This post is a summary of the most powerful tactics in blogging history.

Over the years I’ve seen some pretty cool blogging strategies. Some of them I’ve tested out myself, others have been tactics I’ve seen my friends successfully implement.

My goal with this post is not to completely detail the ins and outs of every method, but to give you a taster which will hopefully spark some original ideas of your own.

Ultimately I’d love to hear back from someone who reads this post and puts something into action on their own blog.

Rightyo!

The most powerful tactics in blogging history

Let’s start with a disclaimer.

Every blog is different. Every blogger has different capabilities, resources and finances.

What this means is that you need to assess whether each strategy is right for you and your blog before you implement it. Be smart and think about the long-term game.

1. A free giveaway to attract email subscribers

This is one of the oldest and the most successful blogging tactics.

The idea is simple. You create a great eBook (which is just a PDF file, really) and then give it away on your blog in exchange for the person’s email address.

If your eBook is highly useful you will find that you get a lot of longterm fans from this method because their initial contact with your brand is one of massive free value. Yaro was someone who did this really early on with his Blueprints and has built a brilliant brand around these ideas.

Here’s a video I made a few years ago about how to automatically give away a free eBook on your blog (check out the awesome spelling error!):

The interesting thing about this is that it has had almost 20,000 views. That, to me, means that a lot of people are interested in this method and that after all these years the tactic is still working strong for bloggers.

2. An email course that pre-sells a product or service

Another strategy that I have seen again and agin (and even used myself) is the one where you sign up for a mailing list in order to get a free email course which then leads you to a final paid product.

There are a few things to note about this method:

  • It has to be hugely useful
    Unless you provide a lot of value at the beginning with the free part you might find that people really don’t respond to having something sold to them at the end.
  • You have to be trustworthy
    This doesn’t work if you don’t have some perceived trust with your audience. It’s very good to start this method off with some statement about the successes that you’ve had.
  • It works forever
    Set it up correctly and with an evergreen idea and you will find that you can send traffic to this type of thing forever. That’s a good model.

Just take a look at how Copyblogger have been doing this with their Rainmaker platform to see how it’s done best. Honestly, I really hate these guys. 😉

3. Guest posting as a method for longterm traffic

This has been a really big part of my career as “the Blog Tyrant”.

Before I had a face and name attached to this website I blogged anonymously all over the web doing guest posts that I tried to make as massive and valuable as possible. The idea was to show a lot of promise and really make people wonder who this “Tyrant” guy was.

Screen Shot 2014-12-02 at 11.29.42 PMIn the end it worked well because it got me talking to Glen from ViperChill and we joined forces to do my unmasking over on ViperChill which was the first guest post that he had ever done. To this day I’m the only other writer to feature on ViperChill and the unmasking post remains the 4th most popular post in ViperChill history.

I don’t say all of this to make myself seem special but rather to illustrate how powerful guest posts can be. In fact, they made my career. They started it and they sustained it.

All these people who are talking about guest posting being dead are kidding themselves. It might be a little more dangerous from an SEO point of view now but they still grow brands and traffic – if you do them correctly.

4. Pre-launching an entire blog with a sales video and opt-in form

Jon Morrow is one of the best bloggers we’ve ever seen.

He’s also an incredibly smart business man.

After he finished at Copyblogger he set up a domain name with just a single video and an opt-in form on it. Before Boost Blog Traffic even launched he got thousands and thousands of subscribers off the back of just creating some interest.

In the post above Jon explained how he did it (and for less than $50…). It’s simply about creating a teaser that really gets people interested. Do that well and you’ll get people signing up in anticipation of something – you don’t actually even need to provide value yet.

I tried to find his video somewhere online but can’t seem to locate it. If anyone knows where a copy might be hidden please let me know and I’ll post it up for everyone.

5. Mentioning famous bloggers in guest posts

Doing a guest post is great.

Doing a guest post where you mention a bunch of relevant influencers is really, really great.

Why?

Because it is a huge show of respect, loyalty and trust. You’re not just mentioning that person on your own website or blog, you’re mentioning it when you’re up on the big stage and have an opportunity to get your own voice and message out there.

The best example of someone who does this perfectly all the time is my friend Kristi Hines. In 2013 she put me at the top of the blogging section in a post called The Top 75 Must-Read Online Marketing Blogs. This post has brought me thousands and thousands of visitors since that mention.

Needless to say, I’ll do anything for Kristi.

engagement-from-scratch-3d-237x300 (1)I couldn’t end this point, however, without mentioning Danny Inny who launched onto the scene by writing a book that included contributions from a lot of massive bloggers and marketers (and me…).

Engagement from Scratch was a huge hit for Danny and allowed him to open up a lot of friendships and business opportunities with the authors that he included and promoted heavily in that book.

6. Writing a series of posts to build interest in a future product launch

I always say that you should never blog blindly.

What this means is that you don’t want to just write random posts for the sake of getting traffic. Lots of traffic isn’t always a good thing.

Rather, you want to be writing posts that form part of an overall strategy. A good strategy will have an end-goal in mind and every time you post you are adding to that strategy – leading people towards the next step in the process.

And no one does this like Glen.

Right around the time Glen and Diggy launched their SEO product (which was insanely successful) Glen started focusing ViperChill content on all the different problems that were going on with Google. One post even got 340 comments and outed one of the most respected guys in SEO.

The result was that a lot of people became very interested in the solutions that Glen was offering.

Now, this might seem like a sleazy tactic but, like any tactic, it can be made sleazy if the end offering and the method is dishonest. Glen, however, was/is offering a brilliant product that helped a lot of people. And he was transparent with the whole process. In his promotional emails he even outlines exactly what he’s selling and tells you that if you’re not interested he’ll be back to the normal free schedule next week.

That’s the way to do it.

7. Causing a controversy regarding something that everyone accepts

Controversy is something that I don’t really enjoy creating.

However, I have been known to use a few controversial titles in my time with the intention of getting a reader’s attention and drawing them deeper into an article that is actually somewhat helpful.

That being said, some people have used controversy extremely well in varying ways.

  • Controversial titles and headlines
    Two of the most controversial titles I’ve used are Why I Hate Copyblogger and Why Blogging is a Waste of Time. Both worked well in the end.
  • Controversial articles
    Sometimes when you challenge something you create a name for yourself. Just check out how many comments and shares this article about why you’d never want to live in America has received.
  • Controversial new directions
    Copyblogger has already had a mention in this post but they do a lot of good things so they’re getting another one. This year they’ve deleted both their blog comments and their Facebook page. This lead to a lot of controversial coverage around the web but, in the end, you know there is an interesting reason behind it.

In the end, a controversial post or headline will only get you momentary attention. You need to back it up with something of value and never, ever deceive anyone.

8. Buying blog posts, reviews and entire websites

As you might know, I’ve sold a few blogs in my time.

And what that means is that there are people out there who will buy websites for big money in order to acquire an asset that is already earning, stable and positioned in a niche that they want to target.

bankaholic sale

Remember this little guy? A banking blog that sold for $15 million to one owner.

Although it’s not advisable these days (don’t do it!) the business of buying and selling links, blog posts and paid reviews used to be massive. A lot of people made a huge amount of money off of it. If you weren’t around in 2009 you might want check out this article about how John Chow got let back into Google after being totally banned.

It’s quite interesting.

9. Getting endorsements from big names

If you have a look at any good landing page or sales page you will see endorsements from other big names in that niche.

It’s so important.

Just take a look at the landing page for Chris Ducker’s book. There are dozens and dozens of recommendations from some of the biggest names in online marketing and business.

chris

Now, this is nothing new.

People have been getting endorsed by other people since the beginning of time.

But now it’s so important to use it in your sales pages and even sign up forms. By having other trusted people pictured and praising you on your website you can massively grow your own trust levels.

Incorporating it in a beautiful way (like these guys) is now a big part of sales page design.

I honestly feel that this tactic alone has made a lot of people money where they otherwise might have stumbled.

10. Using PPC to drive traffic to a landing page

When Google Adsense first came along and started getting big it was so easy to send traffic to a dodgy landing page. The quality of the content really wasn’t check and it made people a lot of money.

These days it’s not so easy.

But if you’ve got a quality product and offering you can use paid advertising to drive interested traffic to a landing page and grow your sales or subscribers.

11. Split testing the whole blog

I’ve written about split testing a few times now.

It really is so vital for a blog’s success because you start to get realistic data about whether your assumptions are correct.

For example, a simple split test about an opt-in form or landing page’s design could see you get an extra 10% sign ups for no reason other than a design change. That is really important to do so that all your hours writing content and designing products are not wasted.

Some of the best places to get started with split testing are AWeber and OptinMonster.

12. Gaming Google with back links

One of the biggest strategic events in tactical blogging history was when bloggers figured out they could rank higher in Google by manipulating their back link profile.

If you’re not sure about all this then have a read of my articles on blogging SEO and tactics to pwn today’s Google as they’ll get you up to speed.

Essentially it worked (or works, depending on who you ask…) like this:

  • Write a blog post around a keyword
    Get going with some keyword research and then pick a long tail and short tail set that you are going to be targeting. Write a nice post with that keyword in the title and link structure.
  • Build links to it
    You then build links back to that post by clean methods like outreach and promotion (and hoping they link to you somehow) and then less clean methods like buying links and now guest posting. The anchor text would be directly the phrase you want to rank for.
  • Make it look natural
    Then the major part of building these back links was to make it look natural by varying the anchor text, getting links from a wide variety of sources, platforms, etc. This helped to avoid a manual penalty from Google.

To be perfectly honest with you, I don’t do any of this stuff here on Blog Tyrant. I link back to my articles in guest posts but it’s always in the context of giving more helpful resources for readers.

That being said, some people are still killing it with this method.

But for me it’s not worth the risk.

13. Completely outsourcing everything

Initially blogs were almost like an online diary.

It was a very personal and kind of informal thing – just you and the writing.

But somewhere along the line people realized that they made money and then it all started to change. And a lot of people did very well by switching it from a personal endeavour to a collaborative one, or one where the main blogger hired a lot of others.

The most successful example of this strategy that I can think of is Arianna Huffington who went from a simple news blogger to the owner of the world’s biggest online newspaper – the Huffington Post.

The great thing about this tactic is that it allows you to be more prolific. Whereas a single author might only manage a couple of posts a week, with a team of authors you can essentially post as many articles as you can afford to make.

14. Be a woman

Unfortunately, as this story illustrates, in many instances being a woman can make your career path harder for no reason other than sexism.

But one man woman actually made this whole thing work for her. She’s a bit of a hero of mine (and a bloody horrible editor to work with) so I really wanted to mention this brilliant event in blogging history.

Come and have a read of why James Chartrand wears women’s underpants.

It was one of the funnest things ever.

NOTE: This was really before Facebook and Twitter were big so that post doesn’t have a lot of shares. I can assure you it was a huge deal though.

15. Pop ups, sliders and other welcome messages

I’ve lumped all of these together because they are basically all about the same thing: interruption.

If you can use a plugin or a graphical interface to get someone’s attention and direct them to a landing page or offer you are going to do very well. In fact, my whole blogging strategy is based around this.

Some of the best options include:

  • Pop ups
    A pop up can be in a lightbox, pop under or pop over. They are extremely effective and despite what people think, no one really cares about them. You can do it with AWeber or OptinMonster.
  • Sliders
    I have a slider on Blog Tyrant that activates when a new readers reaches 30% the way down the page. This then directs people to an opt-in form landing page and converts extremely well. Check out my podcast for more details on this.
  • Notices and bars
    I also use a free version on HelloBar here on Blog Tyrant which cycles through and tests various different ideas. I can measure stats like CTR and other conversions which is really handy.

Remember, these pop ups and so on should be interrupting but never invasive or tricky. You want them to get attention, not decrease trust.

16. Be absolutely bloody brilliant

I wanted to end this post by talking about the one blogging tactic that I really believe in.

Being valuable.

More specifically, finding different ways to provide value to people who are looking for solutions to problems.

Successful blogs solve problems in unique ways. That’s it. – Tweet this quote.

This doesn’t necessarily mean writing long form content or being brilliant at video production. But it might. The real fun part is testing ideas and coming up with new ways to be distinctive.

A final word on blogging tactics

I want to end this post by reminding you that a lot of these blogging tactics are out of date. They worked once but now might be a little bit risky or not so effective. The idea behind this post was to give you some things to think about and maybe come up with some new tactics of your own.

I’d really love to hear about any other blogging tactics that you think are super powerful. Please leave me a comment below and give this post a share if you enjoyed it!

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  1. jane gardner on December 3, 2014

    Great post Ramsay. Going to Evernote and think about how I can add other strategies to it.
    A great strategy i got from DirectionsUniversity.com when i was there, is removing these WP blog comment from my blog and adding Googleplus comments onto blog. So any interaction on the blog comments is also with the blog post on Googleplus. Jack Humphrey wrote the Ultimate Guide to Google Plus and called out the Expert on Google+ with +naming them in the Google comments and each time you updates it, he gets more comments.

    1. Hey Jane.

      Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of people do this with G+ and FB comments. It always makes me a bit nervous though – like you’re giving away some ownership to those sites… Thoughts?

      1. This is really a great post. I have got some useful points here. You have explained in a detailed way what not to do for blogging. Thanks a lot for sharing such kind of informative post.

      2. I have to agree with you, Ramsay. I am always too nervous to depend on networks like FB, etc., who, at any given moment can freeze/delete a business page, or change their policies to do something even crazier. I am personally using Disqus comments. I like how the plugin works, but have been rethinking to migrate everything to WordPress, like you have, so that why whether something happens to Disqus or not, what mine, remains mine.

  2. Ramsay,
    your post went straight into my bookmarks and is shared at inbound 🙂
    I currently extend my content marketing strategy with twitter and google+. Facebook gets old. Twitter will stay forever and google+ is growing. Bufferapp does an awesome job to update the streams.

    1. Thanks! Appreciate the bookmark Gerald.

  3. Lynne from Design The Life You Want To Live on December 3, 2014

    Hi Ramsay!

    Fab post, as always. You rock out loud.

    One thing that I find that has worked really well for me, is to reply to every comment in my blog. I have a plugin, so that my blog readers/commenters receive an email notification of when I reply to them. They love it.

    My blog comments hit the roof from 50-400 comments per post. Google loves engagement, so I am sure that helps for traffic too.

    I wrote about it here : http://www.lynneknowlton.com/how-to-blog-blog-comments/

    I hope that helps other bloggers! I learn so much from your site,and am so grateful for your epic posts.

    Cheers!!
    Lynne

    1. A blogger after my own heart! Nicely done.

  4. PREDICT THE FUTURE

    A few years ago, I wrote an article predicting a grim future for my niche. I based it on facts and trends within the niche. Then, I finished up with a list of steps people must take to avoid the downward spiral. I had people sharing it, asking to repost it, asking to print it and give it to people they see.

    Look at the negative trends of your niche and then find steps to avoid them. Then tell the world about it.

    1. Hey Chris. Nice work, as always. This is a good one.

  5. Can I add the DUMBEST TACTIC!?!

    I’ve seen this one time and again and it takes everything to hold me back from tracking down the blogger, showing up at their door, and slapping them silly.

    CONFUSE YOUR VISITORS

    Here’s the scenario:
    1. Read a guest post, twitter link, facebook ad, blog comment and a click to find out more.

    2. Feel lost and leave the site.

    WHY IT HAPPENS

    As a blogger (er, biz owner), you want to make money. You use affiliate links, you use onsite advertisements, and you might even create your own product. And from here, it all goes terribly wrong.

    You place adsense ads all over the site.

    You have a sidebar with too many affiliate links, often to products not related to your niche.

    You have a blog post footer with four CTA’s (calls to action); click to share, click to purchase, click to read related articles, click to click!

    ALL OF YOUR OFFSITE MARKETING EFFORTS ARE USELESS BECAUSE VISITORS DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO

    And here’s where we have to take a tip from the FAST FOOD industry.

    Years ago, you could walk into McDonalds, Wendys, or other fast food restaurants and see long lists of menu items. People took a long time placing their order because they had more choices. And one day, something big happened.

    A menu of 57 different items dropped in half. And, they added pictures of the most popular items with an easy “combo” option. The time to place orders dropped. More customers were served. People didn’t feel overwhelmed. It became easy to order. And now all of the fast food places do it.

    Open up your site and go to your latest blog post. Now, count the number of decisions (links) you are giving people on the entire page. Now see if you can reduce it by eliminating non-related links, simplifying options, and only having one or two CTA’s within a blog post – footer included.

    Finally, slap yourself for not doing this sooner.

    1. Ha ha. Did you just come here to heal, Chris? 😉

  6. Jamie Flexman on December 3, 2014

    A tactic I found which works wonders is publishing articles as a regular guest contributor.

    I have done this in the past at The Huffington Post and the benefit of this is that they allow you to post pretty much whatever you want, whenever you want, and they don’t care if it’s already been published elsewhere.

    My best example is an article I wrote back in the early days of my blog titled ‘Depression is not a mental illness’. Intentionally a click bait headline – but one which happened to be the focal point of the article – that many people think depression is a state of mind, when it’s as real as any disease of the body.

    I published it a few months later at the Huff Post and… it was interesting.

    Of course, people just read the headline and went nuts (sharing it and calling me an idiot, or by commenting and calling me an idiot.), but those who took the time to read it shared it even more because it struck a chord with them.

    Last time I looked it had over 150,000 Facebook likes/shares and over 1100 Tweets. It gave me around 20,000k views on my website and several hundred subscribers too.

    And I only had to write it once.

    Of course, it wasn’t 100% relevant to my website (kinda.. more so in the early days) but hey, free traffic and self promotion. It’s worth doing.

    So as well as guest posting – it’s also a great idea to publish already existing content from your site onto those huge sites which are happy to accept articles published elsewhere.

    Huff Post
    Thought Catalog
    Medium
    Business Insider

    Just make sure it’s been active on your own website for a month or two first so Google doesn’t look upon you as the thief – and you’re good to go.

    Another tactic I’ve written about before is writing for articles such as Cracked.com or Listverse. Not only do they pay $200 and $100 respectively per article – they allow you whatever links you like back to your own blog.

    Personally I’ve gained 400 subs from just one article on Cracked – and it’s even more powerful if the article ties in with the blog page you are link back to. Something Ryan Holiday has did when promoting an upcoming book. He linked back to the book via an article on Cracked.

    Their articles usually receive around 800k page views in a couple of days (website gets 330 million page views per month). It use to be a page rank 7 site, but now it’s a 6 – which is still pretty good link juice.

    Anyway, I went on a bit there. I hope this adds a few more ideas to your article Ramsay 🙂

    1. Hey dude this is awesome! Feel free to rant any time.

      I’m curious about the duplicate content implications for SEO though. Are you sure you’re not seeing any other downfalls of having that same article somewhere else? The traffic seems awesome.

      1. Jamie Flexman on December 4, 2014

        I’m no SEO expert, but when I have gaps in my knowledge I like to add a bit of common sense and logic. Any article which goes viral will be shared in many different ways, on numerous different platforms and websites. Some of these shares will be copy/paste jobs – that’s inevitable. I’ve witnessed Mail Online steal articles word for word – and any secondary news source website will be guilty of similar.

        There are also guys like James Clear who has created a very successful following and high traffic website by giving his articles away to the websites I mentioned in my previous comment.

        Popular content will always appear somewhere else – nothing can be done about that. An article I wrote for Addicted 2 Success and which gave me over 150 subs later appeared, word for word, on Entrepreneur.co.za and this alone gave me another 100 + subs. Nothing to do with me.

        If you want to write something people want to share – I think you need to accept the fact it will appear all over the place once published.

        My spidey sense tells me that it’s only an issue if you own the site it’s duplicated, if your main website has done the copying. In other words – you’ve stolen your own guest post, or you copy all of your articles to the same websites on a regular basis.

        Just my opinion – I’m sure it’s completely wrong 😉

        1. Nice logic. I like it.

      2. I wondered the same thing.

    2. Man, this comment is like a guest post of its own :)! Loved it!

  7. I’ve had success with #1 and #2 on your list.

    I’ll share a few bits about that, but first thank you for sharing #14. I quite enjoyed that one, because I happen to be an uneducated mom artist.

    Seriously…can you think of a lower paying gig…in the world!?

    As a woman, mother and uneducated illustrator it almost sounds hopeless.

    But you’d be wrong. I was wrong.

    By using many of the strategies above I’ve found success.

    For many years I worked very hard training myself via the good ole Internets and our local library. Powering through online tutorials and books.

    I was hesitant to start my own blog and publish my own illustrations and writings because I felt you had to be a master, the BEST of the best-est (I’m an uneducated mom, I can use words like best-est if I want to!) before you could compete.

    The one thing that the internet is good at showing you… is the VERY best in every niche out there. The brilliant. You’ll find them.

    Finally, I put my big girl undies on, hid insecurity and hesitation in the closet..and I started a blog. I began with one post. That was the hardest part.

    I searched for blogs like blog tyrant, places that provides helpful and real and honest information.

    Because of blog tyrant I began focusing on building my subscription list…my Wednesday-Weekly-Stuff-Getters as I call them.

    Then I started doing #1 and #2.

    I started giving away greeting cards, prints and finally calendars.

    I used #2 to sell my calendars.

    Every Wednesday, through my subscription I would share that weeks illustration. I would tell my subscribers which month of the year this illustration was for. I would show different stages of completion. I would share my reference photos, I would answer questions. I would ask them questions, for example “What would y’all like to see for October?” I would share layout and design…

    After 6 months of Wednesday Weekly’s I ordered up my first print run, took a photo and offered it to my subscribers only, the option to “reserve” a calendar.

    My first print run of 200 sold out! One email. I was amazed. (My third printing is now sold out of one style.)

    I’ve experienced first-hand how give-aways and pre-selling can have a big impact.

    They help build relationships and your subscribers become emotionally invested in your product before they even purchase.

    I’m now illustrating my way through a book, sharing each week, little bits. I’ve already gotten great feedback as well as the ability to know what my audience wants. What kinds of things they want to see. Valuable.

    I’ve got a long ways to go with my SEO and would like to try more of the suggestions on the list above.

    But here’s the deal…if I can find success using these tactics, anyone can!

    Thanks Ramsay 🙂

    1. Marita this comment absolutely made my day. Congratulations! I have a feeling you’ve got a lot of awesome stuff ahead.

  8. Thanks for mentioning me in this awesome post! I’m glad that list still drives traffic for you. I was happy to include you because your posts are always top notch! 🙂

    1. Thanks so much back to you!

  9. Ramsay, I’m reading with interest Your post and i think that Your advice about e-mail are great. When I have e-mail I can send notification about news on my blog and I see users on my blog 🙂 Thanks.

    1. Thanks for sharing!

  10. According to The Guardian odd numbered lists gets a 20% higher click through http://bit.ly/1qpGEBc, so maybe you should have made it “17 of the Most Brilliant Tactics in Blogging History.” 😉

    1. But I have SO many 17’s here on this blog. Ha ha.

  11. Great post as always.

    I am struggling right now with my new blog that is going on two months. It’s a movie news and review website in the same vein as such giant webpages like cinemablend, slashfilm, and Ain’titCool. It’s been doing ok but I’m impatient and eager to grow, lol. I don’t know if selling an E-book is for me but I hear about it often. A lot of these idea you mention I’ve heard a bunch of times before but it’s always good to hear them from a different angle and think twice about how I can incorporate them into my blog.

    1. What’s your growth strategy?

  12. Anne Sutherland-Smith on December 3, 2014

    Ramsay, thanks for sharing your tactics. One of my challenges is time so i look at all of these options and I usually have to decide to just focus on one for a while and get it to a point of maturity before I am in a position to explore the next one. Noting that everyone has a different journey and a different audience to develop their business are there any of the options that you think will generate the best return on investment? Which one would you do first, second etc?

    1. I would learn to outsource tasks as soon as possible.

  13. AMAZING post Ramsay. I am honoured to even be mentioned amongst this group of blogging superstars 🙂

    1. Thanks for being a superstar!

  14. So, for some reason, guest posting was not as hot for me. I blog about plant based health and nutrition and was regularly guest posting on a network that boasted high subscribe numbers. The content that got attention from my readers on my site, got very little response there (not duplicate, but in the same vein). Time investment was simply not worth it for me.

    I guess with guest posting, it all boils down to having the right platform to guest post on.

    1. Where did you try guest posting?

  15. Rodney Robinson on December 5, 2014

    Great post, Ramsay. I definitely found this guidance useful. I am most impressed with what Jon Morrow did with the Sales video/opt in form. That’s brilliant. These tips are extremely helpful.

    1. Thanks mate.

  16. ($352,000 A Second) The Most Profitable Informational Video In the World | the youzign blog on December 5, 2014

    […] On a lower key, Jason from Copyblogger combined a slick video teaser and an opt-in form to collect emails for the blog Boost Blog Traffic. The video cost just $50. The result was thousands of visitors to the blog from day one (you can find out more about some other great ways to promote your blog here). […]

  17. Nice post! but I don’t think being a woman helps. 😛

    1. Did you read that point? 😉

  18. Hi Ramsay,
    Love your blog and feeling overwhelmed with all the information. Just read your ebook and there were great pearls for me. I don’t think I will have the great success of Marina so quickly with a baby on my hip but I think picking off your advice in small bits help will build up my blog. Look forward to more of the Tyrant in my inbox.
    Thanks Julie

    1. Hope it helps!

  19. Thanks for this. It really is a whole new world out there, and the tactics that worked even a few years ago aren’t working now.

    1. Some of them are. 😉

  20. Monday Must-Reads [12.08.14] on December 8, 2014

    […] 16 of the Most Brilliant Tactics in Blogging History […]

  21. Alex Periera on December 9, 2014

    Hi Ramsay,

    I have been blogging since quite some time but reading your blog, I found that I could have been much smarter and got much better results. I liked your idea of offering valuable freebies. I guess I will start with incorporating couple of videos, before I come up with a short ebook. Many thanks!

    1. Let me know how it goes!

  22. Rodney Robinson on December 9, 2014

    #12, building backlinks, has been especially helpful for me. Referral traffic has become my #1 source of traffic growth. Thanks for also pointing out a few ways to achieve this, such as building content around a keyword. I have to spend more time on this.

    1. Yeah, and just make sure you have a plan B in case you get a penalty.

  23. Thanks Ramsay.

    I really like the part about doing good work with real value and providing people with quality information. Building trust is the most important thing in my books. I grew up in a world of corporate giants using manipulation to control the buyer with advertising and sales techniques. Trust went the way of the dodo bird. People are hungry for trust and good relationships based on trust.

    Thanks for the link to the ‘James Chartrand’ story. Love it. I actually toyed with doing just that but decided not to mainly because I always live on hope and I really hope that society is changing. Am I naive or what?

    1. Not naive at all. It is changing. Slowly.

  24. landing page themes on December 9, 2014

    super tactics, thanks for sharing mate 🙂 can u post something related to the what new things will be focused for bloggers in 2015

    Thanks

    1. Working on it as we speak!

  25. Hi there. I am fairly new to blogging but I am learning more and more from reading awesome post like these. I work for an SEO company and I manage our blog and I am always looking for tips on how to improve it and drive more traffic to it.

    Although Mat Cuts have said that guest blogging is dead I do still believe that it is a very valuable tactic to use in promoting your own blog.

    I will also surely be mentioning you on our blog as a famous blogger.

    Thanx Ramsay

    1. Yep. Don’t give up on the guest posting.

  26. Ryan Biddulph on December 11, 2014

    Well said Ramsay!

    I like mentioning famous people, because good old karma is always in effect. Mention those in the know and you better believe they’ll mention you, or somebody else will mention you along the way.

    What you give out returns to you multiplied.

    I’ve been beating this fricking drum from paradise for so long. Give what you want. Want traffic and sales? Help other bloggers generate traffic and sales.

    Hey, I like commenting and gabbing and not shutting up down here lol…..yet I also love folks commenting on my blog and building my community. What I’d like, I give, and after just spending 5 months in Bali and Fiji as a pro blogger, I know the strategy is working nicely 😉 Give what you want, and you’ll get what you give. So says Blogging Yoda, HA!

    Thanks Ramsay, what a smart share 🙂

    Ryan

    1. Thanks heaps for all the valuable comments you leave around here mate. Really appreciate it a lot.

  27. This is brilliant! Thanks for this bundle 🙂

    1. Thanks!

  28. Victor Johnson on December 15, 2014

    All amazing points but you came to the most important one at the end i.e ‘being valuable’. This is, I think, crux of the post, if you could create a content which is engrossing, entertaining or solves a problem, then half the battle is won!

    1. Yep. Unfortunately, it’s still only half the battle.

  29. Evan Hoggins on December 17, 2014

    What I understood from this blog was that It is most important to offer immense value to the visitors, whether we create great content, ebooks or videos, we must make sure that we are actually solving some problem or helping people learn a new trade.

  30. WNW Digital’s Friday Round Up Blog | WNW Digital Blog on December 19, 2014

    […] 16 Of The Most Brilliant Tactics In Blogging History – Create a successful blog with the hints and tips provided in this top entry. […]

  31. This is a wonderful read Ramsay. I have started my Marketing blog few days ago and have plans to write on what I love to do.
    Great ideas shared here, I will try some of them.

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