WHAT THEY TAUGHT ME (#1) - Saphrym, Sam Freedom & Rashmi Bansal

They tell me that I am a great story teller. They also ask me to come up with an autobiography one day. And I wonder. I wonder why. I wonder why would someone ever wish to read about me. I wonder why would someone ever wish to know me. I wonder, unless I have a story to tell. And again, they tell me that I am a great story teller.

I have been a part of the blogosphere for almost 3 years. 3 years is a long time, I know. In these 3 years, there have been a hell lot many people who taught me the art of blogging, both actively and passively. This "What They Taught Me" series is a tribute to all my "teachers" who've shaped me as a blogger and more importantly, as a writer. I am sharing my "lessons" from 10 of my best teachers in the field so that it helps you too to learn & flourish.

What Saphrym (Michael White) Taught Me -

• I have always been hearing people about writing on a certain genre, never to falter out of the niche that you carve for yourself. This always made my gray cells function at full speed, trying to decide on a "niche" for myself, but always unsuccessful. Then, I suddenly stumbled on to Saphrym where Mr. White maintains an online weight loss diary.
  
  I used to wonder why would someone ever wish to follow Mr. White's weight loss program? But then when I learnt about his popularity, realization hit me like a brick! I realized that there are a lot many people out there who could identify themselves with Saphrym & would share their concerns, tips & tricks with him. Thus, Saphrym had carved a unique "niche" for itself.
  
  Lesson Learnt : "Niche" Markets Do Exist.
  
  
• With the exclusive genre that he writes in, it is amazing to find the detail and passion with which Mr. White expresses out. Although I am just a tad overweight, I'd never felt the urge to actively start losing it. But 5 minutes in Saphrym that he actually makes you want to get lean, mean & live healthy. Such is his aura!
  
  Lesson Learnt : Content Is King.
  
  
• Mr. White writes a section in his blog titled "The Daily Read" where he spreads the link love and reviews posts around the blogosphere that are worthy enough. All one needs to do is be a member of EntreCard and shoot him an email with a link to the post that Mr. White is expected to review
  
  Lesson Learnt : Reach Out To Your Peers.
  

What Sam Freedom Taught Me -

• The very title of his blog "Sam freedom's Internet Marketing Controversy Blog" speaks out volume of his character. Here's this man who definitely writes well and also provides pretty thoughtful insights into posts and ideas. But the blood in his vein is, plain & simple, controversy. Yes, Sam Freedom thrives on controversies. Check out almost any post where he's commented and you shall know what I am talking about. I'm afraid to admit that probably Sam Freedom has actually built up a "controversy niche" for himself and his followers. But never the less, as they say, "All's Well That Ends Well". If that kinda marketing makes his blog and popularity (or should I call it notoriety?) tick, then why not?
  
  Lesson Learnt : Dare To Be Different & There's A Whole New World Waiting To Embrace You.
  
  
• These days, especially after the advent of EntreCard and Project Wonderful, I can hardly see any block of advertising that has not been already occupied by Sam Freedom. Look around and the very characteristic old man in the American flag is everywhere. He's probably buying his way out to popularity, but then again, what the heck if that makes his blog tick?
  
  Lesson Learnt : Never lose focus and exposure.
  
  
• If you check out Sam's blog, you shall find ample pictures of wannabe women trying to woo your eyeballs. First time, I kind of doubled back. But then onwards, I rather enjoyed the attention. Who cares even if it was from just pretty images?
  
  Lesson Learnt : Even If You Don't Have Great Content, Wrapping It Up In A Pretty Looking Paper Just Might Be Able To Sell It.
  

What Rashmi Bansal Taught Me -

• I am an engineering student and it is customary in India to get into a job or pursue higher studies after you complete your undergraduate degree. Unfortunately, I am not cut out for a normal 9-5 job and neither am I interested to pursue my GMAT in the next 2 years, at the minimum. I had been worrying like hell of what to do in future when I read these entrepreneurship stories of 4 young Indian men, Prakash Mundhra, Vibhor Agarwal, Ashwini Rathod & Vinamra Pandiya. These stories helped in reinstating the belief in myself and now, here I am, daring the world.
  
  Lesson Learnt : Entrepreneurship Is The Need Of The Hour. All One Needs Is Zeal & Guts.
  
  
• Rashmi has always been helping out people, be it for writing in JAM, a youth magazine she edits; be it running a Job Board; or be it running for a cause.
  
  Lesson Learnt : There's Always Someone Out There To Support You. All You Need To Do Is Ask For A Hand.
  

Well, I hope you liked my theses and if you still haven't subscribed to my RSS feeds, do so immediately as tomorrow, I plan to write about Madhur Kapoor, Sakshi & RamKarthik.

How To Advertise For Your Blog Effectively? - The Solutions

If you are a regular at Shayon's Labyrinth, you shall remember that I'd written a post yesterday on how to advertise for your blog effectively where I had debated on the issue of whether one should put up advertisements that link to separate blog posts or to the whole site in itself. I had also promised to come out with the final solution today. Hence, here's the final verdict of the debate.

The Verdict

• Always make provisions for navigating to important pages of your website from any other page.
• If possible, put up excerpts of recent comments at the sidebar so that a reader can always learn about the current buzz on your blog.
• Set up a "related posts" section below every post so that a reader can navigate to other pages that might interest him.
• Ditto about the above for your feeds as well.
• Also, set up a "most popular posts" widget at the sidebar. Showcasing those posts just might help you in developing a loyal reader. Remember, those posts had become popular because they were good and your readers appreciated them.
• If possible, post your RSS link in every article that gets popular.
• Keep linking to other articles in your site, frequently.
• Keep rotating the graphic you use for advertisements, link to the best of your posts.
• There must be provision for your readers to contact you. Contact forms are very official-looking & turn quite a few readers away. Email addresses are so much nicer. It shows that you trust your readers.
• Last, but never the least, always advertise on the sites of your own genre / niche.

I hope these posts helped you a bit in deciding on which route to take while advertising. Do let me know your take on the issue or if there are more points that you can come up with.

How To Advertise For Your Blog Effectively?

Almost every blogger in the cosmos has advertised for his website at least once in his lifetime and I am sure you are one of them. Today, there are a lot of avenues where one can advertise. Some of them happen to be Google Adwords, EntreCard, Project Wonderful or by directly inking deals with other bloggers. My question here is, what do you allow these ads to link to?

Did you even undergo any internal conflict regarding the link? If you link to your website itself, did you ever publish an awesome post & then wished to advertise that very article, since it was your best creation? If you normally link to various contests in your blog, did you ever feel that your visitors never browsed through your whole blog because you'd linked to just one post? Well, I don't know about you, but I certainly have.

I have always been juggling between this concept of "blog url" & "post url". Hence, I thought I would share my dilemma & its solutions to you, here in my blog.

Advantage of linking to the main website / blog :

• The main web page is almost always optimally designed. You can always decide how to make your visitors navigate through the pages once they land up on your website.
• The basic design of the homepage is usually constant, unlike separate blog posts. This helps in brand recognition among repeat visitors.
• The website can be divided into various sections and all be served at the same time to the readers. This allows the reader to choose where he'd wish to navigate to.
• If a blog is running contests, all of them can be viewed at the same time on the main page.

Advantage of linking to separate blog posts :

• Since the posts, you link to, are some of your best pieces, they create huge impact on the incoming visitors, increasing your band value.
• If a stumbler is too impressed with your post, he shall, most certainly, dig into the archives in search of more gold. If you are capable of churning out quality posts frequently, that certain visitor is bound to become a loyal reader.
• Sometimes, a reader might land up onto a certain post because he wanted to get a certain job done. Now, if your article succeeds in helping him and since he's in a hurry, he'd just sunscribe to your blog so that he could follow you in future. Thus, you earn yourself a very precious subscriber.
• There are times when, even if your post fails to solve a visitor's problem, your comments just might. This again results in subscription. However, the comments are almost never visible on a blog's homepage.
• Again, landing up on the posts' page increases the chance of visitors' commenting to a large extent. Then, you can interact with your readers and hence form a community for yourself.

So, what do you think? What way do you advertise for your blog? Do you normally link to the main page or separate articles? How are your experiences with advertising , in general?

Just in case you still haven't subscribed to my RSS feeds yet, do so immediately because tomorrow I plan to publish the final verdict on this perennial dilemma of advertising, combining my views and those of yours.