25 Things You Can Learn From Darren Rowse

Lesson one: Work Really Hard.

Darren has enjoyed massive success partly because he started earlier. He also was willing to work considerably harder.

In this post from Buzz Marketing with Blogs, Darren talks about a time where he had 17 blogs an aimed to contribute 25 posts a day, 7 days a week. To quote, "If I post for a full year at this rate I'll have added 9125 pages which gives every opportunity for someone to find it using search engines."

To do this you need to create efficient posting methods. One way is having a rough template which you can model different types of posts on. It takes practice to get to a level where you can write high quality posts quickly. Experiment with this in your early days until you find something that works for you.

Lesson Two: Choose your domain name carefully.

In the same interview from 2005, Darren mentioned that one of his  blogging regrets was ‘not setting up some of the blogs that I've started on their own domains.'

The blog mentioned was Digital Photography Blog, which is hosted on Darrens living room domain. Darren actually holds the individual domain, but chose to use livingroom because that domain was powerful.

If you are having trouble with a domain, decide if you want the blog to focus more on your personal or professional brand. Also think about the long term future of your site. If you have the keyword 'blog' in the url you may place limitations on your sites expansion.

In an interview on Remarkable Blogging, he talked about other mistakes he has made with his domains. The first was not purchasing a .com version of Problogger during his early days. He ended up purchasing the domain for considerably more. The second was having hyphens in the domain Digital Photography School.

Lesson Three: Focus on building your profile

In his interview on Life Of Justin, Darren said that it was his profile and expertise in his field that got him the publishing deal with Wiley. His main advice was

The way I landed the ProBlogger deal was that the publisher (Wiley) sought me out because I'd established a profile and expertise in my field. As a result my "to work as hard as you can to build up your readership, brand and profile in your niche". He added that it could also be of help when pitching to a publisher.

Building profile of a field can have other monetary benefits. You can:

• Charge more for your freelance work
• Leverage your profile for joint venture deals or when promoting your own products
• Request higher rates for advertising spots.

Lesson four: Don't give up to quickly

One of the things that Darren talks about in this Blogger Talks interview is that many bloggers give up to quickly. This is a topic that is expanded on in the Problogger book, where they say that the average age of a Technorati top 100 blog is over 30 months. This is a topic he touched upon further in this episode of Perfcast.

You can let your blog naturally evolve if you are uncomfortable with the direction of your blog.

Lesson five: Don't be too strategic - let your blogs evolve.

In this interview on My Tropical Escape, Darren said that as he looked "forward into the next 3-5 years I can honestly say that I don't really know where it will end up."

He followed my saying he had many blogging and financial goals, bit allowed his blogs to undergo an evolutionary process rather than being tethered to specific goals.

I do similar. I have goals which include the total numbers of posts I want within a time period, or income levels I want to reach. This is a very useful tip.

If you focus on the strategy too much, you may be paralyzed by inaction. It also leaves you with less room to move should you be unhappy with your blogs direction. Find a balance between having a strategy for your blog and the natural process of blog evolution.

Lesson Six: Don't ignore your health and fitness.

Further in that interview, Darren said that if he started out again, he would "want to spend more time working on my health and fitness". He has written about being a healthy blogger at Problogger.

Ignoring your health is tempting when you are trying to accomplish multiple blogging goals. However if you ignore it, you may lose valuable work time due to illness.

From the start, create a plan that incorporates healthy food and exercise. You can listen to podcasts while exercising and take advantage of savings techniques to prepare meals in advance.

Lesson Seven:: Focus on specific niche:

On the Retire at 21 blog, Darren talked about how we wished he had moved onto niche blogging earlier. His Living Room blog was very general, covering "everything form spirituality, to photography, to politics, to movies, to.... well you name it, I covered it all!" He followed by saying that once he created blogs with niche focuses, his income and traffic went to a new level.

An interesting case study is of a website called Tomato Casual. By having the one focus, Reggie was able to amass a targeted and fiercely loyal audience. This is more useful then a general gardening blog, even if you narrow it down to container or herb gardening.

It you are taking a 5 year focus, it may be useful to have a broader niche like Darren's Digital Photography Blog. This is when you dominate the search engines by the sheer amount of content you have. Navigation and RSS readership are minor goals compared to the monetization possibilities.

Thus you have two options when choosing a niche.

• Create a focused niche to get an extremely targeted and passionate audience. You can benefit on a larger affiliate income by those who routinely interact with your content.
• Create a loose niche. The focus is on SEO and contextual advertising.

Lesson Eight: Focus on personal branding.

Later in that interview, Darren said that he wished had thought about branding more at the start: "Having started ProBlogger and seen that brand grow I wish I'd put a little more thought into that from the early days."

Problogger has since become a common phrase amongst to industry to describe a professional status that we would all like to achieve. It also encapsulates Darrens personal and professional brands.

When you are starting out try to create a distinction between between your personal and professional brands. Duncan Riley wrote about this in his guest post on Problogger.

If you are struggling with personal branding, Skellie has released a free minibook through Rockable Press.

Lesson Nine: Write Something Unique.

Darren also recommended that people write something unique - "there are millions of blogs out there - the ones that are most successful almost always do something unique to stand out from the crowd."

You can find individuality in your niche or by the way you present your content. Just look at what Gary Vaynerchuk has done to the web business niche.

Lesson Ten: Diversify

In an interview on About.com, Darren cautioned about putting all your eggs in one blogging basked.

This is sage advice, especially in the current economic situation. There are a number of ways you can diversify your income.

• Have a back up income source to fall on. This could be a part time job or even income from investments
• Add a variety of income streams to your blog
• Consider starting up multiple blogs on a variety of topics and domains. They don't all have to be wildly successful but could come in handy as an emergency income source.
• Research indirect income sources link consulting or freelancing.

Diversifying is not spreading yourself too thin. Its ensuring you have back up plans should other income sources fall through.

Lesson Eleven: Invest your time in writing quality content

On Jamie Harrops site, Darren said to "produce the kind of content that people just can't stop but passing on to others."

This can have the follow on effect of increasing your traffic and Technorati ranking. Darren gives many ideas on his post 20 types of linkable content.

On Cute Writing, Darren discussed this further, saying that you the best way to increase your technorati ranking was to write the type of content that other people link to. "It's amazing how many people spend a lot of time begging other bloggers for links, trying to swap links with other bloggers etc when they should probably be investing their time into writing high quality content that gets people wanting to share it with others".

Just look at the success of Dosh Dosh. He has ignored all the conventional methods of blog promotion yet still is an amazing success.

If you are struggling with writing quality content, analyze the blog posts that really resonate with you and try to replicate them. After a while, you'll be able to ascertain what makes an article truely stand out.

Lesson Twelve: Monitor your personal brand:

Darren spoke about having a vanity feed on Problogger. I saw this in example on an interview at Cute Writing. Someone posted a slightly negative comment and he responded by offering to help.

This has the mutual benefit of finding ways to possibly expand his readership. I would highly recommend researching methods of monitoring your brand so you can participate in the conversations about you.

Lesson Thirteen: Guest post

On Jamie Harrop, Darren talked about how he would guest post if he was starting again in the industry. He said that "If there were other blogs on the same topic already out there with established audiences I'd work hard to produce great content that I could offer these blogs to publish as guest posts ... a guest post puts my name in their faces and potentially can drive traffic back to my blog."

This is a solid technique as one that was worked for many aspiring bloggers - such as skellie. He discussed this concept in greater detail on Problogger.

Lesson Fourteen: Involve your readers

On Write To Done, Darren talked about how involving your readers can make you a better writer. "One of the exciting things about new mediums like blogging is that they allow you to have immediate interaction and feedback from readers."

There are a couple of ways to feature your readers:

• Feature there comments in your blog posts
• Link to their posts from your blog or from twitter.
• Create a compilation of twitter responses

Lesson Fifteen: Interact with those on a similar journey

Later on Write To Done, Darren talking about networking with people at similar stages in their career.

This proved to be extremely effective for Jeff Chandler. He has enjoyed amazing success lately which can be pinpointed to the original point of interaction.

You shouldn't network for selfish reasons. There are many other good reasons to interact:

• You can get pointed to articles on concepts that stump you.
• You can get emotional support if your having a pressing career issue.
• You can get guidance on how to progress in your career.

Lesson Sixteen: Batch process

He also discussed how batch processing made him more productive. "This means when it comes to writing I set aside mornings just to write and I'll write multiple posts at once - which I then ‘drip' out on my blogs later in the week. This way I get on a roll with writing and get a lot done at once."

Darren has spoken about batch processing previously. Its a really effective method of getting tasks out of the way, especially if they are unpleasant.

Lesson Seventeen: Have processes for capturing ideas.

Additionally, Darren spoke about his methods for capturing post ideas. "I jot ideas for posts in notebooks, text files on my computer, in the notes section of my mobile phone, I email them to myself and I've even leave voice messages on my own phone with them! I think it's important to always being on the look out for ideas and to do something to capture them. This way when you come to write you've got a start."

I bet you, like me, have had amazing idea for blog posts only to lose that creative spark before you can jot them down. I take a notebook and voice recorder with me everywhere to ensure I can capture those silly, yet inspiring, ideas.

Lesson Eighteen: Make sure you have a strong start:

On New Media Type, Darren talked about ensuring that your blog gets off to a good start. The three methods mentioned in this post were to:

• Network
• Guest Post
• Have at least 10 posts before launching.

It can take multiple exposures of your name for people to recognize your brand. Additionally, your audience might not be ready for your content. By having a strong start, you can build name recognition for when people are ready to read your content.

Personally, I am doing something different to ensure I have a strong start. I'm aiming to have 200 pages of content before I start promoting. I will also be networking and guest posting prolifically. If successful, I'll be providing extensive case studies.

Lesson Nineteen: Build it into a part time income before you start quitting your job

On Performancing, Darren compared blogging to sports. "The majority of people playing sport do it for fun, a smaller number make a little money when they win a competition, a smaller number are able to go 'pro' but don't hit the big time and a smaller number become mega-stars (Tiger Woods for example)."

In sport though, there is a wider reach of people and more endorsement opportunities. People who are mildly successful at sports do have greater potential for income compared to those who are blogging.

Jeff Chandler is a good example. He has been working part time while building up his freelance blogging income. Over the past month, he has been able to reduce his hours to focus on his freelance projects.

Lesson Twenty: Develop posting rhythms that work for you

On Zen Habits, Darren talked about Monday Writing Mornings. "I now block out Monday mornings (and sometimes Wednesday mornings) for writing. I do this offline and away from the house so there are no distractions."

My post rhythm is different. I allocate the morning for various tasks - cleaning, shopping and preparing the meals for the day. I usually work from Midday to 9 or 10pm, with frequent breaks in between. This means I remain productive while maintaining my work life balance.

Twenty One: Ascertain when to separate yourself from the blogs "brand"

On Performancing, Darren spoke about his experiences seperating his personal brand from the professional brand of some of his blogs.

"On DPS I don't want to tie my own 'brand' to the blog as much because I'm more interested in promoting the community of knowledge there. I don't want to become seen as an expert in photography or create a blog that is reliant upon me - so I step back a little and let others be the face of the blog and forum there."

To contrast, there is Neil Creek who strongly connects both of his brands. This is done in a similar manner to how Darren approaches blogging.

By limiting your association with your professional brands, you can create more opportunities for your personal one. This can be more financially rewarding in the long run.

Lesson Twenty Two: Concentrate on the content before promotion

It this interview with The Age, it was mentioned that Darren was relatively unknown. He confessed "he hadn't done much to publicise his activities, because he had been concentrating on the content."

Darren has since become quite prominent in the industry, but now has many years and thousands of pages of content behind him. Even now, his promotional activities include providing quality content to get traffic in return.

This technique has been very successful for Darren and many other prolific bloggers.

Lesson Twenty Three: Be yourself and write from the heart

Darren discussed this in his interview on the SMH website. It needs no further explanation

Lesson Twenty Four: Have a long term vision

In this interview, Darren warned about how hard it is to turn your blog into a business "but with a long-term vision, sustained hard work, a lot of creativity and some luck it's possible"

With my long term visions, my sites are extended beyond the original blog. Here are some ideas to introduce to your site:

• Video content. This could be a TV show on its own domain or content that is uploaded on multiple sharing sites.
• Pictures. If you are in a niche like craft or gardening, you could upload photos on flickr to drive content back to your site or to create 'link bait' tutorials.
• Create articles that aren't included in the RSS feed. This could be in a seperate section, or even on a seperate wordpress install. Such articles could even be more heavily monetized.

A long term vision can help your blog as it evolves.

Lesson Twenty Five: Accept interviews when you have the time. Here are a couple to whet your appetite

• Sparkplugging: Darren Rowse on Work Life Balance
• Aussie Bloggers: A Personal Interview With Aussie Problogger Darren Rowse
• Problogineer: Interview With Darren From Problogger
• Interview on The Happiness Project
• Interview on Blogging Cents
• Interview with Australian newspaper The Age
• Interview On Guy Kawasaki's blog
• Bloggers Face Off on Daily Blog Tips