Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started with Email Have people been telling you for years that you need to create an email list for your blog? Is it time to finally bite the bullet? Let’s talk about email – how to get started, email providers, types of messages, opt-ins, and sequences or auto-responders. When it comes to choosing an email provider, start simple You don't need all the bells and whistles. Get subscribers used to hearing from you. Send a simple email message once a week o...
Jun 11, 2018•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast How to Create Killer Filler Content for Your Blog This week I’m sharing a list of content filler types you can use for your blog. And they don’t take a lot of effort or time to create. If you’re struggling to create thoughtful, original long-form content, these will help fill some of the gaps. Here’s how to create killer filler content and add value to both your blog and your readers. Reader Discussions: Ask a question to generate a debate/community workshop Polls: Increase reader engagement and...
Jun 04, 2018•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Do Schedules and Deadlines Help or Hurt Your Blogging? Have you ever missed a deadline? Do you have a content schedule or editorial calendar for your blog? Yes, today’s episode is all about schedules and deadlines. Whether you follow a daily, weekly or monthly schedule, does it allow you to produce the best content? What if you can’t come up with something good enough to publish? I don’t have a schedule at all because it seems to be too limiting. I won’t publish anything unless I have something ...
May 28, 2018•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast 6 Places You Can Find Writers to Help with Your Blog As much as we'd all like to write posts for our blogs, it's not always that easy. You may find you don't have enough time to dedicate to your blog. Or you may lose your passion for the topic after writing about it for so long. So why not look for another writer who can help you out? Always be on the lookout for people who: Demonstrate knowledge Seem genuine and generous in helping others Communicate well Put themselves out there and look for o...
May 21, 2018•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Starting a Blog on a Topic Where You're Not an Expert Can you start a new blog when you're not an expert on the topic you'll be writing about? Of course you can. You can blog about any topic you like. But should you blog about a topic you don’t have any expertise in? I think it’s okay to start a blog on a topic you don’t know a lot about. I certainly wasn't an expert when I started my blogs. I had some experience, but I was far from being an expert. I'm not sure I even consider myself an expert ...
May 14, 2018•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast 9 Things I Wish I Knew About Blogging That Will Accelerate the Growth of YOUR Blog In today’s episode I want to share my keynote at this year’s Social Media Marketing World – 9 Things I Wish I Knew About Blogging that Will Accelerate the Growth of YOUR Blog. Here are the slides from my talk: 9 Things I Wish I Knew About Blogging that Will Accelerate the Growth of Your Blog from Darren Rowse Keep focusing on the pillars of pro blogging: Profitable blogs are built on great content Take the initiat...
May 07, 2018•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Why Shiny Object Syndrome Can Be Good for Your Blog and Business Do you suffer from Shiny Object Syndrome? Are you easily distracted by something new – a tool, medium, tactic, or income stream? Whatever it is, it captivates and distracts you in the moment. And it can easily take over your day, week, or even month. Shiny Object Syndrome has the power to take you away from your core business, which can be destructive. But it can be a good thing, too. JR Caparas asked me how to avoid Shiny Object S...
Apr 30, 2018•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast How to Promote Your Blog Offline Today I'm tackling questions from listener, Julianna Barnaby about whether it’s important to spend time offline building your blog’s personal brand and reputation. The answer is simple. “Yes.” Offline promotion is worth it. Get creative, and get out and meet people. You may need to step out of your comfort zone, but that can be rewarding. You never know when someone you meet will become a reader, collaborator, team member, or even sponsor. The sky's the limit whe...
Apr 23, 2018•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tools and Techniques for Blogging While Travelling Today I tackle a question from a listener about blogging on the road. Carmen Fellows asked about technicalities such as how to get content online and ways to access your blog. How can you balance blogging while traveling for work or vacation? It depends on the situation, and sometimes it's a juggling act. While you're away, here are seven approaches to try when it comes to blogging: Take a complete break, and give your readers a break too Work h...
Apr 16, 2018•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Creating a Product Library for Your Blog In today’s episode I’m tackling a question from a Facebook group member about creating products to sell on your blog. Kathy Farrokhzad of Horselistening.com is wondering how often she should create, sell, schedule, and roadmap new products on her blog. Is she doing too much in too little time? Try to publish 3-4 new products on your blog each year, whether they're courses, software, ebooks, templates or updates. You want to avoid audience fatigue. But at ...
Apr 09, 2018•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Social Media Trends – Where Should You Focus Your Energy In our last episode I covered seven trends in social media and blogging. In today’s episode I want to discuss where you should focus your energy as a blogger. There’s so much we could do.but what should we do? Don't become overwhelmed and perplexed. Instead, be inspired about where to put your effort. Should you focus on: live video? bots and messenger marketing? Facebook advertising? long-form video? Instagram stories? blog? all of the ab...
Apr 02, 2018•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Key Themes and Trends from the Social Media Marketing World Conference In today’s episode, I want to share seven trends people were talking about at the Social Media Marketing World mega-conference recently held in San Diego. Social Media Marketing World is probably one of the biggest social media conferences in the world. Seven main themes came about from the conference: Facebook Armageddon: Changes have shaken up things. Be Human: It’s time for you to be real. Ask questions, and respond person...
Mar 26, 2018•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast How to Develop an Engaged Blog Audience In today’s episode I want to talk about building engagement on your blog, and building a sense of community around it and your online business. Building engagement is so important for your blog. It helps word-of-mouth growth, gives you energy, builds social proof on your site, and leads to more effective monetization. When people see engagement, they want to stick around and spend money. Three ways to build engagement with your audience Show up predictably...
Mar 19, 2018•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast How Updating Your Archives Can Drive More Traffic to Your Blog In today’s episode I want to talk about a trend I’ve noticed among many experienced bloggers – tending to their archives. Many experienced bloggers are slowing down on new content, while increasing traffic to to their blog by revising posts they've already written. Individual blog posts tend to get the most traffic on your site, which means there’s gold in them thar archives. But like any asset – your car, your home, even your body –...
Mar 12, 2018•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast How to Use Collaborations to Grow Your Blog Have you ever felt that too many things need doing to build a successful blog? A student I spoke to this week who recently completed our Start A Blog course said they were a little overwhelmed by how much needed to be done. They said it felt like juggling with too many balls in the air. So today I want to share a principle that has helped me keep a lot of balls in the air, and scale my business beyond what I ever thought I could manage–collaborations. ...
Feb 26, 2018•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Growing Your Blog's Income In today's episode, I want to talk about growing your blogging income, particularly when you’ve already started building some traffic and income streams on your blog. This one will be most relevant if you're at an intermediate to more advanced level. If you're just starting out you'll learn things that may not be relevant for you today, but will be good to know going forward. Series on Growing Traffic to Your Blog: 2 Questions to Ask to Help You Find Readers for Your B...
Feb 19, 2018•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast How to Build Authority and Influence with Your Audience In today’s episode, I want to talk about building authority and influence. This topic came about from talking to a number of bloggers who've just completed our Start a Blog course. They're starting from scratch (as we all did), and want not only to be found, but also to make an impression on those who arrive at their blog. How can you be seen as a trusted authority on your topic, and a credible source of information, people don’t yet know w...
Feb 12, 2018•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast How to Relaunch a Dormant Blog In today’s episode, I want to answer a question I get regularly from listeners: How do you relaunch a blog that has died or become dormant? I want to talk you through two scenarios for relaunching a blog, and give you 11 things to consider during a relaunch. Before I get into today’s show though, a couple of things. Firstly, this week on 7th February we’ve got our first ever International Start a Blog Day. For those of you enrolled in our Start a Blog Course, keep ...
Feb 05, 2018•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Tools We’re Using in 2018 to Get More Subscribers and Customers In today’s episode, I want to introduce you to a Thrive - a suite of WordPress plugin tools we’ve been using on our blogs for the past six months or so that we’re really excited about. Today’s show is brought to you by two brand new courses from ProBlogger. I’ve been talking about one of them - our Ultimate Guide to Starting a Blog - for the past month or so. It’s perfect for those people who want to get a blog launched with sol...
Jan 29, 2018•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Collaborative Blogging - One Blogger Shares How She Started a Blog with over 200 Collaborators Today’s episode is the last in our series where I handed the podcast over to you, the listeners, to tell your stories and tips of starting and growing your blogs. It was all part of our Start a Blog course, which launches tomorrow. Today’s episode features blogger Chrissann Nickel from Women Who Live on Rocks. She shares her challenges and insights when it comes to collaboration, not listening to criti...
Jan 09, 2018•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast From Imposter Syndrome to Tech Influencer - A Tech Podcaster Tells His Story Today's episode continues our series where I hand the podcast over to you, the listeners, to tell your stories and tips of starting and growing your blogs. Today’s blogger is Neil Hughes from Technology Blog Writer. Neil shares how he started out writing articles on LinkedIn, and talks about some of his struggles, accomplishments, and goals. Links and Resources for From Imposter Syndrome to Tech Influencer - One Tech Po...
Jan 08, 2018•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast How a Blog Helped Grow a Voice Coaching Business In our continuing series of blogger stories I’m handing the podcast over to you, our listeners, to tell your stories and tips of starting and growing your blogs. This series started in episode 221, and is helping us launch our new (and completely free) ‘Start a Blog' course that will go live on 10 January 2018. You can sign up to reserve your spot in the course at problogger.com/startablog. Today’s short and sweet episode comes from My Happy Voice...
Jan 05, 2018•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast 2 Finance Bloggers Share their Tips for Taking Blogs from a Hobby to a Full Time Business Once again we're handing the podcast over to you, the listeners, to tell your stories and tips of starting and growing your blogs. Since episode 221 we've been hearing from our listeners about their blogs as a lead up to our new (and completely free) ‘Start a Blog course’, which goes live on 10 January 2018. You can sign up to reserve your spot in the course at problogger.com/startablog. Today we're we’re f...
Jan 04, 2018•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Leaving Her Job to Create a Multi Six Figure Online Business - A Writing Blogger Tells Her Story We're continuing our series of blogger stories, and handing the podcast over to you so you can tell your stories and tips of starting and growing your blogs. This series, which started with episode 221, is all part of the launch of our new (and completely free) ‘Start a Blog' course, which goes live on 10 January 2018. You can sign up to reserve your spot in the course at problogger.com/startablog. I...
Jan 03, 2018•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast 3 Travel Bloggers Share Their Tips and Stories Once again I'm handing the podcast over to you, our listeners, to share your stories and tips of starting and growing your blogs. I started this series towards the end of last year with episode 221: From 0 to 500,000 Page Views a Month – A DIY Blogger Shares Her Story Today I’ve got three blogger stories for you. And like our ‘tech blogger’ episode 222, I’ve put together stories from three travel and tourism bloggers. Links and Resources for 3 Trave...
Jan 02, 2018•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Over $100,000 in Ad Revenue - a Dating Ideas Blogger Tells Her Story It’s the beginning of January, and I want to wish you all a Happy New Year. You may want to kick off the new year with our Start a Blog Course. Today we're resuming our series of blogger stories where I hand the podcast over to you, our listeners, to tell your stories and tips of starting and growing your blogs. Kristen Manieri from Orlando, Florida started a blog with no real plan to make money. Kristen writes about dating ide...
Jan 01, 2018•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast How One Nutritionist Uses Her Blog to Help Grow Her Business Here's another episode where I hand the podcast over to you, our listeners, to tell your stories and tips of starting and growing your blogs. In today’s episode I’ve got Aussie blogger Nina—one of the attendees from our recent events in Australia. She came to our mastermind day, and I really enjoyed getting to hear a little bit of her story there. And I wanted to include her story today because it illustrates another model of building ...
Dec 22, 2017•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast From 5 to Over 1,000,000 Monthly Readers - A Finance Blogger Shares His Story Once again I’m handing the podcast over to you, our listeners, to tell your stories and tips of starting and growing your blogs. In today's episode you'll hear the story of Robert Farrington, a finance blogger. After a couple of fairly unfocused years where he made no money from his blog, Robert managed to turn things around through storytelling and taking his readers on a journey. In his third year he made $30,000, an...
Dec 21, 2017•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast From 0 to Six Figures in Two Years - A Recipe Blogger Shares Her Story In today’s episode we continue our series of blogger stories where I hand the podcast over to you listeners to tell your stories and tips about starting and growing your blogs. We kicked off the series three episodes back with a DIY blogger, and yesterday we featured two tech/Microsoft bloggers. Today I'm introducing you to Erin Chase, a friend of mine. In 2008 she started a blog where she documented what she was having for d...
Dec 20, 2017•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast From Corporate Desk Jobs to Full-Time Bloggers - 2 Tech Bloggers Tell their Story In today’s episode we're continuing our series where I’m handing the podcast over to you as listeners to tell your stories and tips of starting and growing your blogs. It started yesterday with the story of Brittany Bailey, a DIY blogger who grew her blog to hundreds of thousands of readers a month. Today I want to introduce two tech bloggers whose blogs have allowed them both to leave their corporate jobs to start...
Dec 19, 2017•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
