Darren Rowse is a really busy man. He runs three blogs – Digital Photography School, Twitip and Problogger. He is co-founder of b5-media, co-author of the Problogger Book and father to two children. For his Melbourne fans, he regularly attends Tweetupmellers and is speaking at Marketing Now.
He was lovely enough to talk about his recent ebook, 31 Days to Build a Better Blog.
What motivated you to release this product?
The motivation behind 31 Days to Build a Better Blog was simply that I saw a lot of bloggers struggling for motivation with their blogs. Many bloggers start out with big ideas but a few months in are struggling for ideas to write about or are depressed that no one is reading their blog.
31DBBB is simply a way to kick start your blog – it includes practical 31 daily tasks (although they can be spread out over a longer period) that are all designed with different aspects of growing a successful blog in mind.
>Do you have plans to release further products?
I’m pretty sure I’ll do another one at some point for ProBlogger but my next one (possibly two) will be on my photography site.
You said that bloggers should build their network before they need it. How did this help you?
Having a network established before you want to sell something means that when you’re ready to promote it you already have a network of people who are in relationship with you, who find you useful and helpful and who hopefully trust you enough to buy your product. I see many authors start blogs or jump on Twitter the week before their book launches – unfortunately they’re probably too late to really capitalize on it.
Do you have any tips for new bloggers trying to build a network?
The main thing I’d advise is to spend time working out what type of person you want to read your blog – who is your target audience? This might be answered demographically in some cases but should also include things like ‘what problems and needs do they have?’
If you know WHO you’re looking to attract to your blog you’re better positioned to find them.
Once you know that ask yourself – ‘where are these potential readers already gathering and networking online?’ I could be Twitter, facebook, a forum, another blog. Your task then is to go and become a part of these communities and add value to them.
Your free course was widely publicized. Why do you think people were willing to pay?
In chatting to many people who’ve bought 31DBBB (and there have been quite a few thousand now) the main reasons include:
- having it all in the one document – the free course was on my blog which was great at the time but all scattered on different posts now.
- the updates – I added content to each day, extra tips, more teaching etc
- having their own copy – many people wanted to do the challenge over and over (some have done it 3 times already and are doing it each month) – having their own copy helped this.
You’ve launched a number of things recently. What was the motivation behind problogger deals?
The @ProBloggerDeals Twitter account was a flash of an idea that came to me one day that I started within a few minutes. It’s really just a place for me to promote products, deals, discounts and competitions that people have that are relevant to bloggers. I get pitched 3-4 times as many of these as I can use on ProBlogger so thought I’d add them all there. It’s pretty ‘salesy’ but I’m up front about it and people seem to have responded well. I just need to find a little more time to promote it.
Is Darren Rowse.com the natural evolution of living room?
It’s not intentionally that – but in reality I guess it’ll be similar, although probably a little less focused upon Spiritual issues than the LivingRoom blog.
I’ve hung out with you a couple of times at meetups. How much importance would you place on physical networking?
I think it can help a little but it’s not essential. I’ve started businesses and written books with people I’ve never met in person (I still am yet to meet Chris Garrett who I wrote the ProBlogger book with) so it’s very possible to build a successful business in a more virtual way.
I find the ‘face to face’ can solidify relationships a bit (probably more so for some people than others) but there are other ways to do this through using instant messaging, video etc