It’s no secret really.  People buy “How to” information in every niche, sub-niche, and marketplace there is.  Why?  I believe it’s because the human mind is curious and always seeking to find a new way of doing things.

The reason I wanted to address this topic is simply because consumers search for, purchase, and read (or watch) “How to” information in their subject of interest without the usual apprehension and hesitancy that they might otherwise experience with a regular report, ebook, course, or video.

Consumers understand the structure and format of “How to” articles and reports.  They have seen and already consumed them often and I believe, subconsciously, they expect the format to provide them with the information they are seeking. They know that they are going to get a step-by-step or natural progression of instructions that will lead them from where they are to where they want to be.

Providing “How to” information to your audience can be the very basis of your business.  In fact, there are very popular services online like Lynda.com (recently sold to LinkedIn), Teachable, and Udemy that allow experts to offer courses of instruction to targeted prospects in order to teach consumers “How to” do various tasks and solve problems or fulfill desires and dreams in the consumer’s life.

If you are not offering “How to” information to your audience and subscribers, you should be!  The “How to” format or model seems to be universally accepted across all subjects and topics and it has some advantages over other alternatives.

• “How to” information is relatively easy to outline, write, and publish.  As the creator of much “How to” information, I can tell you that it is a very intuitive and easy format to produce.  If you can create a list of steps in outline format, starting at the beginning and moving from one step to the next logical step through to the end of the sequence, you can create “How to” information.
• “How to” information lends itself to all types of media … from articles, to short reports, to white papers, to infographics, to ebooks, to video, to audio, and podcasts, membership site content, and just about every other publishing format there is!
• “How to” information allows the reader to quickly move through the information and spend more time on those steps that need further focus or less time on points that he has already accomplished or that he currently understands.
• “How to” information is easy to “put down” and then come back to at a later time.  Steps can be checked off or highlighted as they are accomplished.  The information doesn’t need to be totally consumed in one sitting because the reader can simply leave the material and return later to continue progressing through the information until the end.
• “How to” information lends itself to browsing and skimming.  It is an easy format to follow and to “pick apart” for highlights, key thoughts, important instructions, and quick consumption if that is the desire of the reader.
• “How to” information lends itself to easy and enticing marketing.  Think about all the books and reports and articles you’ve seen over your lifetime that were titled “50 Ways to …” or “The 10 Best …” or “The Top 5 …”  Well, you get the picture I hope.  It’s easy to title your information and if you’re dealing in a marketplace of rabid fans and consumers, you have a ready-made template for your information.
• “How to” information lends itself to lead magnets, teaser copy, summaries, and other snippets or shortened versions of the full “How to” information.  It’s very simple to include 1-3 ways, or steps, or tips, or tricks in order to entice the reader to want to see more … which can lead to a curiosity about the full document and process.
• “How to” information can be published in many different formats (all at the same time, if desired) including on a blog, in a newsletter, in an email series, in membership sites, in books, reports, videos, podcasts … well, in just about any type of media there is!

Here are a few suggestions about how to find information and examples of this type of writing in your niche.

Go to Amazon books and look at the titles in any niche.  There is an excellent probability that some of the most popular books will include some variation of this format:  “101 Ways to ______________.”  or  “10 Steps to _____________.”

Try all of these descriptors:

• Ways
• Steps
• Ideas
• Secrets
• Facts
• Things
• Reasons
• Basic
• Rules
• Tips
• Best
• Popular
• Easy
• Tricks
• Hacks
• Little know
• Undiscovered
• Brand New
• Amazing
• Fool proof
• Proven
• Professional

Well, hopefully you get the idea of the various ways of setting up your “How to” information steps and instructions.  There are many more things you might say to introduce what you are going to “teach” or expose in your information.

The Internet is the perfect vehicle for sharing your knowledge, your expertise, and your instructions if you desire to base your business on providing information to consumers in your niche.  It allows anyone with an Internet connection and a little bit of technical savvy to record and publish their “How to” material so that it can be presented to millions of people across the globe!

The Internet plus your valuable “How to” niche information can become the basis of a home-based business that will provide a very nice full-time income for its owner.  It’s a tried and proven business model that anyone can dive into!

To your online business success,

Steve Browne

www.BusinessEmpires.com

If you’ve ever created a blog before, then you know that the saying, “build it and they will come” just isn’t true – at least not for blogs!  However, there are some smart and practical ways you can get more people interested in visiting your blog by following these five suggestions which have been proven by successful blog owners over and over again.

 1.  Pick a topic in a niche that has good demand

What is the sense of blogging on a topic that no one cares about?  If you’re blogging for fun or just blogging to fulfill a desire to write and publish your feelings . . . then go ahead and blog about whatever you want.  But if your intent is to help other people in a specific niche and get paid for your value, you need to focus on a topic that is currently in demand.

The topic of your blog doesn’t need to have massive demand.  In fact, many of the most successful blogs are in very tight niches where you would not suppose there is major demand.  But for a moment, consider the “reach” of the Internet . . .

“Internet users. As of June 2018, 55.1% of the world’s population has internet access. In 2015, the International Telecommunication Union estimated about 3.2 billion people, or almost half of the world’s population, would be online by the end of the year.”   Source:  Wikipedia.org

Even some minor niches have enough targeted prospects to make for a good sized audience for a blogger!

2.  Offer high quality content

By “high quality” content, I mean you should blog about topics that are relevant to the wants and desires of your audience.  To find out what they want, follow these steps:

• Find out what types of information products they’re already buying – then write blog posts on the same topic.
• Use a keyword tool (like WordTracker) to find out what topics people in your niche are looking for.
• Drop by busy niche forums and other blogs in the niche to see which topics are generating the most views and discussion.
• Survey your readers to find out what they want.
• Visit Amazon books to see what niche topics are popular and selling well.
• Visit the “Dummies” book site and see if there are books on the niche topic
• Visit your local bookstore or Magazines(dot)com and see if there are magazines devoted to the topic

3. Update frequently

Sometimes people start a blog, post a flurry of articles and then abandon the blog for months at a time.  If you allow dated posts, then your visitors aren’t likely to come back again if they notice that you don’t update regularly.

What you need to do is commit to posting to your blog at least once a week.  If you don’t want to be chained to your blog like this, then create the content ahead of time and automatically “drip” it to your readers.  Alternatively, hire a ghostwriter to both create the content and post it.

Point is, you need to post often to keep your blog from looking like a deserted island.

4. Create regular features

Here’s a great way to turn a one-time visitor into a repeat visitor.  Specifically, by creating “regular features” and multi-part blog posts that your visitors can look forward to.

Example:  Maybe you create a seven-part article about how to make money with pay per click marketing.  Maybe you space it out so that you’re posting one or two articles per week.  You can bet that your readers will return at least once a week just to finish reading the series.

Another way to get more visitors is by creating a regular feature, such as a “tip of the week” feature or even a “questions from our readers” feature.

There are lots of other ways to add regular features – brainstorm and get a little creative and you will find some great ideas.

5. Write about hot topics

One way to get a surge of traffic and increase in your blog popularity is by writing about hot or even controversial topics.  You can include relevant keywords and “ping” the blog directories (like technorati.com) to make sure that those who are searching for the hot topic see your post.

Another way to leverage a hot topic is by joining in on the blogosphere conversation.  Simply find a popular blog discussing a hot topic, and use a trackback to add your response.

6. Get someone influential to endorse your blog

Finally, you can get others to visit your blog by first getting someone influential in your niche to endorse you (and your blog).  You can do this indirectly, such as by offering to be a guest author on the other person’s blog.  You can also ask your joint venture partners to directly endorse you on their blogs and in their newsletters (and you’ll return the favor).

It’s free advertising.  In addition, it’s also extremely powerful because you’re using social proof to increase your readership.

There you have it.  You just discovered five smart and proven ways to get others to visit your blog – and to visit it again and again!  Your next step is to take action on these suggestions.  Starting today; apply these tips . . . and keep an eye on your traffic logs!

To your online business success,

Steve Browne

www.SteveBrowneDirect.com

Just imagine if you were able to develop one of the most popular blogs in your niche.  Think of how much money you could make selling your products or affiliate products if your blog was niche relevant, admired by all, and visited heavily by targeted niche prospects!

Imagine how big your list would be.  Think about what it would mean when you were ready to exit the business – imagine how much money you’d make selling your “authority” corner of the web.

All of this is within your reach – especially if you follow these 10 suggestions for becoming a better blogger:

1. Survey your readers to find out what they want

Adding a poll or short survey to your blog not only makes your blog interactive (which is a good thing), it also gives you an idea of what kind of content and solutions your readers want!  It helps you to target your paid products as real solutions to the desires of your subscribers.

2. Give your readers info that they’d gladly pay for

Just because your blog is free doesn’t mean you should post content that’s not worth anything.  On the contrary, you should post valuable, helpful, relevant content – the kind of solutions you’re market is already paying for – on your blog.  By doing this, you can build trust and establish yourself as an expert in your niche.  Great free content leads to increased sales of paid products.

3. Write about hot or controversial topics to spur discussion

When there’s a controversy going on in your niche, grab a side and blog about it.  Push a few emotional buttons.  Then create a call to action at the end of your post where you specifically ask your readers for their comments and feedback.  The more emotionally charged the post, the more likely it is that you’ll get comments – regardless of the stance you take.

4. Join the blogosphere discussions

Your blog is not an island.  Start visiting and commenting on other blogs in your niche and join the community discussions.  You can comment directly on their blogs or better yet, write a response on your blog using a trackback link.

5. Optimize your posts for the search engines

You don’t have to optimize every post you make.  But if you make a point to optimize at least one post per week, you’ll see a steady increase in traffic.  Often new bloggers don’t realize the SEO effect of simply publishing unique, authoritative, and relevant niche information as blog posts and comments.

Tip: Use a tool like WordTracker or the Google Adwords Keyword Suggestion Tool to uncover your niche keywords.  Often it pays to choose words that have low competition or that are long-tail and very descriptive.  Then include your keywords two or three times for every 100 words of content.  But don’t practice what some call “keyword stuffing” (adding too many keywords to the point that the narrative becomes unnatural and “spammy.”)

6. Arouse curiosity with password-protected posts

Your visitors can see that your blog has a lot of good content. But then they notice that you lock up your best content behind password protected posts (with the passwords only being available to your subscribers).  You can bet curiosity will get the best of many of your readers . . . and they’ll subscribe to unearth addition valuable content.

7. Learn to create killer headlines

People will decide whether to read your post or not based on your headline.  As such, use headlines that include words like how to, you, amazing, secrets and discover.  I like to keep a swipe file of my own headlines and those created by others that seem especially enticing.

8. Vary your posting style (some long, some short, etc)

Don’t always post a 400 word “how to” article.  Instead, mix things up by posting articles of different lengths and different styles.  I prefer most of my posts to be in the 700-1200 word range, but that’s not a “set-in-cement” standard.  I have found over the years that short 300 word posts that many bloggers use are simply a way for them to rush through this task of posting new content often.  Your posts need to be long enough to be able to give value and be at least somewhat detailed.  By the way, this post is 904 words long.

9. Interact with your readers by answering their comments

Your comment section isn’t just a place for your readers to talk amongst themselves – it’s also a great place for you to interact with your readers.  Since people buy from those they know, like and trust, this simple act of interacting will grow your income.  It will also set you apart from almost all of your niche competitors as it takes time to give individual attention to your prospects and customers.  However, I have found that it is time well spent and it pays dividends over the long term.

10. Make blogging a part of your daily routine

Add “write a blog post” to each and every daily to-do list until it becomes a habit.  If you write just one new and unique blog post per day, in a year you’ll have 365 posts – and a whole lot more readers, subscribers and income if you set things up correctly!

In summary, creating a big, popular blog isn’t a matter of doing one thing.  Instead, you can create a better blog (and become a better blogger) by consistently taking a series of small but purposeful steps.

To you online business success,

Steve Browne

www.SteveBrowneDirect.com