Hi! Thanks for subscribing and letting me drop by with some extra tips this week. Enjoy!
1. The productivity tip I might not have the guts to try
There were a lot of excellent crowdsourced tips in 37 Productivity Tips for Working From Anywhere but one caught my eye. It might have also made me gasp in horror but that's another story (ahem, maybe I should revisit my blogging balance post?). Sometimes Ben at Fuzed Agent works at coffee shops, as do I. He says, "If I feel like I need some extra motivation to work hard, I'll leave my computer charger at home. This forces me to complete my work before my battery runs out." That might make me nervous. Although, one thing I have done is to work somewhere that doesn't have wifi. It's very effective in keeping me on track.
2. Consider sponsoring an event to boost exposure
One marketing tactic a lot of bloggers and small business owners don't think about is sponsoring an event, particularly offline. Many organizers of fundraisers, drives, races, sports teams, fairs, festivals, concerts, parties, conferences and other events are looking for sponsors to help defray costs. Even if you can't spend a lot of cash, you might be able to donate products or services and get your name or logo out there in the process.
3. The mistake that can kill a blog before it starts
Want a successful blog? Find a hole and fill it. Don't try to fill a hole that's already being filled by someone else. Many bloggers start a blog after being inspired by someone else's blog. That's fine, but if you're not offering a unique twist, it's going to be extremely difficult to find readers. In his post How I Turned A Part-Time Blog into a Full-Time Business, Stan provides a great tip. He found forums with his target reader. Then, he says, "I found the forum’s search bar and typed in 'How to ?' (this phrase exactly) which gave me a list of posts containing questions from the audience. I recorded every question and wrote out my answers. I used the same process for Quora, Yahoo Answers, Amazon, and LinkedIn. I also searched the top blogs in my niche looking for unanswered and frequent reader questions. All of this research was used to build a 52 week editorial calendar." Love it.
4. Are your profiles up to date?
When was the last time you took a good look at your profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram and other social media platforms? Many times we write a quick bio when we set up our accounts and then forget about them. Are yours accurate? Is your profile pic current? Take 5 minutes to review them. Here's my tip: make sure you are including a clickable link to a page on your site that either (a) has a specific call to action or (b) gives a new visitor a good overview of your site and what you have to offer. It doesn't have to be your home page. It could be your About page or a Start Here or FAQ page. (Bonus tip: please oh please make sure your Facebook Personal Profile links to your Facebook Page.)
5. Don't forget! Google Reader goes away on July 1
