How useful is Facebook as a Marketing Tool?

I’m sure that many of you are aware that I am extremely interested in Social Media, even though I don’t blog about it that much.

If you haven’t heard of Facebook, I don’t even know what to say to you! Facebook has literally exploded onto the scene in recent years and changed the dynamic of the entire internet. We’ve all heard the stats…one in ten people on the planet is a member of Facebook etc.

I had a Skype chat with Ryan Critchett the other day and we talked about Social Media a great deal. We spoke about Facebook Pages in depth, and I was letting all my thoughts flow out, really questioning their effectiveness.

A friend of mine made a great point: “The only Facebook Pages that seem to make any money are the ones that claim to teach you how to monetize your own page [apart from the pages owned by long established companies and corporations]“.

So who else do Pages work for?

They seem to work well for a person who has a good following, such as well-known Internet Marketer Ed Dale, although I don’t know how much money he makes from it. They also work well for bloggers and other people with an online presence, but in more of a community way than a business way.

I’m talking about things from purely a business perspective, and before you all jump in and tell me how great Facebook is, find me one person who  uses it to make a living, or even makes any money from it .

What is Facebook’s major disadvantage?

I’d say 99.9% of its users have NO business intentions. This is unlike Twitter and LinkedIN, who have a much higher percentage of users with a business intent. A year or two ago when lots of marketers jumped on the Facebook bandwagon, they had to find their buyers in a sea of people. I saw many marketers with high hopes for their Facebook page completely flop!

Yeah it’s hard work and can be a pain to get ranked in Google, but at least someone doing a Google search e.g. for “dog training tips” is already ACTIVELY looking for dog training tips, unlike on Facebook. It is a place to socialise and connect more than anything else. With regards to personal profiles, even if you find someone you want to connect with, many people now only accept friends and family.

Facebook Ads

What’s great about Facebook is their advertising campaigns can be ultra laser targeted to people. But just because you know the approximate demographic, is that enough? Has the advertising market on Facebook got saturated meaning higher Cost-Per-Clicks and people no longer pay attention to it? Unless you’ve got tens of thousands of dollars to throw at advertising each month like Frank Kern, I don’t think it’s a particularly effective method of generating new leads. Facebook Ads may seem like an easy option for small businesses, but I’m worried they might be throwing their money away.

Facebook Pages

Well established companies and corporations can use Facebook Pages to improve their branding, engage with customers and remain accountable for their actions. Personally I believe that a Facebook Page should be used as part of an online marketing toolkit. I don’t think that any business can or should rely on a Facebook page as their only stream of income; not only because it’s hard to make money from, but because it is reliant on a third party which could change their terms and conditions at any time, as I have seen in the past. Additionally, I feel that Facebook Pages can make some companies look bad. For example, if they don’t know what they are doing with it and only have a handful of likes, to me this doesn’t look give the company a good image if they want to look successful and popular.

The Takeaway

Local businesses and people unsure about how to use Facebook for marketing should do as much research as possible. Be weary of Social Media “Experts“. It may be worth spending money on a solid course, but check results that others have got first. I’m still a regular and active user of Facebook, but not for business. This post has been about Facebook’s effectiveness purely from a business perspective. I just think that people need to be careful before jumping on the bandwagon and investing a great deal of time, effort and money into a Facebook Page and Facebook Advertising that may not generate any income. A Facebook Page is a great way to increase engagement and community, but don’t expect to become a millionaire from it. In short, they seem much more effective for long established companies than for new, smaller business.

I’m not discounting Facebook as a marketing tool at all, but only a tiny amount of people seem to be making any real money from it. Make it one of the tools in the swiss army knife rather than the knife itself.

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Your turn: What are your views on Facebook Pages? Do you have one? Have you or anyone you know made any money from one?

An Interview with Mark Harai

Not only is Mark Harai a really nice guy and awesome blogger; as far as I’m concerned he is the “go-to” guy for Business Development. It’s unbelievable to think that Mark only set up his blog this year, if you look at it and look at the amazing community he’s already built there you will think that he’s been blogging for years! Mark and I had a great chat, we talked about his extensive and impressive background consulting companies, his work at Dime Labs, his awesome blog and the importance of building high quality relationships online, as well as a few other things.

His experience, expertise and in-depth understanding about the “Social Web” shines through in this interview. He also taught me a little about PR!

If you want to learn more about Mark, check out MarkHarai.com and have a listen to the interview below.

“Click here to listen to the interview“

Transcript Below:

Robert: If we start with you telling us a bit about your background. I understand that you’ve spent a great deal of time consulting companies, and you’ve been interacting on the Social Web for the last few years?

Mark: Basically, early in my career I was involved with the cable television and the cellular industry; back when I was around 21 years old. Back in those days, a lot of folks didn’t really believe that people would pay for television. Because at the time, television was free. It was initially a bit challenging to get investors, believe it or not, and the same with the cellular industry – they didn’t see everyone having a cellphone. I participated in the financing of those markets. Today they are gigantic industries. These are industries I stayed with, telecommunications, wireless technology and the cable industry. This is where I carved out my experience and background. Lots of the stuff I learnt in those industries is pretty applicable to any business, in terms of getting a subscriber base, getting customers to pay for your product or service, and taking that from a local footprint to a national footprint to a regional footprint. There’s a way that it all evolves. I also have some experience with the call centres, which was a natural progression. Not only did are they relevant in big industry, but back in those days they literally built the subscriber base.

I was a bit of a guinea pig with Social Media. I originally got involved on Twitter. I have been consistently built relationships on there for the last three years.

Robert: Is that what led you to form MarkHarai.com?

Mark: Yeah, well I never really considered myself to be a writer, and writing and blogging go hand in hand. I did have a free platform where people I connected with could learn more about me. The 1^st January this year I ventured into blogging. One of the things that I learnt was that you don’t necessarily need to be a professional writer to blog. You need to have an opinion, a unique insight and provide value. You don’t need to write perfectly, I write how I talk. I share some of my knowledge and insights through my blog. It’s been a rewarding experience – deeper relationships and more connections. Conversations can be very targeted and deeper on a blog.

Robert: Great point about conversational tone. I think it’s easier to engage people writing how we speak. If we just go on to talk a little about your work with Dime PR and Dime Labs.

Mark: Dime PR is owned by Timothy Williams, whom I’ve known for about 5 years, and worked with him over the last year. I have referred clients to him for PR work over the past few years. He did a very good job for those people. We started talking about 18 months ago. He’s a PR professional. He’s done it right. He can pick up the phone and speak to journalists whether it be journalists from the NY Times of Wall Street Journal. He’s very good at coding so he could also make blogs etc for his clients. Long story short, I’ve been helping him with the development and growth of his company. We now outsource lots of the work he used to do full-time. He now has about 7 full time staff and teams for tasks such as app development.

The Dime Labs is something that fits more into my skillset. I’m more of a business development guy – coming up with concepts, putting together and growing business. Dime Labs helps companies to get off the ground, and we also have PR assets. I do most of my work with Dime Labs.

PR is an interesting industry. You have to have the right story and know the journalists you’re dealing with pretty intimately – who they write about, who their audience is. Tim does things in the right way.

Robert: You can apply that to any business. Anyone you’re dealing with, you’ve got to know them and understand them to form that connection – to form an effective business relationship.

Mark: It’s the same with anything, even Social Media. It’s all about the relationship and the strength of your relationship. Do you have credibility? Have you established trust? Do people take your calls? Taking time to build relationships goes a long way in Social Media, business or whatever you’re doing.

Robert: Definitely. Is there a level of interaction between what you do at Dime Labs and your blog?

Mark: Obviously I’m not trying to monetize. I’m most interested in meeting interesting, like-minded people and building relationships that go beyond Social Media. As a result of being involved in Social Media for almost three years I am involved in a number of projects outside Dime Labs. I have built some trust. I’m not a spammer, I’m not a douchebag. I have some skills and knowledge. I’m helpful. There are things people see when they interact with me, which have led to a number of opportunities. It’s amazing how you can make connections that become real relationships that end up getting real things done, built or initiated. That’s what my blog is for – what does this guy believe? How does he think? People can look at my view and that can lead to real opportunities.

Trust is earned. Building relationships takes time. There’s no way of getting from A-Z any sooner than it takes. It’s a process, which can be rewarding and meaningful process if you’re doing it for the right reasons. If you just throw a blog up and you’re trying to monetize with heaps of affiliate links, it doesn’t really get you anywhere. It says “all I’m interested in money”. It’s amazing, some people must make money from it, but it can’t be many.

What’s interesting Robert, is that we frequent the same communities online – we’re involved with some pretty cool folks! People are aware of our communities, even if they’re not directly involved and participating. It may not be new, but it’s certainly raising eyebrows and creating a lot of interest. I think we have a really cool community, it’s very supportive. As a result, lots of things are happening – people are forming partnerships and making money from uniting and getting things done.

Robert: I think there are some very kind and genuine people within the community, who all have good intentions. When people look at it from the outside I think that some of them feel compelled to join in. There are some great opportunities and people. It takes time but it’s worth every second.

Mark: I get some amazing feedback from people that are new to Social Media and/or blogging. They are just amazed at the realness and genuineness of people, and the qualities that you just pointed out. It’s a great experience for everyone joining in the community.

Robert: Definitely. If we just move on to talk about a recent post you wrote that got an awesome response: “5 Tips on How to Become an A-List Blogger” can you tell us more about this?

Mark: Basically it’s about things I’ve been experiencing and seeing through my five months of experience in blogging. As I’ve been participating on the social web for a while, I think that helped me get some traction before I started. In the post I listed things that were important to me. One of those was the power of you and being yourself, obviously there’s not enough of that in the blogosphere. Be genuine, talk about things that you know and things that you have experienced, then share it with others. Additionally, some people are obsessed with numbers – number of followers and Likes you have. It’s important, but it’s way more powerful to build relationships – 150 to be exact. Connecting with that many people can take up lots of your time. They know you and trust you, it’s much more powerful than having 10,000 you don’t know, and there’s no value in that in my opinion. Most of us aren’t famous, so we don’t automatically have thousands of followers. People need to concentrate on engaging and quality posts and relationships. It’s a little intimidating for some people to jump into conversation. But that’s where you need to be to see the magic that can happen by forming these real connections.

Robert: You can’t put a price on these real relationships.

Mark: Yeah, you really can’t. It’s not a matter in investing 6-8 hours a day. It’s about getting involved with 30 minutes a day. It’s about that consistency. It’s building that social footprint. The more consistent you are, the more people will recognise you and communicate with you.

Robert: Can we talk a little more about the concept of a “Social Footprint”?

Mark: When I talk about a social footprint, I mean that everything you do and say on blogs and Social Media is pretty much on the internet forever. If somebody wants to find out about you they can find out about you – is he business guy? Does he cuss like a sailor? When I see some of the things that teenagers write, it amazes me. It’s really important to be conscious of everything you do on the Social Web. People will see everything you’re about by what you do online. You’ll be judged by it.

Robert: You’ve got to think about consequences, particularly if you’re in it for business reasons. Maybe if you’re feeling emotional, you may need to take a day off and start blogging or tweeting the next day when you have a calmer head. Like you said, people will remember one bad thing you do forever.

Mark: I’m all for transparency. In the spirit of transparency I cuss now and again – but not like a sailor per se. I’ll usually keep it clean and have a good attitude. Sometimes it’s relevant, but do it in a constructive way – not just to get attention. It certainly won’t help you to get ahead in life or to get jobs.

Robert: I’m so tolerant to swearing but I just don’t see the need to use it on my blog so I don’t use it. Guys that use it now and again that’s fine. In most cases it is unnecessary. I don’t think it says anything good about a person if they need to use it too much online. We have a saying in England: “Everything in Moderation!” How important is community to you in blogging?

Mark: Community is about the relationships we form. I think it’s important to anyone that blogs. Many of your buyers or customers are not the ones that comment on your post and get involved in your community, but it’s where they get all the information about you before they decide whether or not they will spend money for you. They can choose if they like you or not. Community for me is essential in blogging, that’s how the instrumental relationships take place. Some people start off timid, but you’ve got to get past that to get to the next level and provide value to others. I could have been blogging a couple years ago if I didn’t have this thought in my mind about how you have to be a great writer.

Robert: In the last month it’s clicked with me that blogging IS community. Some people starting out feel inertia when they start out. The guys such as yourself that I’ve connected with are really nice, receptive and are willing to help you out if you have good intentions and are like-minded. I’ll do the same for them.

Mark: Absolutely. I call it “social equity” so to speak. Those relationships are what you’re going to get out of what you’re doing. The quality and depth of those relationships are what is going to determine how much value you are getting from all this. Money part aside, relationships and community are essential. If you do that part right, then it will lead to financial rewards. It doesn’t happen overnight, but if you do some of the stuff we’ve been talking about and you’re thoughtful – engaging, building relationships, focussing on quality can really become valuable for your future.

Robert: If we just wrap it up with the last question.  Can you tell us about your future plans for MarkHarai.com and your work with Dime Labs?

Mark: The future is very interesting. I’m involved with many different businesses aside from the Dime Labs situation. Right now at Dime Labs eventually we’d like to bring in some companies that have great ideas but are super smart, hard-working and “need a little gas to get down the road”. Also plugging everything into the PR side of the company, Tim puts a spotlight on the company. All of a sudden everyone wants to know who you are!

There are some other projects from connecting with people from Social Media efforts. You’ll see things coming out in the next few months, projects involving super smart myself and people that we both know, some projects that are helping deliver value small businesses. I’m also setting up a sponsorship forBlogcast FM from Dime PR. Srini is a great guy.

On MarkHarai.com you’ll see some of those things. I’m sharing a peace of my mind, my experience in all of this as I go. Things I’m learning, discovering, what projects I’m involved with. That’s what my blog will be. It will never become an affiliate or money-making site. It’s a place for people to learn about who I am and do business with like-minded people.

Robert: Sounds good. Looking forward to seeing what you’re up to these next few weeks and months. I’ve got some projects coming up these next few months as well. Mark, it’s been an absolute pleasure to talk to you; I’ve learnt a lot about you and it’s been great to build our relationship in the process.

Mark: Thanks for having me Robert. I’ve learnt a little about you as well. The future is bright. Look forward to building a stronger relationship as we move together in our communities.

If it sounds too good to be true….

…It probably is.

Sometimes it’s not easy to press the “Publish” button on these type of posts, but I think that this is important for people to read, particularly if you’re new to Internet Marketing.

***DISCLAIMER – This post may seem negative, but there are lots of valuable lessons to be learnt  ***

Last year I was scammed.

I was 21 years old, new to Internet Marketing, and I was scammed out of a few hundred pounds. I had a little more burnt than just my fingertips.

This all happened about ten months ago, but it took me a few months more to realise what a poor system it was. I had bought a product that was a complete scam.

Last night I started thinking about it and getting mad. I Googled the guy and the program, and then was even more appalled to see that there were dozens of other people who had been scammed by him, and out of much more money…and most of these people weren’t 21! No refunds, he’s disappeared.

He claims to make over $100,000 a month, and he probably does. Just not how he says he does; he gets money from scamming people.

I started getting real mad and imagining what I would “say” to him if we ever came face-to-face.

To make things even worse, his program was promoted by a well-known and well-respected Internet Marketer (who I am sure was unaware it was a scam and was taken in by the friendly commission rates). The scammer did a Webinar, and his pitch was absolutely amazing, he made everything seem so realistic and achievable. But in reality,it was all bull. Back then I was relatively new to Internet Marketing, and like hundreds of other people, I was conned. This guy seemed to prey upon the naivety of newbies. We all should have realised it takes much more work than that to make money online.

What lessons can be learnt from this situation?

1. If something sounds too good to be true e.g. if it’s some sort of push button software involving no work - most of the time it will be worse than useless. I mean worse than useless because if it is a bad product, as well as not making you any money, it will cost you a great deal of money, time and stress. Use common sense.

2. Nothing happens without hard work. Do you really think that you can spend $37  and start earning $34,116.22 a month?

3. Do extensive research on places such as the Warrior Forum before you buy any product. If it’s brand new, in most cases I’d wait until people have given honestreviews about the product.

4. Do a load of research about the person you are buying from – Are they reputable? Are they transparent? Remember that most of these people will not have 100% customer satisfaction rates; but if you’re seeing more bad than good the warning lights should start flashing.

5. Don’t make any quick decisions, take time

6. Ask for the opinion of others who know are reasonably knowledgeable about Internet Marketing Products

7. With regards to information products online - If you can’t afford them, don’t buy them. I am yet to come across any that are worth risking your financial stability for.

8. Don’t dwell on negative experiences, put it down to experience. Stay positive and move on.

To achieve success with any product you will have to take massive action. However, if the product is a scam, it doesn’t matter how much action you take.

Most of the “scammy” Internet Marketers will concentrate on the naivety of newbies.  Buying some of these products reminds me of buying a lottery ticket; yeah, one person may do well but the rest are strung along, led by blind hope and false promise.

Flip side of the coin

Let’s look at the sort of people that we want to do business with – a few guys that have built up a community, are transparent and excellent at what they do – Danny Iny, Jon Alford, Marlee Ward, Mark Harai and Marcus Sheridan. I know all of these guys quite well, some better than others. You can see by their blogs that they know exactly what they are doing and what they are talking about. If you need help with your business, I recommend you check these guys out.

The Takeaway

There are some great resources online. Just be careful what you buy. There are some people that are truly willing to help you and add value. This post should certainly not be misinterpreted. I’m not saying “Don’t buy anything online”, I’m saying “Be careful what you buy and who you by it from.”

YOUR TURN: Have you been scammed online? Do you have any tips for people starting out regarding scammy products? Do we need better regulation?

The May Monthly Roundup!

I know it’s a little late, but WOW, what a month it’s been!

The great month started with my interview with Jk Allen fromHustlersNotebook.com . Jk is such a cool guy who has built an amazing community over at HN, it was brilliant to connect and put a voice behind the Hustle!

A few days later I interviewed Jon Alford from JonAlford.com. Jon is an easy going guy who is serious about online business, and really knows his stuff. The interview was very well received, many people kindly took the time out to listen and leave comments.

May was also the month of my first podcast! Ryan Critchett asked me to do one for his blog on Discoveries we’ve made in the Blogosphere. I believe that the Podcast was pure content, and we came up with some great stuff. Stay tuned for more collaborations  . Ryan is moving fast, definitely an up and coming rockstar in the blogosphere.

On Monday 23rd May, the amazing Danny Iny featured my Guest Post onFirepole Marketing, it has since become the second most popular post EVER on the blog, and currently has a whopping 81 comments! Thanks so much to Danny and everyone who showed support, left comments and engaged in the conversation! This post led me to write a post about community.

Right at the end of the month I interviewed one of my fellow Englishmen Stuart Mills from Unlockthedoor.net – awesome guy and amazing blogger. As soon as I came across his site I made the decision to connect and arrange an interview. Like Jk, I am happy to say this was Stuart’s first ever audio interview regarding his blog.

Takeaway

So all in all it’s been a pretty big month for both myself and the blog, and certainly the best month in terms of progress.

I’ve learnt what wonderful, kind and helpful people are in the blogosphere.

I’ve realised that community in blogging is essential for the success of yourself and others.

I want to thank all the guys that I continue to connect with and did interviews with, as they have helped me to discover what blogging is really about.

I’ve also formed some great connections, and will continue to do so over the coming months.

June has started quiet as I had a real bad cold last week, all better now though…and back with a vengeance! 

Looking forward to continuing to participate in the community, forming relationships and building a community here at B&A.

Thanks to everyone for your continuing support and help.

Loving the journey more than ever…

Is Watching “The Apprentice” Doing Your Business More Harm Than Good?

Let me first start off by saying that I love this TV Program and watch it every week when it’s on. I can assure you that I don’t have a personal vendetta against any of the guys that are in the show! Since I am based in the UK, I have never watched the US version, but I can imagine there are few differences in terms of what I will speak about in this post. I understand that the people in this process are under a tremendous amount of pressure and this can cause them to act in non-characteristic ways.

First off, let me start with the positives by discussing what I like about The Apprentice:

• It’s a great way to analyse human behaviour and business psychology
• I like seeing inspiring entrepreneurs such as Lord Alan Sugar and Donald Trump, and looking at how they work and respond to various people and situations
• Most tasks show that you can successfully start a profitable business in very little time, regardless of the economy
• It’s highly entertaining to watch
• We can learn many valuable lessons from their experiences

Now this is why I feel that it is not good to watch:

• Encourages big mouths and big ego’s
• Encourages disloyalty to people in the same team
• Emphasises ruthlessness in business
• There is lots of backstabbing
• The business scenarios are completely unrealistic
• I’m never sure how much a person’s “entertainment factor” plays a part in whether or not they are picked
• I hear far too many disgusting corporate clichés like “I am the best here and will stand on anyone that gets in my way.”

Why I wrote this post

I was watching one of the episodes of The Apprentice 2011, which is currently being aired in the UK, and I started thinking, ‘these guys really aren’t a good representation of what business is all about. In fact, in ways they represent everything that is wrong with businesses across the world.’

I just think that some people can get the wrong messages from watching this TV show, particularly young people who are starting out in the corporate world or will go into business in the near future. Business is not just about you, as nothing is just about you. I find that people who put themselves at the centre of everything may earn great money, but will never be “successful”. Success to me is about far more than earning money, success is about the type of person you are and whether or not you have changed because of your financial position. It’s about the focus and prioritisation of the right things in life.

I don’t think that some of the people on The Apprentice set the right example. The creator of the show Mark Burnett may have had the right intentions when he created it, but I think that some of the conscious and subconscious messages that are sent out are not right.

Isn’t business about loyalty and working together in the best interests of the business and everyone involved? Isn’t business about transparency and accountability? Isn’t it about unification rather than division, and treating people the same behind their backs as you do to their face?

An Interview with Stuart Mills

Stu is a great guy. I noticed we were commenting at many of the same spots, so I thought I better check out his site (Unlockthedoor.net). When I did, I was overwhelmed with how awesome his blog was, and immediately approached him for an interview. He was happy to help. We got on great, hence the interview lasted over 40 minutes!

He really knows his stuff, and is a blogger through and through – all focused on community and conversation, and a truly excellent writer, as you’ll see when you look on his blog.

It was Stuart’s first audio interview, he did a great job! It was also my first time interviewing someone that was also from the UK!  Sure you’ll enjoy this interview and get to know a different side of the great guy that is Stuart Mills! You have two options: You can listen below or read the (concise) transcript underneath the link. Enjoy!

“Click here to listen to the Interview”

Robert: If we start with a bit of history and background about you.

Stuart: Unlockthedoor.net was founded in October 2010. Initially was very difficult. After a few weeks of having the blog, Jk Allen fromHustlersNotebook.com commented on the blog, and also told Stuart that he would give him any help that he needed. Connecting with Jk, his readers and other bloggers meant that Stuart’s blog really started to take off. This really encouraged Stuart and started the momentum for his blog.

Robert: What were/are your aims with unlockthedoor.net ?

Stuart: Unlock the door comes from a scene in the Matrix where Morpheus says to Neo: “I can only show the door, you must go through it.” That made me consider openthedoor.net, but unlockthedoor.net was more appropriate because I wanted the blog to help people unlock the doors in their minds. Personal Development seemed the most natural path to take, to genuinely help people with no expectations in return.

Robert: Can you tell us a bit about your awesome “Value 101” series of blog posts, I understand that Value 101 Part 8 has just come out?

Stuart: Something big involving a lot of people needed to happen on the blog. I asked the question “How do you provide value?” It’s a very open-ended question. I sent the question and a quick explanation to over 50 bloggers. On the whole, people came back with an answer to how they provide value. The project started getting big, so I did it in parts. Amazingly, this project has connected some of the bloggers involved in the project. They’ve seen what the other featured blogger is about by looking at how they answered the question. It’s been very rewarding, there are four more parts to come out, and I think I will be making an ebook! I’m going to move on to another big project soon.

Robert: I see you recently had a guest post on the famous Problogger.com titled: “How to Blog Without Comparing Yourself to Others”, which was an amazing post by the way! Congratulations on that! Can you tell us a bit about the post and then explain the story surrounding it?

Stuart: About a month and a half ago I wrote a post for Problogger and sent the title and a quick description through the contact form on the site. They soon got back to me saying the post sounded great but unfortunately wasn’t relevant enough for the site. I wasn’t giving up that easy. I wrote a new post and titled it “How to Blog Without Comparing Yourself to Others”. I now had an email address I could forward it to as an attachment. They loved it and told me they’d be featuring it on April 13^th. A bloggers dream come true. I promoted the post. I’ve had immense response and over 150 comments, I also got a load of new traffic, readers and subscribers. I think that every blogger should aspire to write a guest post for an authority blog such asProblogger. I think that a lot of times people get put off, but the reality is: all you’ve got to do is try. If your first one gets rejected, dust yourself off and try again! The first thing to do with anything is just try. It was the same with the first guest post I ever did for a blog called Make it Happen. I liked what I saw, wrote up a post and it got accepted! It felt very liberating to know that someone else was willing to take me on board and trust me to write on their blog.

Robert: Many things get overcomplicated. It’s not actually that hard at all to get a good guest post on a blog, as long as you take the time to write a high quality post that will appeal to the blogger and THEIR readers.

Stuart: The quality of the post will shine through. Don’t worry about the hurdles. Even if one big blog rejects your post, send it to another, they might accept it! Just because it’s not accepted doesn’t mean it’s a bad post.

Robert: It’s just getting yourself out there, too many people get caught up on the little complexities. I see you regularly guest post yourself as well.

Stuart: Don’t be put off aiming for the bigger blogs when you start guest posting. For example Rob, your first guest post was on Firepole Marketing.

I’ve done about fifteen guest posts now. It’s all about practice. The more you do something the better you’ll get at it.

Robert: How important do you think that community is in blogging?

Stuart: The two great treasures of blogging: Community and Conversation. The community is one of the greatest things that has happened to me, not just for my blog but for my life. I’ve met so many like-minded people who also want to provide value, and to see my own blog grow, just from community. The possible benefits that you can get from community are just astounding – blog commenting, guest posts, swap guest posts, interview another blogger jointly over email as I did with Bryan from Elevation Life, do an audio interview. If you go to places like Blog World, you can connect with people that you already know online. Without community and conversation I wouldn’t be blogging at all. Communication = communicating in unity. There’s no fun in blogging without community and conversation.

Robert: I’ve definitely realised how important community is these last couple months.

Stuart: Some of the biggest blogs out there have turned off their blog comments for time management reasons, but I’d find that very hard to do, because community and conversation is the lifeblood of my blog.

Robert: Definitely, I know what you mean. We’ll cross that bridge when it comes! Who are some of the coolest people you’ve connected with so far?

Stuart: Marcus Sheridan recently did a post about time management and having a huge community on his blog.

Robert: Who are some of the coolest people you’ve connected with so far?

Stuart: Massive shout out to Jk Allen, he was the first blogger that reached out to me without him asking. He helped me out a lot when I started, he’s been an absolute inspiration to me. Marcus Sheridan, he inspires me because he puts out amazing posts whilst also focussing on community. John Sherry, he was actually the first blogger I hooked up with face-to-face, and we got on great! Brian Thompson from Elevation Life, I’ve known him for months. There are also great people from the more business-focussed blogs like Mark Harai, I hooked up with him not too long ago and got a lot of inspiration about community as well. There are also others with bigger blogs who still find the time to connect, like social media bloggers Danny Brown and Ingrid Abboud. There’s just so many. The weird thing is there have also been people that I’m not really in contact with any more, for various reasons such as lack of time and just finding other blogs. I’m grateful that I still talk to Jk, Marcus and Bryan, and it’s been great seeing their blogs grow. It takes time to build a relationship, but it’s nearly always more than worth it.

Robert: It’s all about finding a balance between not having too much on your plate and connecting with enough people and growing sustainably. There are loads of people that I want to connect with but haven’t got round to doing so yet. Moving on…what tips do you have for someone starting out online?

Stuart: The single most important thing that I think you can do when it comes to blogging is connecting. Some people start their blog and expect people to come to them without doing any networks. I have to go to other blogs and raise their awareness of me. Even if you’ve never left a comment before, head over to a blog that is similar to your own or in the same niche and just leave a comment saying: “Hey, this is my first time at your site. I really like what this blog’s about. I thought this was a great post, really enjoyed reading it. I’ve got a new blog which is similar to your own. I’ve just recently started it. I’m a little unsure of what to do. Any tips or advice will be greatly appreciated.” More often than not that blogger will respond in kind. The more you do that, the more people will come and check out your new blog! You won’t have that unless you get yourself out there; leave comments and send a few emails asking for tips. Raise their awareness of you as much as possible. You need to give people a reason to come to your blog.

Robert: Absolutely. I understand you have an “Offline” day once a week, can you tell us why you decided to do it and where you got the idea from, and what the benefits and drawbacks of doing it are?

Stuart: Due to external commitments including an amateur dramatics group, taking a course and working it was kind of forced upon me. I thought, “Why not use this to my advantage and a break from online activity. It gives me a chance to engage in other beneficial activities that are not online. My offline day is every Tuesday. I still check my emails on a morning, but that’s about it. As much as I love blogging and commenting, it’s good to take a step back from it, take a break and look at it from a different perspective. It gives me a chance to refresh, and go back in with new vigour, energy and ideas. If I had a choice to pick a day, I would probably pick Sunday, as it’s supposed to be a day of rest! It does take a bit of adjustment, but I love my day off now. One blogger has taken an extended break from blogging because it had taken so much out of him. It’s an extreme situation, but it can happen.

Robert: I think that when people see that guys such as yourself do it and can still have a successful blog, they may consider doing it themselves. It’s good to recharge your batteries and engage in other activities. Finally what are your future plans in the coming months for Unlockthedoor.net?

Stuart: I’ve taken a “Zen” approach to my blog. I don’t have a specific set of plans. I just want to keep growing it and keep producing quality content. I’ve ditched the high targets; huge numbers would be very hard for me to obtain without it being detrimental to my health! I’m not worried about getting 100,000 subscribers or 100 comments on every post. It’s like the Alexa ranking, I don’t use it because my blog could be doing well, but my Alexa ranking can dip. I measure my blog by the amount of people that are aware of it and the amount of great conversations taking place within it. All I ask for is that I keep doing what I’m doing, and do it well. To me, I would rather have 100 subscribers who are loyal, who connect with me and that I have great conversations with; rather than 10,000 subscribers that I hardly ever talk with. Community and conversation are the two great treasures, numbers don’t compare at all!

Robert: Exactly. I don’t much care for Google, StumbleUpon or Alexa. Sure, they may help you get traffic, but they will never subscribe, leave comments or share your stuff! It’s all about quality over quantity. So we’ll wind it up there. Stu, it’s been great talking to you and I hope this has given your readers and the people you connect with a great insight into you. It’s been great talking to you, thanks a million for agreeing to this!

Stuart: No problem Rob, and it’s been an absolute pleasure talking to you and being here.

Robert: Excellent Stu thanks, speak to you soon.