Kelli and I in Phuket, Thailand, one of our favorite spots in the world....
Just because someone is a pro does not mean they are infallible. Online business pros know pros. We all have our fears.
I learned one thing from pros, many years ago, which I stuck to. I rarely changed this aspect of my blogs.
Bad, bad, mistake, because correcting this mistake:
- helped me generate more online business blog page views in record time
- kept readers and prospects on my website for a longer period of time
- increased my brand awareness; when more people show up and stick around for a long time you tend to influence folks to spread the word
- made my blog look nice, and readers were also able to navigate around my blog with greater ease after I corrected this mistake
What was the mistake? That many pros make?
Not Linking Up Frequently: "Too Many Choices" Syndrome
I learned from many online business pros - and I heartily agreed with them - that in order to grow your list you need to minimize choices.
This means taking down all linking, or ads, save 1 or 2 banners or opt in forms directed at influencing your readers to take the call to action, which almost always was to join your list.
Take a look at my sidebar; no call to action to join my list.
Online business suicide, right? Not really. Because ever since I took this approach AND decided to link up like mad, my page views went from around 300 daily to 900, 1200, or more, daily.
Why?
I previously adopted a lack and limitation mindset when it came to linking, and made the "I will link up nowhere and simply include an opt-in form on my blog so readers opt-in" mistake for YEARS.
Then I studied the top online newspapers/blogs on earth. These folks linked up like mad because they created a valuable resource.
What About the Pro Advice?
Turns out many of these online business pros had massive, targeted audiences in their pocket before using this strategy. They already had their audience; I did not.
They also were not focused on generating ad revenue, or boost their Alexa, or PR, or placing higher in search engines.
Totally different strategy which required a totally different approach to growing their work at home venture.
I learned better though, by beginning to model sites like The Huffington Post. Link up like mad to create a resource and keep fannies on our online business blog.
Think abundance, not lack. Give away your best free information, being as generous as people, to keep people around and boost the prices you can demand for ad space.
Change your mindset; by linking up along your sidebar, and below your blog header, and after your posts, you are providing readers with a comprehensive solution.
No longer a need to go anywhere else for their online business questions.
They can stick around, soak up your content and spend a few hours on your blog.....THE work at home solution.
Yeah, google likes this, people who stick around for hours on blogs. Means the blog is doing things the right way.
Have you made this link minimizing error in the past?
How did you fix it?
