June 15, 2013

Hi there! Thanks for subscribing and letting me drop by with some extra tips, things I've been reading, and an oldie but goodie productivity tip. Enjoy!

Beckie from Infarrantly Creative reminded me of this recently. If you favorably mention a product in a post, reach out to the company or brand and let them know you gave them a shout-out. While it may not make a difference on your current post, it's a nice way to get yourself on their radar for a possible partnership down the road!

It's long been said that guest posting on someone else's blog is a great way to increase traffic on your own blog. As Neil Patel suggests in How to Build Links Through Guest Blogging, look for a blog to contribute to that will put your bio at the beginning of your post instead of at the end. Google gives more value to links higher on the page which means better SEO for you!

Here's the oldie but goodie. If you write your posts directly in WordPress like I do most of the time, use the little known view full screen option to help you focus and stay on track.

Affiliate marketing is one of my main sources of income so I thought I'd give you a quick heads-up about one of the programs I'm taking part in: the Ebook Bundle of the Week. As an affiliate, you make $1 for every bundle sold through your affiliate link. Next week's bundle is all about time management (my own ebook is included). If you're interested, sign up for the affiliate program here. (And if you're new to affiliate marketing, I gave a full explanation of how it works here.)

If you're an aspiring blog or web designer, no doubt you could spend a lot of money on software to get you started. But what if you just want to give it a test drive? (I went this route with Gimp, one of the tools I use.) Lifehacker has put together a great list of free alternatives to the popular but pricey Adobe Creative Suite.

I enjoyed chatting with Kate Luella on her podcast recently. We covered a lot, from how I got started blogging to more ways I could monetize. One tip we talked about (that's on my to-do list for the next Tell Your Time revision) is to put a prominent link to your email sign up form, or at least to your blog, within the first 10% of your Kindle ebook. That's because, the first 10% of your ebook is what people see if they choose to "Click to look inside" before buying (a.k.a. the preview). So, even if they don't follow through with the purchase of your ebook, there's still a chance you'll get a visit or capture an email! Nice. (Hat tip goes to Social Caffeine for this one!)

I'm in the throes of finishing up a new design for my site, so stay tuned! And in my next email, I'll tell you one major thing I would do differently if I started establishing my brand today.

Know someone who would enjoy these tips? Feel free to forward this email to them! Did someone forward this to you and you want to get on the list? You can do so here.