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How to Get Traffic to Your Blog (How I Became the Freddy Krueger of Blogging)

  • Danny InyDanny Iny

how to get traffic to your blog“Wow, Danny, you’re like the Freddy Krueger of blogging—wherever I turn, you’re there!”

I received several comments like that when I started my business.

The consensus seemed to be that I was everywhere. No matter which blog or website you visited, I was the cyberstalker who was there waiting for you.

I didn’t mind the comment.

In fact, I liked it.

I liked it because it was meant as a compliment. When I caught your attention, I gave you something interesting to read and think about. If I worked extra hard, you even learned something useful.

Every now and then, the comments went further than just noting my apparent omnipresence. They asked how I did it: Didn’t I sleep? Didn’t I have a family or other commitments?

Yes, I did, and yet I still managed to be “everywhere.”

But the truth is that I wasn’t really everywhere, and I didn’t work 24/7. It just seemed that way.

In this post, I’m going to tell you why—and how you can do the same. Then I’m going to share my own checklist for writing a great post every time. And you, too, will have everything you need to succeed.

In the Beginning, There Was Copyblogger

It started innocently enough. I was writing for my fledgling blog, Firepole Marketing, which was still in its infancy.

We’d get 30 visitors a day on a really good day.

I was in Jon Morrow’s guest blogging program, and I received the latest lesson in my inbox. It explained that list posts are the easiest way to break into a big blog, because they tend to perform well, and they’re so much work to produce.

As luck would have it, I had just developed a curriculum of business books for a client. So I emailed Jon and asked him if he thought it would be a good fit for Copyblogger.

He said that he couldn’t make any promises, but if I wrote the draft, he’d take a look and pass it along if appropriate.

I worked my tail off to write the best post that I could, and they ran the post: 38 Critical Books Every Blogger Needs to Read.

Then I Rode the Wave

The post performed well: 200+ comments, 900+ tweets, and lots of traffic back to my blog.

I even got an email from Guy Kawasaki (I had mentioned one of his books on the list) that eventually turned into an interview, book reviews, and even his participation in an upcoming project of mine.

I figured that since Copyblogger worked so well for me, I’d try my hand at another guest post. I emailed Problogger to see if they wanted to publish the story of my experience.

It was a total shot in the dark, and I didn’t have any kind of “in.” I just sent my pitch through the contact form. I had no expectations but felt it wouldn’t hurt to try.

Well, to my great (and pleasant) surprise, they went for it. The result was my first post on Problogger: How a Tiny Blog Landed Guy Kawasaki (and Copyblogger!)

This led to more recognition, and a whole bunch more traffic back to Firepole Marketing.

Hmmm… This Guest Blogging Thing Works!

I realized that guest blogging was a good idea, and decided that I needed to do more of it.

But where? And how?

I felt that I had gotten lucky with Copyblogger and Problogger. So where to start? Who would take my posts? Who would even answer my emails?

I did some research, and made a list of blogs that I wanted to guest post on: The Sales Lion, Kikolani, Big Girl Branding, Write Speak Sell, Think Traffic, and the list goes on.

(Interesting note: Even though my first guest post was on Copyblogger, I was so intimidated by their size and quality that it took another 14 guest posts before I worked up the courage to pitch them again with 21 Ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don’t Have a Clue.)

I spent some time on each of those blogs looking for an interesting intersection between what they write about and what I write about—something that their audience would be interested to read.

I took that list and sent them all an email—something like this:

SUBJECT: Guest Posting on [BLOG NAME]: “[HEADLINE IDEA]”

Hi [BLOGGER’S NAME],

I only recently discovered your blog, but as you know, I really like your stuff! [ALTERNATIVELY, I’VE BEEN READING FOR A WHILE, ETC.]

I’ve been thinking about writing a post about [SUBJECT], and it occurred to me that it would be a great fit for your audience. Here are a couple of ideas for the headline (which can be changed, of course):

[HEADLINE IDEAS]

To get a sense of my writing, you can check out Mirasee.com, or my recent guest post on Copyblogger—it got over 200 comments and 900 tweets.

What do you think? Shall I write up a draft?

[SIGNATURE INFORMATION]

I emailed about a dozen bloggers, figuring I wouldn’t hear back from three quarters of them, and most of the rest would be rejections. At best, I was hoping to end up with one or maybe two guest posts.

“Oh, crap, they all said yes!”

Yup. It turns out that bloggers are a lot easier to reach than I thought they would be, and if you do your homework and make a solid, concise pitch, they’re likely to respond favorably.

Almost all of them said yes.

My first thought was: “Great!”

My second thought was: “Oh, crap, now I have to write a dozen posts, and I have to do it all in the next week or two!”

I was under the gun. This was a great opportunity, and if I blew it or came off as unreliable, I probably wouldn’t get another chance.

So I buckled down and wrote.

And wrote.

And wrote some more.

Then the posts all started to go live…

The Power of Omnipresence

Having all these guest posts run within a few weeks of each other was a happy accident, but I learned something very important from the experience:

The value of guest posts increases exponentially with the number of posts you write.

In other words, two guest posts is worth a lot more than just two individual posts on your own site. Three are worth a LOT more than two, and so forth.

Why? It goes back to the truism we’ve all learned about the number of impressions you need to make in order for people to notice you, coupled with people’s tendency to forget and get distracted.

Imagine an “attention meter.” Every time people see you, that meter gets bumped up a little higher. But then, whenever they aren’t seeing you, it’s slowly dropping back down.

If you space your appearances out over a large period of time, you lose a lot of the effect:

FK_Graph_Single_v2

But if you do them all together, you get two benefits:

  1. You don’t lose momentum between posts.
  2. People start talking about you, contributing to even more impressions and attention.

Eventually, you pass the threshold of “getting noticed,” and it all gets easier. You need less of an introduction because people already know who you are.

FK_Graph_Multiple_V4

But I Wasn’t Really Everywhere…

Here’s the second thing I learned: You don’t need to be everywhere in order to appear “everywhere.”

What do I mean by that? There are billions of people on the planet, and these days, most of them are online. Now, as much as I enjoyed my micro-spotlight of fame, I knew that hardly any of them had heard of me.

But you have. And so have a lot of people you follow. Right?

This is because the blogosphere is organized into micro-networks, small groups of blogs that read and comment on each others’ stuff, interact with each other, and share large portions of their audience.

I didn’t intentionally target a micro-network, but I did go after most of the blogs that I read and followed, which, of course, were part of the same micro-network, the one that I was following.

So I wasn’t everywhere. I was in most of the places that this pocket of the blogosphere hangs out.

Hence, the appearance of being everywhere.

I stumbled onto this whole idea by accident, but you can do it with intention, and probably do it faster and better than I did…

How to Legally Stalk Your Audience: Finding Your “Everywhere”

Are you ready to be “everywhere” your audience is online? Keep reading, and I’ll tell you how to do it.

The first step is to find a micro-network. It takes some work, but it isn’t all that complicated. You can even have a virtual assistant do most of this for you:

1. Find the authority blogs in your space.

You may already know what they are, but if you don’t, you can do a Google search for “[YOUR KEYWORD] blog” and start from there.

You may not actually find the authority blogs in the results (depending on how good they are at SEO), but reach out to whoever you do find and ask them to do an interview for your blog. In the interview, ask who they look up to in the industry.

2. Read through the blog and see who they link to.

Then follow those links, and see who all of those blogs link to. Make a list with at least 10 to 15 blogs you’d like to write for. Take that list of blogs and plug them into Excel, as column headers (don’t worry, I’ll show you a screenshot in a minute).

3. List the people who comment on all the blogs.

The commenters should be the row headers in Excel, and then you can check off the blogs each commenter comments on.

4. Find the blogs that share lots of commenters.

The blogs that have a lot of the same people commenting on all of them are the ones that form the micro-network.

Here’s a screenshot of what the Excel sheet might look like, to make it easier:

FK_Chart (W)

If you want to appear everywhere, you need to saturate that micro-network. Now let’s talk about how to do it…

Plant Seeds by Joining the Conversation

If you’re wondering how to increase blog traffic, you’ve got to start by reading the blogs and joining in the conversation.

Don’t force your way in. Jump in where you feel you can add some value, and on the posts that you find valuable.

Remember that no matter how much you may want to penetrate a micro-network, you won’t be able to do it if you don’t like the content. So if the content doesn’t resonate, just leave it alone, and go after the other blogs.

While you’re engaging in the conversation, pay attention to what topics other people are interested in, and what ideas of yours seem to get the best response and traction.

Don’t rush it. Have realistic expectations about how long it takes to become part of a community. Truth be told, with most of the communities that I was a part of online, I felt like an outsider looking in for a long time.

This is important: Make sure you’ve reached the point where the bloggers have all responded to several of your comments before you move on to the next step…

Guest Post Blitzkrieg

The next step is the guest post blitzkrieg, the act of being “everywhere.”

For each of the blogs you’ve been following, make a list of a few headline ideas for guest posts that you could write. Make sure they would resonate with their audience.

Now you have to make a choice: write first, or pitch first.

But before you choose, download my step-by-step checklist for writing great posts every time. It’s free, and it’s the exact outline I use in all my posts. Use it with my blessing. ☺

Now, choose your approach:

If you’re a procrastinator, then pitch first.

Once you’ve pitched the bloggers and they’ve asked for a draft, you’re pretty much committed—you have to write the posts, and the pressure will help you to get it done.

This is the process I followed (accidentally). It’s a lot of pressure, though, so make sure you’re ready for that.

If you’re a slow writer, then write first.

If you don’t have a problem with getting things done or need more time to write, then write the drafts of all the posts before you reach out to the bloggers. Remember, the key is to have lots of posts go up at the same time, so you need enough content for that to happen.

Of course, all the usual advice about guest posting applies: be around to interact with commenters, have great content waiting for them when they follow links back to your blog, etc. You know the drill. ☺

So There You Have It…

My complete formula for being “everywhere” online, and maybe even becoming the Freddy Krueger of your niche, just like me.

There’s just one more thing that’s important to mention: You can do this! And to be sure you can do it easily, I’m sharing my checklist for writing great posts every time. It’s the exact same outline I use in all my posts.

Download it now, and use it with my blessing. ☺

Write Epic Blog Posts!

Get the step-by-step checklist for writing great posts every time.

106 thoughts on How to Get Traffic to Your Blog (How I Became the Freddy Krueger of Blogging)

Maryanne

Very informative info and great tactics if used properly to help promote your blog. Thanks for great info!

Kamal

Thanks for sharing nice article

subhan

Very good blog! Do you have any recommendations for aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you recommend starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m totally overwhelmed… Any suggestions? Thanks!

Jessica Glendinning

Hey Subhan! We would definitely recommend starting with a platform where you own your content. So, having your own hosting and using WordPress, for example. You can also create a Medium account and start testing out ideas there, before committing to a domain name and hosting. I would recommend checking out Jon Morrow at SmartBlogger – they have some excellent resources for bloggers just getting started out!

zain

Hello!I have seen your site and i realize it is very powerful site.I am read your some blogger tips many times.The blogger quality is very fast with quality imprints such a excellent. Thanks

subhan

Hello! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new iPhone! Just wanted to say I love reading your blog and look forward to all your posts! Keep up the outstanding work!

rajkumar

Great advice, I am just the beginner and I found this article very useful! Thanks.

SALAMI G.M.

Hi Danny! I just stumbled on your site, and am quite impressed with what you have been able to put to the fore.

I have read several bloggers tips over some times now, and of course, I am a beginner with several write-ups unpublished, with a view to make them evident soon.

There is no doubt that you are an excellent blogger with quality imprints, such, which has been able to put solace, succour and douse my fear as to the content of unknown.

To be succinct, one must admit that you have added more power to my elbow, hence , put me on the sound and right frame of mind.

I would like to have a chat with you at intervals so as to cross fertilize ideas.

Thanks Danny! Indeed you are great.

GWS Daily Deals Complaints

Great advice, I am just the beginner and I found this article very useful! Thanks.

Jamie Pong

Great advice, I am just the beginner and I found this article very useful! Thanks.

ibe jeremiah

really found this article useful. i think i will start my writing articles now, to get myself ready for the task. you said it all.thanks

Arbaz Khan

Hey Danny,
Awesome article, man.

I too did a lot of guest posts when I started my first blog but over the years, I became lazy and now I haven’t published a single guest post in over 1.5 years.

However, it’s really great to see that guest blogging has helped you reach where you are today. You really deserve it! 🙂

Sherman Smith

Hey Danny,

This is a great strategy to implement. I’ve been following a couple of blog communities consistently for the past year or so, I just haven’t been doing a lot of guest posting, but I see the rewards of it. I’m scheduled to guest post on a couple of blogs and as you and many others have mention, it’s a great way to draw more traffic!

Thanks for the share!

Jeremy Montoya

Good stuff! Planning on implementing this in the next few weeks.

Barbara Quick

Thank you for such good information. I hadn’t realized the value in guest blogging until reading your article about how much help it can generate. My blogs are almost all set up, but I’m waiting for Google AdSense to give final approval, as the space for the ads is there but no ads yet, and one of my blogs there is a “stupid” little ad blocking some of my wording. Plus, I think I need to know if I have anyone coming to my blogs yet, so an experienced friend who is helping me is going to add a code to check that out. But, in a short time I will see what I can do with guest blogs. Thank you again!
Barbara

Phumuzile M. Qhinga

Danny,

Thank you’ am just struggling a bit but am sure i will come alright. Thank you.

Phuuuzile M. Qhinga

Danny ,

Thank you for your valuable input into my mind’ i will try something from your comments i have been struggling about blogging just for the sake of the book am struggling with’ i would very much like getting connected to other bloggers so that i can get inputs that will help with my book writing techniques’ i welcome criticism with building comments anywhere ‘ criticism is a motivator and it builds’ tx again Danny’

Dawn Marcotte

Thanks for a great post – I only just discovered you recently and was able to attend a webinar that I found absolutely fascinating. I love that you give actionable steps instead of just vague ideas. Thanks again!

Raelyn Tan

Thank you Danny. I’ll get started with identifying my micro blognetwork now 😛

I’m on holiday now so I’ll be trying to write as many guest posts as possible!

Caroline Kirk

Hi Freddy, 🙂

Great advice, thank you, about to take the plunge into guest writing.. great to read this today..

Caroline

David Aw

guest posting has always been on top of my list, but I’m in the forex trading niche and the question is, do you cross niche to guest blog?

Like personal finance niche as guest blog? In terms of guest posting for a highly engaged audience, do you do research how which post is popular and write a post similar if not better for that guest post?

Or you write a guest post base on your niche theme?

Regards
David

Danny

Hey David, the short answer is that you want to go where the audience is, as long as it’s a context that is still relevant; so personal finance sites might be fine, investment sites might be fine, and any other site that your audience might frequent, while in a “business/investing” headspace should work, too. And yes, we do tons of research.

For the long answer, and details on how to do all of that, check out Write Like Freddy. 😉

Wendy Schauer

Danny,

Thank you for this. You definitely over-delivered with the information in this post. I’m stopping by because I just received an e-mail from you about your new book, “How to Build a Blog (Create Awesome Content and Build Community)”. I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for the free download through Amazon. I had no idea that I could download an app on my iPhone to start reading your Kindle book immediately. I’m excited to start reading the book. I will be sure to leave you a review on Amazon. Again, thank you.

Danny

Hi Wendy, welcome to Firepole Marketing, and thank you for the kind words!

I’m thrilled that you’ve grabbed my new book, and I’d love to hear what yo think of it. Will you shoot me some feedback via email once you have a chance to go through it? 🙂

Wendy Schauer

Danny,

Yes, I would be more than happy to e-mail you with my feedback once I’ve finished the book. Thank you for asking.

Matt Frost

Danny, would you suggest writing your website pages using the same format as your blog posts? For example, your home page talking about the pain your clients face and so on? Then the same on pages about your services?

Danny

Hmmm, interesting question, Matt. I never really thought about it that way. I guess it would depend on what you’re trying to accomplish with the page – not always the same as a blog post…

Jeannette Paladino blogging, branding

Danny — Considering that you linked to my blog and I was one of your targets for a post, I’m surprised that I didn’t leave a comment (although we’ve had plenty of correspondence.) So if anyone new to this site is leaving a comment, follow Danny’s advice. I’ve watched his shooting star since he wrote this post. Great advice and I’m honored to be a blog that he considered worthy of a guest column! Thanks, Danny.

Danny

It’s okay, Jeannette, you don’t have to comment on every post, I know you’re busy. I know that sometimes it falls through the cracks for me, too – I hope people forgive me! 😉

I really appreciate the kind words, though, and I’m honored that you gave me the opportunity to write for you. 🙂

Stacy

Hi Danny,

Thank you for this, what a wealth of information! I always hear people say to try to publish one guest post a month but I can really see the value in getting a lot of them out there in a small amount of time. I’m going to map out my plan, thank you!

Danny

Awesome, Stacy! Yeah, one guest post a month is nice to say that you did it, but if you want real traction, you need to step it up way past that – think 1-2 per week!

Jami Taylor

Thanks, Jason! I’m here from Traffic School and can see how your suggestions dovetail nicely with the info there.

Jai

Danny i found your blog from an awesome article you crafted in Diythemes blog. Cool ill add this one too in my reader and will check out your posts in copyblogger and other marketing blogs.

Jai

Danny

Welcome to Firepole Marketing, Jai, it’s great to see you here! 🙂

Patricia Fuqua

I liked you excel spread sheet and your strategy overall for getting known in the micro-network of your niche.

Danny

I’m glad you enjoyed it, Patricia! Are you going to try it with your own blogging work?

Ryan Hanley

Danny,

I’m so freaking impressed by you dude. Keep it up… I’m looking forward to watching your success and hopefully someday I can help with it.

Thanks,

Ryan H.

Tram Tran

Conquering guest posting quest, here I come.
First destination : firepole marketing blog=D

Danny

Nice, Tram, we’re excited to have you! 🙂

James Magee

I enjoyed the article and intend to read more of them.

James

Danny Iny

Thanks, James, I’m glad to hear it! 🙂

Rickspaserv

I really enjoyed this post, I have a new blog about all things pool and spa and I will use the advise given here to further along my guest posting. Thanks so much.

Danny Iny

You’re very welcome, Rick, I’m glad it was valuable! 🙂

JasonFonceca

This is brilliant stuff, truly.

Great visual data through infographics, solid principles, and a great personal tale.  It lit a ‘fire’ under my ass too, to offer my value to even more blogs. I know this will help everyone involved.

Thanks for the win-win Danny 🙂

Danny Iny

Thanks, Jason, I’m thrilled that you found it valuable!

P.S. If that fire’s really been lit, you could consider guest posting here at Firepole Marketing… 😉

JasonFonceca

It really HAS been lit. I made a list of blogs that could be a match for me. I`ve commented all over the place, and I just sent you 3 test-headlines 🙂

Danny Iny

All right, I’m heading over to take a look. 🙂

Anonymous

With out a doubt this is the best post I have ever read. It resonates with me and I am sure this technique will work! I am going to do this and report back- It could be a while as I need to finish my blog first- but I am now inspired!

Danny Iny

Thanks, Virginia, I’m really glad to hear it!

Definitely report back, and let us know if you have any questions along the way. We’re happy to help. 🙂

Good luck! 😀

Stan Faryna

This may have been my first visit to Firepole Marketing. Danny, I love your writing style.

And I have to suspect that your awesome writing skills had a lot more impact in building your guest blogging venues than shooting off an email on a whimsy. Actually, it sounds like there was nothing whimsical about what you did. I’m not convinced that all of your readers understand that.

Then we get to your strategy for creating presence within micro-networks (aka community infiltration). Again, there’s nothing whimsical about that either. You got a whole lot of madness and method going on – especially if you are charting it on Excel.

This will be a sensitive topic for some. But it is almost exactly the same strategy employed by some of the more savvy corporations and governments.

Danny Iny

Thank you, Stan, and welcome to Firepole Marketing! 🙂

And yes, you’re right – the relative success that I’ve experience is definitely part the result of my writing experience, but a lot of it is also just having put myself into a situation where I had no choice but to perform.

The excel spreadsheets and strategic understanding came later – first, I stumbled through it, and then I analyzed to understand why it had worked. 😀

Tim J

Hey Danny,

just came over here from thinktraffic and with only two posts you managed to get into my reader, wow!

However, I have one question concerning guest posting. When your guest post wave started did you already have your opt-in form ready? What about a product?

I’m currently in the process of developing my first product and already have my opt-in form ready. I’m wondering whether I should wait for my product to be finished or if the opt-in is enough when launching the blitzkrieg. What’s your take on that?

Anonymous

Hi Tim,

I’ll let Danny chime in when he gets back from his honeymoon, but here is what we did.

At Firepole Marketing, we progressed on the product significantly before putting up the site. As part of the site, we included the opt-in for our free video course. As part of our marketing plan, we knew when things needed to be ready by (with some allowances for delays) and still be able to execute our plan.

Of course, I’d always recommend you have lead capturing on your site. Always. And you do, which is good.

You don’t *need* to be 100% ready with your product, but I’d recommend you plan carefully so that it’s ready with time to spare before your offer goes out as part of your “blitzkrieg”. There is nothing worse then orchestrating a launch only to have to delay it because of product development headaches.
Hope this helps.

Peter

Tim J

Hey Peter and Danny,

thanks for the reply. Why I didn’t think of two waves is beyond me but that is pretty smart 🙂

Will start laying out my strategy now then.

Cheers Tim

Danny Iny

Hey Tim, learning from our experiences, I would actually recommend two waves of blitz-krieg; one when all you’ve got up is the opt-in, so that you have a base to launch to, and another when the launch is happening, to get even more attention for it. It’s a lot of work, but worth it in the end (and that’s more or less the launch model that we followed, and continue to follow with other projects).

I’d be happy to chat about this if you want – send me an email to danny (at) firepolemarketing (dot) com and we can setup a time to talk. 🙂

Anonymous

I liked this article. I haven’t managed to crack guest blogging just yet – but I guess I haven’t been trying hard enough.

One of my big problems is finding places to guest blog. I read all the marketing and blogging stuff but my site isn’t really about that… Finding places that are a match for what I write about has been tough so far but again, I probably just need to work harder!

Danny Iny

Hey Andrew, I’m glad you liked the post!

It can be tough, but how about this – instead of looking for blogs that are about your subject, try looking for blogs where your readers hang out, and write about the intersection between that subject, and your subject.

Does that make sense?

Anonymous

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense actually. I’m gonna work on that and let you know how it goes, thanks Danny. Maybe I’ll write a guest blog of my success for you one day? 🙂

Danny Iny

Definitely – and you can email me updates to let me know how it’s going before that: danny (at) firepolemarketing (dot) com. 🙂

Anonymous

Will do! 🙂

Dr. Bob Clarke

Hey Danny,

I love the way you’ve laid out your case for the effectiveness of guest blogging. I’ve just recently started guest blogging and I’ve realized that its more work than writing for your own blog.  You need to be sure you write for THEIR audience, while at the same time give them a flavor of your own work. 

I can be a little tricky but fun, too.

For example, I recently wrote a guest post on a multi-niche blog that covered both blogging and relationships!  I thought about this one for a while and finally came up with the idea for  a post — 5 Ways to Romance Your Blog Readers Like a New Girlfriend.

It got great comments and was well shared, and I now have built a strong relationship with the blog owner who I just recently agreed to an interview on my blog.  I see how this works!

Danny Iny

Thanks, Bob, I’m really glad you like it!

You’re right, it is a lot more work – you have to be sure that it’s a good fit for their audience, and you’ve also got to make sure it’s a home run, so that you get invited back. 🙂

But yeah, it is fun, and it’s great to see the results. 🙂

Congratulations on your successful guest post, it sounds really great – and good luck with the interview! 😀

Walter

Actually, I have tried guest blogging and it does make good on my ranking. However, I have not been lucky enough to be on A-list blogs like Copyblogger. But at least you have given me a motivation here to give it another try. 🙂

Danny Iny

Hey Walter, the most important thing is to get in anywhere you can, and then leverage your successes on those blogs to get onto bigger ones. When you approach larger blogs, make sure to reference the results that you saw on your past guest posts. And definitely keep on trying – some blogs are harder to get into than others, but it’s usually worth the extra effort. 🙂

Roberto Lebron

Excellent! Thank you for steering me to this post after our telephone conversation. I’ve already started following your instructions and, of course, I’ve been exploring Firepole Marketing! I see a great deal to like here. I’ll be back!

Danny Iny

You’re very welcome, Roberto – keep me posted with your progress!

Anonymous

You bring up a really good point about the value of guest posting on multiple blogs in a short period of time. I’m constantly seeing the same people on many of the blogs I read and they “stick” in my mind because of that.

Danny Iny

Thanks, Steve, I’m glad you found it helpful! That’s what it comes down to – the repeated impressions really make someone “stick” in your mind, and that makes all the difference. 🙂

Anonymous

Great stuff! I’m here from Traffic School and can see how your suggestions dovetail nicely with the info there. I’ll be putting some of this to work!!

Danny Iny

Hey Lainie, it’s great to see you here, and I’m glad you liked the post! Let me know what results you get when you implement these ideas – I’d love to know! 🙂

Ricardo

WOW! You make me understand. You helped me so much. Thanks for sharing tips.
It made me understand something, and it is that I never knew before.

Danny Iny

Thanks, Ricardo, I’m glad to hear it. I’m looking forward to seeing you here again! 🙂

Wim

Danny, you just wrote like the blueprint for every beginning blogger. I
wish I had this info when I started out. What I like to do on a blog article I like is to open
the links of the commenters in different firefox tabs and then
place a comment on each of their latest post. It’s less analytical than your Excel approach, but it’s a quick way to reach different people from a micro-network.

Wim

Danny Iny

Hey Wim, it doesn’t have to be analytical, as long as you’re reaching out and making connections, which is exactly what you’re doing. You should write a post about your process! 🙂

Eugene Farber

Freddy Krueger? Who would say such a thing?!!? 🙂

The micro-networks thing is so dead on. Love the graph of the omnipresence and how you explain the commenter intersection. Awesome post.

Danny Iny

Haha, yeah, you inspired me! 😀

I’m glad you liked it, Eugene. Let’s hope it all works in my favor with the upcoming launch! 😉

JasonFonceca

I second the props to micro-networks, it wasn’t clear to me before, but they are definitely a factor. Good call 🙂

Danny Iny

Thanks, Jason! 🙂

Lisah Hamilton

Hi Danny,
This article is really timely for me. I really need to start hitting the guest posting hard. I can definitely see how having several articles on different blogs at the same time can exponentially increase your exposure. Thanks for showing us your sample pitch email. I was wondering how others initiated contact. Thanks for the reminder on how important guest posting is.

Danny Iny

You’re very welcome, Lisah, I’m really glad that the post was helpful! Shoot me a link when your guests posts start going live – I’d love to read and share! 🙂

Eric Silva

Awesome Danny!

Great post man, I love the being everywhere without really being everywhere. Jon’s class is super sweet!

I actually have seen you in tons of places. I was thinking damn this dude is all over the place, haha! I’m sure it’s well worth the effort man.

Keep rocking it D,
-E

Danny Iny

Thanks, Eric, I appreciate it! And yeah, Jon’s class is great. 🙂

Yup – it’s been a lot of work, but totally worth it so far!

Timo Kiander

Man,

You are on fire 🙂

There is so much stuff here that I have to go through this again, make some notes and decide my next action steps.

I have noticed, that guest posting has made your blog grow quite fast and I have to listen to the same advice as you gave to to Vic – start guest posting.

I haven’t taken advantage of guest posting as much as I could have, but that has to change – starting right now 🙂

Danny Iny

Good plan, Timo. Where are you going to start? 😉

Timo Kiander

Well … 

I started to

a) brainstorm topic ideas 
b) listing potential blogs where I would love to have my guest post published
Also, I have already two posts in the works … and I joined the Jon Morrow’s course 🙂

Plenty of guest posting action going on, but I have to tell you … I’m pretty excited 🙂

Of course … thank you for providing me a chance to write a guest post for you some months ago … it was my first guest post ever 🙂

Timo

Danny Iny

You’re very welcome, Timo! And it sounds like you’re getting started with a lot of momentum, which is great! 🙂

Sarah Arrow

A spreadsheet! *shakes head in disbelief* 😉 that seems to drain all the fun out of blogging lol.

A really interesting post, I recall reading your Problogger post at the time and then seeing your Krueger-esque presence about 🙂 What I am deeply interested in is the Guest Blogging course you did with Jon Morrow are you planning to review the course in a separate post? I have wavered at every launch about joining.

Good luck with the book, I will expect mine to be autographed 😉

Danny Iny

Thanks, Sarah – if you buy a copy, I’ll autograph it for sure! 🙂

Yeah, the spreadsheet was mostly just to illustrate a point – you don’t have to actually create one if you don’t want to, it’s enough to just kind of get a feel for who’s commenting where.

Belinda Weaver

Hey Danny – great post! Guest posting is something I do now then, usually when I am invited (by people like your good self) but I’ve been meaning to become more proactive about it. With such a clear blueprint, I don’t think I put it off any longer! Thanks for sharing your experience.

I do have a question though … how long would you say your initial analysis took (to find your everywhere) and how much time everyday do you allocate to commenting? Ok. That’s two questions!

Danny Iny

You’re very welcome – I’m looking forward to seeing your stuff around the nets!

I’ll try to answer the question, but it’s a bit tricky; first of all, I didn’t really do the initial initial analysis – I just kinda stumbled into it. But I would expect it would take 4-8 hours, say, if I asked my talented assistant to take care of it for me. 🙂

And I probably spend 15-90 minutes/day reading and commenting on blog posts, depending on how much time I’m putting into relationship building, and how busy I am with other things.

It’s time consuming – no question about that! 🙂

Anonymous

Man, once again you take it to the next level and reveal a process for proven results.  I’m admittedly gun shy about trying to guest post – I feel weird approaching someone that I don’t already have a relationship with.  Having a step-by-step process like this helps.  Thank you.

Danny Iny

I’m telling you, Vic, you’ve got to get out there and start guest posting – you owe it to the audience that hasn’t yet discovered your stuff. 🙂

Anything I can do to help is just icing on the cake!

Kristi Hines

Looks like a great plan!  You’re right about the single guest post vs. continuous guest posts in the same industry.  The more people see your name, the more of an authority you become!  

Danny Iny

That’s exactly what I’ve found. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Kristi, it’s always great to see you here. 🙂

Jana Quinn

Exellent post, Danny! Something that sets you apart from so many other bloggers in the SEO/blogging/monetizing blogs/marketing niches is your step-by-step outlines with concrete actions. None of the “find your voice” or “know your audience” vague crap (although those are both important things, rarely does anyone expand much beyond those phrases).

Your best posts follow this structure:
Here’s this awesome outcome.
Here’s how I got there.
Here’s what you can do.
Hope it turns out the same! 🙂

I especially like the bit about “legally stalking” (caveats noted at the end) your audience. I have run across your posts all over the web – then I realized that you weren’t ALL OVER the web but in the places that were relevant to me (your audience!).

I’m printing this out. I can always do with more blueprints for success. 🙂

Danny Iny

Thank you, Jana, that really means a lot! The way I try to write is to ask myself, if I were reading this, would I be satisfied? I guess I’d be a tough critic… 😉

And printing it out – wow! Thank you very much – I’m very, very flattered!

TheUglyKoala

Danny that’s a really, really good post but er………..all we really meant was that you look like Freddy;)

Danny Iny

Umm… thanks… 😛

Owen

Excellent post Danny, I plan to follow some of this advice once I have established my blog further!

Danny Iny

Sounds great, Owen. Let me know when you take that step – I’d love to hear how it works out for you! 🙂

Marcus Sheridan,The Sales Lion

You’re easily one of the hardest working and most impressive ‘newer’ bloggers I’ve ever witnessed day. What you’ve done is nothing short of extraordinary, and the way you’ve laid it all out here is awesome. So proud of you man and you deserve the blessings that come with such work my friend.

Marcus

Danny Iny

Thank you, Marcus – it’s so much work, and sometimes it’s easy to feel like you’re getting nowhere – but if we keep on working, we really do get somewhere.

The key is to pay attention, because more often than not you end up where you are by accident – as was the case for me! 🙂

Sam

Hey Danny,

Fantastic post, enjoyed the the read. At times you do seem everywhere. Now if you start wearing a glove with claws we have a cause for concern.;)

Danny Iny

Okay, I promise, no glove with claws! 😀

saya

Danny,
You shared very important and useful information. In fact most of topics you mentioned such as: how to find the micro network, and guest post were my questions. Thanks for sharing it.
Saya

Danny Iny

Hey Saya, I’m really glad you found it useful – you’re very welcome! 🙂

Comments are closed.