Your blog is the same. It’s very natural. It’s just a different format. If you’d grown up in the 1800′s, the idea of talking to someone on the phone would have been strange indeed. If you grew up in one of the past few generations, having a cell phone you can carry around in your pocket…strange indeed. We don’t think twice about these things now. Your blog is the same.

Brainstorm out some ideas to share with people, and before you know it you’ll find you have more to share with people than you ever thought possible. You have more value to give than you think. I promise :-)

Here’s a quick list of blog post ideas to get you started. Please take these and use them as you see fit:

1. Video or written review of the your favorite tools you use in your business.
2. Talk about a book you’ve read that relates to your industry and what you’ve learned.
3. Share your thoughts on an article or blog post you’ve read.
4. Predict where your industry is headed and share why you feel that way.
5. Describe something specific you do in your business that sets you apart, and share how you came to do it that way.
6. Share a problem with your industry or a concern you have about the market.
7. Share testimonials and case studies. Has a client taken your advice recently and had great results?
8. Give a step-by-step system for how to accomplish a specific result in a specific amount of time.
9. Video and/or pictures of your office, your team, your family, your town, your hangouts, etc.
10. Showcase a member of your team or one of your favorite clients.
11. Rave about your favorite blog, magazine or writer. Share what you love about them and thank them for helping you.
12. Share something you’ve learned lately? What are you doing differently now than you were this time last year?
13. Have you responded to an inquiry from one of your customers or clients lately? If one person has that question, it’s likely others do too.
14. Have you ever made a mistake? Share the details and what you’ve learned.
15. Do you consistently see clients or customers making the same type of mistakes? Identify a common mistake and educate your readers to save them a bit of heartache and hassle.
16. Share why you love your business. What motivates and excites you about doing what you do? What got you into your business to begin with?
17. Share your to-do list. What are your 5 biggest goals in your business in the next year? Where are you going? Get your readers involved.
18. Publish your reading list. What do you have on your list to read that will motivate, inspire or educate you?
19. Ask your Facebook friends a question, and share the feedback you get.
20. Interview someone in your industry. Post the audio or video as well as a transcribed version on your blog. This is a great way to educate your readers, yourself and meet awesome people all at the same time :-)

This whole concept just makes sense:

1. Define what you want.
2. Learn from someone, or someone’s, who have already done what you want to do.
3. Then do what they did to get there.

Sounds simple right? Unfortunately, most people tend to operate using the reverse of this theory. They do (go to college or learn a trade), learn something based on other people’s criteria (counselors, parents, etc.), and then only later, when it’s too late, do they ever take the time to think about what it is that they really want to do. So many of us go through life shooting success arrows randomly and getting frustrated that they never seem to hit the target. The problem is that so few of us ever take the time to set a target. It’s pretty hard to hit something you’re not aiming at.

Getting better results from your blog or website

The same principles hold true when generating leads on the internet. Most sales people and business owners set up a website, learn a few tricks as they go, and then only later, when they aren’t seeing results, do they truly attempt to define what it is they’re trying to accomplish. By following the define, learn, do philosophy you can eliminate most of the frustrations associated with your website. Simply define what it is you want to accomplish, learn from someone (like us) who has already done what you want to do, and then do what we did to get there.

There are a couple basic steps to follow. The main focus of most of our clients’ web pages is lead generation. You want to direct traffic to your site, have them either buy something or sign up for a mailing list of some sort, and then use these contacts to follow up and generate more sales. Let’s start with the first step, traffic.

The Biggest Misunderstanding about Getting Traffic to Your Website

Many of you are under the impression that more traffic always equals more leads. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Let me ask you question. Would you rather have 2000 hits on your web page and get 10 leads, or 200 hits to your page and get 40? It’s a no brainer right! The idea is that quality trumps quantity every time. One way to make this a reality for you is to find a focused keyword or words, like a niche, and direct a much more qualified group of prospects to your page. There are several ways to go about doing this and Christian has covered most of them in previous posts. You can get an entire series of videos here on how to set up and optimize your website in fact.

An Important Point about Getting Leads from Your Website

The second thing is all about calls to action. I’ve found that the reason most websites aren’t generating the leads people want is because they’re not asking for them. Most sites have one, maybe two, calls to action on the entire site. Usually it’s a newsletter or something similar and has a conversion rate of around 2%. Ask yourself this question. Why? Why should they sign up for your email list or newsletter? What do they gain? Are you really so invigorating that people should simply want to sign up just because you’re you? Maybe this is truly the case for some of you but it most definitely hasn’t been that way for me. Our site has multiple calls to action on every page. Many of them are offers for a free report or a training video that requires them to submit an email address in return for getting the item. By offering value in return for information we often generate about a 40% conversion rate compared the 2% mentioned above.

An important point on earning business from your email list

The third thing is follow through. Sure it’s great to build an email list with thousands of names, but how are you ever going to follow up with so many people over an extended period of time? Most sales people and business owners follow up once, maybe twice, and think that the sales should just start rolling in. Unfortunately, it rarely works out this way. Many prospective clients can take weeks if not months before they are ready to buy. In order to take advantage of these leads and not have them fall through the cracks we have to find ways to maximize our effort without spending exorbitant amounts of time. The most effective tool that we’ve found for doing this is blogging.

I know, I know. You don’t have time to blog. I hear it all the time. The problem with that is that you don’t have time not to. Blogging is an effective means of staying in contact with multiple people with one action. Every blog post can be sent to every person on your email list, facebook page, or twitter account with the click of a button. Every time a client asks you a question and you write an email answering it, you have a blog post. It makes sense that if one person has a question many others will have the same question, right? Whether you’re out with clients, reading a book, or just doing what you do; there are always thoughts, questions and ideas that can be written out on a smart phone and sent out into that wonderful space called the internet. Like I said before, maximize your effort while minimizing the time spent. Blogging doesn’t have to be a chore. Christian has an entire video series on how to create, utilize, and maintain a blog. It’ll get you well on your way towards hitting you’re target!

Remember:

1. Define what you want.
2. Learn from someone who has done it.
3. Then do what they did to get there.

A simple concept that will completely change your outlook and your results!

Lions don't get the "lion's share" because they're cute. They get it because they're badass ;)

FACT: Most professionals and business owners earn just enough to get by. Very few excel in their field.

FACT: 80% of the profits in your industry are earned by only 20% of the competitors. This means of course that 80% of you must fight for what’s left over. And that’s a pretty lame gig, no?

FACT: There is one commonality nearly all the top 20% of your field hold. They have a trait which enables them to get to the top and stay there. What is this trait? It is an attitude of consistent, continual growth. They never stop learning. They never stop working on improving themselves, their approach to their business. They never let up.

Some are born with advantages. It’s true. But those willing to work hard are more than willing to dethrone those privileged few as soon as they see an opportunity. You may be lucky enough to be on top through some lucky draw of the cards, but it’s a limited engagement unless you are willing to do what it takes to stay there.

What Separates the Top 20% in Your Field…What Makes Them Different?

Constant learning. Constant growth. With an attitude like this, consistent improvement is simply unavoidable. The top 20% simply won’t have a choice but to admit you at some point. Some of you may take a few years to get there. Some of you may have the chops to get there in just a few weeks.

Not all of you have what it takes to be in the top 1%. This may or may not be in the cards for you. But the top 20% where the bulk of wealth and opportunity lie? No doubt. You’ll get there if you do the work. And if you didn’t get into business to build wealth, why the heck did you?

Are You Making This Mistake?

One mistake I keep seeing lately is business owners asking me to do everything for them. They don’t want to touch this “internet stuff” at all. They want me to create their website, write their blog, build their links, manage their ad campaigns, manage their social profiles, etc. It’s true that most anything can be outsourced to an extent, but it’s gonna cost you.

I don’t work with big business. I work with small business owners. You don’t have a five or six figure monthly marketing budget. Good news…you don’t need one! You need to learn a few things. That’s all. You need to learn how to competently market yourself online. You can learn what you need to know in a short amount of time, and then it’s simply a matter of executing. That’s it. It’s really as simple as that!

And that’s what this blog is about. You know me. I’m happy to answer any dang question you email me. Fire away. If you want to work with me one on one, hit me up. We can do that too. And yes, I’m happy to build you a site or anything else you need. But let’s get one thing straight. None of this is set it and forget it B.S. You can have all the best rock star tools out there (and that’s all I use…the best stuff out there), but if you don’t put them to use, you might as well go home.

Food for Thought

Not too long ago, none of us we dependent on email, contact database management, digital cameras, smart phones…the list goes on. But now they’re second nature to you. I promise, your blog is nothing more than a new smart phone. You just need to set it up and spend a little time learning to use it. Unfortunately there are a lot of idiots out there selling this stuff, telling you a blog will make you millions without effort, on autopilot. Unfortunately, there are a lot of idiots promising to get you to #1 in Google…guaranteed, for $100. But you’re smart enough to ignore these idiots.

Your blog, Twitter and Facebook (Pinterest, LinkedIn and others too of course) are just tools. And it’s an opportunity. A really big, profound opportunity. While the rest of your competition sits on their hands complaining about how there’s all this new stuff they need to learn, YOU can dive in. This is what will set you apart. This is the work you’ll do that others aren’t willing to do. This…this exact work we talk about on this blog…is what puts you in the top 20% of your field. Flat out. Hands down. This is where we can start talking and take your business to an entirely new level.

Does it feel like your business is missing the mark? Get back on track with these 7 ninja tips. Let me know what you think! Subscribe and hit me up via email. Let's talk :-)

1. Put learning aside for a minute. Start doing. Doing is the ultimate teacher. So you end up learning and accomplishing things at the same time. So many of us get caught up in “learning mode”. As a result, it’s easy to spend all your time trying to figure out the best way to do something, instead of just doing it.
2. Stop striving. Start being. All of us have an idol or a mentor. You’re not your idol. Whoever inspires you does so because they are being themselves. If you truly want to follow in their footsteps, then do what they really do. If your idol or mentor is someone worth following, they don’t simply copy someone else. They do their own thing. I promise you…whatever you love or admire about your mentor is their authenticity. Their originality is undeniable, isn’t it? They didn’t get that from anywhere but within themselves. It’s a way more ballsy and scary thing way to go, but it’s worth it. If you want to model someone that’s truly successful, start by being yourself. It’s the only thing that actually wins. It’s why they win. And it’s how you can win.
3. Don’t question yourself. Yes, you will make mistakes by simply taking action. You will crash and burn. The sooner you get that over with, the sooner you will find out what you’re made of and where you can truly excel. But none of this happens if you question yourself. Dive in head first. Take the blows that come your way…and yes, they’re coming your way. When you come out the other side, you have what no book or course or lecture or conference will ever be able to give you. You’ll have wisdom and self-confidence. This is a “how to get shit done” prerequisite.
4. Don’t take on other people’s goals. Living someone else’s vision is a sure way to feel like hell every day. It’s easy to see a celebrity or successful internet guru and think their life must be awesome. The truth is you don’t know them and have no idea what their life is like. Set your own goals, without reference to anyone else. It’s fine to want fame, a Lamborghini or a big house (or whatever), but where did that goal come from? Why do you have that goal to begin with? Does your goal serve you? Or does it serve some false, idealized version of life that you picked up somewhere along the way? It’s helpful to take a minute and make sure you’re not just doing something because you saw someone else do it.
5. Enjoy the  journey. When you enjoy yourself and are having a blast, it’s so much easier to be effective. It’s so much easier to put in the hours and do the work necessary to excel when you’re having a lot of fun in the process. How do you know if you’re on track? You should feel fantastic about where you’re going, but you should also feel fantastic about where you are…right now. The journey itself should be a blast. If you’re pushing prosperity into the future and saying things like “as soon as I get…this or that…then I’ll be where I want to be”, then you’re not enjoying the journey. If you’re not enjoying the journey, it means you’re grinding your gears and you’re on your way to burning out. This is the universe telling you it’s time to switch things up.
6. Make goals that matter. Spend time working toward a goal that will really mean something to you when it’s accomplished. All too often we think getting more Twitter followers or a bigger email list will make our business more successful, but it doesn’t work that way. Not really. I’ve seen people obsessing about their Klout score and spending loads of time learning CSS just so they can make their website look a certain way. So many things can either be outsourced or forgotten altogether. Be careful of your time, because it’s flat out the most valuable asset you have.
7. Minimize. Of all the things on your “to do” list, there are 3 that will actually help grow your business, and the rest is just busy work. I promise; it’s actually this simple. Forget about everything else until those three things are done. The funny thing about busy work is that it will take up your entire day, but it doesn’t pay you anything. Yet this is where most of us focus. And ironically, by relegating this kind of work to the back burner you end up finding out which of these tasks even need to be addressed at all. It’s amazing how few things end up being important when it’s all said and done. If you have a “to do” list a mile long like I do, identify 3 high level things at the beginning of the day, and simply do that. It takes a little bit of faith here, but if you’re growing your business and forcing yourself to only work on tasks that build your business, the stuff that’s a waste of time simply disappears on it’s own.

This video shows you how I create the graphics I use. Honestly…I’m not a graphic designer, and I barely know how to use Photoshop. These graphics are totally custom and really easy to make actually. Here’s how I do it…

By the way, if you are reading this post somewhere other than my site, and you don’t see the video, you’ll need to click here to see the video. Peace out :-)

I have some notes to share with you as well as a video today. I also use the words “whilst” and “y’all”, just for fun. Hope you dig it! If you have any questions, please hit me up in the contact form. It’s my pleasure to help however I can :-)

Here are a few principles to consider:

1. Consistency
2. Calls to action
3. Relevancy and Contribution
4. Fun (yay!)

Here is a brief outline of each:

Consistency

This is a situation where a lot of us drop the ball. I say “us”, because I’m included 100%. What I’ve found is that best results come from consistency. I work with small business owners. If you’re reading this, you’re most likely a Realtor, a chiropractor, an attorney or other small business owner or professional. As such, we don’t have unlimited time to write a blog. It needs to be efficient, and it needs to produce a result.

One thing that may stress you out is the time commitment of blogging. Don’t sweat it. It doesn’t have to be this huge project that takes all day. An hour or two per week is plenty to get results over time. Share some ideas once per week. Every Wednesday for example. No need to overthink it or turn it into a big project. If you do that, you’ll never do it.

Instead, do something that fits into your schedule. Do it consistently, and before long you’ll notice that people come to expect and look forward to your posts. This is a key element to getting results. Consistent publishing leads to consistent lead gen.

Calls to Action

When clients ask me to critique their site, they’re often looking to get more leads coming in. When I swing out to the site, I find that they’re not asking people to sign up for their email list. There are very few calls to action, and they’re not very compelling at that. This isn’t a very good combo.

If you want more inquiries or people signing up for your email list, you’re gonna have to ask. I’ve had a lot of clients express an expectation for visitors to hunt down their contact page out of appreciation for the awesome content and ideas they share on their blog. Some will. Most won’t.

Here is a video with some notes on how I place calls to action on my site (if you’re reading this in a feed reader, you may need to click here to see the video):

Relevancy and Contribution

A couple of the frustrations I come across whilst talking with you are lack of leads and low quality leads. In other words, you’re not getting the response rate you want from your blog, and the leads you do get are not responsive or uninterested in what you do professionally. Relevancy and a focus on contribution really go a long way to help here.

By relevancy, I mean your content (both your calls to action and your blog posts) need to speak directly to the most pressing needs of your readers. A small business blog is a different animal than most others. You’re looking to produce a pretty specific result. This is marketing.

I see a LOT of small business blogs miss a lot of opportunities in this area. They spend a lot of time writing for search engines for example. Everything is really optimized and keyword rich. But the content isn’t solving any pressing problem. Your readers could care less how search optimized your site is. SEO is fine, but the one and only thing it will do is bring you visitors. You can have all the visitors in the world, but it means nothing if your blog doesn’t convert. This is why I write for people, not search engines. I know a lot of y’all disagree with me on this point, but I’d rather get less traffic and 40% conversion rates any day of the week, as opposed to a high number of visitors and very little engagement.

What’s funny is that when you write for people instead of search engines, people like your site better. They visit it often and tell their friends. Traffic is never the issue. Relevancy and contribution are what really matters. Follow these steps:

1. Identify your ideal prospect
2. Learn their biggest frustrations
3. Use your blog to solve their problems
4. Use your blog as a means of “giving back”. Share ideas and solutions with your readers. Give away too much. Give em stuff you could actually be charging for.

If you combine these steps with effective calls to action, it’s a pretty unbeatable combination!

Fun (once again…Yay!)

One of the biggest missed opportunities in the whole small business blogging world is lack of fun. Have some dang fun! Your blog doesn’t have to be perfect. Write short posts, long posts, video, pictures, podcasts…whatever the heck you want. Whatever is simple and fun for you. Yes, you may need to learn a thing or two, but simply pick up some tactics as you go and employ them. Obsessing over whether you’re doing it “right” or not (I come across this mentality all the time) is only going to keep you from taking action.

People know when it’s forced. People know when you’re doing something just because you think you’re supposed to be doing it, not because you really want to. And that’s not fun for anyone. Something funny…people think when you share ideas with them, but they ACT when they’re emotionally engaged. You can have the most badass, super-optimized rock star blog in the world, with half a million visitors every day, but if you’re not having fun and helping people solve their problems, it’s unlikely you’ll see impressive lead generation.

If you’re inclined to think you don’t really want to blog..that the truth is you really ARE doing it just because you think you’re supposed to, then that’s cool. There’s no rule you need to write a blog. It’s just a really effective and leveraged way to share ideas with people.

It really does work. This is my livelihood. It works. But just like any tool, you get out what you put in. Just because you have an office doesn’t mean people are gonna visit. Just because you have a phone doesn’t mean people are gonna call. These are simply the tools of our trade. A blog is a publishing tool. Your prospects are on the web, looking for content. This is your opportunity to get in front of them, be cool to them and get a conversation started.

If you are having fun with your blog, contributing relevant content that solves people’s problems and offering compelling calls to action as I outline in the video above, it’s nearly impossible for you to not start seeing high quality leads come in every day from your site.

It can take a minute to get the pieces put together. That’s true. It’s true that marketing and the internet has changed quite a bit over the last few years. Shoot me an email if you have questions. I’m happy to help!

That was a call to action. Get it? No seriously, send me an email! There’s a contact form right here :-)

Yep. Your blog security sucks. This series of posts will fix it.

Step one: lock your WordPress blog down against 99% of the malicious attacks out there in one fell swoop. It’s simple. It’s free. And you can set this sucker up in just a few minutes.

The most common form of attack out there is the brute force attack. Little college kids with nothing better to do write programs that will pound your login page with login attempts until they find one that works. After they’re logged in…well, you know what happens then. So let’s take a couple steps to help ensure that doesn’t happen.

When attempting to hack an account, you of course need to nail down both user name AND password. So first of all, use a solid password for god’s sake. Guys, I work on your websites every day so I KNOW what kind of passwords you’re using, and it’s pretty rare for me to see a good one :-)

Password rules:

1. Alphanumeric – have your password contain both letters and numbers.
2. Combine upper and lower case – use at least one upper case letter in your password.
3. Use symbols – if you really want to screw with anyone trying to crack your password, throw in a symbol or two. You know… *$%()#. That kind of stuff.
4. Change it periodically, and OMG…don’t use the exact same password for all your accounts.
5. If you’re installing a new version of WordPress, choose an admin name other than “admin”. Nearly all WordPress logins have the user name “admin”, so selecting a different user name from the beginning is definitely a smart choice.

Yes this is the actual picture the hacker used. Fun!

I remember my first blog. I poured my heart into that thing. Never really made much money but I met cool people from all over the world, and it was a lot of fun.

I logged on the check comments one fine morning, and I was confused by what I found. There were no comments. None. There were also no articles. In fact, there was no website at all.

There was however a big ass picture of Darth Vader.

I sat there staring at Darth for a bit. I was in disbelief. My website was gone. Where the heck was it? I remember looking over my shoulder and around the room in confusion, as if that was going to shed some light on the matter.

The reality was clear. I had been hacked. Big time.

Let’s be real. This is a pretty extreme case. Most hacks are far less extreme. I had a friend check her site one day to find various obscene words placed randomly throughout her site. At least she still had her website :)

Here’s the thing: security is usually the last thing we want to think about when it comes to running a website or blog. Especially when you’re a busy business owner.

But it’s absolutely crucial. And the truth is that protecting your blog is actually pretty simple.

Over the next few articles here, I’m going to lay out a few very simple and effective ways you can prevent 99.9% of the attacks you’re bound to experience.

This is an important series of posts! Make sure you’re subscribed, so you don’t miss any of these. You need to know that if you’re running a website these days, it will be attacked. It’s not a matter of if…it’s only a matter of when.

Don’t let Darth Vader take over your website! I will show you the way. May the force be with you.

Here are the articles in the series:

• http://www.dangeroustactics.com/login-lockdown-blog-security-series/
• I will post the new articles here as they are published :-)

Install and run these two plugins (very simple, very free), and they can do a lot to speed up your database, make your site run faster, etc. Good stuff! I figured the simplest thing to do was show them to you in action, so here’s a quick video for you.

If you have any questions, let me know!

As always, if you’re reading in email or a feedreader, you may need to visit the site to watch the video. Thanks :-)

If content is not king, what is?

The success of your website isn’t entirely about “creating good content”. Let’s be clear. Content is a necessity. It needs to be:

1. Relevant (something your readers need or want to hear about)
2. Valuable (helps solve a pressing problem)
3. Unique (can’t find the exact same thing a million other places)

But let’s be honest. There are a lot of websites out there that possess the holy grail of “great content”. Yet they still have failed to reach their audience. They have failed to engage anyone on a high level. They have failed to generate a significant number of subscribers. They have failed to earn sufficient revenue.

When this happens, the next step is closing up shop. No one can write “great content” forever without any reciprocation. It’s time to move on and try something new.

If you have good content and ideas to share on your blog, but you’ve failed to get the results you’d like so far, there’s a reason for it. That reason might be your blog itself.

If Content isn’t King, What is?

Let’s get it straight. Content isn’t king. You are king. Content is simply your messenger. Content is just one element of your empire. And it’s an important one. Really important. But it doesn’t get the job done by itself. There’s another element I wanted to mention today, and that’s design.

There’s an idea that great ideas will find their own way. An idea with merit and value will surely be welcomed with open arms by it’s ideal audience. If you put out something of extraordinary value, surely people will buy in. Right?

In other words…if you build it, they will come. Isn’t that the way it works?

Well, you know the answer to that don’t you? But just to make sure I’ll let the cat out of the bag. The answer is no. They usually don’t come. People don’t usually see real value even if you try to beat them over the head with it. It’s not how people work.

We’re too busy. We’re too distracted. Our bullshit meter is on high alert 24/7, so even when we hear something great, it takes a real feat to truly get our attention.

What’s the solution?

The role of design

Just like content, design isn’t the end all and be all of marketing success. But just like content, it is an essential part of the equation.

Whether it makes sense or not, whether we’re liable to admit it or not, we respond to packaging. We judge books by their cover. We really, really do. We know instinctively that it may not be fair, but it’s an effective way to filter out some of the noise in our lives. If it doesn’t look awesome, it’s probably not.

Bottom line: value does NOT speak for itself. It’s in dire need of some awesome packaging. *Especially* if it’s a truly awesome product. All the more reason to spend the time and money to really package it well!

When it comes to your website or blog, your design is your packaging. Spend some time on it. Make it yours. Test colors and layouts and ideas. Your design is JUST as important as your content. This doesn’t mean it needs to be over the top. It doesn’t need to be gaudy or even expensive. It just needs to work.

Whether consciously or unconsciously, people respond to aesthetics. It’s just how it is. I’ve noticed a few things in my own business, and I apply these to client projects all the time:

• The placement of an opt-in form can make a huge difference in how well it converts. Take an identical opt-in form and put it in a different place on the same page, and watch a completely different result take place.
• Changing the color of a headline can change out well an entire page converts. Whether you’re going for clicks, subscribers or whatever, people respond differently to different colors.
• Typography matters. Font types and especially font sizes can dramatically affect how long someone stays on your site.

These are just a few examples. Even on very simple-looking sites, a lot of thought and experience goes into an effective design.

I read an article on Copyblogger today and gives some great tips on web design, and I recommend checking that out as well.