Articles by Derek

The Best Way to “Steal” and Showcase Other People’s Ideas

You’ve heard the motto: Original content, original content, original content.

By and large, in order to build a successful blog or website, you need to produce original ideas and content regularly.

You know how readers love content that’s unique and original. If you’re reading this blog, chances are you know that “original” doesn’t mean “technically not spun content.”

It means original ideas, new perspectives and new ways of doing things that people haven’t thought of before.

Does that mean you should never use non-ideas?

No.

There is one way you can add a lot of value to your blog or website, using primarily someone else’s ideas. Here’s how. Read more…

Can You Use the Kindle Store as a Marketing Channel?

A good friend of mine released her first Kindle book a few weeks ago. The result?

She made 59 sales in the first week.

That might not seem like a lot on the surface, but this was week #1, with zero marketing. Unlike web traffic, these are people who’ve actually paid to see her content.

Without a hugely recognizable name, without a mass PR push, without paid traffic, she was able to get people she’s never met on the Kindle store to purchase her product.

Best of all? With the right marketing, she’ll be able to convert those people into newsletter subscribers, buyers, affiliates and business partners.

The Kindle Store is often looked at as a way to publish a book. But what if you looked at it from a different perspective?

What if you looked at it as a way to get new people into your marketing funnel? How can you leverage the power of the Kindle Store’s massive audience? How can you get more people who’re willing to pay for content to come to your site?

Let’s take a look. Read more…

Google Penguin Update: Does it Affect Your Blog?

A few months ago, the Google Panda update shook the blogging world.

Many webmasters found their blogs had either moved up or moved down. Some found their blogs knocked off the Google entirely.

This week, Google has introduced yet another update: The Google Penguin update.

Have you noticed a significant change in your traffic over the last few days? If so, this may be Google Penguin at work.

If you’ve noticed a drop in traffic or want to inoculate your blog against potential harm, read this article carefully. Read more…

How to Turn Your Blog Into a Dependable Resource

Some blogs are designed for readers to only read the front page. While other blogs are designed to be resources.

These resource-type blogs are referred to time and again by people in their niche.

People continually link to the blog’s content, even months or years after the content has been published.

These kinds of blogs tend to get massive traffic from the search engines.

What is it that separates the typical blog from these resource-type blogs? How can you turn your blog into a dependable resource? Read on. Read more…

If Your Readers Aren’t Coming Back, This is Why

photo credit: tanya_little

If you run a blog, one of the most important stats you should check is how often people come back to your website.

If you find that the vast majority of your visitors don’t come back to your website, you might want to ask yourself:

Why?

Is there something you could do to improve your return rate?

Is there a reason your readers aren’t returning?

Let’s dive into the “returning visitors” question in more detail. Read more…

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