Well this week’s mentoring has been about getting free traffic to our blogs.  The whole purpose of getting traffic is to get people to sign up to your lists so you can make money working online. There have been 5 Webinars over 5 consecutive evenings packed with the most amazing stuff ever. Talk about information overload. So much to do, I hardly know where to start.  There are many many ways of driving traffic to your blog but as I go oil rig hopping around other student’s blogs it’s clear that if you are blogging for website traffic you have to brand yourself to be a successful blogger.
Picture by Mazda6

Some of the students are already standing out from the crowd with the way they write and are getting a lot of comments on their posts because of it. I feel deflated. Why can’t I write like that? My post seems so mundane by comparison. Will people be interested in what I have to say?

I start to wonder if I should develop an alter ego. A number of well known people have taken on another persona in the entertainments industry and have been a huge success. But it’s hard to be something you’re not. If you try to be funny and in real life you are not or if you try to be controversial when you are not it adds to the time and effort you put into writing blog posts.

Be yourself

No, I think it’s best to be yourself. It will only come across as false if you try to be someone you are not.  I go and check out some successful bloggers blogs and convince myself that it is possible to be yourself when blogging for website traffic.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get ideas from the way other bloggers write. You can learn from others all the time. In fact it’s a good idea to visit other prominent blogs to see what they are writing about. You can get ideas for blog posts if you run out of steam any time.

It’s all about branding

Some students are branding themselves already whether they know it or not. Branding separates you from the millions of other bloggers out there. It’s not all about the topic you are writing about but about the ability you have to promote yourself through your blogging.

Give great value

Some students are coming across as characters by telling amusing stories. Others are are being helpful by posting stuff that is going to help the other students. I think both can work as long as you can deliver value one way or another. When you deliver value people will come to respect you and take notice of your opinions and recommendations. Traffic will follow.

If you can post original content, write clearly and get your point over in an easy and understandable way you are almost there. Give first and receive second. You should not expect your readers to buy from you without giving them value first either as posts on your blog or as a free eBook, report or video. If they find the free product useful maybe they will also buy your
product.

There are many other aspects of  blogging for website traffic but these points are the foundation of branding yourself.  What are you doing to brand yourself?