January, 2011

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How to Create Change: Don’t Help People

Men With Pens

Ever realize some people don’t want your help? It’s true. Some people don’t want to solve their problems, no matter how easy, fast, cheap or effective the solution might be. You might have the perfect advice for them but… No. They won’t take it. In fact, those people are kind of comfy in their misery. Really. You know the type, those people who sigh that if they just had more money, more time, more support, or more skills, more this, more that… THEN they’

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40 Bloggers to Watch in 2011

ProBlogger

Welcome to the 2011 list of bloggers to watch. A few caveats before we launch into the list: This is my own list of the people I’m watching. I was approached to do this list because of my work as a professional connector. These are the people that have stood out to me, or my network. Your niche is different from mine, and that’s a given. My goal was to find the people whose tips and stories can be applied to your own niche.

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Why You Should Avoid Bright, Shiny Ideas

Men With Pens

I recently found myself thrown into a group situation where several people were quite excited about a new project. Discussion soared, emails flew back and forth, and the brainstorming was supercharged with electricity. They’ll do this! And that! And oooh, THAT! It was a Bright, Shiny Idea. As I watched conversation unfold at lightning speed, I must’ve looked like a stunned idiot.

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What the Ironman Triathlon Can Teach You About Blogging

Men With Pens

You gotta love Aslan. I mean, come on – there’s nothing more impressive than the kingly Narnian to capture attention. Which is exactly how Marcus Sheridan caught mine. He caught it twice when he sent me this guest post. At first, I was too busy for the video… but then I watched. Then I read the post. And now I’m sharing it with you. Although there are certainly many metaphors that could describe the life of a blogger, I personally would relate it to the most famous test of human endu

Blog 73
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How to Leverage Behavioral Science Insights for Direct Mail Success

Speaker: Neal Boornazian, President and Nancy Harhut, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer - HBT Marketing

Direct mail has consistently remained a powerful tool in the marketer's arsenal, but in an age of digital dominance, its effectiveness hinges on the strategic integration of behavioral science. 💡 When you incorporate powerful behavioral science principles into your direct mail marketing strategies, you can prompt the hardwired decision-making shortcuts your audience relies on — and that automatically unlocks new avenues for engagement, conversion, and brand loyalty.

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Why You Should Be Kind to Your Customers

Men With Pens

You gotta love a girl who names her site Heaven and El. Talk about web design potential!) Frankly, the name suits El to a T. She’s kind, generous and sweet – a real angel. Hell would probably melt if she went to visit. So when El sent in a guest post about kindness, I couldn’t refuse. She shows you how being a kind person can go a long way to creating loyal customers for your business – and reminds you that it’s always a good idea to bring a spare set of clothes.

Food 66
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Why Your Excuses Won’t Fly – or Get You What You Want

Men With Pens

I used to love to fly. Planes? Bring ‘em. Awesome. But 12 years ago I’d flown home from a corporate trip and it had been… well, scary, to say the least. The colleague I’d flown with had actually thanked me for requiring her assistance while I freaked out during the flight – she’d said she’d been so busy taking care of me, she didn’t have a chance to get scared herself.

More Trending

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Three Ways Writers Evolve Over Time

Men With Pens

You know, I sat here for a long time trying to think of something to say about Phil. I mean, he’s got a goofy looking avatar, he’s shorn closer than a sheep and he sends me good posts. What more can I say? Then it hit me – for all that I don’t know much about Phil, I know this: he observes and pays attention to his writing. Not just how he’s writing now, but how he used to write, and how he’ll be writing in the future.

Writer 64
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The Secret to More Freedom, Time and Money – Want It?

Men With Pens

When you own your own business, it’s great. It’s freedom. You get to do what you want, when you want to do it. You pick your hours, your clients, and your projects. Awesome. There’s nothing more liberating than that. Actually, it’s not that liberating. Making it in business isn’t easy. It’s not that hard, either, but it does take three simple elements that form the hat trick of success.

IT 55
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Secrets to Making Money Online

ProBlogger

I recently had a conversation with a friend who has just started out with making money from blogging. He had been struggling to get over the initial hump of getting things going and wanted to pick my brain on the “secrets&# of how to do it. Of course I struggled to answer at first—there’s simply not a simple equation on how to blog that will guarantee results—however, I did put together some thoughts for him that he found helpful.

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Don’t Be Paralyzed By Media Consumption in 2011

ProBlogger

“I will be a producer, not a consumer.&#. Late last year a friend shared this resolution on Facebook. It caught my attention as being a great resolution that I think every entrepreneurial blogger could do well to have. Have you ever been paralyzed by consumption? As I write this post, it’s 11.49 a.m. on Monday morning. This morning, I returned to my computer after a weekend off with the intention of jumping into some solid blogging.

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SME Relationships: Proven Solutions for Seamless Collaboration and Success

Speaker: Tim Buteyn, President of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions

💢 Do you find yourself stuck in never-ending review cycles? Are you wondering if your Subject Matter Expert actually got that last review request? Are you having trouble trying to decipher impractical or conflicting feedback? 💢 If any of these scenarios sounds familiar, you may benefit from a crash course on managing SME relationships!

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What My 4-Year-Old Son Taught Me About Successful Blogging

ProBlogger

In October I was involved in a Keynote at BlogWorld Expo, where I told the story in this video of my son who reminded me of a powerful principle of successful blogging. So many people have since told me how much they enjoyed and were impacted by the story that I thought I should capture it on video and share it here on the blog. I hope you enjoy the wisdom of my four-year-old son.

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Understanding the Difference Between “Want” and “Want to Buy”

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Ryan Barton of The Smart Marketing Blog. As I was sitting at a café over breakfast, the couple nearby flipped through their Sunday paper. As I tend to do, I eavesdropped on their conversation. “Will you look at that bedding? That’s wonderful!&# “Oh my God, I’d die for those shoes.&# “I love that movie, and it’s on sale!

Food 46
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Buying and Selling Blogs with Strong Personal Brands

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Andrew Knibbe of Flippa. The responses to my last post raised the crucial issue of selling a blog that’s built around a strong personal brand. Mark Wolfinger wrote, “When I write a blog, it’s my passion that the readers see. It’s my writing style and knowledge. Buy an existing blog and the blog’s voice changes immediately.

Brand 46
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Social Media … or Social Blogmarking?

ProBlogger

This is a guest post by Devesh of Blokube. What is “blogmarking”? Many of us already use and understand social media, but very few of us tap into the great and growing potential of social blogmarking sites. Blogmarking is the process of you bookmarking your blog post on a blog bookmarking site. Blogmarking can also be referred to as blog bookmarking.

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The Resurgence of Direct Mail as a Growth Marketing Strategy

Speaker: Jeff Tarran, COO, Gunderson Direct & Margaret Pepe, Executive Director of Product Management, U.S. Postal Service

Learn the secrets to direct mail success for growth marketers! Industry veterans Jeff Tarran and Margaret Pepe are here to delve into how direct mail has completely evolved in recent years, and has rightfully earned a seat at the table alongside the email and digital marketing plans of SMBs, enterprise companies, and agencies as they look into strategy for 2024 and beyond.

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5 Ways Facebook’s Discussions App Will Make You a Better Blogger

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Tommy Walker, Online Marketing Strategist and owner of Tommy.ismy.name. “Build a community.” You hear it all the time. “Comment on other people’s articles, guest post, and join the conversation.&#. One of the problems with the way most online communications systems are set up is that they’re top-down in nature. A blog requires posts before people can comment, Facebook’s Pages require updates if they’re to stand out in the News Feed … the list goes on and o

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You Have a Niche! You Just Don’t Know It Yet

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Heather Eigler of HomeToHeather.com. Yes, you do have a niche. You’ve likely read it a thousand times on blogs about blogging. Two of the number one pieces of advice are ‘choose your niche wisely’ and ‘write what you know.’. So what if you aren’t wise and don’t know anything? What could you write about that qualifies as a niche?

IT 44
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Three Ways to Take Advantage of Being a Blogging “No One”

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Chris, “The Traffic Blogger&#. My name is “no one.&# Well frankly, to you, being that you have no idea who I am, my name might as well be “no one.&# However, just because I am a “no one&# does not mean I have nothing to say! Many of you may actually know exactly what it is I want to say because you also are a “no one&# like me.

Blog 43
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Boost Your Blog Traffic: A Guide For Bloggers Who Want More Traffic in 2011

ProBlogger

Are you looking for more traffic for your blog? If you answer yes – you’re not alone. In fact you’re in the vast majority of bloggers. I ran a survey of a segment of ProBlogger readers recently and a ‘lack of traffic’ was identified as the #1 challenge that bloggers face. Kicking off on Monday 24 January Chris Garrett and I are running a short course to tackle this problem.

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Lets Get Physical: How to Blend Direct Mail Marketing with Your Digital Strategy

Speaker: Akeel Jabber, B2B SaaS Investor and Growth Marketer at Horizen Capital

⭐ Are you ready to boost campaign success? Consider the untapped potential of integrating direct mail marketing seamlessly with digital marketing strategies. Combining the physical, tangible impact of direct mail with the dynamic reach of digital marketing can be a game-changer, significantly increasing your ROI when done right. Direct mail grabs attention, making it great for reaching your target audience 📩 Digital marketing keeps the momentum going, driving action 📲 So.

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My 5 Favorite, but Often Ignored, Analytics Features

ProBlogger

This post was written by the Web Marketing Ninja—a professional online marketer for a major web brand, who’s sharing his tips undercover here at ProBlogger. Curious? So are we! The wonderful thing about working online is that our work is just so measurable. In just about every other industry, a lot of decisions are based on sample data, or assumptions, or just on gut feel.

Concept 43
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How to Break Your Blog Traffic Addiction

ProBlogger

This guest post is by John Burnside of MoneyIn15Minutes. My name is John Burnside and I am a recovering traffic addict. I got sucked into the analytics quicksand , and barely got out alive! I used to wake up in the morning and check how many hits I had over night. I used to stay up until after 12, even if I was tired, because that is when the day’s Google Analytics results came out.

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How Your Blog Can Score You Free Travel

ProBlogger

This guest post is written by Anthony from The Travel Tart. When I first started my travel website in 2009, I just wanted to get my travel writing out there, because I was frustrated with the way traditional media worked. Little did I know that having an online presence would lead to opportunities for press trips to all corners of the globe, and I did this from scratch!

Blog 42
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Time Management for Travel Bloggers … and Others

ProBlogger

This guest post is written by Matthew Kepnes of Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site. While I hate the name, I am, to some degree, a digital nomad. I spend my time traveling the world and working as I go. By that very definition, I’m a digital nomad. But unlike most other digital nomads, I don’t move to a city for a few months, live and work there. I run a travel blog so I’m constantly on the move.

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Is Training the Right Solution?

Speaker: Tim Buteyn

Let's set the scene: you’ve identified a critical performance gap in your organization and need to close that gap. A colleague suggests training, but you suspect there’s something going on that training can’t address. How can you determine if training is the right solution before you commit your budget and resources to a new training program? In this webinar, you will learn how to determine if training is the right solution using the Behavior Engineering Model.

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How to Create a Membership Program that Rocks

ProBlogger

This is a guest post by Mary Jaksch of A-List Blogging Bootcamps. Many bloggers dream of adding a membership program to their blog. And with good reason. A membership program can create raving fans, will make your blog stand out, and can even create a great revenue stream. But most membership programs fizzle out because the creator made one or more of five critical mistakes in creating and running it.

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5 Fast Tips to Improve Internal Links

ProBlogger

This guest post was written by James Hay, Social Media Coordinator for Fasthosts Internet Ltd. Playing to your strengths is an important part of SEO, and before going out and spending all day endlessly pursuing external links, it is important to look at your own site. You control what is displayed on your site and the SEO tips below provide a number of ways to increase your rank strength and improve your blog’s internal link architecture.

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Use Google Reading Level to Improve Your Blog Message

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Rhys Wynne of the Winwar Media Blog. Last month, Google launched its new Google Reading Level feature. What this does is algorithmically work out the reading level of the search results, to help users more easily decide which search results to click on. How is it worked out? Like everything with Google, I’m not entirely sure how Reading Level is calculated.

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Forget “Content Production”, Think “Idea Exploration”

ProBlogger

Since I wrote about creativity , I’ve been considering the issue of getting inspiration for blog posts. Some who commented on that article said they never have trouble finding post ideas. But others revealed that they really struggle with getting inspiration. Sometimes, they’re struck by it; other times, they have to go out and track it down bodily.

Content 41
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Revitalizing Dry Content: A Lesson in Engagement

Speaker: Tim Buteyn, President of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions

We’ve all been there. You’ve been given a pile of dry content and asked to create a compelling eLearning course. You’re determined to create something more engaging than the same old course that learners quickly click through, but how do you take this “boring” content and create something relevant and engaging? Many instructional designers will say, “Boring in means boring out.

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Improving Your Ad Clickthrough Rate: the Definitive Guide

ProBlogger

This guest post is by John Burnside of Money in 15 Minutes. Those people who have been using the Internet as a business platform since it began will have noticed that there has been a significant drop in clickthrough rate of ads over the years. During the birth of this massive revolution people were curious and willing to click on anything that promised them fame and fortune or any of the other things that internet marketers advertise.

Ads 41
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8 Tips To Launch Successful Challenges at Your Blog

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Celestine Chua of The Personal Excellence Blog. Earlier this year, I launched a challenge called 30 Days To Live a Better Life (30DLBL) on my blog. This is a 30-day challenge where participants complete one task a day, for 30 days in the month, that will help them live a better life. When I created 30DLBL, it was breath of fresh air—I’d not seen any such personal development challenges around at the time, and it was fun to do something different rather than just write

Blog 40
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Monthly Trends + Resolutions for a Better Blog

ProBlogger

Happy 2011! How are the ole resolutions holding up so far? Have you stopped biting your nails, started a daily exercise regimen, and organized your closets yet? Me neither. Still, ’tis the season for new starts, and while you’re thinking about improving your health, your home, or your life balance, don’t forget about your blog. Make a resolution today to take your blog to the next level in 2011.

Blog 40
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My Dad Held the Keys to an Untapped Niche Market

ProBlogger

When entrepreneurs start online they usually blog about what they know. For me, that was study skills. It is not the sexiest thing to talk about, and actually a hard niche market to crack, but it my first website and has led to some paid blogging jobs in education. But I was making no money and very few students are interested in commenting on such a site.

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Brain Fog HQ: Memory Enhancement Techniques for Professional Development

Speaker: Chester Santos – Author, International Keynote Speaker, Executive Coach, Corporate Trainer, Memory Expert, U.S. Memory Champion

In October, scientists discovered that 75% of patients who experienced brain fog had a lower quality of life at work than those who did not. At best, brain fog makes you slower and less efficient. At worst, your performance and cognitive functions are impaired, resulting in memory, management, and task completion problems. In this entertaining and interactive presentation, Chester Santos, "The International Man of Memory," will assist you in developing life-changing skills that will greatly enha