I crossed the 1,000 RSS subscribers mark June 2nd and it was a big milestone to hit and I’m very excited about the growth of this blog and where I can take it from here.
How I did it and you can too:
I can assure you this growth rate hasn’t come about by accident but instead because I learned from past mistakes, came up with a good plan and then executed that plan effectively. I hope that in reading this you can learn some lessons from me that you can apply towards your blog as well.
Importance of True Knowledge:
The biggest mistake I had when I first launched my blog about earning a living online on ChrisGuthrie.net back in 2007 was that at the time I wasn’t already making a full time income online (not even close). So for almost 2 years I continued to write despite being too foolish stupid to recognize that my growth rate would always be stunted because of the fact that I wasn’t even close to an expert in the niche where true knowledge mattered. What I failed to realize is that when it comes to making money, people don’t want to learn from someone that hasn’t figured it out yet because how can you tell that the advice they give is even worth listening to? So I decided that I needed to quit my blog and focus on other niches where I could become an expert or (better yet) where being an expert didn’t really matter. So that’s what I did and guess what? It worked! I started making substantially more money than I had been before and when I got fired from my job in October 2009 I decided to go full time because I was already making more money than my day job (see my full about story). I made the decision to relaunch my blog on how to make money on the internet now that I was actually (somewhat) successful at doing it.
Takeaway Point: If you’re struggling with gaining new readers on your blog ask yourself honestly if you have the expertise required to cover the topic. If you don’t have the expertise in a niche where it matters than it’s time to sell your blog (or abandon it) and move into a new niche where you have expert knowledge, can develop it easily or where being an expert doesn’t matter.
Have a Good Story To Tell and Be Unique:
When I relaunched my blog I had a good story to tell. I tried writing in this niche before, failed, started making a full time income from other websites and decided to come back to this niche after getting fired from my job in October 2009. This is unique among my peers, but having a good story to tell is only one component that helped me get to 1,000 subscribers. I decided early on that I needed to be different than the other bloggers in my niche. I decided to go against using tons of advertising in and around my blog to show visitors that there was something different about me and I’m not just trying to make $50 selling the Thesis theme. I also knew that most people in this niche frequently write based on emotional ideas and rarely based on facts or raw data. i.e. What good is a list of the top 10 ways to get people to follow you on Twitter if you haven’t analyzed which ones are actually the most effective and which ones are just filler so that the author can use the number 10 instead of the number 6? So in most of the blog posts I write I always try to use data when applicable to prove the advice I’m sharing is worth listening to (i.e. Amazon Tips, Speed up WordPress etc.).
Takeaway Point: What is your story? What makes you different than the other blogs in your niche? If you don’t have an answer to that question you need to rethink your strategy and find a way to be different than the others in your market.
Implement a Marketing Plan
Even though I believe my blog is good and everyone that is earning money online should read it wishing this would happen is not enough. So I spent considerable amount of time marketing the content that I was writing. People say that Content is King, but I’d argue that Content is Queen and Marketing is King. So I focused on both writing great content and more importantly promoting it in as many places as I could. There are still channels that I haven’t explored, but so far I’ve had great success with forums, guest posting, befriending other leaders in my niche and blog commenting.
Takeaway Point: It takes too long for people to find great content. Help this process out by promoting your content as much as possible. As long as you’re providing true value people will be happy you shared something with them. The goal is to get to the place where your content begins to spread itself but the tipping point for when that starts to happen is certainly not before you hit the 1,000 subscriber mark – so get to work!
Wrap Up: What is your blogging plan?
The important thing to remember is what worked for my blog may not work for yours because each niche can be different. I focused on promotional strategies that I know would be effective in this niche because I’ve seen other bloggers use them. However, I also have blogs that I don’t promote via forums, guest posting or blog commenting and they still get good traffic and contribute to my income. The point is that you need to look at the other blogs in your niche, find out what you can do different while still delivering value and then make sure you can get traffic to your blog using the most effective traffic driving strategy for your specific niche.
What do you think of what I’ve shared above? Do you think I can surpass 5,000 subscribers faster than by the end of the year? In either case, I have a very fascinating post ready for later this month on guest posting. Before your groan with displeasure I can assure you that this will be unlike anything else you’ve ever read before. My goal is that it should be the only source of information you should turn to when it learning how to guest post effectively. Subscribe here so that you don’t miss out.
You should also follow me on Twitter as well (my goal is 1,000 followers before the end of the month)
Congrats Chris. I’ve found that once you hit a certain point subscriber growth rate seems to increase more rapidly. and there’s more pressure to put up good posts since more people are watching.
also feedburner stats are totally variable from day to day but long term they are useful for trending.
I’ve noticed that feedburner has been acting strange lately too. Yesterday I was 1400 and today I am 1100 so I think it is not picking up one of the major services that provides RSS readership.
First of all, congratulations on your 1,000 subscribers… you’ve been doing a great job, especially with your Amazon Associates earnings, so yes I think you definitely CAN reach your goal of 5,000 subscribers, just as long as you keep doing what you’re doing.
I completely agree that it helps to have “been there” before giving advice on any particular topic. For one, you’ll have better data and it’s obviously easier to trust someone who’s reached the goal rather than an optimist who may or may not actually be able to put their own advice in to practice.
Oh, and I’ll be looking forward to your guest posting article ๐ I’m a pretty active guest blogger (well, not recently because of all the work I’ve been doing on ListZEN, but usually) and I already know how effective it is… Looking forward to possibly learning something new from your upcoming post.
.-= Jonathan Beebe´s last blog ..Earn Money by Promoting My FREE Service =-.
Thanks Jonathan, sounds like ListZEN is a product you’re working on right now – best of luck with it if that’s the case ๐
Yes the guest posting article should be up next week I believe. I just need to finish working on it.
Great post! I have a similar story even though our expertise aren’t even close. Mine was a failed first attempt at a personal finance blog and I was just going about it all wrong. Then I started my own consulting company and from that Financially Digital was born. Now because I take it seriously it’s value really shines through. I can’t agree enough with getting your voice out there in as many different ways as possible – people need help finding you. If you are doing a great job and providing for a need then they will stick around. Great perspective here and I can’t wait until my income comes more from the blogging than from the consulting ๐
.-= Nunzio Bruno´s last blog ..Want to make more money, give it away! =-.
Thanks for the insight Nunzio, sounds like you’ve got a good story in the making as well ๐
Chris, this was a very thought provoking, useful, and interesting blog read. Thank you for posting it. I subscribe to blogs from feedmyinbox.com, so they automatically come to my inbox. I only subscribe to 10 or ‘make money online’ type blogs, and I’ve pretty much had it with all the list sharing and guest posting over lapping. I mean for the past two week I’ve received duplicate content from the people I follow. Do they have to promote the same guy at the exact same time, in the exact same way. I was just about to give up on these types of blogs, feeling like the only thing these people cared about was getting me to buy their “friends” new product, so they could get a cut – when I got your post. You saved them, my friend. They should thank you. i’m a new subscriber to your blog, but I like your style! And so, I just wanted to post something to say thanks, and let you know that your originality and realness (and the fact that you don’t try and sell me something in each post) is a welcome breath of fresh air.
Thanks Asia, I’m glad you took the time to share your opinion and that my style resonates well with you. On occasion I pitch products, but only truly valuable stuff that I’m using. In either case, I’m glad you found my blog!
I know most gurus say the money is in the list. You are right, my problem is that I don’t have “the story”. I will have to work on that:)
Hey Navi, I think the list idea is true but I also think that building loyal fans is more important than simply seeing people on an email list as a cash register. See this post here to see what I mean:
http://www.makemoneyontheinternet.com/building-my-1000-true-fans/
๐
Great post Chris. I actually have a story but I haven’t told it yet. I didn’t think anyone would care. Now I see the error in that. I’ve guest posted once and I have secured another opportunity to do the same.
I have been doing the forum thing on a small scale and will expand. I will also be starting up a newsletter and attempting to finish my first eBook.
Stressing stats and real numbers is something many do not stress. Thx.
.-= ProMovieBlogger´s last blog ..WordPress 3.0: Thelonious has premiered =-.
Sounds good. Yes – I always like to include personal stories with most of the blogs I run as it is a way for readers to better connect with me.
Hay Chris, I used your real stats idea in this post “How my website went from 4000 Page Views to over 16,000 in a single day”. I took screen caps of the stats and posted them in with the story. Let me know what you think of it. http://promovieblogger.com/?p=2337
As you can see I gave it a title with numbers like some of your most viewed forum posts.
.-= ProMovieBlogger´s last blog ..The 5-11-4 Rule for Posting Content on a Website =-.
thanks for this Chris, now i got an idea on why i wasn’t satisfied with the results to my blog, i haven’t yet made personal stories to my blog. Is it possible to ask from you some tips on how do i do it? thank you.
Well, personal stories are based on your own experience so I would suggest just using the personal stories from your life to tell a compelling story. It all sort of depends on the focus of your blog though.
Chris, I truly believe your 1,000 subscribers are a direct result of your honesty and integrity. You probably would not have this many fans if you hadn’t taken the time to build successful sites so that you could honestly teach from experience. Eventually, readers see through the BS that so often accompanies this topic. The newest MMOL guru might draw a crowd for a season, but most of us know who has the goods and who doesn’t. Congratulations on your success – I’m sure it is just the beginning for you. Here’s to your reaching 5,000+. Keep going and it will probably happen sooner than you expect.
Thanks for the encouragement Edie!