Dan R Morris and Rachel Martin of Blogging Concentrated have been teaching bloggers around the world how to become better bloggers, helping them take the leap to full-time freedom. In this Pro Blogger Mastermind session, “What Comes Next? What do we do now to expand our blogging universe?” Dan and Rachel discuss the abundance of options to help move your career to the next place in online visibility.
Expand Your Blogging Universe
You’ve figured out your writing and have been cultivating a community, but now perhaps you’re wondering what to do next: Is it podcasting? Video? Writing a book? What do you do with your blog to expand your universe and to keep your quest for knowledge running? Where do you go from here? Have you ever thought about what your next step may be? In 2, 5, 10 years–where will you be with this blog? What are your aspirations?
It’s time to give clarity on what you’re doing today. Where are you going with your blog and maybe the biggest question you can ask yourself right now is “What is your exit plan?”
When you’re ready to retire from blogging, you have three options.
- Quit
- Hand over your blog to someone else
- Sell your business
Your biggest risk is burnout.
So what can you do to stay excited?
Use Social Media Correctly
- Write a blog post and tell your audience what you’re doing on social media and how to find and follow you.
- Get meerkat and periscope–they’re new on the scene. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon though; figure out how you can use these tools to make your audience better. You want your audience to “See the me behind my blog.” And don’t forget to save your Periscopes and upload them to Youtube.
- Send your audience to watchonperiscope.com to watch your Periscope videos without having to download the app.
Do you podcast?
So many people are podcasting. While the biggest barrier to podcasts is that you can only listen to them on your phone or a computer, new cars are actually starting to come out with podcatchers. And Spotify is adding a podcast capability to its application. Currently, 10-15% of audiences listen to podcasts.
But what if you don’t want to run a podcast?
- Research podcasts in your niche and contact them to be on their shows. In return, get famous by guest pod-casting.
- Come up with 2-3 pitches and pitch to those in your field. Instead of creating a podcast just about marathoning, guest speak on several podcasts about marathoning! You earn a layer of authority when you guest speak on others’ shows.
- Once you’ve spoken on a podcast, you don’t even have to write a blog post for the day. You simply link the podcast in which you spoke as your actual blog post!
Write a book
The author tag is powerful–especially if you can be found on Amazon. Remember this, industry leaders have a book available on Amazon. What is it you believe in? Can you break it into chunks and turn it into something big?
You’ve got to consider a book. It’s a lot of time, but you can outline it. Break your outline into four sections. Now break those four into four more sections. Your write 16 blog posts…one post a week for 16 weeks…and now you have a book.
Become an expert.
You’ve got your blog, you’ve mastered using social media, and you’ve even written a book. You’re an expert. But you’re also not done yet.
- Develop online courses: write a course on a site like Udemy.
- Think out of the box: become an adjunct professor! Check out your local community colleges and give them a pitch. Expand your universe. Having “Adjunct Professor” next to “Blogger” on your LinkedIn profile is expanding your reach.
- Call businesses. What can you do to reach out and help more people in your community?
- Offer classes on your blog. You can even make them paid video classes.
- If people always ask you about something, “How do you….” then you are a leader. Write the posts that answer. Make the video. Lead people to your class, your post, your video, etc.
- Speak at conferences.
But wait, there’s more!
- Who is an industry leader in your niche? Use sites like jigsaw.com to find out who your connections should be when reaching out. Is your blog about running? You can find out who’s working for Runner’s World, and start connecting with those in your field.
- Is there a magazine you love who could open a door? If you build up your collection of database of proof of what you do, you’re likely to get looked at by those you want to reach out to. You don’t have to start at USA Today but you can start at “Yourtown” today and work on growing your exposure.
- Check out the company choosegrowth.com. The site “supports your business with the purpose of creating leveraged growth in revenue and impact.”
- Start Consulting. Are you a food blogger who could offer food photography to local restaurants? Can you write a curriculum for a local school or community college? Consult with clients about topics within your niche?
- Think about anything and everything you can do and start putting your information out there.
Be the “Umbrella Company”
As a blogger, you’ve got to know your goals. In the end, you do NOT want to be the blogger who burns out. So that’s why you build all these different followings. If you quit, you HAVE to have something to hand over…something that’s either good enough to sell or good enough to continue when you pass it off. Build your brand and establish who you are.
When the end does come, you’re either going to have to sell, quit, or hand it over. Which one do you want to be?
The full audio file of the Professional Infrastructure session is in the link provided here.
This post was captured by Steph from Strongfigure.com, who believes that everyone has the right to a strong, healthy body and mind. Train hard, eat well, read much, and enjoy life. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram!