Another Wordpress Blog

I’ve discovered a secret to get tons of traffic! Write plugins! Ok, you don’t have to write plugins. The real secret to lots of traffic has three parts:

• Create unique, valuable content,
• Make sure its available through you and
• Get the word out.

So how do you create unique valuable content, make it available and get the word out? Because there are many options, the answr to this question is long. So, here goes!

Remember, “value” is defined by the “customer”.

Every blogger tends to think their blog posts are unique and valuable. After all, I know potential customers– otherwise knows as “readers” or “the world” — really can benefit by reading about my cat’s weight problem. Yes, this information really truly valuable (to me)!

Yet, “the world” doesn’t recognize the value posts about ‘Mo. And I know the reason why:

To catch a customer’s attention, I need to provide that person something they value. Unless I am a comic genius, “the world” does not care about ‘Mo, the feline monument.’

So how do you figure out what “the world” values?

First, lower your goal; focus on a niche some valuable items, then do a three simple things:

1. Actively listen and find problems. How? Join forums and visit blogs.

   I joined three forums PPP, GeakySpeaky and V7N and visited lots of blogs. Reading, I noticed several people had problems with excess CPU use. I noticed quite few bloggers using Dofollow complained about increasing human comment spam. I noticed several people mentioned they’d like to easily use “Kontera” while participating in a Sponsored programs.

   That’s three problems!

2. Identify needs What’s a “need”?
   In all three of these cases, I saw that quite a few people felt they had a problem. Many bloggers tried to fill “the need” by giving advice. They advised “solutions” which included suggestions like: stop using dofollow, don’t use Kontera or spend money on higher priced servers.

   I also noticed discussion about the problem continued long after the “advice” was posted. The reason is that none of the available solutions are filled “the need” as perceived by the people with the problem.

   In the case of the “dofollow” issue what many bloggers felt they needed was an automated, flexible, easy to use method to discouraging human comment spam while remaining “dofollow”.

   In fact, I found each of the three problems listed above had it’s own, individual need.

3. Try to present the solution. How? There are at least two good ways to present solutions.
   

   Be a font of knowledge.

   Sometimes, a need can be filled by providing information about existing solutions and giving good, clear easy to follow advice. In that case, try to craft answers that are just detailed enough to permit people to solve their problem. This is the most common solution found on blogs about blogging.

   Create a tool.

   In blogging, “tools” means writing widgets, plugins, browser extensions and sometimes themes. This generally requires programming.

   If you have the skills, enough people have the same problem, and the plugin or widget is easy to write, bang out the code. Try to be sure the plugin features fill 80%-90% of “the need”. For your own sake, make your program easy for you to extend, for your “customers” sake, make the plugin easy to use, then release the plugin.

   Wait a few weeks. If you actually filled an aching need, you’ll get feedback. Listen. Then, if you can, add features people specifically request. (One visitor asked for an additional time delay in the plugin. I’ll be adding that; it’s trivial.)

Make your solution available.

How? Post it on your server, silly!:)

More specifically: if your solution was advice, write the blog post, proof-read and publish. Done! If longer advice was required, write a series of blog posts. Or, write an ebook. Make that available either as a free product or for sale.

If your solution is a plugin, zip it, put it on your server, and write a blog post telling people it’s available.

If you correctly identified a need, you’ll get traffic.. The plugin brought in more traffic on July 29 than I got the whole month of June, Plugin Hog Detector did the same thing on Aug. 1. In both cases, the plugins were mentioned by Andy Beard on his blog.

Get the word out.

How? First, the steps I describe will only work if you really filled a need! Now, do these things:

1. Trackback the bloggers who described the problem on their blogs. If you trackback 5 blogs, expect 4 yawns. But, if you present a real solution, you’ll find 1 blogger is very likely to mention your solution to their readers. Why? Because that’s what good bloggers do!
2. Mention the solution at forums where you read the problem. Likely as not, any problem 3 people groused about is experienced by lots of bloggers. Someone will notice and value the solution.

   Some forums have particularly nice features. V7N is a very busy forum that automatically runs the title of your most recent blog post in your comment. When I write a post, I try to give descriptive titles, then, after I publish, I visit that forum, find an interesting topic and leave a useful comment! Mind you, this strategy won’t work when you have no reputation, but by the fourth time I wrote a plugin, I could see hits coming from that forum.

3. Ask other users to publicize for you! In the past, I have found this very difficult, but thanks to the Posties at the Pay Per Post board, I have become pretty aggresive! In fact, my more recent plugins are coded to permit the users the option to run a link which publicizes the plugin. I permit users to turn that auto-link off, but request they then post about the plugin. Some do. That’s great!
4. Find people whose unique product is good unbiased information and advice. Ask them to publicize your solution. Some will. Andy Beard has kindly done me the favor of mentioning L’s Linky Love, Plugin Hog Detector and No Follow Old Spam Links. (Do go out of your way to link these people back. It returns the favor and your readers will be happy to find that great informational blog!)
5. Toot your own horn! Have you noticed I linked my own plugins in this post? Have you noticed Darren Rowse mentions and links his own posts at ProBlogger? Have you noticed John Chow describes the “John Chow Effect” (leaving out the failures?)

   From time to time, you should mention your most useful past articles at your own blog. If they are really useful, new visitors will want to discover them!

   BTW: You can always find links to all my plugins under my photo in the top right hand corner of my blog.

There are other things you can probably do. However, the ones I list are more than sufficient provided your solution fills a need. If it doesn’t, all the Digg requests in the world won’t get your “solution” attention.

So, to get traffic.

1. Create unique content that people other than you find valuable.
2. Make sure the content is available through your blog and
3. Get the word out to bloggers and forum visitors.

That’s it!

Then, wait for the visitors to roll in, click ads and make you money. (I’ve made some this week!)

This entry was posted on Friday, August 3rd, 2007 at 10:32 am and is filed under My Plugins, Plugins, Traffic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.