Final Advice: Win Your Blog's Popularity Contest

Watch this video on Youtube (I think the advice in the video and below vary a bit, or compliment each other)

The other day I told you exactly what I'm working on to make money, and the most excited about: Widgets And Marketplaces

However for many of you that can't program you might not be able to create a custom marketplace or get one outsourced cheaply. Here's my advice for you:

You Do NOT Need Technical Skills To Win On The Net

1. Start a typepad blog

2. Pick a topic you can and will write about for 5 years

It doesn't matter if you use their subdomain or not, you will be blogging there for many years. If not, then pick another topic.

3. Create the rule that you may only add plugins/sidebar widgets or make layout changes once PER YEAR. What a waste of time and resources it is playing with plugins/layouts when you could be networking.

Win Your Topic's Popularity Contest

Now that you have your setup to communicate with the world, start communicating.

Imagine your topic has a popularity contest, I know it doesn't really have one but imagine it does, you want to win it, and every year.

You don't care how you win it, although it's nicer if people still like you, but you want to win.

Email everybody in your topic at least once per month.

Create content worth emailing about at least once per month.

Create a list of bloggers in your niche and get to know them. Comment on their blogs.

Be funny, be informative, be useful, create resources, be controversial, etc.

Create content obsessively. You don't need to publish all your content, rather, only publish the best content. But do be creating content and ideas day and night. At work, at play, everywhere. Put it on notebooks, whiteboards, whatever.

If you wanted to win a popularity contest in real life how would you do it?

1. Give people a reason to know who you are

2. Make sure everyone knows who you are

So give them a reason to know you and then make sure they do ;)

That's my advice for the non programmer who plans on being around here more than 6 months.

Most of you won't be around here in 6 months, the turnover for blogging must be one of the highest there is. That is an ADVANTAGE to someone who has not only longevity but the motivation to try and win the popularity contest.

If you aren't programmatically skilled, you should be trying to win your topic's popularity contest, and you should be picking a topic you love and will be writing about for 5 years.

Oh yeah, and once you win your topic's popularity contest you won't have a hard time finding advertisers and sponsors for your blog, they will be LOOKING FOR YOU!

If you like this post then please consider subscribing to my full RSS feed. You can also Subscribe to 45n5 by Email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.