Part 2 of 3 about building a successful blog business, taken from Collis Ta'eed's ebook published through RockablePress.

1. how to build
a Successful
blog
business
list & Popular
Content 2/3

2. Blogs need traffic to survive. If nobody’s coming to your website,
you’re not making any money!

3. Blogs need traffic to survive. If nobody’s coming to your website,
you’re not making any money!
There are a few types of content that are known for their ability
to get a serious number of people to your site in a short period
of time. The content isn’t the only factor: how well they are
promoted using social media is a big one, and as with all things,
some luck is required.
You could have a great piece written for the purpose of traffic
generation (often referred to as “linkbait”) and execute the
marketing properly and still fail. Don’t let that get you down;
it will happen and the only thing you can do is move on and try again.

4. LET’S LOOK AT:
lists &
Roles
Popular content

5. The List:

6. The list article is pretty much the exemplar of
linkbait in the blogging industry. When people
think of linkbait, they think of the list article,
and it’s one of the most commonly published
types of content.
This is partly because it’s incredibly effective
when done properly. The truth is that many list
articles on the Internet don’t succeed very well.
That’s not because the list post isn’t effective –
it truly is – but because it’s approached as the
“easy way” to get traffic and executed without
much effort or consideration.

7. First you need a topic that’s going to work well
with the format. The list is often used as a
format for humor content to great effect, but it
really shines with practical information, such as
“50 Ways to...” pieces. Second, every point on
the list needs to be there for a reason. Because
the longer lists often attract more traffic than
the short ones, people end up including filler
points to beef up the count. Don’t do it! You’re
better off writing a short list with great points
than a really long list with a bunch of filler.

8. The Tutorial:

9. Tutorials and how-to articles are always very
popular. Web surfers love to find out how to do
new things, even if they never end up doing
them!
Some tutorials work better than others.

10. If nobody wants to know how to do something,
nobody will want to read about how it’s done!
That said, sometimes the most popular pieces
teach obscure (but awesome) techniques that
nobody reads about simply because nobody
knows they existed in the first place. Don’t be
afraid to publish things nobody else is
publishing. Unique content is the best content
you can ever publish.

11. The Interview:

12. Interviews can do really well, but they’re more
of a challenge to get right than the list or
tutorial.People love celebrities (even if the
person is only a celebrity to the niche of people
reading your site) and those doing exceptional
and unusual things. However, if you interview
run-of-the-mill professionals, the reaction is
generally pretty dull. It might sound a little
elitist, but people generally don’t care to read
about someone else unless there’s something
that significantly separates them from the
average individual.

13. Journalists are trained to interview subjects in a
way that produces good stories, not transcribed
conversations. They have an advantage in that
they’re trained to bypass their fear of being
rude to or provoking the subject, and are willing
to ask the tough questions that create
entertaining pieces. If you’re going to use
interviews on your blog, read a few books on
interview technique and practice regularly.
Interviews can be really dull if done badly, and
entertaining if they’re done with the right
subject and the right interview techniques. Take
the time to get it right.

14. Breaking News:

15. News is not an easy niche to get into because
competition can be fierce. However, if you’ve
got some breaking news in your niche and can
get it published before anyone else, you’ve got
a great opportunity to generate traffic and build
your credibility. All you need to do then is drum
up some interest on a variety of social media
sites and hope that nobody with bigger
marketing muscle steals your thunder!

16. Controversy:

17. Controversy works because it gets people
coming to your site to defend their position on
a topic. For the blog owner, it can be a fine line
to walk: on one hand, it could bring a whole
bunch of new readers to your site, but if you go
too far, it could alienate even more readers than
you end up gaining.

18. Controversial posts take many forms: opinion
pieces, exposés, and humor, are just three of
the most common controversy starters.The
strength of controversial posts is that they
generate comments and links. You want your
readers to defend their point of view or expand
on your argument. Other post types may bring
in heavy traffic without adding to your comment
count or inbound links at all.

19. Polls:

20. Polls are not something I’d classify as linkbait in
themselves, but they do generate a lot more
activity than I would have thought before I
started publishing them. Readers love to be
included and give their two cents, especially if
they can do so without taking the time to think
up their own answer.

21. Polls tell the reader that you assign importance
to their opinions and the interaction solidifies
their relationship with your brand. While they
don’t generate much more traffic from outside
the site, they’re still a type of popular content
that makes your existing readers happy.

22. Inside the book:
Blogging as a Business Staff Generating Traffic Long Term Strategies
Opportunities in Blogging Freelance and Salaried Staff Google Analytics Building a Long Term Business
Risk and Reward Freelancer Basics Basic Techniques for From One Blog to Many
A Sketch of a Blog Business Employee Basics Generating Traffic Using a Blog to Build Other
Your Role and Blogging Finding and Identifying Good Social Media Basics Businesses
Experience People Guest Posts Valuing and Selling a Blog
Setting Up as a Business What to Pay Content Aggregators
Capital and Investment Working with Remote Staff Buying Traffic Case Study 1:
Co-founders Setting Parameters and Keyword Research FreelanceSwitch
Your Mission and Vision Focusing on Results Giving Away Free Stuff Hitting On a Topic
Business Planning Other Staff Issues Leveraging Your Existing Capitalizing on a Good Idea
Roles Network and Assets The Road to Profitability
Role: Site Editor/Manager Consistency and Momentum Traffic
Planning and Researching Role: Writer Linking Out to Generate and Lessons Learned
Niches Role: Web Designer Keep Traffic
Researching a Niche Role: Web Developer Search Traffic Case Study 2:
Competitive Analysis Other Roles A Basic Guide to SEO Psdtuts+
Understanding the Niche
Planning Your Content Planning Content Monetization Tips Case Study 3:
Your Overall Strategy Writing for the Web General Tips on Monetization AppStorm
Making Content Valuable Advertising
Creating a Brand Editing Affiliate Sales Appendix:
What is a Brand? The Editing Process Premium Content A Blog Basics Crash
Naming Considerations Quick Editing Tips Support Course
Domain Names Know What You’re Talking Selling Products
Visual Branding About Ad Services
Web Design Lists and Popular Content Selling Your Expertise
Other Elements of Branding Frequency Creating and Selling Web Apps
Quality Evergreen Content Other Strategies
News Content Blending, Iterating and
Filler Posts Experimenting
Images and Diagrams
Headlines
Headlines Galore!
Style and Tone

23. Thanks!
about the author:

24. Thanks!
about the author:
Collis has authored three books, written dozens
of the most popular tutorials on the web and is
an accomplished entrepreneur, designer and
blogger. He is the creator and cofounder
ofEnvato and Tuts+, producing blogs and sites
that serve over fifty million pageviews a month.