Coffee Break Blogging

Marketers often talk about this concept of the avatar, but very often people new to the business are confused by what it is, how to use it, and how to make it up. In this episode, we discuss the reader avatar and how to actually develop it. Doing so will allow you to create much more effective content as well as products your audience will actually want down the road. First of all, I want to welcome you into 2015! This is my first podcast to the year. I almost thought I might not get this thing out on time today. See, I have a Wednesday and Saturday release schedule that I have imposed myself for this podcast, but I actually brought in the New Year with a cold, which kind of suck. :-( I actually went out in my RV to finish planning out all of my business goals for 2015 and I came down with a cold while I was in there. So I spent a lot of time snouting and all that. I only bring this up because I was really hoarse, I actually didn't know if I was going to sound okay to record this episode. But as it turns ou

Hello and welcome back to Coffee Break Blogging! We wrap up the year with a different kind of episode than usual. This episode contains 101 different productivity tips to help you make the most of the upcoming year of 2015. This episode is longer than usual - but we want to make 2015 the best year we've ever had. You with me? ;-) Now, today, we are actually NOT going to continue on our series to creating an information based business online. We are actually going to take a little bit of a break and it is only because this is the last episode of 2014!

What transformation are you in the business of delivering with your blog and online business? You better figure it out if you want to make money. In this episode, we talk about the "transformation map"; a tool to help you define the transformation. This tool will help you map out blog content and products you will sell. So with that... once again, , welcome back to another episode of Coffee Break Blogging! And actually, yes… I am having a cup of coffee. ;-) I do that a lot. It was actually something to do with the name of this podcast. Now in this episode, like I said earlier, we are going to talk about something called “The Transformation Map”. This is what I call it. And we are going to create this because it is really going to help you not only map out your content moving forward but it is also going to help you brainstorm product ideas. It is also really going to help you REALLY understand the person you are addressing with your content and ultimately what you want to sell them.

"The Only True Test Of A Business Idea Is Whether Anybody Will Buy" In this episode, I give a powerful strategy for testing out a niche and business idea... even when you don't have an existing audience in place yet. If you execute this strategy, you'll either save yourself a lot of time and money down the road... or (if successful) you'll give yourself a REAL foundation from which to build a very profitable blog-based business. That last episode was a lot of fun to record because A: it is a cool topic but B: I kind of flawed here and there. :D Here is the thing, I am trying to do these episodes in one take. It makes for faster production, it also is a little bit more natural for me. So, if there is a screw up on these things, I am probably not going to go back and edit it right away. And that is kind of what happened with our last episode. But anyway, I thought it came out okay... "considering" ;-) Anyway, we are going to go forward here talking a little bit more about testing our business idea. In Episode

Once again, welcome back to Coffee Break Blogging! It is always best to, early on, move from the "niche" right into the actual business model. If you want to create a REAL online business based around your blog, then we definitely need to think of it as a business and not a topic. In this episode, we make that bridge into business. I introduce a one-page business plan idea and begin taking about how to TEST your business idea before investing a bunch of time into it. Now in our last few episodes we have been talking about selecting a good market or a niche to get into with our blog. And we were evaluating this based on its business potential. Now by this point in our series you should have some potential ideas if not the one main idea that we are going to go ahead and proceed in our process with. Because what we are going to start talking about in this episode is actually how to start verifying that business model. How to actually make that bridge from a niche to an actual business model because a lot of blog

So, today again, we are going to continue on our series to creating and growing a profitable blog-based information business online. In order to be able to go into a market with your blog and make a dent (and make money), you need to be pretty in-tune with what they need and want. In this episode, we talk about how to learn what they want. We talk about how to use surveys to find out, and ways to get people to answer your survey - even when you don't have a blog yet. And so now, what we are going to talk about is the next step in evaluating a niche. And in this one, we are going to get a little bit into surveying; which is actually a skill that is going to become handy to you throughout your career in this particular business. But what we are going to talk about specifically today is how to find out what your market needs and wants. It's a very important thing because we have looked at demand, we have looked at what the level of money flowage (I know it's a made up word, but I'm going to use it anyway) :-)

Hello! Welcome back to Coffee Break Blogging where we are going to continue on our series to creating and growing a profitable blog-based business online. Now, part of evaluating a blogging niche isn't just looking at the demand and size of the audience, but also looking at the potential for monetization. In this episode, we'll talk about 4 important things to look at when judging the amount of money which is flowing in a particular market.

Once again, welcome back to Coffee Break Blogging! Continuing in on our niche selection process, we move into evaluating the market itself and whether it has legs. What is the most important thing to consider when it comes to competition? What is the #1 most important rule when it comes to selecting a money-making niche? Also in this episode, we also discuss 5 indicators to look for.

Hello! Welcome back to Coffee Break Blogging where we are going to continue on our series to creating and growing a profitable blog-based information business online. This episode is for those aspiring blog owners who don't come into this with a pretty solid idea already. Where do you start when you know you want to build a profitable blog-based business, but you don't know which market you want to enter yet? You gotta start somewhere, right? In this episode, we start off with 4 questions to ask yourself to begin brainstorming possible niche ideas for yourself. Then we'll move into 4 criteria to use to evaluate your own personal "fit" for each of those ideas. Lastly, we'll discuss possibly the most important (and psychological) component you MUST look for in a solid niche idea.

Hello! Welcome back to Coffee Break Blogging! As we continue with our ongoing step-by-step series to building up a blog-based business, we're now going to launch into the first step. What MOST people do is get a bright idea then immediately go out and buy a domain and hosting. But, let's slow down... Because, if you want your blog to be PROFITABLE, there's a wrong way and a right way to start. So let's continue on our series to starting up a blog based information business online. Today we are going to talk a little bit about the very first step that you need to take in order to start a profitable blog. It's a little bit different than what many people do because we have to ask ourselves... "What is the first thing that most people do when they want to start up a profitable blog?"

Hello there! Welcome to the new episode of Coffee Break Blogging! In this particular episode, I'm actually going to do something different. I'm going to record a video of me actually doing this particular podcast just basically recording it. The video is not probably going to look very pretty, I'm literally just going to point the webcam on myself; but I'm going to try a little different. I'm going to try putting this thing up on YouTube and just kind of see what the heck happens. But anyway, from there let's just go and move on to the topic of the show.

Hello, there! David Risley here! Welcome to another episode of Coffee Break Blogging! ;-) With episode 33 of Coffee Break Blogging, we're still working on setting up the framework for moving forward on the 7 Stages of Building an Online Business. In this one, I talk about how to do all that we're going to talk about... but while holding down a full-time job. Specifically, I'm going to cover 7 specific strategies in order to build leverage. If you have a full-time job, but want to build up your blog-based business on the side, then give this episode a listen. So in this episode let's talk about my 7 Tips For Growing Your Blog While Having A Full-time Job.

This one came in from Karen. And Karen, you are the first person to submit a question to me for the podcast since I brought it back so I appreciate that very much. So, this question came from Karen and her blog is KipKitchen.com. And her question is probably one that many people feel. And it is this: "So far, we have been doing the maintenance of our food blog KipKitchen.com ourselves and it is often tough. We are not PHP programmers. Fixing broken links and other webmaster tasks are difficult to handle. Many internet marketers advise us to outsource the work but we have concerns as we are not making money yet. What would you recommend?" So, this is a great question to bring forth early on here because I know this is one that many people feel. You are up against that technical glass ceiling, so to speak, where you don't really know certain things with your blog or possibly you just straight up do not have time to do it but yet you do not want to spend any money at all because you are not making anything yet

Hello! David here and I want to talk to you a little bit in this episode about the realities of blogging for a living. Now, I talked about in the last episode how the general plan moving forward with this podcast is going to be a true beginning to end walk through of building up a blog and starting an online business around that. And we are going to be going through the 7 Stages of Building An Online Business which was something that have been documented with an Infographic over at blogmarketingacademy.com. And if you haven't seen that, you'll see the link to it in the show notes for this particular episode. But I thought it would be useful, before we jump in with some of the actual work involved with all these; is to set some of the foundations, some of the mindset things for going in. Because, I find that when I talk to a lot of people, there's definitely some mindset things that need to be overcome in order to have a chance of success at this. And one of them really truly understands what the realities of

Hello there! David Risley here; from blogmarketingacademy.com with Episode 30 of The Blog Program. It's been a little while since you and I have spoken unless you are over at blogmarketingacademy.com and seeing what I have been doing there. I haven't actually done a podcast episode for quite a time and actually, the point of this particular episode is to tell you exactly what's been going on there and let you know what is going to be happening moving forward. :-) So first of all, I want to start out with what my big mistake had been. It's one of those things to where none of us are fool proof. And anybody who goes out there and puts on a facade that everything that they've ever done was the best decision they have ever made, is bull crapping you. And I think we all kind of know this.

In this episode, we wrap up the series: 30 Email Marketing Power Tips For Bloggers. In this episode of the show, I cover tips 21-30. To catch the prior email marketing tips, go back and listen to episodes #27 and #28 of the show. This time around, we'll talk about... A slick psychological tactic from storytelling which can drastically increase your open rates A source for some awesome autoresponder emails What you can learn from Hollywood production that works VERY nicely for email sequences How you should set up your FROM name and return address on our outgoing emails What you SHOULDN'T be emailing your entire list And more. After all, they're 10 of them in this episode.

In this episode, we continue with part 2 of the series: 30 Email Marketing Power Tips For Bloggers. If you didn't catch episode #27, go back and listen to it so that you get tips 1-10. In this episode of the show, I cover 11-20. We'll talk about... The one thing you need to make sure you do on every email you send to your list. The big mistake that way too many bloggers make with their email lists. The ideal length for that email. How you should format your emails to work best on mobile devices. How many times to include a link in the email. And more. After all, they're 10 of them in this episode.

Blogging and email marketing go together like fish and water. In that the fish just freakin' dies without the water. In the same way, your blog will usually limp along in life support with the email list. So, for that reason, every blogger has to engage in email marketing. In this episode of the podcast (as well as the next 2), I am talking about all email marketing. I am going through a list of 30 actionable tips... things you can immediately put to use to get more email opt-ins as well as properly utilize your list after they've subscribed. In this episode of the show, I cover 1-10. We'll talk about... Why a giveaway offer is a good idea... and what KIND to create to earn new subscribers. The typical conversion rates for sidebar opt-ins, and what converts FAR better. The one word that SO many bloggers use to describe their list - and they SHOULDN'T be. When - and when not - to use "blog broadcast" emails. And more. After all, they're 10 of them in this episode.

One of the reasons that growing an online business can be pretty difficult for some people is because it has a lot of other things piggy-backing along with it. Things like productivity, personal development, etc. Why? Because there's no buffer from yourself. If you have a day job, then you are sitting in a controlled environment of somebody else's making, doing tasks they defined for you, on a schedule they defined. And, if you don't get them done, you have the threat of being fired. When you're on your own, you don't have any of that. Nobody can fire you from your own business. The environmental control is completely up to you. Your schedule and tasks is up to you, too. Self discipline and self-defined structure are highly important - and this is a huge reason why it is the tigers who make it. Weak-minded people who can't seem to control themselves don't usually get that far in this business. On that note, episode 26 of The Blog Program talks about productivity. Namely... 5 Tricks To Get More Done In Less Ti

I've been thinking a little lately about how things have changed. Not in a bad way or anything.... just... different. See, I've been at this for 16 years now, starting with my tech blog (which I also recently announced that my intention is to retire from). And over the course of 16 years - which is a LOOONNNGGGG damn time on the Internet - I've seen things change drastically. It used to be easy. Today, only the tigers make it. Then, along this line, I recently saw two long-timers that I've known of for quite some time express similar sentiments. Chris Pirillo, of Lockergnome, recently expressed his frustrations on growing his business and how the things which used to work... don't. Chris comes from the tech space, as I do. So, I've known about Chris for years now and have watched him evolve. I watched an unlisted hangout video he did where he talked more about his current frustrations... and I know exactly where he's coming from. Then there's Yaro Starak, from Entrepreneurs Journey. Yaro recently posted Blogg