favourite stage of the building process.
We started laying the flooring for the second level! Why? Because a new floor means a new level! We have laid the foundation, created a framework that will support the house and massive beams designed to carry the weight of this new level. But standing on the new floor you find yourself thinking of all the possibilities. You can see further than you could, you see a new level of potential!
Sounds a bit like blogging doesn’t it?
What we should be doing with our blogs is laying a foundation with quality articles (Yaro calls these pillar articles). We should then build a framework -setting the boudaries of our blog and making sure it will withstand the weight of taking it to a new level with more visitors and subscribers.
But the thing is, when you get to that new level, there is such an excitement! I know when I was competing in the first Blogging Idol. I could see my blog moving on to a new level – and it gave me such a boost. I started to see that my blog could grow, it could be influencial. And it didn’t have to take ages to get there!
So it’s all good and well talking about how we need to take our blogs to the next level, but the big question is ‘how do we do it?’! I have put together 5 of the ways you can take you blog to the next level and will use examples of bloggers that have successfully used each method – but don’t see this list as a be-all-and-end-all, there are many different ways you can ‘build another story’ on the top of your blog!
- Contests
I have seen many bloggers trying to take their blog to the next level with contests and a lot have succeeded, but one blogger that stands out is Gyutae from WinningTheWeb.com. I have watched him grow his blog by consistently holding quality contests that attract a lot of attention. Each time it seems to take his blog to a new level. - Social Media
Sometimes it just takes one of two of your posts to get DIGGed or stumbled and it just sets something off and you see phenominal growth. John Chow is probably the best example of this and he is not ashamed to tell you how it happened.This post shows how he managed to get 5 stories on the front page of DIGG in 3 days, with one of his days netting him 12,000 visitors! How is that for a nice way to take your blog to the next level!
- Commenting
About 6-12 months ago a blogger hit the scene and honestly it seemed like every blog I visited, she had before me. Caroline Middlebrook managed to always be the first commenter on a lot of hugely popular blogs where she left very indepth and well thought out comments.Using this method she quickly gained RSS subscribers and also the attention of a couple of probloggers (namely Yaro and Darren) who posted about her – giving her an extra boost!
- Linkbaiting ProBloggers
This one is getting harder and harder as more bloggers hit the scene, but the idea is to post something that will grab the attention of the probloggers enough to make them post about you – giving you a sudden boost of traffic!On blogger I have seen doing this successfully is Ian Fernando! I watched him post a video about his ‘Almost interview with John Chow‘ – which John got biated and linked to. From this Ian was able to build enough of a relationship with John to get him to ask his bloggers to vote for Ian to get into the Top Affiliate Challenge – where they eventually ended up on the same team!
- Being Extremely Good At What You Do
This is the one for you talented people out there! If you are extremely good at something then it is only a matter of time before people start to take notice of you – just as they did with Jonathan Volks! If you don’t know who Jonathan is, he is a PPC affiliate marketer that last time I checked was maing $160,000 a month from PPC – and he is only in his 20′s!As he started to get noticed I remember seeing his feed count increase significantly in a very short perion of time!
As I said Blogging Idol was my first step up to a new level, and now I am trying a couple of the methods I have listed above to make sure I don’t stop but continue climbing.
How do you take your blog to the next level?
Good stuff again mate. I would also add a little something called “Patience” to the list. Like ShoeMoney says so often: “I don’t see anybody writing one article a day for 4 years like me not succeed.”
Success doesn’t happen overnight, it’s hard work! ;)
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I do all the things but still not popular
plz advise :(
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This article gives me a different perspective on what I have already known. It gives me an idea of how I could grow my blog from what it is right now.
I think the hardest one to do is #5 – to be the best in what you do. Sometimes, your best may not always be the best.
Great stuff, Tom.
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As long as it’s the best YOU can do, that’s all that matters….readers will notice the confidence.
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Well thought out article Tom. Commenting seems to be a great way to attract new subscribers as evidenced by Ryan McLean of SmarterWealth.
I think, even Danny Cooper of LinkersBlog is running a case study on the effects of blog commenting.
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Good and most importantly unique article. I guess the only problem I have is that in the building game there is a definite set of steps you need to achieve before reaching “the new level” whereas with blogging you kind of hope that one of the above things happen and you reach the next level.
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Hey man simply superb.I am just a beginner.So I am just going to buy a domain.So ill tell this later
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Good tips Tom, I enjoyed them. The competition I am in with Danny Cooper is what is taking me to the next level. I was still building my foundation, and I think I may have just moved up to the first floor. Mainly by writing daily and commenting around the blogosphere.
Adam
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haha ur right! I remember that video. now me and JC are great friends. leveraging my connections to excel on the internet. but baiting is a great source of boost in traffic
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Hey Tom,
Thanks for the mention. Contests definitely have their place in blog marketing, but it’s important to note that they only support content. A blog full of contests and nothing else probably won’t do very well.
Also, if you think about it, my big contests incorporated each of the 5 points in your list – which is why they saw greater success. Something for us to think about I suppose. ;)
My suggestion would be to just keep doing what you’re doing and eventually success will find you. While it doesn’t hurt to nudge it along using some of these methods, it takes much more than that to actually get to the next level.
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Contests does help in giving good exposure to the blog, but eventually the content matters in the long run. Linkbaiting is an excellent idea, but should be done with care, as it is a double edged sword and may backfire.
EXcellent article.
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I should take my blog to the next level by holding a contest and completely changing the design.
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Step 2 is a total vanity thing – social media traffic is nice but I will tell you specifically Digg traffic does NOT convert. Ever – I have had several of my .com’s get to page 1, and it the traffic views the content and is on to the next thing.
Most other social traffic doesn’t convert well either, like under 1% of it will equal subscribers. It’s traffic, but it needs to be part of an integrated approach imo.
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I like the the last item but being extremely good on what you do is something that takes a gargantuan effort to beat unless your fairy godmother enchanted you with Midas hands. But I think Focus, patience and hardwork are good start.
As we all know, writing a good article is getting harder by every day. Contest just boost your traffic and nothing more. I liked the #3 idea. Writing comments can be very effective way to gain traffic. Anyway, Thank you for a great post. I really enjoyed it.
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160K a month? Wow…
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Great tips, and all will go a long ways in creating traffic. I think another key is to do 1-5 consistently. Working at each one of those for just a few minutes each day will drastically improve your traffic if you remain consistent. Also work hard at building your community of networks, the web is designed to bring like minded people together and the opportunities to build your network and community are limitless.
Matt
ben makes a great point. longevity and consistency really do seem to be key. i keep on running across blogs which haven’t posted anything in months. :(
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@kouji: Hmmm, I’m guilty of not being consistent with my posting but that’s what I’m comfortable with right now. Taking my own sweet time without all the pressure whatsoever…
Yan
Jonathan impressed me!…
I think posting regularly and commenting (which involved some work) are two things one should do to take his blog to the next level. Anyway, nice tips. :)
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[...] so why not spend the first month building a quality blog, generate traffic to it (read my post on 5 Ways To Take Your Blog To The Next Level post) and by the end of the first month you should have quite a successful little blog on your [...]
the second and fourth points are very difficult things to do.Should word hard to achieve success
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