The Brutally Honest Guide to Being Brutally Honest

It’s scary, isn’t it?

Having to tell a truth to someone who may not want to hear it.

Whether you have to tell a friend they’ve been betrayed, inform a client that their ideas suck, or write a blog post to burst your reader’s bubble, hard truths can feel almost as painful to deliver as they are to receive.

Because just the thought of hurting someone is scary. You don’t want that.

And you don’t know how they’ll react. They might think you’re a jerk and cut all ties with you. You don’t want that either.

So sometimes you obfuscate the truth to spare them the pain of hearing it. Sometimes you even keep it to yourself or tell a white lie.

Well, I have to tell you something, and you may not like to hear it. But if you struggle with the art of being frank, you need to hear this. It will make you a better person, a better communicator and a better blogger.

So here it is …

You’re a coward.

If you can’t be brutally honest with people, especially when you know it’s in their best interest, you’re a coward.

Why You Can’t Be a Coward When It Comes to Hard Truths

You’re not doing anyone a favor by withholding a truth from them, even if it’s difficult for them to hear.

The only person you’re protecting is yourself. Because you’re afraid of the consequences to you.

But it’s not about you.

Being honest is about making sure your audience has the information they need to make good decisions. That includes information they may not like.

You may convince yourself it’s “nicer” to hide or obfuscate things that are difficult for them to hear, but it’s not.

Ignorance doesn’t lead to bliss, it leads to bad decision-making. There’s nothing “nice” about that.

And as a blogger trying to help your readers, honesty is that much more important.

Because readers rely on your expertise and your candor.  They rely on you to set them straight when they’re headed the wrong way. They rely on you to guide them in the right direction.

You may fear you’ll lose readers when you tell them a hard truth, but withholding it is far riskier. Because it will hurt your credibility in the long run.

When you’re honest at all times, whether in your writing or in your personal life, people will know what to expect from you. And when they need the truth, you’re the one they will come to.

Yes, you may lose some readers along the way, but you’ll gain the trust and respect of so many more.

The Big Mistake People Make While Being Brutally Honest

Brutal honesty is not about being cruel, rude, shocking, or harsh. That’s not brutal honesty. It’s just brutal.

If that’s what you’re going for, you’re doing it wrong.

Maybe that seems obvious to you, but many people mistake brutal honesty for honest brutality. You’ve probably experienced more than your share. So if it’s that obvious, why do so many people make this mistake?

Because it’s not obvious. In fact, it’s almost counterintuitive.

Many people think that the point of brutal honesty is to shock someone into hearing you. They think that the point is to be so harsh that the other person can’t help but hear the truth.

But that’s not really how it works. Treating people harshly will only make them less receptive to what you have to say, not more.

The point of brutal honesty is to be completely honest and let the truth speak for itself. It’s about not holding anything back — about not telling white lies to make a person feel better, or withholding information they might find hurtful. Those are things we do on a regular basis, and the point of brutal honesty is to stop doing that.

You see, the emphasis in brutal honesty should be on the honesty, not on the brutality.

It is the truth that you need to deliver, and not your delivery itself, that needs to be brutally unrestrained.

Of course, the problem is that being brutally honest isn’t just hard to do—it’s hard to do well. That’s because it’s not just about what you say; it’s also about why, when, and how.

3 Common Situations That Call for Brutal Honesty

Honesty is always a good policy, but not every situation calls for brutal honesty. So how do you know when it’s time to hold nothing back?

At the end of the day, it’s about assessing the situation, being clear about your purpose, and using your judgment.

But here are three common scenarios that often call for brutal truth:

#1. When They Want Your Help in Deluding Themselves

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Whenever someone comes to you to confirm their delusions, you need to do the exact opposite.

For example, many bloggers might love to hear that all they need to do to make money is write posts and slap ads on them. They might want to hear that riches are right around the corner, even if they only just got started. But what they need to hear is that there’s no such thing as easy success, that it takes time, and that they must adjust their expectations.

Trying to sugar-coat this reality wouldn’t help them.

#2. When They’re Making a Dreadful Mistake

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You wouldn’t let a friend walk blindly into traffic without reaching out a hand to pull them back. Hell, you wouldn’t even be so inconsiderate to a stranger.

So why would you let them make a harmful decision without trying to save them from it?

Sure, walking into traffic is likely to cause them serious harm — but so is making a decision that would ruin their career, blow their life savings, or land them in jail.

If they’re about to make a big mistake — or even if they’ve already made the mistake — your willingness to be brutally honest with them might just be the thing that saves them from future pain.

#3. When Subtlety Has Failed

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How do you know when brutal honesty is called for?

When nothing else has worked. By all means, try a subtler, gentler approach first—but when nothing seems to get through to them, it’s time to take off the kid gloves and tell them what they need to hear, without holding back.

These aren’t the only circumstances which call for brutal honesty, but they are frequent ones, and they have two basic principles in common: the hearer badly needs to be told the truth, and yet it is very difficult for them to discover or receive it.

And that’s where you come in.

8 Steps to Being Brutally Honest Without Crushing Anyone’s Spirit

Great. So you understand what brutal honesty is, and what it is not. You know why brutal honesty is sometimes necessary, and when it is appropriate.

Now comes the hard part: How do you actually do it?

Here is an eight-step process to help you deliver that hard truth.

#1. Be Brutally Honest with Yourself

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Brutal honesty begins with yourself. If you’re hesitant and tend to shy away from bluntly honest conversations, then the first step is to acknowledge why you hesitate.

Are you afraid of offending people? Ask yourself whether allowing them to continue on a harmful path is kinder than having an uncomfortable conversation with them.

Are you afraid that people will get mad at you, and perhaps cut ties with you? Do you worry about losing readers, subscribers, or clients?

As I mentioned above, ask yourself whether they’re better off not knowing, or whether you just don’t want to be the one to tell them.

Remind yourself that this is about doing what is best for them, not what is easiest on you.

#2. Check Your Motives

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In the first step, you checked your motives for not wanting to be brutally honest with someone. In this step, flip that around—ask yourself if being honest with them is really about their well-being, or if it’s about you.

Yeah, that happens, too.

If it’s more about your desire to speak your mind than about what they need to hear, you’re likely to end up falling into that trap of being more brutal than honest.

So ask yourself this classic trio of questions about your message:

1. Is it true?
2. Is it necessary?
3. Is it kind (or helpful)?

If the answer to all three isn’t yes, it’s time to reevaluate.

#3. Be More Honest than Brutal

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Remember, the point is always honesty, not brutality.

You can tell the brutal truth without being brutal yourself. Let the truth be merciless on its own. It is hard enough for many to hear and face. So don’t add to it. Be kind.

Let me say that again: Tell them the whole truth, no matter how brutal it may be, but do it with kindness and empathy.

#4. Prepare Them for What’s Coming

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Don’t just launch straight into the tough love. Give them the opportunity to prepare themselves for it.

Explain that you care about them. Explain that you have to tell them something you believe they need to hear, and prepare them for the degree of honesty they’re about to get from you.

For an example, look no further than what I did in the intro to this post:

Well, I have to tell you something, and you may not like to hear it. But if you struggle with the art of being frank, you need to hear this.

It doesn’t take much. Just a heads-up about what’s coming, so that your audience can put themselves in the right frame of mind for it. Blindsiding them won’t make them more receptive to hearing a brutal truth.

#5. Reveal Your Intentions

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Why are you telling them this difficult truth? What do you want to come of it? How is hearing it worthwhile to them?

Understanding what they have to gain from it will make the other person much more receptive to the harsh truth. It will be much easier for them to hear and accept if they genuinely believe that you’re trying to help them.

So take a moment to tell them why you think what you’re about to tell them is the best thing for them.

Again, you can see how I did that in this post. Before I hit you with the brutal truth, I first told you how I thought it would benefit you:

… if you struggle with the art of being frank, you need to hear this. It will make you a better person, a better communicator and a better blogger.

And then, with the benefit still fresh in your mind, I took off the gloves and told you the blunt truth.

#6. Be Short and Sweet

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It’s never a good idea to beat a dead horse. As a writer, it’s a great way to get people to stop reading.

But this is even more true when your reader is taking a beating, too. Being told a hard truth is never fun. Sometimes it’s necessary. But having it thrown in your face over and over is something few people react well to.

So get to the point. Make it clearly and succinctly, and move on.

Anything more, and you’re heading back toward being more brutal than honest.

You’re a coward.

If you can’t be brutally honest with people, especially when you know it’s in their best interest, you’re a coward.

Notice how I don’t dwell on the cowardice for too long? Instead, I quickly move on to explaining the reasons behind my remarks.

#7. Stick to the Facts

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This is easier for some topics than it is for others. Sometimes the facts are clear, measurable, and objective. You’ve got actual data, research — cold, hard facts. Other times, the issue at hand is a subjective assessment.

But even when the subject matter is wholly subjective, you can keep the discussion focused on the relevant issues.

Be as objective as you can, given the subject matter. Avoid emotional observations. Focus on actions — things the other person has done, or things they need to do — rather than on character and personality.

Most of all, focus on problems that can be solved.

Again, you can see that in my approach to this post. I didn’t dwell on negatives or beat you over the head with character flaws. As you can see below, I focused on the facts — which, in this case, meant explaining why I had just called you a coward by emphasizing things I knew you’d agree with:

“Being honest is about making sure your audience has the information they need to make good decisions. That includes information they may not like.

You may convince yourself it’s “nicer” to hide or obfuscate things that are difficult for them to hear, but it’s not.

Ignorance doesn’t lead to bliss, it leads to bad decision-making. There’s nothing “nice” about that.”

#8. Conclude with a Solution

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Don’t leave them feeling bad because of the truth bomb you just dropped on them. Help them figure out a solution. Give them a way forward.

Most of all, tell them how you’re going to help them, and commit to helping them tackle the issue.

How you end the discussion can make all the difference.

Do you want them to feel defeated, beat down, and discouraged? Or do you want them to feel hopeful that there are concrete ways that they can address the issue?

Imagine if I ended this post after calling you a coward, without offering any advice on how to deliver brutal truths. That would make the overall message feel far less benevolent and far more antagonistic, wouldn’t it?

Have the Courage to Tell the Unvarnished Truth and You’ll Win People’s Respect

Telling someone a hard truth can be scary.

Because you don’t know how people will react.

And I won’t lie. Some people won’t like it. Even if you take all the right steps, you may still offend them, and you may still lose them.

But you’ll also gain others who recognize the value of someone they can trust to be honest — the type of people who may never have paid attention to you while you were busy telling everyone what they wanted to hear.

And as you develop a reputation as a person who tells it straight, you will gain people’s respect. You will gain credibility and authority. People will seek out your advice, value your perspective, and appreciate your honesty.

And you will help people—far more than when you were telling them whatever they wanted to hear.

And isn’t that the point?

About the Author: Josh Tucker is the founder of The New Progressive. As a race and social justice writer, he’s no stranger to telling hard truths.

source https://smartblogger.com/brutally-honest/

Advice to Writers Who Feel Like a Fraud (from a Writer Who Feels Like a Fraud)

Let me guess …

Every success in your writing career has been a fluke.

When people praise your work, they don’t know what they’re talking about.

You’ll never measure up. You’re not a real writer. And any day now, everyone will see you for the fraud that you are.

That’s how you feel, anyway.

You read other blogs and feel crushed at how little you know and how little you have to offer. You wonder why you even bother with your own blog when so many great writers do it way better than you ever could.

Well, here’s a secret …

Those writers you admire probably feel the exact same way.

Even famous writers like Neil Gaiman, Tina Fey, and Seth Godin are on record that they still feel like frauds — like they don’t deserve their success and they’re getting away with something.

We all do.

The Voice Inside My Head That Tells Me I’m Unworthy

I have been a freelance writer for over three years, but I still feel I have no right to claim that title — writer.

I have a nagging voice inside my head that constantly reminds me of my unworthiness. It tells me to give up before I’m laughed off the Internet. That I’ll never compare to other writers — the real ones.

It provides a symphony of thoughts like:

“Who do you think you are?”

“Why would anyone care what you have to say?”

“Sooner or later, they’ll find out you have no clue what you’re doing.”

I call this voice the “Imp.” Her full name is Imposter Syndrome, and chances are you’ve already met. If you’ve ever had that dread of being outed as a fraud because you don’t stack up to other writers, you’ve experienced Imposter Syndrome, and you have an Imp of your own.

Imposter Syndrome is common across industries, but writers are especially susceptible.

Why is that?

Why Do We Feel Like Frauds All the Frickin’ Time?

Writing is a peculiar profession.

One thing that sets us apart is that we work in isolation.

That means nobody’s around  to tell us we’re doing a great job until we put it out there for total strangers to judge. We’ll often work for a while on a project with no direct feedback, so it’s easy to start second-guessing our ability.

We have nobody to discuss our doubts with, so we are locked into internal conversations, which makes the Imp’s voice sound all the louder.

Working in isolation also means we don’t have any peers around to compare ourselves with, which leads us to compare ourselves with industry giants. No wonder we feel like we don’t measure up!

This also leads to us to create standards for ourselves that don’t exist. After all, you don’t see the time and effort other writers put in. You just see the result. That blog post that seems so effortless could be the result of weeks of work. But when you fail to churn out a perfect first draft, it means you’re an amateur.

The writing profession becomes even more dangerous when you step outside your comfort zone. You may have pitched an article to a large publication, and to your horror, they actually said yes. Then the insecurity takes hold and the fear of being exposed as an imposter rears its familiar head.

Sigh …

So are we doomed to deal with this nagging voice throughout our profession?

I’ll be honest; you may never fully get rid of it.

But you can learn to live with it.

How to Beat Imposter Syndrome: 4 Tips from a Writer Who Knows How You Feel

The first step on your road to recovery is to be aware that isolation, new challenges, and pointless comparisons are common causes of Imposter Syndrome. You may not always be able to avoid them, but if you are mindful of their effect, it will help you wrestle your Imp to the ground when needed.

And here’s how to do it.

#1. End the Isolation and Surround Yourself with Writers

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The first step to beating Imposter Syndrome is to tackle one of its main causes: isolation.

You need to make friends with other writers who are at the same stage in their careers. You need to have people around you who understand you, who make you feel part of the writing community instead of an intruder.

Here are a few ways to meet other writers:

• Join online writing communities (forums, Facebook groups, etc.)
• Find local writing meetups on meetup.com.
• Attend writing or blogging conferences.

Meet writers who are your peers, see who you get along with, and then join or start a mastermind group. Get together every week with a small group of people (around 4–6) and discuss what you’ve been up to and what’s been on your mind.

Share your fears and frustrations, and find comfort and reassurance in your similar experiences. You’ll inspire and encourage each other to grow as writers.

And as you grow, give back to the community by mentoring less experienced writers. Not only will you be helping others, your confidence will strengthen as you prove to yourself you do know what you’re doing and people do care what you have to say.

It’s rewarding and empowering at the same time.

#2. Prepare for Failure AND Success (Because Both Can Be Crippling)

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The Imp comes with a cruel twist. It won’t just berate you for failures; it will berate you for successes as well.

When a pitch is rejected or an article bombs, your Imp will use it to convince you that you don’t have what it takes.  Having a few failures in a row can make you want to curl up in a ball of despair.

On the other hand, when your writing is successful and gets glowing responses, your Imp will convince you it was a fluke. It will make you feel like you’ve now set expectations you’ll never be able to meet again.

The effect is the same. You procrastinate.

Because no idea feels good enough. You never feel prepared enough. And nothing you write feels like it stacks up.

You get stuck over-analyzing and don’t start anything new.

But the trick to beating your Imp is to keep yourself busy. Because the more you have on your mind, the less time you have to listen to that debilitating inner voice.

So prepare for these situations by creating an action plan. Have a list of tasks ready for whenever they come up, so you won’t have time to drive yourself crazy.

For example, when a pitch is rejected, you might make a point to ask for feedback, find different sites to pitch, or come up with 20 new headlines.

When a post takes off, you might make a point to read all the comments, identify what connected with readers, and see if you can find ideas for a follow-up post.

Whatever you do, stay active, and end each plan with you writing your next post.

#3. Log Your Victories to Reinforce Your Self-Esteem

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Most of us have an instinct to devalue our talent. When a post does well, we think we got lucky. When someone compliments our work, we shrug it off.

But those are terrible habits.

You need to take responsibility for your victories.

When a post does well, you did that. When you get a compliment, you earned that.

And you should never forget it.

So log your victories in a “nice things” file. Log accomplishments big and small. Log every compliment you receive. Print them out or store them in Evernote.

Then read them on a regular basis. It will banish your Imp and reinforce your belief that you have talent. It will reinforce your belief that people value your work. Plus, it just feels good.

It’s okay to bask in your own glory from time to time.

#4. Remember That Nobody Expects You to Be Perfect (Except You)

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As writers, we put ourselves out there as experts, which can feel intimidating.

You feel pressured to put forth a veneer of perfection. You don’t want to show the cracks in your knowledge, as that would show everyone you’re not an expert at all.

Because you don’t feel like one. You’re certainly not as much of an expert as those other guys, right? Because they know more than you?

So what if someone asks a question you don’t have the answer to?  What if your post doesn’t include everything an expert would know? What if everyone realizes you don’t know everything?

Well, relax. Because readers aren’t looking for the holes and imperfections in your posts. They’re more interested in what you do know than what you don’t. The only one who’s worried about the latter is you.

Readers only care whether your knowledge and experience can help them reach their goals. You may not know as much as that other expert, but if you can do that, you’re expert enough for them.

Remember that.

You Are Not a Fraud, You Are a Writer

Your successes aren’t flukes.

You deserve all the praise you get.

And you are a writer — a real one.

So it’s time you finally convince yourself.

It’s time you fight back, wrestle your Imp to the ground and say, “Enough! I am smart, I am brave, and I earned everything I’ve worked for. I AM NOT A FRAUD!”

I’m right by your side, my fellow writer friend.  Let’s do this together.

Let’s tear down the walls of isolation and surround ourselves with writers. Let’s stop feeling intimidated by success. Let’s stop expecting nothing but perfection from ourselves.

Let’s promise to keep writing no matter what, and let’s take responsibility for all the victories along the way.

Are you with me?

About the Author: Mel Wicks is a freelance copywriter and content marketer. Download her free bonus ‘7 Golden Writing Rules — A No-Fluff, Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Quality Blog Posts’ and be one of the first to hear when her new blog, The Craft of Copywriting, goes live in August 2017.

source https://smartblogger.com/imposter-syndrome/

10 Things You Need to Do After You Publish Your Blog Post

Can I ask you a question?

What do you do after you hit the “Publish” button?

If your blog isn’t getting any traction, you probably aren’t doing the right things.

Let’s be real. You can’t just post to social media a few times and move on to the next post. That’s not going to cut it.

You can’t spend all your time writing new posts and then neglect those posts once they’re published.

In fact, you should spend only 20% of your time writing, and 80% getting people to read what you wrote.

But how, you ask?

This post will tell you 10 things you need to do after publishing your post.

It contains an after-publish task list you can use to take your blog from barren wasteland to popular tourist attraction. Follow these recommendations, and you’ll stand to 10X your results from every blog post you publish!

Ready?

Great, then let’s start.

#1. Jumpstart Traffic with a Teaser Email

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Your first order of business is to get some immediate traffic to the blog post. The most obvious way to do that is by promoting the post to your own email list.

Now, many people like to include the entire blog post in their emails, but you shouldn’t do that.

Why?

Because that doesn’t get you any traffic! When your subscribers get your full post in their inbox, they don’t need to visit your blog to get the content. Plus, it also makes them less likely to share, comment or read other posts on your blog.

Instead, use a brief “teaser email” that entices your subscribers to click through to your blog and share the post with their friends. This gets the ball rolling so that even people outside of your email list can find your post.

Here’s an example:

Without giving away too much, I linked to the blog post using an enticing call-to-action. I’ve also included a P.S. that invites subscribers to share on social media, including an easy link to share the post on Twitter.

Bonus tip: I used ClickToTweet to create the link.

#2. Deploy a Never-Ending Social Media Campaign

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Average bloggers share their posts on social media. Smart bloggers create “evergreen” social media campaigns.

An evergreen campaign is a series of social media updates that constantly recycle themselves. So instead of just sharing your post a few times and calling it a day, your post gets promoted over and over again, on autopilot.

You can set this up by using a tool called MeetEdgar. This tool allows you to create a library of social media updates and a queue that automatically fills itself using the updates in your library.

Here are some ideas for social media updates to add to your evergreen campaign:

• Share the headline, or a variation of the headline for your post
• Share a quote or excerpt from your post
• Share an infographic or image from your post
• Tag an influencer who you featured in the post

If you can’t afford the $79/month for MeetEdgar, then MissingLettr is a similar product (albeit with more limited features) for only $15/month.

#3. Persuade Influencers to Spread the Word

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Reaching out to influencers is a great activity to focus on after publishing. One influencer sharing your post on social media can make the difference between a couple views versus several hundred, or even thousands!

So how do you find these influencers?

One way to find them is by using BuzzSumo. Just go to the Influencers tab, and search for the topic of your blog post. It will show you a list of the top influencers who share content related to that topic.

To see if they are a good influencer to approach, click on the “View Links Shared” button to the right of their name and description. This will show you a list of recent links they shared. Look at the URLs of the links to see whether they commonly share other people’s content.

I should note that Buzzsumo does cost $99/month. If you’re not already using it and that’s not something you can afford, use their 14-day free trial to search for several niche-related keywords and find as many influencers as you can. (Categorize them by topic so you know for which posts you should reach out to them.)

When your trial runs out, you can google your topic and find high-ranking blogs. Then, find the people behind them on social media and check whether they are good influencers to approach. It may take more time to find good influencers, but it gets the job done.

Once you’ve collected a solid list of influencers, let them know that you have a blog post that they might be interested to share with their audience. (You can either reach out to them via social media, or send them a cold email.)

To learn how to actually persuade influencers to share your post, check out Brian Dean’s guide on how to get influencers to promote your content for free.

#4. Go Hunting for Juicy Backlinks

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If you want to get as many eyeballs on your content as you can, you have to help it rise in Google’s ranks.

But you have to provide some hard evidence to show Google your post is worthy of their elusive page one — specifically, you’ll need to get backlinks from high-quality sources in your niche. This shows search engines that your post is also high-quality by association.

To find other blog owners who might want to link to you, do a series of Google searches on your topic. You are especially looking for list posts and resource posts that have lots of links to other blog posts like yours.

Google phrases like:

• “[your topic] tips”
• “[your topic] ways”
• “[your topic] resources”
• “[your topic] links”

Make a list of blogs that you want to reach out to and then find the contact info of the people in charge. Send them an email explaining that you enjoyed reading their post and that you wrote one on a related topic. Tell them you’d love to know what they think. Then, if you get a positive response, ask whether they’d consider adding the line to their post, if they think their audience would be interested.

Not everyone will say yes, but you should shoot for a 10% success rate or higher (i.e. you should get one backlink for every ten bloggers you ask.)

Bonus tip: Check out Dan Ray’s process for getting 50+ high-quality backlinks per month.

#5. Perform a 10-Minute Internal Link Audit

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Speaking of links, that’s something you should take care off on your own blog as well.

Interlinking your blog posts with each other makes them easier for Google to index, helps you rank in search engines, and it keeps readers browsing your blog!

So set 10 minutes aside to do an internal link audit. Take a look at other posts you’ve written and see if you can add any links to them that point to your newly published post.

Make a game of it, and see how many internal links you can add in just 10 minutes!

#6. Answer the Burning Questions on Quora

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Another great way to promote your blog post is by answering questions on Quora.

Just search for your topic, and see what questions come up.

Then, compose a thoughtful answer (like this one by Ryan Robinson), and link to your related blog post.

The key with Quora is to make your answers as helpful and informative as possible. Don’t just drop your link and run … it won’t work.

Quora uses a voting process to display the best answers at the top. Make sure that you are providing value first, and that your answer is worthy of being featured as the top answer!

#7. Repurpose Your Post

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Don’t forget that content can take on many different forms other than written blog posts. Repurposing your posts by leveraging different types of content is a very smart (and efficient) way to attract new audiences!

For example, you could record yourself reading your blog post, and turn the recording into a podcast episode. User Experience designer Paul Boag does this for each of his blog posts (and he also embeds the recording at the top of the blog post itself, for visitors who would rather listen than read).

But that’s just one idea. You could also …

• Turn your post into a slide presentation and offer it as a webinar.
• Turn it into a video.
• Create a downloadable PDF version.
• Take multiple related posts and turn them into an ebook.

You have many options, so use them.

#8. Turn Your Post into a Facebook Ad

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Did you know that top blogs will actually turn their posts into Facebook ads to drive more traffic to them?

Well, Facebook ads aren’t just for large blogs with huge advertising budgets … you don’t need to spend more than a few bucks per day.

In fact, I used Facebook ads to grow my email list by 532 subscribers in just 43 days, and for the price of a cup of coffee!

The beauty of Facebook ads is that you can target specific groups of people with them. For instance, you could show your ad to people who like other Facebook pages in your niche. Or you could target people who have an interest in specific topics.

The opportunity that Facebook presents to advertise your blog would be foolish to ignore. The fact is, there are over 1.9 billion monthly users on Facebook. So chances are, your target audience is there! Why not send them to your best content?

#9. Dig Deep Into the Data

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This activity is one of the most overlooked, but also one of the most important. If you don’t analyze your post’s performance, how will you ever know what’s working and what’s not?

Set up a Google Analytics account to see whether your promotion strategies are working.

Look at the data a week after your post to see how well it did immediately after publication.

Did it get as much traffic to your post as you were expecting?

How long did visitors stick around to read your post, and did they convert to subscribers?

How much of your existing traffic is from social vs. referrals (people linking to your post) vs. direct channels (your teaser email)?

For example, if you have lots of direct but no social traffic, that could mean that you’re doing a great job with your teaser email, but it underperformed in the social arena.

Then, make sure you check the post’s data periodically to see how it’s doing traffic-wise. (More on that in a second.)

To learn more about how to use Google Analytics, check out this crash course.

#10. Remind Yourself to Refresh Regularly

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Did you know that “freshness” is an important factor that Google takes into account when deciding whether or not to display your post in the search results?

You should update your best-performing blog posts with new information on a regular basis. Your posts will continue to provide the best content for your readers, and you boost your chances of keeping your rank in the search engines.

The problem is, this is a task that is easily neglected.

So after you click publish, set a reminder for yourself to go check on your post in a year and see whether it warrants refreshment. (I recommend creating a single event for a number of posts, so you don’t drive your future self crazy with weekly reminders.)

Make sure you set the event to repeat every year and set the notification to “email.”

Then, when you get a reminder, first check how your post is performing. If it barely gets traffic, it’s not worth your time to refresh. (Though, if you think the post is worth giving a second chance, you could try targeting a new keyword and/or republishing it under a new headline.)

If it is performing well, see if you can refresh your post by:

• Adding new tips, examples or insights you’ve gained since publication
• Checking the comments for questions you could address in the post
• Revising outdated information
• Checking whether all the links still work
• Checking whether the resources or tools you recommend are still the best
• Removing or replacing methods you no longer support
• Adding or updating images, screenshots, graphs, etc.

Once you’ve made the improvements to your post, mark it as updated. You can either add (Updated) to the end of your headline, or add a message at the top of your post.

Give Every Post the Best Chance You Can

If you think your work is over as soon as you click “publish,” it’s time to think again.

Because what you do once your post is live is even more important than what you do before. Taking your foot off the gas can mean that all the effort you spent writing your post goes to waste.

So instead of writing post after post, spend some time getting people to read the ones you’ve already written. Try some of the above tasks on your older posts, and keep them in mind for your next ones.

Stop neglecting your posts after you publish them and get them the attention they deserve.

And before you know it, you’ll see your traffic soar.

About the Author: Mary Fernandez the founder of Persuasion Nation and the co-founder of AwesomeGuests: a tool that connects you with the top blogs and podcasts seeking guests just like you. Click here to access our fully-vetted database of guest blogging and podcast interview opportunities (plus SmartBlogger-only deals and bonuses)!

source https://smartblogger.com/after-publish-blog-post/

13 WordPress Plugins That’ll Save You a Ton of Time

Running a blog requires an insane amount of time.

In fact, there’s not enough time in your day to do everything (especially if you have a full-time job, too).

From learning new ways to get traffic and scheduling social media posts to building your email list and managing comments, you feel stretched to your limit.

And the more you learn and grow, the more you have to keep up with — it’s exhausting.

So what if I told you that you can add a squad of tools to your toolbox that will eliminate a ton of time spent on the more tedious aspects of blogging?

These 13 WordPress plugins are like having a full-time employee that shaves hours off of your blogging work week, so you can get back to doing the important things: writing and connecting with your audience.

Plugin #1: Beacon

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If you’re committed to building your email list, content upgrades can increase your subscribers substantially.

My sitewide opt-in offer converts at a rate of around 10% while my content upgrades convert at closer to 25%-30%.

That means that for every 100 visitors to my blog, I can collect 15-20 more emails.

Impressive, right?

But adding content upgrades to every article you publish seems like a daunting task, right?

Not if you use Beacon.

Beacon allows you to create ebooks from your existing articles automatically, right on your WordPress dashboard:

If you have several blog posts that could go together in one cohesive ebook, or if you have a long piece of content that could do the same, Beacon can do that for you …

Without having to fiddle around with designing it yourself.

I made an ebook with Beacon for my guide on Instagram marketing in five minutes flat, and it converted at over 20% of visitors.

Massive results in a quarter of the time.

Plugin #2: Pretty Link

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With Pretty Link, you can create shorter, more memorable links to any page you refer to a lot. This keeps you from having to hunt down their URLs all the time.

For example, affiliate links can be quite complicated and contain random sequences of numbers that are hard to remember. So if you refer to the same affiliate product a lot, you can create a simpler link like “http://yourdomain.com/productname.”

And you can do the same for any post or page to which you refer often. You can bring each URL down to a memorable keyword and won’t have to spend any time hunting down links.

Just compare:

You can see how the second URL would be easier to remember, can’t you?

And that’s not all. Pretty Link also saves time whenever you have to replace a link you’ve used a lot.

Say you were to change your username on Twitter. You’d have to hunt down every link to your Twitter account and replace them …

Unless you created a Pretty Link that says “http://yourdomain.com/twitter.” You can just go into your dashboard, edit the target URL, and you’re done.

Plugin #3: SEO Smart Links

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When you publish a new article on your blog, do you visit all your previous articles and link them to the new one?

It’s good for SEO and will boost your page views by helping more readers find your content.

But it’s way too time-consuming, right?

Enter SEO Smart Links, which is a plugin that automatically links keywords or phrases in your articles based on rules you set.

For example, I have an article about one of my coaching clients who built a $10,000/month business through one method I teach of finding clients. I set it up so every time phrases like “freelancing clients” or “find freelancing clients”  come up on my blog, they’re automatically linked to this article.

This makes it so I’ll never have to dig through my older posts to create internal links.

Note: This also comes in handy with affiliate links. You can make sure you never miss an opportunity to earn affiliate income by setting an SEO Smart Link.

Plugin #4: Yoast SEO

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Let me guess …

When somebody says “SEO,” you want to run for the hills.

For new and even experienced bloggers, search engine optimization is like Mount Everest for beginner climbers. It’s the “holy grail” of traffic generation strategies, yet it’s daunting to execute.

So you could spend the next several months learning about SEO.

Or, you could save yourself hundreds of hours reading case study after case study, researching best SEO practices, and trying to decipher Google-ese by installing Yoast SEO.

Yoast SEO is a WordPress plugin that guides you through optimizing each of your posts through a handy checklist to “grade” how well you’ve optimized your post:

You should know the basics of SEO (so you don’t piss Google off), but with Yoast SEO, you don’t need to spend hours studying.

Plugin #5: MonsterInsights

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Checking stats is as addictive as Candy Crush and just as unproductive too. When you break your focus from what you’re working on (i.e., important things like writing articles), you sacrifice about 20 minutes of productivity — even if you were only distracted for two minutes.

This is called “task switching” and it’s a huge time suck.

Cutting back on obsessive stat-checking is difficult once you’re hooked, but you can reduce the time you waste with MonsterInsights.

It’s a Google Analytics plugin for WordPress that shows you the most important stats right on your dashboard.

You’ll no longer have to leave your site to check analytics (and get drowned in the ocean of distracting figures). You can stay inside WordPress, get your quick fix, and move on to writing your post.

Plugin #6: WP Performance Profiler

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The speed of your website directly impacts your search engine results.

Meaning that if your blog is slow, Google will penalize you. And often, when your blog is slow, it’s one or more of your plugins that causes the issue.

This is a huge pain to fix.

First, you have to pull up Google’s PageSpeed tester. Then you have to begin disabling your plugins one-by-one. And after every plugin you disable, you have to test the speed again to see if you found the culprit.

That is, unless you let WP Performance Profiler do all the heavy lifting for you.

This nifty plugin costs less than ten bucks and saves you having to dig for problem plugins by reporting the activated plugins that are making your blog lag the most.

It even tells you the impact your plugins have on your site’s front end, which affects how speedy it seems for your readers:

This saves you the time of having to test your site to try and find the offending plugins.

So activate WP Performance Profiler on your blog, deactivate those problem plugins, and get back to doing the important work of a blogger.

Plugin #7: UpdraftPlus

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If your blog has never gone down, it probably will at some point, whether it’s because of hosting issues or a broken plugin or theme.

These issues can often be fixed quite quickly, but sometimes it’s not that simple and it wipes some of your blog’s history clean. Worst case scenario: You lose a ton of content.

Unless you install UpdraftPlus, a WordPress plugin that backs up your blog and stores your backup files in DropBox, Google Drive, or whatever remote storage solution you use.

This essential plugin will save you time in two ways:

1. You won’t have to spend hours on the phone or in online chat with your web host trying to restore the last backup of your site.
2. You won’t have to backup your blog manually. UpdraftPlus will run automated backups on a schedule, so you don’t have to remember to do so yourself.

Trust me, when your website does inevitably break, you’ll be glad you had the foresight to install this plugin.

Plugin #8: Akismet

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Have you ever logged onto your blog’s WordPress dashboard and seen comments like this?:

Thanks for the compliment, “Petite Clothing.”

These are spam comments that are a huge time waste.

There’s nothing quite as mind-numbing as sorting through comments to identify what’s real and what’s left by robots.

Which is why all bloggers must use Akismet – WordPress’s most popular anti-spam plugin which filters out all spam comments with remarkable accuracy:

Plugin #9: WP Broken Link Status Checker

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Broken links hurt your SEO and your reader’s experience of your site.

So you need to make sure your links are all in good order, right?

Except that would take hours upon hours. You’d have to go through your posts periodically to check for broken links, testing each one as if you were a reader.

Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Instead, use WP Broken Link Status Checker.

This plugin runs scans which will check all of the links on your website on autopilot based on your own parameters. You can check for internal links, or make sure that your reader won’t bottom out when they click on a link you placed to another blogger.

Plugin #10: ManageWP

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When you have more than one blog, you can get even more overwhelmed keeping track of everything.

You have a million tabs open on Google Chrome, you waste a ton of time each day flitting between each tab (often to bring up the wrong one), and you can hardly keep up.

Well, look no further, because ManageWP will make your life a whole lot easier.

ManageWP is a WordPress management system that connects your blogs to a single dashboard.

I have three blogs, and this plugin saves me a ton of time going from one to the other. It provides me easy access to each one with a single click, and also provides an easy overview of the security, performance, and analytics of each one.

ManageWP is a must-have for anyone who manages multiple blogs.

Plugin #11: Enable Media Replace

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About a year ago, I hired a web designer to overhaul my blog, Unsettle.

When the design was finally done and pushed out to the world, I began to notice little problems:

I needed to replace my old logo on all of the pages it still showed up on. My headshots were out of date on my old content and pages, and a lot of the blog images I had created were no longer relevant.

I had some work to do.

First, I had to upload the new logo, headshots, and blog images to WordPress.

Then, I had to comb through the pages of my blog to update these images, eating up hours of time (and a lot of patience, too).

But then I stumbled across Enable Media Replace: a WordPress plugin that lets you replace the piece of media (in my case, the images) rather than uploading new ones and hunting them down.

Plugin #12: Appointments+

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You’ve been there.

You’re trying to book a coaching call, or a time to meet with a potential freelancing client, or maybe just trying to set up a call with a reader, but you can’t find a time that works for you both.

So you spend what feels like hours in your email inbox proposing, rejecting, and rescheduling.

If this sounds familiar, this plugin will give you huge relief. Appointments+ is a plugin that allows you and your clients or readers to book appointments right on your WordPress website …

Allowing you to get out of your email inbox and save time, frustration, and back and forth.

Note: This plugin is only available as part of a larger package which costs $49/month. On the other hand, you won’t need this plugin until you have enough clients to afford it. (And the package includes other useful plugins as well!)

Plugin #13: CoSchedule

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You know the feeling …

You have a million ideas for blog posts (or maybe, like me, you have a million half-written drafts), and you’re overwhelmed. It’s hard to keep everything organized and keep yourself focused.

Sound familiar?

Then try CoSchedule. It will help you manage your editorial calendar and your social media promotions all in one spot, saving you the time of having to flit between different apps.

Plus, you can post to your Facebook Group right from your WordPress dashboard, and it shows how well your social media posts did, saving you from having to find your analytics in a different app.

CoSchedule is another paid plugin, but it’s a huge time-saver that will leave you feeling far more organized and put together.

Get Off the Blogging Hamster Wheel

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Sometimes, blogging feels like you’re on a hamster wheel.

You’re busy all the time, but you’re not getting anywhere fast.

My guess is that’s because you’re spending time on some tasks that, while crucial, won’t propel you forward.

So get off the blogging hamster wheel. Automate the boring stuff with these 13 WordPress plugins so you can get back to the meaningful work: the work you thought you were getting into when you started your blog.

And watch your productivity soar.

Sarah Peterson writes insanely useful guides on marketing and entrepreneurship at Unsettle.org. Get her report, 10 Free Tools That Reveal the Product Your Audience Is Begging For to finally start making money from your blog … the right way.

 

source https://smartblogger.com/time-saving-wordpress-plugins/

26 Crazy Stories about “OMG!” Opportunities that Blogging Made Happen

Will it all be worth it?

You can’t help wondering sometimes.

Every spare minute, you’re glued to your computer, reading, writing, doing all you can to grow your blog and build your audience — all on the shaky promise that someday your efforts will pay off.

But sometimes, that someday feels far out of reach. Sometimes, you can’t help wondering whether that day will ever come, or whether you’re just wasting your time.

Well, hang in there, my friend. Because you never know what kinds of opportunities your blog can bring you.

And they might take time, but for all you know, they might be right around the corner.

To prove it, I asked 26 of my blogging friends to share the coolest, craziest opportunities their blogs made happen in their early days — that is, before they amassed a huge following and made tens of thousands of dollars off their blog.

Ready to dive in?

#1. Jeff Bullas / Jeff Bullas

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One of the “craziest” opportunities I had happened about a year after starting the blog when I was invited to speak in New Zealand.

It came about because a millionaire who was reading my blog, loved my content and had an idea and sent me an email.

After the event he asked me to join the board of a new tech startup and offered shares.

Five years later the company has raised $3 million and is continuing to grow.

That company is Shuttlerock.

We were a winner in Facebook’s 2016 Innovation Spotlight providing a scalable creative solution to unlock the true power of Facebook Advertising.

#2. Ryan Biddulph / Blogging from Paradise

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The coolest opportunity that arose for me as a beginning blogger was being asked to interview Thrillionaire celebrity Nik Halik. I had no clue how to blog, let alone conduct an interview. Since this was some 7 years ago I literally pressed “record” on a tape recorder – I am not kidding – received the call on my land line (resistant to cell phone usage back then) and preserved the interview for transcribing.

I learned a valuable lesson too; be prepared! I asked two canned questions sent to me by his press guy and Nik told me he was bored of the same old questions as this was his 10th interview of the day. Because I spent 20 minutes researching him earlier that day I nimbly shifted and asked probing, interesting questions that made for a great interview.

#3. Chris Guillebeau / The Art of Non-Conformity

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In my early days of blogging, Air New Zealand flew me to the Cook Islands for a 24-hour event.

It was a whirlwind visit and I learned that I don’t like sponsored trips (too much expectation on behalf of the sponsor, even when they say otherwise…), but I was still grateful for the experience.

#4. Danny Iny / Mirasee

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The craziest opportunity that arose from blogging was that I ended up co-authoring a book with Guy Kawasaki and other A-listers when I was an unknown. Here’s how it happened:

Firepole Marketing (now Mirasee) was just a tiny blog with less than 1,000 subscribers, when I had the opportunity to guest blog on Copyblogger. My post was “38 Critical Books Every Blogger Needs to Read.” Number 12 on the list was The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki.

It must have caught the attention of Guy and/or his publicist, because a few days later, I received an email from Guy thanking me for including his book. He said he had a new book coming out and offered me a review copy and an interview.

Of course, I seized the opportunity. I spent 15 hours preparing for the interview to make it so good that Guy would want to share it with everybody. Afterwards, I posted the interview on my blog and created a video to promote the book on YouTube. I wrote reviews on Amazon and other bookseller websites—I did everything I could think of to get the word out.

Months later, I invited Guy to contribute to my book, Engagement from Scratch!, and he said yes. And that’s how blogging helped me co-author a book with Guy Kawasaki.

#5. Richard Lazazzera / A Better Lemonade Stand

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Blogging quite literally changed my life. Within months of starting my ecommerce blog, A Better Lemonade Stand, I wrote a really long-form piece of content that drove thousands of brand new visitors to my site. One of those visitors was the director of marketing for Shopify. He reached out to me via email and we started to build a relationship.

About a year later, I moved to Toronto. When the director at Shopify heard, I was offered a position at Shopify which I jumped on. That position allowed me to reach two million visitors per month through their blog (while still growing my personal blog), write a full length book, and participate in the IPO of Shopify.

I’ve since left Shopify and continue to build A Better Lemonade Stand and several other companies. To think it all began with a single blog post still amazes me.

#6. Ian Cleary / Razor Social

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Within six months of launching the blog it was voted one of the top ten social media blogs in the world by a competition run by Social Media Examiner.

That was pretty amazing for me because I started the blog based in Ireland and I was the only European blog on the list. This rapidly helped me become an influencer in the Social Media Space and generated me significant business.

#7. Amy Lynn Andrews / Amy Lynn Andrews

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In 2006, when I had been blogging only a few years and blogs were still somewhat of a novelty, I was contacted by a writer from TIME Magazine. She had found my blog and wanted to interview me for a story she was writing about one of my main topics.

For some reason I didn’t think it could possibly be true, but a few months later I found myself in the print edition of TIME Magazine (in March 2007). Unfortunately I wasn’t savvy enough to maximize the exposure, but I did keep in contact with that journalist and enjoyed her friendship for several years.

#8. Dave Chesson / Kindlepreneur

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You never know who is reading or following your content. I found out that my all time favorite writer, and multi-NYT Bestseller, Ted Dekker, had come across my work.

This led into getting to meet him for coffee, and ultimately, become an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) reader as well as helping with some of his book marketing projects.

#9. John Lee Dumas / EOFire

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Very early on I had the opportunity to be featured on some pretty big sites as a guest poster, which wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t had the EOFire blog up and running. One of the first was on Think Traffic​ (now Fizzle.co), and we were featured there within just one month of having started our own blog.

This first guest post gave us powerful momentum and exposure, which we then used to request to guest post on other big name sites like Social Media Examiner, Copy Blogger, Content Marketing Institute and over twenty others.

Each new guest post opportunity brought with it exposure, more momentum, and most importantly, a very valuable friendship with people I’m proud to still call friends today.

#10. Aaron Orendorff / Iconicontent

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Back in March 2014, I had just started blogging. Basically, it was me, my mom, and literally 261 unique visitors (I checked with Google Analytics just to be accurate).

I’d posted six times, when — out of the digital blue — I got an email about this post, Getting Your Customers to Hold It, Love It, and Give It Money:

I nearly lost my newbie-blogging mind. Of course, I said yes. And somewhat embarrassed myself by asking for a link:

“This is for a book project, so the linking is tough — but I’ll give you lots of love otherwise,” was Ann’s kind response.

Three months later, I’d secured my very first guest post at Copyblogger and I knew enough — just enough — to immediately turn around and pitch Ann on a MarketingProfs guest post. I composed a full article, sent it off, and was in. Everything I’ve done over the last three years has been built on that foundation. And I owe it all to one nice lady who stumbled on my blog when I had no business getting visitors of her clout (or visitors at all for that matter).

#11. Sean Ogle / Location Rebel

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About six months after starting my blog, I wrote a post about quitting my job as a financial analyst. I had no idea what I was going to do after that, but I knew I was ready for something different.

The following week I received an email from a reader congratulating me on taking the leap, and telling me that he was looking to bring an intern out to Asia to help him with the online marketing for his company. I’d work part time and he would pay my basic living expenses, while teaching me the ins and outs of the digital world.

Six weeks later, I was on a flight to Bangkok where I would live for the next seven months – and it would set the foundation for my life and business for years to come. I haven’t had a real job since.

It never would have happened had I not started the blog, and positioned myself for a big opportunity to come my way.

#12. Camilla Hallstrom / Influence with Content

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Back when I got started, I had NO clue what I was doing.

I wasn’t sure what worked and what didn’t. Sure, through programs like Serious Bloggers Only I knew what sorts of posts got results, but I still felt uncertain about putting anything out there. What was the point, really? What if I was just wasting my time on this blogging thing? A nagging voice inside my head told me I would end up empty handed without anything to show for it…

That’s why it felt amazing when one of my first posts got tons of shares and comments. But the best part? Brian Tracy (the sales mogul) shared it on his Facebook page (at the time, he had around 1.5 million followers). And that same post went on to win the title of “Most Epic Post” in a contest here on Smart Blogger (Boost Blog Traffic back then).

That’s the moment I understood exactly how powerful blogging can be. You can get noticed by anyone and you can open doors that right now seem firmly shut.

Apart from this, blogging has made such a difference in my life. I have met new friends who have the exact same interests as I do — that NEVER happens offline (for some reason, people’s eyes glaze over whenever I try to start a discussion about a content idea I just heard about). I’ve gotten job offers in big part thanks to my blogging experience and I started my freelance career because of it.

#13. Ashley Faulkes / Mad Lemmings

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When you are just getting started, you don’t really expect anything crazy to happen. But sometimes you get a big surprise!

One of the things I did when starting out was to create a post featuring all the influencers in the blogging and social media scene. It got a lot of people’s attention and connected me with a lot of influencers very quickly. After all, it was a post with the sole purpose of highlighting these influencers (and letting them know of course :>).

Now, having connected with these influencers, I had the opportunity to take it a step further. I started inviting a lot of them on my brand spanking new podcast. Of course, I did not expect many of the bigger names to say yes. Surprisingly, I got quite a few big bloggers on the show, including some who were very reluctant to put themselves out there (not everyone is a lover of the microphone you know :>). Some of the people I got on my podcast included: Rebekah Radice, Ileane Smith, Ann Smarty, Susan Gilbert, John Paul Aguiar, Ian Anderson Gray and more. No, not Seth Godin, but still, for a complete beginner not bad I think!

What blew me away is that getting in contact with people you look up to is not as hard as it seems (if they don’t have an assistant answering their mails :>). Don’t forget, they were exactly where you are not too long ago. And most are more than happy to help out a newbie! Give it a shot.

#14. Daniel Scocco / Daily Blog Tips

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Blogging is a great way to showcase your expertise and expand your network. I learned this when, back in 2009, I landed a consulting gig with an agency of the United States Government! The guys from Voice of America (the official external US broadcaster) were planning to launch a new site, and they wanted to learn what would be the best ways to optimize and promote it. It was a very interesting experience, and certainly a nice touch to my CV!

Practically speaking, this happened because I wrote a lot of content on related topics (website optimization, SEO, content marketing, website promotion), and that content got linked from other bloggers and site owners, and eventually it ranked well on Google. Then when the guys from VOA started doing some research they came across my stuff, liked it, and decided to get in touch.

#15. Meera Kothand / Meera Kothand

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One of the craziest opportunities I received when I started out was not only having my guest post accepted at Marketing Profs but also getting an invitation to record a mini video training for their paid members.

It was scary but I took the plunge and did the training for them and got paid for it as well. This was when my blog was barely six months old. I’ve always believed in guest posting but its benefits reach far wider than just getting traffic and growing your list. It gets you exposure, introduces you to a new audience and paves the way for other opportunities like it did in my case!

#16. Dave Schneider / Ninja Outreach

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Well I got the opportunity to join my current startup, Ninja Outreach! The opportunity arose when I was invited on a podcast with my now partner Mark, who read my blog, only a few months after I started it.

After the podcast was published he reached back out to me and we discussed some ideas we had for building marketing tools in the space. We decided it made sense to work together on it. That was three years ago, and NinjaOutreach is doing over half a million dollars a year now.

#17. Nathan Chan / Foundr

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I can’t put this down to any one situation! Ever since we started the Foundr blog this has given us opportunities to interview some of the greatest entrepreneurs of our generation (Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, Seth Godin etc.) and with this we’ve also been able to connect with some amazing entrepreneurs in our community which has been an extremely rewarding experience.

#18. Julie Harris / Whiskey and Red

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The craziest opportunity that arose from blogging was being invited to speak at my first live class. I had been blogging for about six months when I was contacted by the Hawaii Chapter of a national women’s entrepreneur association, “Femfessionals” to speak at their Hawaiian Chapter dinner. They had found my name through another local business I had worked with in the past and found their way to my blog. I had just posted about “Charging What You’re Worth” and they loved the post so much they asked me to present on the same topic live, in front of their whole local chapter.

There was a whole catered dinner, wine and beverages, and a room full of local entrepreneurs waiting to hear what I had to say. I was so crazy nervous but excited. This opportunity then opened more doors to new clients, new projects, and continued speaking gigs. My business was so new at that point, I didn’t have much of a portfolio, and my small social following was pretty slim, but I had a pretty extensive business blog, and that was what convinced them that I was the perfect speaker for them.

#19. Franklin Hatchett / Online Dimes

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When I first started blogging I came across a new internet marketing method with Shopify. I ended up writing about it on my blog and uploading a Video to Youtube. To my surprise this became a great opportunity and the opportunity grew my blog from around 1,000 visits a month to over 25,000.

This is the single biggest thing that grew my blog and I seized every moment of it. The blog post and video in question were posted all over the internet because people had doubts and talked negatively about it. That negativity grew my email list to 35,000 and Youtube to 30,000 subscribers in a year. I also launched a private Facebook Group four months ago that quickly grew to 15,000 members and counting.

The blog post that was shared and talked about now has over 400 comments with the video having over 300,000 views. Some might not call this the perfect opportunity, however controversy is used on a daily basis for advertising and any publicity is good publicity.

#20. Zac Johnson / Zac Johnson

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When you put yourself out there in any industry and start to gain a following and audience, new opportunities are going to come up all the time. I’ve learned to not get excited by any of them, as only a very small percentage will actually come together. However, when they do, it’s pretty cool!

One such example was when Michael Bayer contacted me through email and asked if I’d like to be featured in a documentary on internet entrepreneurs. At the time I said yes… but always fully aware opportunities and emails similar to these come in every day and usually result in nothing.

Long story short, Michael was able to pull it all together and release the film! We had a nice premiere party in Hollywood, CA and it was pretty cool! Definitely a fun and exciting opportunity that never would have happened if I didn’t start ZacJohnson.com.

#21. Scott Chow / The Blog Starter

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I would have to say that the craziest opportunity to come from blogging as I was getting started was the opportunity to be interviewed by a journalist from a nationally distributed magazine.

I’m generally a pretty shy person so it felt a little strange to have that kind of spotlight on me. However, I think for a lot of people that’s what blogging is all about: finding your voice and sharing that with the world.

I am proud to share that message with people and also to help so many people establish blogs of their own!

#22. Joe Bunting / The Write Practice

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The craziest thing that happened to me as I first got into blogging was in 2008, after blogging for just a few months, I connected with another blogger who had been doing it for years for the organization he ran. We started emailing back and forth, and once, when he was going to be traveling in my city, we met and he introduced me to his daughter.

A few years later, I was traveling through his city, helping him with a book he was working on, and I saw his daughter again. We hit it off over coffee, started talking, and very long story short, less than a year later we were married. All from blogging.

#23. Tor Refsland / Tor Refsland

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There are a lot of crazy opportunities that have happened thanks to blogging.

Let me mention two of them:

1. I got featured in a book with some of the best marketers in the world: Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, Brian Clark and Grant Cardone.

2. I got headhunted by Noah Kagan (I graciously turned him down, since I wanted to focus on building my own business).

#24. Ryan Robinson / Ryan Robinson

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I got to work with Tim Ferriss, Neil Patel, Lewis Howes and dozens of other entrepreneurs right after I started blogging.

A few months after I started to write about my experiences running side projects, I applied for a job as a content marketer for the business classes at CreativeLive—the online education company. Thanks to the fact that I had already been blogging for myself about business related topics and essentially doing everything the content marketing job would entail, I got the gig and overnight started working with some of the most prominent names in the business world, helping them to create content and market their classes.

By going after a day job that put me in close proximity to the most influential people in my industry, I’ve since been able to grow these relationships and they’ve led me to do things like become a contributor on Forbes, land interviews with people like Pat Flynn and to launch my own consulting business. Blogging is all about relationships—go out of your way to forge meaningful ones that’ll help you progress within your industry.

#25. Nick Loper / Side Hustle Nation

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The craziest opportunity that came from blogging was the chance to speak at my local TEDx event. I was about a year into writing the Side Hustle Nation blog when I was accepted as a speaker, and without any relevant public speaking experience I could point to, I think it was the blog (and Side Hustle Show podcast) that tipped the scales in my favor.

I was incredibly nervous leading up to the event, but it was an awesome “bucket list” experience and a chance to step out of my comfort zone in a big way. Plus it forced me to refine my message into a (hopefully) coherent and concise talk. I went through a half dozen different drafts and rehearsed like crazy before the big day, but the talk ended up receiving a standing ovation and has now been viewed almost 10,000 times on YouTube.

#26. Kiersten Rich / The Blonde Abroad

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My first ever client was Visit Jordan for a video campaign where I got to produce a series of videos in the capital, Amman.

I’d always been passionate about videography, so it was an incredible opportunity and I was humbled that a tourism board had such faith in me despite only having just gotten started as a “blogger.” I learned early on that my audience and influence was only one aspect of my worth, but that my content also had value!

What Crazy Opportunities Are Waiting for You?

I know those pesky doubts are hard to shake sometimes. I know sometimes you feel like your day will never come; like you’re just wasting time and you might as well quit.

But let these stories inspire you to hang in there.

Blogging can (and often does) pay off in big and unexpected ways.

It is worth it.

So keep reading, keep writing, and (this is important) keep honing your skills.

Keep growing your blog and audience, and opportunities will find you.

Your turn will come.

And it might be right around the corner.

Author the Author: Eli Seekins is the founder of Launch Your Dream. He helps bloggers and entrepreneurs turn their passion into a business. Want help getting your first 1,000 email subscribers and making your first $5,000? Check out his FREE Job To Blog Virtual Summit — where 25 expert bloggers teach you how to quit your job, start a blog and make money doing it.

source https://smartblogger.com/blogger-opportunities/