Brian Clark over at TeachingSells is at it again – giving away some great free teaching.

The TeachingSells program has been closed to new participants for quite a few months now but in the coming weeks they plan to open the doors again. In the lead up to it Brian’s put together some great free content that even if you don’t signup for the full course you’ll benefit from.

For starters there’s a cool (and quite funny) new video to introduce you to the ‘teaching sells philosophy’. See it here:

Once you’ve watched it sign up for the free goodies including:

• A Free 22 Page PDF report – Forget Everything You Know About Making Money Online (And Start Making Some)
• An audio version of the same report
• The outline of a 20 Step Process Map to build an online training business
• A great instructional video on ‘traffic’ (an excellent watch)
• 3 case studies (audio and transcripts) that illustrate how 3 online entrepreneurs have used Teaching to build successful businesses online.

I’ve just gone through all the free stuff and have come away freshly inspired even though I’ve previously taken the full Teaching Sells course in the first time they ran it.

The reason I particularly like Brian’s teaching is that many bloggers get stuck in a rut of thinking that the only way to make money from blogs is by running ads or promoting affiliate programs. While some bloggers make it with this approach many choose to blog about topics where this model is really tough. Brian present another model of making money online that I think many bloggers could use to monetize previously un-monetizable niches.

To me what he teaches is a common sense next step for many blogs that seem to ‘get stuck’.

Yes – you do need to give an email address to get the free stuff but if you know Brian’s approach you know he’s not one of those guys who goes over the top once he’s got you on his list. Yes you’ll get information on the Teaching Sells course but subscribers to Brian’s lists know that he also gives extra stuff (articles, videos etc) along the way and he’s someone who completely respects unsubscribe requests.

I hope you’ll find this great free content worthwhile! Grab it here.

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

Get These Free Goodies at Teaching Sells

Share This

Posted by randfish

I’m thrilled to announce that after months of hard work, SEOmoz’s biennial Search Engine Ranking Factors is finally launching. Every two years, we survey 100 of the industry’s top SEO minds. In 2009, 72 SEOs participated in the data gathering process, answering survey questions that consumed hours of time. The resulting document is an amazing aggregation of data about how search engines rank documents and, at least in my opinion, should be read by anyone serious about practicing search engine optimization.

The document contains five important sections:

• The Overview – offering the most high level view of the ranking elements
• Ranking Factors – the raw data, showing the importance and level of consensus for each factor; this year also includes a set of opinions on how geo-targeting across countries is perceived.
• Link Building – this year, we’ve also added a section asking our SEO participants which methods they find most effective for link acquisition. I think this data is tremendously valuable and interesting for anyone seeking to engage in link building campaigns.
• Additional SEO Data – we asked a few specific questions around SEO to gauge the opinions of the experts; lots of cool stuff in here, too
• Contributors – a list of those who participated in the survey and details about who they are and where you can find them on the web

My great thanks goes out to Timmy & Sam here at SEOmoz, who helped create this year’s document and to all of the generous participants from across the SEO world. Practitioners in more than a dozen countries around the world, all of whom have extremely busy schedules, gave up their time to help those learning SEO get a better view of the subject – please join me in thanking them.

If you’ve got questions, feedback or want to bring up interesting topics, feel free to do so in the comments on this post.

Do you like this post? Yes No

Since launching 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook there have been many reviews written by other bloggers of the resource. I’ve not really linked up to too many of them as I’m naturally a little shy about promoting my own work – but today was challenged by another blogger to step out of my comfort zone a little and share some of the testimonies.

OK – so here’s a sample of what others have written about the workbook!

“If you’re ready to get over the hump and take your blog to the next level, download the 31DBB Workbook and follow it daily. Until it becomes habit.” – Lynn Terry

“I highly recommend that anybody who blogs for business purposes reads this book. You may want to print a hard copy of this electronic book and put it in a three-ring binder for easy reference. And keep a highlighter handy…you’ll need it!” – Write Associate

“If you want to improve your blog but somehow always procrastinate, therefore, I would highly recommend the workbook.” – Daniel Scocco

“Darren’s not known as “ProBlogger” for nothin’. In 31DBBB, Darren teaches you proven methods of improving your blog and engaging your readers. Since completing 31DBBB, I’ve noticed an increase in traffic and it’s helped me hone my blogging mission.” – The Mogul Mom

“The cost of this valuable resource is only $19.95. That makes it almost an impulse purchase. Darren is one of the best known bloggers in the world. All of his works are top notch and his latest offering is no exception. If you want a better blog, you can have it in the next 31 days. Go get it.” – John Chow

“Participants in Darren’s program are reporting great things—increased traffic, deeper reader engagement, broader networking with other bloggers, creative new ideas, getting through bloggers block, and more. And at $19.95 it’s a steal.” – Brian Clark

“Darren knows what he’s talking about, so definitely check out whichever of his books pertains to you.” – Shawn Collins

There’s a lot more been written around the blogosphere on the workbook but these were the reviews that I found at the top of Google’s rankings when I searched. If you’ve got your own review on your blog – feel free to link to it in comments.

Don’t Have a Copy Yet? – learn more about the workbook and secure your copy here.

Update on Sales – a few people have asked me how the workbook has been selling. I don’t have exact figures on hand as those sold in a bundle with a book on SitePoint are yet to be tallied up but it’s been a profitable journey so far. My estimate is that once the SitePoint figures are tallied up that over 3500 will have been sold with more sales coming in on a daily basis.

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

What people are saying about the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook

Share This

Give your Blog a Kick Start with this 31 Day Challenge.

Regular readers of ProBlogger are familiar with the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog project that we ran here recently.

The concept was simple: bloggers set aside 31 days to be intentional about improving their blogs.

Each day for 31 days readers were presented with a daily task and teaching to give them concrete ways to take their blogs to the next level – the goal being more readers, higher quality content, deeper reader engagement and higher levels of creativity and energy for the blogger.

Challenges included writing tasks, promotion techniques, methods to deepen reader engagement, creating thinking exercises, ideas for breaking through bloggers block and much more.

Today I’m releasing a Workbook that puts a fully updated version of 31 Day Challenge in your hands

If you already know about it and want a copy now – you can buy it now here.

Why a Workbook?

Over 13,000 bloggers signed up for the initial challenge and the feedback was fantastic.

Bloggers who’ve taken the tasks seriously are reporting increases in traffic, greater reader engagement, fresh inspiration for posts and a greater sense of where their blog is headed.

However two common requests came from participants repeatedly:

• 1. People wanted to do the challenge at their own pace (some found daily tasks too fast, some too slow).
• 2. People wanted all the content in the one place (so they could keep it somewhere handy and dip into it again and again over time).

As a result I decided to put together a downloadable workbook version of the challenge.

The work book is professionally edited – contains new content, unique to the workbook and it is available to purchase today in two ways.

Two Ways to Get the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook

1. Get the Book By Itself For $19.95

Download the 31DBBB workbook as described below for $19.95 USD.

To order it with this option simply hit the following ‘buy now’ button and you’ll be taken to PayPal where you can finalize your payment and download the workbook immediately.

2. Get the Workbook + Online Marketing Inside Out Book For $29.95

SitePoint (who helped me with editing the book) are also releasing a new book (a hard cover book not an e-book) today – it’s called Online Marketing Inside Out.

It is a great resource for those wanting to market products or services on the Web. This book shows you how to reach customers through podcasting, blogs, social networks, video, email, and contextual advertising and much more.

To get this 2-for-1 deal simply head over to SitePoint where you can read more about the book they’re offering and will receive both books when you order. Order Now (via SitePoint).

What You Receive with the Workbook

The 31 Days to Build a Better Blog project is all about giving participants a series of 31 daily tasks to help them make improvements in their blogs. This workbook takes this goal a step further with:

• Refreshed and Edited Versions of the Daily Tasks and Teaching
• New Bonus Material – each day has extra tips, questions and reflections (6000 extra words of content to help you extend the daily tasks and help you to apply them)
• Notes Areas – if you print out the book there is room to take notes, record ideas and make plans to help you implement the content
• 94 pages of content – actually we put two pages on each page in the book so it’s actually 188 pages.

Grab Yourself a Copy Today

Whether you’ve completed each of the 31 Daily tasks already and want to have a copy to dip into again and again as you continue to develop your blog or whether you’re yet to really start 31DBBB – I hope you’ll find this workbook helpful.

Grab your copy of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog workbook here

PS: How are Bloggers using 31DBBB?

One of the things that I’ve loved about 31DBBB is seeing how it is being used so differently by different participants.

While originally designed for bloggers to work through over a month – the feedback that we’ve been hearing from bloggers indicates that 31DBBB is being used in a variety of ways including:

• Intense Training – bloggers setting aside days, weekends or weeks to go through multiple tasks at once
• 1 Task a Day – the way we designed it – one day at a time
• 1 Task a Week – bloggers taking their time with the challenge and making the tasks week long tasks
• Monthly Cycle – bloggers using the tasks again and again each month as a monthly routine for their blogging.
• Occasional Inspirational Resource – bloggers dipping into 31DBBB on a more occasional basis – using it on days when they have time or lack inspiration.

The great thing about 31DBBB is that you can do it at your own pace and in your own way. Daily tasks don’t need to be done daily or in any particular order as all but two are independent tasks that can be repeated time and time again to help you grow a dynamic blog.

Grab your copy of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog workbook here

PS: A special thanks to the team at SitePoint who helped with cover design and editing as well as to Reese Spykerman with help with layout and design.

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

Get Your Own Copy of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog WorkBook

Share This

If you’re looking for some more training in building a blog after our 31 Day challenge I’ve got a special offer for you in this post.

Since finishing 31DBBB yesterday I’ve had a number of participants in the project email me to ask what other training that they can do to keep improving their blogs.

The realization that it seems many have had is that when you invest time and energy into your blog it does improve – our 31 day project has led many people to really step up their blogs and continue to see them improve.

As a result of these reader questions I’ve approached Yaro Starak and Gideon Shalwick from the popular Become a Blogger course to see if they’d be willing to open up their course again to 31DBBB participants (and all ProBlogger readers). I chose Become a Blogger because I think it’s at a level that many 31DBBB participants will find useful.

Get Become a Blogger for $1 for 2 Weeks – Yaro and Gideon didn’t hesitate to agree and then blew me away by offering ProBlogger readers access to their course for just $1 so that people could sample what they offer and see if it’s something that they want to continue with.

The deal is simple – Become a Blogger is normally $77 a month (it goes for 6 months) but if you sign up as a ProBlogger reader you get a trial period of two weeks for $1. If you don’t want to continue just email Yaro and Gideon and canceling your membership.

What is Become a Blogger?

This is a course for those just starting out with blogging or who have started but are struggling to set it up a level. Here are the 8 modules covered in the video training:

1. Get Your Blog Up And Running Fast And FREE
2. How To Optimize Your Blog For Maximum Search Engine Performance
3. How To Create Powerful Content For Your Blog, Consistently and Without Fail
4. How To Use Images On Your Blog To Make You Stand Out From The Crowd
5. How To Create A Different Dimension To Your Blog By Adding Audio
6. How To Breathe Life Into Your Blog Using Online Video
7. How To Create Multiple Streams of High Quality Traffic To Your Blog
8. How To Make Money From Your Blog

There are a variety of good bonuses also on the sales page including a forum are and teleconferences to help you step it up.

You can read full details of what is included in the modules and bonuses on the sales page of Become a Blogger. They also have some free videos on that page to give you a feel for what the course is like.

PS – Don’t have a Blog?: if you don’t yet have a blog then this course is relevant for you as it does have a module on setting up blogs from scratch. Others who already have blogs will find modules 2-7 well worth their time.

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

Get 2 Weeks Access to ‘Become a Blogger’ for $1 [Exclusive to ProBlogger Readers]

Share This

Today Patrick O’Keefe from iFroggy Network and the author of the book Managing Online Forums shares how appreciation can help grow the community on your blog.

As online community managers and administrators, bloggers and general social media participants, we sometimes get so caught up in growing our community, that we forget to appreciate what it is that we do have.

Appreciation is a powerful thing. If you manage an online community and are concerned with encouraging a healthy, positive atmosphere and with retaining members, there is one simple, relatively easy thing that you can do to improve your chances of doing both. Appreciate your contributors.

What brought this to mind was a recent message that a member sent me over at PhotoshopForums.com, where he thanked me for thanking members for their contributions because, he felt, it was a part of what made the community great. Now, you may be thinking – “you, Patrick, the administrator, thank people on your community. What’s the big deal?”

Well, it made a big deal to this gentleman, who wrote a really nice message, expressing his love of the community and highlighting my notes of appreciation as a major reason for him loving it. It was a great, kind message that meant a lot to me. Beyond just the personal sentiment, it meant that what I had wanted to be expressed; was expressed. The member received my message of appreciation loud and clear.

When I say messages of appreciation, what am I talking about? Drawing from the forums example at PhotoshopForums.com, primarily I am talking about thanking members for good contributions, in the very thread that they make them in.

For example, let’s say someone joins the community and asks a question, in an effort to find out how Photoshop does something. Then, one of our members replies with the answer, in detail, written in a kind and helpful manner. And then, after the member replies, saying that it has helped them, I also reply – thanking the person who provided the answer and, perhaps, welcoming the member who asked the question, if they are new.

It’s not like I write long posts to do this. “Great stuff, Dave!” “Excellent work, Joe.” “Thanks, Bob.” Basically short messages of appreciation, letting them know that I am reading and that I appreciate what they are doing within the community.

The member who contacted me reasoned that all too often, when people try to help someone, they disappear or they don’t say thanks. That is simply the reality of running a community where support is a large part of what you offer. That’s life and it happens. But, my messages had helped to soften this and offset it and make people feel more at ease and at home, as a valued member of our community.

I know this is a simple concept. I recently gave a talk at South by Southwest Interactive where I discussed responding to feedback. I didn’t consider any of it to be earth shattering. In fact, to many, I believe it was probably common sense.

But, I feel that when something is common sense, sometimes we take it for granted. We must remind ourselves. People want to help. People want to be appreciated and they want to know that someone cares. As the leader of a community, you can help them understand that.

You may say, “well, Patrick, you just say those things like a robot – you don’t mean it.” No, no, no. I do mean it. I mean it deeply. Yes, I may be repetitive in what I say. But, I only say it when I mean it. I don’t randomly pop it into threads without any care or without reading the thread, nor do I say it on every good post I see. But, I try to make an effort to see great contributions and say thank you.

How this helps you retain members should be clear. People like to be in a place where they are welcome, where people notice them, remember them, appreciate them. Remember the line from the “Cheers” TV show theme? “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came.”

As cheesy as I know that sounds, it’s also true. Maybe not everyone knows their name, but some do, and they are appreciated and recognized. That’s the point.

How does it encourage a good environment? If people feel appreciated, that’s instantly a better environment than if the opposite were true.

But, also, members take cues on how to act from staff members. If you and your staff have bad habits, members will pick up those bad habits. If you and your staff have good habits, members will pick them up, as well. You and your staff are an example. Take this power seriously and responsibly.

You can appreciate members in other ways, as well. You appreciate them by listening to their feedback. Not doing what they say, necessarily, but listening openly and considering it.

In addition to public posts, I also like to randomly send a private message to a member who is doing a good job, just to say hey and to let them know that I’ve seen their posts, that I like what they are doing and to please keep it up because we appreciate them. Simple and genuine.

There are many ways to thank people in a more public way, as well. Having a member of the month program or a yearly awards program (where you and/or your community vote and select winners) can be a great way to show appreciation. Make sure that these programs have meaning, though, and are awarded to the truly deserving.

Making someone a member of your staff can be a form of appreciation, but that’s not what it should be about, in and of itself. Staff spots should be reserved for people who set a great example for members to follow, who follow your guidelines and who communicate in a kind and respectful manner consistently for an extended period of time. Don’t hand out staff spots to your top posters without thought. Make sure you pick people that you can work with to accomplish the goals you have set for the community.

Appreciation is a powerful thing. It can open doors, start relationships, give people happiness, bring people back and give them confidence. In the interest of cultivating community, please consider how not just appreciating people – but making sure they know you appreciate them – can enhance your community.

Patrick O’Keefe is the owner of the iFroggy Network and the author of the book “Managing Online Forums,” a practical guide to managing online forums, communities and social spaces. He blogs at ManagingCommunities.com and is on Twitter as @iFroggy.

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

Enhance and Grow Your Online Community Through Appreciation

Share This

Today your task in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge is to spend some time looking at your blog’s statistics/metrics package to see what you can learn from it.

I encouraged participants in 31DBBB to make sure they had a metrics package installed on their blog before they started so I hope you have at least a month’s worth of stats to look at. If you’ve not got a stats package installed yet you should get one on your blog ASAP as it’ll help you track how it is performing.

Take some time out today to do a little analysis of your blog’s statistics. There is a wealth of information in them that can be incredibly useful.

Important Note: this exercise tends to become more useful over time. If this is the first time you do it then hopefully it’ll be illuminating – but the longer you have been collecting metrics on your blog the more useful it can become as you track trends and see patterns over time. As a result – this type of exercise should be something you build into your regular blogging routine (I try to do an in depth review each month).

Some of you will be used to doing this type of analysis so you won’t need a lot of help in doing it – but if you’re new to this here are a few metrics to pay particular attention to:

1. Overall Visitors – this is the metric most of us probably look at the most so I’ll start with it. Are visitor numbers on the increase or decrease? What might be the reasons for these changes (ie could it be tied to frequency of posting, topics, other sites links etc).
2. Most Popular Posts – what posts are being read more than other posts? Knowing this is important for a couple of reasons. For starters it gives you a hint of what topics you could write more on – but secondly it gives you some key pages on your site to optimize (ie think about how you can drive people from these posts deeper into your blog).
3. Referral Stats – what sites are sending you the most traffic? If it’s another blog or site, perhaps you could develop a relationship with them to see this increase. If it’s Search Engines, how can you adapt the posts to see it rise even more using on page SEO techniques).
4. What Questions are being asked? – what questions are readers typing into search engines to find your blog? These could make great future posts (learn more about how to do this here).
5. What Keywords are sending traffic? – knowing the keywords that people search for to find your site is very useful. It helps you to know how to optimize your blog for SEO even better and can give hints on what content to write more of.
6. What seasonal traffic is there? – are there any seasonal trends that you should be aware of and could use to capture more traffic? What caused the bumps in traffic and how can you prepare yourself better for next time those conditions might happen again (read more on seasonal traffic and how to capture it).
7. Daily/Weekly Trends – another trend to watch is what traffic does over different periods of time. What are the most popular times of day? What days of the week are most popular? Knowing this gives you ammunition in planning when to release new posts.
8. What’s Your Bounce Rate? – metrics packages like Google Analytics provide you with a ‘bounce rate’ stat which measures how many people arrive at your site and then leave again without viewing any extra pages. I find this a key metric to watch and attempt to change. Set yourself some goals to get this rate down and the page views viewed per visitor up by making your blog sticky.
9. Page Views Per Visit – Similarly to ‘Bounce Rate’ – This is a good one to watch over time as it shows you whether those coming to your blog are going deep into your blog’s content or simply looking at the page they arrive on. My goal on my blogs is to see this number increase over time. For tips on how to increase page views also check out 4 Quick and Simple Ways to Increase Page Views on Your Blog.
10. Time on Site – Another stat that can give you a sense on whether readers are engaging with your content is to look at how long they stay on your blog. The longer they are staying the more likely it is that they’re reading, commenting and interacting (or that they forgot to close their browser).
11. New vs Returning Visitors – This one gives you a sense of whether you’re succeeding in converting people to loyal visitors.
12. RSS Stats – If you’re using a tool like Feedburner to manage your RSS feeds you’ll have access to more useful information. Feedburner provides you with the number of subscribers but also what posts people are reading most of (again showing you what content people are engaging with most which gives you some good information on what type of content is working best).
13. Outbound Clicks – Not every metrics package will give you this type of information but if you have access to it knowing what links on your blog people are clicking to leave it can be very useful. It’s not that you want to stop people clicking links – but knowing what links they click on can give you some useful information on what motivates your readers to click a link and what type of information they want more of.
14. Where are People Clicking on Your Page – not all stats packages track this but some like Google Analytics or packages specifically for it like CrazyEgg will create heatmaps or visual pictures of what people click on when they visit your blog. I find CrazyEgg’s heatmaps better than Google Analytics but you do need to set it up on specific pages of your blog to be able to see them. This is very useful information when thinking about the design and layout of your blog but also can help you test how to layout posts to see where people click.
15. Exit Pages – A similar metric is knowing what page on your blog people are leaving from. A couple of years ago I checked my stats and noticed that the % of people leaving a particular page on my blog was triple other pages. When I investigated I found that the page had some very bad formatting issues on it that made the page almost unreadable – I was able to fix the problem and keep more readers engaged as a result.
16. Monetization Stats – many of you are looking to make money from your blogs so it’s also important to pay attention to any stats you have at your disposal on how your blog is performing in this way. The metrics you have at your disposal will vary from income stream to income stream but if possible try to work out where on your blog the income is coming from specifically. For example if you use Google Analytics and AdSense you’ll be able to see what specific pages are earning more than others. Otherwise – use what ever channel or tracking options your ad network or affiliate program gives you to help you work out which posts are performing.
17. Other Stats – There are plenty of other stats that can be revealing when you dig into them. Knowing the Geographic regions of your readers can be helpful as you think about content but also is useful if you’re dealing with advertisers, knowing the screen resolution and browsers people are using to view your site is good from a design perspective etc. Also worth doing from time to time is looking at other stats like how many posts you’ve done over time (post frequency can help you monitor how you’re performing personally) and how many comments you’ve had on your blog over a period of time and on which posts (which can be a great indicator of what kind of posts are working best on your blog and how reader engagement is going).

What Would You Add?

There are many other types of metrics that most statistics packages will provide you with. Feel free to share the metrics that you check most often and how you use them to improve your blog in comments below. Also let us know what tools you are using to check your blog’s metrics.

Warning: Don’t become a stats addict. Most new bloggers go through a period where they are checking their stats every hour. This is pretty normal but over time can add up to a lot of wasted time.

I personally try to do a quick check of stats throughout the day 2-3 times (just looking at traffic numbers mainly to see if there’s any spike in traffic that I need to know about) and then month put aside an hour or two to go deeper and look at some of the above statistics.

Further Reading: Using Google Analytics to Compare Traffic from Different Periods of Time – in this post I use the ‘compare’ feature on Google Analytics to track how my blog is going over time by comparing it to other periods.

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

17 Statistics to Monitor on Your Blog [Day 30 - 31DBBB]

Share This

We’re at Day 20 (almost 21) in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge and at two thirds of the way through the project I thought I’d give a quick update with a few random highlights, updates and thoughts:

1. We’ve got over 12,000 people signed up and at different stages of the process. 100 or so are joining every day. We’ve set it up in such a way that you’ll get emails starting at Day 1 so you can sign up at any time.

2. The 31DBBB forum area is cranking - those that seem to be benefiting the most from 31DBBB seem to be those interacting in the forum area – particularly those who are actively collaborating with other participants. The exciting thing is that while the numbers of people who’ve joined the forum are smaller – most people there are really genuinely interested in working together. A fantastic community is emerging there which I think we’ll continue after the end of the project. I’ll include some of the popular threads in the forum below.

3. Success Stories – A number of participants have reported significant improvements in their blogs. While everyone’s story is different we’re hearing feedback that some bloggers really seeing their blogs lifted to new levels (example).

4. Your Feedback Invited - I’ve just posted a thread in the forum asking for feedback – if you’d like to share some thoughts on how things have gone for you so far (good and bad) share them here.

5. Workbook Coming – I’m still planning on putting together all 31 days tasks into a workbook e-book which we’ll sell at the end of the 31 days at an affordable price.

All in all it’s been a positive experience. While there are a few things I’d do differently I’m really pleased with how it’s been going.

6. Popular Forum Threads – As mentioned above – here are 10 interesting threads in our forum area that have generated some great discussion in the last few days:

1. What does your significant other thinks?
2. Twitter List – Add Yourself
3. Copyrights and How to Protect Your Writing?
4. Donations
5. Favicons
6. How do You make Money?
7. RSS subscription. To do or not to do???
8. Categories vs Tags
9. Statcounter, google analytics, site meter – which one?
10. ProBlogger Budget?

Of course there’s also a discussion thread for each day of the challenge here.

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

31 Days to Build a Better Blog – Two Thirds Through Update

Share This

Week 1 in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog is over and we’re almost a quarter of the way through the challenge. 11,029 people are subscribed participants and the feedback has been very positive so far – thanks to everyone for your participation.

I just wanted to update readers on a few aspects of the project:

Links from the Weekend – firstly I know a lot of you had a long weekend for Easter and may have missed the last few days tasks. Here’s a quick recap on the last four days:

• Day 4 – Analyze a Top Blog in Your Niche
• Day 5 – Email a Reader
• Day 6 – Must Read Advice from Successful Bloggers
• Day 7 – Write a Link Post

Forums – before launching this challenge I mentioned a forum area for registered members to interact. We had a few challenges in setting this up but I’m happy to say that those registered for email notifications will get an invite to join the forums in the next 36 hours.

Workbook – one of the frequently asked questions that I’ve been getting about 31DBBB is whether I can produce a workbook at the end of the challenge that people can use to continue working through the tasks after the 31 days are over. While I’d not previously considered this there does seem to be some demand for it. I’m willing to put it together for sale at a small price (I want to be able to cover the time I put into it – I’m thinking around $10) IF people are interested.

Here’s a poll to gauge whether people are interested.

It’s Going Too Fast! – one of the other pieces of feedback I’ve had is people saying that they feel like they are falling behind. My response has been for people not to stress too much. While I’m going to keep pushing out tasks and challenges each day for the 31 days there’s nothing to stop you slowing down and tackling tasks at your own pace. Quite a few people have been saving the emails that I’m sending and are doing 2-3 tasks a week instead of 7. The workbook idea is also emerging out of this desire for people to move at their own pace. Also – I’m going to try to mix in a few smaller tasks (Day 8’s will be a 5-10 minute one for example) for those of you needing a breather.

Is it too late to Join? – lastly, I’m hearing a few people saying that they missed the start. While the main group of participants are up to Day #7 of the challenge, the way I’ve designed it is that people can start at any time they like. The day you enter your email and first name on the signup page you’ll be taken to the start of the process. You’ll be a bit behind the main group but not alone as hundreds of people are signing up each day.

Share This

Starting on 1 April (no it’s not an April fools joke) I am planning on launching another ‘31 Days to a Better Blog‘ project.

I’ve run this twice previously (once in 2005 and once in 2007) so thought that I should continue the biennial nature of it.

This year I’m going to run it slightly differently so if you’re interested in participating please read on carefully.

Of particular note – this year I’m asking those participating to sign up as registered participants. You don’t have to do it – but to get the full benefits from it I ask that you do. I’ll explain more on why I’m doing this below.

You can register here:

Here are the details of the challenge this year:

The Idea

The idea behind this is simply to have a group of bloggers setting aside a month of their time to work at improving their blogs. While we all want to have better blogs sometimes it becomes one of those things that we’re going to do…. one day.

I personally find that I improve (in all areas of my life) when I’m more intentional and set aside a specific time to make the improvements. That’s what this project is about.

Yesterday on Twitter I mentioned that I was thinking of running this again and had 50 people express interest in 5 minutes. I quickly set up a sign up page just for my Twitter users and within 24 hours had well over 1000 registered participants. I guess people want to do it.

Interested in joining us? If so, read on…

How it Works

Each day from 1st April until the 1st May I will make a post here on ProBlogger that is part of the challenge.

Posts will be designed to each have two aspects to them:

1. A teaching component (theory)
2. A practical component (a task/homework)

The idea is that often teaching remains in the realm of theory and doesn’t actually prompt those digesting it to DO something. This project is more about DOING than learning. I hope you will learn, but to be honest if you’ve been blogging for a while some of what we’ll cover many will have heard before – but this project will give you a framework and hopefully some inspiration to put what you know into action.

Some of the tasks will be similar to previous years tasks and some will be new (some things never change so there will always be some overlap). Some tasks will be more relevant to some bloggers than others so you may not choose to do all of them but they will be on a variety of areas of blogging including writing content, interacting with readers, finding new readers, design, tools etc.

This 31 days are designed for beginner and newer bloggers but many of the tasks will be relevant to intermediate and more advanced bloggers also.

To Participate

As mentioned above – this year I’m asking those who want to do the challenge to register their email addresses. You will receive one email per day over the 31 days notifying you that a new post is up, giving you the link to it as well as a little extra information for registered participants.

You don’t have to do this and can follow the posts via our RSS feed – but I’m asking for you to register for a few reasons:

1. Sometimes signing up for something is important in making us accountable to do what we say we’ll do.
2. It will enable me to give a little extra information than the posts contain themselves. On the blog the posts will be written in a way that anyone will hopefully benefit whether they do the full challenge or not – but in the emails that I send each day pointing you to the post I will include a little extra information just relevant to those doing the challenge.
3. My hope this time is to let the 31 Day Challenge live on way beyond the first 31 days. People will be able to signup and do the challenge at any point as the emails will be sent via an auto responder.
4. It will give me a little more insight into who is doing the challenge which will hopefully means I can tailor it a bit better to peoples needs.
5. Lastly – there’s a couple of things I’m working on as a bonus for those who register. I’ll write more of these as they firm up.

If you signup for the 31 days you’re more than welcome to unsubscribe at any point if you feel it is not helpful or not quite where you’re at.

At the end of the 31 days I’m not planning on sending too many more emails. I may add a few more tasks over time but the daily emails will stop. If I do keep sending a few emails, again you’re welcome to unsubscribe if it isn’t meeting your needs.

Sign Up to participate in the Challenge Here

I’m looking forward to the 31 Day Challenge this year and hope that you’ll join me.

Lastly – a special thanks to @Mark_MacDonald who put together the logo above and thanks also to the 15 other friends on Twitter who put together logos – I appreciate them all.

Share This