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Why Bloggers Fail

According to one source, there are more than 164 million blogs…

Most of these blogs get less than 1,000 visitors per month, and the harsh reality is, the majority of those blogs are, for lack of a better word, failures.

What’s unfortunate is, in that group of people, I’m betting there’s someone just like you….

…Someone who believed pumping out good content will generate the leads and sales they need to run a profitable business.

…Someone who believed a journalist or Google would notice their hard work—and reward them with an endless supply of traffic that converts.

…Someone who put the work in, and things just didn’t pan out.

The question is “WHY!?!”

And most important, how can you BEAT THE ODDS?

Do you want to grow your blog?

Use simple tactics found in this free ebook to attract your first 5,000 subscribers

Yes, send me the free ebook

Why do bloggers (and the blogs they create) fail?

And more important, how do “some” people beat the odds…

…and build blogs that help them build HUGE businesses?

The answer lies in:

The Psychology Behind Why Blogs Fail

I’ll be straight up with you because I know you expect nothing less.

Most people who start blogs dream about their blog soaring to Everest-level subscriber numbers.

(Who doesn’t want to make a splash?)

And they’re willing to do the work, too. They’re not looking for handouts, they want to earn their success.

(Sound familiar?)

So, what happens?

It turns out that most people who start blogs quit within the first 3 months.

Why?

It’s simple. When people start blogs, they do the wrong things.

And the problem is, when they spend time on all those things they find something strange happens:

They’ll waste their first 3 months, and they’ll have NOTHING to show for it other than a bunch of social media logins, passwords, and the belief that “I’ll be ready to go, when I just finish this one thing…”

But they’ll have NO RESULTS.

And that lack of results will demotivate the MOST AMBITIOUS individual.

(I’ve been there…)

It’s human psychology.

(The more time you spend working on something without a reward, the harder it is to continue doing it).

And that’s why, I believe, most bloggers fail.

They start their blog with good intentions, but fall off the beaten path because they waste time on pointless drivel that doesn’t deliver what they really want: more traffic… more leads… more sales.

It’s sad, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

So I have a question for you:

Are you worried that the same thing will happen to you?

Are you scared that you’ll waste your time on the pointless drivel “fake blogging experts” shill as “advice?”

Or worse, maybe the same has already happened to you… and you’re tired of it?

If you said “Heck, YES!” you’re in luck.

Here’s why:

In my Free Ebook: How to Get 5,000 Subscribers, I’ll show you how to build a profitable blog (including the “behind the scenes” strategies that allowed me to attract more than 200,000 (yes, 200,000) subscribers).

I’m going reveal the “time-wasting things” that cause well-deserving bloggers like you to fail.

The “time-wasting things” that cause you to get no results… demotivated… and eventually cause you to burn out and quit.

And what’s better is, when you eliminate these time-wasters from your blogging schedule, I believe YOU CAN BEAT THE ODDS.

Ready?

Let’s jump in.

Time-Waster #1: Creating Too Much Content

When I asked bloggers, “How do you spend time on your blog?”, they said “I spend about 80-90% of my time on creating content.”

This makes ZERO sense.

Here’s the deal: When you run a blog that has a few readers, adding more content doesn’t help you get more readers. The math just doesn’t work.

Let’s say you have 100 readers. What are the chances that one of those people will love your content so much that they tell ALL of their friends about it? 1%? 2%? If that?

Whatever it is, it’s low, and at that rate, you might get 1 new loyal reader. Going from 100 readers to 101 readers isn’t how you build a blog readership.

To build a blog readership, you’ve got to go from 100 readers… to 500 readers. Then, from 500 readers to 700 readers, and so on.

How do you do it? The secret lies in your ability to promote the content you already have, because if you’ve got something that was only seen by 100 people, chances are there are at least 10,000 or 100,000 other people in the world that can benefit from what you wrote.

So, I’m giving you permission…

“You don’t have to create content, day in, and day out. You just have to work on getting the content you already have… in the hands of more people.”

How does that feel? Good? Great? AWESOME? Here’s how some of my other disciples felt when they learned this:

Nicole BurleyDerek’s advice to blog less and promote more was earth-shattering and such a relief because it completely eliminated my blog stress and gave me peace and time and space back in my business to do what I love to do, which is coach people.” – Nicole Burley, Certified Health Coach and Life Coach, creator of NicoleBurley.com

Craig Koniver“My biggest struggle coming into the course was that I was writing frequently, but never really connecting with my followers… Now that I have taken the course, I feel that I have a game plan for each post.” Craig Koniver, MD, Organic Medicine Physician, creator of OrganicMedicineNow.com

Now that leads me to the NEXT big time-waster.

Time-Waster #2: Promoting Content The Wrong Way

This always cracks me up…

When I talk to people, and I ask them “How do you currently try to get your name out there?”

Here’s what they say:

“Okay, so I publish an article, then I share it on Twitter, Facebook, and my other social media networks.”

And I’m like, “Okay, and then what?”

“Umm… I sometimes tweet out my article a few times because not all my followers see it the first time.”

And again, I’m like “And…?”

“I sometimes ask one of my friends to share it on their Twitter, too.”

And again, “And…”

And that’s when they fall flat.

“Well, I don’t know what else to do. So I write more content.”

(Does this sound familiar? Fess up :-P)

[Face Palm]

Newsflash: Sharing your content to your small (and inactive) social media accounts ISN’T PROMOTION. And doing it regularly is often a waste of time

You’ll NEVER build a blog that fuels your business by following that method of promotion.

Now what really grinds my gears, is right about now, people always say “Okay, what do I do then, smarty pants?”

But it’s not about promotion tactics. You’ve got to understand what good promotion is, and how it works… first.

So, here’s what you need to know:

The easiest way to get readers for your blog is to convince another blog that has readers to send readers your way.

That’s it.

(Notice how I didn’t say share it on Twitter).

What you MUST do is convince people who have readers… to send you readers.

The question is “How?” And that leads me to the NEXT big time-waster.

Time-Waster #3: Creating a “Me Too” Blog

If you want other bloggers to send their readers your way, you’ve got to create a blog that warrants it.

And the sad truth is, most blogs out there don’t warrant it.

Most blogs, in fact, are what I call “Me Too” blogs. They say the same things as everyone else… and nobody cares.

The problem, again, is just human psychology. What blends in gets ignored, what stands out gets remembered. It’s that simple. And every second you spend working on a “me too” blog is a second wasted.

The question is, “How can YOU stand out when there’s more than 164 million blogs?”

I go into detail about this in my online training “Start Your Blog Right,” but the SECRET behind standing out today is as simple as “GETTING REAL SPECIFIC” with what your blog stands for.

Don’t write about fitness. Write about fitness for 45+ year-olds who want to do cross-fit.

Or, as a personal example, when I wanted to break into the marketing space (one of the most crowded blog spaces on the net), I didn’t just write about marketing. I focused in on how to leverage proven psychological principles to improve conversion rates.

You might think, “well, won’t that pigeon hole me into a small audience?”

And the answer is, “Yes,” but there’s no reason why you can’t expand out of that once you OWN your topic.

It might seem a bit silly, but look at it like this: What’s more rememberable? “I’m a marketing expert” or “I show you how to use psychology to increase your blog conversions.”

The latter obviously :-P.

And if you’re worried that this won’t work, just take a look at what some of my disciples said:

Maya Mathias“Derek was great in helping me focus on specific leadership topics, and blogging about action steps that my readers could benefit from. Leadership is SUCH a vague & broad concept to begin with, and Derek helped me feel like I wasn’t nailing jello to the wall anymore!” Maya Mathias, creator of InventiveLinks.com

Gene Hammett“Due to Derek, I have narrowed my focus of my business to web designers… I credit Derek for helping me find the need to focus my business like a LASER instead of the shotgun approach. It is making all the difference in the world.” – Gene Hammett, creator of CoreElevation.com

Is there such a thing as getting too specific?

Absolutely.

There has to be an audience for what you’re writing about.

But the fact remains: what blends in gets ignored. What stands out gets remembered.

Here’s What You Need To Do Next…

Now that I walked you through the psychology behind why blogs fail, and the big 3 time-wasters that cause that failure, you’ve got ONE goal:

You need to get some results… FAST.

I mentioned this earlier, but when you work on something for too long without seeing a reward, you get demotivated, and you don’t want that to happen.

So, what can you do to get some results fast?

Well, remember when I said:

The easiest way to get readers for your blog is to convince another blog that has readers to send readers your way.

Do that.

How do you get started?

First you must figure out what sites you’d like to send you some traffic.

So, for homework, I want you to leave a comment on this blog post. Here’s what you should include in your comment:

First, I want you to list your 1 DREAM website that you would LOVE to get a link from. (Notice I said “dream” website. Shoot for the stars!)

Second, I want you to list 3 other websites that you would also LOVE to get a link from. Don’t pick the biggest websites in the world, but instead, pick some smaller sites that you think would do your brand well.

In both scenarios, explain WHY you think this website will help you. This is important, and if you skip this step, the exercise is pointless. :-).

Now, download this FREE Ebook.

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Use simple tactics found in this free ebook to attract your first 5,000 subscribers

Yes, send me the free ebook
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522 comments Leave a comment
Leighann

This was such a helpful read–I think my dream site would be Relevant Magazine. I love their content and think it would be such a great experience to write for them. They write about faith and topics closely related to millennials and pop culture–my niche is geared toward millennials and creative types, so I think their site would be a great way to garner traffic to my own!

Nora Moerch

Thank you for this article. I love your approach on how to get more content seen. I feel like I put so much effort into my content, take beautiful photos and really try to write in depth, great entries on my blog. I tried your e-book before, and unfortunately it didn’t really help me. I can’t really find a smooth way to get others to share my content. I don’t know if it’s just me. I feel like my blog is good enough, but I have such a hard time breaking through and actually seeing it with fresh eyes, if my content is even interesting enough to actually stand out. It seems impossible to me. I wish it could’ve helped me, but it didn’t really make a difference. I have been blogging for five years with pretty much no results, it’s my dream, but it’s getting so exhausting because my reader numbers just stay the same.

I would LOVE for spelldesigns.com to link my blog. I blog about boho fashion, I shoot outfit photos, and I’m mostly wearing Spell Designs clothing. I know it would bring me a lot of followers, and that they’d send me relevant readers that would stick around for all the Spell Designs clothing I’m showcasing. It’s my dream to be featured by them.

My second choice is style.disney.com – I absolutely love that website, it’s fashion for true Disney lovers – who, like me, grew up watching Disney movies every day and still love for it to be a part of my life as an adult. I combine my love for Disney with my boho clothes every Friday in a post called “Disney Friday”, and I know it’d bring me traffic being featured by them. Would be amazing to get some more Disney followers.

I think my third and fourth choice would be other bloggers. because they would send me relevant traffic as well. I would love for a Danish blog called christinadueholm.dk to share my blog – she and I have similar topics, like fashion, beauty, pregnancy and motherhood. I feel like a Danish blogger could really give me more readers. She’s amazing and her blog is so honest and clean – always gorgeous well thought out photos in amazing quality – I’m very visual and her blog is just perfect.
The second blogger I’d love to be featured by is Matilda Djerf from nouw.com/matildadjerf. She’s from the the same blogger network/platform as I am, so it’d be easy for her followers to follow me on there, and always get updates when I post content. She’s such a beach boho queen, and we share a similar style. Her photos are out of this world, and her style is bold and gorgoeus.

Kritesh

Hi Derek,
Great post. I have been blogging for some time and completely agree with you. Thanks for sharing the post.

kRISNENDU Mandal

I feel blogging start at when you are in college. Not only blogging also you can start youtube video also. Till now my earning is nothing from blog but I feel happy while I am seeing my readers and viewers increasing day by day. I feels those who are start blogging around 2008 they are now suceed but after 2014 all need to be more patience. It may take time but you should not leave your job. also regularity is important for blogging. Try to post weekly once one post atleast.

Brittany

Hi Derek,

This has to be one of the most useful and straight forward posts I’ve read on blogging. Thank you! After reading, it all seems so obvious. Yet, I find myself making the exact mistakes you mention.

I re-launched my blog in 2016 to write about life in the corporate world as a woman in business. My goal is to help others climb the corporate ladder early and do it well. Some post examples: how to get a significant raise, work with difficult people, gain the recognition you need from senior leaders, how to negotiate, etc. I write content that I wish I knew my first few years in corporate; there definitely isn’t a handbook in this world!

I would love to be recognized by refinery29.com. They have strong content under their work + money link. And then when I try to think of others, I can’t. I mainly follow fashion blogs, photographers, entrepreneurs, success coaches and other creatives on social media – not necessarily readers for my blog. Essentially, anyone in the working world who is career-driven could be interested in the articles I write. I try to create content that’s related to more specific topics, but I still don’t have a solid following besides some loyal family members and friends.

Would love your advice!! Thanks again for the useful tools and advice you’ve already provided.

Best,
Brittany
Girlintheyellowcab.com

Nadine

I started my blog earlier this week – eventually! It is specifically geared towards med students, Doctors, those trying to get into medicine and those with an interest in what the life of a med student is like. My dream would be to get a link from https://barefootmeds.wordpress.com/ as this woman is what inspired me to start my blog and I believe I can create as much as a difference as what she has made to my life.

Ava

Hi Derek,
I found a comment from Julie, who has the same interests as my blog. “I would like to have readers from the following blogs:
theblondesalad.com (top #1 one of the most influential blogs) as well as thriftsandthreads.com, sincerelyjules.com and carolinereceveurandco.com.
Those are all dream blogs for me who is just starting out in this field. I would like to attract also older readers as I am older than those bloggers (but I still feel as young as them) and readers, who are not a size zero and encourage them to wear a style they like. My blog is authentic and not too serious, I don’t have a photographer, i’m doing everything myself.( with the help of my small tripod.
My blog is a few weeks old and I don’t know how to get any followers, I started an Instagram account but even there I have less than 100 followers 🙁
Rgards Ava

Ava

Hi Julie!
so. we are two now… ” would like to have readers from the following blogs:
theblondesalad.com (top #1 one of the most influential blogs) as well as thriftsandthreafts.com, sincerelyjules.com and carolinereceveurandco.com.
Those are all dream blogs for me who is just starting out in this field. I would like to attract older readers as I am older than those bloggers (but I still feel as young as them). ”
I couldn’t have said this better.
What is the web address of your blog? i would like to read it! maybe we can share our experience together!
Regards Ava

Cody

Hey Derek,

To answer your questions: our dream website is http://results-fitness.com/
They are a great gym that has similar qualities to what we do and has things that they are doing that we would love to implement! They also have seen a lot of success with growing a solid clientele base and have a great structure to what they offer.

The other three websites: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/ which is a great company that we use for nutrition guidelines for our current clients! http://factionsc.com/ and http://www.tonyhortonlife.com/. These two websites focus on lifestyle habits and making better people and being involved with them could be huge for us!

Elise

I think you constantly have to be evaluating if what you’re doing is working, and if it’s not, changing what you’re doing to be doing more of what is working and less of what isn’t.

web hosting

you’ve mentioned straightforward answers on to why many people fail and stop blogging.

As its rightly said to see benefit from blogs, one requires patience and proper dedication.

Apart from that one also needs to focus on the right things.

And that working continues on wrong things will give no results.

Soph

Hi,
Great advice. I signed up to get your ebook but I was not redirected to the material or sent it by email.

Cindy Follonier

Thank you a thousand times for this amazing and clear post! I have been looking for all these answers to my questions for a while now and I really cannot thank you enough for your help and honesty! I am realizing that I am making mistakes about always creating more content and not sharing it correctly to potential readers. I won’t give up but definitely have to rethink my strategy! Thank you for this wake up call. It’s just so frustrating when we give our best and know our content is great and would be really useful to so many people but these latter don’t know our blog exists. Now I am. Just wondering if the fact I am blogging about 3 defined subjects is a problem or an advantage? In terms of my dream blog link it would definitely first be http://www.laurenconrad.com and then, http://www.emitaz.com, http://www.buzzfeed.com and http://www.nomadmatt.com. XO, Cindy

Rhea Taylor

This is such an awesome post. But I have a question since I am a new blogger and I’m still confused of my situation. I started my blog mainly because of my love for travel and second is fashion. And named my blog my arms around the world which I should have named it my fashion around the world since I would want to grow the blog as a fashion travel blog being the original plan. Do you think my fashion posts without me traveling affect my traffic? Having confused my readers what is really my niche? Or do you think it is okay since I clearly stated in my blog that it’s going to be a travel and fashion blog at the same time. Appreciate your opinion about this. And the blogs I would love to get a link from are http://www.colormecourtney.com for my obsession in colors and fashion and http://www.alexinwanderland.com for my travel obsession and also from http://www.kryzuy.com for cuteness overload 🙂

Thank you so much!

Charlotte

Great post. I think it’s really helpful to re-affirm these points of blogging that I seem to forget often. My dream site would be the Huffington Post Travel section. Then the others would include Conde Nast Traveller, Lonely Planet & maybe a fellow female blogger such as Alex in Wanderland. Aiming a little big here.

Courtney

Great info and it gave me some insight on how I can better promote my blog thanks for sharing!

Travis Knoll

Thank you so much for writing this article. It couldn’t have come at a better time. I am now in my third year and am going through some sort of midlife crisis with my blog. It’s reassuring and leading articles like this one which help me fine-tune my own approach to blogging. I love what I am doing and I am not reliant on sponsoring in any way but I always thought that this is the ultimate goal. It probably is not. It’s about staying true to yourself and making a difference. I hope to create content that is of value to the reader all the time but giving it my own personal spin because it is after all a blog and not a magazine or a guide book. My biggest frustration is how crowded the space has become, and I only wished it would be easier to reach your audience these days. I also have the feeling there is more browsing and skimming than real engagement and commitment by the reader. Things were different before there was social media. But I guess that’s the situation now and we all just have to deal with it. Thanks again for reminding me to stick to my roots and just try to be the best travel blogger I can be!

Damian Gooley

tinybuddha.com. The site is about sharing our experiences and aiming to make each other happier. As a teacher, I want to help people. That is the bottom line. I want to be able to communicate to more people and help them find the happiness that they’ve lost.

http://www.positivityblog.com – Henrik seems to know quite a lot about how to raise your self-esteem and maintain that happiness. He and I share a goal.

natashatracy.com – I live with someone who also has a mental illness. I have seen how the struggle is very real. The aim of my blog is to help people find their happiness once more and I feel Natasha can help me extend that invitation.

http://www.healthyplace.com – Again the site acts as a means for people to seek help for themselves. I believe the site will help me to share my experiences and listen to those who are in dark place in their life.

Andrew Wise

I agree with your #2. Promoting the wrong way. that I think is really a good waste of time. All got to play right and learn that achieving success ( almost in anything) all need to work smarter, not harder.

Great post!

Cheers!

Janne

Laura, I agree with you 1000%! I KNOW what my problem is, what my hang up is. It’s taking the time to read article after article just like this, hoping that I”‘ll gain a nugget of something useful. The stream of “help” articles is never-ending, though. I’m beginning to think there is no one answer, no magic bullet, and that I should just put my head down and do the work and figure it all out as I go!

    Pat

    Laura, Jaz and Janne,

    I know exactly what you mean guys. It feels like as though every blog that wants to help other bloggers would want to entice us with just about another eBook. It feels as though scavenging the net with practical and good tips will only make us land on the same spiral that leads nowhere.

    In my honest opinion though, blogging really requires dedication and each and every blog takes on their own path to discovery. Traffic eventually happens only when search engine begins to notice you and yes, promotion is very important. But even promotion without $$$ involved is virtually impossible to gain a substantial amount of traffic.

    I hope we all find that path soon and see success.

vinayashree

I completely agree with this post! While it does take a lot of work, it also takes a lot of strategy. Content matters, but if you don’t strategize the way you release the content, it won’t matter at all. No one will see it. It’s posts like these that made my blog so successful…thanks so much for sending out this information!

Stacy

Great article on the Psychological aspect of blogging. It is written so that almost anyone can grasp the concept. I’m in the research phase of starting my own blog, this was so helpful. Thank you, I’m really looking forward to digging into all of the great resources you offer!

Donnell

Hi there! I love your advice and your writing style’s “energy”… So my site started off as a menswear blog column, but I’ve found more interest in blogging about interior and exterior architecture of restaurants, homes, skyscrapers, etc. Don’t get me wrong I do toss fashion in there too. :p

•A dream site: GardenandGun.com (Which would hopefully land me in their magazine)

•Small sites: HowToTalkToGirlsAtParties.Tumblr.com

FECastleberry.com

Dwell.com

Anuradha

Totally agree with the points. I would also like to add one point:
Bloggers shouldn’t quit even after following everything and doing it all “right”. For a lot of bloggers, even after doing everything “as per the books”, success has only come their way after a while. Had they quit before that, they wouldn’t have seen the light of success.

Thanks for the post, Derek! 🙂

Kassi Chapman

Thanks so much for this awesome series! 🙂 I’m Kassi! I’m a new blogger who needs to work on blogging more consistently. I have 10 followers! Yay! Haha. I blog about motherhood, marriage, food, and faith. Also, I don’t know how to put hyperlinks in comments. I tried Googling it but couldn’t figure it out. Sorry! Tell me how? Anyway, here we go!

DREAM: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/parents/

1) http://www.scarymommy.com/
2) http://tatertotsandjello.com/
3) https://whitecamellias.com/

Esther

I feel like this article is heaven sent because i was honestly really getting frustrated. I’ve put in the work but not enough people were noticing. This is the best advice i’ve gotten in my 6 months of blogging. THANK YOU.
My dream websites include;
http://www.styleismything.com She embodies the sophistication and style i aim to reach and i believe her audience would be perfect for my website.
http://Www.thisisess.com This fashion site has the biggest following in my country so far and i’m certain it would drive traffic with similar interest for my content and also brand partnerships.
http://www.silvianjoki.com
http://www.justjoykendi.com

Arna

Derek, I am so glad I found your website. It is informative, engaging, and truly helpful. Most importantly, I discovered it at the perfect time. I am about to start a blog.

Right now, this may change, my one DREAM website I would like a link from is http://www.parenting.com.

The additional three sites that I’d like a link from are http://www.readingrockets.org; http://www.rif.org; and http://www.totallyher.com

Rachel Gomberg

Oh, and I think these websites would help get me readership from the young, artsy, wanderlust demographic that I think would connect with my blog. Not to mention, theblogabroad has featured articles on huffington post and is sponsored by air bnb and other traveling companies. Possibly I could get sponsored?

Joel Savage

Very informative and educative article. I think the standard of reading is rapidly declining too since people are shifting the attention to other things of interest.

Eldar Omerbegovic

This is such a helpful article,I really needed to read this.Thank you

Florence Ki

Super nice read. Very informative and remind me things that I have not work on for such a long time. Been so busy focusing to create content and learning new stuffs about building blogs that I have forgotten to actively drive traffic. Thanks for the reminder.

I would love to get traffic from your site socialtriggers.com to my blog clickwebsuccess.com

The other 3 sites are
KimGarst.com
JeffBullas.com
SocialMediaExaminar.com

You are simply AWESOME. Thank you.

Chandre Jones

I’m a newbie food blogger from sunny South Africa looking to get my special recipes out there. I love to share my content with people who love to cook, bake, travel, eat out, try new products or just enjoy everything food.

My dream site would have to be: I am a food Blog (http://iamafoodblog.com/)
Some other local blogs I would love to share my content are:
*The pretty Blog (http://www.theprettyblog.com/)
* Local milk blog (http://localmilkblog.com/)
*My Darling Lemon Thyme (http://www.mydarlinglemonthyme.com/)

Michael

Good article, Derek! It is like the 80 / 20 rule – 80 percent of the time should be spent promoting the content and 20 percent creating the content.

Sarah

Forbes
Cosmopolitan

Chris

I now understand what you are doing with this series. You are getting the stupid people in the blogging world to follow your lead. Saying you only put out 3 blogs a month and they believe you. What you are really doing is make more space for yourself in all the aspects of blogging. The more people that follow what you say means the less competition you have from all 300,000 or so followers you have. Dude that’s a lot of f-ing people you have gotten to stop blogging really really smart wrong but smart.

Marko Mikes

Hi Derek,

I agree with this strategy and the idea that distribution is equally important as content creation. I like to call it S4S, shout out 4 shout out because this is indeed what it is. You are getting helped and you will return the favor sooner or later.

Nice read,

Tnx,

Marko

Jessica McClain

Yea you’re right. 200,00 was inaccurate. Social Triggers has over 300,000 subscribers. The guy is a genius.

Eva

Thank you for your advices

Main website // http://www.ellentv.com // because I absolutely love her works and I appreciate her as a person

http://www.cosmopolitan.com
http://www.google.com
http://www.forbes.com

I would really like them to link to my blog; http://www.veuvenoire.wordpress.com

Seun

Cosmopolitan.com – because who doesn’t read Cosmo?

Youbeauty.com – because as a loyal follower, I love what they always have to say and they will, of course, have other loyal followers who’d respect what yb have to say.

Vogue – vogue is nationally acclaimed

A cup of jo – because I love Jo

Abbe

Great tactic for this blog post but also great content for us bloggers 🙂

I would like http://www.bodybuilding.com to link to my site :o)

For smaller sites: http://www.mischajaniec.com hmm can’t remeber other url’s :p

My old school natural bodybuilding blog: http://www.wayofthestrong.com

Zsofia Daniel

Hi Derek,

thanks for this post! I was wondering so much about what am I doing wrong (no, I didn’t quit after 3 month, but I also wasn’t strategic). So thank you again for writing this.

So my dream website would be MyModernMet (mymodernmet.com). I’d love to be featured because it is one of the most known blogs regarding contemporary art.

The others are more practical I suppose, as they are written by people who have actually made it in the business already. They are:
– Red Hong Yi (http://www.redhongyi.com/) : She is a visionary artist, who is very much into large installations and trying out new techniques. I think it would help me to be featured, because she has a large group of followers and she is not a photographer, therefore it would show that she genuinely see value in my work.
– Brook Shaden (www.promotingpassion.com) : Brook is a fine art photographer (one of the few who actually teaches about fine art photography), but now on the edge to try out new things. Her featuring my work would be a huge step ahead, as it would show what we are both passionate about.
– Reylia Slaby (http://www.reyliaslaby.com/): Reylia is also a fine art photographer, who became well known only last year. So her sharing my would open it up to a newly active audience.

AISHANI PHUKAN

Very informative post. I recently started a fashion blog. It’s really important to be unique and consistent 🙂

Ashley

Well, I’m overwhelmed.

Nitin

Hi…Great article Derek.. It’s very informative and helpful for blogger, not only for new blogs but for old blogs also. I am also running a fashion weblog since 4 months and is working on building more traffic towards my website. The website is not a specific blogger’s website, rather it is a common platform for all fashion and lifestyle bloggers. They can either blog through collaborations or can submit guest post.
We are very keen to get mentioned in some of the famous and most read fashion magazines in our country (India) and around the world.
For us our Dream Website is http://www.vogue.in/
Love 1 Website: http://www.femina.in/
Love 2 Website: http://www.harpersbazaar.com/
Love 3 Website: http://elle.in/

Jeffrey M

I once ran the social media and marketing division for a startup. I used other tactics but this is what I missed. I thought the “autopost” feature was my best friend because it helped me send the same untargeted content to a lot of people. Thank you Derek.

deepa

Thank you so much for sharing great article. The main reason behind this Less traffic and other no proper monetization. Blogger require continuous motivation to write good content and work every day. Once Bloggers find right ways there are more likely to change blog success.

Scott

I completely agree with your number three. There is way too much crap out there and it all says the same thing. Mine is largely the same. The only thing (which you have figured out) is to sell shovels to the gold rush. Whether it exists or not doesn’t matter. It’s no coincidence that there are so many blogs sitting around doing nothing and making no money that are centered on: self published authors, personal finance, SEO, internet marketing, WordPress themes, etc. That’s because people were smart enough to blog about, “how to do ….” and sell them all of the potential information and products available. I wish I would have done the same.

Sean Vandenberg

Thanks, Derek – you’re totally right. And it’s hard to see (and accept) that when you WANT BIG RESULTS NOW, NOW, NOW!

…Niche yourself. Good example about the 45-year-old cross-fit niche. I mean, who is going to read Joe Blow’s “Fitness Blog” – when there’s a gazillion better (debatable – but well known, nonetheless), more established ones out there?

All goes back to audience. A simple concept, but not so often established prior to building your site, writing content and copy, and blogging.

Good inspiration here. Thanks!

– Sean

Meaghan Stevenson

Great post! Bloggers fail because they didn’t execute properly ,you have to treat your business like a media company and ideas are crap and Execution is the game.. to succeed!

Nijinsha

Great post! thanks for this amazing post. Actually its the first time i am visiting your blog. It looks amazing!

zafar ali

Good post amazing thanks.

Joep van der Poel

Great post and some very helpful and actionable tips. Very often we just think if we just write this # of articles everything will be okay. Getting high-quality content out there, that is unique, stands out and coupled with a solid promotion strategy is imperative for getting noticed.

Sharing on social media for your family is nice to get some early feedback, but they are most likely not your target audience and thus it will not get you really far.

Thanks again for sharing!

Mikołaj Baczyński

There are pretty obvious reasons, but reasons like this are the easiest to ignore. Anywat good article. Thanks 🙂

Natalie

Hi Derek,

I recently began a blog about camping with kids. I would love to get shouts from:

http://www.realsimple.com – huge lifestyle mag that has the readership that I’m looking for
http://www.acupofjo.com – again, great style/culture readership with focus on parenting and experience, and an appreciation of quality
http://thepioneerwoman.com – the right readership (I believe) of people who love good food, good times, and might be intrigued to get outside
http://www.pbfingers.com – a mom blogger focused on healthy living would have a good readership for my blog

Thanks again for the post.

Maja Tisma

Hi Derek! Thanks so much for sharing this. I have a hair care blog and my dream website to be featured on is Cosmopolitan. They are a worldwide known fashion/beauty site and I would love to make a contribution there since I think that would benefit their audience. Other great website I want to be connected to are Total Beauty, Amazingy and Style Craze. These are the world’s largest beauty community with a lot of great info, best writers/experts and they are really inspiring. For now I have guest posted on 5-6 blogs, and I am very happy that there are people who still want to connect and help a new blogger to spread the word. But from larger websites I even don`t get a reply and I know they offer only sponsored posts, but most of the times they even don`t want to reply to my email which is frustrating.

Caroline

Hi Derek,

Love this post and completely agree! I just started my blog about 2 weeks ago and am still trying to find my voice. I do know I want to share stories, tips and recommendations on how to live a balanced life through self empowerment, health and indulging every once in a while.

Dream Site: Entrepeneur
Love #1: Tone It Up – http://www.toneitup.com
Love #2: A Cup of Jo – http://www.cupofjo.com
Love #3: Tracy’s New York Life – http://www.tracysnewyorklife.com

Thanks so much for the advice!

Caroline
Love Sweat Mangia!

uju

So google dragged me this way while i was searching for something else… and i’m glad it did. I’m going to skip your call-to-action at the bottom of your very informative post because my current blog is (and has always been) about finding and honing my voice. So far i think i’m succeeding 🙂
Still I’d like to branch out into something different in a new site. Your posts have been helpful especially concerning choosing a specific niche in a sea of them– which i have on lock-down. I’ll be keeping your advice close to heart when i eventually venture out with this new project.

I do have a question though: Does running a blog on an alias (if i want to maintain anonymity) affect the credibility of the information i release?

Wini

Hi Derek

Thank you for your enlightening blog post. I am exactly feeling all the negative emotions about blogging like you said – it’s been almost a year and 0 comments and readers. I realized I did a lot of things wrong and I’m just getting a new template. The amount of time I use to work on it is unbelievable. It will be so depressing to think that it’s all amount nothing.
But I’m not giving up…
My blog is w-a-f-l.blogspot.com
My dream is for it to be reviewed in my favourite magazine as teenage (still love it) GOGIRL! Mag
Also would love my articles to be shared by my most beloved travel blogger nomadicmatt.com
Another will be somekind of media acknowledgement from a very inspiring Indonesian Entrepreneur and senior blogger dianarikasari.blogspot.com
And get some kind of recognition from my all time favourite Indonesian Actor / Traveller – Nicholas Saputra.

Rachel

Hey Geoff,

Thanks for that information. I have not even hit the three month mark and I know I won’t suffer burn out. I agree with what your state about writing content. As my first post went out, I got some great advice about writing one post a week. At first I thought I was getting shonky advice, but 10 weeks down the track, with much research on what I must do to become a success in my niche and I feel like one hell of a lucky person to have gotten such excellent advice.

I am still struggling with marketing, but I also think, take one step at a time, I am in this for the long haul so finding my own style will take a little bit of tweaking, but I am in no hurry.

Because I am a newby to most social media platforms I decided to write a post to other new bloggers because I certainly know how I feel. And I landed on your blog (thank goodness) as I will use your link to back up my first statement. Thanks for the great advice.

Rachel.

Freda

I run a lifestyle blog, > TheFredaLee.wordpress – mainly for 20 somethings, since I am 20 something myself. I also write for SimplyOloni.com > Mainly sex and relationships.

My dream site to write for is Forbes…
My top three are:

1.Tiny Buddha
2. Zen habits
3. The huffington post.

Aye

Hi. I love this post so much. It’s an eye-opener to those people who wants to make their blog successful.

Janice Wald

Hi,
Thanks for the article.
Dream website to get link from: Jon Morrow’s Boost Blog Traffic
Second dream website to get link from: Sue Anne Dunlevie’s Successful Blogging

Tiffany

My website is 3 months old with hardly any traffic, sometimes I feel like I’m at a dead end, but I never thought of resigning, >_< and your right, with the social media sharing, it doesn't do much =_=. It's only a helping hand for people who are already reading your content.

Travis

How many monthly page views do you consider not to be a failure? I just reached 1,000 just before being live for one month. I know 1,000 isn’t superb but for the first month I thought that was pretty good

Santanu

I think a must read article for a newbie. Most beginners expect too much than actual hard work they put. It require hard work, dedication, patience and huge learning ability to make a blog successful.

Shawn

Thanks for this excellent advice and great info Derek! I am already making use of it on my own blog site.

Chanel Hunterr

I LOVEEE this article. I just have started my Miami Lifestyle blog “Cosmos on Collins- the Miami review” and have struggled in ways to market myself (surprisingly because I’m such a social media guru). With that being said, this article has some very true points that I should look into, especially having someone feature me on theirs. Thank you for the advice!!

Favorites:
saltyandchic.com
instagram.com/thenewblackmiami

Mimi

I would love love love to get a referral from Zoella.com, but that’s an unlikely and distant dream, so alternatively I would love to get one from this blog or ellagracedenton 🙂

    Courtney

    Aw I like Zoella too…where can I see your blog?

Robin

(This is the comment I meant to publish!)

Thanks for this article!

For the first bit of homework, I’d LOVE to get a shoutout from The Balanced Blonde because I feel like the theme of her lifestyle blog, balance, is consistent with mine, happiness. My blog is a lifestyle blog that combines many aspects of a young, university aged population. These are the people who read her blog.

For the second bit, I would love a shoutout from ohmyhomemade because of the lifestyle she lives. I feel I can relate to all of her posts. I would also love a shoutout from Wonderland because their theme is again, an overarching theme that is consistent with mine! Finally, I would absolutely love to get a shoutout from howtoglow because I really enjoy their style of writing and the people they feature on their blog. Their blog is very appealing to the eye and I love the concept of doing everything to help “glow” from the inside out.

Robin

    Dick

    Fabulous read!!! We seem to connect on so many levels. If I didn’t know better, I’d feel as though you were tracing my thoughts and my every move! HA-HA…silly me… That almost sounds “stalkerish”💀

    It’s a shameful how some “bloggers” have no morals or boundaries… In fact, I think (no, I’m sure) your followers/fans would see a side of you that select few have!

    As for me, I have always advocated for treating each other with respect. Above all, appreciating that we’re all entitled to personal privacy. And that includes all aspects of our lives…

    Straight or gay, short or tall including all big or small…White, brown, black, but on this we differ, and that’s a fact… You attack, you hack, your lips spew smack, watch yourself there’s no turning back. Blog to this, let’s see how you react💻

Joshua Byram

Dream website: AskMen.com, because I they are a solid website with international appeal that I’ve been following for sometime. I’d like to target a primarily male audience interested in business and self-improvement between the ages of 18-35.
3 other websites:
Addicted2success.com, for the same demographic, it has great content and a good following. I also respect Joel Brown the founder.
Stevepavlina.com for the same reasons as a as addicted2success
And on this site as well

Yatin

What a lovely and inspiring post, Deren.
I really love your two points
Devoting less time on content in the beginning with less readers
My blog is in beginning stages right now. In this short phase only, I have experienced dull and bright moments. I will definitely keep your 80:20 in mind.
Me too blog problem
That’s why I thought of making an untraditional self-improvement blog where I connect things in a easy peasy manner.
My dream blog : http://tinybuddha.com/ . Lori is my first inspiration. She is like a virtual mentor to me. She doesn’t know me but I have gained a lot from her. Her story is very uplifting

Love #1
http://www.shoutmeloud.com/ When I thought of making my blog, I didn’t know about anything about blogging. I came to know about this blog, where Harsh simplifies the rules of blogging in a simple manner.
Love #2
http://fractalenlightenment.com/
I love their articles. They are bunch of wonderful people who shares wonderful things. Their posts are bombarded with great information.
Love #3
http://www.aha-now.com/
It is a blogging community where bloggers help each other. Harleena and other members are very friendly and supportive. I have made lovely connections over here

Brianna Kinsley

Hi Derek,

Thank you for writing this article, and for giving such on point homework. Literally everything you wrote is exactly what is happening with my efforts. I am helping a small aviation simulation company called True Course Simulations that is trying to get off the ground by running their social media and content. It’s been 6 months and not much is going on. Anyway, on to the homework.

1.) Dream website – lockheedmartin.com
-We use their software as a platform for our simulations so being featured in some way by them would strengthen future relations. They are a leader in technology innovation, and if we could get a shout out from them we would be seen as trustworthy, innovative, and problem solvers.

Other sites…
2.) pilotsource.net
Eric who runs the site is a reputable pilot with a diverse network and experience. He is also a flight instructor who is interested in educating his students well which is our focus, and he values relationships which is a plus when it comes to getting a shout out.

3.)aerosavvy.com
The site is run by a pilot who is in the trenches daily. He is funny, has an engaged audience, and an active blog. Also, he is very receptive to comments as we have already had a small conversation on Facebook.

4.)generalaviationnews.com
This website is a huge resource for pilots. They feature their blog posts on their homepage which is a plus for getting noticed and feature guest posters. They have an engaged audience across their social media and would give a ton of credibility to what we’re doing at True Course.

Aviation is an industry that I’m not very familiar with, but really trying to understand. They seem like a really tight knit group which can be great for word of mouth.

Any thoughts?

-Brianna

Lilian

Hi Derek! Thanks so much for sharing this. Though part of me is nervous to even be writing this, the other part is ready to leap into the blog world and take on feedback. I joined last year but wasn’t really active in writing until the last 6 months. Noticing that I didn’t have too many readers, I am now doing my part to learn about promotion. However, you mentioned being specific and I’m not quite sure where to go. I just love writing about things that inspire me, but what category will that really be in?

I would love to hear from the following:
http://www.kellehampton.com/
http://getbusylivingblog.com/
http://iamafoodblog.com/

I don’t have a dream blog because I really like a lot of blogs and they’re all different focuses. Everyone is just awesome 🙂
Thanks, Derek.

– Lilian

babyghost

Hi Derek,
Great post!
Today i started blogging:) I will give you acces to my great blog : babyghostroadtosucces.wordpress.com

There is one thing i wondered, why is it so much important to get results fast??
If a person really enjoys blogging, and being honest with the contents, than it doesn’t the matter if it get fast results right?
I think you are right in some way. For newbie bloggers who wants to become famous and rich, they will eventually fail because they don’t enjoy the process genuinely . They will give up because the real spirit isn’t there.

    Alan

    I blog on my personal blog not specifically to get readers but to record what I discover.

    That said, if you get close to zero readers, when you are writing stuff that can be useful to many readers, you are doing the world a dis-service.

    The problem is, how to you get what is really useful out there to the people that really need it. You can’t rely on Google to do that for you with out a bit of help.

SamanthaWarner

I am going to be featured on the NY Times.

David Walters

Thanks Derek! As a wedding photographer I was doing the “wedding of” posts and notifying people on social media. I hardly get any comments and now realise why. I have been researching blogging techniques and this has been one of the most informative articles out there.

Caitlin Reyna

Well after reading this post (which was insanely enlightening) I realized I need to focus more on blogging about jewelry instead of random content that I think may attract my target market. Thank you Derek!!!!

Now as for the homework:

1) I would love to get a small feature from InStyle magazine (you did say shoot for the starts). This magazine has the same target market as me, and traffic from their magazine/website would be HUGE!

2) Somethingnavy.com- now this may also be shooting for the stars a little bit because she is one of the most popular fashion bloggers in the US. However, I absolutely love her style and blog posts. She has over 300,000 followers on Instagram alone, so any traffic driven from her website or social media platform is huge!

WithlovefromKat.com- she is also one of my favorite fashion bloggers. Out of all the bloggers out their, she is the closest to my own style. I think sharing the same sense of style is important cause it shows we are trying to market to the same target market.

Glitterguide.com- this website features different designers and artists in their own element. It’s a more behind the scenes type piece, but I love how they give brands so much exposure. Also, their readers use GlitterGuide.com to learn about new companies. I think this would be a great marketing platform for me!

Overall, I have a lot of work to do to get traffic to my blog. Thank you Derek for being so straightforward and original! I have been researching how to improve my blog for months now, and your article is the only one that stood out and made sense!

Kenneth Phair

Hi Derek,
Love the advice. I have been guilty of this and had to learnt he hard way. I do not know if this is the best advice, but I built a blog and talk about anything and everything. As long as it is useful information. We even have guest writers do it and we make sure they are offering something of value.

Lately we have been doing reviews for companies as well as rating things. We now have over 100 advertisers and I think my method for promotion was someway odd but helpful.

I did postcard mailings, went door to door in my local state and passed out door hangers. We printed 4,000 and went around and did grassroots marketing to promote it.

I am generating money form ads as well as revenue for doing reviews. We do an average of $65 per review and have charged upwards of $300. On top of that the companies send us fee product in the mail. We are not rich by any means but we started this about 4 months ago and are regularly making about $700-$800 a week in revenue.

We do not do PPC ads or searches and still do postcard marketing mailers and door hangers. If it works why change it? May not be the most elaborate way to market but we are happy with the results.

Hopefully this will help other people as I quit my job and work at home full time doing this to grow this even more. I only have a GED, no college and just have a passion for what I do. If I can do it anyone can.

Tom Hofman

Great post Derek, thanks for sharing! This really has been an eye opener for me!

Leah

I just started my blog a few weeks ago and love it so far. The article opened my eyes regarding content promotion. For me it is still a bit early and I will focus more on content creation. I think it all depends at what stage you are.

Of course I follow my “competitors” or better inspirational blogs and love what they are doing. It is sometimes really hard to look at all this beautiful content. The top bloggers a content machines and seem never to run out of ideas and wonderful photography.

My top 3 blogs I would like to get a shout out from is – they are photography based – run by asian girls and combine beautiful lifestyle and fashion.

http://www.garypeppergirl.com – This is one of my favourite websites. Beautiful photography and very inspirational. It always seems that life is just a colourful bunch of flowers, sunset paired with stunning looks and expensive fashion.

http://www.fabulous-femme.com – A great blog with wonderful photography. Love the travel posts and there are a lot of Melbourne based posts I can relate with. Down to earth – beautiful – just fabulous!

http://www.shinebythree.com – Another photography / fashion blog … lots of travel & the latest fashion.

Ah well. When I see all this stunning photography I think that I first need to take a photography course before I can start blogging.

Muhammad asghar

Hey Derek,
It seems you fully understand the psychology of blogging.
I am planning on developing a psychology website(in wordpress). I am an online entrapreneur so i can manage the SEO stuff. I would really appreciate you advice on how do i need to focus on specific things rather than trying to talk about the whole field of psychology and ending up with a site going no where?

Iris

I’m a mixed media artist and I had already realised that doing that in a profitable way is 25% ‘being a mixed media artist’ and 75% doing strategic marketing things. I LOVE the tip about getting content you have already created seen by more people. So simple and actionable! I downloaded your free PDF and can’t wait to have a look at it and hopefully find more tips for strategies to implement.

Gilbert

Fantastic advice, Derek!

I’m guilty of the three time wasters that you point out. One of things that I find challenging is keeping up with the blogging, especially when there doesn’t seem to be a lot of ‘bang for my buck’- time is my buck, in this case.

My blog is http://www.digitup.com.au/blog/ which, believe it or not, is a blog about tools that can be used to dig up dinosaurs and archaeological artefacts. I’ll follow your advice and see if I can get some fossil forums / archaeology discussion boards making links to it. I think its really good and smart advice. Fingers crossed.

All the best 🙂

Mike

This has got my mind working already. I feel lucky that I already know what type of blog I want and I think I’ve got a pretty good start on it. And I feel confident that I will not grow tired of writing or become discouraged any time soon. In fact I am looking forward to writing history articles for the rest of my life.

My blog is classicHistory.net – Its a blog about inspiring stories all throughout history.
So to answer your question, here are the blogs I would love to see recommend my site:

theHistoryBlog.com – This is my #1 choice. I don’t think he writes his own content but he finds really interesting articles every day.

mrMoneyMustache.com – I love this blog, even though it is in a different category than my site. I would like to see him take an interest in personal finance from a historical point of view.

History.com – I’m sure there are people that have been watching the history channel for years and I know if they liked my blog they would stop by my site for years too.

Any international travel advisory site – I write articles about historical events from all over the world. It would be really cool if some locals would take notice.

Courtney

Hi Derek,

I really like this post and I’m sure it’s helping so many people.
But, I followed everything you said and I get NO comments on my blog, not even one comment on any of my posts. My blog is 2 months old, so do you think that has something to do with it? If so, when will I start getting comments? I also only get 24-30 page views on my blog each day.

Oh and one more thing…I don’t have a Twitter account so I can’t get more traffic from that. I know people have gotten millions of people to find their blog with Twitter, Pinterest, or Facebook, but I have no idea how!
Thank you anyway for this post 🙂

    Courtney

    *I meant WITHOUT Twitter, Pinterest, or Facebook 😛

      Courtney

      Derek, I stopped following your advice two days ago. My blog pageviews went from 24-280 in two days!

      So obviously your advice does not work for everyone, Mr. Not-So-Smarty pants 😛

fitsters

This post was so helpful! thanks for sharing these smart tips! I write with my sister about fitness for girls who want to get started into CrossFit 🙂

Cynthia Hanson

The best website I could DREAM of being linked to is one at which the news and, or feeds of the latest franchises for children nationally or internationally are posted about and sometimes commented on. Because my blog, like my website, and franchise I am in the process of creating with novels, picture books, and novelizations of my movies. My movies are released to DVD and are in the family, fantasy, and sci-fi genres and all are animated and typically rated G. My franchise is aimed at children and general audiences at best. So people who have children and are interested in taking note of the latest in the news of franchises friendly to them would certainly be the best I could DREAM of to reach my targeted audience. Additionally, I sincerely would prefer it to be a “safe” website at which I am more assured my “intellectual property” and copyrights cannot be ripped off in any way. After all, I deserve respect for what I do and create.

The three additional websites I’d love to be linked to are as follows:
1. A prime website for posts and updates on the latest breakthroughs in atheist’s media and speaking out against religion. The reason is because I am an atheist helping the atheist community grow and develop with my franchise in the addition of aiming it at general audiences and children.
2. A happy, fun, and possibly colorful website at which many parents and teachers, and other such come to view latest and often the best new information available on helping to raise children in happy and healthy ways. Especially an atheist-oriented one. Because my franchise is aspiring to help this cause, particularly with children with more special needs.
3. A site at which only “movie buff” audiences come to view the latest inside scoops on franchises of movies, and things related to them in the making. Because this can help me feel more vibrant in my working toward getting my products put out well and effectively so. Also, preferably one which is reputed as a “safe haven” where I do not need to fear being ripped off of in any way whatsoever.

Robert Olszak

Derek,

I am researching blogging in an effort to decide whether or not I want to enter this space. Your narrative offered some real practical insights that has helped to remove some of the clutter previously presented in other articles. I especially liked how you linked human psychology to the reasons why the flame of inspiration is quickly distinguished and motivation is reduced to nothing more then smoldering ashes, choking the will and desire out of the blogger.

I am still on the fence about whether I should jump into this large pond. I don’t wish to add to the senseless dribble that clogs the information highway. I am beginning a leadership start-up, pursuing writing a book and the thought of creating a website crossed my mind; thinking it would be an advantageous way to build a following.

To this end, I enjoyed all the comments from those with far more experience than myself. Once again, your insights are words to chew on and digest. I thank you for your transparency and candor. I will continue to check-in to see what other advice you have to offer on this subject. Any other feedback to steer me one direction or the other is appreciated.

Sydney

DREAM: Allie Brosh of “Hyperbole and a Half”

1. Rebecca Woolf of “Girls Gone Child”

2. Kate Inglis of “Sweet Salty”

3. Alice Bradley of “Finslippy”

I want this sooooo badly…

Peggy

Hi Derek,

I recently “quit” my online coaching business for frazzled women. I’m a 2014 B-School graduate. I realized I was building the wrong business *for me.* At the core of my being I’m a writer and nature photographer (flowers and butterflies mostly) So when I quit, I went back to my blog where I started and made so many mistakes but now I’m armed with knowledge from B-School, Social Triggers, Copy Blogger, and Boost Blog Traffic.

1. I’m blogging less. A lot less. In fact, I’ve had a little over 800 visitors to my blog since May 15 ish. The article that brought them in was probably my best yet for my personal blog. It also just published on Huffington Post yesterday.

2. I’ve made some really good connections in the past few years. My in at Huffington Post is really helpful and I’m now learning how to leverage that (thanks Jon Morrow and Marie Forleo)

3. I don’t want to be another “Just like me” blog. While I write about every day topics – divorce, fear, being alone, yoga, meditation – I’m counting on what I’ve learned to stand out from the white noise.

Back in February (before I learned what I know now) I published an article in Huffington Post which got a wink and a nod from don Miguel Ruiz and republished via BrightStar Events. That was MAJOR and I had nothing to follow up that success with. Nope. I had no idea how to leverage it. Sigh.

Going forward, I would love, love, love the following blogs to link to a future blog post:

MarieForleo.com

Jon Morrow at Boostblogtraffic.com

Yoga Journal at yogajournal.com

and one more, Martha Beck at marthabeck.com

Kam Kay

Thanks for sharing some great tips about why most bloggers fail in achieving up to their potential. Each and every point you made is so true for many bloggers. Only if we would narrow down the niche, it would have the exact targeted audience, generating great results.

brunette

My boyfriend sent me this article a day after I had a conversation with him about how I was about to give up my fashion blog since I wasnt seen any results. I’m glad he did because I’m guilty of every single point you make in here. Loved it and plan on follow you to learn more.

As a fashion blogger, my dream shout out would be from http://www.cupcakesandcashmere.com. She is one of the most dedicated bloggers I follow. Her content is good, but her promotional ways are better. She used to work for Yahoo until she gained enough followers/money to quit her job and blog for a living. She is my inspiration. : )
I would also love for http://www.garancedore.fr to give me a shout out. Another great blogger who clearly knows what she is doing – she has been featured in numerous magazines and other blogs too.
Why I think this would help me? Their followers are loyal. They have tremendous influence and credibility in the fashion blog industry.

Darlene Butts

I have been writing a blog with inspirational content for two years at http://www.darlenebutts.com and I am looking for a tribe and an audience for my books. The number of followers is growing but very slowly. Top influencer for me would be Oprah as she is the top in inspirational connections. But I would also be honored to be promoted by Glennon Melton at Momastery (http://www.momastery.com) who I love or Mastin at the Daily Love Blog or Marie Forleo all unique and inspirational. So how do I get connected to people like these to send readers my way?

JP

Derek,
Laser focused article demystifying the secrets to blowing up blogs.
Dream website would be http://www.boundless.org. Other links would be stellar author blogs sites.

Norma

Great article – thanks. Definitely food for thought and I’ll be taking your advice! Although I have only been blogging for a very short time over on http://www.daisylovesdesign.com I can absolutely identify with what you are saying. As I love design and enjoy writing, I thought just going through the motions of putting together some good posts on the things that inspire me would be enough. Not so, I’m starting to lose motivation knowing that so little traffic is actually coming my way and reading my posts.

So taking your advice and doing my homework, the no. 1 dream website that I would love to get a link to would be:

Design Sponge – http://www.designsponge.com/
Love the content and visit regularly for inspiration. This blog covers a very large and general range of ‘lifestyle’ content. It has been around for a while and has a readership that I can only dream about. A shout out from them would be like winning the lottery!

The Design Files – http://thedesignfiles.net/
This one is a home/lifestyle blog a bit closer to home. It is Australian based but the content has broad cross-over appeal for NZ readers also. I would love to get a shout out from them as I have long been a reader and admirer of the founder whose story I can identify with. I like to think that the type of readers she has would probably also be interested in what I write about.

Gardenista – http://www.gardenista.com/
As the same suggests, this is garden/landscape focused (as is my blog). Leveraging of the extremely popular Remodelista blog, Gardenista blogs in the same territory as I do. However, Gardenista is more garden and gardening related, whereas mine is more about landscape inspired design, art and products. We could happily complement each other.

The Design Chaser – http://www.thedesignchaser.com/
This one is a Scandi inspired NZ lifestyle/home blog that has a fantastic local readership as well as overseas. A completely different focus to me, but her readers are definitely the same ones I want to target locally.

It has definitely been a useful exercise doing this – thanks again.

Sophia Chang

For Sophia Chang, Storybranding Genius I’d love to get featured here, natch, and by Marie Forleo.

For http://www.sexmoneyuniversity.com, I’m aiming for xojane because they like the same snappy style, and 1) mindbodygreen 2) Tiny Buddha 3) Cosmo

Jessica

Thank you for posting this!!! I’ve been working on a few strategies to get more followers to my site. Ever since I re-branded it’s been an uphill battle, especially promoting it on Facebook (for obvious reasons and unfortunate changes with algorithms)

Your advice has been noted 🙂

Cheers!

Jules Galloway

Thanks for your advice. I’ve hit a plateau recently and this will help to take things up a notch.
Ok, so my Dream Website is http://marieforleo.com – she’s incredibly influential and a shoutout from her would be a killer endorsement indeed.
3 other websites that I’d love to get a link from are http://www.jessainscough.com/
http://www.womenshealthandfitness.com.au/
http://thedesignfiles.net/ (they have a foodie section)
I’ve chosen all these because my target audience for my eBooks would read these blogs. Plus, they all have a very engaged following.
Right – I’m off to make a list of 10 bloggers to approach that I’ve previously thought were a little out of my league! Time to get noticed 🙂

rodayomar

I would love to be recognized by artistsnetwork.com. they seem to have a good following and would add to my prestige as an artist.
Also, i would love to be recognized on etsy.com because i have a shop there. Donald Trump.com is a great place to be recognized because of his opulence and his world stage My brand could go far. Finally, if i got recognized by TMZ.com as having entered into the celebrity living room or wardrobe with my art would be an honor in any way, shape or form.

Momma Bish

Fabulous blog!
My Dream Site: http://www.parents.com
Dream (but within reach):
http://www.scarymommy.com/
… and I need to think of two more

Nancy Lowell

The theme of my blog Chef’s Last Diet is about embracing a love of real, good, simple food. I blog twice a week (with an occasional extra post) once is a recipe, once a more learning focused blog. i.e. last week I wrote about the demonization of gluten.
Blogs I would love to have refer people to me:
http://smittenkitchen.com
http://www.12tomatoes.com
http://www.whatkatieate.com
Thanks!!

Beth Brubaker

I’ve been writing a blog consistently for years now and I have a fan base of 43. I’m a Christian Inspirational Humorist, and post weekly about the joys and frustrations of being an at-home mom. I’ve recently been encouraged to start adding videos to my blog (my first video was shown at a Christian writer’s conference!), so I’m considering it- though writing and making people laugh is what I love to do.

1 dream- http://www.klove.com. This is a Christian radio station that LOVES to laugh! They have a large, multi-state fan base, and I could promote books and videos and also do live ‘spots’ on their radio station to get my name well known.

Godtube.com. This is more of a video posting site, but many Christians go these for clean humor. The posts are free, so it would be fertile ground for blog growth via video credits (giving the links to my site and blog at the end of the video or in it during the video).

themominitiative.com. Older moms helping younger moms. Many of my posts are funny, but also teach- this would be a good fit for my work and can drive a younger audience to my site and blog.

focusonthefamily.com. this site has a HUGE fan base and was a competitor for the 1-dream spot above- though this would be more writing based than video based, they do promote blog posts- as long as they are teaching something.

I have been told by my readers that I have a great voice- one that can make you laugh within the tears, yet enough humility and humanity to make people think a little deeper. I’ve been told I have a lot of potential, but I’ve been doing EXACTLY what you say not to do (see No-No rule #2), and am not at all savvy with the media world. What I lack in knowledge is killing my promoting skills online- yet if were face to face I could sell you your own pen!
So getting the desired fan base would take me just a little longer than my own lifetime, had I started in my embryonic state.

Soooo…any advice for me? 🙂

Christine

Interesting article, but I guess I’m strange. I’ve been blogging for almost 10 years. I blog for myself, not for the following I’ll get. It’s my online journal. I share, if someone likes it and comments, great, if not, great. I wonder if this “new” blogging style has come about because people have seen some get popular and make money? Kind of reminds me of the kids in the inner city thinking they’ll make the big time and live on easy street as a famous football player because they’ve seen a few do it and of course, they’ll be the next…doesn’t make sense to me.

Amy

This was a great blog!! Thanks for the advice.

I just started a blog (along with a ton of other people I’m sure) but I’m doing it for me. I post a lot on social media (as it’s my job) so I am doing it to not post as often so I’m not spamming my friends with stuff they don’t care about. I’m a 26 year old who just built a house and I want to blog about the challenges my boyfriend and I had to deal with.

1 DREAM website that I would LOVE to get a link from would have to be, Young House Love (www.younghouselove.com)

3 other websites that I would also LOVE to get a link from would be…
1. Estée Button (www.essiebutton.com)
2. Iowa Girl Eats (www.iowagirleats.com)
3. BlogHer (www.blogher.com)

Christina (Sisters Running the Kitchen)

this article is very interesting…every thing you said that ppl should do..I have done. [palm in the face] haha. the question is how do you get this blogs to link you… hmmmm

also… my sister and i have a blog together….basically its about running and cooking…which is kinda…generic.. but i don’t know how to narrow it down more…

blog i woud love to link me (dream blog) is Hungry Runner Girl

other blogs I would love… carrots n cake, nyc running mama, shut up and run

Alan

Great bit of homework.

Being technical in nature, I have been playing with blogs for years, mainly as a technical exercise and and a way of testing SEO ideas.

Now I have my own business that actually sells services to real people, then its time to knuckle down to actually try and make our blog an effective part of our marketing strategy.

The first question about the DREAM website that you would LOVE to get a link from, the SEO in my would first think about the most authoritative (in Googles algortithm) website I could find – but that would be wrong, what I actually would NEED it the website that attracts a large volume of my target clients.

This is more complex than it sounds, actually understanding what are your ideal clients is a task, and then working out which sites they go to is hard.

So being UK based reaching for the sky, it probably would be
https://www.gov.uk/browse/business/setting-up

The next three
http://www.smallbusiness.co.uk/
http://www.bgateway.com/
http://www.smarta.com/

I think I covered the why – my target clients are likely to be frequenting these sites and any sort of referral from them to me would be quality traffic.

It is a thought provoking exercise, as to ‘reach for the sky’ would seem initially impossible. However, turn it on its head and ask ‘what are those sites looking for’ and it might not be quite so impossible!

Mariah

I started my blog in April and I thought to get more viewers I had to produce as much content as I could. I knew I wanted to get into fashion but I was going all over the place. And I totally understand your point about how its not about how much content you produce but how your promoting the content you already have. What’s the point of a post if nobody but your mom is reading it.

I guess to help me stand out a little is to focus solely on fashion and specifically targeting the college students out there who can’t afford 10,000 bags and have to learn how to stay stylish on a budget.

The brand and website it would be a dream to work with would be All Saints, and some other brands I’d love to work with would be Steve Madden, H&M, Forever 21.

Thanks so much for your advice. I could seriously take all the help I can get 🙂

Christie Martin

My dream website to get a mention from would ofcourse be Vogue. I mean is there really an explanation needed? Seeing my name and blog being mentioned by Vogue would be like the Queen giving me and OBE! Who else better to promote your sense of style and blogging than the style elites of the worldddd!

Another blog i would live to get a mention from would be The Beauty Crush! I am sure we have all heard of her but how great is she?! Started from the bottom and now has grown into this guru for girls and boys any age. My exact goal!

Tania

I don’t know how new or old this article is but this really helped me out a lot. 🙂

Jaimee

My dream website from which to acquire more readers is http://www.missmustardseed.com. Her site continues to grow, her business continues to expand, and I admire her style.
My other three would be:
http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com (love her down-to-earth voice, relatability, and continued growth)
http://www.thenester.com (definitely has a “niche” with ‘It Doesn’t Have to be Perfect to be Beautiful.’)
http://chattingatthesky.com (Along with DIY and painting, I wonder if I could incorporate thoughtful/analytical ponderings as I am a teacher at heart…)
http://theletteredcottage.net (Why? I learn so much on this website and just enjoy reading this girl).

This post really has me thinking about narrowing my focus/purpose. Thanks for your insight and advice.

jay

1st i gotta applaude how you engage your readers so that even as a 1st time reader on your blog i feel compelled to answer… 🙂

my favourite blog is definitely ‘the feminine woman.com its the website that inspired me to start My blog.

now i gotta admit that there’s only one other blog thats worth mentioning which is the blog that kicked me into action right from the start and thats stevepavlina.com.

so now that i think of JUST how many blogs ive read how its only two that r so memorable and worth mentioning so yeah u DO have a point about being unique 🙂

I’m definitely going to take your advice to heart…and my website is still being created though as u said, thats just an excuse! it Will get off the ground! 😉

Mike Allison

Hi Derek,
Thanks for the article. There’s a lot of “dream” blogs/sites I would love to get a link from but here I’m going to choose Problogger (www.problogger.net).

A few other sites I’d enjoy getting a link from or getting one of my articles posted on is yours. So, how about it?

Aqiyl Aniys

I very much agree with this idea “The easiest way to get readers for your blog is to convince another blog that has readers to send readers your way.” Be active on other people’s sites and be valuable in their discussion. People will want to check you out then.

Kianna

I just started my blog a few months ago, more of a way to keep my friends and family updated about my travels (I plan to do a lot of it in the next few years) but I would also like to reach other readers and inspire other young people to travel and be themselves.

1. http://www.gretchinrubin.com – I love her books, her blog, I resonate so well with her and find her incredibly inspiring

2. http://www.fearfuladventurer.com – Another Aussie who loves to travel, has written a book and basically someone I aspire to

3. http://www.rebeccajuddloves.com – not really one that will help my brand which I know is what you wanted but as another Aussie and an amazing woman who has so many ventures on the go I admire her tenacity

4. http://www.wetooktheroadlesstraveled.com – another travel blog, a lovely girl who writes honestly about her life and a similar website to the one I’m aiming for

Disquisitive Chris

Hi Derek,

Thanks so much for this article. As a brand new (started 2/22/14 with only 3 posts so far) I really want to reach others with our little parenting ‘experiments’ and appreciate your advice.

My dream websites would be:
1. Huffington Post
2. Rage Against the Minivan
3. Social Triggers (yours)

I am open to ideas and advice!
Thanks again,
Chris

scott

Not sure I agree with you I have a sports blog that I post almost daily on, I have to put out alot content a every week. You are right that you need to get in front of someone else s but this is not easy to do and you don’t offer up anything on that topic , otherwise this all has been said before but not the HOW?

Clare

Fantastic advice which I will now start following. Eight months ago I created the site http://www.thoughtbrick.com and got into the trap of trying to churn out an article a day, so it’s a relief to know this isn’t necessary. Link wise, I’d go with Tiny Buddha, High Existence and Zen Habits.

Julia McCoy

I fully disagree with the statement regarding the creation of too much content. You can never have too much content! Google Penguin, Panda, and Hummingbird have made sure of this.

    Bel

    I agree with you too Julia. The writer of this blog is giving wrong advice. People also fail because they are not creating good content consistently. You can’t advice people to stop creating content everyday. What a BS advice is that? Everyone brags about how you should be getting your content shared by someone successful within your niche but that’s not even always easy especially when you are just starting out. I have an authority site and my content is being shared by random organic readers through their Facebook, pinterest and Twitter. I didn’t even do anything except creating good quality content consistently.

    The writer should be advising people to create good quality content that people will most likely share your content. Create content consistently because chances are you could easily rank for any keywords within each content and they are more valuable for anyone that lands in your site.

    And yes of course patience is the key as well.

Catriona O'Sullivan

Thanks for providing some kind of insight into the way that blog traffic works.

So my problem is in finding my ‘niche’ or what exactly I am all ‘about’.

Essentially I am an artist and writer and interested in getting some kind of following for my columns/articles as well as my photography & art – all of which are from an international/travel perspective. Often touching on political or philosophical themes.

But I understand that if I am to get any kind of serious following – this is all rather vague.

I struggle to find the difference between ‘blogs that I aspire to be like, but different’ and ‘blogs that might help increase my following as they have a similar ‘clientele”.

At the moment I feel that if the Urban Outfitters blog linked to mine, that would be my ‘dream’. But I do not know if that is perhaps simply doing what you describe as ‘aiming for other industry professionals’. Does that make sense?

Other blogs that I like are The Adamant Wanderer, Call Me Cupcake, Made by Kate, Hjartesmil, Dry Heels (Kuivat kantapäät) and A Beautiful Mess – but perhaps these are merely blogs to model myself on and not ones to get potential followers from?

I would really appreciate any help or advice on this one (as I know it is a rather odd question and you have had many comments already).

Many Thanks in advance,

Catriona

Stephen harris

Hi Derek,

I stumbled upon this post by accident as is often the case but I wanted to write to say thankyou. Since reading your article last night I have had an epiphany.

I have been trying to bring to reality what has been vaguely in my head for some time but I had become so caught up in how the site looked what plugins it had I had forgotten to spend time identifying exactly what I was trying to say and to who.

Now that this is clearer I can see exactly what you mean regarding promotion. I now have a purpose and, more importantly, a direction regarding where I need to go to attract readers, aligning myself with sites where I can provide a service more specific to certain peoples needs but not in any way detracting from, or trying to compete with, those sites.

Thank you for inspiring me…..now I have a lot of work to do!!

Jimmy

This is the first post I’ve read after finding your blog.

I’m hooked!! Great article and I’m adding you to my top blogs list.

You’ve made me question my audience now. Maybe I need to rethink my niche.

Shital Bhalani

Social media is really over-hyped . Facebook is about nothing but superficial connections while Twitter is more of an ego thing. Instant gratifications: “I have fans now ”
I started my food blog in September without much computer and SEO knowledge, no budget and my traffic has increased by 1000 page views every month. Most of it is direct traffic, then google sends me the next chunk. Almost nothing from FB and i have over 700 fans. I get some traffic from Twitter but compared to the 11,000 following it’s really not much.
In the end I really believe it’s the value you provide, how many people you touch and inspire that will guarantee a healthy steady growth of your blog.

Adam Beaumont

I have started blogging for just over 3 years now but I have only really just found my niche as a travel blog, before that I simply used to write for the sake of writing and this meant the blog was always going to fail. Good Tips and some of which I have failed on myself.
I started by writing about something I am passionate about and everything else followed.

Adam

I have started blogging for just over 3 years now but I have only really just found my niche as a travel blog, before that I simply used to write for the sake of writing and this meant the blog was always going to fail. Good Tips and some of which I have failed on myself.

Kate

I would like to get a shout out on Sheer Luxe as they are a product lead site, providing a space for customers to shop, so it would be great to get my products on there.

Also at the top of my list: Natalie Merrilyn, Made by Girl and Rosalilium

jimi

Ok, dream website
#1 BBC
Then
#2 ITV
#3 Channel4
#4 Channel5
Reasons, overall viewing.
But i don’t really care to be honest. Your article is based on a business website, for blogs such as mine that are purely for fun and personal enjoyment viewing figures are completely irrelevant.

Jane

Hello Derek,

These are my dream sites:
1. Facebook PMD Center
2. Twitter – as a recommended account
3. Forbes – under technology

Thank you for your great content and advice!

Shikha Jain

Blogging should first and foremost be a product of your writing skills rather than a marketing tool. Creating a quality reader-oriented blog is in itself the best marketing tool you could use to find well paying writing gigs.

Graham

I run an ‘opinions’ based new site – that is we cover news but give an opinion on it.

Like all websites we get our fair share of compliments and complaints but that’s exactly what is needed in order to keep a balance – we’ve found that even those who don’t agree or dislike the content return; just to complain about something else.

I have what I do but as a one-man-band it’s tough but I’ve managed to drive traffic up to over 500 folks a day.

Going back to what is said in this article… I actually wrote an article on Thailand and then proceeded to make a comment in a Thai forum. I stopped and decided to contact the administrators.

This really paid off for they put the link on and even gave it a showing in their newsletter. The result was 9,118 visitors that day, over 4,600 the next and then a few thousand each day for the next couple of days. An excellent result.

We openly link to the news websites but have found it almost impossible to get a link or recommendation back.

A few weeks ago I got a link out of CNN and The Guardian. I can’t say I have a favourite news site as each will give a different angel on a story and regardless to my views they all have valid points.

If I could get a link from any it would be the http://dailymail.co.uk for they have a vast readership due to their ability to report the news in a variety of ways.

Good article and certainly I see errors in my practice but I’ve only been going a year and I don’t feel demoralized.

Ania Lisewska

If you fall into this category, then purchase scrubs that are red, orange, yellow, coral, and sage green.
Generally this is an accessory purchase and as such caalls for spending anywhere froom $10 on up.
Send your man pictures of yyou in sexy lingerie on his cell phone or to
his email so he can visualize you eeach day at work.

Matthew Barnes

You just simplified a very complex problem with us new bloggers. I’ve just started mine about two weeks now and I am glad that I came across this informative post. Thank You very much!

Stacey

Hi Derek

My dream link blog would be http://www.oprah.com. I like her self-help articles on how to live your best life. I think our brands would be a good collaboration because I could be her happiness self-help guru. She has money gurus, spirit gurus, fitness gurus, could you imagine what would have happen if she had a guru to simply brighten her readers mind, body and spirit day in and day out.

Three others link blogs that I’d love are from

*www.thedailylove.com I think pairing happiness + love is a winning combination especially since so many people believe it’s an either or choice.

*www.marieforleo.com I like how Maries’ focus is on building a business you love that ultimately helps you to create a life that you love (this is pure GENIUS). Finding Marie was like taking in a huge gulp of fresh air. I had just started my youtube channel the Stacey Flowers Show and I wanted to find examples of female personal growth and development blogger. But I was lost in a sea of cosmetics and DIY when it came to female youtube vloggers. Then I found Marie and it was perfect. I was building a business and she was teaching WOMEN how to make their business into something that they loved using good marketing. I think a collaboration between her and I would be epic simply because she’s dope… I’m dope and we could be so dope together.

*www.christinehassler.com I love Christine’s work I have been following her since 2007 when I was first introduced to her 20-something crisis work. I think a collaboration between her and I would be good simple because she is focused on help the spirit of 20-30 somethings. She teaches spiritual tools and I take it to the next level delivering happiness.

Siraj Wahid

It is a fact that a lot of bloggers fail but the reasons are different for all. I started my blog 2 months ago and i think my blog is on the way to success. I don’t think it will be a failure as i am satisfied with the results 🙂

Alecia

This article was amazing and so timely for me. I started my blog almost 3 months ago and have seen little to no reward or growth. I am producing what I think is great content but really having a hard time expanding.
I would love the blog Wit + Delight to post about me. She shares similar style to me and I have been friendly with her over the years.
I also think a shout out from pennyweight, design for mankind, and designlovefest. I think their readers align with the type of people I am trying to reach. These people love design and are looking for inspiration from the internet, something I really put a lot of time and effort to give to my readers.
Thanks so much!

Kim Rowland

Shape.com
They write about all aspect of good health and fitness.
Menshealth.com
Both men and women go to the gym and this website has informative information about exercise.
Womenshealth.com
Women often make the decision about which gym or health club the family will be joining.

Shobelyn

I want to that my “idol” blogger Lottie + Doof will endorse , or Pinch of Yum blog, Tartelette blog and Smitten Kitchen

Because they are the pillars of food blogging. Just them mentioning my blog will certainly increase mine.

Alan Okina

Hi Derek,
The tips mentioned in this article are just spot on. Priceless.
Thank you very much.

My dream website:
http://www.capcom.com/
This is one of the gaming companies that greatly inspired me since I was a kid.

Three websites:
1. http://www.madman.com.au/gungrave/
The main character, Brandon Heat, in this Japanese anime series showed
what a true man is: action speaks louder than words.

2. http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/Yui/
YUI is a Japanese singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, actress and radio personality. Just great.

3. http://www.cambridge.org
This publisher has always produced high quality and standard English textbooks.

Thanks again.

Tj Gipson

Thanks for the post man! You have no idea how helpful this post was to me. I am a person who believes that success starts in the mind and is show in the world.

My dream site would be Copyblogger because they focus on valuable content. My website focuses on the importance of adding value and brand building from a more mental approach. I believe valuable content is crucial because people don’t want “recycled” info so i think copyblogger would improve on my content.

My other sites would be Think Traffic. They focuses on getting traffic and making your business profitable

Lewis Howes blog. It’s about motivation and productivity. Everyone needs to learn the value of persistence and commitment

Social Triggers. Because of the psychology aspect of things. I believe that everything starts in the mind so alot of the info really resonates with me.

p.s I know you’re busy but if you could take a look at my site and point out how can i improve i’d be extremely grateful.

Thanks

Mojo

Derek, it sure takes a long time to scroll down the comment section in your blog. Envy.

Dream blog/website: VICE.

Folks I aim to get in touch with soon: The Young Turks, The Stateless Man, and Office Breaks.

Thanks for the insightful post man.

Brandon Starnes

Awesome stuff and great advice. I was guilty of all the time wasters and I am knocking on the door of three months. I can see this can be a timeline where most quit. Maybe this is blog salvation.

My dream site would have to be lifehacker. Lifehacker writes on a lot of topics that are in my niche. Lifehacker has a huge following.

My next three sites would be.

1. Minimal mac is a great site that has a great blog about productive minimalism. Love the content that is put out.

2. The four hour blog by Tim Ferris would be another awesome blog. It focuses on life and productivity.

3. Michael Hyatt site it is a blog about effective leadership.

Second, I want you to list 3 other websites that you would also LOVE to get a link from. Don’t pick the biggest websites in the world, but instead, pick some smaller sites that you think would do your brand well.

Wouter Crucke

Hi Derek,

do you think this also works for a service based business in landscaping? We specialize in the health of trees. I can’t even think of a DREAM website in my country (Belgium) that I would love to get a link from … . I’m the one setting new standards in our business.

thx for replying,
Wouter.

John

Good piece and some good comments for sure. I could identify with when you talked about generating tons of content which sometimes became mini books on my websites at the time and needless to say I generated tons of content. I never gave up on trying to make a business out of building website or blogs but have had no real success partly to the fact I did it part time since I worked a full time demanding job at the time. while I was not working and also just because was not doing the right things and made mistakes along the way. Of course there have been waste of time programs from guru’s that did not lead to profit at all, I won’t slam these web gurus since they continue to try and sell what ever junk and I want to focus on making this business work so below are the answer to your questions.

Dream Websites:
1. Technorati – they are one of the biggest and best site for tech stuff which is a bit part of my back ground.

2. Copyblogger – one of the best blogger site out for help and information about blogging.

3. Mashable – Social media , tech and more covered usually pretty good and entertaining content.

Here is the list of second site that would help my brand:
1. SmartBlog on Social Media – The blog is about Social Media primarily and how to engage, innovate and discuss topics around blogging. They have a good following of people and traffic the site and multiple writers.

2. CenterNetworks – The site has been around since 1998 and has good traffic plus cover Internet with news, reviews, interviews and conference coverage. The mission is to help industry professionals learn more about topics including: social networking, Web 2.0, and social media.

3. eSoup – this is a ranked blog that has a following and covers a mix of topics that help business and people simplify, organize, Streamline and thrive with life and in business.

Natasha Mercey

Wow Derek, the straightforwardness of your advice is appreciated. It is just what I need so thank you. I recently started my blog which motivates people to live their best lives and become the best versions of themselves possible.

My dream blog to receive readers from would definitely, without question be http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/. I have admired Tim Ferriss’ simplicity and ability to teach and learn anything for a very long time. His way of thinking as influenced me immensely.

The second blog that I would love to receive readers from is http://thedailylove.com/. I have read Mastin’s blog for quite a while. Every morning I would read one of his posts to bring a positive start to my day. If I could help people the way that he had helped me, that is my dream.

The third blog to get readers from would be https://rawbrahs.com/blog/. The Raw Brahs have this amazing way of looking at life explained simply, “expect nothing, experience nothing”. A very similar belief as to how I try to live my life.

Lisa Princic

I coach grassroots entrepreneurs, mostly start-ups, however, I think I am still resisting niche-ing further down and committing to start-ups. I know how important getting super narrow on the niche is – it’s the best place to begin so I think I have to just commit!

Then I need a simple online how-to-market my blog guide.

As for shout-outs, I have met http://www.daniellelaporte.com a few times and watched her grow. I have total respect for her deep, honest and raw truth-bombs. Maybe it’s time to just ask her for a link? Or what it would take to get one from her.

Any cheerleaders out there?

Nikki Assalone

Thanks for this Derek, exactly what I needed to hear. Everything I learn lately points to guest blogging and I haven’t done that yet… why? Too busy writing content! Hahahaha… why is it so clear when you say it??

I would love to get a link from CalorieCount (their alexa rating is 81/31US. Would you believe, I was invited to submit some posts for them months ago and just haven’t done it yet… Shame on me. Seriously, I know better than this! WHY: I hate the name (calorie counting brings up a lousy feeling, I think) But their content is great, very helpful and inline with some of my own beliefs. We definitely share the same demographic.

On a smaller scale, I’d like links from the following:

I think Bill Phillip’s Transformation site points to a lot of the same principles that I believe in. I think I have a perspective that his audience can really relate to. His “ideal customer avatar” is similar to mine.

Spark People and I share similar language in our tag line I’ve notices. They have such a great community feeling that I really respect. Again, I believe I can add something that is often missed on sights that promote healthy eating – mainly the forming and reinforcing of habits that make healthy choices easier to make.

I like WFworld for good nutrition ideas, use it myself and send clients there all the time. I would love to reach his audience also.

I see posts on larger, more broad topic sights that are in line with what I can offer and think, honestly, I have something to add. Daily Mail (UK) for example, and well… Huffington Post wouldn’t suck either.

I believe that I have an enormous amount of valuable, actionable tools, resources and experience to share. Perhaps I’m overshooting, but why not?

Amy

Thank you for this great post Derek. I’m relatively new to blogging and definitely relate to falling into traps 1 and 2 and being so wary of your third point.

Thank you for sharing, this post has appeared at the perfect time for me and I look forward to reviewing my process and brainstorming my ‘dream’ websites.

Lori Mofford

OMG, I’m the typical new blogger on the way to disaster! That stops now!

My dream link would be to Marie Forleo’s site because, like me, her site addresses women and her inspiration would help my followers.

My other 3 sites would be Scott Mcgillivray because he does much the same work that I do, but to a different audience (and because he is sooo talented and engaging). Suze Orman because she is a brilliant woman and addresses finances, which are a huge part of Real Estate Investment, and Royal LePage? not sure about this one, but I work for them as a realtor, so I thought it might be a way to contact clients (who are already in the mindset?)

A little off topic, but can I correct the mistakes I’ve made so far? Should I use the content I now have posted as content that I send out once I have followers asking for it?

Kersten

I rarely comment on blogs (I know, I blogger should support other bloggers), but I want see success in my new blog and am willing to put in all the stops to get there. I have dreams of 2 other online businesses, so getting the concepts of successful blogging will not only help my current venture, but my future ones.

Now for the homework…

Dream Website to be listed on would definitely be Mashable.

My 3 other top sites that are semi-more reasonable would be Under 30 CEO, Daily Muse, and Chris Brogan’s blog….just love his content and style.

My blog is a support tool for my marketing company, but I want to turn it into a resource for small business owners, especially those in my community.

Ryan

Derek, thanks for this article. I realize I am spending too much time creating content for a small audience. In fact, I was sitting here at my computer just now trying to figure out what else I could write about (I have written so much I am running out of content ideas). I am very poor at link building. In the last 2 months I have published 42 blogs and have created only 4 links.
It seems that everyone else I listen to keeps saying “keep churning out great content and people will link to you” ….but how do they find me in the first place!!
This article cleared up a lot of me. Thank you so much
Ryan

Susan Elcox

Ok, this is the part I’ve been struggling with: identifying other places. Do I need to guest blog there , or can they just give me a shout-out? I hadn’t considered the latter. Here’s my list:
http://Www.marieforleo.com
O magazine
Better Homes and Gardens Magazine
http://Www.thinktraffic.com
http://Www.hookingrugs.com
http://Www.geneshepherd.com

Brendan

My dream site to post on would be Virgin Group founder Richard Branson’s blog. Reason being he is a famous entrepreneur who has strong connections to both travel and sports industries.
3 others…

Andrew Baggarly at Comcast Sports Bay Area. If need, I could niche into the California Bay Area sports scene. Andrew Baggarly has strong connections to all sports related events around San Francisco.

TripAdvisor. If my site was able to connect to TripAdvisor, I would be able to connect to travelers that would fall into my sports travel niche.

Entrepreneur.com. The connections that could be made with other entrepreneurs both the same niche as well as topics more broadly related. to make connections with others in the field, would open doors to more advertising avenues.

Thanks a lot for your posts. I just discovered you site last week. Your tips have already help bring in more traffic to my site. Traffic that has signed up to follow.

Sandy

Hey Derek,
Great question that really got me thinking. My dream links would be:
1. FinerMinds, their audience overlaps nicely with mine – and they’re currently asking for guest submissions, top my to-do list for today 🙂
2. Mama Mia – an Aussie site like Huff Post I suppose, and already known for talking about my topic
3. Huff Post, who also talk about my topic often!

I already have ‘blogroll’ links from a few blogs that send a bit of traffic but I’d like it more targetted, so will be revisiting your course as well. I’ve de-seo’d some of my really offhand posts that were gettings dozens of visits a day that were not really my market, nor a market I want to be in – and my traffic *died*. But now after just a week or so it’s picking up again and what’s coming is much closer to the peeps I want – so it was worth that risk!

Ria

Dream referral – Social Triggers of course 😉
The other three:
http://www.thecreativepenn.com – the target audience is ideal, and involved.
http://www.goinswriter.com – because Jeff’s content is quality so his audience are clever. Therefore they are the audience I want. (and I just want to tweak his cheeks, he’s so freshly slapped and cute looking).
http://www.thewritepractice.com as they seem to care about their audience, and I want to care about their audience too, if they just get to know me 🙂
I’m e-mailing the three of these as we speak!
Thanks Derek – you’re the bomb 🙂

Stephanie Burch

1. Marie Forlio’s site because she’s an empowered, funny woman that always hits her mark and makes sense.

2. James Altucher’s website because he’s so funny and blunt and inappropriate but honest. I am all about HONEST.

3. Tut-Notes from The Universe because I love the whimsical approach to spiritual guidance.

Saskia Koch

I really love your sass 😉 You have a good way to smack one across the face without leaving handprints. Thats a marvellous skill you have 😀 Okay now the exercise:

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get a link from Upworthy.com. This website is filled with so much humanity and has this sense of “everything can be good in this world”. I would love to be connected to such a world and word.

My others website would be:

Pickthebrain. It is a website about personal development and the author has a way with words, that I can relate to what he is saying.

and

Dearblogger. He is such a funny guy and his mission to help other people with sharing his knowledge is so inspiring. Getting a link from him? Heaven!

I really want to thank you for sharing your knowledge! It helped me a lot. Hopefully my blog will boom soon with these useful advices! Love, Saskia

Susan

Hi Derek

Thanks for the sound advice. Please everyone go ahead and take a look around my blog, I have no technology experience, no mentor and no “funds” as such. But I do have a plan, a strategy, a goal, a target audience and very little content. So far, I’ve grown from 0 unique visitors to 430 in one month, but it’s keeping them and then getting them to subscribe that will be my next trick, so I’m listening, paying attention and learning!

My DREAM website is http://www.oprah.com simply because she is all about empowering you to Live Your Best Life which is exactly what all of us bloggers in business are aiming to do. My business and blog is all about understanding Your Essential Self (YES) which is fundamental to living out that best life because if you don’t know Who You Are how can you possibly Sell Yourself?

Next, it is a big blog, but I’d like to be on it is http://www.marieforleo.com as I just love how her style, wit, humor and business is similar (definitely not the same) and I feel that her audience would get value from what I do. Again, because they will learn and “get” YES.

Derek, I wouldn’t mind a star spot on your blog! My line of work is around getting CLEAR understanding and “getting” YES. As a Personal Stylist and Image Consultant as well as Life Coach, understanding the Psychology behind the reason why we do things the way we do has been the key to my business success offline. My business is now online as I can share techniques to a much larger audience and see more people having personal success. I believe that once I have my target audience buying from me, I can then expand (particularly around e-courses) into teaching others how to get their business online and making money from their own blogs. Again using the YES principles.

Another blog I’d like to have a star spot on is http://sandydumont.com – Sandy Dumont is an Image Consultant and her business is called The Image Architect. She is an expert in her field (I have had her comment on my LinkedIn Group – Your Image & Your Career) and she shares the same understanding around Colour Concepts that I do as well as Your Image is only as good as Your Attitude.

I live in Melbourne, Australia and there is a small but well known group of Fashion bloggers who are often in the media. I used to write a Fashion / Style blog until I got clear on my calling it was called The Language of Style. I’ve re-developed The Language of Style into an online program for women in their 30’s to mid 40’s to learn and understand Who They Are, Communicate and understand Your Essential Self and live their lives in Ultimate Style and become Beautifully Rich. I would love to be featured and interviewed on http://www.insideoutsidestyleblog.com because Imogen Lamport teaches Personal Styling& Image brilliantly on her blog, it’s not what I do and so Imogen’s clients can get the resources they require regarding Image in particular and how to apply these tips and techniques personally, from me.

Thanks again!

Susan

Erik Krause

1. Oprah’s Life Class http://ow.ly/j0gSd – Oprah’s word is bond. Her visibility is unparalleled. The Life Class program is a bull’s eye forum for The PATH² content.

2a. http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/ – Tim is a trusted source for the unconventional, yet effective approach to accomplishing just about anything and my content is unconventional. His reach is enormous. His endorsements are selective and, therefore, trusted.

2b. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog – WF is the #1 retailer for persons interested in proactive health care. Their shoppers are within my bull’s eye target market. They’re growing rapidly.

2c. http://zenhabits.net – Leo is one of the web’s most visible sources for quality of life improvement advice. His ebiz model and mine are very much alike, so what has worked for him will work for me.

Thanks, Derek, for sharing your expertise with me and for helping me help my blog.

“If you have something wonderful in your life you have an obligation to share it with others.” The PATH²: The Pursuit of Attaining Total Health & Happiness

Jimi Ellis

Hi Derek, firstly, a dream would be to get a PR8 or higher mention (ye right). Secondly any PR2 or above linkback would make me quite happy.
Anyway thanks for the tips, if anything learned, i can relate to your points which fires a new spark.
Thanks again,
Jimi.

Anne Hernandez

I’m so new to blogging, less than a month, that I’m not 100% sure what the best link sites would be for my kind of blog. I have a great concept and put out about 3-5 posts of content per week in an area that isn’t saturated – yet. I decided to jump on it and learn as I go, but I don’t want to get passed up while on the learning curve.
I’m definitely subscribing to your post and hope to get the guidance needed to rocket this blog to the top, and maybe if I’m lucky, you’ll take a peak at my blog and give good feedback.
So very glad to have found you.

Ashley

Thank you for all the insightful comments, Derek.

My #1 choice would be girlsgonechild.net. I respect Rebecca Wolff for her candid humor as well as her writing cred.

In addition, I would love to be shared by littlebabygarvin.blogspot.com, ohsheglows, and pinkpistachio. Each blog inspires me, makes me laugh, and teaches me.

My target would be first time or young moms who are just trying to figure it all out! I believe I have the content to share and as you stated, I am willing to put the work in. I realize these are major mistakes and I am open to your course to help me create a successful blog.

Thanks for your time and dedication.

Molly Morrissey

My dream linking site would be http://www.daniellelaporte.com because her work is about helping people manage their desires and dreams to lead more satisfying and successful lives, and the work I do is about helping people get back to what has meaning and heart in the first place – so I could add something to her blog and to her readership while promoting my ideas and work as well.

The other three sites:

http://www.taramohr.com – Tara works to help women play bigger in the world, and again, there is a mutual benefit with my work around finding meaning and purpose. Her’s is the how and my work is the why.

http://www.gryphonastrology.com – Nina is a colleague of mine and has a quite long standing blog and collection of interviews on her site. So it is like a library that people reference. I’d love her to interview me because I have a slightly different take on the work of traditional astrology and again, would be complimentary to her work.

http://www.jenniferlouden.com – Jennifer is a self-realization guru who has some similar ideas to my own. I have a few ideas that again would compliment what she already puts out there.

Thanks for this post, Derek. Really good timing. I am about to start my blog and am busy re-working my offerings and web copy as I finish up some awesome niche-focusing work. Helps to understand how to maximize my efforts going forward!!

Rebecca

Thanks for the great tips Derek!

I’d love my blog to be mentioned at the following blogs because they are all authentic people who are building a dream life by blogging and helping others. My goal is to inspire moms at home to get out of the rut and start empowering themselves to be the very best they can be by following their heart and intuition.

http://www.socialtriggers.com
http://www.arealchange.com
http://www.babble.com
http://www.thetravelmom.com

Thanks for you great content!
Rebecca

Barbara McKinney

I agree with you,the more time you spend working on something without a reward, the harder it is to continue doing it.Considering the fact that you are not the only one writing a blog in order to generate leads,you really have to think for a unique strategy and to be patient.Thanks for this article Derek!

Joe

I’d like Michael Hyatt or Life Hacker to link to my blog as the dream. Smaller blogs would be regional counselors or psychologists.

Kimberly

Rats, I didn’t say why yet!

The reason why Zen Habits is because that site promotes what I teach in my divorce guidance and support business. I believe his readers are my “people” so to speak.

Susan Piver’s open heart project because I teach my clients to meditate to help them deal with the stress of divorce. Her open heart project provides meditation instruction for people.

Beliefnet because a lot of my people hang out there, they are people who are into spirituality.

Shambhala Sunspace for the same reasons as above — that magazine promotes mindfulness and meditation and so do I with my clients. I think a lot of my peeps would be reading Shambhala Sun.

Kimberly

Great post, thank you Derek!

My top blog would be:
zen habits
zenhabits.net

The other 3?
Susan Piver’s Open Heart Project http://susanpiver.com/open-heart-project/
Beliefnet.com http://www.beliefnet.com/
Shambhala Sun’s Sunspace Blog
http://shambhalasun.com/sunspace/

Sheena

I’d like to start by thanking you for this great article. This has already helped me in my approach to my blog, shegofit.wordpress.com. I just signed up for email updates today and I am looking forward to reading all of the other great articles!

My dream site that I would like to get a link from is http://www.oprah.com. She has a global reach and also with the launch of her network, Oprah has been able to create shows and documentaries that peer into the unseen lives of others and shows, such as lifeclass, that focus on increasing the potential that we all have inside of us. Her brand is one comprised of positivity and self improvement through self discovery. My views on fitness are tailored specifically to improving one’s body by first improving the mind.

The other three sites that I would like to receive a link from are http://www.fitnessmagazine.com, bodybuilding.com, and ptonthenet.com. In my personal health and fitness journey, I have utilized theses sites to assist me and my clients. They all present valuable information in a way that is attractive to me. Many things in fitness have been repeated at length, however, what I like about these sites is that the information is presented in a fresh new way and from a totally different perspective.

Angie Mattson

Ooooh, now this is an interesting and fun exercise!

I’d love to get the attention of:
Chris Guillebeau at the Art of NonConformity http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/2013/02/
Danielle Laport http://www.daniellelaporte.com/read-watch-listen/
Seth Godin http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

I resonate strongly with all three of these individualists, their business philosophies and believe their audiences of self-employed folks would get what I do and really find benefit from it!

Pavithra

The more i read your blog, comments, replies – I’m learning a lot!!
Great job Derek!!

Sara DeFrancesco

My homework:

Dream linkage: chriskresser.com – Chris is a paleo enthusiast and acupuncturist who writes about integrative medicine and nutrition. I would love to get a link to my blog from him, because I am a Naturopathic and Chinese Medical Student. My education is similar to Chris’, but has a different outlook in terms of philosophy and additional treatment options. I think his audience is similar to the audience I hope to build, but for people who want to take a nature cure approach and want to learn more about the philosophy of the medicine.

Others:

– thislittlelark.wordpress.com – someone at my school who somehow I’ve never met. Another Chinese Med Student who has a couple thousand FB followers. She focuses on emotion, gratitude, and positivity, but writes about Chinese Medicine concepts occasionally. Her readers who enjoy those posts would love my content that explores those concepts further.

– cavegirleats.com – silly and awesome, well known paleo blogger. I think her audience that likes a goofy style and paleo nutrition would love to expand their knowledge of health by learning about natural medicine from a paleo future naturopath/acupuncturist like me.

– whole9life.com – I love this website and their book It Starts With Food and it is my go to clinical tool when repairing digestive health and working with clients with weight loss goals. I would love to be linked to from them or some day write a guest post for them on how I use their whole 30 program with my other naturopathic therapies, or better yet on how to evaluate digestive health from a naturopathic standpoint and how to tweak their program for people with certain digestive conditions or symptoms.

On second thought, whole9life.com would by my dream connection instead of chriskresser.com

Mel

I don’t have a brand yet but would still like to jump in because I WANT one:) ….not sure what to specialize in..or I may have one in plain sight and I can’t’ ‘see’ it

The DREAM would be to get linked by marieforleo.com because the women there are sooo fun, and deep and making things happen. They dig deep to figure out why they are stuck and move forward.

The other three sites I’d love to be linked to, are:
Thetappingsolution.com because they are doing exactly the type of work I want to put out into the world <3 trauma relief

Puttylike.com because it is full of creatives who are fun, and getting things done in unconventional ways.

Amplifyyourdreams.com because she inspires me

Thanks for this exercise. Looking forward to the series.

Brandon

EEK So much juiciness in this… Shared on Google+. Tagged you Derek 😉
My DREAM website would be MarieForleo.com (I’m in virtual love with her haha!) My smaller websites would be 3BStreey and Etsy, because they have the handmade artist community I want to present myself to. People who are already looking for great information and content.
Then I have a few friends who blog and have a decent reader base, so why not? I could return some favors.
Also, LOVE the blog less / promote more… Though I already head it on MarieTV from you 😉
Love Social Triggers <3 Share it all the time.
Brandon

Medel Dia

Glad I stumbled upon this information.

The 1 DREAM website that I would LOVE to get a link from is http://www.models.com They are the top site about models in the industry and they were an inspiration for me to start http://www.model-diary.com
A link or shout out from them would solidify my blog as the go-to blog for the intimate side of fashion, especially the models that make it happen.

The 3 other websites that you would also LOVE to get a link from:

1. http://www.nymag.com
They have a section for models that has a lineup of gigs that they have done, what they are known for and where they are from, but a lot of them need updating as it is not truly their focus. It would be great for them to reference a post on my blog as an update. I.e. Hollis Wakeema http://nymag.com/fashion/models/whollis/wakeemahollis/ we did two features on her, one on her modeling career http://www.model-diary.com/2013/02/06/hollis-wakeema-photo-daily-model-diary/ and one on her blog Hollistics http://www.model-diary.com/2013/02/18/hollistics-model-news-model-diary/
They could post our feature as an update on her page.

2. http://thefatapplenyc.com/ They are a contributor to Lucky Magazine. It would be great for them to share a feature we have done on a plus size model. http://www.model-diary.com/2012/09/26/robyn-lawley-setting-the-tone/

3. http://www.modelmayhem.com/ They are the #1 modeling community and have thousands of aspiring models on their site. To get their models hooked on our Daily Diary section where working models in the industry are giving us their “how I made it” stories would be great. http://www.model-diary.com/category/dailydiary/

Susan Osborne

I’m a little late to the party, but being that my business is a magazine-style site designed to help new women entrepreneurs, my dream websites to get a links from would be:

Inc.com (my favorite magazine in the world)
and the other 3:
DanielleLaporte.com
MarieForleo.com
SocialTriggers.com

Sam Hodder

I run a small jewellery business.

My dream site:
#1- Ellentv.com
Ellen Degeneres is one of my idols. Her philanthropic work is so inspirational and so is everything she’s done for the gay community. I think that people who enjoy Ellen would have many shared interests with me, and that my blog and website would cater to those interests. I have a line of jewellery inspired by gay pride, I am gay myself, and I do lots of nonprofit work that is featured on my blog and I use my jewellery business to fundraise for many causes. I think that the exposure I could get from Ellentv.com would be invaluable.

The next two websites seem a bit more attainable, since I can submit content to them any time.

#2- TinyBuddha.com
I love their posts and feel that they really mesh well with my personal beliefs and what I try to promote with my jewellery business as well (mindfulness, kindness, etc.) I think that the kind of people who think and care about their physical and spiritual well-being would appreciate my connections to the nonprofit sector and the fundraising I do for various organizations through my jewellery business. Also, my blog has a couple of things in common with TinyBuddha, so I think that the people who like TinyBuddha would enjoy my blog as well.

#3- BeadStyleMag.com
This has been my favourite jewellery magazine for years now, and I would love to have my work on their site and/or in the pages of their magazine.
This is a widely read magazine, and it would expose me to a lot of like-minded individuals who could potentially be customers, and I would also maybe learn a few things from them.

and finally…
#4- StrangeAdventures.com
I do a lot of comic book jewellery, and this comic book store is wonderful and has a couple of locations in my area in Canada. I would love to get some more comic book fans following my blog and checking out my jewellery!

I am working on getting content published on sites #2 and #3. I have yet to devise a plan for #1. An idea for #4 is in the works.

Tania Fuentez

Hi, Derek:
New to ‘Social Triggers,’ but already appreciate what’s provided here _ some solid, applicable advice. A sincere ‘thank you’ for demystfying the blogosphere and now, on to the homework assignment.

Dream Site:
Huffington Post ‘The Blog’ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/
Why? I’m a seasoned journalist laid off a few years ago and more creative than ever, so this fits my aspirations for reaching a broader audience. My blog focuses primarily on underground, independent art culture (music, dance, photography), but I’ve started covering more health and wellness topics this year.

Top 3:
Final Cut King on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/FinalCutKing
Why? Four words … Jedi Kittens Strike Back. Besides having clever, innovative video concepts, Final Cut King’s subscriber list growth is robust on YouTube (which ranks 3rd among the world’s top Web sites per Alexa).

The Dr. Oz Show http://www.doctoroz.com/
Why? As I expand my blog’s health and wellness coverage, a link or mention from Dr. Oz would be ideal from the leading authority in the field.

NPR’s ‘All Songs Considered’ http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/
Why? Can’t ignore built-in credibility factor, but this blog also reflects much of the content I offer (exclusive Q&As, artist profiles, music and art events).

Honorable Mention:
New York Times ‘Lens’ http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/
Why? Purely, a photojournalists’ guilty pleasure. What an honor to be connected with this blog in some way, shape or form.

antonia

i would love to get mentioned favorably by Oprah’s website.
after Oprah,
Kris Carr – http://www.kriscarr.com
The Daily Love – http://www.thedailylove.com
Tim Ferriss – http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog

Cassie | Womenswaytowealth

Hi Derek, amazing that so many comments ignore the homework/action step – what does that say about people?

My #1 DREAM site to get a link from is http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/ as this is such a large, engaged audience of action takers seeking to create their own incomes with a virtual business (my market)

The other 3 would be:

http://www.copyblogger.com/blog/ because I’m a massive Sonia Simone fan
http://www.blogtyrant.com/ because its readers love the classic marketing with modern twist and I want to inspire and motivate in the same way
http://socialtriggers.com (of course!) sound advice for the savvy (again, my market)

Off to promote my blog again… thanks!

Kathy @ SMART Living 365.com

Thank you for the encouragement AND the kick in the butt!

My dream website links would be:
#1 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/healthy-living/ or http://www.huffingtonpost.com/own/
#2 http://zenhabits.net/
#3 http://www.blogher.com/
#4 http://www.thechangeblog.com/about/

The reason I would like to be linked with each of these sites is that I believe my content would be an excellent resource for their readers…I’m already writing similar themes with my unique perspective so it seems natural to me…it’s just getting them to agree!

Jennifer

Hi Derek,

Good, good advice. I have been blogging for awhile and I have had blogs shared on local community sites and have been added to the blog roll for sites like Working Mother and ABOW. I would love to know if there is a benefit to sharing your blog content when you are a voice among a number of other blogs on a site. I also had a column on examiner.com and it seem to dilute people actually subscribing to my blog.

Would love to have a blog on HuffPost. Plan to submit something soon.

I would also like Dr. Lisa Rankin to share a blog post. It isn’t small but I would love to share content on Oprah.com, and the Glass Hammer.

Thia

1st choice would be Operation Write Home
Next 3 would be
stampcraftpin
Mojo Monday
Stampin for the Weekend

Homework complete!

Karen

Dream Website: The Huffington Post, because it has a huge, well-read readership, and it will give me props as a legit writer.

Three Other Websites: Salon, because it has a targeted readership, The Daily Good, because I’m aligned witwh their principles, and both will give me props as a writer and help me get a strong book deal. The third would be one of the mommy blogs, because they are sharp-witted and funny (ex. Moms Who Drink And Swear), as am I.

Alessandra

My DREAM website to be mentioned on is Gary Pepper Vintage. I know all of the young women who view this site are image- and lifestyle-aspirational and inspired by Nicole, the blog author. They aspire to live a life they imagine hers to be like – one full of light, love with her soulmate, travel, beauty, fashion, (assumed) money and financial stability, and a dream career. THESE are often the same women who feel inadequate about themselves and unhappy or frustrated with their own lives, circumstances, and/or appearances. THESE are the women I want to empower to create a wave of empowerment throughout this generation of young women.

3 other websites I would also LOVE to get a link from are:
1) Gabrielle Bernstein / Her Future
So many young women look up to Gabby for the same reasons they visit Gary Pepper Vintage, except these women are ready for and open to spirituality and coaching! In addition, they can’t afford someone at Gabby’s level, but they are more likely to afford me.
2) Cherry Blossom Girl
For very much the same reasons I listed for Gary Pepper Vintage! Alix is a French blogger who seems to embody a dreamy life full of travel, perfect true love romance, beauty, shopping, pastries, friends, and Parisian perfection. I want to tap into the audience of young women who dream of living like they think she does – who want to feel the sense of fulfillment and joy they assume she experiences and feels every minute of her life.
3) Atlantic-Pacific
Again, for similar reasons to Gary Pepper Vintage and the Cherry Blossom Girl! Young women become obsessed with fashion bloggers, idealize their lives, and become addicted to living vicariously through them. I want to tap into this need to give these young ladies what they’re really seeking – inner fulfillment! The rest will follow! 🙂

THANKS Derek! 🙂 You da bomb.

Heather

I think my blog is unique in that I live in the small island ‘country’ of Taiwan. Most travel bloggers go from place to place, not living in one country for as long as I am. I like the slow-travel as a way of really getting to know a place, but I’m not sure if this gives me an edge or makes people who merely want to do a 1-week vacation not interested. I definitely need to start ‘non-twitter’ promoting! Haha, thanks for your post!

1 Dream Websites: AFAR Magazine or HuffPost or WanderingEarl

2
GranTourismo Travels
Twenty-Something Travel
Stop Having a Boring Life
*All of these websites authors haven’t been to Taiwan.

Lauren Bassart

1.) Dream website – Everything Everywhere – I want to be able to travel and write like Gary 🙂 He inspires me greatly and I know with some hard work and vision I can get to where I want to be in this industry.

2.) Stophavingaboringlife.com – Just the name of this blog makes me want to get out there and explore.
Theprofessionalhobo.com – I love the idea of leaving everything behind and traveling the nomadic way. I use this blog for financial advice frequently.
CondeNastTraveler.com – when we can get a feature story in Conde Nast, I will know we have made it 🙂

Billy Murphy

Website #1: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/

3 other top websites:

http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/
http://www.viperchill.com/
http://socialtriggers.com/

These 4 sites are some of the top sites in terms of reaching a pretty wide audience in the business/entrepreneur space, but all of them hit on substantially different topics within the space, and all are the the authority of their market within that subniche.

Monica Michelle

My dream post would be from Marie Forleo’s website: http://marieforleo.com
2. I would love to get a link from The Mogul Moms website: http://themogulmom.com
3. I would love to get a link from your website, Derek 🙂 When will you start talking about GREAT design? 🙂 http://socialtriggers.com
4. I would love to get a post from Design Sponge: http://designsponge.com

Aradia G. of Aradia's Hand

I read post #3 first then circled around to 1 & 2…I was really excited about homework but I’m sitting here, scrolling through the comments thus far, randomly googling ideas trying to figure the answer to the questions and I’m coming up vague at best. I know what I do, but I don’t really know who has an audience who would even be interested…

what I could manage thus far…
1. Hay House – it’s a big name on the healing front with tons of authors and speakers with programs etc. People who like that genre would definitely appreciate my spiritual line.

2. Patheos.com (their Pagan area) – I actually just saw someone featured who is a handmade spiritual artist like myself and my first thought was, O that would be so great to be featured there.

3. A Reiki website like Reiki.org – I make some targeted things for healing work because in my other business its what I do so I have insider knowledge on some things that could be helpful.

4. Llewellyn.com – this I’m reaching with. It’s actually a publishing company but there are some articles on there as well. It serves the New Age category, again catering to my spiritual work.

I can really see that these places hit on some of the audience I really want to reach but while I fit into that demographic interest wise I don’t really visit these places too often if at all. I follow them here and there but don’t pay them a huge amount of mind unless I’m specifically looking for something so I’m a bit unsure. I honestly can say I struggle with this topic, probably because I’m looking at it strictly from my point of view. I know there are other New Age & Spiritual folks out there who probably like all of those places a lot, but I still question it.

Hilary Rushford | Dean Street Society

1. Dude. This post was exactly what I needed to hear & the 3rd “drop in the bucket” to something I’d been musing over the last week: The difference between being a blogger, & an entrepreneur. As a stylist, most style bloggers are trying to make a living directly from blog income: affiliate links, ad space, #s that are compelling to a brand to buy a sponsored post & partner with you. I’m not going after #s to woo a brand. I’m going after clients as a stylist. And yes, the more people who view my site, the more chance I have to find a new client. But if the same 10,000 people click on my blog 2x more that week … that only affects the #s to woo a brand with & does not increase the likelihood of my finding a new client. Guest posts in, more posts on my site out. Yes & yes.

2. Used the comments here to create a list of FORTY-FIVE potential spots to pitch a guest post. Thankyouverymuch.

3. As an aside, noticing how many people are listing sites like Marie Forleo … who does not do guest posts. And how many people are saying they’d like a “mention” … which is not the same thing as a guest post. Just a note that if your goal is to guest post, make sure the sites you’re targeting … accept guest posts.

4. With all these new ideas I don’t have three dream sites but broadly they are top sites in the areas of:

a) Entrepreneurs/small business (I attract clients who get their brand & that their aesthetic affects how pro they look & are perceived to be)
b) Religion/spirituality (my take on style is much more self-worth based than other style blogs & I attract clients who like me for that heart)
c) Moms/simple life (my take on style is much more about simplicity than other style blogs & I attract clients who like me for that applicable education, saving them time & money)

You rock m’dear. Thanks for this brainstorming sesh.

with grace & gumption,
Hilary

Margo Seymour

#1 Pioneer Woman – predominantly female readers; #2 Maria Forleo – because I enjoy helping other women with business ideas; #3 Blogher.com, again, great female audience; #4 Food Network.

Alaina

Wow, thanks! You are different then the rest and I’m so glad I found you! My DREAM website to link to me would be http://www.Oprah.com

And my top 3 are: http://socialtriggers.com/
http://www.blogher.com/ and http://robbinsmadanescoachtraining.com/
(thank you previous posters for the great ideas!)

But, I actually haven’t even STARTED my blog yet, so that’s probably what needs to happen first…

Zanni, Heart Mama

Love these ideas. So logical.
Dream shout out would be http://www.BlogHer.com.
Three other shout outs I would love would come from:
http://MamaBake.com
http://www.edenriley.com
http://www.handsfreemama.com

Lee from Mother Load

OMG! How can that not have been obvious to me before this?? Thank you so much – it felt like you were speaking directly to me. I will work on which blogs to approach and why and dedicate some of the time I have spent on creating great content that only a very small reader base was even seeing doing just that. Getting it out there! Just like that – you have changed my focus!!

Jenny

This homework was a bit of a challenge for me… I’m at a place where I’ve been blogging for about 6 months, so I’m looking for the next step. The information in this post makes sense, but at the same time, I ask myself if I’m overthinking or overanalyzing my own actions (mainly because I’m pretty good at having a certain lack of confidence in new endeavors). With that said, I’m very appreciative of any direction that you all can offer.

My DREAM site – Dr. Mercola’s Blog (http://www.mercola.com) – Dr. Mercola’s blog is like the end-all, be-all for any sort of health or wellness subject online. The people that read his blog are looking for alternative information to that which the media, conventional doctors, and other outlets put out. His blog is more informative versus actually connecting with the consumer. I want to establish and grow that relationship. I want my blog to be personable and encouraging of others on their health and wellness journey.

1. The NutriBullet Blog (http://nutribulletblog.com/) – I use the NutriBullet personally, and I love how easy it makes getting healthy fruits, veggies, and superfoods into your diet. The demographic this product reaches (essentially people who are overweight, sick, looking to boost their health), is similar to demographic I’m looking to reach: people who want to be healthier but don’t know how, people who are curious about why organic is (or is not) a big deal, etc.

2. MindBodyGreen (http://www.mindbodygreen.com) – I love this blog because of the variety of information they provide to the health and wellness community: everything from holistic health remedies, yoga insight, emotional support, cleanses, recipes. I’m not sure, though, if it’s a good choice for a mention. Part of me feels like it is because the people reading the blog come from all of those walks of life. But at the same time, some of their articles target more niche categories that, if you aren’t already familiar with the “wellness world,” you would probably be inclined to pass up. I view my blog as more of a middle ground—I’m not an expert on EVERYTHING, but I’m still learning, and I want to share my knowledge of health, wellness, and our environment with others. (I AM working to get a mention by way of writing for their blog, though. They allow guest submissions, so it’s a goal of mine to get some content published.)

3. Living Maxwell (http://www.livingmaxwell.com) – Again, this blog reaches both the people that know what’s going on with organics and wellness, as well as provides information for those who are unfamiliar (although it’s less user-friendly towards the latter). I’d like to be mentioned in hopes that I could provide similar quality content, but on more accessible terms.

Thanks!

Isis

I’m new to this site. Thank you for the powerful advice in this post. You gave me a lot to think about. I’m generally pretty nervous about posting comments to others’ blogs, but here it goes:

I completely reinvented my blog and relaunched it literally less than a month ago. It was just my own personal random musings blog. 2013 was my year to “get serious” about getting published.

My target audience: women who are looking for ways to change their lives after experiencing trauma or leaving dysfunctional relationships. I focus on women’s spirituality & women’s empowerment. Things I’ll be touching on include, mind-body-spirit healing, internal dialogue and external communications, compassion and empathy for ourselves, developing outstanding relationships. I’ll be taking things into a direction around passionate purpose, healing from within and entrepreneurial self-sufficiency.

Why? well, I was abducted and held captive for 14 1/2 weeks. I escaped and reclaimed my life. It took many, many years to turn my life around. I didn’t have a support network or people I could rely on. I did much of my healing on my own. I believe if I had such a community, I’d have reclaimed myself perhaps a bit more readily and I think I’d have less fear. Professionally, I was a business strategist for Fortune 500 companies for the past 15 years before I left corporate world to stay at home with my children.

I decided that 2013 was time to focus on my message and dream. I launched a radio show and podcast and in the past month already seeing about 500-1000 listens each episode and I received about 5000 unique visits in the past 3 weeks. Just putting things out there to see what resonates with people.

I have done almost no promotion of any of my content. (How on earth do you do that?!?)

I am getting over my fear of promoting myself, which is something I think you neglect to talk about in your post here. I think this is one reason most people don’t follow through and it keeps them back from the success they could experience.

It’s been really, really tough for me to attach my name to the work I produce – largely due to my past. I long kept my blog pretty darned quiet as a place to practice my writing.

This may not be the same for everyone, but the fear of being seen (and quite possibly rejected) I think keeps many people holding their greatest works back from being released to the world.

I have no qualms about saying I know my content isn’t yet “good enough” or “unique enough” yet to attract the links I am seeking. Practice, practice, practice.

Now, as far as my homework assignment goes:

A dream website I’d love to get a link from: Oprah.com
Why would this website help me: The audience is focused and targeted – 93% women age 25-55 middle level income earners and stay-at-home moms who would like to feel more empowered and spiritually connected in their lives.

Other websites I’d love to get links from:
huffingtonpost.com (why – their women’s section is edgy and targets a demographic I am looking to attract)
psychologyofeating.com (why – I’d like to receive a blog award from this website – they have an award dedicated to blogs for women)
http://www.blogher.com (why – target demographic is women and contributing to this website would grow my own fanbase)
forbes.com (I want my website to be selected for their top 100 websites for women)

So these are the websites I’d like to eventually receive links from – each of these will assist me in building a platform so I can get published.

Than you for assisting me in clarifying my goals. I have a long road ahead of me. But commitment, practice and patience are on my side. Namaste.

Taswir Haider

I completely agree with this post!Great things in this post. but quality of the content is the most important thing….

33rd Square

Great advice Derek,

For http://www.33rdsquare.com it would be great to get a link from http://www.kurzweilai.net/ – they authoritatively discuss similar issues as we do, and have a huge audience.
With the acquisition of http://www.http://singularityhub.com/ by the Singularity University, it would also be great to share our content with a wider Singularity audience.
http://www.io9.com also has a great eclectic mix of science and science fiction that would match well to our content.

We do appreciate the links we have already made with http://www.singularityweblog.com/ and http://www.exponenetialtimes.net and would be happy to continue and extend our links there too.

Svetlana Koslov

The best reading I’ve done so far in 2013! Today’s lesson taught me that my blog lacks a specific target which is why my bounce rate rate is so high..Now that I ‘m empowered I’m going to update the sub-heating of my blog to target a specific niche..Thanks a million!

Nick

I agree with Derek about going specific with topics. Instead of doing my general opinions (or even a general investment site), I’ve decided to narrow it down to specifically emerging market stocks that are not listed on the NYSE. There are plenty of underlooked investments here that drastically outperform the S&P 500. My one concern is that is my niche too small or only appealing to professional investors. I guess I will find out. I write columns syndicated on a more popular site (Seeking Alpha), but my traffic drawn from there is limited. I need to link up with bigger blogs.

The top three for me to be linked would be:
yahoo, cnbx or google finance
zerohedge.com
globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
marketwatch.com
emergingmoney.com
or daveramsey.com

Logan Christopher

Great job at adequately summing up the biggest failings most people have. I see this all the time myself.

Cat

1 Dream website: WebMD
Why: It’s the #1 health website in the world – but this question has me thinking – maybe that prestige is not necessarily what’s best for our site. Our mission is to provide people with dental health questions the best, unbiased medical information. Perhaps the WebMD crowd is not what we’re looking for…have to think about this some more, do you have any input?

3 other websites:
Why: Prevention.com, HuffingtonPost.com, Scientific American
These websites would be great for our site because their focus is cutting-edge health information for a crowd that’s already interested in prevention and health. Traffic from these sites might appreciate what our site has to offer more.

Zane Dickens

Hi Derek,

That was a great post, and your niche is unbelievably unique and instantly intriguing.

My dream blog would be fourhourworkweek.com > Quite simply that book changed my life, and a link from that site would quite literally make me wet myself. More soberly I really believe in Tim Ferris’ philosophy and attitude to live, and would likely follow him even if I stumbled across his blog before his books were published and he wasn’t famous.

Then the more realistic ones:

ThinkTraffic.net – in part because I really like their new design, and Corbett (he’s the reason I came here in the first place – and I’m very grateful for that email) is another lifestyle designer I really admire. His attitude to providing value is epic.

JohnnyBTraunt.com – this choice is also personality based, I like the attitude of Johnny, but more importantly he is more aligned to my own niche, having written and self-published his own novel.

ZenHabits.net – mainly because I’d like to see my server melt into a useless pile of slag. Sincerely though its because since travelling minimalism has taken over my life and I owe a lot to his inspiring content.

Those are my three realisitic ones, and the pie in the sky dream link.

Should I now set about making plans on how to engage with this bloggers, build relationships and seek to guest post on their websites?

Jen

Great things in this post. I struggled with trying to follow up on the homework for 2 blogs I’ve stopped and started in the past few years but I realize I need to do the exercise of narrowing my focus before I create targets. (I struggled with ideas for the homework for about half an hour before I posted this, I didn’t forget.)

Mitch Mitchell

Hi Derek,

First, I think this is my first comment on your blog, but I wanted to say that I’ve enjoyed reading and have been watching your videos on your channel & the ones you’ve done with Marie Forleo and enjoyed them all.

I know how to follow directions and a challenge, thus I’m ready for this one.

First, my dream website would be Problogger.net. I feel that Darren Rowse started out like I did and has turned his site into a mega-blogging empire, and we write on many of the same topics, though in different ways, even though he now has way too many guest posts for my taste.

The other 3 sites are interesting in that I’ve commented on some of them and on one of them I even wrote a guest post (she requested it from me), but I think it could help anyway. My three sites are:

BasicBlogTips.com

This site would help me because many of the topics on the site touch upon the same types of issues mine do, even if a majority are guest posts. Still, the balance between my talking about blogging, writing and content versus most of the posts owner of the blog, Ileane, who often talks about technology used for blogging and social media, would be a nice mix.

TheSalesLion.com

Marcus Sheridan writes a great blog and one of the strangest things about it is that I’m often disagreeing with what he’s saying. Not in total but usually there’s a point or two in his posts that make me have to counter them, and sometimes I end up writing a post to counter what he’s written, or even to extend on something I agree with that he’s written. I think seeing another side of the same issues could benefit us both.

SocialTriggers.com (what, is that cheating?)

How many posts would you say you’ve written on blogging and traffic, or just on blogging in general? On the blog I’m highlighting here I’ve written 350 on blogging alone, inspiration, writing, posting times, length, etc. And I’ve been doing it for 5 years now. Frankly, you and I write on the same subject once again, but on different aspects of it. Why wouldn’t I see a beneficial connection there?

There you have it; completed homework, just the way you asked for it. By the way, the comment by GP was spam because he linked to Google; I’d have deleted it for not contributing to the conversation. 🙂

Cheryl

Hey Derek,
Really inspiring post. Need to start blogging and you’ve given me my homework, now I know where to begin digging and thinking. You’ve put me on the right path. Thanks so much for sharing these tips. You’re the best!

–Cheryl

Mazen

Where can one get their hands on your premium course Blogs that Converts?

Iris Barzen

Dream website: marieforleo.com

3 other awesome blogs:
theunlost.com : Therese is a fellow 20 something. She writes about figuring out what you want to do with your life (after college).
lifeaftercollege.org : Jenny Blake writes about living your dreams after college.
takeonlymemories.com : Vanessa writes about DIY, drawings and style and has a nice audience. She’s blogging about ‘project thirty’, that’s her figuring out what to do with her life now that she’s turned 30.

I feel that all of those ladies have audiences that share some key values of mine and fit in age and gender.

Mike Mobley

Dream site would probably be michaelhyatt.com to promote or share content from my site. Reason being it has to do with Leadership and my site would complement it well with a Christian perspective.

Other 3 sites would probably include:
thegospelcoalition.com
challies.com
thomrainer.com

I would be honored for any of these sites to share http://www.beforethecross.com

Goal is to Glorify God by sharing the love of Christ and that can fit into multiple topics with many personal applications.

Thanks for this post! Great stuff! Appreciate you as always!

-Mike

tony ladd

Excellent post

Frank

Derek, I have been enjoying this recent series of posts – the takeaway that is bouncing through my head is this:

1. Everybody creates content.
2. You only get paid when you build an audience.

I don’t know if you’ve phrased it like that, but as I said, that’s my takeaway, as I am building a new content catalog. I’ve built one moderately successful blog, which paid the bills and sold for a profit, but I left a lot of money on the table by not focusing on audience development.

This is something I am forcing myself to focus on now, because EVERYONE creates content, but only the few who build an audience get paid.

lisa

Derek,
I had to really think about this homework. I am a Holistic Health coach.. I help 40 something working mom’s gain energy by …using nutrition, dance, self-love and spirtuality. I found Kris Carr.. to be a huge support for me when I started on the plant based diet to heal myself of Lupus.. which I DID.. it turned out I was gluten intolerant and sugar and caffinee sensitive so I would pick Kris Carr as my dream blog.
my other 3 would be:
1/ http://www.Pickthebrain.com because I really think that holistic people understand and are comfortable with my approach and the courses I offer on line.
2/ http://www.healyourlife.com would be another great match for me because the people there are looking for ways to better their life, spirtually and mentally.
3/www.forkandbeans.com the readers here are look for nutrition, fun loving family foods and love.

I hope they would generate buyers through my website for my ebooks and eclasses.. I also do health coaching via skype and phone.

TG

Hi Derek,

Thanks for the homework. I’m not so sure that I picked the best sites. Where can I verify the readership of some of the blogs? I’m looking for home sellers and buyers and thought the following may be good sites.
I’m actually preparing to start a new blog so I’d be interested in learning more about building this one the correct way.

zillow.com – Would help because so many home owners and buyers rely on the information they post.

http://www.houzz.com – Would help because many of these homeowners are looking to improve their homes and therefore will sell soon.

http://dc.curbed.com – Would help generate local buyers/sellers

bizjournals.com/washington/ – Would help generate local buyers/sellers/investors

Joe

Hi Derek,

I heard you on an old social media examiner podcast and wanted to check out your blog. I ended up on this post from the sidebar link.

First – I agree with your idea that blogs fail because people write rubbish then expect it to be read and shared. Most readers are smarter than that.

Second – I think the day of the free ride from search engines is over and that’s why so many blogs fail. That said, I think most of today top bloggers would fail if they were starting today. It was just the luck of the draw for those who started in 2006 and road the wave of easy SEO and backlinks.

Third – I think success in this new era will have to be purchased and earned. Either by paying Google for adwords, or by paying service like your own, or by knowing the right people. There won’t be anymore organic traffic that reaches into the 1000’s, no matter how hard we hope, write and apply seo tips and tricks. The exceptions will be the famous.

Forth – I predict many of those lucky bloggers will soon begin to feel the pressure from the search changes Google is making. as well as with Google pulling the plug on their adsense accounts.

Fifth – I appreciate that you have decided to not fill your podcast episodes with the same recycled interviews that are now making their second and third rounds on all the marketing and social media podcast. They aren’t saying anything new, and what they are saying doesn’t work as well anymore.

Thanks,
Joe

Matt Ragland

Hi Derek, thanks for the challenging post. I’ve been blogging for a year and have NOW gotten to 100 subscribers. It’s nice, but has been a disappointing to publish over 100 posts, for 100 readers, in 1 year. Human nature…

My homework:

Dream Site – http://37Signals.com

Love #1 – The Art of Non-Conformity (http://aonc.com)

Love #2 – http://TheMinimalists.com

Love #3 – http://SmartPassiveIncome.com

Thanks for calling us out. Now I’m off to promote!

Rory Mouttet

Hi Derek I am new to your blog and blogging in general.

I have been blogging for about 5 months. Basically my focus is on thoughts and observations. I’m not offering any real advice just dumping things on paper from my head.

The truth is – I have no idea what blogs I want to get a link from but here’s a list that I managed to come up with.

1) http://thebloggess.com/ – I know I’m dreaming but I love her stuff so much.

2) http://daddownunder.wordpress.com/ – He is entertaining and mildly similar to my blog. I think that maybe some of my blogs could be shared by him.

3) http://twodadfamily.com/ – I think that my readers are more generally female and that these guys would be the same.

4) http://karenrussell.typepad.com/ – I like the look of this blog – it seems to be about everyday life which is the same as my blog.

OK hit me – as you can see I’m very new to this and sure I’m not looking in the right places.

César

Hi Derek, first of all thanks for your work, I find it so interesting and instructive. Now I have a question. I live in Spain, and my business is thai massage, I have a school in Barcelona. Fortunately, I´ve been quite successful in just one year thanks to my blog, but I want to take it to the next level. I find difficult to think about the ideal web to link mine, because there´s no one on my specific field who has that much traffic here. So the thing is how to be helped, if there´s no such “big brother” out there? Once again, thanks, and greetings from Spain.

    Michael

    There really are not many Thai Massage blogs in Spain as I checked for you.

    This is probably due to the demographic nature of most Spanish owns being a free flow of holiday foot traffic, use of directories and TripAdvisor recommendations,

    Maybe searching for Thai Massage blogs in Spain to get referrals to your own post is going to waste a lot of your time, since its mostly non-existent.

    You basically need a different strategy to attract more customers and in essence make more money. You’re not trying to win a blog post award, right?!

    Cesar, it would help if you added your website/blog on your comment to Derek Halperns post.

    I don’t know if you realize this, but you have a MASSIVE OPPORTUNITY to position yourself as a marketing strategist/consultant for Thai Massages in Spain (HURRAH cha-ching, money in yer pocket my son woohoo!!!)

    I am certain you can create additional income stream by being a business consultant/strategist for them including how to set up a WordPress blog and generate traffic into it.

    Sure they may say “well, we get a lot of customers already, we don’t need a blog!”.

    OK then Cesar, this is where having a proper business mindset kicks in…

    PUT THEM OUT OF BUSINESS BY TAKING THEIR BUSINESS!

    There, I said it because if they are stupid enough to not leverage the distribution channels available to them, no matter how successful they are, then you can make more money from their own neglectful viewpoint!

    Now if I had a Thai Massage Business in Spain and not much blogs about then here’s what I probably would do…

    Firstly, I need to know what is my intention to doing this blog post.

    I’m sure you’ll also have an advertising reach?

    Do you know your human demographic? (age, sex, customer motives)
    Spanish airport locations they fly into?
    Where the average holiday goer visits in Spain?
    Local customers needs and the average locations?

    If you said your motive is just traffic you have FAILED because traffic always have an outcome!

    Traffic is like you know where you want to go from your starting point and you must have a vehicle and fuel to get to your end destination.

    The vehicle is your blog post and your fuel is your distribution channels.

    Your outcome may be more subscribers, most of the time, bloggers really desperately want to say PROFITABILITY. Knowing who you are speaking to helps.

    An example could be “10 Reasons Why Experience a Luxury Thai Massage in Spain is One Thing You Want to Experience (and Something to Tell Your Friends When You Fly Back Home from Your Holiday)” – by Cesar, Professional Thai Massage Specialist in Spain.

    Now you have a blog post title also converts into a hard hitting headline that grabs immediate attention, creates emotion, positions you and SELLS your opportunity to receive a relaxing professional massage in one of the best holiday locations in the world…something to tell their friends on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (well look to that, word-of-mouth referrals, lol!)

    Derek have taught a lot about creating content with a call-to-action (such as 15 minutes Thai Massage as a gift for you friend when you buy a luxurious 60 minutes for yourself).

    You could joint-venture with a professional photographer and sell an upgrade package of their experience.

    Even more a double upgrade for their friend.

    I’m ahead of myself, business ideas flowing lol.

    So once you have done that, you need to implement an aggressive strategy to attract readers and convert them into customers.

    Oh and personally, even if you have a duplicate of your blog post to many content channels, I doubt very much you will be sandboxed due to the lack of blogs in your line of work, and even if you do, so what? Google have done more to strike fear into bloggers about this issue. If you get sandboxed yet still getting readers into buying customers, who care.

    Ever though Google wants tons of tons of daily fresh content…just to make them look amazing, whilst your pockets are still empty? Hmmmm!

    Hint: Just have a separate standalone optin squeeze page ;0)

    1. Look for a Travel Forum on TripAdvisor and do a short summary of the blog post.
    2. Convert that same blog post into a PDF report to giveaway with your ‘time sensitive’ offer inside.
    3. Create a blog relative photograph/image and send to Pinterest to be repinned and instagram.
    4. Create a video for that same blog post and distribute to YouTube.
    5. Look for non-Thai Massage social media channels, twitters, video channels, etc, who look for massage or could do with your service and comment on their blogs instead.
    6. Go to businesses and tell them you are dominating the search term Thai Massage in Spain with your Blog, give them the pdf (with your blog link) and ‘TELL THEM’ you would like their customers to benefit from your blog post by SENDING IT TO THEIR OWN EMAIL LIST!!!!!!! (to get optins to your own list)
    7. Look for ways to joint venture. If you find a client who cannot reach you…arrange the appointment for another business, take off your price markup, get the receipt to pass to the customer, keep them on your mailing list.
    8. Have someone interview you on their podcast or local radio show with your post.
    9. If another business REALLY LOVE your blog post, sell it as a licence or use as a basis to create a copywritten content tailor made for their business ($$£$£$$$£)
    10. VIRAL, head out to a Spanish location and do a 3 minute Thai Upper Back Massage Challenge for first 30 people, video record it, youtube it, do a press release, submit it!!!

    Now you can position yourself and your blog to get more prospects into your own list to make extra money from.

    I believe the time is fast coming where there are so much blog content on the webisphere that the only way to get noticed as a blogger and ensure readability is to truly think as a business in that every blog you create have a direct intention of profitability and positioning.

    You are not primarily a blogger but you are first of all a businessman and a marketer.

    I don’t know how much of this is relevant for you but at the very least I do hope has triggered some content distribution ideas for you :0)

Doug Francis

In the past I was thrilled to have links from HuffingtonPost and MSNMoney but those are like having Chinese food for dinner… eat, burp, move on to the next thing.

Dream would probably be huffingtonpost again… once you’ve tasted it, oh man!
http://urbanturf.com http://inman.com and http://marketwatch.com

Okay, that last one is kinda hefty…

Tracy Tresidder

I think the top website that I would like link from is Golf Digest – it seems to be one of the most widely read on the planet by all the fanatical golfers
No.2 cbssports/golf
No.3 golf.com/
No. 4 golfstate of mind

Why: these sites have such huge readership and following that the traffic to them must be enormous – how will that help me mmmm I don’t really know!

Jarika

I would love to be recognized on Tyler Perry’s website, because he has so many fans who are also aspiring writers. My business offers story development, editing, and author branding services. His fan base is the motherload!

My top three “likes”:

1- I would like to aim for the blog of Johanna Haress, creator of a very popular writing hashtag on Twitter.
2- I would also aim for KM Weiland. She’s a popular writing blogger.
3-Also there’s Natalie Whipple; she’s a writer with a solid following of other writers. If Nathan Bransford were still an agent, I’d go for him.

I wish I knew how to convince them to share my blog with their readers.

Jamie

My big fish would be Women’s Running magazine/blog.

Smaller blogs are Mile-posts.com and shutupandrun.net.

I had a very well known site mention me several months ago and that particular post–it was a great one–got an incredible number of views (compared to what I’d been getting) and then last month, the well known bloggers posted almost identical content (with no mention of me, of course) and got a much larger response.

Now I ask, why is it that I want bigger fish to notice me?

Corey

Great article Derek!

I really do enjoy the information that you put out there. It has been helpful and i hope that i have been doing it somewhat right.

I think that one of the best website i could get a link from would be http://www.asicentral.com. This is a company that we already market with and are trying to target the distributor customer. If they where to have us as an authority on print with them it would be HUGE!

The other websites would be http://printmediacentr.com/ and http://www.mohawkpaper.com. These are two places that i think would probably bring more industry people than potential buyers yet i think that they both would help with credibility.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,

Corey.

simon

Hi Derek,

Dream blog appearance – Social Triggers. Because its respected as a blog that is original and very authentic and any link would carry a lot of weight. I’d want link from Social Triggers because I think its main audience are people getting their head around websites and online marketing and they would have a lot of questions I can answer.

http://37signals.com/svn/ is a long standing blog by those great people at 37 Signals and is a mix of new technology and creative tips. An appearance here would be seen by a lot of entrepreuners around the world and would demonstrate I had a very high level of expertise.

http://lateralaction.com/ – I’ve been following this blog for a long time and I love it. Its audience is perfect for me as its made up of creative entrepreneurs. I’m actually trying to get some good content together so I can approach for a link or a guest post.

I haven’t got a third because I havn’t thought about it a lot before, which has made it a great excercise. Thanks 🙂

Isra {TheFrugalette}

Oh this is easy, a girl can dream right?
oprah.com <- becuz, um she's oprah 🙂
yahoo finance
huffpost finance
daveramsey.com

Ronald

Hi Derek,

Awesome insight as always. My bigger challenge is getting stuff done and it’s something I’m working on but I get your point on producing too much content and not promoting the right way.

On the homework, I’d like to get a link from Robert Kiyosaki’s http://www.richdad.com. My blog directly targets the readers of his books so a link from Richdad.com would be huge for me.

For the 3 smaller sites: I’d like to get a link from http://www.fitzvillafuerte.com, http://www.bosanchez.ph and http://www.inquirer.net. These are all based in the Philippines – the first one is a personal finance blogger with huge traffic, the 2nd is also a personal finance blog of a famous preacher and the 3rd is one of the biggest newspaper companies in the Philippines.

Kunal

I would say it honestly, I have wasted too much of time writing just the content and hardly any promotion for the blog. The tricks you mentioned are really worthy. But I believe usually the “other” “dream” blog from which we would want our link from will turn down our request. What should we do in that case?

Merri Dennis

Thanks so much for this post. It was what I needed to make a decision about the content focus of my blog.

My dream site – http://www.aholyexperience.com – because Ann Voskamp is a gifted writer and a down-to-earth person who reaches and touches a wide audience.

My top three sites – because is this niche I have chosen – faithbooking – recording stories of faith to encourage ourselves, friends, family, and future generations –
http://faith-sisters.blogspot.com/ – she provides regular crafting challenges to keep her audience engaged
http://faithfullyyours.net/Blog/ – she provides good resources and offers ebooks in this niche
http://holleygerth.com/ – an inspirational and encouraging writer who I just discovered in the last couple of weeks

Your post, one from Chris Brogan, and a guest post at Problogger all seemed to echo each other this week.

Thanks again.

Niveen Salem

Derek,

I’m a perfect example of these 3 wasters taught to me by a blogging marketing guru!! Yes…Amazingly I paid thousands of dollars for a 5 lesson blogging coaching class to learn 2 of these time wasters.

My nich though is specific which is “promoting my Nu Skin business online”. Nu Skin is mostly promoted off line.

Here is my home work:
1. Dream website: http://www.allwomentalk.com
2. 3 websites to get a link from: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com, http://www.allure.com, http://www.jonathanbudd.com

Marty Wenger

Thanks for the informative blog. I’ve been learning my “content” for 20 years, but learning the marketing is an absolutely essential fresh endeavor.

#1 “dream” connection: http://michaelhyatt.com/ because he has such a wide-ranging and large readership, inclusive of corporate folks who have the power to decide on whether my material is worth their company’s dollars.
Others: http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/ because I think gaining his respect would nurture my writing and further my exposure,
http://kentjulian.com/ because I know and respect his integrity and would ideally have significant overlap in market without competing content.

Tuckshop Gardener

http://www.gardenersworld.com because they have a huge reach and share the same target audience as me – UK amateur gardeners with varying levels of expertise.

http://garlicandsapphire.com affiliated to Sarah Raven’s Kitchen Garden – a strong gardening/lifestyle brand with great production values and a large, , established audience, generally with spending power. V stylish marketing.

http://vegplotting.blogspot.co.uk – entertaining and informative blog with a wide readership amongst my target audience – personal, funny and useful -just what I’d like my own to be. Claims 25,000 page views/month. Have successfully had 1 link to it already. Will try to maintain good contacts!

Nick Ruiz

The major site that I would love to get a link from would probably be http://thinktraffic.net
Corbett has an amazingly large audience with focus on traffic with entrepreneurship too…

Then I would also like http://zenhabits.net because habits are a big part of what I talk about on my blog and there is a lot of congruency with my site and that one.

Then http://liveyourlegend.net would be another one. I am a huge fan of that site and it is super inspiring which I love 🙂

The last one would be http://blogmaverick.com because I’m just a huge fan of Mark Cuban’s. I would love to connect with the guy for a few fast exchanges even. Being mentioned there would be awesome.

There’s mine Derek!

Cheers

SparkWorks

Derek – We appreciate the targeted homework! You said dream big – and on all fronts, we are!

Top blog we would like to get a link from: The eLearning Guild’s Learning Solutions Magazine http://www.learningsolutionsmag. They have 57,000+ members specifically in our target market, and we look forward to wow-ing them at the mLearnCon conference later this year!

3 other fantastic blogs we would like to get a link from:
ASTD: http://www.astd.org/Publications – ASTD reaches out to our target market, and they offer great education to their members. We not only hope for a link, we’d love for them to use our product as a platform to educate their members!

Annie Murphy Paul: http://anniemurphypaul.com/ She is the learning columnist at Time.com • CNN.com • Forbes.com • MindShift.com • PsychologyToday.com • HuffingtonPost.com. It would totally rock our socks if she linked her extensive readership to us!

And if Harold Jarche, a thought leader in workplace learning, linked to us, we would be tickled pink. He regularly inspires us, and we’re thankful for his words: http://www.jarche.com/

Linda_Margaret (@Linda_Margaret)

We haven’t started a blog yet, but we are thinking about it. I work for international development experts. I think our dream links are:
1. http://aidsource.ning.com/
This is a a site populated by practitioners from the aid community. If they talk about a blog, it is because it is relevant and timely for their work, which would be one of our goals.

2. DFID blogs – any of them
DFID – the UK Government’s Department for International Development – oversees some of the most frequented social media networks shared amongst relevant policymakers as well as the general public. If they link to us, it means that we’ve produced statistics worth discussing now and it usually (based on past experience) means a bump in traffic.

Peter Wright

Nice and very useful post Derek, the proof that it hits home hard is in the sheer number of comments it has generated – and the fact that less than 50% of respondents have done their homework.

By your criteria, I must be incredibly pig headed, stupid or determined. I would prefer to call it typical baby boomer generation determination.

I have been publishing between 2 and 5 posts a week on my blog for almost 4 years. I get between 1500 and 2000 visitors a month, sometimes more. My blog is intended to make money but doesn’t. However I don’t give up on anything in life.

Towards the end of last year I realised that blind perseverance was not going to increase my visitor numbers or income. Since then, I have had 4 guest posts published on a totally unrelated blog. (Not good for business but good for both practice and confidence) I have just this week submitted a post to an authority blog in my niche.

Here is my list:

Steve Aitchison – Change your thoughts http://stevenaitchison.co.uk

Liz Strauss – Success Blog http://successful-blog.com

A Daring Adventure – http://adaringadventure.com

Sources of Insight – http://sourcesofinsight.com

There are others, some mentioned in other comments, that I have put into a second tier to be approached later. Visitors to these four have a closer demographic profile to my ideal reader.

Thank you for your post, it is re-assuring that I am moving in the right direction at last.

Charlotte Grace Hunt

Hello Derek
I was not going to comment, I am really new to building my online business, my website is not really ready for traffic, I have dipped my toe in the blogging pond – I don’t want to be just another daily/weekly blogger waffling on, having tried a few different approaches did not feel any lit me up and began using my blog more as a message board since before Christmas. I find it extremely difficult to shoe horn time into my diary to sorting out my blog when I have had such an ambivalant relationship with it up to this point. And then realised how hugely ironic that was….

So – Dream blog; http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/lifestyle/ or http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gps-for-the-soul/ The huff post has such a big readership, my niche can easily cover topics that they and their readers are interested in. It would be an amazing chance for me to ‘step up’ and create quality blogging content they could use, and a huge confidence boost.
My three other blogs would have to be;
http://leoniedawson.com/ – a wonderful Australian hippy chick, she has an existing audience that my niche is trying to engage with. She has created a very successful business creating e-products and blogging, completely from scratch. No business school or formal training. She is a complete individual and does not care what anyone thinks, and is loved by her followers for it. She is a role model for making it happen.
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/ – this fits really nicely with my interests and niche, and I will be a yoga instructor myself in 6 months so may have more to contribute then?! They post out daily, and have a huge archive, so my blog could go out to a large list of their subscribers and be knocking around for future reference and visitors to their website.
http://jamieridlerstudios.ca/ – A lovely Canadian lady, also a bit of a hippy! She has a very successful coaching and creative empowerment studios in Toronto so is another role model for me. Although we both offer coaching so she may not want to actively promote me I might be able to offer something of value to her blog or audience?!

Ooo – long post! You did ask though….

Thanks for getting me thinking Derek, you have given me a few ideas for sure. I hope you are having a great weekend.

Charlotte
x

Christian

First, I want you to list your 1 DREAM website that you would LOVE to get a link from. :
For Me it would be one of the big Luxury Travel Websites like Branson’s Virgin Limited Edition:
http://www.virginlimitededition.com/?gclid=CIGBlJPT5LQCFW3KtAod6wsAUw

Second, I want you to list 3 other websites that you would also LOVE to get a link from.
– It wouldn’t hurt to get a link from Rick Steve’s website
– from Francethisway.com
and
– Lonely Planet

Danielle Stainton

Hi Derek! I’m a blogger noob and just founded http://www.LittleRoadies.wordpress.com for the little travel companions who race alongside us each day. It’s an informational, lifestyle blog dedicated to living life in the present, with tidbits and insights on fun things to do with kids. My end goal for is to drive traffic to my (near future) online shop with useful products for kids on the go.

DREAM: EllenTV.com- it’s Ellen, need I say more? 🙂

WISH LIST:
1. Babble.com – trusted targeted parent network with huge online influence and digital footprint
2. MomItForward.com – key influencer with active online voice including frequent twitter parties
3. TravelingMom.com – key family travel influencer with large online mom blogger network

Thanks for the help! 🙂

–Danielle

Angela at Diyhealthblog.com

I launched my blog in October and have between 500 and 600 visitors a month and even though that is under 1,000 I really love blogging and will never quit no matter what because I am open to learning and tweaking until I get it right. I have done a bunch of guest posts but not for anyone who has a huge audience yet. Also my Alexa rankings keep getting better and better which is encouraging but not sure what it actually means. My website is about healing Irritable Bowel Syndrome naturally. No one really does this well yet so there is plenty of space to grow in this field.

My dream is to have Chriskresser.com publish my guest post or promote my business. I really respect him and have many of the same views on health.
Four others would be:

Listentoyourgut.com
Meghantelpner.com
KrisCarr.com
Marksdailyapple.com

I am currently working on getting my guest blog on MindBodyGreen and Yogitimes.

    Angela at Diyhealthblog.com

    Wanted to add Dr.Mercola to my list.

The Redhead Riter

Interesting post and really interesting comments.

My homework answers are not in any particular order:

1. Ellen DeGeneres – http://www.ellentv.com/
2. Dr. Oz – http://www.doctoroz.com/
3. Bill O’Reilly – http://www.billoreilly.com/
4. Oprah – http://www.oprah.com

The reason for choosing all of those famous websites is the same – they have HUGE audiences. I have PTSD and was recently diagnosed with an allergy to grain. Both are huge issues and not enough is said about them to the public.

Even though PTSD is being talked about, there is still very little understanding. My own family seems OBLIVIOUS to it at times and PTSD affects EVERY aspect of my life. I have been blogging about PTSD ever since it began and am in the process of writing a book about my experience. PTSD is Hell and that’s putting it lightly. By being connected with those public figures, I could help people understand the disorder from an average person who had a life changing experience when I was just going to work on a normal day.

Carrie

Thank you for densely packing super-valuable content into your blog posts, Derek.

My dream website would be http://www.naturalnews.com – it’s the 2nd highest traffic site on holistic/natural health, only to Dr. Mercola and has an investigative and rebellious readership that is pro natural health & prevention and anti-corruption & anti-pharma.

#1) http://cancerspot.org/ — blog by a breast cancer survivor (now 43) denouncing chemotherapy, great readership, was nominated for a WEGO Health Activist Award

#2) http://www.alibrown.com — high traffic entrepreneur site for women. would love to work with her and be endorsed as a natural health solution for women.

#3) http://www.rawforbeauty.com — great content, sympatico readers, loyal following.

Jackie

I think since I am a new graduate from college and I am trying to break through into the copywriting realm, my top 3 would have to be: Themiddlefingerproject.org , redheadwriting.com , or copyblogger.com

Derek, I know I’m a late commenter, but I had a question… Do you think the bigger goal is to get a guest post on their site, or just simply somehow get a link to your blog from there? Or is the secret in leaving valuable comments in the post?

Thanks for the great post! It made me feel a lot better about how I spend my time in my day!

Pilar Arsenec

Mine are: Seth Godin, Stephen Pressfield and Jeff Goins blog.

David Paul Krug

This website has helped me ENORMOUSLY through the ages. It’s more of a consistent reminder of what to do RIGHT when I’m working on new projects for my businesses, and my clients.

What I hope to see in the future is it drive me towards more consistency in my blogging, and an increase in my learning as well.

Thanks for always posting epic greatness. I think that’s what people should take away. It’s not about volume, it’s about quality. And then sharing that quality.

Dan Norris

Nice post I’m keen for more tips on exactly how to get other blogs to send you traffic.

Homework

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/ – because they totally rock balls. My main inspiration.

http://launch.co – because Jason has a passionate audience and I love him ha

I’d love to be interviewed on http://Mixergy.com one day, got to get a bit more done first.

That’s enough I was lucky enough to be mentioned on my 4 favorite podcasts in 2012 which was awesome and has hepled a hell of a lot getting a new blog off the ground.

Troy Vayanos

Thanks Derek, great post as always.

I would love to get a link from http://www.golfwrx.com. This website will help me as that have a large following of beginner to amateur golfers who would really benefit from my golf instruction content.

http://www.thehackersparadise.com/ – This website receives a lot of comments from everyday golfers which means they write a lot of engaging content.

http://www.weiunderpar.com/ – This website again has a lot of comments regarding golf news stories.

http://golfgooroo.com/ – This website gets a lot of local engagement from everyday golfers.

I think all 3 websites with this loyal list of followers would enjoy reading the fresh weekly content I provide. They would comment regularly and most likely share the content with their friends.

Jeremy Binns

Awesome post. I feel like you punched me in the gut, but then helped me back up and handed me a hundred bucks. The gut punch was worth it. 🙂

Liz Chen

Homework time! =D

Hrmm, dream website… Probably Ramit Sethi’s blog, “I Will Teach You to be Rich”, as he has a cream-of-the-crop readership that would mesh well with the brand of “kick ass personal development and lifestyle” brand I’m building. Plus, he makes vomit jokes and yells at people, while also thoroughly loving them and going over the top to provide the best content humanly possible. Need I say more?

Marie Forleo’s website. Girl be stylin’, and gotta love someone who knows how to dish out hard-hitting practical advice with a soft touch and a side of amazingness.

Would also love a shout-out on Andy Shaw’s “A Bug Free Mind” blog. Guy knows his audience and how to teach in such a practical way you’re practically COMPELLED to follow through.

And the last one’s probably gonna have to go to some rinky-dink little website I like visiting called http://www.SocialTriggers.com. You guys probably haven’t heard of it. =P

But seriously, this website is great, and I look forward to growing my blog, brand, and readership piece by glorious piece! =D

Also, I have a random technical issue that I thought I would bring up here, in case anybody can help: I’m having issues with my new blog in that I can’t seem to post the clickable links that are converted into different words (whatever those are called). For some weird reason, I can get a straight link no problem, but the hyperlinks where you turn them into words are doing this crazy thing where they add /blog/blog to them. It’s not even in the HTML, I don’t even know what’s going on with this thing. I would really appreciate any help with this, I’ve been asking everybody about it. XD

Adam C

#1 – The Gospel Coalition
#2 – Desiring God
#3 – The Resurgence

I mostly blog about my family and personal goings on, but I will occasionally post on matters of historical and systematic theology. I think I’ll start commenting on current events too. I’ve been blogging for about 1.5 years, and have already been linked from Tim Challies’ blog and Trevin Wax’s blog. When you do get links from other bigger names, your traffic spikes! Gotta love seeing that.

Atoya Sexauer

My dream site is Marie Forleo!

I really had to think about other sites…I mean, besides yours, all I follow are like self help type gurus…and I thought, “wow…I don’t even know of any local blogs that could send me traffic?”

So, I started googling and doing my homework…and I don’t really know what I”m looking for? Do I find beauty blogs? Do I find a specialty blog like for curly hair? Do I find glamour blogs?

I really am at a loss:(

Any ideas of what a hairdresser/makeup artist would be looking for?

I totally am a “me too” blog lady right now:( and I just started.

Suggestions…anyone?

much appreciated.

    Atoya Sexauer

    Oh and P.S. I am the only person I know, in my industry, who is using your strategies to help build my clientele vs. standing at Target passing out business cards. And in three weeks, I’ve had over 900 hits to my website/blog! The owner of my salon has asked me “how is it that your getting all these clients from the web?”…I smile and answer…”socialtriggers.com”. Booya.

Michael Belk

Derek, this was what I call epic content. It kept me engaged and I even read some of the comments below. I can tell you are a stickler for people who at least following through on your advice. I must say Jessica was the first person to do the exercise.

I would love a link from http://www.chrisbrogan.com
He is a very influential blogger and someone I respect. He writes about topics close to my own ethics.

1. My next blogger is the http://www.workawesome.com blog.
They write on great topics to help people succeed in work.

2. My next site is http://www.i‘mjustsharing.com
This blog is owned by Mitch Mitchell. He is very opinionated but he speaks the truth.

3. My last blog is http://www.johnchow.com
He needs no introduction. If you are on the internet, I think you have heard about him.

Thanks Derek

Michael

My dream blog link would be Mashable. As for others: KillerStartups, OnStartups, and KISSMetrics.

Derek, your no non-sense posts are great. I kept nodding my head through the whole thing.

Annmarie Huppert

Dream link: Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) will be a credible site that targets mostly civilian women, who, by nature, are relational networkers. When I get a link here, I’ll help many more PTSD survivors.

Link #2: US Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs National Center for PTSD reaches the “other half” of my target audience – veterans. Although there’s a deep distrust of the veterans’ system, veteran survivors still look here for information. My link here would give the system a trusted “outside” resource.

Camilo

Hey Derek, thanks man for this advice, i think is great, and yes, it opened my eyes wide open about the 3 mistakes, all of them, made for myself.

Well, talking about the homework, here it is my sites.

this sites, are in spanish, Why? Because i am from Colombia, and i am running a blog about how to overcome and dominate General Anxiety and Panick Attacks, so this are my #1 DREAM site.

is this: http://www.eltiempo.com

This site, is the site of the #1 best newspaper in Colombia, is like the New York times or the Washington Post in USA, so, yeah, i´d like to get an article of mine in this place, and traffic from them too.

the other 3 sites are this:

http://www.creaturealidad.com/
http://www.vitonica.com
http://viviendosanos.com/
http://demedicina.com/

This, are blogs about medicine, heatlh and wellbeing, and i thinks is accordly to my niche, so i think they could be interested in promoting my site.

What do you think about it?

Thanks for all the advices and resources you give us.

Bye.

Camilo R

Rose

I know…I didn’t do the homework…
I have a few dream blogs. Don’t hate on me because They’re ridiculously huge marketing blogs and as you know, marketing is completely over-saturated.

I would love to get links from: Mashable, Social Media Examiner, Social Triggers, and Marie Forleo . Some other blogs: Mari Smith, Boom Social Media, and Amy Porterfield

Rose

This post couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. It’s like you were in my head! I have been struggling with the idea of producing content for a particular niche in my industry for some time. I am completely excited about it, but worried I may alienate other potential clients. But after reading this post, I’m gonna go for it. I just wish I had read this before I scheduled out all my posts for the year :(! Back to square one.

Alan Smith

Homework:
Dream link – Mashable or Copyblogger (both are top for me)

Love link – Entrepreneur.com and BrianGardner.com

I always get a lot out of your post. They seem to hit me square between the eyes. I think the “conversation” you referred to above about promoting a post was with me, but I know we’ve never talked. It was a little spooky! 🙂 Thanks for the direction. Always valuable.

Sam Goble

Here are my 3…

Dream Wesite – http://www.searchenginewatch.com
Great content that is up to date. Never boring!

http://www.trafficgenerationcafe.com
Posts are very informative and she over delivers. Everything about the website is very well thought out.

http://www.2createawebsite.com
Has a pulse on what users are looking for. Good practical information on building a website and traffic generation.

Frank

As always, this was another epic post by you for guys like me. Thanks! As for the homework here goes:

My top dream blog is mashable.com/business.

On the practical side, for smaller sites:

Small Business Trends (http://smallbiztrends.com) The are perfect step up. My niche small business health plan consulting/services could drawn from them a nice audience.

Next Choice would be http://Microbusiness.Vistaprint.com. Every start up finds free cards there and why not some helpful DIY Health Insurance Consulting?

Third Options would be http://sme-blog.com. Great PR and the small business reader I want to reach.

I cannot thank you enough for your site review video, saw yours of SPI with Pat Flynn and it helped me tons.

P.S. Just found SBT founder on EmpireAvenue and bought 200 shares to get introduced.

Hashim Warren

I want a link from Deadline.com

And I also want links from Variety, HollywoodReporter, and Billboard.

Kris T. Smith, MPT

Derek, Guilty as charge. I post way too much. As of next week I’ shifting that focus because this is the second time I heard this from you. Great Post.

This Post is a great technique to get the eyes of all your followers Dream site to see your site too. Great Use of Promotion.

Dream Blog Link: I would love to get e shout from Marie
1) http://www.Marieforleo.com – I don’t need to say anything but Marie Rocks. She delivers sick content, and does it in a entertaining way.
2) http://www.menopausetheblog.com : I would love to interview Wendy because I feel she really post high quality content and cares about her audience.
3) I’m going to whole off and really think about this one…

Thanks DH

Kris

Lindsay Shack

Dream Website: TheDailyLove.com – this site’s readers are looking for inspiration, and ways to better themselves in all areas – health, wealth, personal relationships, etc. and I can offer that as well.

3 others:
Stratejoy.com: this site targets younger readers on creating the life they want – my ideal customer is in this age range and going to through similar struggles/life changes.
PositivelyPositive.com: readers interested in bettering their lives and interesting in positivity.
MindBodyGreen.com: overall interest in health and wellness, improving, etc. – all things my readers share.

Yoli

Thanks Derek, you really know how to put people’s feet to the fire… Thank you sir, may I have another. :d..

My top dream blog is Guy Kawasaki’s “How To Change The World” A practical guide for impractical people.

The smaller sites (although, I’ll be frank. I have to do more research on this one) are Mom Entrepreneur Support – Working Naked – Working Mother

I think this (Guy Kawasaki) site will help me, because the readership will be exposed to a different KIND of support (for beginner entrepreneurs).

It’s the kind of support that has nothing to do with the practicalities that lie within being a successful entrepreneur, but support that will help them embrace the – living on the fringe ways, and expand their already broad sense of imagination and creativity. A support that will keep them remain stable, strong and motivated deep inside, no matter how wicked and “trippy” their entrepreneurial roller coaster ride is. At least, that’s my awesome ultimate wish.

A link to Mr. Kawasaki’s blog, would be an honor, a dream come true and a kick in my a** to keep on going.

I aim to change the way, livingroom/ board room meetings are held.

after all, everything was impossible, until somebody did it… right?

There you have it.

Thanks again Derek.

Rock on
🙂

    Yoli

    Sorry about the miss spelled words. I don’t know how to fix it once I’ve posted.

Shuva Rahim

Interesting post, especially since I blog 3-5 times a week…

OK, so here’s my dream sites:
yours.
http://www.jasminestarblog.com – international wedding photographer based in Orange County,CA (she blogs often!!)
http://www.sethgodin.typepad.com – Seth Godin.
http://www.unmarketing.com – Scott Stratten

Al Woods

I’ve made the mistake of writing a huge amount of content believing that was the way to go.

I write about the college recruiting process for high school student athletes and parents.

It’s easy to write good content because this is a subject matter I clearly understand.

It’s easy to write good content because this is what I do the hard part is attracting enough readers.

The marketing and promotion of my blog has always been a challenge. After reading this incredible blog posts and most of all the comments, my focus should be on less content more promotion and marketing to attract more readers.

My dream link http://espn.com Because they cover high school sports in terms of rankings and getting a link from them would be incredibly huge for me.

1. http://Rivals.com is a website that covers high school sports this is where a huge number of my readers are.

2. http://Scout.com this is another major player in high school sports and would clearly help me reach my target audience.

3. http://MaxPreps.com They have national coverage of high school student athletes.

Thanks!

Davide Di Prossimo

Hi Derek, very good one! The post I mean, I liked it. Oh Gosh! It makes me feel so little thinking there are 164 blogs…I agree with you when you say that the lack of results destroy everyone. It is very hard to keep going doing the same thing and not seeing different outcomes. Anyway if they stop at 3 months of the blog lifer they really deserve to fail. I believe that if that happens in 12-24 months, is justifiable. Not 3 months though. In answer to your question?: “Are you worried that the same thing will happen to you?” No I do not think this will happen to me. I am a Capricorn and my head is pretty tough. In answer to your second question: “Are you scared that you’ll waste your time on the pointless drivel “fake blogging experts” shill as “advice?” A little. Sometimes they throw at you anything saying is the “ultimate best thing” to launch your blog or website.
DREAM website that I would LOVE to get a link from? Wall Street Journal.
3 other websites? TechCrunch, The Huffington Post, Social Triggers.
WSJ, TechCrunch and The Huffington Post would help me/us because of the nature of my/our blog, and Social Triggers because is an authority website as well as I/we like what you do.
Thanks and Ciao from Roma (Italy)

Anthony O'Keeffe

Excellent post. It was a really succinct summing up of your overall philosophy, which is always with hearing. And THIS time I intend acting on it!
Dream: NPR’s All Songs Considered. Next 3; THe New York York Times, the Guardian and The Irish Times.
Well, you can always dream…

Joi @ Rx Fitness Lady

Hi Derek!
This is my first time commenting but I’ve been following you since I decided about 4 months ago to start my own blog to increase my presence in the fitness virtual community. I want to thank you for helping me to successfully launch my blog 2 weeks ago. I’ve gotten so much feedback from other bloggers about starting well. I feel that I have awesome content in the health & fitness area but I’m guilty as charged of “promoting” only on social networks & commenting on a handful of blogs. I will spend the weekend doing the homework assignment & comeback with what you asked but THANK YOU for all your help thus far!

Emily Crews Montès

Hi

I got myself UK national newspaper coverage and that still didn’t work, I got 500 hits to my blog on the best day, and about 3 thousand extra hits altogether… so it’s back to the drawing board. Thanks for the hints!

Psychologies – top choice
Marie Forleo – 2nd
Le Marketeur Francais – joint 2nd
BadWabbitTails

DaleK.

WOW! I struggled with this…which was telling in and of itself. Had to sleep on it. GREAT exercise. Thank You!

Seriously, right now, my site is 100% me too only because I had to put up content to help with local search.

But honestly, one of the biggest struggles I have with doing ANYTHING is that if I think it’s already been done, in any way shape or form, I won’t do it. In fact, I stopped by an earlier commenter’s site and found that he’s pretty much saying everything I’ve been spending the past few weeks putting into an e-book that I had intended to charge for! Not sure if I should laugh or cry here.

My dream site: BiggestLoser.com – Part of my long range plan includes a weight loss program inspired by another reality tv game show. Many of my off line clients love The Biggest Loser. I need actual participants for my program to work. Biggest Loser has the numbers to send me, plain and simple.

burnthefatblog.com: This is actually where I got started with learning how to lose weight. Quite honestly his e-book changed my life, and maybe even saved it. Over the past few years I’ve run across many people on other sites who’ve bought his book but never read it, or they struggle making sense of it, implementing changes etc. I can help people get started.

hungrygirl.com: Love the playfulness here. Focus is pretty much “what to eat”…something I hate talking about because I could quite literally live on coffee, egg whites, broccoli & oatmeal. So, I’m of very little help to my non-existent with the “what should I eat” question. My focus is more mental/behavioral, so I can offer much needed help in that regard.

Steve Clark

Awesomeness Derek!
Adding to the comment pile:
Dream big, easy, become a regular (when I wish) featured contributor at:
huffingtonpost.com/

For the second tier my “blogs” are still offline rags and I believe they are offline for all the right reasons:
Robb Report
Dolce Vita
Niche Media Holdings – nobody’s ever heard of their 14 niche leaders.

I’m currently looking for our online partners, but the failure rate for my litmus tests is remarkably high. The “why” in all of this is simple, I (thus our company) will become a recognized leader in our space before my last breath and *unpaid* mentions in places like these are priceless.

Oh, and see that little tiny “recommended for you” at the bottom right of this post, things like that and two columns are a nightmare when reading on my smartphone. Don’t get me started on the larger evil pop ups! We are mobile first – and that – is our unsung secret sauce as we take our beautiful luxury analog creations into the digital world.

Jen

compostingcouncil.org
huffingtonpost.com
compostforsoilscom.au

Gabriele

I’m writing my blog in Switzerland on the topic of “online and social media marketing for the hospitality industry” – and am pretty much the only person doing this topic in this tiny country. So I can’t really think of a dream blog I’d like to get traffic from – the only ones coming close to my topic have 123 readers tops.
So I’m starting to think blogging may not be the way to go and get scaling around over here…
🙂

What do you think?

Carlos

Now I know I did made the right decision to subscribe to your newsletters Derek, I’m learning a lot from you. Muchos Gracias!

http://www.designsponge.com/ – The foremost site I’d love to have links to because I think they are the cream of the crop. The audience they have are the audience I wanted to have on my site.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ – I make comments here when I find an interesting topic. Beautiful pictures are one of their strong points. If I could link to this site I’m sure I’d have dedicated readers.

http://www.ikeahackers.net/ – The best aspect of this website is community interaction which could boost my sites exposure.

http://www.curbly.com/ – Curbly accepts guest blogging. They have quite a lot of followers.

Brandon

Hey Derek,

I guess my dream site would be betweenthelines posted at autodesk.blogs.com which is an autocad blog. My niche is freelancing and working for yourself as an autocad drafter/cad designer.

My next three would be
Lynnallen.com. Another popular blog in my niche

Freelanceswitch.com big for technical freelancers

There are many more but these would be an awesome start!

Thanks for the motivation Derek, love the blog and the podcast

Cheers
Brandon

    Brandon

    Made my first progress already, sent out emails to a few of the blogs in my space and target audience. Thanks Derek for the push.

Jake Olson

Derek, you’re so right on this. I’m trying to launch a new blog focused on life in East Central Minnesota. Unfortunately there aren’t many “active” blogs that I’ve found that focus on life in Small Town MN. That said, I’d love to start generating the content that would garner notice from:
HEAVY HITTER
Heavy Table – the best Minnesota food blog. When I venture into the world of profiling restaurants within an hour drive of the Twin Cities.
Three other blogs I’d like to be noticed by:
Minnesota Brown: a blog about life in the Iron Range (another subset of Minnesota life.)
The Conversation Hub: a podcast recorded in southern MN with interviews of people in a variety of industries
Yank On: a great personal blog by a guy from my home town who is a premium wordpress developer, Dave Yankowiak.

    Erika Kerekes

    Jake, what about a mention on A Prairie Home Companion?

      Jake Olson

      Yea, I’d take a mention on Prairie Home Companion for sure too. Do they have a blog? 🙂 .

        Erika Kerekes

        I don’t think so, but they have 35K fans on Facebook. 🙂

Sandra Armenteros

Hi Derek!

I just launched my very own “little engine that can (and will)”. My top three to blog for are, in no particular order, Digital Photography School (dps.com), Clickin Moms.com and Inc.com

Emily

Top site – Zen Habits. I think our readers are similar! Smart, focused people who want less crap and more calm in their lives.

Next three would be yogadork.com (as I am a yogi who writes about yoga), itsallyogababy.com (same reason) and mamamia.com.au because as with zen habits, I think this is another site that my readers go to regularly!

Great exercise, thanks! 🙂

Karen Batchelor

Hi Derek –

I’m a life coach and Baby Boomer with the goal of downsizing from my current house and a lifetime of “stuff” to building a simpler, new life in a tiny house -as in 230 square feet. I started my blog last fall to document this journey and inspire others who are thinking about downsizing but don’t have a clue how to get started.

I’ve been following your blog for a while now and maybe love your blunt and candid comments as much as your posts:) Here are my answers to the assignment:

1. My dream link would be from Leo Babauta over at ZenHabits.net. Just today he’s writing about how to get rid of both physical and emotional clutter. I think people who read his blog would be inspired by someone like me who’s on a mission to lose 8000 lbs – of stuff.

2. I’d definitely like a link from AARP.com – one that would lead to me being featured in their magazine and a speaking engagement at their annual conference in October. AARP has actually written about tiny houses in the past and of course, their demographic is Baby Boomers like me.

The other blogs I’d love to be linked to are smaller but important voices in the world of simple living and tiny houses:

3. Rowdy Kittens.com. I love Tammy Strobel’s writing style and photography! When I had a chance to talk with her, she said half the comments she gets are from Baby Boomers who are intrigued by a tiny lifestyle. And not only does she talk about living simply, she has walked the talk by downsizing to a tiny house with her husband.

4. BecomingMinimalist.com. My focus is in sync with Josh Becker’s “less is more” message. He calls it “minimalism”; I call it “freedom”. He’s got a great readership and I’d love a link from his blog.

Thanks for the assignment, Derek. It’s got me thinking about the time-wasting going on in my corner of the blogosphere! Can’t wait to read your next post.

    Jo-Anne

    Karen – you might want to add Small House Society http://www.resourcesforlife.com/small-house-society and Tiny Yellow House http://relaxshax.wordpress.com/ to your list. They both have huge readerships.

    Send me an email and perhaps we can do cross postings to help each other out. We have a decent size Tiny House following on our FB page that I can promote to. Wishing you the best on your downsizing.

      Karen Batchelor

      Great suggestions, Jo-Anne! I’m familiar with both of those sites. And I will email you. Downsizing the stuff with special memories attached is the hard part but I’m cranking along. So thanks much for the encouragement, the ideas and the offer to collaborate:)

        Karen Batchelor

        Btw – love your garden sheds and cottages!! I’ll share some of your images on Facebook if you don’t mind. Boy do I wish you were in my area.

          Jo-Anne

          Thank you! And share away.

          There was another comment from someone else in the Tiny House community on here, but I can’t find it now for some reason. Another potential cross promoter. From what I’ve seen, tiny house lovers are insatiable – you just have to get on their radar!

Aaron

Hi Derek,
I just posted a comment, but it had some draft text at the end that I forgot to delete. Could you cut it for me, or maybe it doesn’t matter.
Have a great one
Aaron

    Aaron

    Derek – never mind – I think you already did it for me. Thanks man!

SarahQ

Hello all –

My blog is about living with bipolar disorder and how I’ve managed to make a DRASTIC turn-around – and how anyone can change the way they think and thus change their life. I’m including the link to it even though it isn’t “ready” because why the hell not?

I’m about 70% finished with an ebook that has three sections: spiraling down, hitting rock bottom, and reversing course – moving forward and upward in life. The first section is mainly examples of my thinking back in 2005, when I was in the midst of having a mental breakdown. I couldn’t focus, so when I was at work, I wrote myself emails from my work email account to my home email account, so it would at least look like I was working. The first section is primarily made up of these emails and emails between me and my mom from the few weeks leading up to the breakdown, from the hospital and shortly after leaving. The second section deals with my abusive marriage and has a few journal entries and the story about the day that pushed me over the edge and caused me to stand up for myself and leave that s.o.b. once and for all. Part three has a few blog entries and a few other stories from the three years it’s been since I left him and started healing.

I would like to show people – primarily young women in their 20-30’s who struggle with painful mental illness symptoms – that it is absolutely possible to change the way you think and how your life is going for you. If I can do it? We all can.

I would like to finish writing my entire story – the rape, the self-injury, the mental breakdown, the different diagnoses, the abusive marriage, the 60 lb. weight gain and loss and the process of learning to thrive in life no matter what. I would also like to publish it and sell a zillion copies, and so my blog is the vehicle by which I intend to turn my writing into my profession. Until then, I would like to offer this short ebook as a sample of what would likely be in the full-length memoir as a Thank You gift to anyone who signs up to be on my email list.

I have a self-imposed deadline of January 23 to have the ebook finished and online. I’m spinning fire in front of the entire Middle School that I work for in about 2 weeks at an assembly (the kids don’t know about) and one of my co-workers has said she’ll be calling the local news station if the district let me do it. They are – so juuust in case the press does happen to come, I want the book ready and downloadable, in the event that I get a chance to mention the blog.

#1 blog/website that I want to be linked to –> ThisAmericanLife.org I love this radio program on NPR and I think my story would be a perfect fit. Also, they have 1.7 million listeners, which obviously doesn’t suck.

#2 – NAMI.org –> National Alliance on Mental Illness. These are my people. NAMI is the nation’s leading organization in regards to mental illness and consumer advocacy. There are state and local websites for NAMI, but my big one would be the main site.

#3 – healthyplace.com –> “America’s Mental Health Channel” Again, these are my people and they say they are the largest consumer mental health site. I believe them.

#4 – Oprah.com –> Oprah’s book club. She has a gabazillion followers and does a lot of human interest-type stories. I think she would appreciate mine and so would her followers.

Thanks for a fantastic post, Derek. I didn’t want to stop working on the blog/writing business today, since I have a ton of momentum right now and the 2-week challenging-but-absolutely-doable goal of being “ready” with the ebook. However, writing parts of the book are mentally exhausting and I needed something else to work on whilst my brain recovers a bit. The last thing I need is to get mentally stuck back in my past. This post – and the great homework – is exactly what I DID need.

Thanks again,

~Q~

Denise Burridge

First, I want you to list your 1 DREAM website that you would LOVE to get a link from. That site would be Canon by being one of their Explorer of light photographers.

Second, list 3 other websites

creativeLIVE – has a readership/viewers of approx one million it would give me the opportunity to make relationships with other creatives from genres other than photography which will expand my network circle and allow for more unique opportunities.

National Association of Professional Child Photographers
This is a internationally recognized organization of children photographers. It’s a source for parents searching for children photographers.

PPA – Professional Photographer of America – it would help me broaden my networking circle within the photography industry.

Wow this was alot harder than I thought. Thank you.

Aaron

Hi Derek,
I’ve been following you for a few months thanks to a Tweet from Chris Brogan. I LOVE what you write and video about. (I dunno if I am allowed to invent a verb like that…but anyway.)

I really appreciate your advice, and find myself feeling a bit in the….I WOULD LOVE A READER INCREASE reward sometime. I think I’m guilty of trying to create too much content, and not promoting what I have enough. (at all.) Not sure how often I should be posting….hmmm.

I want to thank you for the homework Derek. At first, the value of thinking about who you’d like a link from was lost on me…and then…’bing!’ the light bulb went off. Wow!

My dream site link would be:
Vicki Davis // http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.mx

My other high value links would come from:
Shelly Terrell: http://shellyterrell.com/
Ewan McIntosh: http://www.edu.blogs.com/
David Warlick: http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/

Thanks for getting me thinking about this!

Melodie Licht

Thanks for a great article and a brain burner! I never gave this any thought before but it is sure on my mind now and a great lesson! So now for the homework assignment:

My Dream website: http://www.oprah.com: Oprah addresses and appeals to people’s needs. She presents many humanitarian topics and, although you can’t tell from my website (yet) what I’m doing, that link would reach 1/2 of my overall target audience.

Three other websites I’d like to get a link from:
#1 – http://socialtriggers.com. This website is here to help, encourage, and make you think! It doesn’t matter if you’re in a stalemate, digging yourself out of an ‘expert’ hole, stuck on what you should do next, or just oblivious to everything – there is something here for everyone. People who congregate here are forward movers & thinkers. They like to see what others are doing, share and learn, encourage and motivate. A great place with the right attitude!

#2 – http://marieforleo.com/ She truly wants to make a difference. Her energy and enthusiasm is over the top. If you could get that energy behind you… who knows what could happen.

#3 – http://nad.org/ – last but not least! National Association of the Deaf. This is the other half of my overall target audience and if I had a link from them? It means I did it right!

Thanks again Derek for really giving me a few things to think about! 🙂

James Schramko

Derek can you do a post about directive language?

Your phrases like:
“So, I’m giving you permission…”
and
“Here’s What You Need To Do Next…”

dont work with me. I dont need your permission and it seems arrogant.

Hopefully there is some research on this.

Rebecca

Hey Derek – first I want to say THANK YOU for posting an article and not a video this week because I am working on a cruiseship with internet that doesnt lod videos 🙂

First, 1 DREAM website: Daniellelaporte.com

Because we are both artists and perfomers taking a radical approach on self care and love. Also her readers are a very active group and I would like some of that energy directed my way.

Second, 3 other websites:
Deniseduffieldthomas.com – similar topics with awesome energy of her followers – I feel like her readers would get a kick out of my stuff,

leoniedawson.com – her followers love radical care which is what I am about and I would to like to offer them some different options,

Mindbodygreen.com – (not really that small) I would love to open thier readers up to more action focused but still spiritually based options for expansion and consciousness.

Voila

Jovell

Whoah..long comment trail again but I’d still love to participate.

I have 2 blogs but for this one I’ll focus on 1 – The Petite Pen since there’s not much engagement there.

For my DREAM site..can I cite 2? Either Copyblogger or Problogger. Because for me their equals when it comes to providing great posts and sound advices about writing and blogging.

For the other 3 sites..WriteToDone.com, steveslaunwhite.com and publicationcoach.com…:)

Leanne Chesser

Dream site: http://www.marieforleo.com because Marie is one of my mentors and I admire her business mind, success, confidence and presence. My target market spends time on her blog.

Three other blogs:

1. http://www.michelleshaeffer.com – I’ve been associated with Michelle for a while now and I admire how much she has grown over the years. My target market is there as well.

2. http://www.uncagedlife.com – I love Becca’s raw, honest, direct style and my target market is there.

3. http://www.themiddlefingerproject.org – Ash’s style is also raw and real. I love that. Again, my target market hangs out there.

Alexandre

Derrek, I will need to break it in more steps.

Don’t know why, wasn’t as easy as I though to find those sites. Could think quickly in just one: Papo de Homem and, even with this I wasn’t satisfied…

My blos is about productivity for undegraduated students, so I need blog that they read and follow.

So, I decided to first ask (politely! ;-)) all my friends on Facebook (most of them undegraduateds or just graduated) to give me their most acessed blogs.

Other positive point, besides the brainstorm, is to know various WOMEN sites/blogs that I would totally pass by if I had stayed with my own list.

😉 Thanks!

Sarah Yost

Great exercise. I’ve thought a lot about who I would want to write for. But thinking about who I would want to refer to me is a much more focused exercise. It’s helped me see my website and business a little more clearly.

That said:
1. Girl’s Gone Child because Rebecca Wolf is soulful, messy, irreverent and devoted to helping other women out with the truth. She’s a mommy blogger, which I am not, but if her readers are drawn to her, they’ll like me too.

2. Brene Brown because she is soulful, messy, irreverent and devoted to helping other women with the truth about living a normal + spiritual life.

3. Elizabeth Gilbert and Anne Lamott–neither of them keep blogs but do keep wordy Facebook posts. I’d love to have a link from them because they do a similar flavor of soulful, messy, real, irreverent, and truth-telling.

All of these women focus on different topics, but from a similar perspective. I write about personal growth and business creation from the same story-ridden, honest and irreverent perspective.

Briana

Hey Derek,
Doing the damn homework.
Dream:
Socialtriggers.com 😉

Other three:
Huffintonpost
Marieforleo.com
The Daily Love.

Thanks Derek, you’re the best.
B

    Briana

    Oh shit…I didn’t actually finish that homework.

Ros

Hi Derek,
I blogged weekly for 12 months ……the blog focussed on giving advice about computer issues and marketing for their websites etc… The topics were chosen from our database of computer repair visits and recurring website questions we receive. We had links in our newsletter and email footers. I can only confirm 2 clients who read the blog because they mentioned it once but no-one bothered to get engaged by leaving comments and the only comments on the blog were by strangers not genuinely interested or spam. My intention was to help our existing customer base learn a few things. At this point I’m not sure if we’ll continue the blog because people won’t read, they want to be hand-held and get other people to do stuff for them.

If our clients would read and take responsibility for their own businesses I’d like links from the following blogs so our clients learned along side me.

1. Copyblogger
2. Social Triggers
3. Seth’s Blog
4. Small Business Trends

Jane Manthorpe

Hi Derek
I am just literally starting out and about to launch my blog at http://www.janemanthorpe.com, just creating a few epic posts and creating a editorial calender before launching this very week 🙂

http://www.janemanthorpe.com is my umbrella name and underneath it I will have my 3 main areas of expertise: Raw Living Food Lifestyle, Injury-free Running using Chi-Running and Holistic Spiritual Coaching for clearing out the negative emotions, thoughts and energy blocks in connection with loving yourself fully and having great self-esteem and body image.

My website http://www.happyuncookedathlete.com will be the place I share my story and offer my coaching packages, workshops, retreats and ebooks, courses etc with landing pages and detailed information that goes deeper than the blog subjects I write about.

My business is in the Holistic Health and Fitness area and my niche is focused on my ideal client, Health-Conscious Active Women either athletes or recreational sport lovers who are seeking the best of health, fitness and well-being so they can be consistently well and free of illness and be out there doing their sport they love without injuries and sickness.

So since I am new on the scene and could do with some major traffic to my new websites http://www.Oprah.com would be my Dream Blog to connect with in the are of raw food, holistic health and fitness

The other 3 websites I would love to connect to are:
http://www.foodnsport.com blog – Dr. Douglas Graham of the 10/10/80 raw food diet book – Dr Douglas Graham is a guru on being an athlete solely living off uncooked living foods, just like me 🙂
http://www.chirunning.com – that is my Chi Running certification website blog that has many followers, all of which are my ideal clients 🙂
http://www.naturalnews.com, by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger – this website has huge follow over 200,000 followers from facebook and no doubt heaps more from the RSS feeds. This site is all about my area of Holistic Health and natural living and eating. I nearly had this one as my Dream site but I think maybe Oprah won but both are brilliant links for me

So there you have it, my dream links, and thanks Derek for sharing your expertise, really appreciate what you offer, I follow your Podcasts and newsletter and you have helped me heaps as I have learned many things I will be putting into action.

Cheers
Jane

Laura Campbell

Hi all,

So, I am blog challenged. I am having a really hard time creating the “wow” factor in my writing. I love what I do more than I love blogging…so, I could really use some help. Loved this post and so here is my dream:

More.com
Oprah.com
Weightwatchers.com

Be gentle with your responses! 🙂

Laura

Joslyn

Forgot to mention my site http://joslynstevens.com/

Mishka

The laser instead of the shotgun reference is so vivid. It makes so much sense. I am guilty of the social media drone promotion, 100%. I have accrued a following of about 150 people (subscribers) and my traffic stays at around visitors 130 per day.

My (life)style blog is not a business yet. I produce + share articles on the themes of fashion + festivity for women between 18 – 35, or dressing up + throwing parties. This includes DIY tips on the home and the wardrobe, with an underlying theme of cultivating a more creative, stylish life.

The point is to eradicate ideas like “Mondays suck” and “holidays are too commercialized”, etc. It aims to outshine the common notions women in my age group have that they’re always bored and they have nothing to wear.

The site is http://heymishka.com

Homework is below.

Dream site – http://galadarling.com

Not because I’m a raving fan per say, but because I know her readers could be my readers. Her approach is more girl-power and who-gives-a-shit-dye-your-hair-pink, but it’s in the same vein. She’s a creative lady liberator. And she has mad traffic.

Other 3:

http://heartifb.com/

** I accomplished this one as of yesterday! IFB, a community of independent fashion bloggers who keep their own blog, was one of my goals. They published one of my articles and also linked to my recent post. However, I didn’t get as many hits from that as I thought I would. So on to the next.

http://leoniedawson.com/

Leonie is a life coach and she works a lot of sequins-and-body paint hippie stuff into the mix, but we have a similar message and I think her readers would relate (only I think they are a decade or so older than my target audience and they have kids).

http://ohhappyday.com/ or http://sugarandcloth.com/

These are DIY blogs that focus on festive themes and are aimed at crafty women who love glitter & pastries & dressing up & throwing parties. I would love to cross-promote and guest post with them.

Trish Sammer Johnston

#1 thebloggess.com
She’s hilarious but raw and honest — three things that I hope I am — and I want to land an eventual book deal with her publisher. While I’m at it, I’d love to have her agent sign me too.
In addition, she has a massive audience that enjoys intelligent ridiculousness punctuated with profanity. That’s my sweet spot.

#2 Huffington Post Divorce
They are writing to my tribe — 4o-something divorced people. We cover a lot of the same topics: dating again, single parenthood, relationships, and how personal growth is tied into all of that.

#3 Mom-101.com
Liz Gumbinner is a rockstar blogger in my opinion. She writes the blog for working moms who aren’t spending their weekends painstakingly decorating cupcakes for kid parties. She’s a feminist and doesn’t shy away from politics (and let me say “me too” on both counts), and she’s also very funny. She’s got a loyal, thoughtful audience, judging from the comments. Plus, she’s extremely influential in the world of mommy bloggers.

#4 Dooce.com
This is the original mom blog as far as many people are concerned. She has a massive audience. When her writing is “on,” it’s funny and shocking and insightful. I’ve already gotten a few readers from commenting on her site.

    Walker Thornton

    Trish,
    Huffington Post takes on bloggers fairly regularly, though unpaid. I am now a Huff/Post50 blogger, writing on dating. Why not find the editor and send them a clip or two?

      Trish Sammer Johnston

      Thanks for the tip! I sent them a pitch to a general mailbox months ago. I will definitely try targeting a specific editor.

      And I’ll look up your posts as well!

Joslyn

I just launched my blog on the 1st and would like to be featured on 1. Truthdig.com 2. Truthout.org and 3. BillMoyers.com They highlight corruption in politics and keep a focus on the marginalized in this country, low-income, minorities, disabled etc My focus is on debt and voting for 3rd party candidates only however debt and low-income is where I will make my mark. I’m writing an ebook on poverty and plan to self publish it this year.

Willi Morris

I’d love to get my blog noticed by other writing blogs, but I’ve tried and failed. They all hated my pitches and honestly got back to me in ways that bordered on catty. Some of the big “blogging” web sites don’t even pay for their guest posts, which is still a turn-off, but I’m hoping getting a mention will result in great backlinking.

I’m not really sure what else to do at this point, because my passions lie in two entirely different directions. I’m getting some mentoring from folks about what to do with my business and hopefully can land at least one client so I can afford to upgrade my website!

Here is my big dream site:
1) Entrepreneur.com

I haven’t found any “smaller” blogs that I’d be interested in writing for or getting a mention. Wait, how big is yours? 🙂

Jennifer Vazquez

This series is going to be a big help to me Derek, Thank you !

Dream Blog- Daisyyellow.squarespace.com I find alot of her content very interesting.
1, dailyartfixx.com always features amazing artists, and I would like to be one of them in the future.
2. linesandcolors.com. another great art blog
3, booooooom.com , alot of great art and other art related stuff on this blog.

Duncan

Great post the amount of comment generated content is wow.
You really know your shit, the reply about the guy posting none constructive critism ouch beautiful.

I will complete the homework part tomorrow: its late here

May the force be with you

Rachael

Hey Derek…

HOMEWORK TIME!

1. The number one blog I want a feature from is : A Beautiful Mess
http://www.abeautifulmess.com/
The biggest reason is that we have a similar readership and she’s got some insanely loyal followers that I’d like to charm. 🙂

2. The next three are :
WWD – because of the sheer number of fashion enthusiasts that read it.
Keikolynn – similar style and huge readership
A Cup Of Jo – A fashion blogger that seems to have some high influence on what her readers will buy.

I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer here, but a huge reason I’ve not reached out yet to some heavy hitters is because my blog (www.theparaders.blogspot.com) is lacking in the design area. Wanh. wanh.

I’m hiring a designer to make it look tip-top (something I think is important, especially in the fashion industry). As soon as it’s complete, I’ll be drafting some emails with the quickness.

As always, THANKS!

James Chartrand - Men with Pens

Ach. I’ve been trying to scroll through all the comments to find Keith Lee’s comment above so I can reply to it, but it’s proving difficult. I give up.

What I *would* have said (had I found the comment in question) is that I’m interested on the stats of the comment section for this post as well – how many replied, and how many actually followed the ‘homework’ you requested they do. I’m betting the ratio’s going to be hilarious.

On a side note, it’s also interesting to note how many people have named huge, big-name blogs as their dream… but I’m curious as to how many of those big-name blogs would *actually* be the proper place to guest post, in consideration of the potential target market available.

Example: A hotel resort blogger decides to post on the LARGEST hotel resort blog EVER… without realizing that the much smaller blog on ‘top dog-friendly hotels’ might be a far better choice, in terms of final results.

And by results, I mean good traffic, potential clients and eventual revenues. 🙂

    Keith Lee

    Hey James,

    Exactly. People can’t follow simple, explicit directions.

    I’d also agree with you regarding targeting. People probably either:

    A) Waaaaay overshoot for their targets.

    B) Aim for the wrong targets.

    Brutally refining one’s target audience is key to finding people who want to hear your message. If you want to talk about tubas, and in you’re in a saxaphone forum, who cares that they’re both brass instruments. While there might be some minor overlap, you’re still talking to the wrong crowd.

    judyofthewoods

    If you have the Firefox browser – Cmd-F (Mac) or Ctrl-F (PC) and a search-on-page box will appear. Might work in other browsers too.

Dianna Gunn

One note–I actually don’t waste any time Tweeting my content, because WordPress does that automatically for me 😉 Love it.

As for my sites:

1. Problogger–I’d *love* to have a link from Problogger because it would help establish me as someone who’s good at what I do, writing and blogging(I am a freelancer)
2. Copyblogger–See above.
3. Men with Pens–See above 😛 They’re all sites with a great reputation in my field.

Jo Ilfeld

I love how your use humor to point to what we are all doing so we can see ourselves in it without feeling too critiqued. Fabulous!

My dream blogs are :
SethGodin -http://sethgodin.typepad.com
Marie Forleo -http://www.marieforleo.com
Entrepreneur.com

My other favorites are:
TheMogulMom -http://www.themogulmom.com
and. . . well clearly I need to do more research about awesome blogs to connect with in my market space!

Rhonni

Thanks for this! I had to take a bit of time and googling to come up with things close to my niche. I feel I’m writing about a lifestyle business, but it’s not an ecommerce business. Googling “Lifestyle Business” only gets you halfway there. I’m writing (with some guest bloggers from my industry), about having careers that we love, and the business end of it. There is not a resource or database for these types of articles, so we’ve set out to build one.

My dream choice is Forbes.com, because “Festival Professional” is not an oxymoron.

the other 3 …
The Art of Non Conformity … Chris is totally speaking our language.
http://www.puttylike.com … because the most successful people in my industry are multipotentialites
And maybe the Lifestyle Business Podcast, although I’m going to have to see if they are specifically for and about ecommerce.

Thanks for the challenging questions!
Rhonni

Sara Marberry

What if my dream website is my former employer who decided to part ways with me after 20 years? I’m still promoting them, but I’m not sure they’d be interested in promoting me. What about the idea of being a guest blogger on a website that attracts thousands?

    Sara Marberry

    Dream: healthdesign.org
    Others:
    1. healthcaredesignmagazine.com
    2. ashe.org
    3. iida.org

Walker Thornton

I write a blog for women over age 50 . I’ve begun to narrow my focus to sexuality, but I’m not clear on where to go with that, quite yet.
My dream: The New York Times blog, Booming with Michael Winerip

Additionally: Kim Anami’s blog : http://www.kimanami.com
Danielle LaPorte: http://www.daniellelaporte.com, mostly because she rocks, her focus isn’t on older women or sexuality specifically.
AARP- sexuality
Katie Couric’s site–it would target my demographic nicely, I think.

This is a great exercise in narrowing my focus as well as thinking about ways to apply my blog topic to a range of other types of blogs.

Janie

I’ve only just started blogging to develop the business that I am launching.

I’m trained in Technical Communication and Rhetoric and after becoming dissatisfied with academia began transitioning to becoming a life coach.

I’m fascinated by your techniques. My dissertation work involved ways in which individuals use blogging tools to create identity. I am finding that the same findings from my dissertation apply to business and marketing blogs.

I’m taking notes and will write an article someday :-). Just by reading your blog I’ve learned about developing a unique voice and style and focusing on a very specific audience.

I’m new to the world of blogging as part of my marketing techniques, so I may change my mind in a few months, but here are the sites I’ve selected:

Bold choice: PenelopeTrunk.com
Other choices:
1. escapecubiclenation.com
2. laurenandemira.com
3. I’m still looking …

Melissa

Hi Derek,
Found your website through Marie Forleo’s site 🙂 Great work!
I would love links from:

Big Dream: Kris Carr
Middle of the road: Natural Fertility
Christine Northorp
David Wolfe

All pretty major ones 🙂

Great site and loved the download on simplifying the look of the site – I am redoing mine – 2 colours this time 🙂

Mark Allen Roberts

I enjoyed your blog post and nothing is more frustrating than setting out to help people, sharing what it often took me the hard way to learn over the past 30 years, and very few read it.

The fist site is David Meerman Scott’s web site Web Ink Now at http://www.webinknow.com/
Why? After reading David’s books, blog posts and some work we did together with the launch of the book Tuned In he gave me the courage to write. He read my first book and told me to change the title to Branding Backwards and once I did I had over 4,000 downloads off my site. He is not afraid to challenge the current paradigm if it is no longer serving the market.

The second is Seth Godin at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ . I heard Seth speak on his book : The Dip , at a time I had started writing , but wasn’t getting anywhere and his talk inspired me. If some day, someone would say my blog or ebook’s inspired them that would be amazing. His blog also plays in the psychology of how people buy and how we should communicate with them.

The Duct tape marketing blog at http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/ by John Jantsch is also another favorite of mine. We have a similar philosophy and I would be honored to have some of my content mentioned in his thought leading content.

John Maxwell at http://www.johnmaxwell.com/blog/ would be next. Odd choice? Not so much. Everything I write about comes from something that is faith based. John’s work removed my fear of sharing how the Bible is the best business book ever written. And if in some small way, I could help someone who was struggling in their business, and they grew in their faith…well that would be the best prize I could ever want.

This was a fun exercise and difficult because there are so many awesome thought leaders I follow; Byron Katie, Steve Chandler, Jack Trout, Charles Stanley, and so on ….

Thank you for this post and I look forward to learning how people who may be struggling with growing their sales, fixing their sales problems , can help find my content.

Mark

Susanna Perkins

Awesome post, Derek.

I just opened the doors on my new site, WordPress Building Blocks. It’s a teaching site for non-technical folks to create effective and attractive WordPress websites.

My dream blogs:

1. Problogger.net — because that’s where all the wannabe bloggers go for advice
2. Copyblogger.com — because they’re the best at everything
3. DavidRisley.com — because he’s very technical and can intimidate a lot of people
4. BoostBlogTraffic.com — because Jon is just awesome

Mandy

Dream: digital-photography-school.com – ultimate photography tip site

next 3:

cameralabs.com camera gear review site – visitors could be looking for tips as well.

photodoto.com tips site: looks at all aspects of photography tips

stuckincustoms.com travel photography blog with a difference – similar views on photography and has built a readership around that (very different to traditional views of photography…)

Ron

Thanks Derek. I started a blog/travel guide about Hawaii not too long ago. I have been focusing on content, design, and testing, but have done little to none in regards to promoting it.

You only had 1 piece of advice in this article, but I think it’s a good one. Why re-invent the wheel, when you can just go to a neighbor’s house and borrow his, right?

My website:
http://www.thehawaiiplan.com

Websites I want to get links/readers from:
http://www.gohawaii.com (official tourism site of Hawaii)
http://www.101thingstodo.com
http://govisithawaiicom/blog

Susanna Perkins

Hi Derek,

I just opened the doors on my new venture, WordPress Building Blocks. It’s all about teaching non-techie people to build beautiful WordPress based websites.

My dream blogs would be

1. Problogger.net — because that’s where all the wannabe bloggers go
2. Copyblogger.com — because that’s where all the wannabe bloggers go
3. DavidRisley.com — because he’s all about the technical stuff but very intimidating for some people
4. BoostBlogTraffic.com — because Jon is awesome and he also attracts a lot of wannabe bloggers

judyofthewoods

Very sound advice. Thanks for sharing, Derek. I can attest to the value of promotion on high traffic blogs. Although I have not actively pursued it, I had the good fortune to have been picked up a few times by bloggers, and when that happened sales soared, at least briefly. There is still a trickle of sales from one of them two years later! I have recently neglected the website due to other projects and behind the scene work, but promotion is high on my list, together with more new content.

This exercise is helping to answer, who are my readers and where can I find more of them? Not easy for a very broad topic blog, though there is an overarching theme – self-reliance (with a touch of geekiness). With that in mind, my #1 choice of dream blog shout would be from lifehacker.com.

The three other blogs would be more targeted to the specific sub-topics of my website and my products. My only current product is a condensed foraging guide for wild plants, so a shout from Ray Mears http://www.raymears.com/ would be great. We have the same audience but different guides. He has the fame. An endorsement from him would be invaluable.

Once I get the creative problem-solving section established (plus a related product) I would love to connect with Luciano Passuello of http://litemind.com/ and Adam Sicinski of http://iqmatrix.com/ who’s work I admire. Our audience would be similar, though our approach different, so we would each bring something different to our readers. I say ours, as I would also introduce them to mine. When I’m more active, I have about 250-300 readers a day. I think readers of socialtriggers would probably also enjoy the last two websites.

Esther at A,B,C,Vegan

Alright I’ll play. 🙂

My website is http://www.abcvegan.com, where I blog to help teach people interested in learning about being vegan (because they want to go vegan or are curious due to someone else in their life, anything goes!) some of the ins and outs, the ingredients they’d be interested in, tricks they might not realize, recipe, etc. I’m also a certified Vegan Lifestyle Coach and soon to be certified plant-based nutritionist, and I offer coaching services, grocery store tours, cooking lessons, menu consultations, speaking services, etc.

Sooooo… the blogs I’d love to connect to me span both the vegan world and the entrepreneur world.

I think my dream site would be Chris Guillebeau’s site, The Art of Non-Conformity: http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/. Chris’s WDS conference inspired me to get off my butt and make this dream a reality. His followers are the kind of people I really connect with, and I would love to help some of them implement a healthier lifestyle, or even experiment with the Meatless Monday thing, etc.

Other sites –
1. The Post Punk Kitchen: http://www.theppk.com – A lot of people consider Isa to be THE voice in vegan cooking, and I think having her connect to me would be an instant boost to my street cred. I would also love to partner with her on a project; we’ve met at a conference and she’s wonderful to work with, and I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to create something together. Pretty much can’t go wrong.

2. Chocolate-Covered Katie: http://www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com – Katie is a vegan blogger who has been able to turn it into a successful way to make a living, and again, I think connecting with her would bring me to a new level in the vegan blogging world. I love all of her recipes and think she’s created something really special, and having her endorse what I’m creating would be really amazing.

3. Nerd Fitness: http://www.nerdfitness.com – This one is probably a little out there, but Steve writes such great articles that I really connect with. I have yet to bring the fitness element into my blog, but I am a huge workout girl – rock climbing, pole dancing, triathlons – and I would love to make that a part of what I do. I know Steve is a fan of the Paleo diet, so it would mean a lot to me to be able to connect with him and have him be open enough to connect his readers to another option – and to have my services be the way they can explore that option. 🙂

kim james

my blog is a failure…I will be thinking and researching this week about who I really want to be shooting me traffic. I hate the me too’s….Thank you Oh Brilliant fun Derek!

Penelope Swithinbank

I began my blog as a therapeutic way to help myself out of severe PTSS/depression – and discovered I loved blogging because I love writing, and I love connecting with others. So at first I wrote about my situation and what I was doing to help come out of it. Friends kindly read it. Then I began to concentrate on areas where I am most qualified – leading Christian retreats and Pilgrimages, and helping people to find out where to go and how to make the most of their time away. The posts were read and commented upon – but only by a comparatively small number of people. I read Michael Hyatt, attended a webinar with Jeff Goins, got a couple of guest blogs on other sites.
I am now leading Pilgrimages again and also am about to open my own retreat house – all good stuff, but niche marketing! So I need to get it out to more people and your ideas make a lot of sense.
I would love love love to be on
#1 http://goinswriter.com Jeff Goins is an amazing young man, a Christian, a writer, a visionary – and people who follow him could well be some who could want to come on a Pilgrimage or a retreat.
#2 http://anitamathias.com/blog/ Anita has a very similar outlook to my own, I’ve met her and I know that she has over 14k followers on her blog. I’m not sure how she does it – but a mention from her would be great! I did write a guest blog for her a year ago and it helped but only for the length of time of the blog, and it didn’t last.
# 3 http://vickybeeching.com/blog/ Again, a similar demographic to my own, but with a much much larger following – of people who I want to reach!

Thank you for the article and the exercise. I’m now thinking I should just write to those three and do the BIG AUDACIOUS ASK!

James

I make Electronic Dance Music and would like to start throwing parties in DC and get signed to a record label, so I’ll stick with that theme.

My DREAM website to get a link to would be the dance music blog DancingAstronaut.com. They have a lot of readers that are into the kind of music I like to create and listen to and it would help establish some credibility for my music and my brand. (Sidenote: just doing this exercise has been pretty amazing and its only been two minutes, i just realized i should be focusing my efforts on creating ONE track that will work for their blog and sending it to their published “demo” link. brilliant stuff)

Three other blogs that are in the same space but much smaller would be:

soundisstyle.com
freshnewtracks.com
house.net

They would be great for bringing a new audience to my music and also again establishing credibility as an established artist.

Allow me to explain exactly why that would be the case: since so much in teh music world is perception (how many likes you have, how many listens your soundcloud account has) getting people to listen to my site / soundcloud and getting them talking about and sharing my music would allow me to have a wider audience to share the music too, share with labels, and eventually tour / produce for a living. I’m interested to see if anyone else is attempting to drive traffic for a creative field, so i’ll be looking through these comments and maybe commenting back on some people in the same pursuits to share ideas and encouragement.

Wilma Goodyear

Spooky that you asked me for this homework today as I am currently revamping my site and business niche (narrowing). Just last week I wrote a list of bloggers I would like to connect with – all are dreams but/and all are absolutely doable! All have the sorts of messages of interest and import for my readers

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
http://kriscarr.com/
http://summertomato.com/
http://saragottfriedmd.com/

Thanks Derek!

Jenny Spring

Good stuff … Your blog is assigned reading to my coaching customers although I think you scare them a bit.

I’m staying in antipodean mode and listing these sites as they contain my target startup- small biz profile customers.

http://www.flyingsolo.com.au
http://www.startupsmart.com.au

and for some international flavour …
http://www.inc.com.

Keep up the take no prisoners approach. It’s refreshing and down right funny as well.

Stephen P Brown

Hello Derek!
Thank you for being blunt and sharing step by step action. Love it!

I’d love to get a link from NPR’s “Deceptive Cadence” blog http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/. Their following is global and it gives much weight to anything they mention. It will help expose to the Classical Music “Establishment” both my compositions and my performing availability in the USA.

The other three sites I’d like to receive links from are:
Chris Guillebeau’s “The Art of Non-Conformity” http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/ for two reasons, first because I am an orchestral maverick, and second because his following definitely appreciates the good things in life and many may enjoy being reconnected with classical music (especially when it gives us goose bumps!)
The Cleveland Classical http://clevelandclassical.wordpress.com/ as it highlights many classical music activities in the highly cultured Cleveland scene and I already have a few fans in the area.
Either BBC Radio 3 http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/ or Classic FM http://www.classicfm.com/ because the UK is my homeland and a very difficult market to please. With validation from the BBC my compositions just might get some exposure and I might get some performance bookings!

Prince

The amount of info on this website is very insightful. Keep it up. I started my site on blogspot called Hip Nomads about 22 days ago. It’s a hip hop oriented site which promotes and gives exposure to Underground hip hop artists from outside the United States.

So far I’ve had almost 6 emails from the Underground rappers from outside the States about music submission as well as a few followers on Twitter. I do post music from which I find on YouTube to my site. So far I’ve had almost 50 unique visitors to my site and a few pageviews.

Dream Site: Rap Radar
#2: HipHopDX
#3: 2DopeBoyz
#4: allhiphop.com

My site isn’t meant to be a blog site where I critique artists but simply to post their music on my website.

R.C. Thornton

I think the reason bloggers fail narrows down to the same reason people fail at anything…be it going to the gym, being more productive, or improving public speaking:

They don’t spent time learning the fundamental skillsets behind what they’re trying to master, and they give up prematurely.

In other words, they just try to do random stuff, get pissed when it doesn’t work, and then give up.

My first blog failed completely because I just started writing. I didn’t spend even a minute researching about proper blogging technique.

Had I read and learned from the resources out there, I would have done much better.

My second blog is doing much better because I spent hundreds of hours learning the skillsets behind success in blogging. Now comes the tenacity…working and being in it for the long haul.

Susan Taylor

Derek, I was just writing about blogging shortly before I opened this email. The school of life always seems to send me what I need for my next lesson.

My DREAM blog would be Leo Babuta’s zenhabits.net. I love his emphasis on simplicity, and although I have not completely narrowed the focus of my blog, I know I have received too much through both nature and nurture to keep it to myself and just a few friends.

My LOVE blogs would be
momastery.com. I’m a SAHM and have been for 20 years, and I know that it’s a demanding job, so I would love to reach more moms and be able to cheer them on.
ordinarycourage.com. Brene Brown inspires me so much, and her message has meant a great deal to me. i think my blog touches on the same issues from time to time.
rachelheldevans.com. Rachel is very transparent on her blog, and has done much to bring unity in the Church, which is her primary audience. My “musings” are relevant for people who question what they’ve been taught, and whether or not they can move beyond those teachings.

Wasim

Derek I think this is exactly my frustration at the moment. Now that you’ve explained it, it makes sense and not only that, it sounds so obvious now too. I suppose common sense is not so common hey?

Timon Weller

Hey Derek,
Nice one once again with the killer post..

1. http://www.techcrunch.com
2. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com
3. http://www.socialtriggers.com

That is just to name a few i am interested in, i have a list of over 20..

Achieveology

HI Derek,

I love reading your stuff. It is always challenging and thought provoking.

I have bounced back and forth on various blog topics, but always come back to something I am passionate about and just love learning more and more about. Relatively few posts, but attempting to have my own voice and write in a unique way…still early days, so trolls please be kind (at least constructive with your comments).

Homework:

Dream website – Stephen Covey – https://www.stephencovey.com/blog/. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was the first book that I read on personal development in 1992. Growing up in a small coal mining town in Australia, I was also searching for something ‘more’, there has to be more for me than being a miner, what was it and how do I get it. This book started that, I still have my 4 pages of summary notes from the book I wrote.

Other sites:

Steve Pavlina – http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/ – I don’t agree with everything he says, but that is one of the reasons that I love reading Steve’s blog. He challenges my prejudices about things, I would image that Steve and I are very different people, but I love that fact that he is himself, covers you unique and different topics, goes into a great amount of detail.

Pick The Brain – http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/ – I just really love this blog, lots of practical advice for simply living better, it’s holistic in it’s approach to self development.

LifeHacker – http://www.lifehacker.com.au/ – Being a technology guy this fits in perfectly. Self Development from a geek’s point of view. Mixture of goal setting, personal/self development and cool geeky tricks, like:

How to build an adjustable min camera tripod from disposable razors
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/01/make-an-adjustable-mini-camera-tripod-out-of-disposable-razors

It’s a very crowed space, but looking forward to building my unique blog presence of the next 12 months 🙂

Looking forward to the next update Derek, cheers

Ian Kelly

Charles @ CodeConquest.com

Well said Derek. Dr. Ken Evoy’s Site Build It! is a product built around (amongst other things) the idea that blogs are bad because they’re a poor way of organizing content. There’s more about this at http://blogorbuild.sitesell.com/ (NOT an affiliate link), but anyway I decided to rebuild my website to turn it from a blog into what SBI! calls a ‘theme-based content website’.

I guess I’ll have to wait and see whether this change has paid off. What do you think about this Derek?

Jared Latigo

Dream website: Seth Godin’s blog.

WHY? I help speakers, consultants and coaches with their branding. That goes hand in hand with marketing and since Seth is the guru, there would be tremendous value in the visits I would get from him site. That and he’s practically my idol in the business world so it would just be neat too.

#1 – FirepoleMarketing.com – Danny’s been such a huge impact in the way I handle my email list and engage with my subscribers that it would be incredible to get a link from him. It would help me validate that I do know what I’m doing and would allow me to connect with some people that I can help.

#2 – JonAcuff.com – I’m just a big fan of his and his audience is a lot of people wanting to go off on their own. Again, I could help them with their branding and help to spread their message effectively.

#3 – SocialTriggers.com – Not to be cliche or anything but it is what it is. Being able to land a link from a large marketing site would be awesome on multiple levels. It again engages a similar audience I’m trying to reach so would allow me to connect with people I can help.

Ryan Kulp

Derek,

Thanks for this. I wrote a blog post last week outlining the 80% promo / 20% creation technique that you mentioned on a webinar months back.

Now, it’s about to get featured on one of my favorite blogs! (under30ceo.com)

If you want, check it out here (I gave you credit!):
ryanckulp.com/content-is-queen

Susan

Hi Derek!!
Thank you so much for your post. I am really trying to connect to one of these blogs, but they are not replying me at all 🙁 any advice to catch people attention so they agree to write something about my book

Jantje

Dear Derek,

I am just starting to build my first serious blog (primarily for personal development training participants), so I feel privileged to read this post now, which will hopefully prevent me from doing some of the mistakes you mentioned.

As far as the homework goes, I come up with the following:

Dream: Oprah.com (yes, the Germans like her, too!) – great inspiration, great following and mind changing – “eye-opening” – that’s my driver!

Great alternatives:
a. http://zenhabits.net – because I believe Leo just nails it!

b. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/ -because they look at issues in the business world with a practical angle, this is what I would like to provide as well to my business readers.

c. http://www.positivelypositive.com – because at the moment, I am more positive as I have ever been before!!

Let’s work on it! Any particular advice on how to make this come true?

Best,
Jantje

nanhaus

Hi Derek,
I’ve been following you since I saw you on Marie TV. She’s a genius and so are you. I started blogging a few months back, after friends and family encouraged me to write because I “have a optimistic and positive outlook on life” and I can encourage people in just about anything. I was not intending to make money. My intention was to help my few friends and family with a life blog and hopefully they would share with their friends who needed advice. But over the course of a few months, I realized that may be I could generate an income. A lot of people pay big $ to psychologists just so they could ask them more questions about their life and help them uncover their own answers ( I was one of them). Don’t get me wrong. I have great respect for mental health workers (I’ve been a nurse for over 20 years) but I feel that (unless you have a mental illness), most people can find their own solutions and their own happiness if they truly look for it. And that comes for free. You just need to want it. I started following Marie and from there I found you. I’m not a business woman and learning how to best market myself (as well as everything else there is to know) is something I am slowly learning. I appreciate your advice and I don’t know how to even go about getting a ‘shout-out’ from fellow successful bloggers. Anyway, if I had my dream blogger do a shout out for me it would be a tie between Danielle La Porte.com and Cheryl Richardson.com They are two amazing women that have been so inspiring to me and truly awesome!

My next three would be:

Louise Hay @ healyourlife.com
Mastin Kipp @ the dailylove.com
Gabrielle Bernstein @ herfuture.com

Kristie

Alright Dream Link: backwoodshome.com because their readers would be interested in the things I blog about. Plus their Alexa rating is one of top in the homesteading category.

1) motherearthnews.com
2) tinyhouseblog.com
3) off-grid.com

I’ve reached out to one, now I’m guessing I need to study their sites to see what value I can add..

Dustin W. Stout

I’d love to get a link from MichaelHyatt.com. There is some definite crossover in our target audiences but his is way bigger than mine currently. It would benefit me because his audience is thriving, and engaged. I also believe I can fill a gap in an area he doesn’t write about– design.

I’d also like to get links from POTSC.com, Abduzeedo.com, and the BufferApp blog. These are pheasable I think because they are very open to submissions– which I think I’d do well at. These three sites each represent a category that I blog about– Christianity, Creativity, and Social Media (respectively).

Lorraine

My first would be KrisCarr.com – Her audience is already into health and wellness so what I have to offer, I feel fits in with what she does. (I’m an acupuncturist in NYC)

The other three are:
mizzfit.com- because her readers like to workout (and I specialize in Sports Medicine so I’d like to make myself known to those in the sports/health world)
http://www.crossfitqueensny.com – local cross fit gym
http://www.crossfitnyc.com- another local cross fit gym

Adrienn

My blog is all about organizing and styling your home with toddlers in tow.

Dream:

-http://joannagoddard.blogspot.hu/: Joanna rocks, has a huge following and her “Motherhood Mondays” are a hit.

Love:

-http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.hu/: Organizing Guru for moms
-http://madebygirl.blogspot.hu/ : great style and writes a lot about interior design.
-http://www.designlovefest.com/: when their readers are having a baby, I want them to come to my site for advice how to keep their home looking cool and organized.

Erika Kerekes

For my brand-new “hire me” website and blog at http://erikakerekes.com/ , my dream mention would be:

Chris Brogan http://www.chrisbrogan.com/blog/ because he could give me credibility as a social media pioneer as I make the transition from the corporate world to standing on my own two feet. (I’ve been working in online community product development and program management since 1992, but I took an 8-year parenting break and it’s been hard to get momentum since I went back to work in 2009.)

My other three:

SCORE http://blog.score.org/ because I’m targeting small businesses that are still uncomfortable with the world of online marketing, and that’s their core constituency

Melinda Emerson http://succeedasyourownboss.com/blog/ because our target audiences are the same and her readers trust her implicitly (but we are not competitive – she works with bigger businesses)

Small Business Trends http://smallbiztrends.com/ because the practical advice I give matches their approach and I think their audience would appreciate my POV.

The funny thing is, I’ve met and worked with all of the above through my corporate jobs, and I’m pretty sure if I asked for the opportunity to guest blog with any of them I’d get it. So what the heck am I waiting for?

Now, I also have a food blog at http://www.inerikaskitchen.com/ . The traffic has been growing steadily over the four years I’ve been writing, but it’s grown slowly. I’ve been trying to figure out how to jump up a level or two.

My dream mention would be:

Oprah http://www.oprah.com/ – would not have to be on her website – it would be superb just to be linked to from her Facebook page.

Other excellent mentions would be:

Pioneer Woman http://thepioneerwoman.com/ because she reaches everyday home cooks. My food isn’t quite as country-kitchen as hers, but it’s definitely aimed at people who cook at home.

Whole Foods Blog http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog/whole-story/
because I’ve got great ideas for healthy recipes the whole family will like, and that’s what many Whole Foods shoppers are looking for

Saveur Sites We Love http://www.saveur.com/siteswelove/ because people who love to read food blogs take their recommendations seriously. A number of my food blogging friends have been featured here.

Thanks, Derek, for making me think about this.

Dana Williams

Dream blog to be featured in: I’d love to sit down and chat with Marie Forleo in one of her video posts! I know you’re familiar with her, Derek. But for those who don’t know, she targets female entrepreneurs. I’d either want to hash out social strategies for local businesses, especially leveraging partnerships between organizations OR I’d love to tackle some of the unique challenges for non-profits/ministries in social media. I know a lot of her followers have big dreams for helping people in all kinds of ways. (www.MarieForleo.com)

Three other amazing blogs:
1. I’d love to be featured in http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com. The end of 2012 brought some inspiration about how I’m uniquely gifted to coach and strategize social media for churches and ministries. And, sadly, it’s a segment that usually follows way behind trends. I’d love to change that!
2. I’d like to be featured by http://www.relevant.com. They have a wide readership of like-minded Christians who are fed up with the church looking so naive. Being astute in social media is an absolute must for ministries to reach Gen X, Y and Z.
3. My third one is going to be three guys I know from my youth ministry days. They are well-respected in the church community, and as people who have invested their lives in young people, they see the value and necessity of social media for ministry. They are: Mark Matlock (http://www.youthspecialties.com/author/Mark-Matlock/), Greg Stier (http://www.gregstier.org/) and Doug Fields (http://www.dougfields.com).

Zed

I’m in the legal business and I know at least one blog who’s PR6 that I could defenetly profit from (I’m only PR3 right now and I’m getting 120 pers/per day which is plainly ridiculous…)

Angela

hmmmm, I’m not actually sure where I fit in. Etsy? Handmadeology? Craftsy?
I’ve got some thinkin’ to do!
thank you, as always, for your brilliant insights.
x
old lady archivist fan

sandy

(I’m going to respond to the call to action lest I get scolded…) 😉
so here’s mine… My 1DREAM backlink would be from Entrepreneur.com and my next 3 might be:
1. CareerRealism.com
2. Realtor.com
3. Trulia.com

(Still narrowing my niche from entrepreneurs to realtors who want to use internet marketing to get more leads for their business.)

Jeff Hooven

My website is a investment blog that is for busy people that want to know exactly what and when to buy stock.

I think followers of marketwatch.com, cnbc.com, and Yahoo finance would help add subscibers but your post really has me thinking if I should some how change my focus.

Thanks, I’m looking forward to the rest of your articles.

Scott Ayres

Derek.. Often time I think you’re just a loud mouth prick looking for attention in your videos and posts.. And maybe you are!

But I gotta say this blog is golden my man.. Completely spot on.. I have fallen many times into the “I gotta write 10 blogs per week” mode.. I’ll write something that is pure gold, post a link to it on social media, watch a cat video and then onto the next post. I never give the post enough credit and get it out there like it should.. Sadly I know this is the answer, but it’s so much easier just to push out more content and get that short term satisfaction.. We are a country and society of instant gratification..

My dream blog would likely be Social Media Examiner. I love those guys and talk with them from time to time. But never blogged for them.

Other blogs would probably be AllFacebook.com, Mari Smith’s blog (she doesn’t really blog much though lately), and perhaps TechCrunch..

Good post.. and keep being the angry “GET OFF MY LAWN’ guy.. it’s working..

Michael Corley

As a cartoonist the two biggest comic strips on the web are
http://www.Pvponline.com and
http://www.penny-arcade.com

Your statements on overproduction make me feel so much better. Recently I reduced my output by 40% so I could work on side projects and promotion. I felt guilty, but now I have confirmation from you that focusing more on guest comics for popular sites is a better way to go.

(And if you ever need a cartoon drawn, let know 🙂

Kacey Crawford

Great post and very timely for me. I’m a career coach who helps amazing women in soul-sucking jobs make the leap into work they love. I would most love to get traffic from Michelle Ward, the When I Grow Up Coach. She has cultivated a real, genuine connection with her incredible legion of fans. Similarly, Leonie Dawson – authentic to the core and people love her for it. In terms of blog quality (rather than the actual coaching services I offer), a mention from Seth Godin (!) or Pro Blogger would rock my world.

Samantha

Hmm…I’m guilty on several counts but it is nice to know I am not alone! There is a huge community of people who care about travel, education and change. I would love to get an article published on:

Matador Network. Bootsnall….and one of those ‘top travel blogging’ lists.

Thanks for the practical advice as always.

Adam Clauss

Since I want to help people make the most of their car buying decisions my dream website would be daveramsey.com. I feel like his audience would be the most receptive of what I am trying to do.

Autotrader.com #2 People on their site are looking to buy or sell a car, a natural audience for me and I respect their online tools a lot.

Edmunds.com #3 A top resource for people looking to buy a car. Disagree with their appraisal tools some but I could teach people how to use them effectively.

LifeHacker #4 Not directly related to my niche, but I know I could give some entertaining material and reach out to people who might not otherwise find my blog

Nina Nelson

I recently narrowed my focus from wellness to simplifying natural family wellness. It felt scary, but the response has been good, however, I’d still love to build my blog. I’m also thinking about trying to focus in on a certain audience – like you did with massage therapists. Right now I’m thinking work at home moms.

My dream blog would be Zen Habits. I could offer Leo’s audience some valuable insight to keeping your family healthy in a simple way (I do it and I had 4 kids in 5 years). It would help position me as an expert in natural wellness and increase my credibility.

As for 3 other sites:

Simple Mom > Tsh’s readers are all about living intentionally, which is an essential part of natural wellness. I think they’d love my keep it simple approach, increasing my readership.

The Mogul Mom > A blog for moms rocking business and mommyhood, a post here would position me as expert who can help them increase productivity, keep their families healthy and simplify their own self-care.

The Organic Sister > For the more spiritually-centered mom/business owner. A post on Tara’s site would put me in front of a whole new audience looking for ways to take a more holistic approach to health.

Looking forward to the rest of the series.

(Also, copying this comment as using as fuel to write something kick-ass for these websites).

    Nicci

    These are some awesome sites! 🙂

David Foster

The 3 blogs I would like to get some love from…which I honestly read when they post because I get inspired from their content are…

1. http://socialmediaexaminer.com

2. http://SocialTriggers.com

3. http://SmartPassiveIncome.com

These are my top blogs. This is a great post by the way. Could not have come at a better time. We are in the process of re-defining ourselves. We have been in the “Social media” space and it is so competitive. We are going to add a health and fitness spin to it…just have to figure out how. 🙂

Thanks!

    Scott Ayres

    You’ll figure it out.. 😛

Mark

Dream Site: zenhabits.net
And in no particular order:
1. jamesaltucher.com
2. inoveryourhead.net
3. christinekane.com/blog/ – Just found this one a few days ago and like her style

Christine

Hi Derek, thank you for our sage advice! I’m working on implementing a bunch of your techniques so will keep you posted on how I get on. Stay Fabulous. Christine x

Nicci

Much to think on. As a newer blogger I read, read and read.
I’m a mom blogger, now most mom bloggers have journals on their daily life. But I like to research any problem that I have or I have made a new desert and it was awesome, so I blog it into an info post. These are the posts I try to SEO.

1. the big website I would love a link from is babycentre, their .com and .co.uk

3 smaller sites are places like http://www.teachpreschool.org for one of my craft posts, thebump.com, netmums and a few other smaller blogger webs

Diana

Hi Derek,

I’ve been a fan of your blog ever since I saw you on MarieTV. Your posts always pack a punch. Thanks for the great info.

Here is my homework:

Dream Site:
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/
Who wouldn’t like a shout out from the BBC!

Other sites:

http://www.learnenglish.de/
They have millions of visitors a month and 14 years experience.

http://www.englishclub.com/
Again, an icon in the learn English “online” world.

http://www.youtube.com/user/duncaninchina
Mr. Duncan is a video legend in Learning English. He creates so many videos and explains many different concepts.

http://www.englishwithjennifer.com/
Another YouTube sensation! Jennifer creates great videos and is a wonderful English teacher.

Thanks again for the great article Derek.
Diana

Samuel

The only effective way to get INSTANT leads and sales is paid traffic, and joint ventures. Prior to hearing about socialtriggers, someone promoted ProBlogAcademy. When that hype fizzled out, shortly after, there came a “creating a landslide of leads on your blog” webinar and the speaker was yours truly Derek Halpern. The quickest way to get traffic & views to your blog, is to promote it to YOUR LIST. You don’t have one, build one. How do you do that? PAID TRAFFIC. A fresh new blog with all the user or reader “value” filled content has absolute zero chance of organic traffic against 164 million others, its like scratching a lottery paper & hoping for and instant win. Its extremely rare and it will take a lengthy period of time of that blog sitting on the net to get found on search engines.

Just my personal experience.

    Derek Halpern

    You’re write. Adding a bunch of content to your blog will not get you free traffic. That’s why you have to know how to promote your content with master-level promotion skills :-).

Cassidy Cash

I’m a blogger that writes a health and nutrition blog for women raising toddlers and wanting to have more kids. I would love to take the advice you’re outlined. I have some questions:

Also, I am not understanding where the “homework” you’ve assigned is helpful. Are you going to provide feedback on our listed choices, or perhaps the next blog post will explain? I’m not seeing in your responses to any of the people who did “the homework” where you have provided any real constructive action steps they need to do after they identify their three dream websites. Did I miss it?

#1) Fork & Beans–they comment on my blog already, so that was really cool for me. I love her recipes. http://forkandbeans.wordpress.com/

#2) http://justtherightbyte.com/ I don’t agree with everything she writes, but she has many followers so for her to print my articles would drive traffic. That’s my reason.

#3) http://blog.superkidsnutrition.com/
same reason as number 2.

    Derek Halpern

    Cassidy,

    Knowing where you gotta go is half the battle. Of course it’s up to you to get featured there, but yes, of course, there’s something that follows :-P.

jesse

Man I’d like a link from this one blog, it has some weird name like http://www.socialtriggers.com or something like that.

I like the advice you give, I am also a trained salesman first in AIDA then in PSS. I loved the AIDA Scene in Glengary Glen Ross that I know your familiar with (Coffee is for closers). I have also studied psychology as well, which is why your content really resognates with me and I think it’s a brilliant concept.

the other three blogs would be

johnchow.com
smartpassiveincome.com
internetbusinessmastery.com

Can’t wait to read the rest of your series.

Paul

My website focuses on independent music (mostly based on what’s playing around the Washington DC area), and also learning to play music in an unconventional way that gets you immediate results.

There’s actually a pretty cool show coming up soon, and it’s free, so pop on over to my site if you’re going to be in DC on January 14 and want something fun to do.

Anyway, homework: It’s a problem trying to find blogs that are actually likely to link to mine due to how niche my content is, but here’s a shot at it:

Dream:
Lifehacker. It’s not music-related, but the readership is very self-motivated, thus more willing to try my unconventional strategies for learning music. I’m sure a good subset of them would want to stay for the free downloads and band reviews, too.

Other three:
– Hear Ya (http://www.hearya.com/)
– NPR (http://www.npr.org/music/)
– Obscure Sound (http://www.obscuresound.com/)

PS – One area where I have a slight advantage is when bands decide to share my link about them with their fan base, although they don’t always do that. It would be cool to figure out how to get more of them to give out links.

R.J.

Look you said in the last post, I am definitely on the right track.

For my new eBook Marketing Tips blog, here’s my homework:

1) Amazon.com … Very unlikely, but they are promoting indie authors and their stories on the front page every so often, so I am reaching for the stars.

2) Seth Godin’s blog… He is a writer, and he promotes his own books really well. Maybe i can snag a podcast interview with him eventually, and he can mention my site.

3) GoodReads.com… a place for people to find books, who have had articles about marketing strategy (including how Charles Duhigg’s Habits book reached the heights that it did upon launch).

4) Author Scott Nicholson’s blog… his response was positive about being a podcast guest, so this one will probably happen first.

Thanks for all of the tips!

Janet

I am going to do this exercise but I need an answer. How do I know if the blog I like has “readers”? Do I deduce this from the comments, or is there a specific place I can find out their numbers?

Learning for The Love of It….. just getting started.

    Derek Halpern

    Don’t always worry about “how many” readers a blog has. Let’s worry about what blog you think has the readership you’d like to attract.

    That said, you can use services like Alexa.com (not accurate, but it gives you a rough idea).

Mandy Schumaker

Loved this post and SO helpful! I too, have been blogging for over two years and everyone (well my small community) tells me it’s so great, but it’s not converting AND more importantly, I’m not growing my list! Frustrating! But many of your comments and suggestions here, Derek are very helpful and I welcome the challenge:

Dream Blog: http://www.oprah.com

#2-Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com

#3-ewomennetwork.com

#4-taramohr.com

Thanks, Derek!

Sandra @ PreLovedDogs

I’m off to search for a DREAM website and three LOVES. Thanks for the tips. Great advice, as usual. Keep up the great work. We couldn’t do it without you! ~Sandra.

DaVinci

Constructive criticism… Why is it that it seems like only a few readers completely read Derek’s post? Almost no one did their homework. What is our willingness to accept change and our willingness to learn? Derek said it, “…if you skip this step, the exercise is pointless.” Perhaps we are mostly caught up in our own world that we do not notice we are being helped when someone is lending us a hand. And some even have the audacity to criticize others that do the homework. Geez! That’s why so few make it to as Derek puts it, Everest-levels.

Moving on, I am just starting out on the blogging scene. Watching the live event where Derek and his colleagues explain how to launch an online business really was the kick in the pants I needed to get my business ideas off the ground. With a big willingness to learn I have watched it 5 times and with an even greater willingness to accept change I have registered a domain started a WordPress Blog and I am working on the 20% of creating the initial content of my blog. Which I must say is the biggest obstacle for someone that does not like writing. But one cannot grow without expanding their comfort zone.

With a great deal of experience and knowledge in technology, life coaching, self-development and yes even real estate investments I have decided to create a space where my audience can benefit and learn to grow their business by first developing themselves and apply the tricks of the Internet for maximum benefit. Now let me turn in my homework…

1. DREAM backlink – Entrepreneur.com
– Specifically the type of ideal customer base my business can help, those that are starting out and do not understand themselves, not to mention the Internet and social media.

2. JonLoomer.com
– Great crowd follows this blog, tons of potential clients that can benefit from our business.

3. Marismith.com
– Mari Smith a guru at Marketing and Social Media has a following that we would like to assist with their business goals.

4. Mashable.com
– For the sheer publicity, thinking it would do wonders for my business.

To Derek, another great addition to this already magnanimous content filled blog of yours. Thank you, Thank You, Thank you!

Alan | Life's Too Good

Hi Derek,

There is so much great content out there these days and so many great sites, I have many favorites.

My problem is that I have very limited time and I tend to spend the little time I dedicate to internet stuff working on my business rather than reading blogs – even though I’d love to read more – instead I try and consume content on the go (thanks for your podcast) where possible.

That being said, when I do read anything yours is one of the very few ‘voices’ I can’t get enough of, mainly because I’m into psychology too and I generally resonate with your view of the world, we seem to read a lot of the same books (I read a lot and I know you do too).

Even to the point of me reading this article despite no longer considering myself a blogger or a beginner and not being sure that it applies to me so much (any more) because I’m not making those mistakes (mainly because I haven’t got time but also because I’ve always valued relationships above everything and seen social media as a bit of a waste of time, at least spending hours on it is).

So I read the article anyway just because with your blog I find myself something of a completer/finisher and I just like the way you wrote it. So I’ve come this far, let me think about fulfilling your call to action too – I don’t really have a single ‘dream’ site I’m afraid though yours would be close with a few others – I’ll just give you my top four that I seem to come back to from time to time:

1. Copyblogger
2. Social Triggers
3. The Sales Lion
4. Smart Passive Income

As I said I probably have about 50 sites I really like but I think these would be my top 4 mainly because I respect the voice, approach and opinion of the people writing them but also in terms of quality and content.

take care & very best wishes,
Alan

Jodi

You help me a TON, darlin’. THANK YOU.

Big fish – http://www.doctoroz.com/ Because really, what person who promotes wellness doesn’t want to be recognized on this level. Am I ready for it? Absolutely NOT.

Kris Car – http://kriscarr.com/ Because she was a major player in inspiring me to do what I do. When I saw her documentary in 2007 I was hooked. I love her brand and her “can do” attitude, practicality and DO-ABLITY. It is a strong part of what I try to bring to my brand. No one wants to work any harder than they already do to get healthier and I am about to step into the “how-tos” of making it easier. I think my approach is in keeping with what she promotes

Food Matters – http://www.foodmatters.tv/ Again, I love their brand, close to 100% of their content. I share a ton of information from this site on my social media sites regularly. I support what they are doing and would love to be a contributing part of this community. I think I have now and can create more content that would benefit their readers.

Organic Authority – http://www.organicauthority.com/
Because so much of their content is doable/usable/appealing and I want to be aligned with that mindset. It’s a well edited site. I think I have and could continue to create, content that would be valuable to their readers.

Bobbie Rae Murphy

Derek, you are awesome! OK, so I would love to get mentioned on Bucket List Publications…Lesley is my idol! I specialize in soft adventure travel. ACTIVE travel. She is my ideal client and as far as I see it, she’s getting paid to do all this cool stuff by blogging about it. That’s SO AMAZING to me. I would love to help her readers create “rememorable” travel adventures. So that’s my goal! Tahnks for the inspirational kick in the pants, dude.

Avanti

Derek,

Thanks for the post. I admit to making each of those mistakes…and was laughing at myself when I was reading your post…it made me realize how ridiculous I’ve been! I’m in the process of re-branding and designing a new website and am also narrowing my focus to stand out.

So…my answers to your homework:

Dream website: kriscarr.com
3 other websites I’d love to get on: Oprah.com, herfuture.com, drfranklipman.com

Thanks again for the insights!
Avanti

Stephanie W.

Let me preface this response with a disclaimer: I’m still working out business plan and have not launched my blog yet. Your posts are helping me fine tune my plan and develop strategies to promote success. Thank you! Since I’m still in the planning phases I can only respond with my #1 dream website. Completing the rest of your homework assignment is part of the essential planning I have yet to do. So for now, my dog ate half my homework!

#1 Dream Website: Etsy
The first phase of my blog is very specific to Etsy and getting validation from them would not only increase my traffic/membership it would also catapult my status to industry leader … for my niche of course.

-S

John Anderson

Mine would be Art of Manliness (http://artofmanliness.com). My blog is brand new with only two posts. Shouldn’t I create like 25 posts before I try to get some peeps from other sites?

    Jason

    Actually, you don’t need *any* posts to start getting list subscribers. 🙂 If you’ve got something great to offer on a list, you could mention you’re starting a blog and have a free offer for folks who sign up on your list. Then they’ll get the posts (if you set the campaign up for it) once you start posting. See Jon Morrow for more info. 🙂

    -j

Ty Johnson-Anderson

Hey Derek,

It’s the “Operative” here. Since your course I’ve shut down my blog to do a complete rebranding and find “my voice” With your help along with Ash Ambridge from themiddlefingerproject I believe I was able to niche it down and articualte what it is I do.

I am an emotional liberation and charisma specialist that helps moms with independent kids (13+ includes empty nesters) find themselves and lives again with no regard to what “people may think”. So in a nutshell I am a personal rebranding specialist.

I would love to get a shout out or feature from Oprah.com or Essence.com as they have the perfect audience for me. Sad to say it this way, but women with no lives outside of their household.

Some of the others would be:

My Black is Beautiful

How Does She

Marie Forleo: Although she focuses on business, I belive alot of woman are lost in business b/c they are just overall lost.

Kevin Blakeley

Perfect timing for this blog post. My business is going to be about building, marketing, and distributing Mobile apps. I am still trying to find my voice but that will come.

Now let me turn in my home work.

Dream Site – SmartPassiveIncome.com or EarlyToRise.com. Both of these sites are helping me define a strategy for my business. From goal setting, to product development, to outsourcing these are two of my top resources. I feel the information that I want to put together on a blog can help me give back to these resources that have taught me so much.

Love #1
http://blog.w3i.com/ – Just a good resource that covers both development and marketing of apps. They always deliver good content.

Love #2
http://www.mobiletuxedo.com/ – Mainly marketed to developers and I feel that my voice may help here. I have a big development background and I may be able to help offer advice to other looking to do what I have done, and that is move into an app business where you have to worry about marketing and promotion.

Love #3
http://appclover.com – Just another good resource of mine that accepts community contributions. I like their voice and their content.

Thanks for doing this series Derek, I a can’t for the next homework assignment!

Antone Roundy

The #1 place I’d love to get a mention from is Seth Godin’s blog, because quite a few of my blog posts are “riffs” on his posts (quote an excerpt, and then add a bunch of my own thoughts — sometimes agreeing, sometimes disagreeing, sometimes running off on a tangent, etc.) I recently collected a bunch of my riff posts and made a Kindle book out of them (with a few added articles that don’t appear on my blog). A “bravo” from Seth about the Kindle book ought to lead to a bunch of sales and followers.

A few other places I’d like to get mentioned are Copyblogger, ProBlogger and Daily Blog Tips, because my main product is a blogging tool, so their readers are in my target market.

Aditya

My ‘Dream’ blog to get readers from would be Tinybuddha. I shot for the stars, can’t ask for more.

3 other websites would be – The Change Blog, Adrienne Smith and Kelly Hampton’s blog.

Keith Lee

New to the blog this week, enjoying it so far.

For a blog about psychology, and helping people grow their blogs, I find the responses to be hilarious. As of typing this, there are 69 comments. 11 are by Derek. Only 11 of the remaining 58 responses actually follow the very simple directions at the end of the post:

– 1 “big” dream blog
– 3 smaller blogs

So roughly 19% of the people responding to this post, claiming to want to learn and grow their blog, are actually capable of fulfilling this one small task. Two brief hypos from this observation (which are not mutually exclusive):

A) People are woefully unable to help themselves even when it is liad out for them in black & white
B) Blogs about blogging attract what are essentially comment parasites. They come to a larger blog, leave a comment, and hope to get some trickle of visitors. Which seems like a ridiculous waste of time.

I’m curious to see what the final response rate is.

Orleatha

My dream blog is actually a podcast: http://www.fatburningman.com/
I would like to be on his podcast because its the #1 fitness and wellness podcast on itunes and a LOT of my target audience listens to him.

The ultimate blogs would be: Sean Croxton’s Underground Wellness undergroundwellness.com , Diane Sanfilippo’s balancedbites.com – These blogs have a lot of the readers that I am looking to coach in the health and wellness lifestyle. They are already primed and ready to go 🙂

and Seth Godin’s Blog: sethgodin.typepad.com because the man is brilliant and thinks outside of the box as do i!

Ricardo Caicedo

Hello Derek!
You’re right, more content by itself won’t bring in more readers.
In my Japanese green tea blog, I only write once a week and now I have on average 80 unique visits/day! I know it’s not much, but it doubled since this month, so I’m very happy about it.

I already got started with guestposting, my first guest post will be published in http://www.teaformeplease.com, probably next week!

One website I’m aiming for is http://www.tofugu.com, which is about Japan in general but it has a massive traffic. Since the readers are people interested in Japanese culture, I’m sure I could get many subscribers if I pull it off.

Another thing I plan to do next is sort of like an inverse guest post. Like you’ve advised in your blog before, I’ll interview important people in the tea niche and introduce Japanese tea companies too, that way I’ll get exposure to their customers and increase my authority 🙂

Casey Harrison

I would like my blog to get a shout out from Bodybuilding.com at some point in the future. That is my ultimate goal. I’m using my blog to track my own personal growth while adding things to influence me along the journey, that hopefully other people can use in their own journeys.

As far as the other 3:

extremefitnessresults.com

socialtriggers.com

Fitnessmagazine.com

My business is a Network Marketing business, centered around a nutritional product, so having a shout out from the top bodybuilding, nutrition, fitness, and networking sites would definitely be a help to my business. I love to learn, and love to help people, so blogging just seems to be a great idea for me. Now just to wait for you to show me how to get my information in front of more people!

evan

My dream would be The Survival Blog. Other targets are Art of Manliness, ITS Tactical, and Modern Survival.

I’m also targeting The Survival Podcast, not a blog, but still an online media outlet with a huge following.

I’m friend with Neil Strauss and his writer Aaron Frankel, so I can probably get on Neil’s blog as well with the right content.

    Ty Johnson-Anderson

    Evan,

    I know the Art of Manliness accepts guest post submissions. Might be worth looking up their rules for submissions and putting something in.

    Write an excellent article and solicit it to them via their submission portal.

    Hope you get through 🙂

    evan

    PS – My blog is squadschool.com. I don’t spend much time writing posts. Most of the time is spent creating awesome courses, running them, and selling them.

    We are about preparing and protecting yourself, your family, and your loved ones in uncertain times.

John

I can’t get focused on what I want to write about or specialize in. I’ve got a lot of interests and I want to comment on all of them, and actually I follow the latest new stories and make social comments, but the news stories are about a variety of things. So what blogs should I try to get traffic from?

Wade

This is a great post. You’re right! Getting other people to promote you is key to succeeding. That’s why getting yourself out there and meeting new people in your niche is going to help you…it did me anyway.

I would love to get a link from Social Media Examiner! Since I have been nominated to be in one of their Top Ten spots for social media, I may well get that link!

Designer Rob Russo

This is fascinating, Derek. Fun as always.

Here’s what I’m thinking:
1) I’m a designer.
2) I love social media.
3) There are a lot of social media managers/experts/gurus that don’t do/get/have great design. (It’s lacking for their clients and themselves.)

So, I’m going to focus on all aspects of social media design.

I thought I wanted big time designers to comment on my blog. Then I thought I wanted to be a social media manager. But now I realize I want social media heavy hitters to love me and my blog — so that all the social media managers that follow them will flock to me when they need something designed. Easy, once the big players recommend me.

Off to find the biggest and best in social media. Maybe…
http://socialmediaexaminer.com

I like http://www.jeffbullas.com/ … I don’t know!? I’m discovering great folks all the time. Like Amy Porterfield, James Wedmore and, well… You.

Again, fascinating. Thanks for the challenge!

Laura

Thanks Derek – the mark of a good blog – I read it all the way to the end! Even inspired me to actually do the homework so additional kudos to you. Here goes:
1) Dream Blog – blogs.hbr.org – since I work with senior leaders in a variety of industries a shout out from Harvard Business Review would provide credibility and recognition in the world of leadership.

2) Penelope Trunk founder of the Brazen Careerist http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/ I also work with women to help them create the work and life they love. Penelope’s background has taken a circuitous path as has mine from NYC, to farming, to making cheese and to providing career support for people in transition.

3) TanveerNaseer.com – a popular leadership blogger. I admire his creative approach to discussing leadership strategies along with his selection of guest bloggers he invites to contribute to his blog. I’d like to become a guest blogger where I contribute articles from a perspective of combining the arts, leadership, performance and rehearsal.

4) http://www.laurenandemira.com – The Boss of You. One of my key mantras I repeat in my work with women in particular is – if it’s to me it’s up to me! These ladies have written a work on the same theme. To connect with them and share a similar message would beef up the chances of having the message reach a larger audience.

Thanks for the opportunity to post!

Rula Brown

I’m a dedicated follower of your work – always inspirational and of worth! Apologies if I have missed something in this article, but exactly how do you suggest to “convince another blog that has readers to send readers your way.”? … Leave comments with a link back? Ask if I can guest post? Ask the blog owner to post an entire article on what I do (what if they are a competitor)?
Somehow your article seems “unfinished” … Thanks for clarification!

Christopher Small

Since I commented, I might as well participate.

My big fish blog would be: legalmarketingblog.com

Three smallerish blogs would be:
therainmakerblog.com
lawyerist.com
myshingle.com

All of these sites would help me for two reasons. First, it would get my specific ideal reader to me (people starting a law firm). Second, it would give me a status bump in the eyes of my law firm marketing colleagues (which would hopefully open the door to more opportunities).

    Keith Lee

    Chris,

    As a lawyer and blogger, your comment caught my eye.

    Let me give you some free advice:

    A) Generally speaking, lawyers don’t like legal marketers. Not that all legal marketers are bad, but there is a deluge of unqualified people attempting to court lawyers. They do a horrible job of it because they have no understudying of the unique ethical rules by which lawyers are bound. And good lawyers know that the rules are not something that you just have to get over – they are the bare minimum.

    B) Naturally, I clicked over to your site. It’s unfinished. Your Resources page literally says: “sadfsadfsdf.” If you think anyone is going to retain your services when your own site is barely cobbled together you are delusional.

    C) Lawyers don’t read legalmarketingblog.com or therainmakerblog.com. Only other marketers. That’s not your demographic. Don’t waste your time.

    D) I can’t recall Carolyn (Myshingle) ever mentioning a legal marketing company. Don’t hold your breath.

    E) Sam regularly accepts guest articles at Lawyerist & BitterLawyer. All you have to do is write something worth reading and email it to him.

    That being said, I highly doubt you are going to get any lawyers as clients at either of those sites. Lawyers who are reading Myshingle or Lawyerist are doing so because they are self-starters with small budgets. They are going to be doing everything themselves. They don’t have either the money or inclination to hire a legal marketing firm. Generally speaking, only larger, established firms hire legal marketers – and they’re not going to make that decision based off a guest post or mention on some blog.

      Christopher Small

      Keith:

      I appreciate the feedback, and I think a lot of what you say is correct.

      For example, you are right that my blog is incomplete – it hasn’t been up long and it’s kind of one of those minimum viable product type of things – I get about a 1000 visits a month and I think the content is good enough that people are willing to give me some slack on this (particularly since this is a complete side gig for me).

      But, I think you were looking at my site and my goals with the wrong frame. I’m not going to ever be in the marketing consulting market, at least I won’t be unless it’s extremely lucrative.

      My goal here is to provide great information to people that can’t afford to hire a marketing firm – people like myself. Very soon I’ll have my book completed. I’ve also got a virtual course in the works. Finally, a membership site will also go up. It’s all about information that produces results at a great price. REAL VALUE.

      I guess the last thing I’d say is that you make some pretty bold and wide reaching assumptions in your comment. How do you know lawyers don’t read the sites I mentioned (I read it, I’m a lawyer)?

      With what I’ve told you about what I do, why wouldn’t Elefant mention me, particularly if I provided information her audience would want? How do you think she gained the partners she has now?

      Thanks for the info on lawyerist.com. I’ll have to put something together to get to them.

      Hope this didn’t come off badly. You know how we lawyers are – to the point. I appreciate you taking the time to look at my site and for giving me the feedback you did. Makes me realize I need to do a better job of explaining my goals on the site.

        Keith Lee

        A) Why would people, especially lawyers, cut you slack? You have one chance to make a first impression – your site makes a bad one.

        B) I know most of the popular lawyer “blawgers.” They don’t read those sites.

        C) I don’t want to put words in her mouth, but I know Carolyn well enough that I doubt she would link to a legal marketing firm. She has the advertisers (“partners?”) she has now because she’s worked hard for years and has lots of contacts in the industry.

        I’d still say that you haven’t done enough research to determine 1) who you want to be in front of & 2) why they would retain you.

        And for what it’s worth, MyShingle has .06% of the traffic of my blog.

          Christopher Small

          Last one, I promise.

          I do know who I want to be in front of – people just starting a law firm or people with small law firms that are looking for marketing help from someone that isn’t promising the world, but is offering helpful advice based on real world experience.

          These people would not retain me. That’s not my objective. I don’t want to be a consultant. I don’t want to be a service provider. I want to provide information. And I want to do it in a way that allows people to succeed with their law firms.

          It’s not about Carolyn linking to my site. It’s about her seeing that I can provide value to her customers and putting me in front of them to provide that value.

          For example, I put her on my podcast to talk about her site and about marketing a new and/or small law firm. When that podcast is up, she let’s her audience know about it – it is extremely relevant to them.

          Finally, for me, it’s not necessarily about traffic. It’s about a specific person finding me that needs and wants my help.

          Thanks again for the discussion. It’s actually sparked some pretty great ideas for me moving forward.

          And, I didn’t look at your site before my first comment, but it looks nice. Good work.

Kev Kaye

Hey Derek, great post as always.

I can’t help but mention that I’d like to provide something of value for Social Triggers to share. I’m working on the research for this as we speak 🙂

I’m also aiming to help eCommerce blog audiences, such as Shopify, and I have some good info that would be useful for web designers too. Do you recommend a blog for web designers that might be worthwhile for me to look into?

My research is revolving around the development of trust through digital communications, and how it influences intent to buy.

Thanks man!

Kev

William sawyers

Very nicely done, from a children author

Jane

I am learning so much from your site!

I would love to be linked from http://www.Etsy.com as a featured seller. I did have one of my DIY projects shared on their blog.

Some others:
– Design Mom http://www.designmom.com/ (although this might be in a “biggie” category

– I’m obviously failing this exercise because I can’t think of 2 more sites! Need to revisit this!

Susan Giurleo

Four places I’d love to post:

SocialTriggers.com because I’m all about the psychology of the internet : ).
Seth Godin’s blog because I resonate with his ideas about art and the new era of work.
Pam Slim’s blog because leaving cubicle nation is something I help people do in my coaching.
MenwithPens.com because I help freelancers market their skills.

And finding guest blogging opportunities shouldn’t be hard given how few people actually did the homework here. Very interesting.

    Derek Halpern

    See how funny that is? People don’t listen. Here you are, you listened, and here’s James… offering you a spot.

    There’s a 99.9% I include this as a screenshot in one of my next emails. Cool with you Susan / James?

      James Chartrand - Men with Pens

      Read, listen, respond… boom! Wishes granted, by other people reading, listening and responding in turn.

      Cool with me, Derek, and my pleasure.

      As for my own ‘read and listen’, it’d definitely be nice for one of my guest posts to be here on Social Triggers. I’ve done enough guest posting in my time that there aren’t many coveted places left for me, but ST would be a challenge I’d welcome.

      You set the bar high, my friend. 😉

      Designer Rob Russo

      Sounds good to me. I’m jumping in as I learn some more people/sites I have to visit (see my original post below).

    James Chartrand - Men with Pens

    You’d be very welcome on our blog, Susan. (See? Now that wasn’t hard, was it!)

Emma Henderson

Oh man I’ve done it all wrong in the past. Thanks for the great advice.
Right, so first up I’d love to get a mention on Print and Pattern http://printpattern.blogspot.co.uk/
Also I’d love to have a printable featured on How About Orange http://howaboutorange.blogspot.co.uk/
Other than that a mention on Design Sponge http://www.designsponge.com/ or Oh Joy http://ohjoy.blogs.com/ would bring a great amount of readers.

Jo-Anne

So, you have me thinking. I design and sell sheds to people with historic homes in Florida (we have that specific niche thing down that you mentioned). I blog because the experts say we need a blog for SEO. I don’t mind writing a couple of times a month, but I haven’t figured out how writing a blog really helps sell sheds.

I have several websites in mind after reading this that I would love to have feature us, mostly local realtor blogs since a large percentage of our customers have newly purchased homes. What do I offer them if I contact them?

Lastly – thanks for letting my new year’s resolution to blog more go to the wayside without guilt!

    Jason

    Hey Jo-Anne, what if you blogged about things that might make a person realize they need a shed.

    For example: a post series on awesome gardening in Florida. Talk about the tools a person would need, and let them realize that they need a shed to put them in. 😉

    I’m sure my idea needs some fleshing out, but that’s what immediately came to mind.

    When you contact the local realtor blogs, offer them a great post. Spend some time generating ideas for blog posts, and pitch them. And who knows – you might land a partnership with a realtor who would sell your sheds to their clients, maybe for a commission.

    -jason

      Jo-Anne

      Thank you for the great idea. I did recently sit down and brainstorm about a dozen ideas for shed related posts from picking paint colors to decorative accents. I’ll add the tool idea to the list! And see if I can get a realtor to bite.

      I really appreciate you taking the time to comment.

Guillermo

Can I dream big? Then a link and endorsement from the Immigration Canada site would be awesome! Why? Because it’s the main go-to website in my niche.

Other 3 websites to receive links from: canadianimmigrant.ca (top site in the niche, and a very good example on where I’d like to go), another from canadavisa.com (a blog from a very important immigration lawyer) and… I’m not sure who else. I really don’t know any other sites/blogs that I can consider great source of readers for my niche.

Cheers!

    Jessica

    Hi Guillermo,
    Just checked out your blog. We do a lot of work with Canadian immigrant entrepreneurs. Would love to connect with you.

Big Chris

Great post brother… seriously, fucking BRAVO man

I’m one of those “homeless to blogging success” stories… no shit

And a lot of it is because of the exact principles you mentioned here

My first blog, I worked away at it for a year, without any compensation, and then almost at one year to the day, I used it launch my first info product, launch did $304K in billable sales in one week

And that blog has allowed me to do over a dozen launches since then and provide a nice life for myself and my family

At it’s peak the blog was at a 51 or 52K alexa

It’s a business blog for the fitness industry, trainers and whatnot

Today, I use it as a platform for other writers… I use their content and my reach to get them exposure and make affiliate sales… and to sell my own info products, software and stuff

After making millions from it and ending up more miserable than I ever was in my entire life, my soul’s been calling me to do something different… personal life lessons… raw and uncensored..

Think Henry Rollins meets Wayne Dyer

I started the new blog a few weeks ago, first four posts have done well… tons of comments and Facebook likes, ones at 1341 natural Facebook likes so far from people sharing it… and two of the four have over 160 comments, my replies included

I’ve found for me that being real, different, admitting stuff most people are scared to, admitting my flaws, being funny and using lots of stories, metaphors and similes… and then leaving people inspired, seems to be the secret sauce ( for me, and my audience )

I have this goal of turning Corey Taylor ( lead singer of SlipKnot and Stone Sour), Henry Rollins, Wayne Dyer, Leo from Zen Habits, Byron Katie, Bryan Clark, Julien Smith and comedian Joel Rogan… hell maybe even you… into avid readers and raving fans…

Like I’m a huge fan of all the people I mentioned

Also… the goal of the blog is to help over 1 million people to lead happier , more authentic and more fulfilling lives

I like to use my past steroid abuse, homelessness, drug addiction, infidelities , jail time, lawsuits, business fallouts and so on to help others.

I always wanted to be a writer… I wrote a whacked out story about killing people when I was like and had to go see a shrink every Thursday after school because of it

I pretty much failed in, but LOVED creative writing

So cool to make my living blogging today, working where I want and when I want, all on my own fucking terms

Again, Bravo man, GREAT POST Derek

Keep doing your thing man

    Kyle

    Wow Chris, great new site. I have heard of you but not read your stuff before. Very entertaining 🙂

    I remember writing a story in Grade 3 about a car screeching out of a car park filled with blood. Too much Duke Nukem as kid?

    Thanks for sharing

    Zita Consani

    Just want to say, Big Chris, that you have what it takes.

    I feel it emanating from you like energy through the webosphere.

    I’m a writer and am not easily engaged by others writers (heh heh) but you held my attention with every word with your incredible honesty and determination, authenticity and ballsiness.

    You WILL get amazing links with your attitude and heart-pumpin’, true-blood style.

Laura Fuentes @MOMables @SuperGluemom

Derek, as always.. your advice works. I used to have good content often..now I have great content less often. I have taken your advice and cross promote and highlight others’s posts who in turn promote mine to their audience. Instead of having a website about food, I have a website for “busy parents who want to feed their children healthy school lunches.”
Since I launched my company 18moths ago I took your advice and focused my efforts.
Through your opt-in suggestions, I have gown my “list” ten fold since July (thank you, again, for the mention in your opt-in video).
I was just offered a weekly column in the Huffington Post to specifically write their School Lunch Project -talk about having the ability to reach a bigger audience! In addition, just last week I was featured on a “bigger” website that generated over $1,000 in revenue in 72 hours (I have $9-$18 products mind you… so I consider this a HUGE success). The sales continue to pour in and now that I have this new opportunity in the HP that I plan on using as strategic “leverage” to land into bigger sites.
Thank you for all your GREAT content. I can’t wait to meet you in person one day.

    Jodi

    Well done, darlin’. Continued success.

      Laura Fuentes @MOMables @SuperGluemom

      Thank you! I have really taken a lot of Derek’s advice and made it work for me. I’m so grateful!

Michael Vander

Great info Derek.

So for that dream site I would love get a link from, it would have to be http://training.tonyrobbins.com/

For the other three, I would love to get a link from
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/
http://www.davidneagle.com/blog
http://www.askmen.com/
One more that I would like also
https://www.openforum.com/

Thank you for this exercise, helped to make it clear what audience I want to interact with and gives me a couple of how just by looking them up.

Julia

Already loving the series, Derek.

Dream websites for my dating advice blog (still looking into ways to specify my content…):

Super Dream: Oprah.com – Because, well, duh. C’mon. It’s Oprah.

1) http://www.yourlifeyourway.net/ – The voice/style of this blog is similar to mine, not to mention the “leading your best life” type of content cross-over.

2) MarieForleo.com – Marie speaks to women about business and life in exactly the same way I’d like to/do speak to them about dating and relationships.

3) TheDailyLove.com – Mastin Kipp’s love-centered messages translate well to the topic I discuss on my blog, as you can imagine.

While these examples and my blog share a readership base, my blog focuses on a different topic, so readers would gain additional knowledge by visiting my blog, but in a similar voice/style to which they’ve become accustomed after reading these sites mentioned above. Thanks for this post!

Conor

Thanks for this post. Definitely felt myself nodding in agreement at several of the points you made. Here’s my list:

1) Mashable – this is a site that is insipirational in a number of ways, and one that presents constantly relevant information in an engaging way.

2) Gizmodo – The tech blog to end all tech blogs focuses on innovation and consistently cranks out content that is of interest to me and my reader(s).

3) TechCrunch – At the risk of seeming too tech-oriented a high volume of the business we do is tech and gadgets, obviously that’s something TechCrunch does extremely well.

4) BarStoolSports – Just a great sports blog featuring an amount of snark we could never get away with having on our blog but that’s enjoyable to read nonetheless.

    Derek Halpern

    This is an interesting list of websites. It seems like you’d love to get linked from the blogs you love to read. However, you make no mention of the fat that these blogs have your ideal readers and customers.

    Chris Johnson

    having had links from 2 of your dreams, I’ll say that it’s simple, and that it’s less important than you may think. And it’s easy as hell.

Tom Bentley

Hi Derek. Thanks for a post with punch. Because I am a marketing/business copywriter, I’d love to get a link back from Copyblogger. Pretty much as equivalently dreamy as that link would be one from Seth Godin, for the same reasons. Because I am also a fiction writer and essayist (and occasionally blog on publishing), I’d also like to get a nod from Jane Friedman’s blog.

And because I always like to mix the host a nice drink while we’re talking to butter him up, I’d like to get a link from your blog. Thanking you in advance…

Joe Cassandra

No one’s said they want a link from Social Triggers 😀

My top would be Ramit’s site, as I love reading his stuff and that inspires me to go find other books and such that tie to it to develop my own ideas.

Penelope Trunk would be great, love reading her stuff

I’m going to cheat and say get an interview at a larger podcast (love Rise to the Top, Entrepreneur on Fire, BlogcastFM & others)

I’m told I’m general at the moment, but love writing on different topics in the areas I cover, so not sure if I’m supposed to then break off into 2 sites. Or do you narrow it down to a specific age group?

Jason

Well, my dream site would be Tim Ferriss’ blog. I initially started blogging because I started implementing the stuff in The 4 Hour Body. My blog is now about helping people who are on that program as well. His millions of readers would be more than welcome on my site. 😉

Other than that, I’d love links on:
NerdFitness – I’m a nerd myself, and Steve is a super nice guy. He’s a follower of the Paleo diet, and that’s like a close cousin to Slow-Carb. There are probably a lot of nerdy kids there who would identify with my nerdiness.

EverydayPaleo – Sarah Fragoso has some cookbooks out, and one of the focuses of my blog is slow-carb recipes. Again, paleo isn’t slow-carb, but many of her readers would be fine with my recipes (and her recipes would be fine with my readers).

Thinking of a third one is hard because the other blogs I read about fitness are either huge (like Robb Wolf) or still relatively unknown, like me, and I wouldn’t have trouble guest posting with them (like Four Hour Life). I guess my third one would be Balanced Bites. I’ve tried contacting Diane before but she’s tough to get a hold of. So one reason I’d like to get a link from her is the challenge of it, and the other reason is that she’s all about proper eating as a lifestyle, not a “diet” in the way we think of it. That follows along my philosophy as well, so her readers could get something out of my blog (and mine could get something out of her blog).

Thanks for the ideas!
-j

    Designer Rob Russo

    I’m going to follow you and your ideas. Not for my business, necessarily, but because my wife and I started paleo Jan 1. And I love the idea of slow-carb recipes.

      Jason

      Hey thanks, Rob! 🙂

      -j

    Orleatha

    What’s your blog?

      Orleatha

      nevermind… found it 🙂

Chris Gaynor

I’m going to be cheeky and say my dream blog I want to get a link from would be social triggers as your videos are goddam funny but also very true and everything you say you don’t mince your words do you. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind – but if you don’t leave a link to my blog I will knock your brains out hahaha only joking…Poor attempt at humour

NoahDavid Lein

1. Jon Acuff’s Blog: http://www.jonacuff.com/blog/ – He has a massive tribe, many of whom are teachers and Christians who are struggling with their careers – the very audience my blog is designed to encourage.

2. Desiring God Blog: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog – John Piper is a rockstar in many Christian circles, and he doesn’t preach a gospel of legalism or perfectionism – exactly what teachers need with so many crushing expectations.

3. Vicki Davis “Cool Cat Teacher”: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/ – One of the most read and respected teacher-blogs out there, “Cool Cat Teacher” would let a lot of Christian teachers know that there is a blog specifically for them.

4. For my final “dream” blog, I’m breaking the rules – I want to be in bookstores. I’ve written one eBook and it seems that teachers prefer to read something in their hands, based on what I’ve heard, so I’d love to give them what they want!

Thanks for the invitation to dream, Derek!

    Doug

    Hey Noah! I’m posting my dream blogs under yours only because I write in the Christian space too. I’ve started in the Christian men’s niche but I’m re-tooling because I’m way more passionate about writing in the 20-something Christian men single, engaged or newly married niche.

    Here are three that I’ve got in my Evernote notebook under “Future Interviews”.

    1. Jon Bones Jones – http://www.jonnybones.com/ – Jon is a 24 yr old Christian and the reigning UFC light heavy weight champ. I love his style, his mission and his following. He’s got a ton of audience I want exposure to.
    2. Tim Tebow – http://www.timtebow.com/ – Even though he now plays for the Jets, he’s a 25 year old Christian man in the NFL. Duh. A no brainer for my new tuned audience.
    3. Uncrate – http://www.uncrate.com – Guys love gear. Part of my writing is gear. I’d love to produce a tangible that would get featured on Uncrate. I’d be happy just being RT’d by Uncrate. Lol. Huge audience of guys (and gals who want to buy their man stuff)

    I, in fact, would put Jon Acuff on my list of close runner’s up!

    Thanks for the post Derek! And Noah, find me on Twitter @dougandjudy, let’s keep up with each other.

    D

    Derek Halpern

    Noah, this is PERFECT.

    The reason why you want to get featured on the blogs you’re listing is because you believe they have your ideal reader and customer.

    Many people look to get featured on the blogs they read… just because they read them. Very few try to get featured on the blogs that actually have their ideal customers.

    I go over this more in my course Blog that Converts.

      NoahDavid Lein

      Thanks, Derek!

      You’re also setting a great example and high bar for all of us would-be mainstream bloggers. You aren’t paid a cent for all of these replies, but you are faithful to your readers. Thanks for the inspiration!

Gentry

Awesome advice.

Four sites I’d like to get traffic from

#1 Dream Website: Yours
#2. HuffingtonPost.com
#3. Oprah.com
#4. blog.TED.com

And as I’m writing this…I’m getting good ideas for content that would merit links.

Thanks for helping me narrow my focus.

Ralph

Derek,

I am one of those bloggers that hovers around 1,000 visitors per month but the difference is that I have never thought of myself or my blog as a failure. I have a small and very engaged audience and the LAST thing I am here for is to sell something. I think I am in the wrong place. Correct?

Why not be honest with your audience and tell them, by percentage, how successful monetization in the blogging world is extremely rare. What percentage of the 164mil blogs are monetized to make any real money?

Is that what you are suggesting with your tactics here? If I follow your formula I will have hundreds of thousands of readers and people will by my stuff?

I am not a pessimist but I am realistic.

    Zita Consani

    I understand so fully where you’re coming from, Ralph. I think there’s much truth in what you say. I’m with you all the way in terms of a small, engaged audience and money slash numbers be damned if integrity is to be compromised.

    I hate formulas.

    BUT. Derek is right in one sense. I believe he really knows his onions when it comes to growing readership and potential buyers (if one’s in the market for this – who doesn’t dream of leaving the day job & selling one’s passion?) Here, formula works.

    I don’t think this is about Derek being honest or trying to sell what isn’t feasible.

    Derek is in the business of growing, achieving, expanding. That’s his gift. He sees potential, he has drive, he’s a visionary, he has tremendous propulsion. If there’s any possibility of expansion, growth and financial reward, he’ll promote this for all he’s worth.

    Anyone interested in getting more business-like about their blog will certainly benefit from his advice.

    Alyssa

    I do think that of those 164 million blogs, most of them are NOT intended to make money. They’re for journaling, for sharing family updates, for giving an inside peek at a small business, etc. However, I do think there are still a significant percentage that *do* think they should be making money somehow with their blog.

    If I had 1,000 visitors to my blog each month I’d be doing backflips. lol. I would disagree with Derek there, but I still see the point he’s making. I don’t think he’s being disingenuous.

Rajandran R

Excellent post Derek. Iam planning to Blog less frequent and spend more time on connecting with my readers. Thanks for the wonderful advice dear!

Genita Kovacevich-Costello

I ghostwrite a blog for my husband’s real estate company that promotes the quality of life in the town he specializes in. My problem is knowing what other types of blogs would feed into his. It’s not a traditional real estate blog as he is not handing out real estate advice but promoting the reasons why someone would want to live in our hometown. He has actually garnered a couple clients who read his blog and decided to call him because of it. But in terms of views and subscribers, the numbers are low so not sure where I should try to get referring links–travel blogs? Appreciate any advice you can toss my way. THANKS.

    BW

    Oregon travel blogs and websites would be perfect. They’re related, but not in competion.

    Is your blog targeting a particular demographic? If for example you’re targeting over-60’s and retired, can you find any blogs or online communities writing for this group related to either the local area, or the general theme of relocating for a better lifestyle anywhere in the US?

    On a side note, I think you need write some pillar content to direct new visitors to. You could also create a simple category-based navigation structure on your blog. A horizontal navbar below the header would do the trick. Chronological order is not usually the best way to categorise your posts, if you want people clicking around and reading more. The date a post was published means very little to the reader unless you’re mainly writing about news and current trends.

      Genita Kovacevich-Costello

      Thanks for giving me some food for thought and ideas for where I might find some referrals. — Genita

    Rhonni

    Have you tried networking with the local Chamber of Commerce? If the CofC have a PR team, they are often looking for material. You’ve saved them from having to write the press releases themselves! If your town doesn’t have a PR team, look to local festivals, or events … they may have a PR person who is looking for material too.

    … and now I realize I can take my own advice and approach the PR teams of festivals in which I participate … thanks for making me think out loud.
    Rhonni

      Genita Kovacevich-Costello

      Thanks Rhonni for taking the time to send your suggestions my way. I have connected with the Chamber on posts that tie in with them specifically and provide links to businesses which I feature on the site but I’m sure there is more work that can be done there.
      –Genita

Sanjeet

Derek.. this post could be very much irritating for newbie bloggers, can you imagine that?? You were trying to make everyone stick to this post & what’s the result?? You were simply asking to join your course with references of some testimonials & didn’t tell something great that may help anyone!!

No offense, but it was all what looks like when I read with a newbie’s mind 😀 You gave a fair tip of gathering readers from another website & the way could be Guest Blogging. But simply you didn’t tell anything that’s actually accepted from a genius like DEREK!!

I am a regular reader of your Blog & I have my blog . What I learned from you is to make people stick to your post in a greed to get something, but it’s the first time when I am returning back without any good tip. Happens sometimes, but I will be your reader 🙂

Thanks

    Derek Halpern

    The point of this blog post was getting people CLEAR on the types of blogs they should look for… to get featured on.

    You obviously didn’t follow directions. Instead, you’re looking for the “one click button” that gives you immediate success. That’s not the case.

    And I’m not selling anything here. I’m walking people through the mindset they need to create a popular blog. You think it’s pointless. I say it’s vital.

      Zita Consani

      I’m a cynic, poet & writer. I steer clear of corporations and big-time sellers like Mr D H.

      But I have to say that Mr D H is an extremely personable, authentic mensch. You’re not a greedy seller, just a smart, honest, free-thinking, upbeat let-me-help-you-get-your-act-together kinda guy.

      You give away as much as is humanly possible in a capitalist venture. Well done.

      As to the content of this post, it is very useful. The big Q for newbies is: HOW to feature on the dream blogs. The actual nitty-gritty steps. It’s one thing getting specific (a very NB thing) but quite another to actually get featured so as to get some of their readers.

      And what does getting featured mean, exactly? It is just getting a guest post published? Are there smaller steps one can do before this awesome breakthrough? I presume having a link to one’s blog on their site is another?

        Loclyn Torres

        I’m glad I’m not the only one wondering what exactly being ‘featured’ on a blog entails.

Writer President

Derek, this is an epic content.

Thank you so much for stressing out the importance to blog less and do more marketing to your existing content.

It really helps to trigger my mind that content are worthless when there is no readers.

Back in action.

Thank you Derek. 😀

    Writer President

    I want to be part of Social Triggers. I believe that one day my guest post will stick in your blog.

Kelvin Wealth

Another superb post from Derek… I just started my second blog and I knew I just knew I was not doing something right… I knew I will fail if I continue this way… So when I got your blog update on my mail I quickly jumped in.. And truly I have been guilty of two time wasters… I do have great content on my new blog but I really need to start promoting more….

THanks Derek for this post…

    Derek Halpern

    Did you read the homework part?

      Jacqueline

      Derek, I love how you keep reminding people that there was an action step in the post. It’s so much easier to leave a comment and hope you’ll click on the hyperlink, read their posts, and promote their blog for them than to do the actual work.
      My dream link would be from Eckhart Tolle. Not so big but relevant sites include http://lesism.blogspot.com/ by Les Floyd, because he has solid readership and we blog on the same topic but with a different focus and voice, http://tomkenyon.com/ , because my posts and work can help his audience make the most of what he offers, and http://sungoddessmagazine.com/ , because Linda has a resource site with related topics and only a small offering for those in my niche.

      My blog is about spiritual awakening and consciousness without the fluff or new age fantasy. I focus on the work and reality of a tough path in life. It’s a very small niche and I blog when I have something to say, not on a schedule. The key to getting a blog to 100k views, even a narrowly focused one like mine, is helping people who are interested in your content find it, i.e. marketing.

Susan Bailey

I run a blog on Louisa May Alcott. Therefore, my number 1 dream website from whom I’d love to get a link from is http://www.louisamayalcott.org – the official site of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. Why? Because 50,000+ people visit Orchard House every year and these people are my target audience.

Believe it or not, your next question stumped me! I know of one other site but will need to think of 2 others. The other site is the Fruitlands Museum (a place very much associated with the Alcott family). The education director already knows of my blog so that seems like a no-brainer.

Thanks for the info, great stuff.

    Beau Blackwell

    Susan,

    What if you could get links from some broader but still relevant sites? I don’t know the Louisa May Alcott niche well, but maybe some American heritage or American novelist sites? I’m sure there must be some sites dedicated to those sorts of topics, and the audience seems pretty relevant. Maybe even sites about prominent abolitionists or feminists (I didn’t know either of those things about her, found them on Wikipedia) 🙂

    Hope that helps!
    Beau

      Susan Bailey

      Beau, thank you for your interest! And your great suggestions (especially the abolitionist/feminist approach). I get so absorbed in my bubble sometimes that I truly miss the obvious. Thanks so much.

Chad

Contrarianism at its finest, awesome stuff thanks!

Mark T

I absolutely agree with “creating too much content” being a total time waster. Even Tim Ferris talks about how there is no magic number for the number of times you should blog.

One other thing people don’t keep in mind is the fact that the more often you publish content the fewer social signals and social proof each post will get. This often leads new people who come check out your blog to believe that your blog is dead and there aren’t too many people there, even if there are.

    Derek Halpern

    That’s an interesting point Mark. Do you have any “dream” websites you’d like to appear on?

Adrijus G.

Guestposting seems like the best option when promoting your own blog. But it’s not easy and you need to target those blogs well. I’d suggest going for blogs that are not completely in your own niche, but related. Like, I’m a book cover designer so I go post on book marketing blogs and other blogs related to book publishing and promotion.

Bad point about guestposting is that sometimes you end up writing the same content over and over again for different blogs. Get’s boring fast.

Still, it’s one of the best traffic sources I’ve seen.

    Dan Norris

    Hi Adrijus fancy seeing you here 🙂 I approach guest posting a bit differently. Don’t write the same old shit. If you are getting posts publishing the same stuff then they are probably shit blogs or glorified content farms. I’ve tried this strategy and it hasn’t worked for me. Instead I give my best content to other blogs and the results can be dramatic.

    Here’s an example:

    I did 1 generic type post on a very (like very) well known blog. Out of that I got I think 30 odd visits to my site and one sign up or something like that.

    Compare that with a 6,000 odd word 3 part post I did on softwarebyrob.com on pre launch traffic for startups. It’s was my best content at the time and I would have loved to put this on my own blog. But putting on Rob’s site sent me over 1,000 visits and over 50 signups.

    Te quality of the content and the choice of blog will make or break the strategy.

    Derek Halpern

    I’m confused. What sites do you want to appear on? And while guest blogging is a good method to promotion, it’s only one of many.

      Adrijus G.

      I sell design services to Book Authors, so my goal is to go guestposts on all blogs related to that niche – book marketing, book publicity, book publishing advice, writing blogs etc.

      It seems the best, your video reviews of people’s websites for conversion improvement is a great example. Big big reason why I started following this blog 😉

Piers | Kickstarters'HQ

(the Big One) Kickstarter.com:
Hey, they’re what we’re all about. You don’t get a better fit for the solutions we offer!

The 4 Hour Work Week Blog:
They have a very similar demographic to our audience with often similar aspirations, and they’re highly engaged.

Wired:
Once again, similar demographics. They run a regular section on Kickstarter, so it’s obviously an area they feel their readers are passionate about.

Tech Crunch:
pretty much the same reasons as above.

Jordan

Question for you Derek – is creating too much content really a bad thing when starting?

What if you’re creating some epic “pillar” content or a bunch of “ultimate guides.” You could also be writing this content with SEO copywriting in mind (i.e. doing some solid keyword research etc).

Cheers and awesome post again man. I can already tell I’m going to like this series.

    Adrijus G.

    Pillar content is essential and you must have like 5 awesome, detailed posts there from the start. But then focus on promotion after it. Not writing 3 posts a week. I think that’s what Derek meant.

      Jordan

      I can dig that. I definitely can see how some people would be super frustrated by continuous writing with no massive results. I mean it’s taken more 6 months to even see some decent rankings in google from the stuff I wrote early on.

      Thanks Adrijus – nice site btw 😉 those are some good looking covers

        Adrijus G.

        No problems Jordan! It’s def. a struggle and little reward at the start. But that is best strategy to start off with, altho it won’t blow you up it works well. I def. don’t enjoy writing all the time so I can’t write 3 posts a week. One is perfect for me 😀 Google will pick it up at it’s own pace (and in the end, guestposting at other blogs is SEO help either way so it’s a win-win).

        Thanks for checking out my site and work! 😉 That site has been redesigner so many times already haha keeps changing.

        Derek Halpern

        Think about it. How does creating as much content as possible on a site that doesn’t rank well… on a site that doesn’t have readers… help you GROW THE SITE? You think waiting around for Google is the right way to do it?

          Jordan

          Derek – you could always link build and start ranking your site :p

          NoahDavid Lein

          For 3 months I wrote an entry for my blog about every other day. Then, the next 3 months, I wrote an entry once every week. My traffic – and subscription rate – hasn’t changed a bit. If altering content doesn’t work, then something else has to!

Alexander

I think my dream would be to get a link from Mark Sisson & Ramit Sethi or maybe Nerd Fitness. All guys that I admire and have real quality stuff out there.

Ramit and I actually talk about a lot of the same pscyhology behind making habits stick and behavioral change (which, lets face it) is much more important than learning about diet and fitness since we all KNOW what we should do.

I guess the art of promotion is just as unique as creation killer content.

    Alexander

    Terrible typos.. agh.

      Derek Halpern

      The art of promotion is just as unique as creating killer content for sure. The next article in this series will address that.

        Alexander

        Thanks man, very curious to read more about this. I’ve previously fallen into the sub-par blog category, and now (my second time around – started over) am fixing all the mistakes I made in the last attempt.

David

You can either wallow in frustration or motivate yourself. At the end of the day you own your results (or lack of). Bloggers do fail because of the “I have a website now what” syndrome, but it’s also because of a lacking of a methodology (I’m going to do this, then this ,then this, and if that dose not work I’m going to do this). Not being tech or marketing savvy is not helpful either. It’s like going to the gym and wanting to do the work and wanting to get in shape, but not approaching it with any real plan and not even know that you should have a plan. Anyways, to answer your question:
Dream – New York Times 3 Other websites – Already working on it.

    Derek Halpern

    Sweet, when you’re done landing the other 3, come back here and let us know?

      David

      Sure will do (and I’m not just saying that – I will follow through even I fail). On a side note, I would love to hear how you were able to get market leaders to let you do a site review AND have them host it their website – elevating your status as an authority.

Ruslan Kedik

Brilliant man!
About to launch my Blog, this is very valuable information which will hopefully steer me in the right direction.

Thanks D

    Derek Halpern

    You need to do the homework.

      Aditya

      I so love how you remind everyone to do their homework! The grumpy teacher 😛

Ago

Derek,

Sound advice – in the past, I have been guilty of:

1. Creating too much content
2. Not having an overall plan, calendar or strategy
3. Stopping/starting

In 2013, here is what I am doing differently:

1. Getting clear on my audience, focus and topics
2. Establishing an editorial calendar and sticking to it
3. Reaching out to authority bloggers in my niche for guest posts
4. Beefing up on CTAs and a strong, compelling opt-in

Looking forward to what’s coming up next.

Cheers,
Ago

PS. Congrats on your recent audio interview with Dan Pink on “To Sell Is Human”. Loved it, got the book right after.

    Derek Halpern

    Hi Ago, you didn’t read the homework part of the post :-P.

Jessica

Awesome post, Derek. My company is in this exact scenario. We’ve been blogging daily since October and seen a 50% uptick in web traffic, but conversions have been cruddy. And I think our content is GREAT and it doesn’t repeat all the same things everyone else writes about planning and launching a business.

I’d love to get a shout out from:
Blog Maverick: http://blogmaverick.com/ Mark Cuban’s approach to business is so straightforward and raw. I love it. I think the people who read his blog are exactly the kind of people I want my company to work with.

Seth’s Blog: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ – because his approach to thinking like a business owner resonates well with us and our audience. I think we have something valuable to contribute to his audience, too.

Small Business Trends: http://smallbiztrends.com/ Boy can we help these readers. We’re experts at business planning and getting your head around what it takes to start up a start-up. This IS our audience. These ARE our clients.

Copyblogger: http://www.copyblogger.com/ Because we’re all about business, but we’re also all about business writing. Most people are bad at business writing, and we like to help them be better at it.

    Peter Murray

    Jessica,
    To get Seth Godin’s attention, create a great Squidoo lens. My “Getting a Men’s haircut in Turkey” Squidoo lens got a mention from him because it was useful, unique and updated.

    GP

    You’re gonna need some better content than that to get a “shout out” from those guys.

    No offense.

      Derek Halpern

      Congratulations on the most pointless comment of the day. There’s a right and wrong way to give constructive criticism. You are a perfect example of the wrong way to do it.

      If you believe it’s not good enough, be specific. Otherwise, politely hold your comments. Your “No Offense,” at the end was a BS comment. You really did mean offense ;-P.

        Jessica

        Yeah…that was unnecessarily harsh, GP. Thanks for your response Derek 🙂

          Jessica

          Hi Christopher, for some reason there’s no reply link at the end of your post, so I’m replying here.

          Thanks for your feedback. I don’t deny that our blog is missing a consistent and unique voice. We’ve only been blogging as a group for 3 months, so this is something we really have to work on.

          We have succeeded at getting links back from some bloggers who I really respect and admire. It is happening, one step at a time, and we’re always working on improving our content. Thank you!

          Christopher Small

          Because GP sucks and Derek makes a good point (give some constructive criticism), even though this isn’t necessarily the place for it, I have one piece of advice for you.

          And before I tell you that piece of advice, I’ll admit that I have the same problem that I think you have, and it’s something that takes time and guts to get over.

          My piece of advice is this – look at the blogs you want to get links from – what do they all have in common? They all have a unique voice. It’s not always about saying something completely different. Sometimes it’s just about saying in your own unique way that resonates with people in a way that it just doesn’t with others.

          You’re right that your blog has good content, and it might be that it’s very different from everyone else (I only looked at a couple posts), but what it’s missing is that “it” factor – it’s missing the personalization of your company.

          I’m by no means an expert, but, like I said, since you got replied to by I jerk for absolutely no reason (this is a place you should be able to share and get CONSTRUCTIVE feedback) I figured I’d take some time out of my day and see if I couldn’t help. 🙂

Jeni

Hi Derek, a little de-lurking here. Thanks for your insights. I’ve been following you for a few years now and wanted to chime in that everything you say *works.* My blog has gotten 600 subscribers in 20 posts (and I have NO blogging connections) because I have focused my efforts on people who want to grow their blogs with Pinterest. And all your email opt-in advice, and not promoting other social networks on my blog, has helped me make the most of all the new folks who have come by my blog to check me out. (so thanks!)

A question for you: at what point do I stop ignoring all the requests I get from people who want to learn about other things? I’m working on low-energy-expenditure growth right now and that means keeping a narrow focus…but when do you decide it’s time to branch out and get more general with your topic?

    Derek Halpern

    The decision to branch out happens when you hit a plateau.

Geoff Whitmore

I completely agree with this post! While it does take a lot of work, it also takes a lot of strategy. Content matters, but if you don’t strategize the way you release the content, it won’t matter at all. No one will see it. It’s posts like these that made my blog so successful…thanks so much for sending out this information!

    Derek Halpern

    Thanks for sharing that Geoff. Much appreciated. I did have a specific call to action at the bottom of this post though. You didn’t do it 😛

      Mohammed Hajjar

      Totally agree. You’ve got to plan your way…

      I’m in the Middle East and many people here follow Geoff and Derek. I provide content related to the regional market and would love to coordinate in something specific to the region.

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