Photo credit: Armosa Studios
Darren Rowse is perhaps one of the most famous bloggers today. He has made his mark on the world of new media through teaching others how to be effective communicators on the Internet. Darren was one of the many speakers and attendees at the 2013 World Domination Summit, where he taught a blogging workshop, along with Chris Garrett, co-author of Pro-Blogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income.
Darren and Chris have a lot of relevant information about blogging and the Internet, but the top 3 lessons I learned from Darren are:
- Don’t Quit Your Day Job—Many bloggers and entrepreneurs are lured by the thought of writing a couple of posts a week, then sitting back to rake the money in. While bloggers can certainly make a living by generating income from their site, it doesn’t happen overnight. Darren has a chart that tracked his Amazon affiliate earnings over a 6-year period. In 2003, he started by earning approximately 30 cents a day, and eventually grew his audience enough to make a real impact on his affiliate earnings. It was several years of ups and downs before it became sustainable.
- Solve People’s Problems—When it comes down to it, content is king. In order to be found on the Internet, develop an audience, and increase your site’s traffic, you must generate content that meets someone’s need. In an interview with Michael Dunlop of Retireat21, Darren said that a great blog post starts with a need that your readers have, and helps them overcome that need. It also shares how you’ve done it yourself, or how others have benefited from what you are writing about.
- Build a Community—When you first begin to blog, your community is usually made up of one person: you. It takes time and energy to build a community of like-minded individuals who gather to read and engage in your blog. By writing in a conversational style, in your own voice, you can build a genuine audience or community of people who engage not only with you, but with one another. It takes more than good writing to accomplish this, though. Inviting readers to share conversations with you, creating polls and surveys, and inviting them to interact with you offline are just a few of the ways you can work towards building a community. For more information, read about the strategies involved in building an online community on Problogger.
These are just 3 of the lessons I learned from Darren Rowse, and I’m sure there are many more. What other lessons have you learned about the Internet and blogging?