This post is a quick one. Its my 23rd birthday tomorrow and while I wanted to provide you guys with lots of value, I also wanted to go hang with the family.
Create a site based around a concept
Stuart Marsh, at Beardy Geek, created Blog Twin after reading a post on ViperChill called The Secret to growing your blog twice as fast with half the effort. He blogged about it here. It got the attention of Glen Allsopp who sent out a tweet sounding pretty darn impressed.
This is one of the best techniques I’ve seen. You are showing that their post resonated with you enough to take action. They are likely to sneeze that action which means that their audience, which will include other influencers, will see. They’ll be inclined to sneeze it because very few people take action, let alone creating a whole site based off a concept.
Create a cool graphic to promote an interview
Andy , from Entrepreneurial Daddy, got on my radar by including a funky graphic on his interview of Dave Navarro. He went to the effort of recreating many facets of Daves picture including the grey scale, theme and facial expression.
I saw it and cracked up laughing. It helped me emotionally connect to Andy and know that he is willing to put the effort into making the interviews fun and engaging.
Provide Resources for Mavens to Share the Word
On her page for mavens and affiliates, Danielle Laporte includes badges of love for people to place on their site. She encourages the readers to ‘Let the world know that you like it hot’ and even provides the necessary code.
This is a technique that is barely utilized and people are leaving money on the table. Most bloggers have vertical networking covered. They know how to target the influencers and connect with fans on twitter. What most people are ignoring are the chances for your fans and friends to share the word about you.
People will use this badge because they want to share the word about your community. Are you encouraging your community to talk about you?
Create a graphic for your recommendations page
The guys over at Men With Pens created this killer graphic for the resources they recommend. It blends well with their branding and has a compelling call to action. I’ll be borrowing this concept for this site.
Have more?
These are just the ideas I came up with when planning the next iteration of my site. If you want a sneak peak of that, check out the Products I recommend and People I recommend pages.
I’d love to read your examples. If you know anyone that is engaging their community or getting in a unique way, let me know in the comments.
This is one of the best techniques I’ve seen. You are showing that their post resonated with you enough to take action. They are likely to sneeze that action which means that their audience, which will include other influencers, will see. They’ll be inclined to sneeze it because very few people take action, let alone creating a whole site based off a concept.
Fun is my middle name. Well, it is if you add a letter and do some rearranging.
Seriously, I'm so very honored to be mentioned in such an amazing group of peeps. Thanks Jade and I'd be perfectly happy to stick my mug next to some others
Listen – that was a fantastic way to get attention during an interview. What you essentially did was highlight an awesome person AND networked during the post. Not many people can do that
Lemme know if I can help with anything.
- Jade
If I am stuck for a graphic for a post I sometimes fall back on Wordle – http://www.wordle.com – which generates striking wordmaps. It's quick and easy and providing it's not over-used can be very effective.
thanks for the shout out!
oooh! I'm going to create a section for cool sites to link to and include that
The correct url is wordle.net says google, but I appreciate it.
Thanks heaps
Anytime!
Your site is killer for encouraging people to share the messages. I have a client starting next month (you know him) and will be raving about your site as a good example of what he could achieve.
- Jade
Happy Birthday
Great tips. I love the interview graphic tip – wish I had enough graphics skills to do this for all the interviews I do…
How many interviews do you do?
If I could think of a cool idea I'd get Bill to whip up some banners. However the ones Andy did was awesome. The other Andy. I'm definitely borrowing the maven concept if I could think of a name to describe my community 
Hey Andy! I dig the name
I wish I could say that I have mad graphics skills, but the truth is I really don't. I simply opened Keynote on my mac and dragged the the two pics together, added the text and took a screen shot. Powerpoint will work the same way, if your a PC dude.
So there ya go. My super duper secret ninja skills revealed. Have fun!
Happy Birthday!!! I hope you have a blast.
And thanks for the great info. I think I'll apply a couple of these!
thanks jade! this is SUPER helpful! i just moved and re-designed my site, so this is great stuff to have as i'm decorating my new home.
hope you're enjoying your birthday:-) i'm sure this year will bring you more of what you want. it's been inspiring to watch how you've grown and shaped your business over the past few months. your reviews have also been really helpful to me in making buying decisions and i haven't regretted any of the purchases you suggested. THANK YOU!
Dudette, thank you for commenting
I do a lot of research – a lot of finding the 'best practices' to help people connect with their readers. I'm adapting a lot of them. Another cool one I found, via http://www.wakeupcloud.com, is having a thank you page for commenters.
Your site looks kinda awesome. I literally just bought the firestarter sessions today and I love it. Brilliant, brilliant resource. I love the navigation graphics in your sidebar, especially the one that links to a survey
I did enjoy my birthday and the past few months have been fantastic. They haven't been easy but its been a journey that I've learned so much from. Especially in the past month where I realized I can help people while making money.
Reviews are always hard to do. I get a lot out of products because I'm going through a learning phase, I take action and I also see it from the perspective of how I can help them. I loved the sticky ebook product but felt bad recommending it to a friend.
If you want to buy something but aren't sure it's for you, just email me. I'm not after a commission but I'm one of the rare people that have bought a lot of stuff.
that's so great. i just went to henri's site. i really like that. okay…i'm adding that to my list. thanks for sharing that.
i also appreciate you taking the time to check out my site and sharing your feedback!
isn't FSS great! i've been taking time this weekend to sink into the 2nd module and do the exercises. it's the treat i use to get through a chunk of studying for my finals next week. LOL!
curious why you felt bad recommending sticky e-book to a friend. your review is actually what prompted me to buy it and i LOVED it! i'll definitely take you up on your offer next time i'm considering a purchasing. right now i'm eyeing your networking course…that's my next purchase when i get my next paycheck:-)
glad you enjoyed your birthday! hope today is just the beginning of a month-long celebration:-)
I think I feel guilty recommending that people buy stuff when they may not be in the right mindset to get the most out of it. I used to be poor so I freak out asking people to buy stuff.
I'd email Kelly to tell her how much you enjoyed it. That can mean a lot.
Actually, with the course we are selling the guides seperately and reducing the overall packaged price. It's been such a learning curve this past month.
The fire starter thingy takes infoproducts to a new level. It feels like a guilty indulgence.
Anyhoo lemme know if I can help
I'm on the train ATM on my tiny iPhone
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