220 Comments / last updated August 1, 2019

What Would Help Your Blog in 2014?

blogging help

In a few days some very big things are happening here at Blog Tyrant.

We’re getting a new sister!

A sister blog that is.

To celebrate this crazily fun occasion Blog Tyrant itself will be undergoing some pretty big changes. They will be big, but not so big that Blog Tyrant doesn’t feel like “home” anymore.

I hate when websites do that.

Now, I’m going to be honest with you. When all this happens I’m going to ask you to promote it and spread the word for me. I’ve worked hard and I really need your help to get the news out there.

BUT… I’m not going to do that without giving something back (other than the years of free content 😉 ).

That is what today is all about.

Let’s kick off blogging in 2014 in really big way.

What would help you and your blog in 2014?

So here’s what I’d like to do.

Leave me a comment on this post telling me what would help you achieve your blogging goals in 2014.

Be as open and honest and expansive as possible.

Here are some examples:

  • Problem solving help
    Got a specific area of blogging that is really stumping you? Perhaps getting answers in this area might really help you?
  • Better technology
    Are there apps or plugins that you wish existed? Is your current technology holding you back in some way?
  • Personal support
    Perhaps you’re feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing and just need some personal support or friendship?
  • Topic guidance
    Is there an issue with your blog that you want to solve but aren’t sure about how to do it? Perhaps some tutorials or one on one mentoring could help?
  • Something crazy
    Perhaps there is something so left-field that you would never normally think to talk about it. Well, this is the time.

Now, I’m not asking all of this because I’ve won the lottery and am going to go around throwing money at all of your problems. Unfortunately I haven’t won the lottery.

But, I am very interested in what issues the Tyrant Troops are facing in their daily blogging activities. I am specifically interested in making sure that this site remains a place that you come because it sorts sh#t out for human people.

I don’t ever want to become a blog that just fills up with boring content from guest bloggers.

These comments and thoughts will hopefully form a framework for a lot of helpful stuff this year. And if there’s any direct ways I can help to solve these problems I’m going to try and do so.

Some sugar for your thoughts

I’m going to pick the most helpful comment on this post and send them a little prize for leaving their opinions. I’m thinking something useful like a fitness ball chair, USB mic for podcasting or a programable gaming mouse to get you lightning fast at multi-tasking.

The only condition here is that is has to be within my price range and you have to live somewhere that Amazon ships to.

Leave your comments and let me know what would help you and your blogging in 2014. And make sure you’re subscribed to the email list to be the first to see the big events happening very soon!

220 Comments

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  1. Hi Ramsay,

    The one thing I really need to work on in 2014, and would love some guidance with, is figuring out who my ideal visitor/reader is and how to best market an information product for them.

    I write a travel blog about Western Australia (where I’m from) and 75% of my visitors are WA locals. But my highest quality traffic – and the people who send me “thank you” emails or who contact me asking for help planning a trip – are from overseas, mainly the UK. So I have no one clear vision of who my visitors are and can’t decide whether to focus on content and products aimed at WA locals or for travellers from overseas.

    I wonder if other people have similar troubles working out who exactly they’re writing for, and whether the right kind of visitors are finding them.

    Thanks for all the fantastic info you provide on here on this blog (and others), I’ve been a reader for quite a while but this is my first ever comment here.

    1. First time comment = awesome!

      That is exactly the kind of thing I was after. Thanks so much Bonny.

      I noticed you don’t have an About page…

      1. I’m still working out what to put on the About page!

        Until very recently I was completely anonymous, so it’s one step at a time. Thanks for the reminder though because I keep procrastinating getting it done!

        1. Been there! My unmasking post was absolutely terrifying.

    2. Dawn @ Florida Coastal Cooking on January 7, 2014

      Bonny, this is the same information I’m looking for! I’ve built a fair amount of subscribers but who exactly am I talking to and how do I get them to tell me what they want to see. When I ask it is like I’m talking to myself.

      1. Christopher Rice on January 7, 2014

        I think I know how you feel, Dawn.

        Comments sections like this one are pretty revealing of what people want or need … If you can find one in your niche, you’ve got a gold mine of ideas to test with your subscribers.

        As for direct feedback, I think most of us need to give our subscribers something in exchange if we want them to do something. Despite all the content we made available for free, the carrot still seems to be what sways the average subscriber. Next time you email your subscribers asking for feedback, consider offering to send them a secret recipe or something in exchange.

        Good luck, Dawn!

        1. Stop mining my comments for ideas, Rice. 😉

          1. Christopher Rice on January 8, 2014

            Stop writing so much damn compelling content, Tyrant 🙂

  2. Steve Rendell on January 7, 2014

    Hey Ramsay, I’d say that marketing a new blog is something that would be really useful.

    OK you’ve spent weeks getting it all set up and looking good.

    Your mailing list is all paid for, configured and ready to go.

    Your post templates are about as well optimized as you can get (without testing).

    Your content is top notch and NEEDS to be shared… BUT

    How do you ensure your content gets in front of the people who need it.

    Some kind of guide or blueprint showing the steps to ensure your posts are well disseminated would be something right up my street.

    Cheers,
    Steve

    1. Steve I reckon this will be a very popular comment. I think a lot of bloggers are curious about this.

  3. Nicolia Whyte on January 7, 2014

    You may not be able to help, but I’d love to know how to ‘break into’ parenting blogging. Because I understand how to break into the writing/blogging community, but parenting is leaving me stumped. I have a plan, and I think it will work, but it’s something that’s been on my mind.

    1. That’s a tricky one! I’ll have a think about it. Thanks Nicolia.

      1. Nicolia Whyte on January 7, 2014

        Thanks Ramsay 🙂

  4. Hi there! I’d love to understand more about the social media scene. I have HG on G+ and FB, but don’t quite ‘get’ Twittwr and Pinterest. Any help would be awesome. Thanks for your amasing service.

    1. Nice one!

    2. Hey Tamsyn! I have the same question. A friend urged me to get on Twitter as part of my social networking/marketing… but I’m really at a loss about how to use it. I have a psychology oriented blog, so at first I was only tweeting relevant articles and my own articles, but then my friend suggested that I tweet more often and about things that were more personal – to build a brand as based on a feeling that people could get to know and feel connected to ME, not just my ideas about psychoanalysis. So, now I find myself tweeting back and forth with folks, but the content tends to be more silly and feels like it’s getting away from my marketing/blogging efforts. AGH!

      1. David Wall on January 7, 2014

        Hello Tamsyn and Tiffany,

        I’ve found Gary Vaynerchuck’s views on Twitter (and social media in general) to be helpful in shaping how I use it. He has loads of videos on Youtube.

        1. David, I completely agree about Gary V. His new book was full of great tips (Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook)!

          1. That book has been huge… He is a master promoter.

  5. Hello Ramsay

    I got inspired reading your blog and started a fitness blog about 20 days back. Still early times. I am filling it up with content which I feel will be useful to readers and also building up social presence. Yet to do any backlinking. Need traffic and email subscribers as you keep saying they are our life blood and asset. So, I need your tips to increase traffic. I know that is a vast subject in itself. However, do suggest some improvements to my blog or anything you feel to comment about. I will continue to keep up my effort in making this blog a success and I know it takes a lot of time and effort to do it. I am following lot of other bloggers like neil patel and follow their advice also to get traffic, etc. I feel its better to go to many sources than one. Anyways, thanks for your intent to help other fellow budding bloggers.

    1. Awesome Mohan. Thanks for the comment. A few people have asked about this now so I think it will be a feature.

  6. liz@lifedreaming on January 7, 2014

    Happy and abundant 2014 Ramsay

    As one of your longest readers I want to wish you every success with both blogs and I’ll be happy to promote anything you do.

    I’ve just launched the Life Dreaming Expedition and will be running groups as well as 1 to 1 sessions. I’m a one person biz so part of my plan as I develop and grow Life Dreaming in 2014 is to seek skilled support.

    I’ve already booked a free biz advice session with a group and am asking some skilled friends to do some probono skills sharing.

    If I won the lottery then I’d really like some time and advice from you Ramsay on fine tuning my online marketing and communication efforts.

    I love my site and am creating a really great blog publishing schedule for this year that will start including vids.

    I think I just need to feel I’m focusing my finite time and energy as well as I can in order to build my fab audience and earn the money to move me and Coco dog back to Perth by July 2014.

    thanks mate

    Liz

    1. Liz you are amazing! I’m sure it’s going to go really well.

      1. liz@lifedreaming on January 7, 2014

        Thanks Ramsay. I have used so many of your post suggestions to build my site and blog.

        It took 4 years to get the Expedition to launch on Dec 2013 and now there’s the long haul of building and promoting it all.

        Not complaining as I love Life Dreaming, just feels BIG at times.

        Luckily I am in Oz enjoying amazing weather as I build the 2014/15 plan and not in flooding Dublin.

        1. Enjoy the heatwave.

  7. Alden Tan on January 7, 2014

    I could use some moral support.

    I find it such a funny game when it comes to blogging.

    Truth is: We all know deep down what to do to create a successful business or to push ourselves to the limits in creating art/expressing ourselves.

    But somehow, we’re always either distracted or we just fear doing it.

    I’ve been blogging for a good two and a half years now. And I’ve gone full circle.

    I started off not knowing shit. Then I started learning the ropes. I got a coach. I enrolled in a course. I tried a bunch of tactics I “had” to use in marketing. But it all didn’t work for me.

    So finally I was like, “Fuck this” and decided to stick to what I’m good at: Writing.

    To cut a long story short, the lesson here is that we all need to be good at something first, then we grow later. The folly is that most of us get it mixed up. We want the Top 10 Twitter Tips, the viral tools, the loopholes nobody else is using or the whatever that “guarantees” whatever.

    As such, we stop shelling out mediocre content. And that never works.

    I find that I’m finally back on track. I know what to do, but yeah, going at it alone can be tough. A little moral support would be good.

    Peace,
    Alden

    1. Alden I feel you. Know exactly what you mean in regards to that vicious circle.

      You’ll always have support on this site – from me and these awesome people here I’m sure. Just find a good bunch of people (myself included) on Twitter and ask questions/chat when you need it.

      Stick at it mate.

    2. Christopher Rice on January 10, 2014

      I’m in this boat, too.

  8. Sourav Saha @ Blogaholic on January 7, 2014

    Hey Ramsay, Loved this idea…why? Because I haven’t seen any of the big blogs going for this when it’s much needed.

    I subscriber to Blob Tyrant lately & unlike Bony this would be my first interaction too 🙂

    As per the trend goes and as everyone is saying 2014 is mostly about influencer marketing. As the Wishpond guys explains in a guest post at our blog a single tweet from an influencer got them 1000% more readership in one single day.

    We all know content is the king but promotion is the queen. I really find some great small/not-so-popular blogs with great piece of content with small amount of visitors which needs a helping hand in promotion. So how about a weekly “Readers Post Roundup” or may be a shout as tweet/Facebook share or personal guidance them in blog post promotion or something like this would be helpful. Would love to hear tour thoughts on this.

    Talk soon,
    Sourav

    1. Interesting stuff Sourav. Very interesting.

      Thanks for the first comment too! But “blob tyrant”? Ha ha.

      1. Sourav Saha @ Blogaholic on January 7, 2014

        Ha ha ha..guess printing mistake 😉

        1. Made me laugh.

          1. Scott Kindred | SafeHouse Web on January 7, 2014

            I think you two may have stumbled onto something here… businessblobbing.com isn’t taken. Yet. 😉

    2. liz@lifedreaming on January 7, 2014

      Love ‘promotion is queen’. You are so right and working out a promotion strategy that builds an audience and customer/client base is a great challenge when time and money is at bootstrap level. I would love to hear peoples practical day to day strategies for promotion and managing their micro biz. I will be chunking key activities across days, weeks and months and tracking real time actions on toggl.i will be asking myself ‘how will this activity help me achieve my key communication goals?’

      I love the great comments that always follow Ramsay’s posts.

      Liz

      1. Isn’t it awesome?

  9. I’m excited to see your new changes and your sister site, Ramsay!

    I very recently started a new blog (it’s my second one but my first with hosting and WordPress). In a nutshell, WordPress is kicking my a$$. It takes me FOREVER to figure out things like formatting posts, site design, etc. that were trivial when I was using another platform. I really like the idea of using WordPress.org but I am frustrated at how long it’s taking me to come up to speed. Tutorials, resources, and especially personal support would be amazing.

    Some other issues I’ve been thinking about:
    -length of posts-what is ideal, and are my posts too long?
    -how can I connect with readers through story in an interesting, non-boring or TMI way?
    -how should I divide my time between creating/writing vs. connecting/promoting? It’s a bit overwhelming!

    Thank you so much for all of your fantastic content, and here’s wishing you an amazing 2014!

    1. Great stuff Andi.

      Glad to hear you are on WordPress but sorry to hear you’re having troubles. It will be absolutely worth the time over the long run though.

      I’ll have a think about your ideas.

      1. Thanks, Ramsay. I know it will be worth it…just gotta push through. At least I’m learning a lot 🙂

        1. Hi Andi,

          Congrats on becoming a new mum.

          I had a look at your site and was wondering how you are capturing subscribers or visitor details? Is it simply an informational site or are you monetising it?

  10. Hi Ramsay, I know what I want to blog about and have plenty of content. I just need different strategies to monetize my blog so I can quit my job!

    Thanks

    1. Have you tried anything specifically?

      1. I am just finishing my lead magnet ebook, I will then build a landing page on my site and drive traffic / email signups through a Facebook campaign.

        I plan to collect at least 1-2K email addresses before I begin blogging. Do you have any feedback on this strategy?

        What are the most effective ways to then monetize and continue to grow this community?

  11. Syed Kazim on January 7, 2014

    Hi Ramsay,

    I would love to know how to market certain specific products/services using a blog as a platform. How can blogs be used as a tool to get a large audience so that the end goal of selling quality services to people is achieved?

    For example – I want to be a freelance writer in the GMO niche, and want to write for magazines etc. How do I use my blog for that?

    1. Syed Kazim on January 7, 2014

      I had to come back to say this – the page that comes up after commenting is just awesome! Quite a pleasant surprise. I should leave comments more often around here.

    2. That is a great question and it applies to so many niches. Thanks for that one!

      What are your thoughts on GMO? Short version.

  12. Michael Gorman on January 7, 2014

    Great news Ramsay,
    I think blogging in general has become a whole lot harder, there is just so much distraction online, and people have such short attention tolerances! My blog is centered on the demographic of ‘baby boomers’-I have a lot of online and technical experience (for a baby boomer!)and I often think this group suffers a lot when dealing with the online world-online biz especially-so I am looking for ways to make my blog as useful, and helpful as possible-I know there are a lot of us out there, but finding where they are is tricky.My blog is pretty new and just developing.

    1. Sounds like an interesting niche. What problem do you mostly have with readers of that age?

      1. Michael Gorman on January 8, 2014

        Actually they are many and varied-firstly they can be a skeptical lot and they are not sure about how best to leverage their life experience to an online format. The minute you mention ‘online biz’ they think you are out to scam them..lol. so really it is a question of building trust-which is the big obstacle all bloggers face really.
        I am looking at video to build trust, people tend to be more comfortable once they have seen a face and heard a voice. Anyway, i like what you have done, and i will be visiting regularly for inspiration-cheers!

  13. Hi Ramsay, Happy New Year and that’s awesome about the new ‘sister’ site – great news, and as a long time reader of Blog Tyrant I can’t wait to see what’s next in your box of tricks!

    Issues for me include time management and the delicate balance between content creation and promotion.

    As a self confessed techno dinosaur, I really did start at ground zero with ZigaZag almost four years ago, and only in the last year have my numbers reached what I consider an acceptable level – I have a great community who comment often, and a growing number of businesses and brands wanting to work with me. The trouble is … how to keep all the balls in the air? Promotion is vital to keep my traffic up, but well written and interesting content with great photos is a pre-requisite to keeping readers coming back.

    So traffic vs content – is there, should there ever be a balance – or is it a case of keep on your toes, be prepared to alter direction at any given moment, and go for the gaps?

    It’s great to have met Bonny (above!) in the last year, as we write about similar things – and I think that networking between, and promoting like-minded-bloggers is a great way to go – isn’t it – So, I think some tips on how best to promote other bloggers in the most effective and time efficient way would also be hugely useful.

    Thanks Ramsay 🙂

    1. That is a really difficult and interesting question. I like they way you look at it.

      Thanks for being such an awesome commenter Johanna. I’m going to think hard about this one.

      Happy blogging in 2014!

      1. Thanks Ramsay!

    2. liz@lifedreaming on January 7, 2014

      I am not sure we ever get the balance. I am going to try and see if chunking my time and consciously focusing my time on key activities such as promotion, networking and writing will work.

      I liked the suggestion from another commenter about doing a specific blog related activity over a week mon- map ideas: tues research, wed write, thurs edit, then publish.

      And really delighted to have connected with you Johanna.

      Liz

      1. Hi Liz, likewise! Best of luck today with your “Opening” and look forward to catching up IRL one of these days! Thanks for pointing out the other comment about doing specific blog related activities each day. Makes good sense 🙂

        1. liz@lifedreaming on January 7, 2014

          Sorry we couldn’t catch up while iam on oz. Will email about guest posting and doing an interview with you for my site. 20 women booked for the life dreaming taster today and then staying on for the oz launch and celebration.

          Have a great year Johanna

          Liz

          1. Hey Liz, I’m soo amped for you 🙂 Well done! Next time you’re here, or maybe I’m over there, let’s hope we’ll get to meet in real life 🙂 And I’d love to be featured in an interview on your site, thank you.

  14. Sam Adeyinka on January 7, 2014

    Hey Ramsay, I’m glad to be here on your great blog and more glad I am to be able to read your blog again in 2014! 2013 was a really mad year for me as I lost so many things which frustrated my blogging journey and that literally limited my success. I can’t go into details now, maybe when we get to talk like on a social platform I’d be able to share it with you. What do you think?

    BTW, happy new year fam and I wish you all that you ever wanted in life. I’m trusting God that this year will be an overflowing and supernatural dominance year for you.

    Speaking about your post, what a great post this is and I’m happy that folks like you who love to help still exist. Trust me this is huge Ramsay and I celebrate your guts!

    What would help my blog in 2014?

    Good question boss! I have mapped out many different things I’d love to take my blogging experience to the next level, like an increment in traffic, getting premium plugins, building a mailing list, offering my products, i.e. eBooks, blog setups, freelance writing…..also, I long to get my site a very responsive premium theme. Basically, I love to go premium. Another thing I believe impeded and that is still impeding my blogging success is not having a laptop.

    Okay that’s it Ramsay.

    Now, I sometimes wonder how you are able to get thousands of subscribers to your blog, get many comments and make outrageous amount of money. I still cannot fathom it and this is something that gives me sleepless night.

    Like I got your mail and straight away came down to your blog. Saw no comment. I mistakenly close my browser and upon refreshing it I saw all these comments and I’m sure 100s are still coming in.

    I like also to know how best to monetize my four month old blog. How to publish an ebook and market it.

    I will appreciate if you could help solve few of these problems I’m facing and one big thing you will also do for me that I will great appreciate is if you could allow me to be your friend. And if you want me to be happy for the rest year, just please when you are less busy one of these days leave a comment on my blog. I’d be so happy and appreciate it.

    Thanks so much Ramsay for this wonderful opportunity to share my blogging problems with you and the possibility of some of it being solved. It’s much appreciated brother!

    Again, compliments of the season and I wish you many more success and laurels in the coming days, weeks, months and years.

    Just that you may know I’d like to promote anything you share and I’ll be looking forward to your sister’s blog and will throughout this year and beyond stay at my new home – Blog Tyrant! 😀

    Sam

    1. Sam this is an awesome comment! I didn’t know where to start so I went across and left a comment on your blog like you asked. 😉

      I’m going to have a big think about some of the things you’ve talked about here. Also, I don’t make an outrageous amount of money. Just wanted to clear that up. This blog makes enough for me to live off but were going to go a lot bigger in 2014. These things take time.

      1. Sam Adeyinka on January 7, 2014

        Hahaha………I saw your comment over at my blog and I’m so happy you actually took your time to leave your two cent.

        Oh okay and I’ll patiently await your reply when you finally are done thinking about’em.

        You know what honest and genuine blogger like you don’t like to go proud on their readers and I appreciate you saying that but deep down I know you are one hell of a millionaire 😀

        Of course we will all grow bigger and bigger and starts from this very year. (Sure they are but one’s got to be patient enough to be able to reap the reward).

        1. Definitely not a millionaire!

          1. Sam Adeyinka on January 20, 2014

            Alright then, so where do wish to come in to helping me now?

  15. Smart Dummy on January 7, 2014

    Hi Ramsay

    I found your blog about 3 days ago (always last to the party). I’ve been freelancing for a little while now and making enough to get by. But your blog actually inspired me to make a late New Year resolution and start a new blog from scratch and make it a money spinner during 2014. So 2 days ago I started doing just that. I’m in the midst of getting my pages and first posts sorted 🙂

    The main thing is that I’m the bread winner and have a few hungry mouths to feed and I reckon other people are in the same position. I haven’t got a ton of money stashed somewhere to throw at developers, custom made sites, paid traffic etc. There’s me and the cat who inexplicably tries to sit on my laptop whenever I work.

    I’d love to know the best free tools around for building a great looking blog and how to do things on a budget until I build things up a little more (then invest) and a little more.

    I also don’t know loads about some stuff (the dummy part)like coding etc. It’s something I want to learn really so if you have any advice on where to look for the best guide for dummies for that kind of thing that would be great.

    So… Free tools/tricks to use and dummy guides for the tech side of running a blog.

    Thanks for the massive inspiration by the way. I don’t wanna be all screaming fan weirdo about it but – this is a pretty cool blog 😀

    1. Heya.

      Thanks for the awesome comment! Glad you’re here – better late than never!

      I think a guide to free marketing would be really well received in this space. Very common request.

      Sounds like you’re doing well. Hope to see you around here a lot!

  16. Hi Ramsay,

    When you wrote that list of HELP topics – I just thought, ALL of them please!

    That sums it up and the comments above are all relevant to me too.

    Robert

    1. Ha ha. I had wondered if that might happen!

  17. Kelly Martin on January 7, 2014

    Hi there,

    I started blogging in 2006 and over the past 2 years have really explored the blogging world more, but one thing that I am always stumped on is design. I don’t host my own blog because of funds so still use blogger but after trying to revamp it a few times with the occasional help of online tech people I am frightened to do anything else with it because I seem to have messed up somewhere. My blogger designer function no longer works so I am stuck with the same colour scheme and background and I keep having to change my header to match the colours. I have one dream and that is for someone who is not scared of html to look at where I have messed up or if what I have done is messing up the blogger coding.

    This may be a big ask but I am honestly scared to touch the coding now and when people have explained to me what I need to remove and add I have an almost phobic reaction and my neck and shoulders tense LOL

    This is honest I know.

    Thanks for the opportunity to share.

    1. Yeah that can be scary. If you don’t want to learn it I really recommend outsourcing. There are a few tools I can recommend though so I’ll dig them up.

    2. Sourav Saha @ Blogaholic on January 7, 2014

      Hey Kelly, I’m sure you have heard the that design plays a vital role in trust & thus conversions. How does the design signifies trust?

      “Elizabeth Sillence, and her team, conducted a study where they asked a bunch of people to find websites about hypertension.

      Then she asked people to record whether they trusted or distrusted the websites they found, and why.

      And guess what?

      When she reviewed the reasons why people distrusted a website, 94% cited DESIGN problems.

      Yes, you read that right.

      Your design can TRIGGER immediate DISTRUST.”

      This is actually an expert from a Social Triggers post. You can read the full post here: http://socialtriggers.com/content-is-king-myth/

      I’m really happy that you are concerned about the design and I’m sure Ramsay will come up with something to address this problem. Till that time you can use these free beautiful themes for your blogger blog: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/40-free-beautiful-blogger-templates-part-iii/

      Even with your existing blogging theme I can help you out with changing the background color or header or something else.

      Hope that Helps!

      1. Awesome comment!

  18. Hi Ramsay,

    My main issue remains getting lots of traffic to my site. Those that have been on my blog generally seem to really like it, but the problem is there isn’t enough people visiting regularly.

    I remember one of your previous comments suggesting you only have a few solid posts on your blog to begin and then guest blog a lot to drive traffic.

    Is there anything else I could be doing/considering to increase the traffic to my site?

    1. Have you experimented with paid ads?

  19. “Perhaps there is something so left-field that you would never normally think to talk about it. Well, this is the time.”

    This I normally do in my blog. Nice post!

    1. Thank you.

  20. Hi Ramsey,

    First of all, my very best wishes for you and your dear ones. I know 2014 is a week old already, but why keep our best wishes for just that one day per year?

    For the last 3 – 4 years I have been trying (sometimes hard, but most of the times not so hard) to get a blog off the ground. And sometimes I get the feeling that it is going to work. But then the number of visitors suddenly declines and it seems like nobody wants to visit anymore. No consistent stream of visitors at all.
    In the last couple of weeks my Adsense earnings have fallen considerably. In fact, the last 7 days just made me less than 1 euro / day.

    This makes me doubt if I will ever get to the point where this blog will allow me to switch careers. I’ve been in real estate for the last 15 years and would love to become an online entrepreneur.

    Pfewww, that’s one long intro to what I’d like to see in 2014:

    Some serious guidance (and a kick in the but every now and then). For I have the feeling that instead of swimming, I’m now just trying to keep my head above the water.

    Technically I’m OK. I do know my way about WordPress and writing articles isn’t a problem either. It’s the bigger picture I cannot seem to grasp. And then there’s focus…

    I know there’s no such thing as a surefire blueprint, but some help on the commercial and focus department would be immensely appreciated.

    Eric

    1. Eric that, I think, is a really succinct summary of what a lot of people have asked for here. I think you’ve given me a blueprint for helping people come up with the blueprint! Lots to think about.

      1. Hi Ramsey,

        Should you really create the one blueprint we’re all waiting for, you could become a millionaire blogger after all 😉

        In the meantime, all help is truely appreciated…

  21. Lynne from Design The Life You Want to Live on January 7, 2014

    Hi Ramsay !

    I’ve been following your blog for quite some time and always luuuuurve your posts. Thanks for that !

    I’ve been blogging for about 2 years now, growing my traffic and all that good stuff. I really love blogging and the social media.

    My question is monetization. I would like to get to a point of making ‘lights out income’ and earn money while I’m sleeping. So far, I just launched a free ebook for subscribers which I think is pretty awesome 🙂

    Do I write more ‘paid’ ebooks for income or do you suggest other ways to monetize? I do have google adsense and some sponsors too but I would love to earn more with my bloggy.

    Cheers !!!!

    ….and THANK YOU

    Lynne from Ontario, Canada.
    Ps. Isn’t it great how far blogs can reach and how we can communicate across the world? LOVE that too 🙂

    1. Hey Lynne.

      Thanks for all the love!

      How are you going with Adsense? Have you tested that vs some other methods?

  22. Hi Ramsay!
    What a nice surprise waking up to your email. I’ve been running my blog for 7 years and traffic has just died on the vine. I still run the same content and I’ve been pushing it out on social media networks triple the amount I did even 2 years ago. I’ve tried different themed based ideas, but it hasn’t improved my traffic.

    I also found that monetizing is ridiculously hard. I’ve tried selling ads, affiliate ads, sponsored posts, and many other options out there.

    Between traffic falling off and no income, I’m often tempted to quit. Does anyone else feel this way or have the magic formula?

    xoxo
    Beth

    1. Hi Beth.

      Why did your traffic die off so suddenly?

      1. I honestly don’t know! It’s so frustrating.

        1. Have you got analytics set up?

  23. Remember me? I’m the one who asks questions and then simply hides away when I receive an answer (but I do follow your blog and footsteps). So, here’s my question. How can someone like me, start affiliate marketing without a blog/website? I don’t want to invest in PPC and also nowadays you can’t redirect Google Ads to an affiliate site directly.

    I know this might seem stupid because you won’t any details of the person who purchase that product through the affiliate link, but for someone who is just getting started with affiliate marketing, this might be the best way.

    1. Hi Nabil.

      If you don’t want a website and you don’t want to invest in PPC then I’d say you can’t do affiliates. No way I know anyway…

  24. I am probably your newest reader, having just subscribed, so I have lots of questions. I set up my blog back in July, but I still have the “under construction” message up. My site name will probably make most people think it is just a “market” site to sell things, but a store is also a place where precious items are kept, which is the direction I’m heading. My problem is that I’m frozen and having trouble making decisions about the simplest things–like a basic theme for how the site should look. Do you have a process for making decisions or getting unstuck?

    1. Hey Pat.

      You might want to check my previous post about starting a blog in 2014. Down the bottom I made a little promise that 2014 is, for me, going to be about getting things out there, not getting things perfect.

      I’ve wasted a lot of times getting things perfect when I should have just been putting it out there. The only tip I have is one I’m telling myself more and more these days – don’t spend 95% of my time tweaking the smallest 5% of my projects.

      Hope that helps.

      1. Yes, perfection is a problem–how did you know? I want everything to be perfect before I let the world see it. I will work on this. Thanks!

        1. Allow your readers do guide you to their perfection……not yours. Like selling a house…..dress it up as a buyer is likely to buy it.

  25. Tania Dakka on January 7, 2014

    Ramsay!

    I’m sooo excited for your changes. You’ve always been such an inspiration for me and such a pleasant person to interact with in social. Thank you!

    What will help me with my blogging? I really have no idea. LOL

    Here’s what I THINK I need:

    My ass kicked. I mean I’d prefer to create copy for everyone else…but not create content for myself. So can you kick my ass? LOL

    Thanks for always creating massive content for us to help us grow!

    Tania

    1. Thanks for being one of my biggest supporters Tania! I always notice your shares and comments and appreciate it a lot.

      Good question. I’ll have a think about how your butt can be metaphorically kicked.

      🙂

  26. Kathy durrett on January 7, 2014

    I would like to understand SEO better. Love your comment about ‘left field’. Would like to do more of that and begin to include more videos. Thanks for the great post. Good luck with sister blog and happy new year!

    1. Thanks Kathy! Any particular areas of SEO that you’re worried about?

  27. Hey Ramsay!

    Just found your blog last night, really loving your content so far.

    I just restarted my blog this year, it’s actually my new year’s resolution to keep this site going.

    The biggest thing that would help me is finding a way to get readers to my blog and to build a committed readerbase. I have several pieces of content that I’ve posted over the last couple of weeks, adding on to what I already had from last year, but I feel like it largely goes unseen. I’m probably not doing enough promotion, but I’m not sure what else to do. I’m hoping your blog will help as I continue this ‘challenge’ this year.

    Thanks for all of your great content. Will definitely keep checking back for more.

    – Geoffrey

    1. Hey Geoffrey! Have you done any guest blogging or paid advertising so far?

      1. Not too recently, that’s definitely something worth trying though. 🙂

  28. Marsha Hamby Savage on January 7, 2014

    I have only scanned all the responses … and will come back to them again to read in depth… because I know there is really good information there in the questions, and then your and others’ answers.

    I have had a blog to promote and to give back for my art. I have a problem getting to it to put in the content. When I do, people that follow me on Facebook, love it. The posts are usually long. I am told not to change that aspect of writing just like I talk. I am not trying to make money with the blog, just trying to make money with my art … and hoping the blog drives traffic to my website, my galleries or my shows.

    My problem is just doing it! Discipline is the problem … doing my profession, which is creating art, is not a problem, though. Deciding how to make it work for me is the key. I know you will not have an answer for this … except that I must learn to schedule the time for it.

    1. Perhaps we need to find a way to make your art production and your blog production the same thing…? 🙂

      1. Marsha Hamby Savage on January 7, 2014

        Interesting thought! I’m at a loss as to how. I’m seeing me in the studio with the computer behind me. Stop with a stroke on a painting, step to the computer, write a little about my work… step back to the easel… and on with it! Hmmmmm… I do pastels half the time … lots of dust… can just see it on and in the laptop.

  29. Hi Ramsay!
    Happy New 2014! I’ve signed up to BT last month and enjoy your helpful insights every time I get an email from you. Grazie!
    I am a wedding planner based in Tuscany and my main straggle is.. how and where do I start creating/building a community on my blog?
    Many thanks,
    Natalia

    1. Hi Natalia.

      Why do you want to build a community on your blog? Is the purpose to sell wedding plans?

      1. Well, I don’t sell packages, if that what you mean, because I believe in more creative approach to event planning, I just though it could be one of the ways to build my mailing list,guess I must promote my posts&advertise more..

  30. Remember that post about how you built and sold one of your websites for $20,000? It is time to go back to it and ask yourself why you wrote it. Why? It will gove you more ideas for new posts that can benefit the Tyrant Troop.

    Look at it this way…you build a site, entertain the thought of selling it, get someone willing to buy it from you…

    How many Tyrant Troops would like to do that? Many. Even if they are not selling their site, they’d still love to have a site whose value equals or goes past the $20,000 mark.

    So, create more content around what you did that resulted in a site that valuable. Help more people climb the ladder from down up, showing the ugly and pretty bits – generally how much work. focus, determination and creativity it takes to do that.

    1. Thanks Philos. I try to do that with a lot of my posts but good point. Get back to the original stuff.

  31. Hi there, Ramsay!

    I would like to be your friend and help you out with your design needs & other tasks. This would be helpful for both of us, because you have all this blogging & marketing & emailing experience.

    P.S. My website is currently under construction.

    Regards,
    Filip.

  32. Pauline Baird Jones on January 7, 2014

    I have something like the same problem as Marsha. I’m an author. My blog is not to make money, but to create interest in my novels. I found you through Copywriter and am slowly becoming familiar with your site. I love your energy and your sense of humor.

    I’ve been feeling my way to my blogging voice for a couple of years now. Realized that the storytelling wasn’t actually telling stories all the time. So that was a huge duh moment for me. I’m working on that but it feels like I’ve hit a blogging ceiling. I seem to have some regulars but other than the occasional spike (my weight shaming post did really well) and a great guest post spot on {grow}, I feel like I’m not gaining any traction.

    I don’t want to just post excerpts from my books, or talk about them all the time. I’m trying to find a way to open a conversation with people, let them get to know me, but so far that isn’t happening to any great extent. Obviously I’m not asking compelling questions, but then my blog posts aren’t like that.

    I also try to give back, so I have a monthly drawing (not for my novels, something not about me).

    Because I’m a reader and a writer, I try to craft my calls to action in a more muted fashion. I don’t like being pushed or told what I like to read. And I’m not a natural sales person. Sigh.

    1. Pauline I recommend you look up an Australian author/radio personality called John Safran on Facebook and Twitter. He uses those platforms well to carve out his place in a certain type of novel (true crime) and does it really well.

      1. Pauline Baird Jones on January 8, 2014

        I will do that. Thanks so much for the tip. 🙂

  33. Dear Ramsay,

    I need some serious help.

    Listen, I’m trying to conquer the world by writing about world domination, but so far I’ve got nothing, zilch, big fat zero.

    Last year, I think I wrote some quality content about the obliteration of all lifeforms. I know it sounds crazy, but these are satire/humor posts. Look, to be honest, I’m an evil overlord persona, I’m not a “real” bad guy. I’m like a Dr. Evil, or trying to be but failing because so far nobody has noticed I exist.

    That’s why I need your help.

    Right now, I don’t even care about making money. I just want to build a community. I’m too crazy to understand where my niche is and how to actually get people to read my stuff. I just keep writing, one new blog post every Monday @ 7:01 AM.

    I’d love to write more often, but there’s no time. So instead, I stick with being consistent and on schedule.

    Google doesn’t really like my keywords… There’s not a lot of people searching for things like barrels of monkeys, unpleasant robots, or well, any of the sorts of things I write about.

    The thing is, I enjoy writing what I write about, so I don’t want to change what I’m writing about, I want to change something else so people start reading the types of things I enjoy writing about. You can see why this is such a confusing issue for me.

    Look, I don’t want any of your prizes please save them for someone that needs them. What I need is advice.

    I need to know how to conquer the world.

    1. You and me both Deceth. You and me both… 🙂

      1. Today’s forecast: A few sprinkles of genius with a chance of DOOM!

        1. Ha ha ha. Absolute gold.

  34. “STOP OVER-WORKING AND START WORKING RIGHT”

    Might I recommend a multi-post series on organizing your weekly activities. For example, you cover great stuff on writing and marketing and setting up a site but what about the on-going work. For example:

    1. Day one of each week is planning the work for the week; writing, site design, marketing, etc.
    2. Day two is site design work.
    3. Day three is writing the first post for the following week.
    4. Day four is…

    My most productive weeks are those in which I set time for certain tasks and ONLY spent those set times on tasks. For example, only tweak my web site copy on Fridays. I’ve learned a good amount of this from David Risley.

    I’ve come a long way with this myself and I’m working on 2014 as being the year I really nail this down.

    1. Hi Chris,

      I find this idea really helpful. I spend so much time reading other people’s blogs about blogging, which is how I ended up here, that I don’t spend much time on mine. When I do, I feel rushed and have trouble focusing. My site is still under construction–since July…ugh. I have yet to pick a theme, which is where I am stuck now. I think I will try setting aside some time to specifically focus on the look. When I have that decision made, I will set aside another block of time to concentrate on the next thing. Sounds so simple, but the distractions are legion.

      1. Really good idea Chris. Quite a few people have asked for something to help them organize their time better. Might be a good idea to include in my next upcoming thing.

  35. Susan Carey on January 7, 2014

    Hi there,
    I wrote blogs pretty regularly for about 3 years….then I burnt out and stopped..yeah, stopped.I did tell my subscribers that I was taking a break, but now I’m back…I need to to learn true authenticity in my blogging so my readers can relate.I just feel like I’m all over the place…

    1. Interesting Susan. Why do you think you burned out?

  36. Happy new year to all tyrant troops!

    My biggest issue when blogging is motivation. I love writing about languages, but I get tired of it sometimes. When I see so many people coming without leaving any comment, I wonder whether what I write really interests them.

    Most blogs recommend to follow your passions to choose your blog’s theme. But what if you have a lot of passions? What if your passion is something like personal development, healthy living or marketing ; themes that are so popular that the concurrence is harsh.

    I dream of a place where bloggers could share ideas about articles, maybe collaborate to write together and help each others. A place where all bloggers would be completely honest with each others, and tell clearly what they think about each others articles, blogs and ideas.

    The problem is that blogging alone can be extremely hard. Sometimes I wish I knew other bloggers with which I could write articles. Everything becomes so much easier when you work as a team. Unfortunately, very few bloggers do that. Sure there are guest blog posts, but how many blogs organize series of posts to write together about a common subject and share their insights.

    1. Hey Ben.

      What are your goals with blogging? It might be that if you solidify them more you’ll know which avenue to take.

      1. I would like to earn enough money to live from my blog. I really enjoy seeing people improve their life thanks to what I write too, but with the limited number of visitors I have right now, I don’t have much feedback.

  37. Alexis Raine on January 7, 2014

    I’m a long time listener, first time caller. 🙂 I’ve started several blogs over the years and didn’t realize what ‘gems’ they were as far as content and ranking. I’ve currently been working on a new blog–a daily, reality journey blog of a soccer mom/las vegas prostitute. With tips from your posts, I’ve mastered building traffic, SEO, and utilizing social media. (Still need more work on that.) I still have a ways to go, but am wondering how to monetize for the greatest profit. I’ve looked at affiliates, advertising, etc. but know you probably know the quickest way.

    1. Thanks for calling Alexis. It seems a lot of people are asking this question. Might be time for a more in depth look at it.

  38. How do I move my content from Word to my blog without losing the format

    I know ….. A very basic question.

    1. If you copy your post from Word into the WYSIWYG editor and not the HTML plaintext editor in WordPress, you should keep your formatting. If that doesn’t keep all formatting, you’ll likely just need to reformat it or don’t format anything in Word and wait till you copy it over to do any bolding, linking, etc.

  39. John Shea on January 7, 2014

    I think personal support is a big one for me. Having people to push me and motivate me to keep me going and stay consistent has always helped me achieve my goals.

    I know in the world of online marketing I have heard more than once to find a mentor or someone to help you with your business.

    I have since teamed up with someone to create a membership based product and started an interview show / podcast which has allowed me to connect with some really kick ass entrepreneurs – people such as yourself!

    I think for 2014 my goal is continue connecting with as many people as possible and helping those who need it with the knowledge I learn along the way.

    1. I’m surprised you need motivating, John. You always seem to disciplined!

  40. Lisa Brown on January 7, 2014

    I started a blog in May of 2011. It has grown but I have yet to make very much money with it. I spend lots of time on it and like most others, am wondering what the best way is to monetize it. It is in the dog niche and is devoted to helping shelter dogs find homes along with dog health, dog care, etc. and I also have stories about my own dogs. I also just wrote a kindle book about our little shelter pup that we adopted and am trying to figure out how to get it out there so if you know anything about marketing kindle books, I would love some advice.

    1. Wow that’s a different one! Sounds great. I’ll put my thinking cap on.

  41. David Wall on January 7, 2014

    Hello Ramsay,

    I’ve tried to be transparent in business and generous with my knowledge but sometimes I worry a blog could be undermining my work and therefore my potential to sell.

    I’d be interested to know what you thought of the negative elements of blogging or the areas where it may not work at all.

    Looking forward to the articles coming in 2014 and Hello to all the other Tyrant Troops.

    1. Hey David. Just to clarify; do you mean that you’re worried that blogging will give too much free information away and thus people will be less likely to buy?

      1. David Wall on January 9, 2014

        Hello,

        Yes, in a way. I’m the only real blog about cricket bat making yet when I work hard on content and see no real return (interaction or financial) I question my content and worry that I’ve given away too much and undermined what skills I have.

        I realise that if no ones engaging then the content is wrong. I’m passionate about what I do yet there are topics I could cover in my blog that wouldn’t be diplomatic and could hurt other businesses, yet they’re true. I fear my blog is losing its personality because I’m in business, I want the blog to be an extension of my passion and views with a business side to it.

        1. That is a very tricky one. What goals would make it successful for you though? Sales or some other metric?

          1. David Wall on January 13, 2014

            Thank you for your replies.

            Success would be having people engage with my content and sharing it. I have always thought that if I keep putting out information and content then people would embrace what I’m doing and sales would eventually come. However the market is saturated with BS that needs clearing away so real craftsman can be celebrated.

            I want to be transparent so people can benefit from the honest public information and support real craftsman. It’s frustrating when opacity seems to work so much better for people who skip corners.

  42. I’d like some advice on what’s the cheapest but usable technology to be able to work on blogs while mobile (at a Starbucks or Panera Bread, etc).

    So I’m not doing an advanced computing – need to be able to browse web, write stuff, watch youtube videos, and that’s about all.

    I’m thinking that a Chromebook is probably the most useful cheap device that requires the least maintenance. Also getting some VPN service since typing posts on my self-hosted blogs isn’t through a secure connection.

    Would you have any other suggestions?
    – Eric

    1. Hey Eric.

      Did you see my post on VPNs?

      Also, tethering from your mobile seems pretty secure.

  43. I would really like someone to give an open and honest warts and all real working example of how to find a niche, how to blog to that niche, where to blog to that niche, what to market to that niche and how to market to that niche. Not asking for you to divulge your inner circle but to give us a real live example of the actual process you follow that is successful.

    That would not only be a real nugget of information for many, but would also be very refreshing amongst the noise of rehashed hyped tripe.

    All the best.

    J

    1. Hi J.

      Are you interested in seeing my approach or just a good approach? Cos Pat Flynn has done a series like this that I would struggle to top.

  44. Hi Ramsay,

    I was wondering when creating a blog in order to sell it in the future, is it necessary to target American audience?

    Even if a blogger doesn’t want to sell the blog, I’ve seen usually everybody targets Americans, including Darren Rowse.

    I have read somewhere here that you remain up till late at night so that you may answer comments immediately and match the American time.

    Why is American readership so important in blogging?

    1. Hi Farhan.

      It’s not 100% necessary, especially if you are targeting a local crowd to sell a product or a service. But for the most part, the majority of web traffic is in the USA. So you need to get them on board if you want to have good levels.

      Does that help?

      1. Farhan Mosavi on January 9, 2014

        Thanks. Yes it helped.

        No I don’t want to sell anything to my local, Indian crowd. I am working on a blog about writing with the intention of selling it in the future.

        At the most I’ll be selling e-books.

        I feel it’s better to target Americans because then my site will make more money (through Amazon.com, AdSense, etc.)and the more money it makes the more interested a buyer will be in it.

        Right?

        1. Usually that’s the way it goes.

  45. Hi Ramsay,
    Temped to put “Blog Stalker” instead of my name :> I have been following, reading, and leaving inspired for a long time. As a very new blogger (can I call myself that if I haven’t even posted on my site yet?). I have chosen to keep my identity secret for various reasons. I have written 10 posts, waiting to go live and have my first ebook, also waiting to go live. I’m trying to line up my ducks, but really, what are all my ducks? Have you ever seen the movie “What About Bob”? I definitely need a Baby Steps manual. I have no doubt that a lot of this info is out there, but the research time is a killer. Time is worth $. The order of operations on which to focus our valuable time, would be awesome. Maybe a flow chart that shows which direction of importance when you are starting out, whether you have little funds or none at all. Blog coaching with mentoring, personal encouragement, and blog critique a couple times in the process would be spectacular. Blog coaching would be appropriate for those just starting out the gate full speed ahead, those stalled along the path because they ran out of gas and those stuck at the stop sign not sure which direction to take next.
    Thank you for always giving us something worth reading and color me intrigued about your new sister!

    1. This comment is full of great ideas! I’m super glad you went from stalker to commenter! 🙂

  46. Judy Baughman on January 7, 2014

    Hi Ramsay,
    I am fairly new to your blog and appreciate all that you do to keep your readers up to date. Our blog is fairly Low-Key for a small painting company but I have noticed it has begun helping our site generate leads. I do most of the blogging with input from my Painter/Husband when needed. One thing we are told is that commenting/posting on other likeminded sites can be beneficial. If this is true, how can that help and be win-win for both sites? If I comment on a house painting site does that ping back to our site or what are the benefits in commenting as a whole?
    I am going to check out your new site, congrats, good luck and I will share with all!!

    1. Hi Judy.

      I wrote a post about this very thing a couple of years ago that might help: https://www.blogtyrant.com/grow-traffic-rss-google-rankings-comments/

  47. lisa | renovating italy on January 7, 2014

    Happy New Year Ramsey and great to see you.

    For me it’s the overwhelm and trying to keep up with everything. Perhaps some practical scheduling ideas, how to automate a little more, I am on my blog, fb, twitter, pinterest and just starting to look at google + and getting video up on you tube.

    Renovating, moving country, learning a language and two children….and I love to keep things personal and interactive on all my social media.

    We are starting to get a good man just finished filming with house hunters international which will air in the next six months so how about thoughts on preparing the blog for expected visitors from media exposure.

    I also want to set up a shop, thinking with related content to our story. I’ve been looking at Zazzle but other ideas would be great. How do I go about setting it up on a really practical level is it something I could do myself??

    I have always loved the interactive support here from not only yourself but all the gang, it’s something that keeps me reading and sounds like you have big plans for this year….all the best and ciao for now
    lisa

    1. Lisa I don’t know how you do it. Renovating seems like it would be so exhausting.

      Thanks for the ideas and so lovely to see you still reading.

  48. Christine on January 7, 2014

    Hi Ramsay, Happy New Year

    First, I would love of links opened on a new page. I enjoy opening up other reader’s pages and links, but then have to go back and forth instead of waiting to read them all after I have finished scrolling down.

    I am interested in hearing your thoughts on how to distinguish between me as a blogger and me as a private person. For some there are no difference, but I would like to keep the personal me a little in the background. I have many other sides and interests than what I blog about, and incorporating that into my writing seems weird. On the other side I see the advantage of being personal and letting the reader learn more about you in order to connect.

    Looking forward to hear your take on it. Thank you and good luck with your projects in 2014!

    1. Hi Christine.

      If you just hold CNTRL when you click on the links they will open in a new tab.

      Is that what you mean?

      Great question about the distinction between the two. I’ve often thought a lot about that myself. I think that will have to be a blog post.

      1. Christine on January 8, 2014

        Will use ctrl from now on, thanks 🙂

        Looking forward to that post. One thing is the writing on the blog, then you have social media accounts that strangers suddenly start to follow as well. When you get really famous I see why people would be interested in the details of your life, but until then it just feels awkward sharing!

  49. Kris Claire on January 7, 2014

    Greetings from a first time commenter in the USA. 🙂 (I found you via Copy Blogger.)

    Forgive me if this data has already been covered, but what I would most love to have is a “To Do” list prioritizing what to do next after your blog is live in order of importance. What are the, say, top 10 additional tendrils of things I should be setting up or connecting to and managing? Set up Social Media? If so, which ones are priority? Hoot Suite is something I just discovered. I had no idea it existed and it’s a godsend. Are there other connections out there I should be making? Hash-tagging everything? Leaving comments everywhere? How do we best network, organize and manage?

    You get the idea.

    A printable cheat sheet of sorts would be AWESOME.

    Thank yo for asking!

    ~ Kris

    1. Kris Claire on January 7, 2014

      PS –

      THIS.

      “How to Make Your Blog Addictive Like World of Warcraft”

      You had me at “World of Warcraft”.

      1. Hey Kris. A few people have asked for this now. I reckon you might be on to something. Think I’ll have to do it.

        Glad you liked the title.

  50. I want to start adding all the houses I rent to my website as social proof of my business.

    I want to clone myself.

    P.S. I Love You

    1. I’m going to reply to everyone else later but I just wanted to say that I love you more.

  51. Christopher Rice on January 7, 2014

    I have a couple projects in the works, and they always need work, but I think the best thing I can do for them is improve the way I work.

    WHAT I’M STRUGGLING WITH, 2014

    – My heart and mind aren’t in the game anymore.
    – Unable to switch focus quickly.
    – Hourly interruption

    So I guess I’m interested in learning how to work smarter.

    HOW I PLAN TO OVERCOME THESE STRUGGLES:

    This topic really inspired me to think a little harder about what I need to do this year, so I wrote a post over at Google+ … didn’t want to hog the comment section : )

    https://plus.google.com/108688066435250945772/posts/eiJzisdto2e

    I’m looking forward to seeing what you do here at BlogTyrant, Ramsay, and can’t wait to meet the sister blog!

    Any hints you can drop us about her?

    Cheers

    1. Why the heck doesn’t G+ notify me when I get linked to like that? I really feel like it should.

  52. James Bogash, DC on January 8, 2014

    I’m am NOT just starting a blog. I have a medical blog and I’ve been doing some form of blog posting for over a decade and have logged in some 3500 blog posts (how’s THAT for consistency?), typically get out 5-6 posts / week (on top of running a practice) and have 20 eBooks on a variety of health topics. I feel my content is top-notch (recent SurveyMonkey to readers confirmed this). I follow all the best practices that I’m aware of.
    I remain stumped as to why my opt-in rate is so stinkin’ poor (bi-weekly open rate is an embarassing 120 or so).
    I write to share with the world how to be healthy from a solid, research-based standpoint. The more people who read and benefit, the more satisfied I am. There are times that I think of throwing in the towel in frustration.
    I would love to see coaching resources. At this point I would GLADLY pay someone to show me where the hangup is so I can move along with my passions.
    Everyone gives out ideas, but the implementation of these ideas has not been enough. I have not been able to find a “coach” in this realm to help me break through.

    1. Michael Gorman on January 8, 2014

      There is a book by a Spanish philosopher called ‘The Revolt Of The Masses’ it describes the advent of a rejection by mass culture of ‘experts’ and ‘elitism’ and i have to say this is borne out in blog-land, you will notice the blogs that do well talk on a mass level, they are not specialized, or teaching -I just bet you there is a Medical blog out there that is not research based, but speaks the language of the mass audience doing very nicely, people just hate experts and they respond to folk level language. My opinion.Philosopher’s name is:José Ortega y Gasset

      1. James Bogash, DC on January 8, 2014

        Thanks for the feedback. However, both Mercola (Mercola.com) and the Health Ranger (naturalnews.com) have very successful blogs and are the only two I know of that have serious heft. I have built the blog on cutting through the crap that’s out there on the Internet as it relates to health because I can back up everything I write about.
        As I mentioned, I am open to ideas, but this type of idealogical shift would be too great without some good examples of successful medical blogs.

        1. Michael Gorman on January 8, 2014

          I was not really advocating you change your ideology-or ethos; I am making an observation about people on the internet-Clickbank host many medical ‘products’, some of them membership sites, and they make enormous sums-obviously you are doing fine with your practice-so your blog is not your breadwinner, it is just interesting to observe how people respond to different messages.
          Cheers
          Michael

          1. James I would be very interested to take a look at your stuff to see if I could see what is going wrong given the large amount of quality content – even if it’s not paid.

    2. James Bogash, DC on January 9, 2014

      Ramsey,
      The offer would not be turned down, but it’s not expected. The link to the blog is included in my comment title / name.
      Thanks.

  53. Hi Ramsay

    Thanks for your new Blog post and the offer to help with something. I’m currently working on the complete new layout for my wine tour website (www.dolcechianti.com) and changing from Rapidweaver to WordPress. Which is a major thing, but I’m looking forward and simply hope, that my ranking will not drop down because of that. If you have an input here, I’m glad to hear it.
    I did my new logo (this time by myself), I have my content (some adjustments to what I had online on the “old website”) and I figured finally out which contact form plugin I want to use and which calendar works out for me. I spend HOURS on Google and WP to find out about these plugins. Today I’m writing down my Blog post for my german and english wine blog (www.weinweib.ch and http://www.thewinebabe.com) and thought about something I truly like some help.

    It’s all about font settings. Which line hight is the “reader friendliest”? Which font is the best? Which color is eye friendlier? Black, dark gray? I’m testing around but it’s really something I wondered about, what makes reading a Blog perfect? When do readers drift off because of the layout and the font settings.

    So, maybe you have some input there.

    Happy Blogging

    Chris

    1. Hi Chris.

      Awesome questions. There is a great article about this on Smashing Magazine. I’ll see if I can dig it up for you.

      1. That would be great!

  54. Ruth Currah on January 8, 2014

    You have all but dropped off the planet. I rarely see your name anymore. You use to be a daily or weekly giver of info. Now I see no pattern to look forward to. And your messages do not have the punch they use to. It seems you belong to some secret fan club and I have no idea what or where. My hero has disappeared. I love some of the stuff you gave in the past. It was great. But now others are speaking out more and more clearly. At your best I loved your tips on where to find help with the basics where it was too techno to do on one’s own.

    1. Christopher Rice on January 8, 2014

      There’s no secret fan club, Ruth.

      1. Hi Ruth.

        I took a little time off over Christmas and New Year. But, I’ve never really posted to a schedule. I’d rather wait until I have something to write about than put out boring stuff regularly.

        Can you give me an example of the kind of articles I used to do that you enjoyed? I’d be really keen to try and get you interested in the site again!

        Ramsay

  55. My first question is whether I need a website to maintain a blog. I sort of started one on Blogger and another one on WordPress, but I guess they don’t really count unless I have an actual website. I am between jobs and will get hosting as soon as I can. Then I’ll be real.

    I definitely need some advice about finding a niche. So many things that teach niche finding take for granted that I understand more than I do. I’m probably setting a record for belonging to click bank the longest without earning a penny. But I would hate to make everyone sit through the basics because the slowest one in the class didn’t get it.

    It would be great to learn how to be like you. I know that we don’t need several thousand clones of you out there. But ‘you’ in a different niche.

    Someone did a challenge a year or two ago where he started a website from nothing, I think it was like a sales funnel, and he competed against another big name in the business. Anyway, they raced to see who got the most business, or biggest address list. Something like that. Maybe you could do something like that with a class of us competing and learning as we go.

    I used to tutor in college, and I finally realized that my student ‘got it’ when she could explain to me how to do it. When she was able to teach me.

    For the new year I unsubscribed to nearly all my email newsletters. Yours was one of three that made the cut. You are awesome. You give me hope.

    Thank you,
    Tina

    1. Michael Gorman on January 8, 2014

      you probably didn’t want anyone but Ramsay to answer you, but what the heck…I think you really do need your own domain and website to seriously build a decent blog, this provides absolute control over your own asset, you are not at the mercy of a provider. Niche wise, I think going back to basics is what is required-you cannot invest the energy, focus or intelligence into something you don’t have some connection with-so it is a question of drilling into sub-niches, putting the time in to investigate the areas, and then researching that area and making yourself smart about it-there are no ‘magic tricks’ it is having faith in your own intuition and abilities-but you knew that already…

      1. Hi Tina.

        I’m with Michael. I think your own domain and host is necessary to take it to the next level. Here’s a video and post that kind of cover all that: https://www.blogtyrant.com/best-blog-host/

  56. This is the first time I’ve commented here, so excuse the length of this reply.

    So, a bit of background… I started my site back in Sept 2009. Originally I didn’t concern myself with generating traffic, or doing promotion, etc. It was just a site to write personal posts, and I thought if I would (eventually) get some readers / followers.

    Yeah, I’m sure that sounds naive, but given the content and the goals it’s not as naive as it sounds.

    Then I started doing a podcast. It wasn’t all that big, but I did have some followers for that, and some of the traffic grew on my site and the whole thing morphed into something other than where it started.

    Then I had to take what was originally going to be a short break. I relocated for work, and things took a while to get smoothed out after the move. So, two and a half years later I returned to writing. Only now I decided that I wanted to build more readership…which I’ve accomplished with some limited success.

    Some of the things I’ve done to get to this point: gotten better about social sharing, changing my writing style, changed the layout of my site (make it flow better…although I still have some work to do in that area), come up with a stronger more predictable method of publishing content, and somewhat improved my SEO.

    Now, for this year, I am setting an ambitious goal for myself: I want to increase my readership 4-fold, and I want to build more of a community feel to the site (ie, I want more regular, non-spam comments).

    So what do I need? What *don’t* I need is more like it!

    1. I need a better strategy around social integration. I am doing it, and I see the referrers come through, but they are nowhere near the level I would like to see.

    2. I need a better organization strategy for back-end work flow. I feel like I’m always hammering away on the next article to post, or next podcast, or whatever. I’ve been working on some changes in this area: putting in better tools to do research, working on improving my workflow, and trying to improve my lead times.

    3. I have a serious imbalance in my readership. The content of my site that gets the most traffic is only about 1/10th of what I publish. Originally this was designed as part of a strategy: write something that I knew would get eyeballs, and try to leverage that to get eyeballs on the other content of my site. The first part has worked, but I haven’t been successful with the second part of the strategy.

    I could go on and on with all the things I need help with, but those three are a start…

    Thanks,

    George

    1. George this is an awesome comment. Can I ask why you want to increase your readership 4-fold? How does this fit in with your blog’s ultimate goal?

      1. So, I know you took a look at my site. 🙂 As you (hopefully) saw, I focus on three topics: Creative Commons Music (reviews and podcast), Bitcoin, and eCigarettes / Vaping. And, I throw out a random / personal essay once a week.

        In #3 I was saying that 1/10th of what I publish gets the most attention. That would be the eCigs / Vaping articles. The rest of the articles and the podcast get barely any traffic.

        My initial thought was that adding the eCig / Bitcoin articles would hopefully bleed over onto the music articles, which are a niche by themselves. That hasn’t occurred.

        But, at this point, the overall traffic on the site has only gone from about 100 hits a day, to 250 hits a day (in nine months of continuous publishing).

        My hope is that if I can hit the right combinations of readers, I can reach that 250 hits / visitors per day for each of my content categories. The big idea is to work on the music content as that is what I am the most passionate about.

  57. Diane Trujillo on January 8, 2014

    Hi. Long story short, I need help becoming un-burned out. I’m a fiction writer, and a self-published one at that. I had a site for almost four years on which I shared poetry, short stories, updates on the book I’m writing, and some other random fluff I threw in just to keep it looking active. In August, I switched domain names in order to refocus my site, and myself. I’m frustrated and don’t even want to write anymore. I started out writing for myself when I was a kid, but as I’ve tried to make a name for myself, it’s taken all the fun out of it.

    I know my type of writing and site are not a normal part of your audience, but I know I can’t be the only one who feels frustrated and burned out. Please share and ways to keep the work part fresh and fun! I want to fall back in love with writing. Thank you!

    P.S. My site is currently down, just another frustration lately. It should be taken care of within a day or two. I knew you like to take a look at people’s sites when you can.

    1. Hi Diane.

      Have you joined any writer’s forums or communities? There is a good one on Google+ that I visit regularly that is pretty inspiring and helpful.

  58. I would like to hear more about design and interface. I have a blog and I offer two products: Books and coaching. The problem is, I have to use so many damn plugins it slows to a turtle crawl. I would love to learn have options for a new design that was simple in execution, good looking, and functional. Posts on design trends would interest me.

    1. Hey Tony have you read Glen’s post about speeding up your site? That might help. Also QuickSprout.com has a good tool that will let you know the areas you can improve.

    2. Christopher Rice on January 9, 2014

      What plugins are you using?

  59. Monica Womble on January 8, 2014

    Hi Ramsay,

    I am a newbie (I’ve been blogging for about 2 months by now), and I would really like to know how newbies go about getting readers to and subscribers to their blog.

    I feel that I am putting up great info, and that I have my ideal reader in mind, but I’ve only received 79 unique visitors by now. I have a great free report for any subscribers, but that doesn’t seem to be pulling in the subscribers, either.

    I guess I’m also getting frustrated, because I was hoping that I’d have made my first sale by now. I know building a list takes time and you want quality subscribers, but I’m stumped as how to drive traffic to my blog.

    Thanks for all you do!

    1. Hi Monica. Have you tried any guest blogging or paid advertising?

  60. Hi Ramsay

    Happy New Year and thanks for all the helpful articles you keep posting.

    I’ve been referring to your blog posts for the past few months as I’ve built up a solid blog/site (www.tweedscene.com.au) and have been trying to monetise it. I’ve transferred from WP.com to a hosted WP.org site and have had a huge tech learning curve that has been a little too time-consuming! I found WP.com much easier to be honest.

    I lost a bit of traffic in the host change-over and certainly lost stats until I figured out how to set up Google Analytics. Ewww. All done now, thankfully.

    Right now what’s stumping me most is implementing Adsense. The tutorials don’t cut it and with such a limited knowledge of programming (or using WP.org) I’ve reached a dead end. It could be something simple like my version of WP.org needs to be updated but it’s hard for me to know.

    Cheers,
    Kaye

    1. What problem are you having Kaye? Normally you just paste the Adsense code where you want it to appear…

  61. Debbie Black Iverson on January 9, 2014

    I would need to have you go into my blog and just tell me what I’m doing wrong or right.

    1. Nice and direct! I like it.

      1. Debbie Black Iverson on January 19, 2014

        I seem to get more hits from Pinterest and Facebook. Not finding the way to get people to sign up to the blog.

  62. Raees Hussain on January 9, 2014

    This is my fist comment on your site. I found it great.
    Well lot of discussions, but I just want to say that, try to show some consistency in blogging, it will benefit you.

    1. Thanks.

  63. I have a blog but it is a free wordpress one. I know, I know! I want to set up a web page with blog. I am scared. I don’t understand what is needed or what the tech terms or how to incorporate plug ins etc etc. I am also scared I won’t be able to keep it up that is why I tested out things via a free blog.

    So ya that is the need. To be confident and get it all to work out.

    1. Blue Host looks good. I am hoping that great price is the same for up here in Canada. But I will go ahead and take your word as you have always have given sound advice before.

      1. Hope it works out for you. There is nothing wrong with practicing on a free blog for a while though.

  64. Best of luck to you for your new site. Hope it will surpass the success of BT.

    1. Michael lets not get too far ahead of ourselves. One step at a time. mphocus.com is the name I chose

  65. I am just now starting my first blog it’s called connecting love and money and I talk about ways to do what your love and get paid for it, a lot of people think I am trying to give blogging advice even though my blog doesn’t make much, but I’m am just trying to show people the power blogs have, not really tech but if I can host my own website anyone can that’s for sure. I always thought you need a website and was unclear what a blog really was, until I heard an analogy about being an online magazine and I realized just having a website is like trying to sell a magazine with no articles and then it all made since, but what I think most pro bloggers don’t cover is the very basics because they assume people know. I asked five people that I know who have been blogging years what a blog was and I did not get one clear answer. Then I started asking around what blog platform and I got several answer but WordPress was obviously the most popular.People said if you want to monetize you have to pay for it and I thought that was ok and did months of research and wrote articles and finally had my trusty credit card in my hand ready to sign up and then they asked what host I wanted? I was like what is that? Are you freaking kidding me, now I have to research more? This has been the single most frustrating six months of my life because blogging is the only subject I have ever studied that the more I learned, it felt like the further I was to understanding it.
    Information Overload had me so overwhelmed I had to stop for a while, some people say you have got to know how to do lots of tech stuff and very few make it and then some say hey there are no hard, set rules to and some people want to make it more complicated then it,is because they secretly don’t want the competition. In a nutshell, how do you protect yourself from the offensive amount of information, which info do you chose, when is learning to much, why do people make it sound complicated, and what is your option on the difficulty of making a living blogging? Crazy hard or anyone can do it?
    P.S Do you recommend your own products or affiliate marketing for beginners? Pro and Cons? How do you “disclose your making a commission” from affiliates without turning people off? I got carried away with questions lol, see because grow more confused everyday with each new contradicting article I read!

    1. Hi Noel.

      You might enjoy this article I wrote called Why You Shouldn’t Read Blogs. It goes over a few of those points. https://www.blogtyrant.com/why-you-shouldnt-read-blogs/

  66. Hi Ramsay,
    Long time reader, first time commentor 🙂
    This is terribly basic and probably mentioned in the above 183 odd comments, but what I would most like help with is how to engage people. I genuinely want to help people with the info on my blog and reckon I have the qualifications to do so (I’m a vet and the blog is about pet health and behavioural problems, and is hopefully a fairly good read) but the only people I seem to engage with are fellow pet-bloggers (who I love, don’t get me wrong) but I want more, damn it 🙂
    Ps thanks for all your awesomeness, I recently added a thanks page for people who comment on my site – I loved that post

    1. This is a really good question. Thanks for commenting Joanna. Hope to see you around a lot more.

  67. Excellent post. You really dialed that in. It’s the simple principles that worked for people that have already been where we are heading and desire to be that we should pay close attention to.Thanks for keeping it real and I always look forward to your next post!

    Tanks

    1. Not sure if this is spam.

      1. It is.

  68. Alexandra Nicola (@lexxy_squirrly) on January 10, 2014

    Great to hear about the sister site. Can not wait to see what content we will find there and how much fun the community there will be.

    Cause you were talking about what problems we have in the article. I actually feel the need to write this. I have a big problem with finding a whiteboard scribing or animation creating software to help me create the sort of videos I want. I mean I have the images I want to use I don’t need a library. But I need something that will find the real contour of my images or at least tell what I should change about my images in order to be OK. I’m kind of lost. If not something that can help me create 2D animations. All though white board doodle is more of what I wanted.

    1. Michael Gorman on January 10, 2014

      Howdy Alexandra,
      noticed you are seeking Whiteboard animation assistance I encountered this company last year, they enable you to produce whiteboard animations very easily-and reasonably priced..which makes a change!
      Here is their youtube channel which should explain their services for ya:
      http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEp6ieAXXKrxkPFZIGKHUaA

      1. Thanks for jumping in Michael.

  69. Hi Ramsay,

    My sister and I started collaborating and we put up a blog that would also serve as our online store. It’s going to be an interesting year for us. Anyhow, your blog posts are already helpful for me. I’m looking forward to that “sister site” soon.

    Happy new year!

    1. Thanks so much Gwen. Good luck for your 2014!

  70. Hey Ramsay. I’ve been blogging for years but just now starting to see an increase in my visitors. I have a card blog (I make my own greeting cards) and design for several teams. I just can’t seem to break through to get my followers stats up? Any suggestions?

    1. You might want to start advertising on related sites and see if you make a positive ROI.

  71. Michael Gorman on January 17, 2014

    In essence, a Blog is no longer a ‘blog’. The practice we call ‘Blogging’ has matured, it is no longer a self conscious coy outpouring of personal experiences-blogs have developed into online Magazines, this is the business angle of blogging, and the problems that people have is in identifying what they are actually ‘doing’. I think we need to pare away the B.S and declare honestly that we want to produce our own online Magazine which deals with a particular facet of human existence-this would put it into perspective.

    1. Not everyone wants to publish a magazine though, Michael. The blogging community is both lush and diverse.

      1. Michael Gorman on January 18, 2014

        No argument there Rice, of course it is diverse-in the same way life is diverse. I was simply identifying the actual process that most bloggers seek to accomplish-make a living from their blog-this is in effect publishing a magazine where products are promoted, and sold, articles are written to produce a relationship with the reading audience. This is precisely what a magazine IS. Whether you are talking about Travel, Poodles, Rice dishes, Depression, Ecigs…whatever it is.

  72. Thanks for the article Ramsay. The main focus of my blog is on writing blog articles, short stories, and novels faster. Since that’s also what I write, the ideas generate themselves naturally. The one thing that would speed up my blogging most would be some way to plan ahead and write a bunch of articles for one category all at once. Maybe all I need is a spreadsheet listing article ideas and topics, but it seems like that would just be creating busy work for myself. Well… now I’m making the spreadsheet. Never hurts to try new things. Thanks again for the post.

    1. Not a bad idea… had never thought of that.

  73. Hi Ramsey definitey blog support. I just watched your video about how to add a e book to be emailed to the customer after they subscribe but for some reason am unable to load the PDF doc? Its defintieyl under the 2.5MB and its only a one page thing rather than a whole e book. My screen looked different to yours it just says “add media” but only allows photos and says it cant upload my PDF doc. Any ideas why it would be doing this?

    1. Might want to contact your host about that. It could be a permissions issue.

  74. Stephen Anderson on January 29, 2014

    I have been in business a long time, but only recently have I started blogging, what I am looking for is a way to increase my connections with like minded people, both for readers and for feeling like I am in a community of business owners who blog.

    1. Hi Stephen. That’s a really big one. Got something coming up on that soon.

  75. Rafiul Islam on February 2, 2014

    Very informative article to stay updated in 2014 and people should must read “Some sugar for your thoughts”. I like it so much dear Ramsay.

  76. Hi there
    Have enjoyed some of the articles I saw a few weeks back. I signed up to blue host but have been so unhappy with them since then. I was overcharged and they refuse to honour what they agreed to in the beginning and always let me know that they are serving many customers at the same time swell as they ignore the questions in live chat and re ask them as though you haven’t typed them. have you got other suggestions of hosting companies. i was so excited about getting a website started and had time in mid Jan but haves just had legalities with them to deal with and they still haven’t helped. such a shame but if you have other people you can suggest I would welcome companies that are not rude. customer service is my number one importance. it is everything to me.

    1. Michael Gorman on February 3, 2014

      Hi Kate,
      I noticed your post-I am wondering what could possibly be wrong that you need such close ministration from support-I have used Blue host & Hostgator, both excellent providers-if you can indicate what problems you are having there may be a simple solution-you have a hosting account, and you install wordpress-what aspect of this is giving problems?

      1. Hi Kate.

        Sorry to hear you are having problems. I’ve never experienced anything like that with BH.

        Have you emailed their complaints or billing department directly? In the past they have been instantly helpful.

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