Note from Jon: Sometimes, it’s nice to throw all the principles and strategies and other ephemeral gobbledygook out the window and look at a good old-fashioned case study of what’s working in the trenches right now. That’s exactly what this post is. Enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of Danny’s new free report, the Naked Marketing Manifesto. 🙂

Reports, e-books, manifestos.

If you’ve been blogging for long, you’ve probably toyed with the idea of writing one. Not because you enjoy the idea of writing a 10-20 page document, necessarily, but because the benefits are undeniable.

Like traffic, for example.

And links.

And authority.

Maybe you can even pick up a few thousand subscribers while you’re at it, transforming them over time into raving fans of your blog.

It’s a reasonable dream. Snoop around the web, and you’ll find dozens of stories where bloggers had free reports go viral, bringing them an avalanche of traffic.

So why haven’t you done it already?

Well… you’re scared, right? Reports and e-books are a dime a dozen these days, and you’re probably wondering if yours will be different enough to stand out from the crowd.

So you procrastinate. You change your mind about the topic. You write a few pages and never come back to finish.

Sound familiar?

Well, consider this a friendly kick in the rear. In this post, I’ll show you what it takes to create an e-book, report, or manifesto that gets you all the traffic you can handle, and then some…

More

Note from Jon: This is one of the most shocking lessons you can learn as a blogger. We’re all trained to believe originality is essential for standing out, but the fact is, it can be dangerous, even deadly. In this guest post by Henneke Duistermaat from Enchanting Marketing, she shows you when originality is good and when it’s bad, and she also gives you a strategy for exactly how to do it right. Enjoy. 🙂

Okay, show of hands.

Who else is still searching for that perfect, original angle that’ll make you stand out?

Yeah, most of us are. The fact is, the blogosphere is a crowded place, and if you want to stand out, you need to be original.

Right?

Well, yes and no.

As it turns out, sometimes originality isn’t quite as important as we all think it is. Sometimes, it can actually hurt you.

Let me explain. More

You’ve wondered, right?

Back when you started your blog, you were just stoked to be a blogger. You picked a topic that seemed interesting, fired up WordPress, and proceeded to write your heart out, certain you would eventually gather a following, and it would all prove worthwhile.

But now you’re getting a little worried.

You’re not getting much traffic. You’re not getting many comments. You’re not making money at all.

Not that you haven’t tried, of course. You’ve done all the things popular bloggers say to do, like publishing great content packed with power words and commenting on other popular blogs and getting accounts on Twitter and Facebook, but no matter how hard you work, no matter how many different techniques you try, none of it is working.

So you wonder…

Could you have screwed yourself in the beginning?

Could you have chosen a topic for your blog that never has a chance of becoming popular?

Could you in fact be wasting your time trying to keep your blog alive, when really the only sensible thing to do is junk it and start over?

Well… let’s find out. More

Someone, somewhere, told bloggers to post every day.

So you do. And you give it your best shot.

But posting daily just doesn’t work for you. You don’t meet your traffic and income goals, you don’t get a flood of visitors, and your subscriber numbers stagnate.

Now you’re doubting your ability to be a successful blogger, and you feel like a sweatshop worker, working super-hard with no real reward.

The post-every-day strategy takes all the fun out of blogging.

Deep down, you suspect this strategy is downright dangerous. And you’d be right for the following reasons:
More

You have a lot to be proud of, you know.

Most folks who start a blog quit within a few weeks, their dreams of fame and glory crushed by a cold and uncaring world who doesn’t give a damn what they think.

But you?

You hung in there. You kept writing. You’re even managing to get a little bit of traffic.

And you’re pleased with your progress. Rightfully so.

The only problem:

You’re not getting many comments. More