When I first started doing online blogging, there were many challenges along the way. I had to go through each channel trying to learn new things overtime, and this delayed my success by a few years. The problem with online businesses is that you have so many things you can do, and they are very cheap to start. Unlike physical businesses which require enormous investments, you can start an online business with as little as $100.00. This means anyone can start setting up a website which ultimately becomes your competition going forward. However,
These day’s things are much different, and here’s why?
Overtime you have more case studies to view which cuts out the leg work. If you need to start marketing, you can do a quick search online and find several case studies done by people. These studies will guide you in the right direction showing you what platforms to invest in, and how to tweak your campaigns. Now instead of growing your business over 10 years, you can accelerate growth getting everything done within 2-3 years. That’s awesome because you can start making money in a short period of time. With that said,
We are going to continue my series and look at “5†more important things I wish I knew before starting my online business. Let’s look at the following elements today:
- The Essentials
- Working for Free
- Hire the Right People
- Networking
The Essentials
It’s important you know what I’m referring to when talking about The Essentials. We often spend way too much time worrying about things which don’t matter in the end or to your bottom line. For example, when I first started my blog I should have been focusing on writing the best content instead of the color of my navigation bar. Even though the website is important, it is secondary compared to the value you provide through your content. I would sometimes spend 2-3 hours fixing testing colors when that time could have been spent better somewhere else. With that said,
It’s important you know how to divide and conquer so that you focus on what helps you get to your bottom line. Breakdown your business into smaller parts focusing on what’s important first or in other words – The Essentials. You’ll soon see a huge pattern developing because you’ll be getting more work done using this method. The things you’ll be focusing on will be the most important, and these same essentials are what resonate with your readers. Keep in mind, if you are a niche specific blog building value through content, then it’s very easy to understand how research, writing and updating it will help you conquer right?
It’s important to take some time right now, and breakdown your business model. Pull out what the MOST important elements are and continue from that point. Every day when you get up, you should focus on these elements first because again they are the MOST important.
Working for Free
When starting out you want to build your brand, and this means doing things you won’t want to do. For example, one strategy I relied on when starting was FREE content writing. I consider this a strategy because it helped me build my brand, and drive traffic to my blog. It’s different now because I get paid for writing content, and it’s because bloggers know through my writing I’ll produce some serious value. However, starting out was completely different because my content writing had NO monetary value involved.
Here’s why this strategy worked so well
First, everyone wants value for free right? If you offer to write 2000-3000 words of content for free solving a major problem within their niche, then it’s definitely a winning situation for the blog owner. Secondly, you’re getting your name out there and in front of other influential bloggers. This means going forward you might be able to find paid work somewhere else. As a matter of fact, I have been hired 2-3 times by writing content for authority bloggers. Next,
Below each piece of content, you’ll be able to add an author biography link which will drive traffic to your blog. Imagine if your writing content for a blog which gets 10,000 visitors daily? This can generate enormous traffic to your blog which will convert into money for you if you’re selling products, etc. Finally, I like getting published on high authority blogs because a simple link back can add value to my blog. Google uses link pattern to determine where they’ll place your site within the SERP’s, and a solid link from a high authority website can add enormous value. Some of the websites I guest blog on have a domain authority of 50+.
Here’s the bottom line.
If you want to build your brand and credibility when starting, then you might have to do some work for free. Let other bloggers see the value you provide which will lead to more opportunities for you because they know you’ll be able to get the job done right.
Hiring People
I can’t tell you how important having the right people on your team is for your success. Steve Jobs from Apple said it best when they asked him about hiring workers. He said,
When you have an A+ team, then you’ll create A+ products. Not to mention, A+ people don’t want to work with C- people, and this will cause friction within the workspace. I believe in the same philosophy so it’s important you pay close attention to the types of people who hire to be on your team. For example,
When you hire people with the right skills, it’ll improve your overall performance. Think about it, you’ll have better content, marketing, engagement, research, and faster growth. You have to first understand your overall objective, and what it takes to get from point A to B. When you have figured this out, you’ll know exactly the type of people who need to get the job done. Then you can do the following to attract the right people to your company.
First, you need to break down the MOST important elements within your company. Secondly, find out what skills are required to get the job done right. By now you should have experience with each element personally so should have a better understanding of each skill set required. Third, interviewing should be done by you personally since you understand each job role entirely. However, as you begin to grow you can depend on others to help you out along the way. Keep in mind, the person who is helping you should be an A+ employee who wants nothing but A+ people working for your business.
You can even scout people who you think will be good for your company by reaching out to them directly. Sometimes you’ll be able to use online job sites to find particular people for the job you need them to do. However, again the MOST important element of this strategy is to ensure you know what type of people and skill set you are looking for as it applies to the specific work.
A great way to achieve this is with the following.
Networking
This is probably the MOST important element when starting a blog or website. If you know the right people within the industry, it’ll help you boost things almost immediately. For example, I mentioned guest blogging above and this allowed me to generate enormous traffic to my blog quickly. However, keep in mind I had to network with bloggers to get this done which meant writing constant emails and follow-ups. It’s tough because many bloggers won’t reply to you right away so you have to stay positive while pushing forward. Here’s how you can get started with networking.
Head over to Google and type in your niche keyword + blogs. This will give you a list of top blogs, and it’s important to skim through looking to see if they accept guest posts. You can also find ways to offer a product or service which you think they’ll find useful. Write down the email address of each of these blogs so you have a list ready to go when you start outreach.
I’m currently creating my list using excel because it’s very easy to input information. I’ll create different column keeping track of who I’ve contacted and who I need to follow-up. I’d reach out to as many bloggers as possible because starting out you need all the momentum you can get. Remember, if you contact 50 bloggers and you get a response from 2-3 authority bloggers it’s enough to generate enormous buzz. For example, if a blogger gets back to you, and they get 100,000 visitors a month that alone can boost engagement enormously. Imagine how many of them will read, share and comment on your content. Next, these same people will follow your author link and arrive on your blog to read other content right?
Here’s one regret I have.
I didn’t listen to anyone’s advice on how important it is to start guest blogging right away. I personally thought it wouldn’t make too much of a difference and I was completely wrong about how it generated enormous business for me in the end. There’s an abundance of opportunities available, and it’s important you start looking for opportunities right away.
Again, head over to Google and start there. Make sure before you start, you have a handful of very targeted keywords which will help you finds authority blogs within your niche.