8 Powerful Laws That Can Help You Become a More Successful Blogger and Help You Make More Money
Today I will be touching on a very important aspect of blogging.
I am assuming here that you already have a running website and you've come to a 'ceiling' where everything seems to remain the same and everything seems to give the same results no matter what extra effort you put in.
The traffic, the sales, the feedback...
everything just seems to remain stagnant or you just feel the money your blog makes is less than it should be making at the moment.
I have had the opportunity of finding out these 'laws' that if applied well, they have the potency of improving the results you are currently having - and these results could be immense.
So I will just go through them and I hope you get something out of this and apply it (this is the most important part) to whatever niche you are.
Happy reading J 1.
The Law of the Platform - See Every Opportunity as a Platform The law of the platform tells you to see every opportunity, happening or venture as a platform to get somewhere higher.
For instance, being a 19 year old blogger is an opportunity which a lot of people do not have.
It sort of gives me an avenue to market myself.
People will want to listen to a 19 year old making 5 figures from blogging.
The established bloggers will also be more inclined to what I have to say because they will feel that if I can make that much at 19, I will definitely be up to greater things in the near future.
They will want to help me in the little ways they can, because they know I will be of help ultimately.
All the while though, a lot of people in my age bracket feel they are too young or too inexperienced to command an audience just yet.
I wonder when the time would be right.
So whatever your story is, you can leverage it.
You story might be that you were laid off from work and happened to stumble on Internet Marketing and you were able to make as much money, or even less than you made at your day job - you have a platform.
Build on it! I have a friend who has almost 200 (good) eBooks sitting on a laptop, this friend of mine attends seminars like crazy.
He comes over to my place a lot of times and tells me he has gotten more eBooks and learnt something new, but he still keeps asking me WHAT HE CAN DO TO MAKE MONEY.
This friend of mine has a wealth of information sitting on a laptop, and all he has to do is take just one bit of information and apply it.
He seems to know so much that sometimes I don't know what else I can say to him other than he should create a plan.
He has a very good opportunity but is failing to turn it into a platform.
The Law of the Web - Build Your Network The law of the web tells you to build a network and in this case, a strong one.
The power of your web is the strength of the people in your network.
Build a network of weaklings and you will have a weak network, or you can build a network of strong individuals and you have an asset.
Using my accounts in Facebook and Twitter as an example: My account on Twitter is for strictly business matters, both the EmmanuelOlonade and the IncomeScene accounts are followed by people from related accounts like Forbes, Problogger, and JohnChow.
They are not from CNN or KimKardashian and that is why I get amazing results from them; these people are interested in what I have to say.
But my Facebook account is full of real life friends and if you have had a reason or two to sell to a friend on a professional level, you will understand what I mean when I say it is difficult to market to my fans there.
A lot of my friends that become fans do it more out of loyalty or just for the fun of following (everyone seems to follow as many pages as they can find).
My Twitter accounts vastly outperform my Facebook account simply because of the network I built.
I hope you understand this because this alone can determine the earning potential of your blog.
The Law of the Content - What Do You Have To Offer You can do a lot of work building a huge network of strong followers but once you do not have anything to offer them, they will end up running off to someone who has something for them.
After the entire buzz and the marketing, the top priority then becomes problems your site solves or the need it creates.
The subscribers we have nowadays have some kind of resistance when it comes to giving their email addresses; this means you don't just sit and create just any type of content and hope your readers will subscribe.
People have to see what's in it for them before they subscribe to get your updates.
You need to be unique with how you blog or else people will see you just as they see any other Tom, Dick, and Harry.
The Law of the Brand - How Do Others See Your Blog? The power of the brand cannot be overemphasized as it describes how others view your blog.
This is what 'outsiders' feel your blog is all about.
Let us take this analogy here, when you hear the name Toyota, one of the things that will pop up in your mind is the problem they had with the "braking system" of their cars; but if you come across a Walmart store the first thing that comes to your mind is "low prices".
And taking it to the blogosphere, when a name like Darren Rowse or Shoemoney is mentioned you immediately think of "making money online" or "blogging as a business", but what kind of bell does a name like Shawn Casey ring? Hype.
That is the power of the brand.
And it is with blogs as it is with any other business, the brand just doesn't become a trusted one overnight.
It takes consistency and some hard work (or if you like, smart work).
You can't blog about everything there is in this world about making money online and expect people to respect you.
Even if you do have a large following by doing this, making money off them will be difficult - if I subscribe to your blog because I want information on affiliate marketing, I will feel left out when you begin to talk about Forex trading.
The result is simple - I will not buy from you, but instead go off to someone who will tell me what I need to know about affiliate marketing.
The Law of Mentorship - Look For Someone to "Copy" The power of mentorship, I would not be able to completely explain.
But anybody that has had the opportunity to be mentored properly would tell you that finding a suitable mentor shortens the learning curve immensely.
Ask anyone.
No matter what you claim to know about blogging, your eyes are not open to some things.
There are scores of other people who know way more than you do, but these people cannot choose to help you if you don't ask them.
They have a lot of things on their hands, which means they don't have the time.
So what can you do about this? I would say that you should make yourself useful to them in one way or the other.
You can post comments and ask engaging questions regularly, you can send them an email telling them genuinely what you love about their blog and you can even ask them for an opportunity to work with them as an intern for free.
By doing these, they are bound to take notice and they would repay you in the little ways they can - probably a Retweet or an opportunity to write them a guest post (if they allow).
But a note of warning here, don't go about copying the exact things they do, letter by letter.
That is parasitic and it will do you more harm than good.
The Law of the Cross - Make a Sacrifice You might see this as somewhat "churchy" I know, but that's what I will like to use here.
It resonates with me that way.
To transform your blog into what you desire, you have to pay some sacrifices as it doesn't come cheap (sorry to scare you a bit).
Know that to come up with great posts you don't just sit down to write for thirty minutes a day, except if you will be working on the same article throughout the week.
To write a very good article, you need quality time to do your writing.
This article for instance was not posted the same day I typed it.
It took a few days and some corrections and tweaking along the way.
And the same principle goes for making the big connections, you have to sacrifice something tangible - it could be your time, it could mean foregoing easy or guaranteed sources of income for unpredictable and initially, less rewarding ones.
In the end, your blog will be better positioned to reward you.
All you have to do is make some sacrifices.
The Law of the DNA - You Have to Be Unique This is more like the laws of the content and that of the brand mixed together in some sorts.
The law of the DNA says you have to be unique in what you do.
And for those of you who don't know what DNA stands for, it is the part of our genes that makes each person different from every other person.
Fine, I said you should be unique but does it mean you should start looking for "untapped" markets? No.
Look for things people are doing and are successful at and then create a unique (and better) version.
It is more of like putting alloy rims into an existing wheel.
A way to go around this is by doing some soul-searching and finding out what sounds best or resonates most with you and what you stand for.
You can discover this by finding out what you seem to do quite well, something you are comfortable talking about or you can ask friends and family for feedback.
8.
The Law of the Look-Ahead - Peep Into the Future This is pretty simple, peep into the future, see a picture of what you want your blog to be like in say one, two or five years time; and use this to find out what you should be doing NOW.
As it is a new year, everyone has done the usual norm of making projections and resolutions, but a good number of us don't break these goals into small-enough fragments.
This makes it a task when we have to track our progress, and usually by March a lot of people will have fallen behind in meeting their goals, they will then start looking forward to the next year to make more resolutions.
For me this year, I have goals I have written down and I have assigned time limits to those to which it can be attached.
An example is to have 2,500 following each of my Twitter accounts as at my 20th birthday (in July).
I hope writing articles like these can help my cause.
On a final note, you have to do the best you can do now and run your own race, don't model your blog exactly after someone else's own; we all have to take different routes but ultimately we will reach our goals.
Believe you can transform you blog and you will, think otherwise and you would also be right.
The choice is yours.
I am assuming here that you already have a running website and you've come to a 'ceiling' where everything seems to remain the same and everything seems to give the same results no matter what extra effort you put in.
The traffic, the sales, the feedback...
everything just seems to remain stagnant or you just feel the money your blog makes is less than it should be making at the moment.
I have had the opportunity of finding out these 'laws' that if applied well, they have the potency of improving the results you are currently having - and these results could be immense.
So I will just go through them and I hope you get something out of this and apply it (this is the most important part) to whatever niche you are.
Happy reading J 1.
The Law of the Platform - See Every Opportunity as a Platform The law of the platform tells you to see every opportunity, happening or venture as a platform to get somewhere higher.
For instance, being a 19 year old blogger is an opportunity which a lot of people do not have.
It sort of gives me an avenue to market myself.
People will want to listen to a 19 year old making 5 figures from blogging.
The established bloggers will also be more inclined to what I have to say because they will feel that if I can make that much at 19, I will definitely be up to greater things in the near future.
They will want to help me in the little ways they can, because they know I will be of help ultimately.
All the while though, a lot of people in my age bracket feel they are too young or too inexperienced to command an audience just yet.
I wonder when the time would be right.
So whatever your story is, you can leverage it.
You story might be that you were laid off from work and happened to stumble on Internet Marketing and you were able to make as much money, or even less than you made at your day job - you have a platform.
Build on it! I have a friend who has almost 200 (good) eBooks sitting on a laptop, this friend of mine attends seminars like crazy.
He comes over to my place a lot of times and tells me he has gotten more eBooks and learnt something new, but he still keeps asking me WHAT HE CAN DO TO MAKE MONEY.
This friend of mine has a wealth of information sitting on a laptop, and all he has to do is take just one bit of information and apply it.
He seems to know so much that sometimes I don't know what else I can say to him other than he should create a plan.
He has a very good opportunity but is failing to turn it into a platform.
Top Tip: It is your approach towards the platform that will determine what you get from it.2.
The Law of the Web - Build Your Network The law of the web tells you to build a network and in this case, a strong one.
The power of your web is the strength of the people in your network.
Build a network of weaklings and you will have a weak network, or you can build a network of strong individuals and you have an asset.
Using my accounts in Facebook and Twitter as an example: My account on Twitter is for strictly business matters, both the EmmanuelOlonade and the IncomeScene accounts are followed by people from related accounts like Forbes, Problogger, and JohnChow.
They are not from CNN or KimKardashian and that is why I get amazing results from them; these people are interested in what I have to say.
But my Facebook account is full of real life friends and if you have had a reason or two to sell to a friend on a professional level, you will understand what I mean when I say it is difficult to market to my fans there.
A lot of my friends that become fans do it more out of loyalty or just for the fun of following (everyone seems to follow as many pages as they can find).
My Twitter accounts vastly outperform my Facebook account simply because of the network I built.
I hope you understand this because this alone can determine the earning potential of your blog.
Top Tip: Build a web of people who are preferably stronger (who have more audience than you) and are presently where you plan to be.3.
More on this later on.
The Law of the Content - What Do You Have To Offer You can do a lot of work building a huge network of strong followers but once you do not have anything to offer them, they will end up running off to someone who has something for them.
After the entire buzz and the marketing, the top priority then becomes problems your site solves or the need it creates.
The subscribers we have nowadays have some kind of resistance when it comes to giving their email addresses; this means you don't just sit and create just any type of content and hope your readers will subscribe.
People have to see what's in it for them before they subscribe to get your updates.
You need to be unique with how you blog or else people will see you just as they see any other Tom, Dick, and Harry.
Top Tip: Your readers don't want the best products around, they want the most helpful.4.
The Law of the Brand - How Do Others See Your Blog? The power of the brand cannot be overemphasized as it describes how others view your blog.
This is what 'outsiders' feel your blog is all about.
Let us take this analogy here, when you hear the name Toyota, one of the things that will pop up in your mind is the problem they had with the "braking system" of their cars; but if you come across a Walmart store the first thing that comes to your mind is "low prices".
And taking it to the blogosphere, when a name like Darren Rowse or Shoemoney is mentioned you immediately think of "making money online" or "blogging as a business", but what kind of bell does a name like Shawn Casey ring? Hype.
That is the power of the brand.
And it is with blogs as it is with any other business, the brand just doesn't become a trusted one overnight.
It takes consistency and some hard work (or if you like, smart work).
You can't blog about everything there is in this world about making money online and expect people to respect you.
Even if you do have a large following by doing this, making money off them will be difficult - if I subscribe to your blog because I want information on affiliate marketing, I will feel left out when you begin to talk about Forex trading.
The result is simple - I will not buy from you, but instead go off to someone who will tell me what I need to know about affiliate marketing.
Top Tip: Ask your readers or friends to describe you in 3 words.5.
The Law of Mentorship - Look For Someone to "Copy" The power of mentorship, I would not be able to completely explain.
But anybody that has had the opportunity to be mentored properly would tell you that finding a suitable mentor shortens the learning curve immensely.
Ask anyone.
No matter what you claim to know about blogging, your eyes are not open to some things.
There are scores of other people who know way more than you do, but these people cannot choose to help you if you don't ask them.
They have a lot of things on their hands, which means they don't have the time.
So what can you do about this? I would say that you should make yourself useful to them in one way or the other.
You can post comments and ask engaging questions regularly, you can send them an email telling them genuinely what you love about their blog and you can even ask them for an opportunity to work with them as an intern for free.
By doing these, they are bound to take notice and they would repay you in the little ways they can - probably a Retweet or an opportunity to write them a guest post (if they allow).
But a note of warning here, don't go about copying the exact things they do, letter by letter.
That is parasitic and it will do you more harm than good.
Top Tip: Be selective about your mentors.6.
The Law of the Cross - Make a Sacrifice You might see this as somewhat "churchy" I know, but that's what I will like to use here.
It resonates with me that way.
To transform your blog into what you desire, you have to pay some sacrifices as it doesn't come cheap (sorry to scare you a bit).
Know that to come up with great posts you don't just sit down to write for thirty minutes a day, except if you will be working on the same article throughout the week.
To write a very good article, you need quality time to do your writing.
This article for instance was not posted the same day I typed it.
It took a few days and some corrections and tweaking along the way.
And the same principle goes for making the big connections, you have to sacrifice something tangible - it could be your time, it could mean foregoing easy or guaranteed sources of income for unpredictable and initially, less rewarding ones.
In the end, your blog will be better positioned to reward you.
All you have to do is make some sacrifices.
Top Tip: To roll with the big guys, you have to make SACRIFICES.7.
The Law of the DNA - You Have to Be Unique This is more like the laws of the content and that of the brand mixed together in some sorts.
The law of the DNA says you have to be unique in what you do.
And for those of you who don't know what DNA stands for, it is the part of our genes that makes each person different from every other person.
Fine, I said you should be unique but does it mean you should start looking for "untapped" markets? No.
Look for things people are doing and are successful at and then create a unique (and better) version.
It is more of like putting alloy rims into an existing wheel.
A way to go around this is by doing some soul-searching and finding out what sounds best or resonates most with you and what you stand for.
You can discover this by finding out what you seem to do quite well, something you are comfortable talking about or you can ask friends and family for feedback.
Top Tip: Do not sell your beliefs for the rewards you might get as a result.And lastly...
It is not worth it in the end.
8.
The Law of the Look-Ahead - Peep Into the Future This is pretty simple, peep into the future, see a picture of what you want your blog to be like in say one, two or five years time; and use this to find out what you should be doing NOW.
As it is a new year, everyone has done the usual norm of making projections and resolutions, but a good number of us don't break these goals into small-enough fragments.
This makes it a task when we have to track our progress, and usually by March a lot of people will have fallen behind in meeting their goals, they will then start looking forward to the next year to make more resolutions.
For me this year, I have goals I have written down and I have assigned time limits to those to which it can be attached.
An example is to have 2,500 following each of my Twitter accounts as at my 20th birthday (in July).
I hope writing articles like these can help my cause.
On a final note, you have to do the best you can do now and run your own race, don't model your blog exactly after someone else's own; we all have to take different routes but ultimately we will reach our goals.
Believe you can transform you blog and you will, think otherwise and you would also be right.
The choice is yours.
Source...