December, 2012

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How to Put Fear in the Back Seat

Men With Pens

My friend and I took my 6-year-old daughter to this crazy tree-climbing adventure: a place where they string logs, tubes and wires to the branches of tall trees. The result is a leaf-top playground high above the ground. You climb up, clip yourself to a safety line and clamber around like a monkey. Full of bravado, my daughter whipped through the courses like nobody’s business, swinging from ropes, scampering over logs and asking for more every step of the way.

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15 Social Media Mistakes that are Strangling Your Success

ProBlogger

While it’s not new, I’m often surprised by the way bloggers use—and mis-use—social media. Each of us has our own blogging journey, and we use different tools in our own unique ways. Yet there are still quite a few very common errors that I continue to see bloggers making as they work with social media. Image by stock.xchng user These mistakes have the potential to make your social media experience a struggle—if not put you off it completely.

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A Writer’s Guide to What to Do After NaNoWriMo

Men With Pens

November is National Novel Writing Month (otherwise known as NaNoWriMo), and a large number of people worked hard throughout the month to write a novel – or 50,000 words – in 30 days or less. You read that right: An entire novel in less than 30 days. Everyone has their own opinion of NaNoWriMo, be it good or bad. But opinions aside, every year thousands of people join in and a good number of them reach that goal.

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How to Supercharge Your Writing by Changing Up Your Personal Life

Men With Pens

If you want to improve your productivity, creativity or energy, one of the biggest faults is forgetting to change up your personal life. Being too wrapped up in work often causes chaotic schedules, poor diets and missed sleep. Remember: To be great at what you do, you need a strong foundation. That foundation is YOU. You have to take care of yourself to produce excellent work.

Writing 60
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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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What Not to Forget During the Holidays

Men With Pens

The holidays are here. Many of you will be welcoming kids home from school, rushing about doing last-minute gift shopping, preparing to receive guests or making travel plans to visit family. It’s a busy time of year… but not for your business. During the holidays, most freelancers let their business fall off the priority list. You probably backburner yours as well.

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Grow Your Blog Business: The Earn-Millions-in-Your-Flip-Flops Framework [Case Study]

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Stephan Spencer of The Art of SEO. Former mortgage broker and digital information business expert, Susan Lassiter-Lyons built her business online, and grew it to a six-figure income in only seven months. She attributes her amazing success to a simple framework she developed and perfected over that time. Recently, I met with Susan and she shared with me her “$1 Million digital business blueprint”.

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How to Write Emails that Get an Immediate Response

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Robert D. Smith of TheRobertD.com. Remember the last time that you sent out a guest post request, suggestion of a joint venture, interview invitation, or some other important message … and waited … and waited … and waited…? And then nothing happened. You got no response whatsoever. Not even a “No”! They couldn’t even take the time to just say “No”!

Writing 45
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6 Warning Signs That Your Blog Is Deflating

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Ashkan of fanappic.com. Looking at your analytics and seeing that your blog traffic is going down is not a pretty sight. For those of us who have been blogging for a while, the chances are that we all have experienced periods of downturn and are used to such stormy weather. But what if, heaven forbid, the situation is even more serious, and the downturn looks as if it is here to stay?

Blog 44
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3 Ways Cartoons Can Improve Your Blog

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Mark Anderson of Andertoons.com. Mark Anderson is the cartoonist behind Andertoons.com where he offers cartoon subscriptions and creates custom cartoons. Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger. 3 Ways Cartoons Can Improve Your Blog.

Blog 44
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How to Find an SEO Goldmine for Your Blog

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Elena Vakhromova of Freemake.com. We all know that search engines are a big piece of blog traffic cake. Unlike other traffic sources (subscriptions or social media), search engines bring visitors who are generally unfamiliar with your blog and have one definite goal: to get an answer or solve the problem with the help of your post.

SEO 44
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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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Writing the Truth of Your Own Experience

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Sean M. Madden of Mindful Living Guide. The cornerstone of my teaching is to write the truth of our own experience. They’re fine words, which roll off the tongue with ease. But I needn’t tell you how gut-wrenching it can be to put them into practice. For when one shares the results of such writing with the world at large it is very likely to anger at least some folk—no matter how clear, how unassuming, and how well-intentioned is what you have to say.

Writing 44
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Blogging on the Bleeding Edge: Create Content that Gets Liked, Shared, and Talked About

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Glen Andrews of Glen-Andrews.com. There are two types of content… Regurgitated content. This is content, or information, that’s been shared throughout a niche for years. It doesn’t really excite anyone anymore. It’s considered useful, but it’s “old hat.” As an example, in the blogging niche (my niche) regurgitated content would be writing an article about hashtags, setting up a Facebook page, or discussing the importance of creating

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How Sponsored Posts Can Ruin Your Blog

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Kalen Smith of OnlineRookies.com. More bloggers accept guest posts for their sites. Guest posts are an arrangement where a guest author will write content and submit it to the blog. In exchange, the blogger will allow the blogger at least one backlink to promote their own website. Guest blogging is a great opportunity for both the blogger and the guest author to receive exposure and share ideas.

Post 43
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Stop Socializing! Auto-Share Social Media Updates and Get Back to Blogging

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Fred Perrotta of Tortuga Backpacks. As a blogger, you should be spending at least 80% of your time creating killer content. The problem is that that leaves just 20% of your time to split between time-intensive (but important) activities like social networking, ad sales, new product creation, and marketing. In this post, you’ll learn how to automatically share your blog posts to your social networks.

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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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URL Be Sorry! Google Cuts Back on Top-ranking Exact-match Domains

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Rob Henry of K2L Marketing. Regular Google users will know that one of the easiest ways to get a good ranking in its search results is for your web address to exactly match the search query. Get it spot-on and, until recently, you’ve been almost assured of a position close to the top, and often in the number-one slot on page one of the SERPs.

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Blog Design for ROI Rule #4: Make Posts Easy to Read

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Gab Goldenberg of The Advanced SEO Book. In the last instalment of the Blog Design for ROI series , I discussed the importance of showering attention on your community using design elements. The fourth commandment of blog design for ROI is to make your posts easy to read. This ensures that your message gets across even to first-time skimmers, which helps turn them into loyal readers (and post-sharers).

Post 42
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Your Brand Experience Can Make or Break Your Blog: Here’s How to Fix It

ProBlogger

This post is by Nadia Chaudhry of NadiaChaudhry.com. “Stop! Don’t move!”. The videographer held the camera right in front of the groom’s family. She held them there, in the middle of their progression to the stage, for a sold three minutes. My jaw dropped, eyes squinting, bewildered. And so commenced the world’s most awkwardly recorded night… If I ever had a videographer like that for my wedding, I think I might have attacked her for taking the “special” out of my special

Brand 42
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Celebrate Your Marketing?!

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Karl Staib of Domino Connection. Have you ever planned out your day and put marketing as the last thing on your list because you just can’t stomach another rejection? I know I did. I have a popular blog named Work Happy Now that gets 15,000 visits a month. That’s due to backlinks, Google search, and social love. This happened because of my desire to build relationships with people.

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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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4 Simple Steps to Get Sponsorship from Media Agencies

ProBlogger

This guest post is by John Kelly of www.company.com.au. When bloggers think about monetising their content, most will turn to Google AdSense for advertising revenue, and some may think about releasing an ebook or enrolling in an affiliate program. . While these channels work for a few blogs, most will realise that the returns are frustratingly small for the amount of effort they have invested in their content.

Agency 41
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WordPress Feature Review: New Features You Missed in 2012, Part 1

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Michael Scott of WPHub.com. One of the great things about WordPress is that it never stands still. The platform is constantly evolving beyond its blogging roots, with more great features being added every year. WordPress used to release small updates frequently, but at the end of 2009 they changed this policy. They now aim to release three major updates every year, with small infrequent updates in between to address security issues.

Ads 41
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Blogging the Festive Season: The Not-for-Profit Blog [Case Study]

ProBlogger

Stephen Pepper is insurance administrator by day, youth worker and blogger by night. He and his wife run Youth Workin’ It , a not-for-profit site that provides consultancy and services for youth workers and organizations worldwide. This includes blogging 6 days a week about youth work. As part of our Blog the Festive Season series, we asked Stephen how he and his wife are preparing the blog for the festive season.

Blog 41
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How to Fill the Giant Guest Post Hole On Your Blog

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Joel Zaslofsky of Value of Simple. Is there a sign on your blog silently screaming, “Please don’t help me grow?”. It’s a shame that most of us put that sign up without even noticing. From the newest bloggers to the most well-established ones, that’s what happens when you don’t have clear and public guest post submission guidelines.

Post 41
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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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Prepare Your Blog For the Festive Season: a Step-by-step Guide

ProBlogger

Over the weekend, we ran a short series of interviews with bloggers of different types, to get a feel for how they’re preparing for the festive season. Image courtesy stock.xchng user danyba. We spoke to the owners of: a product-sales blog. a blogger-consultant-speaker. a digital publisher. a not-for-profit blog. If that series made you realize how underprepared you are for the coming weeks, don’t worry.

Blog 40
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WordPress Feature Review: New Features You Missed in 2012, Part 2

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Michael Scott of WPHub.com. Yesterday, we started our tour of new features added to WordPress in version 3.4. Today we continue the tour with a look at helpful new features available in version 3.5. New features added to WordPress 3.5. Released late last year, WordPress 3.5 was the second and final major WordPress release of 2012.

Script 40
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Tap User Psychology to Build an Indestructible Community Around Your Blog

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Richard Millington of FeverBee. Many blogs attempt to build a community, but few succeed. At best, they build an audience. They build a following that reads and responds to posts, but those readers don’t meaningfully build relationships with one another. If you want a blog that solely distributes information, this is fine. However, if you want your blog to be the hub of a major community, then you need to develop a strong sense of community.

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Blogging On the Go: Are Mobile Apps Up To It?

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Barry Cooke of Badoo.com. With the rise of mobile technology and citizen journalism, being able to blog while on the move is increasingly important. Unfortunately, many blogging apps are limited, clunky, and make updating from your mobile smartphone or tablet inefficient. Here we take a look at the main direct blogging apps, as well as a few additional ones that can improve the process, to see if they’re up to the challenge.

IT 40
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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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Why Twilight has Such a Massive Following—and How to Apply This Concept to Your Blog

ProBlogger

This guest post is by Allison Boyer of NMXlive.com. I’ve never actually met a fan of Twilight. It’s true. I’ve met people who say they kinda-sorta-maybe like the books, but can’t stand the movie. I’ve met people who say they’re reading the series because they’re curious. I’ve met people who say they just watching the movies for a laugh. But I’ve never met, face-to-face, a hard-core, die-hard Twilight fan.

Concept 40
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Blogging in Brief: Looking Good, Saving Face, Tags and Lags

ProBlogger

We all make mistakes, but making mistakes in the media can be costly—especially to your authority! …Or can it? We all know readers appreciate honesty. And our first story this week is all about that. Saving face online. Last week, I got my regular flippa.com newsletter … and another a few hours later! The new subject line? “Our newsletter, now with functional links!

Blog 39
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The Blogger’s Guide to Cutting Your Losses

ProBlogger

I don’t know whether it’s a coincidence, but as we near the end of the year, there seem to be a few bloggers talking about what you should do if a past passion no longer inspires you , or your next big idea’s already been done. Image courtesy stock.xchng user mmagallan. Now is a good time to take stock—I know I’m not the only one who has a look back over the year in December, and makes new plans in January.

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The Value of Comments to a Profit-making Blog

ProBlogger

We’ve talked about the issues of blog comments before on Problogger.net, but never from a point of view of profit-making. Image courtesy stock.xchng user lusi But as I was looking at the stats on dPS last week, I found that this short, helpful opinion post from 2010 was still attracting a steady stream of readers—and comments. I explained on Google+ why I think that post’s still so popular , but today I wanted to look a bit more closely at how comments can help a profit-making blogge

Blog 39
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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