Secrets to Launching Your Blog (or how to become an A-Lister overnight) Part One
Shhhhh. There is a new Hollywood, the old one is dead. So says Prince Campbell at Chartreuse. Brian Clark’s Copyblogger.com has become an instant success. So has Michael Arrington’s Tech Crunch. Just about anyone who puts their mind to it can become a huge success on the internet. Yes you heard it here first. Anyone can become an overnight success story. Chartreuse doesn’t want you to know this. Brian Clark doesn’t want you know this and neither does Michael Arrington. But since I’m a drunken idiot, and can’t spell I thought I would share with you some keys to become the internet’s next big star.
1) Writing passionate headlines
Brian Clark has been ranting since he started his blog back in January about the powerful ability of a great headline. I figured this secret out about 5 months ago. It’s ridiculously huge to your success. A great headline is like a hit single on the Billboard Music Charts. Without a great headline your just a nobody.
2) Promote your blog, and have your blog friends promote it.
Good headlines only go so far. You have to dangle the headlines in front of an audience. At first this audience can come from your blog friends you’ve made by flirting with bloggers in your niche, in your genre, or blogs you like to read. I suggest flirting for a few weeks before jumping heads in on a new blog. It allows you develop a comraderie, some respect, and even better mystical curiousity on part of the person whose blog you give undue attention.
3) My secret friends Digg and Reddit
Let’s say your too shy. You don’t make blog friends easily. Well no worries. A few months back I tried an experiment. I promoted a blog solely by digging articles between the hours of 8am-11am EST, and also submitting them to Reddit. Before long I had a regular base of 500 daily readers. These communities are great places to develop new blogs. If you write great headlines, and great posts you can instantly develop great blog readerships by submitting to Digg and Reddit.
This will also give you good Google Pagerank within months. So your an idiot if you don’t go this route.
3) Consistent Content is King
Consistent production of high quality content is King. I can trust that Chartreuse,and Brian Clark are going to produce 1-5 great thoughts a week. Thoughts that are worth reading. Unlike the majority of “A-Listers” who produce mostly metarubbish that means nothing. The majority of “A-Listers” are only their because of seniority. The new wave of New Media Darlings are stars because of high quality content and not because they have been here a long time. The New Wave is real. They aren’t afraid to chat, email, and gossip. Unlike the Old Wave who act like elitists and still can’t answer a fucking email. New Wave Bloggers are people you meet in coffeeshops, Old Wave Bloggers are people you “accidently” spill your coffee on. An example of a New Wave A-Lister is Michael Arrington. The guy produces “the blog” in his niche because he has his hands all over the pulse. He’s consistent times 10 and he’s real. He has a touch of an attitude sometimes but that’s only natural. The importance here is he chose a niche he could win, one he was already involved in. And he’s the only one really covering it. Signed,Sealed,and Delivered. He created his Stardom.
Ok great. These guys all created their stardom. So can you. It’s not that hard. Let’s get started.
1) Pick your genre.
I would recommend a smaller niche genre. A mini-niche is best to be honest. Write about things your passionate about. Things you truly love. Keep it somewhat focussed. A stream of thought is better than an idle pond.
2) Pick a great domain name (If you need help email me david at problogging.com)
I’m pretty damn good at selecting domain names. If you want I can help you find one that works for you. I’d do this for free. Literally just hit me up.
3) Pick a solid cms.
I personally recommend Wordpress, or MovableType. Although I’ve been playing around in Expression Engine. And it looks pretty spiffy. Never start a blog in blogger. Ever. Never ever do it.
4) Create a unique design
Design is important. Although Char would like to think we could all look the same, as long as our content separated us. You can hit me up again on a great design. I know a few good ones. If you mention this article I can swing a discount or something.
5) Create content consistenly without pinging. I recommend about 10-15 in depth articles.
I think its important to give your readers something to nibble on and stay busy with. Think of these articles like magazines in the doctors office. It’s just fodder while they meander around waiting to talk to you.
6) Next create about 10 days worth of solid material.
Next give your readers some high quality content. Make it your best works. Every post is your best. That’s the kind of energy you need to put into it at first. Otherwise you will just become an also ran.
7) Start promoting your blog via Digg and Reddit.
Simply put the best time of day to do this is between 8am-11am. Don’t be discouraged if the metacrowd is overly critical. Keep pushing good relevant content their way and you will win over a respectable readership. I suggest pushing out your high powered articles to the Digg Community, and your casual post to the Reddit Community. This methodology has worked really well for me.
Dont be afraid to trackback other bloggers. Be involved in the conversation.
Next be trackback happy. Ping everyone. Buy a beer for everyone. It keeps us all jolly and wanting to come back to see what’s going on. Be aggressive the first few months. It will pay off trust me. If you need any more help let me know. I’m always available. Or wander over to Char’s blog. Notice how he engages his readers in conversation, and chat’s them up. This is his secret, along with mystifying headlines, and the air of mystery his “persona” creates.
This is part of an ebook Im putting together. So have fun look around, and when I release I will make sure to drop a free copy off to anyone in the comments section.
David,
credit where credit is due … this is by far your best post to date – it’s clear, concise and hits the mark. Good stuff.
Also Interested/intrigued with your eBook – gonna give us an idea on the title and topic.
Martin said this on May 2, 2006 5:33 am
Thanks Martin. The ebook has a title. It will be part of a post tommorow. So stay tuned. I will give you a teaser later on in the day as far as what its about. I can tell you without a doubt its about blogging. But not just blogging. It’s about harnessing new media to be a star in your own small niche. Like Niche Stardom.
I really haven’t seen anything like it on a book shelf. Or on the net. So I figured what the hell. I love writting about this. I may as well give it my best shot.
David said this on May 2, 2006 5:55 am
Sounds like you’re onto something…
Become a Star in your Niche via New media
Put me down for a pre-order sale … and all the best in getting it completed, designed and packaged.
Martin said this on May 2, 2006 6:06 am
Nice work.
Now shut up before I’m back on the D-List…
chartreuse said this on May 2, 2006 7:23 am
Hahaa. Me shut up. I’m not happy till we are all stars.
David said this on May 2, 2006 7:39 am
Digged!
Just for my information: you say “Never start a blog in blogger. Ever. Never ever do it”
what’s wrong with blogger?
Nico said this on May 2, 2006 8:04 am
It’s more the blogspot sandbox I’m referring to. If you get your own domain that’s alright. It’s just about an internet address. You look classy more serious and ready to do business if you have your own domain, and design. Blogger is very restricting and limited in what you can do with it. That’s why I say never. It’s just not worth the trouble.
David said this on May 2, 2006 8:11 am
Dude, since when are you writing quality content?
good post
Jesse said this on May 2, 2006 8:35 am
Jesse,
Shear boredom made me do it man. I got bored reading bad content and decided what the fuck. I can write. Let’s put these thoughts somewhere.
David said this on May 2, 2006 8:38 am
You need to be bored more often…
Look forward to the book man.
Robert said this on May 2, 2006 8:56 am
You mentioned you don’t like blogger. Do you feel the same about other hosted blogging services? (wordpress.com, etc.)
is it the spammy blogger connotations, or just the fact that it’s not your own domain?
Jesse said this on May 2, 2006 8:57 am
the fact that’s not my own domain is the connotation. although i’ve used dotwordpressdotcom. Everyone needs a domain. its just a huge part of the process.
David said this on May 2, 2006 9:00 am
My blog is regarding “alternative lifestyles” (ouch! that hurt) and I am still building and learning. This is a very helpful post…thank you for the information.
H6 said this on May 2, 2006 9:06 am
Great, solid post. I am going to give your Digg/Reddit strategy a try.
One strategy I found helpful was if I had a day with a lot of posts, I would run an AdWords campaign. That worked very well. It increased my traffic quite a bit. I think it was a nice increase for the blog only being two months old. I know its not up there with the big boys, but its showing growth and thats encouraging.
Keep up these great articles, I enjoy your insight into the industry.
Tony said this on May 2, 2006 2:45 pm
Alright, all I can say is that comparing my blog to Tech Crunch is an insult to Michael Arrington!
Otherwise, great post. I guess Chartreuse will have to switch you from Flava Flav to Chuck D. status.
Brian Clark said this on May 2, 2006 4:18 pm
[...] Anyway, here’s a post David Krug did over on Jackofallblogs.com called Secrets to Launching Your Blog. [...]
Secrets to Launching Your Blog - Bloglogic.net said this on May 3, 2006 2:22 pm
David, you were so right about Digg. I posted an article today – its a weekly spoiler roundup I do – and I Dugg it. Within the hour I had 15 unique visitors from Digg. Hopefully that number goes up as the night goes on. Great advice.
Tony said this on May 3, 2006 6:16 pm
Tony good to see you have some results with this. Hope to see your blog develop and grow.
David said this on May 3, 2006 7:03 pm
[...] If you want to know how to take your blog to the next level, it’s all laid out for you here. The cookies are down low enough for everybody to get to. [...]
The Post I Never Thought I’d Write » Simplenomics said this on May 3, 2006 7:49 pm
Huh, between you and Liz I might actually make something worthwhile out of my editorial ramblings. ‘Course, I’m not all that great at the focus bit, and my graphics designer is currently being kept in bed by his wife on account of the car crash he was in last week, but I think I can see a general shape for what to do once my designer is allowed computer access again.
Thanks!
Advice Librarian said this on May 4, 2006 6:04 am
David, with Digg, I have multiple blogs right now, would you recommend a different Digg user account for each blog to promote the brand or just one general account?
Tony said this on May 4, 2006 12:57 pm
David,
I really appreciate your enthusiasm and encouragement. I feel a little overwhelmed by the whole blogging thing; too much to read and know and do, right now. I look forward to reading more, particularly your book.
Claire said this on May 4, 2006 3:38 pm
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Small Office Herald is Leaking! | SmallOfficeHerald said this on May 6, 2006 6:18 am
Great stuff. I’m always looking for tips for the Know More Media network of fifty-plus bloggers, so rest assured your tips here have not fallen on deaf ears (well, blind eyes I guess I should say). I haven’t – we haven’t really used Digg and reddit (and other similar sites) as we could. Thanks for this!
Easton Ellsworth said this on May 10, 2006 8:48 am
Great post. Great looking blog. Congratulations David! I can’t say enough about how well done this all is. Exceptional. Definitely up to that brain of yours! Thanks for a great read, Sorry it took so long to get over here.
Liz
Liz Strauss said this on May 10, 2006 2:29 pm
Great Post – You managed to fire me up with the first few paragraphs – then delivering your right hook…... knocks me side-ways, with the
¨ Never start a blog in blogger. Ever. Never ever do it.¨
Guess what! – Yes…......
Alan said this on May 13, 2006 7:12 pm
Hi David,
Thanks for these tips. I have been wondering how in heck I could get blogging to work for a few of my SEO clients, and you’ve given me some great starter information.
So far, my menial efforts have been pretty much a waste of time, so I will give your suggestions a try. I sort of had a suspicion that DIGG might be important one day, but had never actually had a close look at it b4!
Love to see the book when it is available.
Eran
Eran Malloch said this on May 17, 2006 12:55 pm
Very Very nice information here… Thanks
orwald said this on June 21, 2006 6:53 pm
I’m love this great website. Many thanks guy
windgate said this on June 22, 2006 8:26 pm
Very needed information found here, thank you for your work
cynward said this on June 24, 2006 8:45 pm
Much needed info, some of which has either been copied from you literally all over the web… I try to follow these same ideas @ http://epaper.hubspot.com
Thanks again!
John Stack said this on November 20, 2007 6:18 am
Much needed info, some of which has either been copied from you literally all over the web… I try to follow these same ideas
Thanks again!
John Stack said this on November 20, 2007 6:19 am
The only thing I figured out, is that you will have a headache after reading this unreal stuff. Nothing interesting!
"Mommy" said this on April 11, 2008 2:00 pm
David,
Thank you for this article. I have been trying to figure out how to get more traffic to my website. I’m going to try your advice on using Digg and Reddit. Why do you think that the hours of 8am to 11am is the best? You mention that this is part of an e-book. Has the e-book been released yet?
Best regards,
ChrisS
ChrisS said this on August 6, 2008 9:47 pm