BlogWorld Expo NY 2012 – Building an Authority Brand: 10 Must-Do’s for Serious Bloggers

Here are the speeches from one of the sessions in the conference. Will update it soon with more details, pictures and links. It’s just a transcript at the moment 🙂

Syed Balkhi

A brand is very important for a blog, so you should strive to create one. It can be a word that’s really bringing attention to you.

In order to be a successful blogger, you need to be passionate about it.

You also need a lot of creativity, being able to bring a unique perspective to the niche.

Consistency is also important, don’t give up in few months, keep on working and doing it. Still related to consistency, try to have a consistent brand in the social mdia (same username).

Even if you decide on posting 5 articles/day or one every week, the important trick is to keep it consistent and on schedule. If you got your readers used to reading something new on Tuesdays and Fridays, don’t change the schedule.

Also, no matter the schedule you choose, make sure you post QUALITY articles. This is more important than quantity. If you cannot produce more than one good article in a week, it’s OK, as long as it’s good and you keep your schedule.

Customer service is also important. Word of mouth will be your most effective form of advertising or marketing. Having pleased customers / readers will help your brand be promoted better by them.

Chris Garett – Authority Blogger

Types of Authority

There are more forms of authority, some we’d like to achieve and some that are not good for us: establishment, credentials, CHARISMA, fear, EXPERTISE, REWARD

Become a trusted adviser in your niche. Don’t start a site for the money or to become the biggest in your niche, start it to provide HELP to your readers. Try to discover what problems they are facing and make an effort to help them solve these problems.

When trying to build your network, don’t think about who to connect with, better think WHY would people choose you.

The next step is to find what people would be willing to pay for, this is another great way to choose your niche. It’s clear some would pay thousands of dollars for a fountain pen, but it’s almost clear they wouldn’t pay for a guide book.

You need to direct your visitors to do something, by creating a funner. Whether it’s a join/subscribe button or a checkout option for them to buy something.

The ARC System

Attraction – you can’t really drive traffic, people are not cattle. You can get and retain their attention.

It’s important you learn to liste, that’s why we have 2 ears and one mouth. Always strive to be helpful. And then, once you solved their problem you can have the call to action.

Referral – good value will get people talking and promoting. If you cannot provide a good content, people won’t be willing to share it.

MISTAKES

You can’t rely on Google. Panda has really hit many sites. „All eggs in Google’s basket” can mean you lose your SE traffic and also earnings, if you rely solely on Adsense.

If your traffic relies only on the google search traffic, you depend on it and any changes will destroy your traffic. Never rely on one source of money/traffic, always have more alternatives.

Do not use a „remote” platform. Have your content on YOUR SITE and use Facebook / Twitter to PROMOTE it.

Don’t spam. Offer something good and then ask for the money. It takes time to monetize, so keep on working.

Don’t treat people like numbers. Most people look at stats, these can be relevant or not, depending on if you can achieve your goals.

The content is still VERY important, but you also need to promote it. You can write the best articles in the world, if people cannot see them, you’re not achieving your goals.

Zac Johnson –  The 10 Must-Do’s

1. LOGO – you need a good logo, so that people can recognize your brand. You can get it from logo contest sites or have someone create it.
2. CUSTOM DESIGN – you can either use a premium theme or, better, get a custom one designed for you. Prices range from $500 to around $2000.
3. QUALITY CONTENT
4. BRANDING YOUR NAME / BUSINESS – try to get the .com of your name. If not, .net or .org also work. Do not use dashes or numbers in the domain name
5. GET EXPOSURE FROM THE SOCIAL MEDIA SITES
6. GUEST BLOGGING – this is a free way to get your name around. It takes time and you need to provide great quality content to be accepted.
7. BLOG COMMENTING – is as important as blogging itself. You need to respond to comments on your own blog or where you guest blog. It creates traffic and helps with networking.
8. MAILING LISTS – these keep people coming back. You need to provide something interesting to them to subscribe: free stuff, some exclusive bonuses, members only content etc.
9. KNOW YOUR MONETIZATION – you can earn money from your site in various ways: banners, selling products, premium subscriptions, consultancy, premium memberships, product / site reviews.
10. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EVERYTHING – attend seminars / conferences, network with people, reach out, guest post etc.

John Rampton –  5 Steps to Build an Authority Blog

1. Keywords, topics, goals – have very clear goals for your blog, set up your correct keywords and niche.
2. Quality hosting provider – you don’t want for people to not be able to open your blog
3. 4-6 QUALITY posts/day – the articles should be 500-1k words each, max. 3 links in a post, killer content people will want to read and share. Also have a good title.
4. Comment to 20 blogs/day – try to get to post the first comment, since it will get the most traffic. Provide valuable content to that blogger, don’t just comment to drop your link.
5. Guest blog on at least 1 blog daily – blogging.org/guestblog

Tips for selling on Flippa

• sell good stuff only
• verify everything (provide all the data and credentials needed to make sure your potential clients trust you)
• do not set a reserve price
• do not accept buyers that have no credit

Connect your G+ profile in the author box. Pinterest seems to be pretty good with getting exposure to your blog. You don’t need many social media buttons, you should go with 3-4 and that’s it. Maybe have Facebook, Twitter, G+ and Pinterest. No need to put a button to a social media site you are not even active on. You can make more tweets from an article: the main tittle then various questions from that article.

Retweets are also a great way to get noticed and promote.