11 lessons I learned from Jeff Bullas in 3 Days

You have seen his caricature everywhere, and almost certainly have read his blog posts. If not, the online influencers you follow have definitely mentioned his name. You cannot deny that.

Jeff Bullas was in Mumbai for the 2-day BNLF event organized by Indiblogger. His keynote on day 1 was awesome, and his masterclass on day 2 was… well, a masterclass.

Where Vinita (of the BlogwatiG fame) and I REALLY got lucky was on the third day, when we got the online marketing guru exclusively to ourselves. Jeff, Vinita and I spent the day roaming around Mumbai. We discussed many topics - culture, sports, experiences, politics, blogging, psychology and more. That Vinita and I learned a lot from Jeff is an understatement. I’ve put together a list of 11 splendid lessons Jeff gave us in 3 days... lessons which you would happily pay money for. But I'm sharing them with you for free!

Clockwise - Vinita, Jeff and me

Disclaimer: This is a really looooong post. And yet, it covers only about 7 percent of what we learned. However, this 7 percent can turn your life on its head.

The best lesson is the last one. So I hope you stay till the end.

1. Our biggest challenge

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.” - John Maynard Keynes.

If you have to walk away right now because your spouse is calling, or your child is crying, make sure you take this one lesson with you.

The adage of “thinking outside the box” has been beaten to death. Yet, almost everyone finds it impossible (not difficult… impossible) to do, because we are rigidly anchored to old ideas. “It’s always been like this” is our fallback theory.

Takeaway: Before you think outside the box (or even try), unlearn old practices, and learn new ones. Out with the old and in with the new. Because the day you are through with change, you are through.

2. Re-invent yourself

“I have re-invented myself many times over the years”, says Jeff. The last time he he did was in 2008, when he adopted social media and started his journey towards becoming the guru that he is today. And he continues doing so.

The world is changing at the rate of knots. What was indispensable a few years ago is now redundant. We’re perilously close to Digital Darwinism, where technology advances so fast that mankind is unable to keep up. Yet, most of us stay trapped in our comfort zones because… well, “it’s always been like this”. Remember point #1?

People who have flourished are the ones who have re-invented themselves, time and again. You must re-invent yourself too - repeatedly. Unless, of course, you don’t mind becoming as obsolete as the walkman. (By the way, the walkman can still demand a premium today. Can you?)

Takeaway: If you still are counting the laurels of yesterday, you are not doing enough today. What you achieved in the past may have worked, but that is the past. It’s time to do something new. As Gary Vee says, “do what is relevant in 2015, not in 2007.”

Which bring us to the obvious question: “How do I re-invent myself?” Well, read on.

3. What are you good at?

Jeff firmly believes in Pareto’s Law - that 80% of your results stem from 20% of your work. And he follows it to the ’T’. He focuses on the 20 percent activities which yield him maximum returns. The remaining 80 percent he either delegates, outsources or ignores. This not only lets him focus on what he is good at, but also helps him excel in those areas. And you know that in today’s world, ‘good’ and ‘unique’ don’t cut it anymore. You have to be remarkable.

To find what you are good at, Jeff suggests that you read ‘Now Discover Your Strengths’ by Marcus Buckingham. Along with insights on discovering your forte, this book gives you an online test which sheds light on your five key strengths. Based on those strengths, you can take up what you are good at and start a journey towards reinventing yourself.

Takeaway: 80 percent of your results stem from 20 percent of your work. Draw a list of your activities to map out which ones give you maximum returns, and which ones waste your time. Pareto’s Law will make you better at what you love, and drill the much needed focus into your life. And yes, read ‘Now Discover Your Strengths’.

4. Think bigger

“The population of Sydney is about 4 million, and that of Australia is about 25 million, which is less than the population of Mumbai”, said Jeff. He possesses in-depth knowledge of each city and country he visits. But I’m digressing here.

If Jeff intended on catering solely to the Aussie audience, he would have run out of new customers quickly. So his focus is not just Australia. It’s the US, Canada, India and the whole world. A sizable chunk of his readers are from India. Who would’ve thought! Jeff has also delivered keynotes at Kuwait and Beirut too. “Stop thinking local. Think bigger, think global” is his mantra.

Takeaway: The internet is a fantastic platform for you to reach out to every relevant person in the world. So stop catering purely to the audience in your city or country. You have no idea how your work can positively impact someone in a different continent. Think bigger. The world is your oyster.

5. Your purpose in life

Find out what you really want to do in life, and pursue it. Once you do, you will forget phrases like ‘Monday morning blues’ and ‘TGIF’. You will look forward to waking up each morning, and won't have to work another day in your life. You will not only be productive, you will be happy.

Takeaway: “Many people go to their grave without singing their song.” - Jeff Bullas (h/t to Vinita for the reminder). Which song will you sing? Someone else’s, or your own?

6. How we unknowingly waste resources

“I spend a lot of my time working with competition than working against it”, Jeff said to us over tea at the BNLF event. This is popularly known as coopetition. Here is a quote from an ebook by Copyblogger to validate it:

There aren’t many ‘lone wolves’ out there anymore. Partnerships and cross pollination are the name of the game. If you’re building your business on an audience attracted by your authority on a particular topic, you want to spend most of your time working with, not against, the ‘competitors’ for that audience.

Unfortunately, the vast majority spends time competing against each other. This leads to drain in resources like time, effort and funds. And how much do you have to show at the end of these wars?

Takeaway: Collaborate with your competition to offer value to your audience, and reap the rewards faster. You will double your business while investing less than half the resources.

7. Have an audience before you need it

Understandably, full time bloggers want to make money off of blogging. When Jeff was asked how bloggers can get deals to write sponsored posts, there was pin-drop silence in the hall. The whole audience listened with rapt attention - like Batman was speaking to us. Batman… sorry… Jeff, had one thing to say:

"Have an audience before you need it."

Banner ads and Adsense will not help you make money unless you get massive traffic to your blog. Instead, work on building an audience which you will own rather than rent. Build an email subscription base, encourage readers to share your content and return to your site, and strive for simplicity and value addition to offer terrific user experience.

It’s also important to put yourself out there. Brands rarely approach bloggers asking them to write sponsored posts, unless the bloggers are extremely popular. Until you reach that level of popularity, keep approaching brands and pitching your ideas of sponsored posts.

Takeaway: Have an audience before you need it. Grow this audience by offering remarkable value and making them share something personal with you in return. Read GrowthHackers and inbound.org to learn how you can grow your audience.

8. The only way to discover your potential

As a child, Jeff suffered from asthma. Today he runs marathons and is an avid bicyclist. He cycles almost everywhere he goes. He pushed the limits of his body and came out on top. Jeff - 1, asthma - 0.

Likewise, to discover your potential, you must keep pushing yourself to progress to the next level. Read this amazing Zen Pencils comic strip on how Bruce Lee pushed his limits.

Jeff pushes his followers too. Many in his coopetition circle might not agree with his frequency of tweets, but it works for him. “If your audience is not complaining, you are not pushing hard enough”, he says. Amazing!

Takeaway: “If you don’t hear complains, you are not pushing hard enough.” This is applicable to your body, your mind, and your followers. Even remarkable has an expiry date in today’s day and age. Don’t stop progressing.

9. Optimize for conversion

Many businesses start blogging merely for brand awareness. While awareness is important, what matters more is knowing what you want from your audience.

Don’t use campaigns purely to create ‘brand awareness’. Optimize for conversion right from the word go. Conversions don’t have to be sales. They can be newsletter subscriptions, signing up for trial offers or becoming a lead.

Takeaway: If you create guides, DIYs or blog posts for awareness and educating your audience, ask for something in return. Optimizing for conversion makes people return to your property, and helps you build an audience before you need it (see point #7).

10. What to do when your product is expensive

I faced a problem with a specific landing page on which we were selling tickets for an event. The target audience loved the content and gave feedback like “we have never seen anything like this in India.” Yet, nobody bought tickets. I asked Jeff.

“The more your product costs, the more the number of steps to get customers onboard should be”, he said. Jeff has an intricate system of converting users. Using Infusionsoft, he segments his audience. People who show interest in his products by clicking through on the Calls-to-Action are provided with more value-added content before he pitches for a sale. Even in this category, he has sub-categories, and customizes his messages for various groups.

The vast amount of information he shared had my head spinning, and I had to focus hard to avoid ramming into the car in front.

Takeaway: The higher the price of your offering, the more circumspect your audience will be. Increase the number of steps to convert your audience to customers.

11. Done is better than perfect

We’re down to the last, and most critical lesson (thanks for staying till the end). Many of us (including yours truly) have images of how we want things, and refuse to move forward unless something is exactly like that.

During his keynote, Jeff spoke about someone who was not ready to take her blog live because she wanted everything to be perfect. Here is news flash: Perfection can never be achieved! We will always want something more, and then more, and more. The project never goes live and eventually, it’s shelved. When Jeff said this, I felt like he was looking right through the thousand bloggers present and speaking directly to me.

Perfection is a utopian state, something we are always in pursuit of. Even global influencers like Jeff are constantly working on improvement. So start now, and pursue excellence. Success will follow suit. You have a whole lifetime to pursue perfection.

Takeaway: Done is better than Perfect. Stop waiting for the perfect moment and start now. Period. 

It was one of the best days of Vinita’s and my life. We showed Jeff CST, Marine Drive, and Colaba. We visited Café Mondegar and the Gateway of India. At the end of a lovely day, I shook hands with Jeff and Vinita hugged him. He then looked at me and asked, “Won’t you give me a hug?”

“I thought a hug would make you uncomfortable”, I said.

“Naah, mate. I’m good with a hug”. And we hugged.

Jeff, we’re really glad you came to India and spoke to us all. And dear reader, I’m glad you stayed till the end. If you take something away from this post, you can thank Jeff and me. And if you are upset about not being invited to the day out, it’s Vinita’s fault. She told me not to invite you.

Social Media Week 2014 Offered Answers to Most Questions Related to the Online World

How to create engaging content? What are the biggest challenges in faced in content marketing today? How are companies using the online space to design products specific to target audiences? How to brand yourself using social media? Answers to these questions and more were offered in the Social Media Week held in Mumbai.

Many digital enthusiasts were looking forward to this event. Held from 22nd to 26th September, this event would feature renowned speakers and influencers focusing on the online world is evolving and how we can adapt to it. Since I had stepped into this world recently, it wouldn’t be wise to give SMWMumbai a miss. Some friends had attended the event held in 2013 and were impressed.

The event flagged off with a ride on Sunday 21st September. Many riders (including yours truly) had assembled at Fountain Hotel and rode from there to Talasari. While I didn’t go for the ride, I heard it was fun.

Thanks to Blogadda, I got a pass to attend the event on 23rd and 24th September. Unfortunately, I could only attend on 23rd. Thanks to April broadcast, however, a lot of people (including me) got to view the event even if we couldn’t make it to the venue.

Ah! The venue. Novotel Hotel in Juhu. Step out in the hotel’s open spaces and you were greeted with the sound of the ocean. And the view of the ocean over the swimming pool and the verandah outside the seminar halls was a sight to behold.

The volunteers at the event were helpful and spontaneous. When I told them I had come through Blogadda and didn’t have a physical pass, they promptly made one and handed it over. No questions asked. They also informed me of the events being held in specific seminar halls at that time.

The seminar for engaging content was conducted by Payal Karwa and Varun Duggirala. They spent an hour providing us with insights on creating engaging content. They elaborated on aspects like story telling, creating an emotional bond and understanding the brand’s USP and designing content accordingly. Varun further kept us engaged by asking the audience to describe the brand as if it were a person and then simulate how it would behave on each platform. He did this by making the audience interact online and offline. It was interesting, unconventional. The ‘engaging content creation’ seminar kept us engaged right till the end.

Lunch was great, albeit somewhat spicy. The chicken pomegranate chaat was delicious. Plus I got to meet Manish Pandey and Amit Panchal. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - those guys work like they’re on Red Bull all the time!

The next seminar was conducted by Navneet Kaushal of PageTraffic. It was on content marketing and the challenges faced. He rightly pointed out that the biggest challenge for social media marketers today is content distribution, not creation. It’s no use creating great content which just sits around waiting to be discovered. You have to be proactive and innovative in your attempts to reach out to people. He educated us on content curation tools to write articles which people want to read. Further emphasis was placed on sticking to a content calendar, stock images (some of them cost just $1) and being versatile. Posting the link to a 1,500 word article on SEO on a Sunday doesn’t make sense. Photos of happy puppies do, which make people celebrate the Sunday. And to an extent, you need FB ads to promote your content and increase page likes and website hits.

What Navneet Kaushal talked about are strategies followed by many online influencers like Neil Patel, Sean Ellis and others. It made complete sense. Navneet has been blogging for SEJournal and ClickZee since long now. Audience asked him how it helps in conversion, and he said that it doesn’t directly help. Instead, it helps build the brand PageTraffic and establishes them as an authority. And authority breeds trust, which then helps in conversion. Words of wisdom which should be heeded and adopted by us all. For me, Navneet Kaushal’s session was the highlight of the day.

I then walked into IBM’s session of how the digital space is helping brands profile potential customers and create products catered to their needs. Since I walked in while the session was almost over, there isn’t much to share. But it reminds one of the algorithms used by Target, the supermarket, to profile shoppers and send them e-mails of products which customers will find relevant. It’s amazing how much the digital world is advancing. A few people voiced their concerns over brands able to peek into our personal lives, but it was rightly countered with the view that brands can only access information which we have posted online. The less we share about ourselves, the less brands will know. Hence, the onus lies on us.

The final session was the one I was looking forward to most. I was intrigued about how people can use social media to brand themselves online. But it turned out to be quite generic. Tanvi Bhatt made it a typical personality development session with just the last 15 minutes spent on how to use social media. Plus her tips were for novices; those who haven’t used Twitter or LinkedIn or don’t blog. It may have been useful for a lot of people there, but I feel it could’ve been more specific and detailed.

After the event, I got to meet Apeksha Harihar, Meera Rai and Hitesh Rajwani from Social Samosa and Sachin Uppal. Had a lengthy discussion about the online space with them which was just as good as the seminar itself. I missed the rest of the days - was looking forward to hearing Kunal Jeswani and Jeff Bullas… maybe next time…

The event was a great experience. It was wonderful to see people share insights and bond like they’ve known each other for long. Passionate discussions, networking and information exchange made the event fun. And the venue was the icing on the cake.

Thanks Blogadda for letting me attend the event. I had missed it last year and wasn’t prepared to give it a miss this time. The event is recommended to everyone who is in the digital space - whether you’re pursuing a career in the field or not. 

5 Free Twitter Tools Which will Make You A Pro

Most celebrities are on Twitter. Some like Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh and SRK are avid users, while others like Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Amir Khan use it sparingly. But they are all present there.

Then why is only about 15% of India’s remaining internet population present on it? And why do brands (read their agencies) fail to capitalize on this awesome tool to establish their online reputation?

Well, for one, many brand managers don’t understand how Twitter functions. They simply bombard the platform with self promotional tweets and expect a hoard of followers. Even now, most people consider their Twitter success to be directly related to the number of followers. Secondly, because of the vast amount of content being shared on Twitter, users can feel all at sea. Making sense of things on Twitter can be quite a task.

Twitter is not a self promotion platform. If you’re self promoting without adding value, you’re doing Twitter all wrong. Twitter is about being there, listening to conversations, making sense of them, providing your inputs and using posts which you read to come up with content marketing ideas. And fear not, it is really easy to do once you get the hang of it.

Free Twitter Tools as good as Paid Ones

Here are 5 free tools which enable you to become an effective Twitter user:

Bufferapp: This is one of the most popular free tools for posting on social media (especially Twitter). Renowned as a post and tweet scheduling tool, Bufferapp also lets you tweet instantly in case you are unable to access Twitter. Links tweeted are converted to bitly links by default, though you can choose to revert to the original URL. The analytics tool is handy for tracking the performance of each tweet sent from Buffer. So if you see that a post has done well in the past and are short of ideas, you can re-share it after a month or 2. Alternately, you can make use of Bufferapp’s suggestions if you’re looking for content to tweet. Plus you can tweet an article via Buffer right from your browser. Simply install the extension and click on the icon if you want to share an article. Also, if you select a specific quote from the article and click on the Bufferapp icon, the app intelligently tweets your link with the selected text as the headline. Cool huh? People also use this tool for scheduling posts on Facebook, but the Facebook’s inbuilt scheduler feature is more useful and effective for their platform. You also cannot view real time Twitter updates. For that, you have the option below.

Hootsuite: I can’t stop raving about this tool. Apart from scheduling tweets, Hootsuite also makes it convenient for you to track feeds related to your subject on Twitter and Facebook. Simply enter the keyword(s) in Hootsuite’s search box and click ‘Add Stream’ on the tab where the results show up. These streams can also be of lists formulated by you (more on lists in point 5). Your feed is updated real time, ensuring you stay well informed on everything happening in your field. Respond to questions of people, which establishes you as an expert in your field. You can also generate ideas for content marketing material by reading people’s conversations. Plus, you can not only RT a tweet, but also manually RT after adding your comments in it, just like the mobile Twitter app.

Pullquote: Ever read a quote online and liked it so much that you want to tweet it? Well, Pullquote lets you do it beautifully. Simply install the extension in your browser and use it when you want to tweet a quote from a page. The tool converts the quote into a picture and share it. You also can crop a photo and share it, adding your comments in the tweet. Pullquote is a great tool to awesome content on Twitter pictorially. The only drawback, however, is that you cannot tweet a link. For sharing a link along with the image/quote, you can take help of the tool mentioned below.

Bitly sidebar: bit.ly links, when shared, look way cooler than the conventional abc.com/xyz…. But you already know that, right? Additionally, bit.ly links can be used to track how many times your link has been clicked on. Once you’ve tweeted a link, simply compare the number of times people have clicked on the link versus the number of impressions. While it may not be an accurate figure, it may give you a rough idea of how effective what you typed while sharing the link was. More clicks (even if it hasn’t got RTs) means your ‘copywriting’ idea worked, and you can try replicating that for other tweets too. Bitly links are not accepted on some popular social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, Blogadda, etc. For those, you can use the article’s original URL.

Twitter: What good would a social platform do if it cannot have some inbuilt features which make it awesome? 2 features which we must make use of in Twitter are Search and Lists. The Twitter Search is as good as Hootsuite in providing you with tweets which are related to your subject of interest. Also, if you want to know how a specific article is being discussed on Twitter, merely paste the article’s URL in the Search box. For instance, if you want to know what people on Twitter think about this article, simply copy the link and paste it in Twitter’s search box. Also, Lists is a kickass feature to get feeds from people from a specific field. So if you want to stalk the competition, you can create a list of them, keep it private and keep a tab of their tweets. On the other hand, if you want to share insightful tweets of influencers in a field related to yours, create a public list and add them to it. Let others also refer to your list and know how awesome you are.

Conclusion

A common mistake which many of us make is not tracking our Twitter platform’s performance (read effectiveness). We pepper the platform with promotional tweets and Twitter contests for our clients, most of which result in negligible conversions. Twitter is a far more effective digital message spreading platform than any other - Facebook, LinkedIn or Google Plus. It can help portray our brand as a thought leader in its field and convert viewers to followers, then buyers, and ultimately into loyalists. Using the tools above, you can listen to conversations on Twitter, create and promote terrific content and track your engagement levels. Effective use of Twitter will also give a content writer a whole bunch of ideas for the next corporate blog post.

I haven’t added many tools like Seesmic, TweetDeck, etc. to the list. I’ve found the above mentioned 5 to be most effective. Do you know of any other tools which have been missed? Do leave a note about them in the comments section. Also do share this article with others so that awareness about how Twitter works continues to spread.

Viral Videos and Posts - The Secret Behind Them & More...

The advent of social media has led to increased usage of a word – VIRAL! People, agencies, companies and everyone else want their articles, photos, videos, advertisements, posts, etc. or even products and apps to go viral i.e. be shared hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of times. Most entities push for this achievement by pleading to everyone in all their social media networks to share what they’ve uploaded. Do they succeed? Nada. But some folks do... that too without much effort. Why? How does this happen?

Scott Stratten, founder of Un Marketing, explained the concept of viral content beautifully. Those who haven’t heard it, this is a post for your benefit.

The Law of Circles

When a product (or app or song) is launched, or when content for sharing (photo, infographic, video, etc.) is created, the people who share it are often from the first circle. These are people directly associated with the product or campaign. They’re either someone from the team which created it, or are people who share to be in their boss’ good books... so on and so forth. When they share the content, it reaches the second circle or their first circle, which includes their friends and family. Their first circle is not obliged to share it with anyone. However, when the latter does, the content reaches the third circle, which is similar to the first circle of the people associated with the product or content. People in the second circle share it with their family and friends because they genuinely like what they see. Forget the marketing terminology of “adding value” for some time. People share because they want others to see what intrigued, entertained or enraged them. People in the third circle then share it with those in their first circle, and the cycle continues. This leads to a product, photo or video going viral.

Think about it. Isn’t this why Michael Jackson and Metallica produced so many hit songs? Isn’t this why ‘Why This Kolaveri Di’, the Volvo commercial featuring Van Damme and Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ were such hits? And why Felix Baumgartner’s Space Jump was one of the most watched YouTube videos in 2013? And, of course, Justine Sacco’s tweet, albeit for all the wrong reasons.

99.9% of agencies and marketers aiming to produce viral content fail to remember a key aspect – only one factor lures people to share something with others... EMOTION. Liking a Facebook post is one thing, sharing it on their timeline with 400+ friends is another. A person shares something when it engages her emotionally. It may evoke feelings like fun, joy, anger, nostalgia among others. You can beg people to share your content, but how many do? And when something barely crosses the first circle, you can bet your bottom dollar that going viral is out of the question.

So remember, don’t focus on creating “viral content”. Focus, instead, on creating something awesome and engaging. Content which is not necessarily related to your product or service, but which touches an emotional cord with readers and viewers. Do something outrageous, which delights people; give them a reason to share what you’ve done or created. Then, dear friend, you will have done something which is worth reaching hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people across the globe.

The Badge Idea - Coz You Deserve Better!

Your badge is your identity. It is all about you. Unfortunately, in today’s mass culture, badges lose their uniqueness. Every badge looks just like the other. So what differentiates you from someone else?

Nikhil has a solution to this problem is mass-customization – in form of ‘The Badge Idea’. Whether it’s a snap, a bio, a slogan/quote, or your website link – or even all of them – The Badge Idea (TBI) makes each badge stand out. Conceptualized in 2013, TBI’s USP, though, is the presence of a theme. You can have a badge with your own theme – one that defines you. Whether you’re a sport lover, a foodie, a coffee addict, a geek, a marketing professional, a social media wiz... let the world know about it through your badge.

Nikhil’s aims to provide badges for tweet ups. It becomes easier for Tweeple attending tweet ups and events to introduce themselves to others. Not just their names and company names, but also aspects which they’re passionate about. He also provides badges for events and corporate functions. The event’s theme can be incorporated onto the badges, giving them a different touch. Scannable bar codes can also be printed.

Simply log onto the website and fill the form, which asks for what you want on your custom badge. You will receive a preview in your e-mail, and only after your approval does the badge go into printing. You can even gift these badges to loved ones or friends. Plus the badge will be delivered to any address across the world. 

For now, you will have to bear the courier charges for addresses outside India. Pay via cash or bank transfer.

The Badge Idea - Your badge is all about YOU

The Badge Idea will soon incorporate a payment gateway on the website itself. So you will be able to pay online. Also, as earlier stated, Nikhil aims to start providing badges for events too. Corporate entities and event management firms will get badges customizable for their events, something which delegates will enjoy wearing.

A lot of people have already ordered and received badges from TBI, within timelines promised. And they’ve flashed them on Twitter. iTannu, AnahitaIrani1, CarpeDatAss, Muskurahatein, NashiliAnkhein, KishMish, naiyatweetz, LunacyRedefined... the list goes on and on. These badges are a whiff of fresh air compared to the simple, staid and similar ones available everywhere else. A theme, a snap, a slogan, a website link and everything else that defines you goes onto your badge – your identity. If anything, this concept is going to scale up real quick. So go ahead, get your own badge. And tell me you loved it. It’s hard to believe you will have any other opinion.

6 Ways to Increase Traffic To Your Blog

Which blogger doesn't want more traffic directed to his blog? A rookie blogger can get about 20-30 hits daily while a pro blogger can get anywhere between 600 – 6000. We promote our blog posts on Facebook and Twitter, submit our posts on Bloggers, Digg & more and comment on others’ blog posts –all in attempts to direct traffic to our sites. While these methods are 100% correct, there are other sites which we can leverage to increase traffic on ours. Some of those suggestions (tried and tested by me) are listed below:

1. Pinterest: Most of Pinterest’s visitors are women. Most pins are about cats, fashion, jewelry, cars and recipes. But that doesn't mean Pinterest can’t drive traffic to your website. Create a board containing pictures of the ones in your posts, and provide links to the specific articles. If your blog has a theme, even better. Create a board according to the theme and post pictures from your articles with links. This will ensure it doesn't appear as blatant advertising of your blog while you reap the benefits of at least a 20 – 30% traffic spike.
2. SlideShare: Yes! SlideShare. The site which lets you upload PowerPoint presentations. Make PPTs of your posts and upload them. Remember to add links (clickable) to your articles in the last slide. This offers two benefits –readers will be enticed to read your articles if your presentations are interesting, thus increasing traffic. And you will improve your presentation skills. But make sure you prepare presentations out of your post and not publish the whole article in slides. No one will read your blog then.

   

   Get the Traffic You Deserve

3. StumbleUpon: Most of you must already be submitting your links on this site. But those don’t, please start immediately. StumbleUpon is a discovery engine that finds and recommends web content to its users. Your posts will show up in categories which you have classified the articles under. This means your content will be made available to a vast number of relevant and interested readers. This will not only increase traffic on your site but also reach out to relevant readers.
4. Blogadda: There are numerous websites which allow you to submit your posts. But not many of them can lure readers to click on your links as Blogadda can. Through its Tangy Tuesday and Spicy Saturday picks, this site shares the choicest of submissions with its readers. And people read those posts – intently. So if your post is good enough to have been picked by them, rest assured, traffic and comments on your posts will shoot up. I've witnessed about 100% increase in visits on posts which featured in Tangy Tuesday on Blogadda.
5. WriteUp Cafe (WUC): This site is relatively lesser known as compared to the internet giants. But it is a great platform to share your links and connect with equally enthusiastic bloggers. Present partial write ups of your posts and provide links to your blog for the remaining article. Thus, readers who find your write up interesting will visit your blog to read the rest (and comment on it). Also, WUC tweets the links which have been submitted on it to its 600 odd (and growing) followers, increasing your article’s visibility.
6. Google+: A lot of us have forgotten about Google+. Or we’re disillusioned – we were told it’s going to be the best social networking site ever, right? Wrong! Google+ as a social network was a Trojan Horse to introduce the ‘+1’ button and that matters a lot! Every time your article is +1-ed, Google’s advertising search engine is fed, allowing them to match more targeted ads. Plus, it tremendously improves your rankings. Won’t Google want to promote its platform more? So every time you get a +1, or your circle expands, your search results on Google+ improve. After all, that’s what everyone is gunning for, right?
7. Bonus tip: Use the e-mail feature on the Blogger and Wordpress platforms smartly to reach out to a wider audience. I’m not talking about those who have subscribed to your blog by e-mail. You definitely have a list of 300+ e-mail contacts, right? Using the e-mail feature, you can let these contacts know that you've posted a new article. A 10% conversion means a minimum of 30 hits to your site. And that’s a lot of traffic (unless you average 600+ hits per day).

Notice that nothing has been spoken about SEO per say here. That’s because Google has started rewarding quality content with Panda & Penguin – its latest algorithms. Remember, you can use tricks to increase traffic on your website, but the best traffic is the one that keeps returning. Steady traffic can only be achieved once you've got enough readers visiting your blog repeatedly, wanting to read what you have to share. So before you indulge in SEO tricks, meta tags and keyword research, focus on improving your content. Everything else will gradually fall into place.

These were my suggestions. Why don’t you share your tips to increase traffic? They will help a lot of readers (including me).


image Courtesy: Google Images

The Flipside of Blogging...

Why do we blog? To make our voices heard, to connect with people and of course, for the feeling of satisfaction when others read what we write. The final write up makes us feel proud of our work; we love publishing our articles and publicizing them on Facebook and Twitter. And someday, someday we will have 20-30 genuine comments on our articles (this is strictly for men. Many women bloggers end up with 50-60 comments on their blogs).

The flipside is the pressure – the pressure of writing articles which people enjoy reading... constantly coming up with new topics. See I’m no poet or story teller. I don’t often write on conventional topics. I relate incidents that catch our eye to daily life. Sometimes this leads to a problem that I’m currently facing – Writer’s Block! I’m sure most bloggers face it. It’s that phase when a writer can’t think of what to write; he feels like he’s staring at a brick wall. No inspiration, no ideas, nothing. Yet, the pressure to keep writing so that his blog doesn’t stagnate.

But that’s ok I guess. It’s all part of the package. You can’t always write good articles. Some will be average, others crappy. So I keep writing, like we keep moving in life even if we have bad days.

I keep reading articles and books. The brain isn’t pressurized to come up with inspiration. Ideas are allowed to crop up anytime – in sleep, while driving, cooking or reading. The important thing is that one keeps writing. Too often we’re guilty of wanting to do something so well that we skip deadlines. The same happens in blogging. It’s not necessary that each article be a masterpiece. So keep writing. Traffic, visits, comments and followers will follow. Cheers!

Your turn now. What do you do when you suffer from Writer’s Block?