Useless Domain Name

My first problem was that I was writing a blog from my personal portfolio at www.JoshuaDunlop.com, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re a well established photographer, but when you’re just starting out, that domain name says absolutely nothing about what your blog is about to any potential readers. You need to include a keyword from your niche in the domain name of your blog, just like i did with my new website; www.ExpertPhotography.com.

My domain name contains 2 keywords; expert and photography. The expert part implies that we’re an authority site, and the photography part tells the reader what we’re writing about. This is important for getting recognized in google and drawing interest into your site when someone sees a link to it. This step makes a noticeable difference to the number of visitors and as you’re going to be sticking with it for the rest of the site’s life, you may as well invest some money into it.

Horrible Design

If you had a look at my site, you would have notice that it’s not really ideal for writing long blog posts with grey writing on a black background. Because of the theme that I was using there was very little customisation that I could do to it to make it look better without sacrificing the look of my website. Using a proper theme for blogging, like a Woo theme, made all the difference and we were able to customise it in a number of ways.

1. We included a custom header with images that reflected the nature of our website.
2. Found a featured slider that worked for what we wanted to display, and because we’re using WordPress, there were loads to choose from.
3. Could place adverts exactly where we wanted them which makes us money.
4. Used a much better colour scheme that’s easy on the eyes when reading.
5. The blog post template was laid out better, making the content easier to read.

Using WordPress allows you to customise your site to help it to stand out from the rest of the sites on the internet. Poorly laid out websites lose visitors quickly, so we implement related posts and categories to help the visitors stay on the site for longer.

Poor Writing

It’s easy to start a blog these days, and I would encourage everyone to give it a go, you just need to know what you’re writing before you start. If you can’t provide valuable insightful information that can’t be found many other places, then people don’t want to read it. Plan your blog posts properly and research them well, and you’re halfway to writing good content.

Whenever I write a post, the first thing I do is google the title i’m going to use; not to copy everyone else’s writing, but to see what’s out there so I know what I have to do to make mine better. I strive to write the best content for my niche on the internet, and to do that you’ve really got to put in some time and effort into it, but if you know what you’re writing about, it’s not hard. I think the main reason I find so much useless information on the internet is because people aren’t willing to put in the time it takes to write good content, and that’s a good thing for you, because it makes it that much easier to write better than them.

Wasn’t Writing Enough

If you really want to build a daily following, you need daily content. I’ve written before on how to direct traffic to your website, but that’s wasted if you’re not spending the time it takes to write content regularly. It’s going to take a very long time to build up regular traffic through google or other means if you only write once a month. When I started my first blog, I would write when I felt like it, but now I set myself a task of writing a minimum of 3 posts a week, and extra smaller posts when I can.

Same Old Thing

The internet is packed full of billions of webpages, and yours is one of them. If you want to get noticed, you need to stand out, and to do that you need to think carefully about what you’re writing about. Are you just churning out the same thing everyone else is? How can you make yours different? What’s your USP? What can you provide to your blog posts that make them more valuable and insightful to your readers then anyone else can?

I write in a variety of different styles on many different topics, but along with the educational tutorials and top lists, I include a series called ‘Shoot My Shot’ where I can show readers the steps I took to take my photo; something that not many people are doing on the internet. This is something I took on when my new blog went up, as I knew it was different and would draw in a different type of reader then before, which helps my blog grow.

It Wasn’t a Priority

When I started, I wasn’t really taking it seriously, the idea was that it would bring traffic to my portfolio if I got into Google for my tutorials. This is why a lot of people start blogs, but the problem is that you don’t really take it that seriously. You need to think of your site as a business that it’s going to potentially earn you a lot of money.

Once you change your mindset, you start to think about it in your daily life, and it helps to improve your website as you come up with new ideas. As a photographer, I see everything as a potential photo, and the same is true with being a blogger, I see potential blog posts in everything these days. For me, coming up with a good topic to write was half the battle, the writing part is the easy bit.

Didn’t Market The Site

I didn’t understand how websites worked back when I started, and I thought that if I wrote enough content I would eventually be in google and the challenge would be over. Now, I spend probably as much time working on the marketing side as I do the writing side, as it’s just as important. As we all know, the best type of marketing is free marketing, and this is remarkable easy to do these days if you know what you’re doing; particularly if you’re using social networking to help you.

Facebook and Twitter are the some of the best ways to drive traffic to your site; Facebook is direct contact with a reader and twitter has the ability to be retweeted and shared by other people without you even having to do anything. Not only does this directly send traffic to your site, but Google recognises it and you’ll start to see more traffic from them too.

Facebook is the best way to maintain a following as the quality of visitor is much better, they’re someone who is willing to have your information in their newsfeed along with all their friend’s updates. Start a fan page as soon as you start your website and start on building a following immediately, it takes very little work and the results are great.

Twitter is similar to Facebook in that your updates will appear in other people’s feeds, the only problem is that they may get thousands a day, and yours will just be lost in the mess. From a tweet for roughly 1600 followers, I get between 50-60 people actually click on the link, which isn’t really that good, but that’s not the main reason I use twitter. The retweet function and the ability for other people to post your links has a huge effect on the amount of traffic you get to your website.

I Wasn’t Working on Google Traffic

Recently, someone at Adobe Lightroom found a tutorial of mine that I wrote months ago and tweeted it to 30,000 of their followers with an @photojosh tag on it. That then got retweeted to roughly 15,000 more people and drove about 5,000 visitors to my site in just 2 days, which is a big deal to me. Great to get traffic like that and Adsense certainly felt the impact, but the main, long term result of that is something I wasn’t expecting – my hits in Google went WAY up. Have a look below at my 2 screen shots, the first one is a timeline of the traffic I was getting to my website and the second one is a graph of the number of hits that came through search engines. 

There’s obvious correlation between the amount of unique visitors I got in a day and the amount of traffic I got through search engines in the graphs above. Before June (about halfway along the timeline) My traffic was all over the place and my search engine visitors ranged from anywhere from 0-10 a day. I published an article on the most influential photographers, and that got everyone visiting at the beginning of June and after that the following started to grow, along with the search engine traffic, which went up to between 10-30 a day.

Although my recent boost in traffic isn’t the most i’ve had in a single day, search engines have started to notice people sharing my website through social networks like Twitter and that’s resulted in a sustained increase in traffic. The key is to write articles that are either really damn good, or a little controversial so that people will talk about them on the internet and then Google will recognise it and you’ll start seeing more traffic to your site for posts that you wrote months ago.

No Reader Interaction

I wasn’t really paying too much attention to what people wanted to learn on my old blog, and I was mostly writing for myself and starting at the beginning. Now that my new site has grown, and people comment, I like to comment back and help them with any questions that they may have. In fact, at the end of every post, I encourage people to comment and ask for help so I can build reader interaction and get people talking about my site. These small gestures, which take very little time, make the site a load more personal and welcoming to your readers.

Blogging has been great platform for so many people to become a huge success. Take me for example, because of my Retireat21 blog I was offered to host a hit new MTV show in LA just because they liked how I came across on my blog. Blogging isn’t just about making money online, for some people it could be because they want to be a best selling author but can’t get a foot in the door right now and for others it started just so they could pay there grocery bills. Today I have created a really cool list of 20 people who started blogging and now are so much more then just bloggers. Looking down at the list I have created today, I should really rename it the 20 best bloggers ever as these guys have set such high standards for all of us. Please note that the list isn’t really in any particular order, just the 20 best although I have to say Tucker Max’s story was one of the most entertaining.

If you would like to take the first steps to follow these bloggers and make it big then check out my FREE eCourse teaching you exactly how to build your first blog, drive traffic and make money!

20 Entrepreneurs Who Started With Blogging

#1 Tucker Max
		Tucker’s Blog TuckermaxWhy He Started Blogging: Tucker Max was blogging about his drunken, womanizing exploits before the phrase “blogging” even existed. Tuckers blog attracts 100,000s of visitors weekly who like to read about his ‘interesting’ exploits and enjoy his amazing writing style. Where He Is Now: Because of Tuckers blog, he was able to get a book published which The New York Times called “…highly entertaining and thoroughly reprehensible…” no wonder it was in The New York Times best sellers list for 100 weeks. He is filming a movie based on his book/stories/life by the title “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” coming soon!
#2 Gary Vaynerchuk
		Garys’s Blog GaryvaynerchukWhy He Started Blogging: Gary Vaynerchuk’s story started as the co-owner of a wine store in New Jersey. He gained fame as the host of Wine Library TV, a video blog on the subject of wine, built his wine store into a multi-million dollar business and established his personal brand with TV appearances and speaking engagements around the world. Where He Is Now: He has now signed a seven-figure book deal about the things that made him as successful as he is in creating opportunities for himself via his video blog. He also is among one of the most sort after speakers for any marketing events.
#3 Collis Ta’eed
		Collis’s Blog Tutsplus.comWhy He Started Blogging: Began his first blog, FreelanceSwitch, in 2006 with his wife Cyan in her parents garage when their first site wasn’t earning as fast as they expected. Where He Is Now: Collis is now one of the top earning bloggers in the world with over a dozen high traffic blogs, collis has been able to quickly launch new blogs because of such a rapid and loyal readership. Collis is able to work from anywhere in the world while he travels with his wife on new and exciting web projects because of the success of his blogging career.
#4 Mario Lavandeira
		Mario’s Blog Perez HiltonWhy He Started Blogging: Mario has always loved intrigue and who better to showcase this than celebrities so his blogs started all about celebrity gossip. After graduation from New York University in 2000, Mario attempted to be an actor, but he end up working as a very well earned blogger because he thinks setting up a website like this “seems easy” unlike being an actor. He found his talent in riling up gossip and controversies about Hollywood figures and is one of the most infamous bloggers in the United States. There are actually two sides to it since he is hated by many Hollywood stars but is loved by millions of web patrons. Where He Is Now: Mario rides on both fame and infamy. In 2007, Mario announced that he would be starring in his own reality television show on VH1, titled “What Perez Sez”. He is also a regular on TRL, Much Music and Extra where he reports about Hollywood gossip from his own closet studio. In May 2008, he also launched his own radio show called “Radio Perez”.
#5 Michael Arrington
		Michael’s Blog TechcrunchWhy He Started Blogging: He is a corporate attorney who left law to become a Web entrepreneur. When he took a year off, and returned to the work world, he started blogging as a way to understand the new Web start-ups that had arisen in his absence. TechCrunch took off, and he soon found himself an accidental power broker. Where He Is Now: Michael now spends his time scouting the internet and investing in some promising internet start-ups.
#6 Pete Cashmore
		Peter’s Blog MashableWhy He Started Blogging: Due to his inquisitive mind and great interest with web-related matters, Pete Cashmore focused solely on writing about MySpace and other social networks. One of Cashmore’s first articles that became instantly popular was, “If You Don’t Have A MySpace, You’re a Lametard.“ It was a unique approach to blogging, but it worked. Where He Is Now: Peter still does writes about everything happening on the Internet although he has slightly deviated from his focus on just social network news. Given the fame of Mashable, Peter has weaned himself from writing and has begun to concentrate on the entrepreneurial side of his web-business. To further strengthen his enterprise, Peter moved to California and focuses on West Coast operations. His success has brought him to celebrity status and he has been featured on many shows in the US and the UK. Peter also travels between the two countries as a consultant and speaker.
#7 Josh Marshall
		Josh’s Blog TPMWhy He Started Blogging: Marshall started a blog called “Talking Points Memo” during the 2000 Florida election recount. He was inspired by political bloggers such as Mickey Kaus and Andrew Sullivan. Where He Is Now: Josh Marshall played an important part in exposing a scandal which involved the politically motivated dismissal of US Attorneys by the administration of George W. Bush. For that he was nominated by Arianna Huffington to the Time 100. After declining numerous offers to buy his company, Josh still operates it in Manhattan with a staff of seven reporters. Aside from managing, Josh also has established himself as a columnist for Washington DC newspaper, The Hill.
#8 Alborz Fallah
		Alborz’s Blog Car AdviceWhy He Started Blogging: Alborz has always had a great passion for cars. Curiously, he started out just like a few bloggers who wasn’t sure what topic to write about, so he created three blogs at once to see which one would stick. Sticking to his passion, he noticed that the car blog got the traffic so he dropped the other two and slowly built up his site off the back of his own content. Where He Is Now: Alborz sold some of his blog to investors and his blog became a real serious business that he finally left his job to focus 100% on his project. Capitalizing on his success, Alborz has shifted his focus from the web to other forms of media. He has now moved into DVD sales of his videos and doing podcasts. Of course, nothing will ever pull him away from his life’s greatest passion; cars!
#9 Robert Scoble
		Robert’s Blog ScobelizerWhy He Started Blogging: Robert Scoble started blogging four years ago, when he worked for NEC, a Japanese technology company. His blog is all about a place where he could converse with NEC’s customers, give tech support and listen to feedback. He was always honest about the products, and his readership grew. Where He Is Now: Scoble and Shel Israel are currently writing a business bloggers book, called The Red Couch.
#10 Darren Rowse
		Darren’s Blog ProbloggerWhy He Started Blogging: He started blogging just about 5 years ago, and it was just a hobby. After a year he began to experiment a little with advertising and affiliate programs on my blogs and discovered that they could actually make money! He began to record the things he was learning on the topic of making money from blogging on his personal blog. Where He Is Now: Darren’s success has earned him great fame and he was awarded the Best Web Development Weblog blog award in 2006 for ProBlogger. In 2007, he was also named in the Forbes Celebrity List. In the following year, Darren co-authored the book ‘ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six Figure Income (Wiley) and founded TwiTip – a blog dedicated to Twitter Tips. Preferring to live a simple life, Darren lives in Melbourne, Australia but does frequent traveling for numerous speaking engagements.
#11 Jeremy Schoemaker
		Jeremy’s Blog ShoemoneyWhy He Started Blogging: Starting with absolutely no capital, he educated himself and began building ecommerce sites to earn revenue. During this time, he started blogging his experiences at Shoemoney.com and then used the blog to springboard new companies like AuctionAds, which had one of the most impressive launches of any online advertising company ever. Through his blog, Jeremy provides advice on all areas of Internet Marketing, including SEO, affiliate management, blogging, and revenue strategies. Where He Is Now: Jeremy continues to launch new start-ups and also chronicles his adventures on his own blog site. Given his fame and expertise, Jeremy is a frequent speaker at search engine marketing and affiliate conferences, and co-founded the Elite Retreat conference.
#12 Tim Ferriss
		Tim’s Blog 4 Hour Work Week Why He Started Blogging: Tim being a productive guru had a message to convey and blogging was the means he deemed fit for his purposes. Being a neuroscience graduate, Tim has many innovative ways of looking at life and gives valuable advice on how to approach situations differently. His blogs are well-written and very thought provoking. It is a favorite among CEOs around the world. Where He Is Now: In 2007, Tim launched his book, The 4-Hour Workweek under Random House and marketed the book mostly among bloggers. The book launched him to stardom and he is now a guest lecturer at Princeton University and has spoken in hundreds of seminars and conventions.
#14 Timothy Sykes
		Timothy’s Blog Timothy SykesWhy He Started Blogging: After incurring great losses in his previous businesses, Timothy Sykes decided to write a book detailing his journey into managing the hedge fund and the lessons he learned from losing so much money. Capitalizing on the potential of the web, he then started a blog, with the goal of documenting the step by step process of turning another $12,000 into millions. Where He Is Now: Tim is now a writer for AOL Finance and has been featured on ABC, CNN, CBS, CNBC, FOX News, FOX Business Network, Reuters, Business Week to name a few. He also starred in the TV show, “Wall Street Warriors” on MOJO. His monthly blog income is in the 6 figures and this is definitely one young man who should be checked out!
#15 Steve Pavlina
		Steve’s Blog Steve PavlinaWhy He Started Blogging: Steve is someone who started blogging about his take on LIFE and other personal development stuff, and now has one of the leading sites in that niche. Where He Is Now: On twitter, he says he is a human alarm clock. He awakens people who are sleeping through life. Steve Pavlina has been doing some research into the art of video, and playing around with making and editing sample videos. Eventually there will be videos on the Steve Pavlina site, and we would love to see a Steve Pavlina personal growth DVD product in the future as well.
#16 Lisa Stone
		Lisa’s Blog BlogHerWhy she Started Blogging: Founded in February 2005 as a labor of love by three bloggers, BlogHer’s mission was to create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community and economic empowerment. Where she Is Now: BlogHer reaches more than 14 million women monthly through its conferences, Internet site and publishing networks.
#17 Heather B. Armstrong
		Heather’s Blog DooceWhy She Started Blogging: She started her website in February 2001. A year later she was fired from her job for her website because she had written stories that included people in my workplace. When most people would fear the worse when hearing “your fired”, Heather just saw it as a challenge and took on blogging as a carerr. Where She Is Now: In October 2005 she began running enough ads on her website that her husband was able to quit his job and become a Stay at Home Father. Since running her blog she has found that she has a loyal readership and was able to publish two books so far.
#18 Jake and Amir
		Jake and Amir’s Blog CollegeHumorWhy They Started Blogging: CollegeHumor started to posts blogs and articles through ideas form its staff and users, including humorous essays, comics, interviews and weekly columns on sports, video games, college life, and dating. Where They Are Now: Jake and Amir are now both making a lot of money from advertising on their site. In December 2008, College Humor.com proudly announced the premiere of the MTV Show “The College Humor Show”. Jake and Amir along with everyone else in their team wrote on the show and play fictionalized versions of themselves.
#19 Michelle Malkin
		Michelle’s Blog Michelle MalkinWhy She Started Blogging: She started and still is focusing on creating blogs which are always form a conservative viewpoint. Where She Is Now: Malkin was a frequent commentator for FOX News Channel and a regular guest host of The O’Reilly Factor. She then quit, and concentrated on her writing, blogging and public speaking, although she still appears on television on occasion.
#20 Harvey Levin
		Harvey’s Blog TMZWhy He Started Blogging: He is an American television producer, lawyer, legal analyst and a celebrity reporter. His blogs started all about celebrity gossip since this is one of his passions. Where He Is Now: He still produces and hosts TMZ on TV. He is also a frequent guest of The Kevin and Bean Morning show, in addition to CNN’s Larry King Live, and recently the Fox News Channel and Local FOX Affiliates regarding Michael Jackson’s death.
#20 Yaro Starak
		Yaro’s Blog Entrepreneurs-JourneyWhy He Started Blogging: Started his first blog because he thought it would be good for SEO and a chance to talk about his business journey. Where He Is Now: Yaro found himself being one of the most respected bloggers and launched two blogging membership websites teaching people exactly how he has done it. Earlier in 2009 he launched a new membership site teaching how he makes money from membership websites. This guy is one entrepreneurial blogger you should all be following!

To Our Success,

Michael Dunlop

PS. Who’s background in blogging appeals most to you?