copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 1
From Hobby Blogger To Six Figure Blogger13 4
In The Beginning There Was13 5
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer Idea13 10
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)13 13The Importance of Choosing The Right Market13 13
4 Factors For a Good Market13 15
Donʼt Forget Passion13 16
How To Get Traffic13 17First Things First13 17
But Donʼt Stop13 18
Build a List - Now13 19
Using Social Media Strategically 13 22
Seduce Donʼt Molest13 25
What About Search Engines13 26
OK Traffic Now What13 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash Machine13 28Making Money With Affiliate Marketing13 29
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income 13 31
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging13 32
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel13 35
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It Be13 37
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 2
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and Roadmap13 41
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into Hyperdrive13 45
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 3
From Hobby Blogger To Six Figure BloggerThe purpose of this report is simple to open your eyes to the true potential of professional blogging and to provide you a path forward
As I outlined in my report The Blogging Wealth Gap there is a fundamental cause to why most bloggers just donʼt make any decent money from their passions they suck at marketing
In that report I documented that fully I also gave you a very simple equation
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
This concept while simple is also fairly profound when you consider just how many bloggers out there completely fail to apply it
So the key to becoming a problogger and making six figures per year in this business is
bull Learning how to think like a marketerbull Learning to treat your blog like a business rather than a hobby
Even if it IS a hobby (which is hopefully the case) youʼve got to treat it like a business in order to make business-level income And youʼve got to do things that businesses would do
In this report I am going to outline an overall blueprint to designing a blogging business My goal is simply to get your gears churning and to get you thinking about your own blog in an income-producing way Iʼm confident that the pages ahead are going to represent what is likely an entirely new way of approaching blogging
Yours in Blogging SuccessDavid Risley
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 4
In The Beginning There WasWell not much
Iʼve been in this business for some time I actually started my first website way back in 1997 By around the turn of the century I was already making money at it My primary method of making money was banner ads By this time I had created PCMECHCOM It was then known as ldquoPC Mechanicrdquo and I basically just wrote about computer hardware and building PCs
In 2001 I graduated from college While in college I was making money both from the Internet as well as a job at Samʼs Club By the time graduation came along a decision needed to be made Find a regular job Or pursue my own thing
I was making money online Enough to pay my bills (which were understandably a lot lighter at the time) But I figured if I put my full efforts into it that I could make enough to live off of completely So I went my own way I graduated college and I was technically unemployed I went off into this world of internet publishing that hardly anybody understood
While this account is already abbreviated letʼs pause to make a point
Lesson 1 Necessity Level is definitely important to success online Youʼve got to NEED to do well In my case I graduated college and had no paycheck I had no choice but to make this work This was a factor in my development as a problogger Mindset is VERY important
Ok moving on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 5
Back up just a bit and letʼs recall the dot-com boom of the late 90ʼs People were of the mentality that if it was on the Internet it was gold You could print your own money by just having your own dot-com In the midst of this digital gold rush a company offered to BUY my website (PCMech) for a sum total of almost $1 Million
If you think I saw that and didnʼt have grandiose thoughts of being a college millionaire think again Iʼm human And I fell for it signing a contract
Long story short it was a bad deal I made some good money for some time but when the dot-com bust began and online businesses were dropping like flies the company who ldquoboughtrdquo PCMech ran into major difficulty as well The company was primarily a website aggregator buying up large chunks of digital real estate and putting ads on the sites Well when reality started to hit home that banner ads donʼt make businesses and that all this crap was WAY overvalued the crap hit the fan and I wasnʼt getting paid
Big problem My website was technically owned by somebody else and I wasnʼt making nearly enough money to pay my bills - even while in college
So again necessity level came in and I had to get inventive If banner advertising was proving to be so unreliable then perhaps selling something directly to my siteʼs audience would do better and be completely in my own control
So I created my first info product What was it A compilation of material previously written for my own site I compiled it into a nice e-book format threw in some bonuses and a few computer utilities and I burned it to a CD-ROM I literally just bought blank recordable discs at Staples burned the discs on my own computer stuffed them and ran them to the post office to fulfill orders
And guess what
It worked
People bought it And therein lies another lesson
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 6
Lesson 2 Sell Your Own Products
See I was doing banner ads I even sold a few things as an affiliate But the economic issues drove home to me a very import lesson very early on I guess you could say that it was forced upon me out of necessity
Lesson 3 Donʼt Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
I had all my eggs (or most of them) in banner advertising And I was getting burned So I started selling my own product
Looking back on it now the product SUCKED Knowing what I know now it is hard to believe anybody bought the damn thing
But I had managed to diversify my income and I did it by making my OWN offer I was selling this CD for $2199 and there were weeks where Iʼd sell 15 or 20 of the things So not huge money but it was $350-$400 per week that I wasnʼt making before
So when the crap REALLY hit the fan with this company I had my lawyer draw up a letter holding them in breach of contract (Funny how people think its cool to have a lawyer but in reality I was just paying somebody $350 an hour to read a contract and write a letter) I sent it to them and used my FTP access to their servers to essentially STEAL my own site back I did it under the radar but it wasnʼt stealing because they were 100 in breach and not paying me At the end of the day I had PCMechcom back into my rightful hands and in my full control
Looking back on that Iʼm glad I had the experience because it taught me several important things about business
Now in the years after I considered myself an internet publisher The word ldquoblogrdquo or ldquobloggerrdquo hadnʼt really entered the lexicon yet By the time it had I had the same views as so many other people that blogging is mainly for personal journals and not for me
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 7
I was already a problogger even though I wasnʼt technically running blogging software
It wasnʼt until 2007 that I actually underwent the transition and switched to Wordpress It was quite an ordeal making that transition from my prior content management system Once I had though I re-learned the potential of a true blogging platform and fell in love with it
I was officially a blogger now
So I guess you could say my development into a problogger was a bit indirect People didnʼt really see me as a blogger because I didnʼt really see myself as a blogger I didnʼt talk about blogging Nobody knew me in that way
Once I switched to blogging officially I took more of an interest in the tactics and strategy specific to blogging I learned quite a bit
Around this same time I took more of an interest in internet marketing I saw the power of ACTUAL marketing on the Internet And I had seen successes with basic concepts in my own business
In 2008 I started DAVIDRISLEYCOM and I actually began to publicly talk about myself as a problogger and a six figure blogger Even though I am apparently new to the scene Iʼve actually been at this for some time now It has developed into a true passion and I wanted to begin to make my mark in the field
And here I am )
Today I make a good living as a blogger
I generate between $15000 and $20000 per month on average in my blogging business
I am able to provide a nice lifestyle for my little girl and my wife Weʼre able to travel In fact as I begin writing these very words I am sitting on a plane on my way to Las Vegas 3 weeks ago I took my wife to Manhattan for our
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 8
anniversary (and made over $5000 while I was there for 4 days) Not even two months before that my wife and I went on a week-long Caribbean cruise (and I made over $12000 while I was doing that) In another three weeks Iʼll be in San Diego
It doesnʼt suck
I still pinch myself that it is all done while I make my living as a blogger It just SOUNDS weird
So thatʼs my background From here on out weʼre going to focus on laying out a blueprint It is a blueprint developed over the years and borne out of necessity and setbacks Because early on I realized that I had to treat this like a business if I wanted to have ANY hope of success
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 9
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer IdeaAs with anything there is the high-level overview type of stuff and then there is the minutia that goes into it But in order to understand all the minutia (which comprises a lot more information and a lot more time to know) you need to understand what youʼre doing
Some people liken this to strategy versus tactics
If you picture a battlefield it is easier to understand this There is a war raging and the goal is to win the war You have letʼs say a general who goes into the war with an overall plan to win This is strategy Orders are then issued to commanders on the ground who are in the business of tactics Tactics are the smaller actions necessary to fulfill the strategy and the mission So ldquosurround them on two sides and attack at nightfallrdquo might be an overall strategy At the tactical level might be orders like ldquouse rubber bulletsrdquo (if the commander is feeling particularly nice)
So you see there is the grand view and then there is the ground-level view
If we spend all our time talking about tactics then what happens
Total confusion
Taken back into the area of internet business why do you think some people spend all this money on products to show them how to make money online yet never seem to make it Is it because the products donʼt deliver No It is because theyʼre too concentrated on tactics and have no direction to them at all
So letʼs take a birdʼs eye view first How does a blog actually generate any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 10
In short a blog is used to build up attention It is used to make people aware of you and then to build a relationship with them through good content These people are LEADS Then you FUNNEL these leads into offers
Thatʼs the simplicity of it
Blog attracts attention Then you sell stuff
Now what most bloggers try to do is only about half of this They try to build up a lot of traffic Then it all runs up into a brick wall and they end up just selling OTHER PEOPLEʼS STUFF via banner ads
Do you have any idea how limited that is It is a beginnerʼs way to monetize a blog To illustrate that look at this fact Letʼs say the average CPM (cost per thousand page views) for a banner ad is around $300 So you get 1000 page views and you make $300 You could have a million page views per month and youʼd still only make about $3000 per month Instead take that same 1000 page views and funnel them into a unique offer customized to that blogʼs audience Letʼs say the product cost $20 and maybe 1 of the people who go to the page actually buy it Thatʼs 10 sales or $200 Well $20000 is a LOT better than $300 isnʼt it
So person comes to your blog If youʼre doing your job correctly they find value in your blog Youʼve now got their attention You ask them for the lead (usually a subscription to an email list) Then the process begins of converting that lead into a sale
Thatʼs it Everything else is tactic
With that global concept in mind Iʼm going to walk you through some basics of how to set this up Things like
bull How do you decide what to blog aboutbull How do you get traffic to the sitebull How do you funnel that into an offer
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 11
ldquoBlog Attracts Attention Then You Sell Stuffrdquo
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
From Hobby Blogger To Six Figure Blogger13 4
In The Beginning There Was13 5
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer Idea13 10
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)13 13The Importance of Choosing The Right Market13 13
4 Factors For a Good Market13 15
Donʼt Forget Passion13 16
How To Get Traffic13 17First Things First13 17
But Donʼt Stop13 18
Build a List - Now13 19
Using Social Media Strategically 13 22
Seduce Donʼt Molest13 25
What About Search Engines13 26
OK Traffic Now What13 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash Machine13 28Making Money With Affiliate Marketing13 29
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income 13 31
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging13 32
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel13 35
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It Be13 37
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 2
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and Roadmap13 41
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into Hyperdrive13 45
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 3
From Hobby Blogger To Six Figure BloggerThe purpose of this report is simple to open your eyes to the true potential of professional blogging and to provide you a path forward
As I outlined in my report The Blogging Wealth Gap there is a fundamental cause to why most bloggers just donʼt make any decent money from their passions they suck at marketing
In that report I documented that fully I also gave you a very simple equation
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
This concept while simple is also fairly profound when you consider just how many bloggers out there completely fail to apply it
So the key to becoming a problogger and making six figures per year in this business is
bull Learning how to think like a marketerbull Learning to treat your blog like a business rather than a hobby
Even if it IS a hobby (which is hopefully the case) youʼve got to treat it like a business in order to make business-level income And youʼve got to do things that businesses would do
In this report I am going to outline an overall blueprint to designing a blogging business My goal is simply to get your gears churning and to get you thinking about your own blog in an income-producing way Iʼm confident that the pages ahead are going to represent what is likely an entirely new way of approaching blogging
Yours in Blogging SuccessDavid Risley
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 4
In The Beginning There WasWell not much
Iʼve been in this business for some time I actually started my first website way back in 1997 By around the turn of the century I was already making money at it My primary method of making money was banner ads By this time I had created PCMECHCOM It was then known as ldquoPC Mechanicrdquo and I basically just wrote about computer hardware and building PCs
In 2001 I graduated from college While in college I was making money both from the Internet as well as a job at Samʼs Club By the time graduation came along a decision needed to be made Find a regular job Or pursue my own thing
I was making money online Enough to pay my bills (which were understandably a lot lighter at the time) But I figured if I put my full efforts into it that I could make enough to live off of completely So I went my own way I graduated college and I was technically unemployed I went off into this world of internet publishing that hardly anybody understood
While this account is already abbreviated letʼs pause to make a point
Lesson 1 Necessity Level is definitely important to success online Youʼve got to NEED to do well In my case I graduated college and had no paycheck I had no choice but to make this work This was a factor in my development as a problogger Mindset is VERY important
Ok moving on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 5
Back up just a bit and letʼs recall the dot-com boom of the late 90ʼs People were of the mentality that if it was on the Internet it was gold You could print your own money by just having your own dot-com In the midst of this digital gold rush a company offered to BUY my website (PCMech) for a sum total of almost $1 Million
If you think I saw that and didnʼt have grandiose thoughts of being a college millionaire think again Iʼm human And I fell for it signing a contract
Long story short it was a bad deal I made some good money for some time but when the dot-com bust began and online businesses were dropping like flies the company who ldquoboughtrdquo PCMech ran into major difficulty as well The company was primarily a website aggregator buying up large chunks of digital real estate and putting ads on the sites Well when reality started to hit home that banner ads donʼt make businesses and that all this crap was WAY overvalued the crap hit the fan and I wasnʼt getting paid
Big problem My website was technically owned by somebody else and I wasnʼt making nearly enough money to pay my bills - even while in college
So again necessity level came in and I had to get inventive If banner advertising was proving to be so unreliable then perhaps selling something directly to my siteʼs audience would do better and be completely in my own control
So I created my first info product What was it A compilation of material previously written for my own site I compiled it into a nice e-book format threw in some bonuses and a few computer utilities and I burned it to a CD-ROM I literally just bought blank recordable discs at Staples burned the discs on my own computer stuffed them and ran them to the post office to fulfill orders
And guess what
It worked
People bought it And therein lies another lesson
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 6
Lesson 2 Sell Your Own Products
See I was doing banner ads I even sold a few things as an affiliate But the economic issues drove home to me a very import lesson very early on I guess you could say that it was forced upon me out of necessity
Lesson 3 Donʼt Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
I had all my eggs (or most of them) in banner advertising And I was getting burned So I started selling my own product
Looking back on it now the product SUCKED Knowing what I know now it is hard to believe anybody bought the damn thing
But I had managed to diversify my income and I did it by making my OWN offer I was selling this CD for $2199 and there were weeks where Iʼd sell 15 or 20 of the things So not huge money but it was $350-$400 per week that I wasnʼt making before
So when the crap REALLY hit the fan with this company I had my lawyer draw up a letter holding them in breach of contract (Funny how people think its cool to have a lawyer but in reality I was just paying somebody $350 an hour to read a contract and write a letter) I sent it to them and used my FTP access to their servers to essentially STEAL my own site back I did it under the radar but it wasnʼt stealing because they were 100 in breach and not paying me At the end of the day I had PCMechcom back into my rightful hands and in my full control
Looking back on that Iʼm glad I had the experience because it taught me several important things about business
Now in the years after I considered myself an internet publisher The word ldquoblogrdquo or ldquobloggerrdquo hadnʼt really entered the lexicon yet By the time it had I had the same views as so many other people that blogging is mainly for personal journals and not for me
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 7
I was already a problogger even though I wasnʼt technically running blogging software
It wasnʼt until 2007 that I actually underwent the transition and switched to Wordpress It was quite an ordeal making that transition from my prior content management system Once I had though I re-learned the potential of a true blogging platform and fell in love with it
I was officially a blogger now
So I guess you could say my development into a problogger was a bit indirect People didnʼt really see me as a blogger because I didnʼt really see myself as a blogger I didnʼt talk about blogging Nobody knew me in that way
Once I switched to blogging officially I took more of an interest in the tactics and strategy specific to blogging I learned quite a bit
Around this same time I took more of an interest in internet marketing I saw the power of ACTUAL marketing on the Internet And I had seen successes with basic concepts in my own business
In 2008 I started DAVIDRISLEYCOM and I actually began to publicly talk about myself as a problogger and a six figure blogger Even though I am apparently new to the scene Iʼve actually been at this for some time now It has developed into a true passion and I wanted to begin to make my mark in the field
And here I am )
Today I make a good living as a blogger
I generate between $15000 and $20000 per month on average in my blogging business
I am able to provide a nice lifestyle for my little girl and my wife Weʼre able to travel In fact as I begin writing these very words I am sitting on a plane on my way to Las Vegas 3 weeks ago I took my wife to Manhattan for our
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 8
anniversary (and made over $5000 while I was there for 4 days) Not even two months before that my wife and I went on a week-long Caribbean cruise (and I made over $12000 while I was doing that) In another three weeks Iʼll be in San Diego
It doesnʼt suck
I still pinch myself that it is all done while I make my living as a blogger It just SOUNDS weird
So thatʼs my background From here on out weʼre going to focus on laying out a blueprint It is a blueprint developed over the years and borne out of necessity and setbacks Because early on I realized that I had to treat this like a business if I wanted to have ANY hope of success
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 9
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer IdeaAs with anything there is the high-level overview type of stuff and then there is the minutia that goes into it But in order to understand all the minutia (which comprises a lot more information and a lot more time to know) you need to understand what youʼre doing
Some people liken this to strategy versus tactics
If you picture a battlefield it is easier to understand this There is a war raging and the goal is to win the war You have letʼs say a general who goes into the war with an overall plan to win This is strategy Orders are then issued to commanders on the ground who are in the business of tactics Tactics are the smaller actions necessary to fulfill the strategy and the mission So ldquosurround them on two sides and attack at nightfallrdquo might be an overall strategy At the tactical level might be orders like ldquouse rubber bulletsrdquo (if the commander is feeling particularly nice)
So you see there is the grand view and then there is the ground-level view
If we spend all our time talking about tactics then what happens
Total confusion
Taken back into the area of internet business why do you think some people spend all this money on products to show them how to make money online yet never seem to make it Is it because the products donʼt deliver No It is because theyʼre too concentrated on tactics and have no direction to them at all
So letʼs take a birdʼs eye view first How does a blog actually generate any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 10
In short a blog is used to build up attention It is used to make people aware of you and then to build a relationship with them through good content These people are LEADS Then you FUNNEL these leads into offers
Thatʼs the simplicity of it
Blog attracts attention Then you sell stuff
Now what most bloggers try to do is only about half of this They try to build up a lot of traffic Then it all runs up into a brick wall and they end up just selling OTHER PEOPLEʼS STUFF via banner ads
Do you have any idea how limited that is It is a beginnerʼs way to monetize a blog To illustrate that look at this fact Letʼs say the average CPM (cost per thousand page views) for a banner ad is around $300 So you get 1000 page views and you make $300 You could have a million page views per month and youʼd still only make about $3000 per month Instead take that same 1000 page views and funnel them into a unique offer customized to that blogʼs audience Letʼs say the product cost $20 and maybe 1 of the people who go to the page actually buy it Thatʼs 10 sales or $200 Well $20000 is a LOT better than $300 isnʼt it
So person comes to your blog If youʼre doing your job correctly they find value in your blog Youʼve now got their attention You ask them for the lead (usually a subscription to an email list) Then the process begins of converting that lead into a sale
Thatʼs it Everything else is tactic
With that global concept in mind Iʼm going to walk you through some basics of how to set this up Things like
bull How do you decide what to blog aboutbull How do you get traffic to the sitebull How do you funnel that into an offer
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 11
ldquoBlog Attracts Attention Then You Sell Stuffrdquo
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and Roadmap13 41
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into Hyperdrive13 45
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 3
From Hobby Blogger To Six Figure BloggerThe purpose of this report is simple to open your eyes to the true potential of professional blogging and to provide you a path forward
As I outlined in my report The Blogging Wealth Gap there is a fundamental cause to why most bloggers just donʼt make any decent money from their passions they suck at marketing
In that report I documented that fully I also gave you a very simple equation
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
This concept while simple is also fairly profound when you consider just how many bloggers out there completely fail to apply it
So the key to becoming a problogger and making six figures per year in this business is
bull Learning how to think like a marketerbull Learning to treat your blog like a business rather than a hobby
Even if it IS a hobby (which is hopefully the case) youʼve got to treat it like a business in order to make business-level income And youʼve got to do things that businesses would do
In this report I am going to outline an overall blueprint to designing a blogging business My goal is simply to get your gears churning and to get you thinking about your own blog in an income-producing way Iʼm confident that the pages ahead are going to represent what is likely an entirely new way of approaching blogging
Yours in Blogging SuccessDavid Risley
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 4
In The Beginning There WasWell not much
Iʼve been in this business for some time I actually started my first website way back in 1997 By around the turn of the century I was already making money at it My primary method of making money was banner ads By this time I had created PCMECHCOM It was then known as ldquoPC Mechanicrdquo and I basically just wrote about computer hardware and building PCs
In 2001 I graduated from college While in college I was making money both from the Internet as well as a job at Samʼs Club By the time graduation came along a decision needed to be made Find a regular job Or pursue my own thing
I was making money online Enough to pay my bills (which were understandably a lot lighter at the time) But I figured if I put my full efforts into it that I could make enough to live off of completely So I went my own way I graduated college and I was technically unemployed I went off into this world of internet publishing that hardly anybody understood
While this account is already abbreviated letʼs pause to make a point
Lesson 1 Necessity Level is definitely important to success online Youʼve got to NEED to do well In my case I graduated college and had no paycheck I had no choice but to make this work This was a factor in my development as a problogger Mindset is VERY important
Ok moving on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 5
Back up just a bit and letʼs recall the dot-com boom of the late 90ʼs People were of the mentality that if it was on the Internet it was gold You could print your own money by just having your own dot-com In the midst of this digital gold rush a company offered to BUY my website (PCMech) for a sum total of almost $1 Million
If you think I saw that and didnʼt have grandiose thoughts of being a college millionaire think again Iʼm human And I fell for it signing a contract
Long story short it was a bad deal I made some good money for some time but when the dot-com bust began and online businesses were dropping like flies the company who ldquoboughtrdquo PCMech ran into major difficulty as well The company was primarily a website aggregator buying up large chunks of digital real estate and putting ads on the sites Well when reality started to hit home that banner ads donʼt make businesses and that all this crap was WAY overvalued the crap hit the fan and I wasnʼt getting paid
Big problem My website was technically owned by somebody else and I wasnʼt making nearly enough money to pay my bills - even while in college
So again necessity level came in and I had to get inventive If banner advertising was proving to be so unreliable then perhaps selling something directly to my siteʼs audience would do better and be completely in my own control
So I created my first info product What was it A compilation of material previously written for my own site I compiled it into a nice e-book format threw in some bonuses and a few computer utilities and I burned it to a CD-ROM I literally just bought blank recordable discs at Staples burned the discs on my own computer stuffed them and ran them to the post office to fulfill orders
And guess what
It worked
People bought it And therein lies another lesson
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 6
Lesson 2 Sell Your Own Products
See I was doing banner ads I even sold a few things as an affiliate But the economic issues drove home to me a very import lesson very early on I guess you could say that it was forced upon me out of necessity
Lesson 3 Donʼt Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
I had all my eggs (or most of them) in banner advertising And I was getting burned So I started selling my own product
Looking back on it now the product SUCKED Knowing what I know now it is hard to believe anybody bought the damn thing
But I had managed to diversify my income and I did it by making my OWN offer I was selling this CD for $2199 and there were weeks where Iʼd sell 15 or 20 of the things So not huge money but it was $350-$400 per week that I wasnʼt making before
So when the crap REALLY hit the fan with this company I had my lawyer draw up a letter holding them in breach of contract (Funny how people think its cool to have a lawyer but in reality I was just paying somebody $350 an hour to read a contract and write a letter) I sent it to them and used my FTP access to their servers to essentially STEAL my own site back I did it under the radar but it wasnʼt stealing because they were 100 in breach and not paying me At the end of the day I had PCMechcom back into my rightful hands and in my full control
Looking back on that Iʼm glad I had the experience because it taught me several important things about business
Now in the years after I considered myself an internet publisher The word ldquoblogrdquo or ldquobloggerrdquo hadnʼt really entered the lexicon yet By the time it had I had the same views as so many other people that blogging is mainly for personal journals and not for me
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 7
I was already a problogger even though I wasnʼt technically running blogging software
It wasnʼt until 2007 that I actually underwent the transition and switched to Wordpress It was quite an ordeal making that transition from my prior content management system Once I had though I re-learned the potential of a true blogging platform and fell in love with it
I was officially a blogger now
So I guess you could say my development into a problogger was a bit indirect People didnʼt really see me as a blogger because I didnʼt really see myself as a blogger I didnʼt talk about blogging Nobody knew me in that way
Once I switched to blogging officially I took more of an interest in the tactics and strategy specific to blogging I learned quite a bit
Around this same time I took more of an interest in internet marketing I saw the power of ACTUAL marketing on the Internet And I had seen successes with basic concepts in my own business
In 2008 I started DAVIDRISLEYCOM and I actually began to publicly talk about myself as a problogger and a six figure blogger Even though I am apparently new to the scene Iʼve actually been at this for some time now It has developed into a true passion and I wanted to begin to make my mark in the field
And here I am )
Today I make a good living as a blogger
I generate between $15000 and $20000 per month on average in my blogging business
I am able to provide a nice lifestyle for my little girl and my wife Weʼre able to travel In fact as I begin writing these very words I am sitting on a plane on my way to Las Vegas 3 weeks ago I took my wife to Manhattan for our
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 8
anniversary (and made over $5000 while I was there for 4 days) Not even two months before that my wife and I went on a week-long Caribbean cruise (and I made over $12000 while I was doing that) In another three weeks Iʼll be in San Diego
It doesnʼt suck
I still pinch myself that it is all done while I make my living as a blogger It just SOUNDS weird
So thatʼs my background From here on out weʼre going to focus on laying out a blueprint It is a blueprint developed over the years and borne out of necessity and setbacks Because early on I realized that I had to treat this like a business if I wanted to have ANY hope of success
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 9
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer IdeaAs with anything there is the high-level overview type of stuff and then there is the minutia that goes into it But in order to understand all the minutia (which comprises a lot more information and a lot more time to know) you need to understand what youʼre doing
Some people liken this to strategy versus tactics
If you picture a battlefield it is easier to understand this There is a war raging and the goal is to win the war You have letʼs say a general who goes into the war with an overall plan to win This is strategy Orders are then issued to commanders on the ground who are in the business of tactics Tactics are the smaller actions necessary to fulfill the strategy and the mission So ldquosurround them on two sides and attack at nightfallrdquo might be an overall strategy At the tactical level might be orders like ldquouse rubber bulletsrdquo (if the commander is feeling particularly nice)
So you see there is the grand view and then there is the ground-level view
If we spend all our time talking about tactics then what happens
Total confusion
Taken back into the area of internet business why do you think some people spend all this money on products to show them how to make money online yet never seem to make it Is it because the products donʼt deliver No It is because theyʼre too concentrated on tactics and have no direction to them at all
So letʼs take a birdʼs eye view first How does a blog actually generate any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 10
In short a blog is used to build up attention It is used to make people aware of you and then to build a relationship with them through good content These people are LEADS Then you FUNNEL these leads into offers
Thatʼs the simplicity of it
Blog attracts attention Then you sell stuff
Now what most bloggers try to do is only about half of this They try to build up a lot of traffic Then it all runs up into a brick wall and they end up just selling OTHER PEOPLEʼS STUFF via banner ads
Do you have any idea how limited that is It is a beginnerʼs way to monetize a blog To illustrate that look at this fact Letʼs say the average CPM (cost per thousand page views) for a banner ad is around $300 So you get 1000 page views and you make $300 You could have a million page views per month and youʼd still only make about $3000 per month Instead take that same 1000 page views and funnel them into a unique offer customized to that blogʼs audience Letʼs say the product cost $20 and maybe 1 of the people who go to the page actually buy it Thatʼs 10 sales or $200 Well $20000 is a LOT better than $300 isnʼt it
So person comes to your blog If youʼre doing your job correctly they find value in your blog Youʼve now got their attention You ask them for the lead (usually a subscription to an email list) Then the process begins of converting that lead into a sale
Thatʼs it Everything else is tactic
With that global concept in mind Iʼm going to walk you through some basics of how to set this up Things like
bull How do you decide what to blog aboutbull How do you get traffic to the sitebull How do you funnel that into an offer
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 11
ldquoBlog Attracts Attention Then You Sell Stuffrdquo
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
From Hobby Blogger To Six Figure BloggerThe purpose of this report is simple to open your eyes to the true potential of professional blogging and to provide you a path forward
As I outlined in my report The Blogging Wealth Gap there is a fundamental cause to why most bloggers just donʼt make any decent money from their passions they suck at marketing
In that report I documented that fully I also gave you a very simple equation
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
This concept while simple is also fairly profound when you consider just how many bloggers out there completely fail to apply it
So the key to becoming a problogger and making six figures per year in this business is
bull Learning how to think like a marketerbull Learning to treat your blog like a business rather than a hobby
Even if it IS a hobby (which is hopefully the case) youʼve got to treat it like a business in order to make business-level income And youʼve got to do things that businesses would do
In this report I am going to outline an overall blueprint to designing a blogging business My goal is simply to get your gears churning and to get you thinking about your own blog in an income-producing way Iʼm confident that the pages ahead are going to represent what is likely an entirely new way of approaching blogging
Yours in Blogging SuccessDavid Risley
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 4
In The Beginning There WasWell not much
Iʼve been in this business for some time I actually started my first website way back in 1997 By around the turn of the century I was already making money at it My primary method of making money was banner ads By this time I had created PCMECHCOM It was then known as ldquoPC Mechanicrdquo and I basically just wrote about computer hardware and building PCs
In 2001 I graduated from college While in college I was making money both from the Internet as well as a job at Samʼs Club By the time graduation came along a decision needed to be made Find a regular job Or pursue my own thing
I was making money online Enough to pay my bills (which were understandably a lot lighter at the time) But I figured if I put my full efforts into it that I could make enough to live off of completely So I went my own way I graduated college and I was technically unemployed I went off into this world of internet publishing that hardly anybody understood
While this account is already abbreviated letʼs pause to make a point
Lesson 1 Necessity Level is definitely important to success online Youʼve got to NEED to do well In my case I graduated college and had no paycheck I had no choice but to make this work This was a factor in my development as a problogger Mindset is VERY important
Ok moving on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 5
Back up just a bit and letʼs recall the dot-com boom of the late 90ʼs People were of the mentality that if it was on the Internet it was gold You could print your own money by just having your own dot-com In the midst of this digital gold rush a company offered to BUY my website (PCMech) for a sum total of almost $1 Million
If you think I saw that and didnʼt have grandiose thoughts of being a college millionaire think again Iʼm human And I fell for it signing a contract
Long story short it was a bad deal I made some good money for some time but when the dot-com bust began and online businesses were dropping like flies the company who ldquoboughtrdquo PCMech ran into major difficulty as well The company was primarily a website aggregator buying up large chunks of digital real estate and putting ads on the sites Well when reality started to hit home that banner ads donʼt make businesses and that all this crap was WAY overvalued the crap hit the fan and I wasnʼt getting paid
Big problem My website was technically owned by somebody else and I wasnʼt making nearly enough money to pay my bills - even while in college
So again necessity level came in and I had to get inventive If banner advertising was proving to be so unreliable then perhaps selling something directly to my siteʼs audience would do better and be completely in my own control
So I created my first info product What was it A compilation of material previously written for my own site I compiled it into a nice e-book format threw in some bonuses and a few computer utilities and I burned it to a CD-ROM I literally just bought blank recordable discs at Staples burned the discs on my own computer stuffed them and ran them to the post office to fulfill orders
And guess what
It worked
People bought it And therein lies another lesson
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 6
Lesson 2 Sell Your Own Products
See I was doing banner ads I even sold a few things as an affiliate But the economic issues drove home to me a very import lesson very early on I guess you could say that it was forced upon me out of necessity
Lesson 3 Donʼt Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
I had all my eggs (or most of them) in banner advertising And I was getting burned So I started selling my own product
Looking back on it now the product SUCKED Knowing what I know now it is hard to believe anybody bought the damn thing
But I had managed to diversify my income and I did it by making my OWN offer I was selling this CD for $2199 and there were weeks where Iʼd sell 15 or 20 of the things So not huge money but it was $350-$400 per week that I wasnʼt making before
So when the crap REALLY hit the fan with this company I had my lawyer draw up a letter holding them in breach of contract (Funny how people think its cool to have a lawyer but in reality I was just paying somebody $350 an hour to read a contract and write a letter) I sent it to them and used my FTP access to their servers to essentially STEAL my own site back I did it under the radar but it wasnʼt stealing because they were 100 in breach and not paying me At the end of the day I had PCMechcom back into my rightful hands and in my full control
Looking back on that Iʼm glad I had the experience because it taught me several important things about business
Now in the years after I considered myself an internet publisher The word ldquoblogrdquo or ldquobloggerrdquo hadnʼt really entered the lexicon yet By the time it had I had the same views as so many other people that blogging is mainly for personal journals and not for me
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 7
I was already a problogger even though I wasnʼt technically running blogging software
It wasnʼt until 2007 that I actually underwent the transition and switched to Wordpress It was quite an ordeal making that transition from my prior content management system Once I had though I re-learned the potential of a true blogging platform and fell in love with it
I was officially a blogger now
So I guess you could say my development into a problogger was a bit indirect People didnʼt really see me as a blogger because I didnʼt really see myself as a blogger I didnʼt talk about blogging Nobody knew me in that way
Once I switched to blogging officially I took more of an interest in the tactics and strategy specific to blogging I learned quite a bit
Around this same time I took more of an interest in internet marketing I saw the power of ACTUAL marketing on the Internet And I had seen successes with basic concepts in my own business
In 2008 I started DAVIDRISLEYCOM and I actually began to publicly talk about myself as a problogger and a six figure blogger Even though I am apparently new to the scene Iʼve actually been at this for some time now It has developed into a true passion and I wanted to begin to make my mark in the field
And here I am )
Today I make a good living as a blogger
I generate between $15000 and $20000 per month on average in my blogging business
I am able to provide a nice lifestyle for my little girl and my wife Weʼre able to travel In fact as I begin writing these very words I am sitting on a plane on my way to Las Vegas 3 weeks ago I took my wife to Manhattan for our
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 8
anniversary (and made over $5000 while I was there for 4 days) Not even two months before that my wife and I went on a week-long Caribbean cruise (and I made over $12000 while I was doing that) In another three weeks Iʼll be in San Diego
It doesnʼt suck
I still pinch myself that it is all done while I make my living as a blogger It just SOUNDS weird
So thatʼs my background From here on out weʼre going to focus on laying out a blueprint It is a blueprint developed over the years and borne out of necessity and setbacks Because early on I realized that I had to treat this like a business if I wanted to have ANY hope of success
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 9
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer IdeaAs with anything there is the high-level overview type of stuff and then there is the minutia that goes into it But in order to understand all the minutia (which comprises a lot more information and a lot more time to know) you need to understand what youʼre doing
Some people liken this to strategy versus tactics
If you picture a battlefield it is easier to understand this There is a war raging and the goal is to win the war You have letʼs say a general who goes into the war with an overall plan to win This is strategy Orders are then issued to commanders on the ground who are in the business of tactics Tactics are the smaller actions necessary to fulfill the strategy and the mission So ldquosurround them on two sides and attack at nightfallrdquo might be an overall strategy At the tactical level might be orders like ldquouse rubber bulletsrdquo (if the commander is feeling particularly nice)
So you see there is the grand view and then there is the ground-level view
If we spend all our time talking about tactics then what happens
Total confusion
Taken back into the area of internet business why do you think some people spend all this money on products to show them how to make money online yet never seem to make it Is it because the products donʼt deliver No It is because theyʼre too concentrated on tactics and have no direction to them at all
So letʼs take a birdʼs eye view first How does a blog actually generate any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 10
In short a blog is used to build up attention It is used to make people aware of you and then to build a relationship with them through good content These people are LEADS Then you FUNNEL these leads into offers
Thatʼs the simplicity of it
Blog attracts attention Then you sell stuff
Now what most bloggers try to do is only about half of this They try to build up a lot of traffic Then it all runs up into a brick wall and they end up just selling OTHER PEOPLEʼS STUFF via banner ads
Do you have any idea how limited that is It is a beginnerʼs way to monetize a blog To illustrate that look at this fact Letʼs say the average CPM (cost per thousand page views) for a banner ad is around $300 So you get 1000 page views and you make $300 You could have a million page views per month and youʼd still only make about $3000 per month Instead take that same 1000 page views and funnel them into a unique offer customized to that blogʼs audience Letʼs say the product cost $20 and maybe 1 of the people who go to the page actually buy it Thatʼs 10 sales or $200 Well $20000 is a LOT better than $300 isnʼt it
So person comes to your blog If youʼre doing your job correctly they find value in your blog Youʼve now got their attention You ask them for the lead (usually a subscription to an email list) Then the process begins of converting that lead into a sale
Thatʼs it Everything else is tactic
With that global concept in mind Iʼm going to walk you through some basics of how to set this up Things like
bull How do you decide what to blog aboutbull How do you get traffic to the sitebull How do you funnel that into an offer
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 11
ldquoBlog Attracts Attention Then You Sell Stuffrdquo
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
In The Beginning There WasWell not much
Iʼve been in this business for some time I actually started my first website way back in 1997 By around the turn of the century I was already making money at it My primary method of making money was banner ads By this time I had created PCMECHCOM It was then known as ldquoPC Mechanicrdquo and I basically just wrote about computer hardware and building PCs
In 2001 I graduated from college While in college I was making money both from the Internet as well as a job at Samʼs Club By the time graduation came along a decision needed to be made Find a regular job Or pursue my own thing
I was making money online Enough to pay my bills (which were understandably a lot lighter at the time) But I figured if I put my full efforts into it that I could make enough to live off of completely So I went my own way I graduated college and I was technically unemployed I went off into this world of internet publishing that hardly anybody understood
While this account is already abbreviated letʼs pause to make a point
Lesson 1 Necessity Level is definitely important to success online Youʼve got to NEED to do well In my case I graduated college and had no paycheck I had no choice but to make this work This was a factor in my development as a problogger Mindset is VERY important
Ok moving on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 5
Back up just a bit and letʼs recall the dot-com boom of the late 90ʼs People were of the mentality that if it was on the Internet it was gold You could print your own money by just having your own dot-com In the midst of this digital gold rush a company offered to BUY my website (PCMech) for a sum total of almost $1 Million
If you think I saw that and didnʼt have grandiose thoughts of being a college millionaire think again Iʼm human And I fell for it signing a contract
Long story short it was a bad deal I made some good money for some time but when the dot-com bust began and online businesses were dropping like flies the company who ldquoboughtrdquo PCMech ran into major difficulty as well The company was primarily a website aggregator buying up large chunks of digital real estate and putting ads on the sites Well when reality started to hit home that banner ads donʼt make businesses and that all this crap was WAY overvalued the crap hit the fan and I wasnʼt getting paid
Big problem My website was technically owned by somebody else and I wasnʼt making nearly enough money to pay my bills - even while in college
So again necessity level came in and I had to get inventive If banner advertising was proving to be so unreliable then perhaps selling something directly to my siteʼs audience would do better and be completely in my own control
So I created my first info product What was it A compilation of material previously written for my own site I compiled it into a nice e-book format threw in some bonuses and a few computer utilities and I burned it to a CD-ROM I literally just bought blank recordable discs at Staples burned the discs on my own computer stuffed them and ran them to the post office to fulfill orders
And guess what
It worked
People bought it And therein lies another lesson
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 6
Lesson 2 Sell Your Own Products
See I was doing banner ads I even sold a few things as an affiliate But the economic issues drove home to me a very import lesson very early on I guess you could say that it was forced upon me out of necessity
Lesson 3 Donʼt Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
I had all my eggs (or most of them) in banner advertising And I was getting burned So I started selling my own product
Looking back on it now the product SUCKED Knowing what I know now it is hard to believe anybody bought the damn thing
But I had managed to diversify my income and I did it by making my OWN offer I was selling this CD for $2199 and there were weeks where Iʼd sell 15 or 20 of the things So not huge money but it was $350-$400 per week that I wasnʼt making before
So when the crap REALLY hit the fan with this company I had my lawyer draw up a letter holding them in breach of contract (Funny how people think its cool to have a lawyer but in reality I was just paying somebody $350 an hour to read a contract and write a letter) I sent it to them and used my FTP access to their servers to essentially STEAL my own site back I did it under the radar but it wasnʼt stealing because they were 100 in breach and not paying me At the end of the day I had PCMechcom back into my rightful hands and in my full control
Looking back on that Iʼm glad I had the experience because it taught me several important things about business
Now in the years after I considered myself an internet publisher The word ldquoblogrdquo or ldquobloggerrdquo hadnʼt really entered the lexicon yet By the time it had I had the same views as so many other people that blogging is mainly for personal journals and not for me
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 7
I was already a problogger even though I wasnʼt technically running blogging software
It wasnʼt until 2007 that I actually underwent the transition and switched to Wordpress It was quite an ordeal making that transition from my prior content management system Once I had though I re-learned the potential of a true blogging platform and fell in love with it
I was officially a blogger now
So I guess you could say my development into a problogger was a bit indirect People didnʼt really see me as a blogger because I didnʼt really see myself as a blogger I didnʼt talk about blogging Nobody knew me in that way
Once I switched to blogging officially I took more of an interest in the tactics and strategy specific to blogging I learned quite a bit
Around this same time I took more of an interest in internet marketing I saw the power of ACTUAL marketing on the Internet And I had seen successes with basic concepts in my own business
In 2008 I started DAVIDRISLEYCOM and I actually began to publicly talk about myself as a problogger and a six figure blogger Even though I am apparently new to the scene Iʼve actually been at this for some time now It has developed into a true passion and I wanted to begin to make my mark in the field
And here I am )
Today I make a good living as a blogger
I generate between $15000 and $20000 per month on average in my blogging business
I am able to provide a nice lifestyle for my little girl and my wife Weʼre able to travel In fact as I begin writing these very words I am sitting on a plane on my way to Las Vegas 3 weeks ago I took my wife to Manhattan for our
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 8
anniversary (and made over $5000 while I was there for 4 days) Not even two months before that my wife and I went on a week-long Caribbean cruise (and I made over $12000 while I was doing that) In another three weeks Iʼll be in San Diego
It doesnʼt suck
I still pinch myself that it is all done while I make my living as a blogger It just SOUNDS weird
So thatʼs my background From here on out weʼre going to focus on laying out a blueprint It is a blueprint developed over the years and borne out of necessity and setbacks Because early on I realized that I had to treat this like a business if I wanted to have ANY hope of success
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 9
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer IdeaAs with anything there is the high-level overview type of stuff and then there is the minutia that goes into it But in order to understand all the minutia (which comprises a lot more information and a lot more time to know) you need to understand what youʼre doing
Some people liken this to strategy versus tactics
If you picture a battlefield it is easier to understand this There is a war raging and the goal is to win the war You have letʼs say a general who goes into the war with an overall plan to win This is strategy Orders are then issued to commanders on the ground who are in the business of tactics Tactics are the smaller actions necessary to fulfill the strategy and the mission So ldquosurround them on two sides and attack at nightfallrdquo might be an overall strategy At the tactical level might be orders like ldquouse rubber bulletsrdquo (if the commander is feeling particularly nice)
So you see there is the grand view and then there is the ground-level view
If we spend all our time talking about tactics then what happens
Total confusion
Taken back into the area of internet business why do you think some people spend all this money on products to show them how to make money online yet never seem to make it Is it because the products donʼt deliver No It is because theyʼre too concentrated on tactics and have no direction to them at all
So letʼs take a birdʼs eye view first How does a blog actually generate any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 10
In short a blog is used to build up attention It is used to make people aware of you and then to build a relationship with them through good content These people are LEADS Then you FUNNEL these leads into offers
Thatʼs the simplicity of it
Blog attracts attention Then you sell stuff
Now what most bloggers try to do is only about half of this They try to build up a lot of traffic Then it all runs up into a brick wall and they end up just selling OTHER PEOPLEʼS STUFF via banner ads
Do you have any idea how limited that is It is a beginnerʼs way to monetize a blog To illustrate that look at this fact Letʼs say the average CPM (cost per thousand page views) for a banner ad is around $300 So you get 1000 page views and you make $300 You could have a million page views per month and youʼd still only make about $3000 per month Instead take that same 1000 page views and funnel them into a unique offer customized to that blogʼs audience Letʼs say the product cost $20 and maybe 1 of the people who go to the page actually buy it Thatʼs 10 sales or $200 Well $20000 is a LOT better than $300 isnʼt it
So person comes to your blog If youʼre doing your job correctly they find value in your blog Youʼve now got their attention You ask them for the lead (usually a subscription to an email list) Then the process begins of converting that lead into a sale
Thatʼs it Everything else is tactic
With that global concept in mind Iʼm going to walk you through some basics of how to set this up Things like
bull How do you decide what to blog aboutbull How do you get traffic to the sitebull How do you funnel that into an offer
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 11
ldquoBlog Attracts Attention Then You Sell Stuffrdquo
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Back up just a bit and letʼs recall the dot-com boom of the late 90ʼs People were of the mentality that if it was on the Internet it was gold You could print your own money by just having your own dot-com In the midst of this digital gold rush a company offered to BUY my website (PCMech) for a sum total of almost $1 Million
If you think I saw that and didnʼt have grandiose thoughts of being a college millionaire think again Iʼm human And I fell for it signing a contract
Long story short it was a bad deal I made some good money for some time but when the dot-com bust began and online businesses were dropping like flies the company who ldquoboughtrdquo PCMech ran into major difficulty as well The company was primarily a website aggregator buying up large chunks of digital real estate and putting ads on the sites Well when reality started to hit home that banner ads donʼt make businesses and that all this crap was WAY overvalued the crap hit the fan and I wasnʼt getting paid
Big problem My website was technically owned by somebody else and I wasnʼt making nearly enough money to pay my bills - even while in college
So again necessity level came in and I had to get inventive If banner advertising was proving to be so unreliable then perhaps selling something directly to my siteʼs audience would do better and be completely in my own control
So I created my first info product What was it A compilation of material previously written for my own site I compiled it into a nice e-book format threw in some bonuses and a few computer utilities and I burned it to a CD-ROM I literally just bought blank recordable discs at Staples burned the discs on my own computer stuffed them and ran them to the post office to fulfill orders
And guess what
It worked
People bought it And therein lies another lesson
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 6
Lesson 2 Sell Your Own Products
See I was doing banner ads I even sold a few things as an affiliate But the economic issues drove home to me a very import lesson very early on I guess you could say that it was forced upon me out of necessity
Lesson 3 Donʼt Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
I had all my eggs (or most of them) in banner advertising And I was getting burned So I started selling my own product
Looking back on it now the product SUCKED Knowing what I know now it is hard to believe anybody bought the damn thing
But I had managed to diversify my income and I did it by making my OWN offer I was selling this CD for $2199 and there were weeks where Iʼd sell 15 or 20 of the things So not huge money but it was $350-$400 per week that I wasnʼt making before
So when the crap REALLY hit the fan with this company I had my lawyer draw up a letter holding them in breach of contract (Funny how people think its cool to have a lawyer but in reality I was just paying somebody $350 an hour to read a contract and write a letter) I sent it to them and used my FTP access to their servers to essentially STEAL my own site back I did it under the radar but it wasnʼt stealing because they were 100 in breach and not paying me At the end of the day I had PCMechcom back into my rightful hands and in my full control
Looking back on that Iʼm glad I had the experience because it taught me several important things about business
Now in the years after I considered myself an internet publisher The word ldquoblogrdquo or ldquobloggerrdquo hadnʼt really entered the lexicon yet By the time it had I had the same views as so many other people that blogging is mainly for personal journals and not for me
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 7
I was already a problogger even though I wasnʼt technically running blogging software
It wasnʼt until 2007 that I actually underwent the transition and switched to Wordpress It was quite an ordeal making that transition from my prior content management system Once I had though I re-learned the potential of a true blogging platform and fell in love with it
I was officially a blogger now
So I guess you could say my development into a problogger was a bit indirect People didnʼt really see me as a blogger because I didnʼt really see myself as a blogger I didnʼt talk about blogging Nobody knew me in that way
Once I switched to blogging officially I took more of an interest in the tactics and strategy specific to blogging I learned quite a bit
Around this same time I took more of an interest in internet marketing I saw the power of ACTUAL marketing on the Internet And I had seen successes with basic concepts in my own business
In 2008 I started DAVIDRISLEYCOM and I actually began to publicly talk about myself as a problogger and a six figure blogger Even though I am apparently new to the scene Iʼve actually been at this for some time now It has developed into a true passion and I wanted to begin to make my mark in the field
And here I am )
Today I make a good living as a blogger
I generate between $15000 and $20000 per month on average in my blogging business
I am able to provide a nice lifestyle for my little girl and my wife Weʼre able to travel In fact as I begin writing these very words I am sitting on a plane on my way to Las Vegas 3 weeks ago I took my wife to Manhattan for our
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 8
anniversary (and made over $5000 while I was there for 4 days) Not even two months before that my wife and I went on a week-long Caribbean cruise (and I made over $12000 while I was doing that) In another three weeks Iʼll be in San Diego
It doesnʼt suck
I still pinch myself that it is all done while I make my living as a blogger It just SOUNDS weird
So thatʼs my background From here on out weʼre going to focus on laying out a blueprint It is a blueprint developed over the years and borne out of necessity and setbacks Because early on I realized that I had to treat this like a business if I wanted to have ANY hope of success
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 9
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer IdeaAs with anything there is the high-level overview type of stuff and then there is the minutia that goes into it But in order to understand all the minutia (which comprises a lot more information and a lot more time to know) you need to understand what youʼre doing
Some people liken this to strategy versus tactics
If you picture a battlefield it is easier to understand this There is a war raging and the goal is to win the war You have letʼs say a general who goes into the war with an overall plan to win This is strategy Orders are then issued to commanders on the ground who are in the business of tactics Tactics are the smaller actions necessary to fulfill the strategy and the mission So ldquosurround them on two sides and attack at nightfallrdquo might be an overall strategy At the tactical level might be orders like ldquouse rubber bulletsrdquo (if the commander is feeling particularly nice)
So you see there is the grand view and then there is the ground-level view
If we spend all our time talking about tactics then what happens
Total confusion
Taken back into the area of internet business why do you think some people spend all this money on products to show them how to make money online yet never seem to make it Is it because the products donʼt deliver No It is because theyʼre too concentrated on tactics and have no direction to them at all
So letʼs take a birdʼs eye view first How does a blog actually generate any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 10
In short a blog is used to build up attention It is used to make people aware of you and then to build a relationship with them through good content These people are LEADS Then you FUNNEL these leads into offers
Thatʼs the simplicity of it
Blog attracts attention Then you sell stuff
Now what most bloggers try to do is only about half of this They try to build up a lot of traffic Then it all runs up into a brick wall and they end up just selling OTHER PEOPLEʼS STUFF via banner ads
Do you have any idea how limited that is It is a beginnerʼs way to monetize a blog To illustrate that look at this fact Letʼs say the average CPM (cost per thousand page views) for a banner ad is around $300 So you get 1000 page views and you make $300 You could have a million page views per month and youʼd still only make about $3000 per month Instead take that same 1000 page views and funnel them into a unique offer customized to that blogʼs audience Letʼs say the product cost $20 and maybe 1 of the people who go to the page actually buy it Thatʼs 10 sales or $200 Well $20000 is a LOT better than $300 isnʼt it
So person comes to your blog If youʼre doing your job correctly they find value in your blog Youʼve now got their attention You ask them for the lead (usually a subscription to an email list) Then the process begins of converting that lead into a sale
Thatʼs it Everything else is tactic
With that global concept in mind Iʼm going to walk you through some basics of how to set this up Things like
bull How do you decide what to blog aboutbull How do you get traffic to the sitebull How do you funnel that into an offer
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 11
ldquoBlog Attracts Attention Then You Sell Stuffrdquo
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Lesson 2 Sell Your Own Products
See I was doing banner ads I even sold a few things as an affiliate But the economic issues drove home to me a very import lesson very early on I guess you could say that it was forced upon me out of necessity
Lesson 3 Donʼt Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
I had all my eggs (or most of them) in banner advertising And I was getting burned So I started selling my own product
Looking back on it now the product SUCKED Knowing what I know now it is hard to believe anybody bought the damn thing
But I had managed to diversify my income and I did it by making my OWN offer I was selling this CD for $2199 and there were weeks where Iʼd sell 15 or 20 of the things So not huge money but it was $350-$400 per week that I wasnʼt making before
So when the crap REALLY hit the fan with this company I had my lawyer draw up a letter holding them in breach of contract (Funny how people think its cool to have a lawyer but in reality I was just paying somebody $350 an hour to read a contract and write a letter) I sent it to them and used my FTP access to their servers to essentially STEAL my own site back I did it under the radar but it wasnʼt stealing because they were 100 in breach and not paying me At the end of the day I had PCMechcom back into my rightful hands and in my full control
Looking back on that Iʼm glad I had the experience because it taught me several important things about business
Now in the years after I considered myself an internet publisher The word ldquoblogrdquo or ldquobloggerrdquo hadnʼt really entered the lexicon yet By the time it had I had the same views as so many other people that blogging is mainly for personal journals and not for me
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 7
I was already a problogger even though I wasnʼt technically running blogging software
It wasnʼt until 2007 that I actually underwent the transition and switched to Wordpress It was quite an ordeal making that transition from my prior content management system Once I had though I re-learned the potential of a true blogging platform and fell in love with it
I was officially a blogger now
So I guess you could say my development into a problogger was a bit indirect People didnʼt really see me as a blogger because I didnʼt really see myself as a blogger I didnʼt talk about blogging Nobody knew me in that way
Once I switched to blogging officially I took more of an interest in the tactics and strategy specific to blogging I learned quite a bit
Around this same time I took more of an interest in internet marketing I saw the power of ACTUAL marketing on the Internet And I had seen successes with basic concepts in my own business
In 2008 I started DAVIDRISLEYCOM and I actually began to publicly talk about myself as a problogger and a six figure blogger Even though I am apparently new to the scene Iʼve actually been at this for some time now It has developed into a true passion and I wanted to begin to make my mark in the field
And here I am )
Today I make a good living as a blogger
I generate between $15000 and $20000 per month on average in my blogging business
I am able to provide a nice lifestyle for my little girl and my wife Weʼre able to travel In fact as I begin writing these very words I am sitting on a plane on my way to Las Vegas 3 weeks ago I took my wife to Manhattan for our
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 8
anniversary (and made over $5000 while I was there for 4 days) Not even two months before that my wife and I went on a week-long Caribbean cruise (and I made over $12000 while I was doing that) In another three weeks Iʼll be in San Diego
It doesnʼt suck
I still pinch myself that it is all done while I make my living as a blogger It just SOUNDS weird
So thatʼs my background From here on out weʼre going to focus on laying out a blueprint It is a blueprint developed over the years and borne out of necessity and setbacks Because early on I realized that I had to treat this like a business if I wanted to have ANY hope of success
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 9
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer IdeaAs with anything there is the high-level overview type of stuff and then there is the minutia that goes into it But in order to understand all the minutia (which comprises a lot more information and a lot more time to know) you need to understand what youʼre doing
Some people liken this to strategy versus tactics
If you picture a battlefield it is easier to understand this There is a war raging and the goal is to win the war You have letʼs say a general who goes into the war with an overall plan to win This is strategy Orders are then issued to commanders on the ground who are in the business of tactics Tactics are the smaller actions necessary to fulfill the strategy and the mission So ldquosurround them on two sides and attack at nightfallrdquo might be an overall strategy At the tactical level might be orders like ldquouse rubber bulletsrdquo (if the commander is feeling particularly nice)
So you see there is the grand view and then there is the ground-level view
If we spend all our time talking about tactics then what happens
Total confusion
Taken back into the area of internet business why do you think some people spend all this money on products to show them how to make money online yet never seem to make it Is it because the products donʼt deliver No It is because theyʼre too concentrated on tactics and have no direction to them at all
So letʼs take a birdʼs eye view first How does a blog actually generate any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 10
In short a blog is used to build up attention It is used to make people aware of you and then to build a relationship with them through good content These people are LEADS Then you FUNNEL these leads into offers
Thatʼs the simplicity of it
Blog attracts attention Then you sell stuff
Now what most bloggers try to do is only about half of this They try to build up a lot of traffic Then it all runs up into a brick wall and they end up just selling OTHER PEOPLEʼS STUFF via banner ads
Do you have any idea how limited that is It is a beginnerʼs way to monetize a blog To illustrate that look at this fact Letʼs say the average CPM (cost per thousand page views) for a banner ad is around $300 So you get 1000 page views and you make $300 You could have a million page views per month and youʼd still only make about $3000 per month Instead take that same 1000 page views and funnel them into a unique offer customized to that blogʼs audience Letʼs say the product cost $20 and maybe 1 of the people who go to the page actually buy it Thatʼs 10 sales or $200 Well $20000 is a LOT better than $300 isnʼt it
So person comes to your blog If youʼre doing your job correctly they find value in your blog Youʼve now got their attention You ask them for the lead (usually a subscription to an email list) Then the process begins of converting that lead into a sale
Thatʼs it Everything else is tactic
With that global concept in mind Iʼm going to walk you through some basics of how to set this up Things like
bull How do you decide what to blog aboutbull How do you get traffic to the sitebull How do you funnel that into an offer
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 11
ldquoBlog Attracts Attention Then You Sell Stuffrdquo
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
I was already a problogger even though I wasnʼt technically running blogging software
It wasnʼt until 2007 that I actually underwent the transition and switched to Wordpress It was quite an ordeal making that transition from my prior content management system Once I had though I re-learned the potential of a true blogging platform and fell in love with it
I was officially a blogger now
So I guess you could say my development into a problogger was a bit indirect People didnʼt really see me as a blogger because I didnʼt really see myself as a blogger I didnʼt talk about blogging Nobody knew me in that way
Once I switched to blogging officially I took more of an interest in the tactics and strategy specific to blogging I learned quite a bit
Around this same time I took more of an interest in internet marketing I saw the power of ACTUAL marketing on the Internet And I had seen successes with basic concepts in my own business
In 2008 I started DAVIDRISLEYCOM and I actually began to publicly talk about myself as a problogger and a six figure blogger Even though I am apparently new to the scene Iʼve actually been at this for some time now It has developed into a true passion and I wanted to begin to make my mark in the field
And here I am )
Today I make a good living as a blogger
I generate between $15000 and $20000 per month on average in my blogging business
I am able to provide a nice lifestyle for my little girl and my wife Weʼre able to travel In fact as I begin writing these very words I am sitting on a plane on my way to Las Vegas 3 weeks ago I took my wife to Manhattan for our
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 8
anniversary (and made over $5000 while I was there for 4 days) Not even two months before that my wife and I went on a week-long Caribbean cruise (and I made over $12000 while I was doing that) In another three weeks Iʼll be in San Diego
It doesnʼt suck
I still pinch myself that it is all done while I make my living as a blogger It just SOUNDS weird
So thatʼs my background From here on out weʼre going to focus on laying out a blueprint It is a blueprint developed over the years and borne out of necessity and setbacks Because early on I realized that I had to treat this like a business if I wanted to have ANY hope of success
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 9
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer IdeaAs with anything there is the high-level overview type of stuff and then there is the minutia that goes into it But in order to understand all the minutia (which comprises a lot more information and a lot more time to know) you need to understand what youʼre doing
Some people liken this to strategy versus tactics
If you picture a battlefield it is easier to understand this There is a war raging and the goal is to win the war You have letʼs say a general who goes into the war with an overall plan to win This is strategy Orders are then issued to commanders on the ground who are in the business of tactics Tactics are the smaller actions necessary to fulfill the strategy and the mission So ldquosurround them on two sides and attack at nightfallrdquo might be an overall strategy At the tactical level might be orders like ldquouse rubber bulletsrdquo (if the commander is feeling particularly nice)
So you see there is the grand view and then there is the ground-level view
If we spend all our time talking about tactics then what happens
Total confusion
Taken back into the area of internet business why do you think some people spend all this money on products to show them how to make money online yet never seem to make it Is it because the products donʼt deliver No It is because theyʼre too concentrated on tactics and have no direction to them at all
So letʼs take a birdʼs eye view first How does a blog actually generate any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 10
In short a blog is used to build up attention It is used to make people aware of you and then to build a relationship with them through good content These people are LEADS Then you FUNNEL these leads into offers
Thatʼs the simplicity of it
Blog attracts attention Then you sell stuff
Now what most bloggers try to do is only about half of this They try to build up a lot of traffic Then it all runs up into a brick wall and they end up just selling OTHER PEOPLEʼS STUFF via banner ads
Do you have any idea how limited that is It is a beginnerʼs way to monetize a blog To illustrate that look at this fact Letʼs say the average CPM (cost per thousand page views) for a banner ad is around $300 So you get 1000 page views and you make $300 You could have a million page views per month and youʼd still only make about $3000 per month Instead take that same 1000 page views and funnel them into a unique offer customized to that blogʼs audience Letʼs say the product cost $20 and maybe 1 of the people who go to the page actually buy it Thatʼs 10 sales or $200 Well $20000 is a LOT better than $300 isnʼt it
So person comes to your blog If youʼre doing your job correctly they find value in your blog Youʼve now got their attention You ask them for the lead (usually a subscription to an email list) Then the process begins of converting that lead into a sale
Thatʼs it Everything else is tactic
With that global concept in mind Iʼm going to walk you through some basics of how to set this up Things like
bull How do you decide what to blog aboutbull How do you get traffic to the sitebull How do you funnel that into an offer
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 11
ldquoBlog Attracts Attention Then You Sell Stuffrdquo
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
anniversary (and made over $5000 while I was there for 4 days) Not even two months before that my wife and I went on a week-long Caribbean cruise (and I made over $12000 while I was doing that) In another three weeks Iʼll be in San Diego
It doesnʼt suck
I still pinch myself that it is all done while I make my living as a blogger It just SOUNDS weird
So thatʼs my background From here on out weʼre going to focus on laying out a blueprint It is a blueprint developed over the years and borne out of necessity and setbacks Because early on I realized that I had to treat this like a business if I wanted to have ANY hope of success
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 9
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer IdeaAs with anything there is the high-level overview type of stuff and then there is the minutia that goes into it But in order to understand all the minutia (which comprises a lot more information and a lot more time to know) you need to understand what youʼre doing
Some people liken this to strategy versus tactics
If you picture a battlefield it is easier to understand this There is a war raging and the goal is to win the war You have letʼs say a general who goes into the war with an overall plan to win This is strategy Orders are then issued to commanders on the ground who are in the business of tactics Tactics are the smaller actions necessary to fulfill the strategy and the mission So ldquosurround them on two sides and attack at nightfallrdquo might be an overall strategy At the tactical level might be orders like ldquouse rubber bulletsrdquo (if the commander is feeling particularly nice)
So you see there is the grand view and then there is the ground-level view
If we spend all our time talking about tactics then what happens
Total confusion
Taken back into the area of internet business why do you think some people spend all this money on products to show them how to make money online yet never seem to make it Is it because the products donʼt deliver No It is because theyʼre too concentrated on tactics and have no direction to them at all
So letʼs take a birdʼs eye view first How does a blog actually generate any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 10
In short a blog is used to build up attention It is used to make people aware of you and then to build a relationship with them through good content These people are LEADS Then you FUNNEL these leads into offers
Thatʼs the simplicity of it
Blog attracts attention Then you sell stuff
Now what most bloggers try to do is only about half of this They try to build up a lot of traffic Then it all runs up into a brick wall and they end up just selling OTHER PEOPLEʼS STUFF via banner ads
Do you have any idea how limited that is It is a beginnerʼs way to monetize a blog To illustrate that look at this fact Letʼs say the average CPM (cost per thousand page views) for a banner ad is around $300 So you get 1000 page views and you make $300 You could have a million page views per month and youʼd still only make about $3000 per month Instead take that same 1000 page views and funnel them into a unique offer customized to that blogʼs audience Letʼs say the product cost $20 and maybe 1 of the people who go to the page actually buy it Thatʼs 10 sales or $200 Well $20000 is a LOT better than $300 isnʼt it
So person comes to your blog If youʼre doing your job correctly they find value in your blog Youʼve now got their attention You ask them for the lead (usually a subscription to an email list) Then the process begins of converting that lead into a sale
Thatʼs it Everything else is tactic
With that global concept in mind Iʼm going to walk you through some basics of how to set this up Things like
bull How do you decide what to blog aboutbull How do you get traffic to the sitebull How do you funnel that into an offer
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 11
ldquoBlog Attracts Attention Then You Sell Stuffrdquo
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
The Absolute Basic Simple No-Brainer IdeaAs with anything there is the high-level overview type of stuff and then there is the minutia that goes into it But in order to understand all the minutia (which comprises a lot more information and a lot more time to know) you need to understand what youʼre doing
Some people liken this to strategy versus tactics
If you picture a battlefield it is easier to understand this There is a war raging and the goal is to win the war You have letʼs say a general who goes into the war with an overall plan to win This is strategy Orders are then issued to commanders on the ground who are in the business of tactics Tactics are the smaller actions necessary to fulfill the strategy and the mission So ldquosurround them on two sides and attack at nightfallrdquo might be an overall strategy At the tactical level might be orders like ldquouse rubber bulletsrdquo (if the commander is feeling particularly nice)
So you see there is the grand view and then there is the ground-level view
If we spend all our time talking about tactics then what happens
Total confusion
Taken back into the area of internet business why do you think some people spend all this money on products to show them how to make money online yet never seem to make it Is it because the products donʼt deliver No It is because theyʼre too concentrated on tactics and have no direction to them at all
So letʼs take a birdʼs eye view first How does a blog actually generate any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 10
In short a blog is used to build up attention It is used to make people aware of you and then to build a relationship with them through good content These people are LEADS Then you FUNNEL these leads into offers
Thatʼs the simplicity of it
Blog attracts attention Then you sell stuff
Now what most bloggers try to do is only about half of this They try to build up a lot of traffic Then it all runs up into a brick wall and they end up just selling OTHER PEOPLEʼS STUFF via banner ads
Do you have any idea how limited that is It is a beginnerʼs way to monetize a blog To illustrate that look at this fact Letʼs say the average CPM (cost per thousand page views) for a banner ad is around $300 So you get 1000 page views and you make $300 You could have a million page views per month and youʼd still only make about $3000 per month Instead take that same 1000 page views and funnel them into a unique offer customized to that blogʼs audience Letʼs say the product cost $20 and maybe 1 of the people who go to the page actually buy it Thatʼs 10 sales or $200 Well $20000 is a LOT better than $300 isnʼt it
So person comes to your blog If youʼre doing your job correctly they find value in your blog Youʼve now got their attention You ask them for the lead (usually a subscription to an email list) Then the process begins of converting that lead into a sale
Thatʼs it Everything else is tactic
With that global concept in mind Iʼm going to walk you through some basics of how to set this up Things like
bull How do you decide what to blog aboutbull How do you get traffic to the sitebull How do you funnel that into an offer
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 11
ldquoBlog Attracts Attention Then You Sell Stuffrdquo
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
In short a blog is used to build up attention It is used to make people aware of you and then to build a relationship with them through good content These people are LEADS Then you FUNNEL these leads into offers
Thatʼs the simplicity of it
Blog attracts attention Then you sell stuff
Now what most bloggers try to do is only about half of this They try to build up a lot of traffic Then it all runs up into a brick wall and they end up just selling OTHER PEOPLEʼS STUFF via banner ads
Do you have any idea how limited that is It is a beginnerʼs way to monetize a blog To illustrate that look at this fact Letʼs say the average CPM (cost per thousand page views) for a banner ad is around $300 So you get 1000 page views and you make $300 You could have a million page views per month and youʼd still only make about $3000 per month Instead take that same 1000 page views and funnel them into a unique offer customized to that blogʼs audience Letʼs say the product cost $20 and maybe 1 of the people who go to the page actually buy it Thatʼs 10 sales or $200 Well $20000 is a LOT better than $300 isnʼt it
So person comes to your blog If youʼre doing your job correctly they find value in your blog Youʼve now got their attention You ask them for the lead (usually a subscription to an email list) Then the process begins of converting that lead into a sale
Thatʼs it Everything else is tactic
With that global concept in mind Iʼm going to walk you through some basics of how to set this up Things like
bull How do you decide what to blog aboutbull How do you get traffic to the sitebull How do you funnel that into an offer
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 11
ldquoBlog Attracts Attention Then You Sell Stuffrdquo
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
bull WHAT do I offer and how do I create it
It isnʼt as hard as it might seem
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 12
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Deciding What To Blog About (Market Selection)Choosing the right market is very important Unfortunately talking about this to a blogger usually hits them broadside for one simple reason most bloggers didnʼt give it the slightest bit of thought before getting started
Most bloggers start blogging out of passion They are interested in something and they wish to share Later down the road you might be sitting there wondering how you can make any money with it While not impossible it is generally harder to make money with a blog when you didnʼt put any thought into that going in
I speak from experience here by the way My largest blog (PCMech) is in a very tough market with people in it who are generally very cheap and donʼt like to spend any money at all (outside of their computer that is) The fact that I make as much as I do with it is quite frankly testament to the fact that I know something about marketing But it is a tough market (and a saturated one) and if I had to do all over again I probably would do something different
The Importance of Choosing The Right Market
If you desire to make money as a blogger the road is a lot easier if you choose a solid market to begin with A few guidelines would be
1 As a blogger in your prospective market can you help your reader solve real problems that exist in the real world
2 Does your prospective market have certain goals that would give them pleasure Or perhaps something they fear that would give them great pain
3 Does your market have any kind of traits that would just make them not willing to spend any money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 13
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
With those guidelines you can begin to see why certain types of blogs are going to have a much tougher time making any money If your blog is essentially a news site for example what problem would you be solving What are the goals or fears of people on a news blog And surely youʼre going to have a tough time getting anybody to pay you since people are USED to getting their news for free A celebrity blog would be in the same boat It is just pure entertainment Entertainment blogs are tricky to monetize and that is because the audience is just there for fun As a collective audience they have no common problems goals or frustrations Plus people expect online entertainment to be free
The best markets are those where there is a real-life problem to solve there is a goal which they feel strongly about or there is a nagging fear which they are afraid of
It isnʼt a coincidence that some of the bloggers who make good money talk about how to make money blogging Ever thought about why that is ) It is simply because there is a big overriding GOAL to the market In other words MORE MONEY And who isnʼt motivated by that However donʼt go into ldquomake moneyrdquo blogging just because you think it would work You have to have actually done it before you can talk about it with authority
The same philosophy works in a BUNCH of different markets
Musicians have the common goal of being better players They want to perfect their craft gain respect pick up chicks because theyʼre so good Theyʼre a potentially good marketBusiness owners have the goal of making more money and retiring early Easy marketDating is a good market because everybody wants to have a partner and men want to get laid I mean face it )
Markets where there is competition among members of the audience are good too For example Iʼve seen popular sites that are all about taking cars and making them look better drive faster etc Modifications essentially Great market because you have a rabid audience of people who are out to impress their friends and have a generally more bad-ass car than everybody around them And theyʼll PAY for that
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 14
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
(I once knew a dude who paid more for the rims on his car than he did for the car itself I was floored)
So market selection is very important When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or pains It is much better to think about this before you start blogging for money If youʼre already blogging then take stock of your market and see if it adds up If it doesnʼt you might want to adjust to better align with something having market potential
4 Factors For a Good Market
A lot of people wonder about what they should blog about What market should you enter so as to maximize your traffic and your income potential from blogging
There are four big areas that seem to work very well It is because these are key benefits that people look for in their personal lives They are
1 Being healthy 2 Making more money 3 Being sexy and finding a mate 4 Saving time
Now these are very broad and you shouldnʼt read into these too much Iʼm not saying that you need to blog about one of these four What these are are big macro-level views of markets that work almost without fail
What you SHOULD read into this though is this focus on benefits Whatever your market is you should focus on how your information is going to benefit the lives of your readers
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 15
ldquo When we talk about making good money blogging the entire thing is going to be much harder if youʼre not talking to a market which has goals or painsrdquo
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Bear in mind that people buy based on emotion and justify with logic Your information is logical But when it comes to marketing your blog or your information products you need to hit the emotional buttons and focus on what theyʼre REALLY looking for in their lives And chances are your audience is looking for one or more of the big four mentioned above
You can never be too rich too thin or too beautiful
Donʼt Forget Passion
Iʼve provided some guidance on what kinds of markets work best when it comes to extracting money from an audience of blog readers But what about actually CARING about what you write about
Most bloggers get into blogging out of passion Youʼre interested in a particular thing and you want to share with the world It is very noble and the last thing I want to do is take anything away from that
We are though talking about making money
So ideally you can find an intersection between an area you have strong interest in and the marketability of the concept Thatʼs the key Youʼve GOT to care though Youʼre simply not going to be able to create quality blog content if you donʼt really care about your market
As said above though you want to cater to an audience with goals problems or fears And your material should talk to those goals problems or fears
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 16
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
How To Get TrafficSo youʼve chosen a market You build a blog
In this report Iʼm not going to get into how to build a blog install Wordpress or anything like that Iʼm going to simply assume that you already know how to do that If not there is a LOT of information available on the Internet in how to get your blog set up
So once you build a blog you want traffic right You want eyeballs
But donʼt make the mistake of losing sight of the overall strategy You want this blog to act as a funnel into offers You therefore want TARGETED LEADS So that means that you need to
bull Build yourself up as an authority to those types of peoplebull Orchestrate all of your content so that it all provides value to that
market and is designed to attract eyeballs
First Things First
So your first thing is to create 5-10 good solid quality articles Another great problogger by the name of Yaro Starak refers to this as ldquopillar contentrdquo What youʼre basically doing though is laying the foundation for your blog This is a brand new blog after all When you begin to get readers you want to hit them with your best stuff You want to ldquowowrdquo them with how valuable your content is So you do this with your pillar content
In the beginning this will serve as your primary blog content As you begin to write more and more over time you might refer to these pillar articles as your ldquobest ofrdquo and continue to point people back to those posts
So take your market Then create high-quality posts which are aimed to solve real-world problems for your market These are high value posts now
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 17
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
But Donʼt Stop
OK youʼve got your pillar content out there When somebody comes to your blog they now have a series of 5-10 really solid posts designed to help them
So thatʼs great Now what
Keep writing
Nobody said that being a six figure blogger was easy Youʼre not going to be able to sit there and rely on your pillar articles to magically draw traffic to you for years to come Youʼre not going to be able to take dumb short-cuts like importing content from other peopleʼs RSS feeds
As an aside people who auto-import other peopleʼs RSS feeds into their blogs are CHUMPS They are not bloggers They are ldquofakesrdquo who are trying to give Google some juice without having to work for it I have ZERO respect for these people and theyʼre not going to make much money like that Let them remain bottom dwellers while the rest of us proceed to do it right and reap the profits that are possible from building a real relationship with an audience
You want to post continually to your blog In my case I try to post every day of the week at least once (except weekends) If you post less than this it can work out just the same Whatever you do though stay consistent If you post 3 times per week then continue to post 3 times per week like clockwork Your readers will hate inconsistency They also hate dead blogs with no fresh content So be steady and train your readers when to expect new content Aside from that just bear in mind that new posts are fuel for search engines So generally posting more often is better for search traffic than posting less often
Posting regularly to your blog is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles I hear from people I see bloggers all the time who consistently ldquodonʼt have timerdquo
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 18
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
to post to their blog Or they run out of ideas Luckily I have some tips for you
1 Write in batches I tend to write all my posts for the week in one sitting at the beginning of my work week When I am in ldquowriting moderdquo I am in gear and I can just churn out content So Iʼll hammer out five posts and that gives me posts for each day Monday through Friday
2 Maintain an idea file Whenever you think of an idea for a blog posts add it to your idea file Later when itʼs time to write take some ideas from your idea file and write the posts Saves hassle in coming up with topics to write about Carry a voice recorder or something with you so you can take note of post ideas wherever you might be
3 Actually CARE This has a lot to do with selecting the right market (discussed previously) but if you consistently have a hard time coming up with content then you just might be in the wrong market for you One of the traits of the right market for you is that you can churn out content without much hassle
4 Donʼt overthink it So many bloggers spend so much time second-guessing their post quality They end up falling into the trap of taking a REALLY long time to complete a post Stop that I like the saying ldquoDonʼt worry be crappyrdquo Iʼm not saying to publish crap but know when to say good is good enough and move onto the next post This is a blog post weʼre talking about here not a novel
So continue to write Develop a regular posting schedule and stick to it Apply the ideas above and hopefully you will avoid writerʼs block
Build a List - Now
So many bloggers fail this absolutely ESSENTIAL step of having an email list You have the opportunity to jump out ahead of every blogger not reading this report right now by simply setting up your mailing list if you donʼt already have one
So donʼt have a list Set one up Now
Why
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 19
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Your email list will be one of the most important assets you have in growing your blogʼs traffic and in monetizing it and making a bunch of money
I have made many thousands of dollars from my email list In fact probably over half my yearly income as a blogger is generated from my blogʼs mailing list The $12000 I made on a cruise The $5000 I made while up in Manhattan NONE of it would have happened if I didnʼt have an email list
So how
Find a solution for managing your email list and sign up Of course the big confusion there is going to be where to put your list Youʼre probably going to try to find some script to install to your server to manage your list Youʼre might even try some open source freebie
Iʼm here to save you a lot of hassle And just trust me on this one
Sign up for Aweber They are a third-party commercial email service Yes that means it is going to cost you a little money Admittedly it might seem like a lot of money right now because you may not be making any money yet But Aweber is the right solution The thing about Aweber is that email deliverability is stellar Plus setting up with them early in your problogger career is going to save you a LOT of hassle later
I used to manage my email list in-house (meaning on my own server) Eventually I began to find that a lot of the emails that I sent were not even arriving to my subscribers because of various deliverability issues and spam black lists (even though I wasnʼt spamming) I grew a brain and decided to go with a commercial service Aweber however makes you re-confirm every subscriber when you import I lost over half my mailing list because I had to move it Iʼm not kidding
So take my word for it Set your list up in a quality place from the get-go And Aweber is my recommendation to you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 20
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
If you REALLY want to maintain your list in-house despite my recommendation then check out 1-2-All by Active Campaign It is pretty good software all in all
I advise against Feedburner for a mailing list They do have an RSS-to-email option and it is better than nothing But you have very little control of your list Plus you cannot email them separately from your blog posts and that really inhibits you from using the list for marketing purposes
Set up a mailing list Generate an opt-in form (the form where your readers will submit their email address to your mailing list) and put the code into your blogʼs theme
I recommend that you minimally put the opt-in form on your blogʼs sidebar You will need to play around with it to see what works best Your goal is to convert as many of your blogʼs visitors into email subscribers as you can So you want the opt-in form to be obvious and you want it to grab the userʼs attention Your goal should be that every person who comes to your blog sign up for your list In reality you wonʼt get everybody But you get as many as you can
A common tactic to encourage people to subscribe is the ldquoethical briberdquo In other words give them something cool for free in exchange for signing up for your list A free report A video (or a series of videos) Something which is really cool and relevant to your market Then go out there and promote it everywhere Everybody can get it for free as long as they sign up for your mailing list
Donʼt make too big a deal out of the bribe Writing a free report is not as hard as it may sound Think of it as a glorified blog post Sure itʼll be longer than a typical blog post But the most important thing is that it add value You want it to be useful If you can be useful in 10 pages then 10 pages is as long as it needs to be Donʼt make the mistake of thinking you have to write an entire book just to get people onto your mailing list You donʼt
Once you have this set up then your list will begin to grow Over time you will make adjustments to maximize the percentage of your readers who subscribe to your list
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 21
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Now how will you use the list
Youʼll use it both as an extension to your blog as well as a way to make offers
Letʼs explore that
First your typical passer-by to your blog isnʼt going to come back again However if you get a person onto your list youʼve got their lead That means you can contact them and get them to come back
You do this by emailing your list valuable content and telling them about your latest blog posts So set up a ldquoblog broadcastrdquo such that your latest posts are automatically emailed to your list This will bring back repeat visitors Aweber does this for you and it is easy to set up
Additionally you can email your list bonus stuff You want to build a relationship with your subscribers You want to be personal You want them to find you to be a valuable person to know So send them cool stuff Send them stuff that isnʼt on your blog to make them feel special And no you donʼt charge them for everything Trust me youʼll make offers to them eventually but people are more willing to buy from you if you have a record of providing a lot of value for free
Using Social Media Strategically
Ok so you have a blog Youʼve got a list However you are still an island if you just stop there Youʼve built a house out in the middle of the woods and you have no roads to it So youʼve got to build some roads This way people will find themselves at your house (your blog)
You do this by going where the people are
You do this by being EVERYWHERE
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 22
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
A business acquaintance of mine (Paul Colligan) has a cool term he coined called ISYOT It stands for ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo This is what you want people to say about you When they see you you want them to say ldquoIʼve seen you out thererdquo Even if they donʼt remember where
When youʼve reached a state of ISYOT youʼve got a cool thing going
But how do you do it You do it through the use of outposts
In other words your blog is your hub But youʼre going to have a BUNCH of real estate out all over the Internet which gets peopleʼs attention and funnels it back to your blog and eventually your offers
So what are we talking about here
- Twitter- Facebook- LinkedIn- Youtube- Vimeo- Viddler- Squidoo- HowCastcom- Myspace- Plurk- Itunes
and the list goes on In other words you go where the people are You produce content and just ldquoget it out thererdquo You want to be EVERYWHERE You want videos out across the multiple video sites on the Internet (with Youtube being the big one of course) You want a solid presence in the social media space (especially Twitter and Facebook)
To illustrate how this works behold the following diagram
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 23
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
What we have here is a traffic map for PCMech It shows many of the various incoming traffic sources for PCMech The black arrows represent incoming traffic The red arrows show relationships between these various blog outposts
So Iʼve got sites like Facebook LinkedIn Flickr FriendFeed Twitter Ustreamtv social bookmarking sites video sites (about 12 of them in total) - ALL of these act as outposts for PCMech
When I produce videos I use TubeMogul to distribute the videos to 12 video sites That means that every video provides 12 different outposts for the blog
When I post to Twitter I use the TwitterFacebook app to automatically bring my tweets into Facebook This means all my Facebook friends are
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 24
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
getting my updates too As of now I have close to 900 Facebook friends and I donʼt want to leave them out I also donʼt want yet another thing I have to manage So thatʼs why I hook it up to Twitter
My tweets are also piped into FriendFeed And Plurk
Additionally my blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter using Twitterfeed This means that each post I do is auto-broadcast to all of my followers on Twitter FriendFeed Facebook and Plurk It is also sent to my mailing list using the blog broadcast
I could easily also record a podcast or even rip the audio from my videos and make that available as a podcast in the Itunes library This way people can encounter me wherever podcasts are found and take me with them on their Ipod
Are you seeing where ISYOT comes from here
Weʼre talking mass distribution This is the new media This is how you can be ldquoout thererdquo in the market without spending money on advertising This is how you will build up your blogʼs traffic
Seduce Donʼt Molest
This is a phrase I first heard from ldquoCoach Debrdquo and I think really describes the workability of this system
Most people think of marketing as ldquoHey look at me and check out my craprdquo In other words it is annoying and it is interruptive of the market
The reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distribution idea as described above Sitting in my home office in Tampa FL I am able
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 25
ldquoThe reason bloggers can absolutely KILL IT when it comes to internet income is because they have the power to master this mass distributionrdquo
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
to get my stuff all over the Internet and have people coming to my blog They either like what Iʼm doing or they donʼt But my lists are growing Iʼm getting RSS subscribers And Iʼm making money
And I donʼt spend A DIME on advertising Never have
So you have your market You know what they need or want You then GIVE it to them using mass-distributed content which is found on your blog and across the entire Internet By satisfying the needs of your market you build a following through seduction You will develop a herd of followers who will WANT to hear form you Because you HELP them And they like you too
What About Search Engines
You might have noticed that I really havenʼt talked about search engines yet Why
Because theyʼre not the end-all-be-all
Your power as a mover and shaker in your market will come from relationships This is why being out there in the SOCIAL web is in many ways more important than tailoring everything for Google
So yeah you do want to pay attention to search engines Search engines will act as major sources for new leads But donʼt blog with just the search engines in mind
Write for people and the search will take care of itself
Just apply the basics here and donʼt overthink beyond that
- Have search keywords in your post titles In other words try to name your titles something that people would actually type into a search engine
- Similarly feel free to modify the post ldquoslugsrdquo so that the words in your blogʼs URL are actually search keywords
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 26
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
- Give your blog a title that is search friendly Donʼt name it after your name for instance Nobody is searching for you theyʼre searching for things they need help with Target that Screw your vanity
- Use headers in your posts- Use the All-in-one SEO plug-in for Wordpress
Youʼll get a lot of traffic from search Realize that people are searching the search engines for things they NEED So you target those things with your posts and phrase it in such a way that it closely matches what theyʼre searching for and youʼre golden
OK Traffic Now WhatTraffic is paramount for making a six figure income as a blogger The techniques above should help you out with that If you apply those tactics to your market you will eventually be a player in your market And thatʼs where you want to be
These things donʼt happen overnight mind you
Blogging isnʼt a get-rich-quick business However if you do it right you will dominate And youʼll have a long-term business
That said the key word here is business And youʼre not a business unless you make offers and make money
So how do we start turning this thing into a business Read on
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 27
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Turning Your Blog Into a Cash MachineThis report is all about the blueprint to being a six figure blogger So you want to make money
Letʼs first dispel a myth Or letʼs say it is a disease that most bloggers suffer from I call it ldquobanneritisrdquo The symptoms are complete inability to think beyond banner ads as a source of revenue for a blog
Most bloggers work really hard to build up traffic When it finally dawns on them that ldquoHey I could probably make some money with thisrdquo they think first of banner advertising And where do they usually turn
Google Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare program
Now even if you work with other ad networks besides Google the simple truth is this
You wonʼt make hardly any money from banner advertising unless you command a LOT of traffic
Most bloggers make a few bucks per day (or less) and only if theyʼre making any money at all No wonder they decide it isnʼt worth the effort I donʼt blame them
Iʼm certainly not willing to put in hours every week in order to make a few bucks Even if I really love doing it eventually reality hits home and boredom sets in If youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 28
ldquoGoogle Adsense Or as I like to call it the blogger welfare programrdquo
ldquoIf youʼre not seeing any return for your time you are a lot more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money bloggingrdquo
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
more likely to be yet another one of the frustrated bloggers who conclude you canʼt make any money blogging
It is really unfortunate
So letʼs move past banner ads Iʼm certainly not saying you canʼt make good money with banners You can I make a few thousand dollars per month with banners But I have a lot of traffic And thatʼs what youʼll need in order to make decent money with ads
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
If a blogger manages to get over the banneritis he or she will usually look into affiliate programs NOW youʼre getting into the right frame of mind At least youʼre selling things Of course youʼre selling other peopleʼs things and giving away a large portion of the money you generate because it is their product Youʼre just getting the commission But its still good
Affiliate programs remain an awesome way to make money as a blogger You can actually make money worth your time with far less traffic After all if you have a following of people interested in a particular market then recommending products that are relevant to that market and actually useful is not only adding value to your blog but making you sales commissions As long as you keep your integrity and donʼt just recommend crap solely for the commission everybody wins
I recommend right now that you go to Clickbankcom and sign up for a free account Clickbank is the largest marketplace of information products on the Internet all of which you can sell RIGHT NOW as an affiliate and make money
After you get your account go to the Clickbank Marketplace Enter a few keywords for your market and search Start looking for and checking out products that your market would be interested in
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 29
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
If the product fits your market then Clickbank will actually TELL you if the product is selling and might be worth your time Every product listing in the marketplace has a series of numbers beneath it Those numbers are
$Sale This is the commission you will make for every saleFuture $ This is the future commission you can make as recurring revenue Only defined if this is a membership productTotal $Sale How much money you will make when you make a salesale The sales commission percentage of the total pricerefd The total percentage of this productʼs sales which were referred by affiliates The remaining percentage was direct sales with no affiliateGrav This is the gravity It is usually the most difficult number to understand however it is essentially a number of affiliates who have made a sale of this product in the last 30 days The higher the gravity then the more affiliates who are out there promoting the product successfully
If you find a product with a gravity above 20 it is a good product to promote A lesser number could work too if the product is really relevant to your audience A higher gravity means that other people are promoting this product successfully Does that mean you will have competition Yes it does But who cares Competition is a good thing because that means there is money there If others are successfully converting to a sale then you can too
I recommend that you set up MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate as a plug-in for Wordpress It will allow you to do a few really useful things
Shorten affiliate links in your blog turning a long affiliate link into a nice clean link using your own domain nameAutomatically hyperlink keywords across your entire blog with your affiliate link HUGE time saverTrack click-throughs so you can see whatʼs working
If youʼre going to promote affiliate products on your blog I consider MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate a must-have
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 30
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Secret To Massive Affiliate Income
If you market things on your blog as an affiliate there is one thing you can sell which can magnify your income tremendously That is membership programs
The reason for this is because you sell it once and you gain recurring commissions each and every month that the person renews It turns into a recursive affiliate income stream
Sell anything which has a subscription to it and you can tap into this
To illustrate letʼs say you sell a $47 ebook with a 50 sales commission This means you pocket $2350 in profit Some money in your pocket but it ends there
On the other end you sell a membership which bills the customer at $47 PER MONTH If that program has a 50 commission thatʼs $2350 coming in each and every month for as long as the person stays enrolled
So promote quality programs and promote monthly services which solve a
real need For example Aweber has an affiliate program I use them myself as my email list solution but I also refer people to it because I like it Iʼve had several people sign up with Aweber after I referred them I make a commission from Aweber each and every month In fact without trying that hard at all I make enough from Aweber every month that it not only pays for my Aweber account but I make a profit on the top And because Aweber is a quality service that people really NEED for their online success people donʼt tend to cancel it So it adds up over time
If you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making money
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 31
ldquoIf you build this up enough you could practically just turn your blog off and quit but youʼd still be making moneyrdquo
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
HINT Yet another reason why you want an email list It is SO much easier to market such things to your clan when you can contact them by email and you sell them once you get paid for awhile
The Six Figure ldquoSecretrdquo to Blogging
To make REAL money as a blogger though we need to move past banner ads We also need to move past affiliate marketing Realize that BOTH of these income streams are still important and good money can be made however my aim is to help you become a real BUSINESS
I put the word ldquosecretrdquo above in quotes because Iʼm being a smart-ass In reality this really isnʼt and shouldnʼt be a secret at all yet most bloggers simply donʼt do it
That secret is
SELL THINGS
More specifically sell your OWN products Then learn to MARKET your products in a competent way to your readers
It continues to amaze me that so many bloggers completely gloss over this as THE way to make money as a blogger Even the ldquoexpertsrdquo in the world of problogging donʼt give this the time of day I wish it werenʼt true
Sure you can make money with any of the following
Ad NetworksDirect Banner Ad SalesAffiliate incomeRecursive Affiliate IncomeText AdsPaid Reviews
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 32
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
All this stuff works But I will pit direct productservice sales up against these things any day More specifically information products marketed competently to an audience which needs and wants what youʼve got
It will earn you money This is THE key to why I make a six figure income as a blogger
So if we go back to the beginning of this report I talk about the wide strategic view of problogging The idea is that you use a blog to build up an audience and build relationships with your readers Those people turn into leads and you then sell stuff to them
I also gave you the formula in a prior report
SOLID BLOGGING + COMPETENT MARKETING = LOTSA MONEY
In other words weʼre turning the blog into a BUSINESS Weʼre turning it into business by having things to sell to your readers
Additionally I talked about how I learned early on not to put all your eggs in one basket So the way you do that is to combine all of the other ways of making money with a blog with also selling your own stuff
To illustrate letʼs look at how I make money with PCMechcom and DavidRisleycom
PCMechcom is primarily monetized through the use of
Banner Advertising (mostly from various ad networks)Affiliate commissions (mainly from info product and software sales)Membership income (I sell premium memberships)Product sales (e-books DVDs books etc)
The first two income streams are no surprise to most people But those last two are things most bloggers just donʼt do
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 33
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
It is great to promote other peopleʼs membership programs It can result in passive recurring affiliate income But it is a lot better to be at the top of the food chain by having your OWN membership program
As I finish this report in May 2009 my membership program on PCMech has generated $4466074 in revenue in 2009 Thatʼs about on par with what I have generated through both ads and affiliate income combined on that particular site On average the program has generated about $8932 per month
Iʼve sold $127789 in products in 2009 so far (e-books DVDs and books) These are MY products where I am the supplier And this is money Iʼve made with barely any promotion of those items at all since most of my efforts this year have been on the membership program
Letʼs take DavidRisleycom This blog does only a fraction of what PCMech does in terms of daily traffic After all Iʼve only been blogging consistently on this site since mid-2008 If I were to host Adsense or something on this blog I would be lucky to make $8-$10 per day If Iʼm lucky Instead I have made pretty decent money through affiliate income (using the mailing list which as of this writing has less then 1000 people on it) But
A couple weeks ago I launched my first information product for that market In fact it is a product geared toward people like YOU because it shows the overall framework (without getting into nitty-gritty detail) on how to set up a blogging business It is a good product actually But as of this writing Iʼve made $454304 in sales on that (thatʼs net after Clickbankʼs cut) This is in just a bit over 2 weeks that the product has been available
So the blog has been active in the market for only about 9 months Iʼve spent this time building authority with my market and providing a lot of value Then when I finally put together a small info product to sell to them I make over $4500 in sales in about 2 weeks and only by using the siteʼs mailing list
Trust me Iʼm only beginning
So whatʼs the secret that shouldnʼt be a secret at all I sell stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 34
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Turning Your Blog Into a Sales Funnel
In marketing circles youʼll hear the term ldquosales funnelrdquo What is this thing and why does it matter
It is a very simple concept and it also represents how you need to look at your blog site
What is a funnel Well it has a wide end at the top and it focuses everything down to a single point Take into the sales context you have leads (or readers) who come to your site via various means Then they enter your funnel and you gradually work on converting them into a sale
The diagram above demonstrates how this works (despite my funky drawing skills)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 35
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Using the many outposts you have all over the Internet (remember ISYOT) you attract traffic to your blog The blog serves as the hub of your wheel so to speak All of these outposts serve to bring new fresh leads into your sales funnel Your blog too brings fresh leads into the sales funnel
The funnel varies from business to business however the pattern is the same Usually the first step is to get the person onto your mailing list It is going to be really hard to build a relationship with a lead and move them down the funnel if they are not on your list So you convert them into a subscriber
Once they are a subscriber you continue to provide additional value and nurture the relationship with the reader Eventually you can convert them into a first sale Usually it is something cheap
You then work to move the customer further down the funnel into a more expensive item And so on And so on At each point in the funnel you are constantly working to get the person to refer new people and bring new people into the funnel Get testimonials and post them Set up an affiliate program to incentivize them to refer new people
When a person buys something from you you try to do an upsell So if they buy an e-book from you immediately hit them up for a secondary sale Perhaps another e-book An important concept to keep in mind is that it is a LOT easier to convert an existing customer into another sale than to get the first sale Selling to somebody who has already bought from you is a lot easier than selling to a brand new person Of course all this is contingent on the fact that your products are actually worth buying
A common upsell practice then is to hit them for an upgrade immediately after they agree to buy Often this is called the ldquoone time offerrdquo or OTO The idea is that you present an offer to your new customer one time and they have to take it right then and there Usually it is a discount on another of your products It is time limited in the fact that if they bypass your offer they will not see it again (hence the ldquoone timerdquo concept of the offer)
If you donʼt have another of your OWN products to offer as an upsell you can offer an affiliate product A common practice would be to complete the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 36
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
sale then on the ldquothank yourdquo page you provide options to move into purchasing a related product from somebody else From your perspective you will earn additional revenue as a sales commission
Regardless of whether the person takes your OTO or your upsell offer they are then a customer Through followups and additional offers you work to move the customer further down the funnel (buying more of your stuff)
There is a lot that goes into setting up your sales funnel There are also powerful strategies and tactics to assist you in your marketing and convincing people to buy from you but weʼll get into that stuff at another time
By the way an alternative way of looking at this funnel concept that I have heard is to refer to it as a pyramid The concept is the same but you basically turn it upside down With a funnel when a person reaches the end of it they fall off the radar Well in business you want to ideally maintain a customer for life So you donʼt want them to fall off your radar and disappear Hence the idea of the pyramid where the customer is constantly climbing and becoming better educated
However you choose to look at it the idea is the same
Do you see how this is actually a model for a REAL business on the Internet All of your blog content (regardless of the medium) serves as seduction for your market It attracts leads into your funnel
With this you have the blueprint for a REAL six figure blogging-based business
Success Versus Failure - Which Will It BeThe income potential of blogging is astounding but Iʼm not going to lie It is work It is a lot of work Especially at the beginning
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 37
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Blogging is NOT passive income It is NOT a ldquoget rich quickrdquo business
Realize that it takes time to BUILD this network of seducing content to attract people into your funnel And in the early days it will seem like slow going
Realize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it work
At the same time donʼt get too overwhelmed You do not need millions of readers to make decent money Compared to the scope of the world WIDE web you need a VERY small fraction of those people in your clan Weʼre talking small numbers in the scheme of things If you even get 1000 people on your mailing list youʼve got a good start and you can most definitely make some money (much better than banner ads will make you)
Your goal is to build a loyal audience of true followers Start small and build As you build more your leverage will increase and it gets a lot easier to continue growing
Donʼt Get Lazy
Unfortunately most bloggers are lazy Hell most people looking to make money online are lazy Thatʼs why some make it while the majority donʼt Thatʼs what leads people to chase down ldquoget rich quickrdquo schemes Forget about that
This report is going to circulate to a lot of people Chances are they will read this report and understand it Theyʼll see the potential of this blueprint as a model for a real blog-based empire But what will happen Not much Because most people will keep chasing shiny objects instead of taking action Theyʼll keep reading other blogs Theyʼll keep chasing ldquosecretsrdquo across the Internet But they wonʼt stop and take action
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 38
ldquoRealize that making six figures is certainly doable but this is an outcome of effective blogging and effective marketing The two MUST be coupled together effectively to make it workrdquo
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
The absolutely best thing you can ever do for your online success is to decide - right now - to be a forward leaning person Your motto in life should be TAKING ACTION
Not only to take action but to keep your eye on the goal and to ensure that your actions continue to line up with what youʼre trying to accomplish
Why Those Other Bloggers Fail
Since success as a professional blogger is the goal letʼs look at why those other blogger fail
1 Laziness As I said above laziness is a common issue Youʼve got to be an action taker That goes for almost anything not just problogging
2 The wrong motivation If you begin blogging just for the cash youʼre going to fail Youʼve got to have a passion for your market Youʼve got to truly care about your audience your material Youʼve got to ENJOY writing and interacting with people If money is your only goal this just isnʼt going to work for you
3 Faking it Donʼt do that Donʼt blog about something which you donʼt really know Donʼt make the mistake of going into the ldquomake money onlinerdquo market unless you are a model of success You will have ZERO credibility if you start trying to teach others how to make money when you yourself arenʼt making much and still work a regular job to pay your bills Credibility and hence authority is VERY important in your marketing Be the real deal
4 Blogging in a Bad Niche Market selection is pretty important If you are sitting there in a bad market trying to make money you just might be screwed Remember competition is GOOD If literally nobody is on the Internet discussing your topic thatʼs probably a good indicator that nobody cares and youʼre not going to make any money
5 Lack of Focus Donʼt try to duplicate this blueprint in several different niches using multiple blogs You will spread yourself too thin and none of them will succeed Blogging is real work and you need to maintain focus on one blog in order to build it up properly I do this for a living and I only have two blogs and it is a LOT of work Plus the
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 39
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
first blog is 90 covered by other people now If I had to personally author every post for both blogs Iʼd be in real trouble
Your job is not to make these common mistakes Your job is to TAKE ACTION
Iʼm telling you my friends If you just lean forward and really take action on the things I teach you you will be way ahead of the majority of bloggers out there It is that important Everything I teach you is contingent on you actually doing this stuff
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 40
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
A Step-By-Step Blog Launch Plan and RoadmapThere are a lot of bloggers out there just getting started They want to make it big They want traffic They want to make money Great Today I make six figures per year as a professional blogger It was a long road for me What I thought I would do is share a quick step-by-step approach to how I would start all over again right now
Realize that this is a broad overview of steps I will not get into detail on each one in this particular post The idea is to provide you a roadmap so that you donʼt forget what I consider to be very crucial steps Also this overview is focused on the development of your blog into a money-making venture A hobby blog is a completely different animal
With that in mind away we go
1 Decide on your blogʼs target market Do this by finding the intersection between what is popular to others and what you are interested in or good at Your interest and knowledge is very important here Within that subset you do market research to determine what has the best likelihood of developing into a money-producing market Also create an idea file for blog post ideas You should have no problem creating this list and if you do have difficulty you should question whether the potential market is a good fit for you
2 Secure hosting and a domain name I recommend self-hosting your blog and using your own dot-com domain name Sub-domains are unprofessional Simultaneous to choosing a domain is of course
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 41
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
naming your blog When doing this think about your long-range plan Think about brandability Memorability Find a domain which can be stated verbally without spelling clarification
3 Set up Wordpress I am an evangelist for Wordpress and I simply donʼt recommend you go with any other blog software I would install the All-In-One SEO plug-in and the Google Sitemaps plug-in and set those up from day one Also change your permalinks to a more SEO friendly version
4 Set up a blog theme When first starting I recommend using a free theme and modifying it enough to make you happy If you want you can have somebody design a logo for your blog 99 Designs is a great site for getting this kind of work done for you But donʼt get overly focused on your blogʼs appearance at this point
5 Start Your Mailing List Yes you should start it from day one Ideally the moment your first reader arrives on your blog they should have the option to get onto your mailing list Use a system which allows broadcast mailings but also allows people to receive your latest blog posts via email I highly recommend Aweber
6 Create Your Pillar Content It is time to get started writing Create 5-10 really killer pieces of very valuable content for your new blog This is your showcase of your best stuff so as to ldquosellrdquo your blog to new readers when they arrive Since nobody is yet reading your blog just publish each piece of content as soon as you finish it
7 Create Some Back-up Draft Content I always recommend having around 5 posts in draft in your blog so that you can publish when time is short
8 Sign up For Twitter Use a Twitter handle which is either related to your blogging niche or perhaps just your name Be sure to use a real picture of yourself as your Twitter profile Link your Twitter account to your about page on your blog and enter a bio into Twitter which is descriptive of your market With your profile created find other Twitter users which are in your market and start following them
9 Set up Twitterfeed Use Twitterfeed to tweet your latest blog posts directly to your new Twitter account
10 Set up a Facebook account Set it up the same way as you did Twitter After that install the Facebook Twitter application so as to get your tweets piped into Facebook automatically
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 42
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
11 Keep Writing Just throwing this in as a reminder that you need to keep on writing for your blog You might have your pillar content there already but you need to keep producing at least a few new posts per week in order to keep your blog fresh So donʼt forget this part Itʼs crucial
12Start Connecting Using Twitter and Facebook (and any other social network you feel like joining) start conversing and connecting with people Track down the opinion leaders in your market and start conversing with them Do not approach them with a pitch for your blog Instead keep it real and be real You can mention your blog if it is applicable and relevant
13 Research and find relevant blogs in your market You want to find several of the leading blogs in your market and subscribe to their RSS feeds Start becoming a regular reader and a regular commenter on those blogs Obviously when you leave a comment use the website field to link to your blog Ensure all your comments are useful and not self-promotional
Realize that there is no ldquolaunch buttonrdquo on your blog The moment you upload it the web your blog is live Chances are though that nobody knows about it So get it all set up and get your pillar content created before you start telling people about it Then the moment you start connecting and networking on other blogs and on social media thatʼs more or less how you flip the switch and launch your blog
So all this time you need to be producing regular quality content This is the most important thing Assuming that youʼve begun networking on social media other blogs and that youʼre continuing to produce content you should expand your marketing strategy a little bit more For examplehellip
1 Start authoring guest blog posts for other leading blogs in your market and send them to those bloggers Read these guidelines for guest posting
2 Start taking some of your pillar content doing any necessary editing you feel necessary then submitting to the major article directories such as EzineArticles You could also use a site like Isnare to submit to multiple directories Be sure to author a bio to go along with your article which links to your blog Better yet link it to a landing page
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 43
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
within your blog which will work on getting new readers subscribed to your mailing list
3 Set up an autoresponder on your mailing list to begin sending useful relevant content by email to your subscribers automatically Your first message can be a simple welcome message perhaps asking them to follow you on Twitter etc Subsequent messages provide useful content and link to your pillar content
4 Start planning and working on your first information product Remember if the aim is to make money you need to quickly start laying the groundwork for your offer ndash even if youʼre still building up your list and your traffic
5 Author a highly relevant and high quality PDF report to make available to new email subscribers Use this free report to attract new subscribers to your list
6 Join up on Meetupcom and start finding attending andor starting relevant meeting groups Personal networking is very important to online business
7 Continue to be active on social media and on other relevant blogs This is an activity that along with writing will never cease for as long as you are in the business of blogging
As you move through these steps youʼll probably be learning all kinds of new tactics and strategies for traffic building Thatʼs great But be careful not to become overwhelmed Donʼt get so interested in tactics that you forget the basics networking and producing quality content
With that welcome to the world of strategic blogging Youʼre well on your way
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 44
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Would You Like To Work With Me To Take Your Blogging Efforts Into HyperdriveMy sincere hope is that this report has been an eye-opener I hope it has given you a new way to look at blogging as an actual business My aim has been to give you a blueprint
But remember my talk about strategies versus tactics in the beginning Well there are a LOT of tactics and skills that go into doing this right There are skills that go into building up a blog building traffic and building community There are also skills directly related to marketing how to generate sales how to design and create your products and how to get into your prospectsʼ heads and get them to buy from you
I have made no bones about the fact that I think most bloggers suck at marketing But it doesnʼt have to be that way
Hereʼs the deal Those internet marketers out there They almost LAUGH at bloggers See they realize the importance of marketing That remains their emphasis and quite frankly thatʼs why they make decent money But most of them suck at blogging Whereas most bloggers suck at marketing Neither side really GETS the other one
The sheer power of a competent blogger and a competent marketer is not to be underestimated
If you implement this blueprint and couple it with solid marketing and writing chops you WILL be off to the races and you can most definitely grow into a six figure blogger And it doesnʼt have to take NEARLY as long as you might think
Hell I floundered around for years before I hit the right combination
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 45
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
So hereʼs what I got for you It is a club One where the members will be interacting with me personally to achieve these goals
It is called the Blog Masters ClubMy aim is to make you into a blogmaster A master of blogging
Because I KNOW that bloggers can make more money than they do
So what is the Blog Masters Club It is a coaching program created and hosted by yourʼs truly It is a private members only program designed for bloggers who want to take their blogging to the next level Members will have the opportunity to get the inside scoop and work more closely with me to perfect their blogs and build a real business
This course and coaching program consists of 16 core modules where you will discover the information youʼve been missing including
How to increase your blog production and time effectiveness so you can get a successful blog even with a full schedule
How to pick the right market for your blog and test it to see if it will work before you delve in and spend all that time writing
How to manipulate Wordpress to your will How to persuade and compel your readers to act and do what you
want How to maximize your usage of social media and actually make
money with it How to drive an endless stream of traffic to your blog(s) How to optimize your blog for the search engines How to produce and release compelling videos for the web How to REALLY monetize your blog and be able to forget about
Google Adsense and other bottom-of-the-barrel revenue sources How to design an effective business with your blog at the hub How to build up your email list and get your subscribers waiting to
buy things from you
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 46
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
How to set up powerful joint ventures in your market and move yourself from blogger to ldquogururdquo
How to set up a recurring source of revenue where the money keeps pouring into your bank account every month
How to get into the minds of your readers and persuade them without ever coming across as pushy for feeling like a lowly salesman
How to outsource so you donʼt have to do all the work
All modules will be delivered in video format (both streaming video and downloadable audio format (for listening in the car) and in written transcript Modules will also come with a to-do list checklist so that you can put the information to use in your own blogging business
If you want more information go here -
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
This is a 16-module training program with written content and a LOT of video content where I am going to teach you advanced traffic building strategies list-building monetization and advanced (and powerful) marketing strategies and tactics
These are highly effective tactics for building a six figure blogging business
If 16 modules isnʼt enough Iʼve got some other bonuses that youʼll get as a member of this coaching program
Members-Only Forum Live Group Coaching Calls where you can ask me questions LIVE
and Iʼll help you with your unique situation Behind the Scenes ldquoSwipe Filerdquo where Iʼll show you and walk you
through some of my past marketing campaigns how I put them together and the exact emails and videos I used
Rolodex of powerful links and resources 6-module course covering all the basics to help you get set up if you
are brand new to blogging (66 videos total)
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 47
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
And I want to make one thing very clear This is stuff I learned in the trenches by studying and doing I didnʼt make my money by teaching people ldquomake money onlinerdquo snake oil I am a tech blogger geek and I learned what I do by marketing to some of the cheapest people around - PC users So Iʼm not in the business of continuing the echo chamber of ldquomake money onlinerdquo products by selling it to other people in the business I donʼt come from that world Iʼm a geek with business sense And Iʼll tell it to you like it is
What else makes it different Because information overload is a DISEASE that keeps people from success You can continue to surf endless blogs pulling small tid-bits of information All little pieces of a very big puzzle that you can never seem to complete Do you want to be one of the many bloggers who fail due to overwhelm or confusion Do you want to be sitting here a year from now making no more money with your blogging efforts than you are today If you want something more then the club is for you
And yes while I cannot guarantee you will generate six figures at this that is what Iʼm striving for At the very least I want you to build your online business to a point where you can quit your day job That is my aim and Iʼd like to work with you to help you achieve that goal
Youʼve got to be an action taker Because if you donʼt change anything nothing will change It is pretty obvious
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Ever since I began blogging about what I do Iʼve had people hammering me for consulting gigs and one-on-one help with their blogs I just donʼt have the time to help people one-on-one Iʼm too busy working on my own business So I have created the Blog Masters Club as a place where I can help many people at the same time hopefully while still providing personal assistance to help members with their specific questions
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 48
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49
Do you want to become a Blog Master Do you want to turn your blogging efforts into a real business Then I invite you to learn more about the Blog Masters Club
Even though this is a virtual program ldquoseatingrdquo is limited Why Because I can only handle so many people at a time So check it out for further information and I look forward to working with you
wwwblogmastersclubcomsignup
Thanks for reading the blueprint From here the ball is in your court If you decide to join my coaching course thatʼs great and I look forward to working with you very soon If not just donʼt forget that taking action is the most important trait that will get you to your goals Keep taking action consistently and eventually youʼll get there
Yours in Blogging Success
David RisleyBlogMastersClubcom
Finis
copy 2009 David Risley httpwwwblogmastersclubcomsignup Page 49