One of the most basic reasons many of us start to develop and run websites and blogs is to try to make ourselves a small fortune. We’ve all heard about or read stories of people who were able to come up with some product or website and very quickly turn it into a cash generating machine.
While I don’t want to burst your bubble, the chance of that happening to you or me is pretty slim to none. I’m sorry, but it’s a fact.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t become a successful internet entrepreneur. In fact, there’s a simple thing you can start doing right now that will essentially guarantee that you will get far with your website or blog:
FOCUS ON EVERYONE BUT YOURSELF
I know this point seems rather obvious, but in the quest for riches and notoriety, we tend to over look this rather meaningful item. No matter what niche your website serves – whether you talk about politics, money, dieting, marketing, etc. – or how crowded that niche is, if you focus on your readers, you will end up succeeding.
Here are three simple ways you can start focusing on your readers so that you provide them an enriching experience on your site:
1) Focus on improving your readers’ – not your own – problems. I know that you’ve created your website or your blog to serve your own purposes, however, if your site or blog doesn’t actually help people solve their own problems, they’re never going to come back to your site, if they find it at all.
When writing your posts, focus on what your readers want to read or learn from you. You can learn what they want by being an active member in forums related to your niche, reading and responding to comments on your site, and reading popular posts on other sites or blogs related to your niche.
By virtue of creating your site, you have made yourself into an authority figure. By continuously writing about what your readers want and solving their problems, you will grow this authority and will end up with an incredibly successful website or blog.
2) Don’t hold anything back. While writing for your site or blog, you have to be as thorough as possible. Yes, I know this will increase the amount of time it takes to research and write about your topics, but it will greatly increase the odds you’ll actually help solve your readers’ problem(s).
Let’s be honest, no two readers are a like, which means no two readers have the exact same problems. Don’t get me wrong, depending on your niche, many readers might have very similar problems they’re looking to solve, but not any two readers will have the exact same issue.
By providing different view points and multiple resources – even if you these view points or resources conflict with what you believe is the “best” answer – you’ll be able to help more people and solve more problems than if you were to just write a quick post explaining your stance on a particular issue.
Try and make each of your posts a one-stop solution shop!
3) Give your readers your best stuff for free. While this might seem like it’s not a good business practice, nothing could be further from the truth. (Obviously, I’m assuming your site is information based, and not actually revolving around a physical product. If you’re hawking an actual product, the rules are slightly different!)
When building up your credibility, it’s going to be incredibly tough for you to ask for anything from your readers; you’re going to have to give time and time again, and expect nothing in return. This will be tough at first, but resist the urge to try and push people towards affiliate offers, advertising, or your own products.
However, once you’ve gained credibility with your readers by helping them solve a problem or two, they will naturally gravitate towards the affiliate offers, advertising, and your own products that you have throughout your site.
By virtue of this, your helping your site’s visitors to succeed, without asking for anything in return, will help you become a success.
I’d like to leave you with a quote by Maya Angelou that I think sums up this entire post:
“It may be in fact utterly impossible to be successful without helping another person to become successful. I don’t know, but I don’t think one can become liberated without liberating somebody else.”