Online marketing that works
Do you know this story?
A scorpion needs to cross the river. He asks a friendly-looking frog to carry him across.
“Do you think I’m stupid?” asks the frog. “You’re a scorpion. You’ll sting and kill me.”
“No I won’t,” says the scorpion. “That would be completely against my self interest. If I sting you, I’ll fall in the river and drown.”
TweetShare
Many of you began blogging to get more business. I’m sorry to tell you that many of you are doing the exact opposite.
Your blog isn’t getting you more business — it’s actually sending business away.
How did that happen?
A blog is supposed to create more interest in what you do or what you sell. It’s supposed to bring you more credibility, more readers. It’s supposed to show off your expertise. All that should be great for business. Where did it all go wrong?
TweetShare
Right around a year ago now, I made my first cent online. It was literally a cent — $0.01 — and it showed up in my Google AdSense account after a certain number of people had viewed an ad for dog food or a shiatsu massager or whatever on my old humor blog.
That first cent was exciting, because it proved that you really could make money online in the way it seemed that everyone said you could — by creating sites populated with ads, and then sitting back and letting the earnings pile up. Then, if the gurus were to be believed, it was only a matter of time before I would be living in Hawaii, while bikini girls used the Mona Lisa to wax my Lamborghini.
TweetShare
If I asked you to define what an A-list blogger actually is, what would you say?
I’m sure the usual thoughts like “thousands of subscribers,” “lots of comments,” and “large influence” come to mind.
While these may be things that many of us agree on, they aren’t really about the blogger, they’re about the blog.
TweetShare
We tell you about the power of stories quite a bit. And now we’re able to see what happens in our brains when we encounter a compelling story.
But how do you learn to tell these types of stories? Often, just by studying great ones.
TweetShare
Raise your hand if you’re a writer.
Now, raise your hand if you have a nice-sized ego.
And now, raise your hand if you lied on that last one and kept your hand down.
The thing is, writing and a big ego kind of go hand in hand. And if you haven’t quit, gone crazy, or offed yourself yet — which I know you haven’t because you were just raising your hand — then like it or not, you have a big ego.
TweetShare