8 Cool Blog Marketing Tips That Work

A quick reminder: this post is not theory.

You’ve to take action with the marketing tips here. The problem with most bloggers is that they keep piling up knowledge, insights and ideas but never really act upon them.

If such is your lifestyle, you’ll never grow past the teething stage as a blogger.

The New Year is already a success for most blogger, including myself. I’m glad because the traffic my website generates from organic searches is huge these days.

It didn’t happen by chance. I worked it out. Also, my income for January almost tripled that of December. It’s a wonderful experience to be called a content marketer and I’m most delighted to help you achieve your goals.

Without much ado, here are 8 cool blog marketing tips that work. Let’s go there:

1. Shoot for the Moon!

When you look at the sky, you’d only see one Moon. But there are millions of stars. As a blogger who wants to drive rich traffic and build a raving community, stop looking for traffic loopholes from every nook and cranny of the web.

On the contrary, get a notebook and pen. Write out ONE important objective. Then ask yourself what you must do to actualize it.

Once you can do that, you’d have ideas flowing from your subconscious mind. That’s how successful bloggers are made.

You can’t pursue two Rats and expect to kill both. Focus on one objective; what you want to achieve within a set period of time and start working smart. Forget the social media noise flying about; you can build a traffic-pulling blog by staying glued to one OBJECTIVE.

2. Start a blog you love

Without passion, you’re bound to give up pretty soon. I’ve seen prolific writers and authors who failed woefully with their blogs, because they didn’t love the niche.

Passion is like the fuel that powers your marketing engine. Each time you lack passion, failure looms.

If you’re yet to start your blog, don’t be in hurry and miss out. Ask yourself what you can do well, even if no one is going to pay you.

The truth is, there are blogging nightmares at times when you’ll not make a dime despite all your hard work and hot products. It’ll definitely hap

pen, but with love for your blog and the content you write, you could scale through happily.

3. Eliminate the silos

Did you realize that so many bloggers are all about themselves? I mean, when they write posts, it’s about their success and how much traffic they generate.

When you ignore the important aspect of solving problems for your target audience, you’ll struggle to drive traffic. Let alone earn a living online.

One of the easiest ways to market your blog is to satisfy readers. This way, referral traffic and social media links would become a common practice at your blog.

Give people what they want and they’d in turn evangelize the world for you at no cost. Eliminate marketing silos. Don’t store up ideas only to grow your purse. Readers first, you second.

4. Join a mastermind group

Mastermind groups are very important. If you’ve a blog or have plans to start one soon, don’t be selfish to run it all by yourself. All the writing, marketing, networking, branding building and product creation are tasks that could drain your energy and motivation.

You need other people, who understand how to build a successful online business. A mastermind is simply a group of persons coming together to

help one another. The group I joined in 2012 had 12 active members.

Here’s how it works: Each time you publish a new article; these formidable bloggers would read, share and write valuable comments. It’s like having a responsive email list. If you plan to sell your own products online, you can’t afford to ignore mastermind groups. Join at least one this year.

5. Stop chasing after traffic

This year alone, thousands of bloggers are searching Google for ways to drive free traffic. If you ask me, I’d say don’t join them. Why?

Because there is nothing new on the internet, except major changes like the Google Panda and other updates. Apart from those, the way to drive traffic and build a profitable blog is by putting quality content at the forefront.

In other words, write pillar content for your blog. Then get out of your comfort zone, start a guest blogging spree. Forget forum posting if you’re new to blogging. Focus on SEO and guest blogging. Afterward, host a webinar and don’t forget to capture email leads. Period!

6. Promote your brand

Your brand is your identify online. How do you recognize Apple Logo in the midst of a million other logos? It’s their brand that made it possible. You get the point? That’s what you must do as well. Identify your strength and start reaching out everywhere.

When I started blogging, I made a terrible mistake. I was promoting my name. Of course, there is really nothing wrong with that because I still need to enhance my reputation. But ideally, I should have promoted my domain name, for that is the core of my brand. I should have designed a logo as well and a professional header.

When you network at conferences and events, forget about your BIG title and just promote the heck out of your brand. Yes, promote your name, if that’s your brand. In no time, your traffic would skyrocket and stay consistent. It’s a guarantee!

7. Pull organic traffic with tutorials

Search engines especially Google like tutorial-based content. For instance, if your blog is about list building, you could write an epic post titled, “6 steps to build a responsive email list”.

You’ll need to write a detailed post, at least 2000-word. Then use relevant images, screenshots, charts and video to convey your message.

Such types of content would always engage readers. The purpose is to encourage blog readers to stick around and enjoy the content.

The more time they spend the higher your value rating in search algorithms. Readers could willingly share the tutorial, with their friends, fans and subscribers.

You may not know who is reading your tutorial, and how much influence they’ve online. Add a lot of value to your tutorials, then sit back, relax and reap thousands of friendly readers daily.

8. Write case studies more

How many bloggers actually write detailed case studies? I can tell you confidently that out of 10; only 2 have the guts and extra time to research, analyze and write a good one.

But the reality is this, if you can give this a try, your blog will grow faster and help potential clients make instant decisions – to hire you.

I know the impact of a well-researched case study, because it’s been the core of my blog marketing strategy. In a nut shell, did you try a particular system and it worked for you? You could share your experiences in a step by step format.

A case study can build interest in prospects’ mind. As a freelance writer, I struggled at a time to attract writing gigs.

I had confidence as a virtue, but my blog wasn’t persuading prospects enough. But when I turned to content marketing and started to produce 1 – 2 case studies weekly, my daily organic traffic increased by 47% within 2 months. And potential clients were knocking at my door, almost every morning.

Stop writing generic articles on how to drive traffic, use a case study that shares what you went through, how you did it and how it can help others. That’s my secret for promoting a blog, whether new or old.

You can view Zac’s latest “Create a Blog” case study by clicking here.

What’s stopping your success?

Lest I forget, another important aspect you MUST consider is the web host you’re using. I could remember in 2011, when my blog was mentioned in a media blog with thousands of active readers.

Guess what? The server my blog was hosted on crashed. I couldn’t add new subscribers or convert existing readers into paying customers. I lost everything including my credibility at the time. Learn from my mistake.

Put your wordpress in the cloud now and never worry about low server performance, external threats and blog failure. It’s a complete package that secures your blog and its database.

Is there any SPECIFIC Blog marketing tactic that’s worked for you? Please share in the comment below I’d reply to and answer bugging questions. I wish you the very best this 2013.

This guest post was written by Michael Dewriter, who creates professional videos.