Starting a travel blog and choosing a memorable name for your blog is just the beginning. Once you have your travel blog set up and are churning out regular content, growing a travel blog is the next step. 

In this article, we will cover:

• Travel Blogging is Competitive
• Experts Share Top Tips for Growing a Travel Blog
• Frequently Asked Questions

Travel Blogging is Competitive

Travel is a popular blogging niche, so there’s tough competition to win readers. However, by implementing the right strategies and following proven best practices, you can grow your audience, drive traffic to your travel blog, and become a leading authority in the travel space — even if your blog is relatively new.   

To help you start growing your travel blog, we reached out to a panel of travel bloggers and blogging experts and asked them to answer this question:  

“What’s your number 1 tip for growing a travel blog?”

Meet Our Panel of Travel Bloggers & Blogging Experts: 

Experts Share Top Tips for Growing a Travel Blog

Keep reading to learn what our panel had to say about the most effective strategies you can implement to start growing your travel blog today. 

Rehana Aslam

Rehana is a Marketing Assistant at Casa Theluxe.

“Focus on storytelling. People don’t just want to read about the places you visit; they want to feel like they are there with you. 

Focus on storytelling in your blog posts, weaving in personal anecdotes, local insights, and cultural observations. This will make your blog more engaging and memorable. So focus on storytelling instead of just writing simple content.”

Anjali Chawla

An avid traveler and a passionate storyteller, Anjali runs a family travel blog named Travel Melodies, where she strives to inspire families around the world to travel more and better.

“Consistency and genuine intent to help your readers are the determining factors in the growth of a travel blog. If you consistently write authentic and good-quality blogs that recognize the needs of your audience, success will follow.”

Drew Mann

@DrewsReviewIM

Drew Mann is the Founder of Drew’s Review.

“My number one tip for growing a travel blog is to consistently create high-quality, valuable, and engaging content that appeals to your target audience. This includes:

1. Finding a unique angle or niche: Focus on a specific region or aspect of travel rather than something too general. This will help set you apart from other travel blogs.
2. Tell a story: Share your personal stories. experiences and insights to connect with your readers on an emotional level. This helps to build trust and create a loyal following.
3. Informative and actionable content: Offer practical tips, advice, and information that readers can use to improve their own travel experiences. This adds value to your blog and encourages readers to come back for more.
4. Consistency: Post regularly and maintain a consistent schedule so your audience knows when to expect new content.
5. Collab with other bloggers: Ask other bloggers if they would be willing to accept a guest post. Include your link in the post so that it helps build your domain authority, which leads to higher rankings.”

Mark Stoneman

Mark is the founder of Hello Door County, the premier destination website for Door County, Wisconsin.

“Use Google Web Stories to grow your blog. Google Web Stories have won significant traffic for my travel blog, HelloDoorCounty.com, a Door County, Wisconsin destination website. 

Google Web Stories are tappable media, much like an Instagram story. But they are hosted on your website, and you retain ownership of your content. 

Google doesn’t own your stories in the same way Instagram does. These appear both on Discover and in organic results for mobile users. They are a good way for even young blogs to get thousands of pageviews very quickly. 

Here are some tips to get started with Web Stories for your travel blog:

• If you are using WordPress, install and configure the Google Web Stories plugin.
• Watch some of Google’s tutorials for Web Stories on YouTube.
• Make companion stories for content you’ve already written, and add a call-to-action to continue to the post.
• Target keywords like you would for a blog post, but go bigger. Since there’s a higher barrier to entry for Web Stories, you have a better chance of showing up for tougher keywords.”

Melanie Hartmann

@dreams_built

Melanie Hartmann is the owner of the RV travel blog, Dreams Built In.

“Network with other travel bloggers and use white hat strategies to engage in backlink exchanges. 

You’ll have better success during your outreach if you offer to write a relevant guest post or already have a top-notch article you’d like a backlink to.”

Sanne Wesselman

@SLTraveling

Sanne is the founder and editor of Spend Life Traveling. With a background in online marketing, she loves taking an analytical approach to blogging, which has helped her grow her blog into a full-time income. She has been traveling the world since 2008 and has been fortunate enough to call a diverse range of countries home over the years.

“My number one tip for growing a travel blog is doing good keyword research. 

Many travel bloggers start their blogs by writing personal travel stories without researching what people are actually looking for. These stories might be great, and well written, but if nobody is searching for this information, it will be difficult to grow your blog.

Write about things you love and are knowledgeable about, of course, but before you decide on the article topic, invest in keyword research. Keyword research helps you find out what your potential readers are actually searching for. What questions do they have that you can provide great answers to?

Learn how keyword research works. Learn how to choose keywords that you can rank for and that will get readers to your website.

Do this consistently, and your travel blog will grow.”

Patricia Palacios

@espana_guide

Patricia Palacios combines her profession as a web and software developer with her passion for writing and traveling. She is the co-founder of España Guide, a travel guide dedicated to promoting her home country of Spain.

“My number one tip for growing a travel blog is to choose a niche and stick to it. Whether you decide to write about a specific destination or from a particular point of view, it’s important to define your niche and concentrate on it.

In my case, I’ve chosen specific destinations as my niche. First, I started as a Basque Country travel expert with Eusko Guide in 2013. After that site reached 1 million visitors per year, I decided to expand to the whole of Spain with my current project, España Guide.

By choosing your niche wisely, you will differentiate yourself, which is a key factor to be successful. If you stick to it, as time goes by, you will become an authority on the matter. This will make your audience grow.”

Aima Irfan

Aima Irfan is the Editor in Chief and Marketing Manager at InsideTechWorld. InsideTechWorld aims to deliver the latest technology & startup news, media events, and groundbreaking happenings to its readers across the world. 

“Avoid doing sponsored content and press trips. People want originality. They are always looking for independent opinions on destinations. 

Your audience wants relatable content that can give them the feeling that they can do it too. Although sponsored trips will help you build a profile, they will not create relevant experiences for people. This will stop them from coming back again. 

Sponsored content and partnerships also dilute the authenticity of travel bloggers. Hence, create content for your travel blog in a way that could offer concrete advice to consumers and legitimate opinions.” 

Rana Good

Rana Good is the founder of Naïra, a digital magazine for women of color which covers diverse voices in travel. She’s also a travel writer for Forbes, Travel + Leisure, and Coveteur and is an SEO expert. 

“Everyone will tell you that SEO will help your travel blog grow, and that’s absolutely true. However, what people don’t tell you is how helpful integrating visuals — in particular short-form video — into your blog posts is and how quickly it can help you index in search engines. 

As a travel blogger, if you can, add an embedded short-form video in the form of a Reel, YouTube Short, or TikTok to help boost your post and rank you closer to page one of the search results.”

Steph Dyson

Steph Dyson is a bilingual travel writer, guidebook author, and blogger who’s an expert on Latin America and writes for publications including National Geographic Traveller, CNN, and Lonely Planet. Her website, Worldly Adventurer, is dedicated to sustainable adventure travel in the region and receives nearly two million pageviews annually.

“My biggest tip for growing a travel blog is to become an expert in a destination or region and build your blog around that area. 

Now that Google is focusing more on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness), you need to really prove that you know a destination well. A parachute visit of just a week isn’t enough; you need to become the authority on that place.

This works twofold as a strategy. One, it really pays from an SEO perspective. My website, Worldly Adventurer, has a strong focus on Patagonia, as well as the wider Latin American continent. 

New articles I publish can be indexed by Google and ranked on page one within a day. Google knows I have strong expertise in the destinations I write about and that I’m a trusted, authoritative voice deserving of those prized positions at the top of the search results.

Two, and most importantly, my clear expertise about one destination — not the entire globe — ensures that my readers can really rely on the information I give and the suggestions I make. I’m a trusted source they remain loyal to when exploring the region.”

Henry Purchase

Henry Purchase is the lead organic growth of Menuzen, a digital platform that helps restaurants scale their operations by providing them with a comprehensive system for managing their menus, prices, and promotions.

“My first piece of advice for expanding a travel blog is to provide audience-relevant, high-quality material. 

This combines exquisite images, excellent writing, and original travel encounters. Additionally, networking with other bloggers and using social media platforms may help broaden the audience for your site.”

Andrew Helling

Andrew Helling is the founder and editor of Travellers Worldwide, an online resource that helps inspire travelers to find their next big adventure. When he’s not in the office, you’ll find him flying, hiking, or relaxing on a beach with his wife and son.

“Here are things that I think made my own blog grow so quickly:

1. Post With a Purpose: This may run contrary to what happens in most marketing departments, but the best way to earn traffic is to first determine what your readers are searching for. It’s not enough to just write about things you’re passionate about, as nobody may be searching for that topic.

You can do this a number of ways, but tools like Ahrefs or Semrush are my favorite, as they estimate traffic to various search queries. If you don’t want to pay or need this level of data, Google makes a free and simple keyword planning tool that shows traffic trends and estimated searches, along with estimated competition. Simply put, the less competitive the search, the easier it will rank in Google’s organic search results.

2. Post Consistently: Another mistake I see bloggers make is not publishing consistently enough. Google values consistency, as it signals that your content is being regularly updated. If they’re going to send traffic to a blog, they want to make sure that it’s accurate and up-to-date.

In my opinion, one of the best ways to do this is to pick a publishing timeline and stick to it. Simply put, source your content and then publish it at the same time on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

3. Establish E-E-A-T: Establishing E-E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) is critical to ranking in Google and getting organic traffic, especially given the recent algorithm updates that they’ve just rolled out, placing more weight on these metrics. But don’t overthink it. If you’re writing about someplace in Mexico, demonstrate you’ve been there or at least have a deep level of understanding.

Write about the best dishes at the local restaurants, what beaches you’ve loved, and maybe even a few mistakes to avoid making when visiting. All these things demonstrate that you’re not just writing your blog to rank in Google, but you’re doing it to help your reader have the best trip possible. Trust me, this one goes a long way.

4. Win Powerful Links: Last but not least is the power of links. I believe one of the most important ranking factors for earning a spot on the first page of Google (and thereby increasing traffic to your blog) is to have links. 

Think about it: would you trust a blog you’ve never heard of? I know I wouldn’t. And neither does Google. 

But getting a mention in Forbes, the Washington Post, or another publication signals to Google that you are an expert in your field, thereby establishing authority. And with authority comes ranking increases, and that results in traffic.

The best way to get mentions in or links from big publications is to pitch on HARO, a service that connects reports and writers with sources who are experts in their field. In fact, that’s how I got this mention and link to my site! It’s really a win-win because the writer gets quotable material to help with their story, and you get a mention, a link, or both.”

Melissa Trachtenberg

@nycinsiderguide

Melissa is a fourth-generation New Yorker who has been lucky enough to live in New York for over 35 years. The idea for the NYC Insider Guide came to her when she tried to help an international friend plan her New York City vacation. With all the online information about NYC, little of it was targeted to visitors wanting to live like a “real New Yorker,” a more sophisticated traveler or someone who had already been here and seen most of the typical tourist attractions.

“My #1 tip for growing a travel blog is to keep it fresh and updated. 

Simple tweaks like changing the page title can increase traffic and CTR by 20% overnight. Last

week I tweaked a page by 1 word, and the CTR, as well as rankings, impressions, and page views, went from 3.5% to 13.4% overnight. 

The more fresh content you have, the more images you add, the more things to do or events, the more SERPs will crawl your whole travel blog, and you never know what term people might be searching for that week.”

Matthew Meier

Matthew Meier is the Founder and Director of MaxTour.

“I have been working on our travel blog for more than 6 years, and there is one simple tip we have used to grow the blog: Go after uncompetitive keywords. 

We try to find relevant keywords that don’t have posts currently answering the question or problem posed targeting that keyword. It makes it easy for our optimized post to jump to the top of the rankings. For example, our post titled ‘Why is Circus Circus So Cheap?’ ranks #1 and gets hundreds of visitors every month.”

Jon Morgan

@venture_smarter

Jon Morgan is the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Venture Smarter, a leading consulting firm specializing in helping startups and small businesses scale and grow. In addition to his consulting work, Jon is also a sought-after speaker and author.

“My number one tip for growing a travel blog is to create engaging and high-quality content that resonates with your audience. Travel blogging is a highly competitive industry, and the key to standing out is to produce content that is unique, informative, and visually appealing. Here are some specific strategies that can help:

• Tell a story: People love stories, and travel blogging provides a great opportunity to share your travel experiences in a way that is compelling and relatable. Use descriptive language, share personal anecdotes, and give readers a glimpse into the local culture.
• Use high-quality visuals: Besides great writing, high-quality visuals are essential for a successful travel blog. Use photos and videos to showcase the beauty of the places you visit and provide context for your stories.
• Be consistent: Consistency is key to building a loyal following. Set a regular schedule for posting content and stick to it. This helps your readers know when to expect new content and ensures that you are regularly engaging with your audience.
• Engage with your audience: Building a community is important for growing a travel blog. Respond to comments and messages, ask for feedback, and encourage readers to share their own travel experiences.
• Collaborate with other bloggers: Collaborating with other travel bloggers can help you reach a wider audience and build relationships in the industry. Consider guest posting, participating in blogger events, and collaborating on social media.”

Tory Jon

Tory Jon is the founder of Camper FAQs, a leading resource for all things travel via RV.

“When it comes to growing a travel blog, the key is to invest heavily in keyword optimization. 

Your keyword strategy should include a mix of short- and long-tail keywords to be able to attract both a broad and more targeted audience. It should also focus on all elements of the blog, from titles and posts to your bio and descriptions, as well as image tags. 

There are a surprising number of places where you can strategically use keywords, so be sure to take advantage of all of them and be sure to focus on adding the most relevant keywords to your blog post titles, as that has the most significant impact in search engines. 

You’ll want to do a lot of research on keywords as well so that you can be sure that what you’re adding will be successful in driving the right traffic to your blog.”

Umar Ali

@umaralixd

Umar Ali is a seasoned blogging expert with a passion for travel, entertainment, and lifestyle. As the owner of several websites dedicated to these areas, Umar specializes in providing readers with valuable resources, advice, and insights to help them make the most out of their experiences.

“My number 1 tip for growing a travel blog is collaboration. By collaborating with other travel bloggers and brands, you can leverage their networks and audiences to expand your reach and attract new followers. 

• Guest blogging: Guest blogging is a popular form of collaboration where you can contribute posts to other travel blogs to showcase your expertise and gain exposure. 
• Social media takeovers: Social media takeovers are also becoming increasingly popular, allowing you to take over someone else’s social media accounts for a set period and engage with a new audience. 
• Brand partnerships: Lastly, brand partnerships can be highly beneficial, offering opportunities such as sponsored content campaigns, press trips, and exclusive perks that can help you establish yourself as an authority in the travel industry. 

By focusing on collaboration through guest blogging, social media takeovers, and brand partnerships, you can grow your travel blog and reach new heights of success.” 

Jim Campbell

Jim started Honeymoon Goals in 2019. After spending dozens of hours planning his trip, he started HoneymoonGoals.com to help others plan their honeymoons more easily. He loves helping people find their perfect honeymoon destination and exploring the destinations with his wife. Jim also started RingGoals.com to help men buy engagement rings and WeddingGoals.com to help people plan their dream destination weddings.

“As someone who started a travel blog and has grown it, I’ve found that the best way to grow a travel blog is by writing about exactly what you love.

That may sound like a no-brainer, but I think it’s important to remember that not all topics are equal. If you’re going to spend time writing about something, you want it to be something that you’re genuinely excited about and invested in.

When I started my blog, I was already an avid traveler who had been to over 20 countries at the time. So when I started writing about my experiences, it was easy to be authentic and genuine with my posts. 

I didn’t feel like I had to try too hard or worry about what people would think of me. I just wrote what felt right and let my passion for travel guide the direction of my content creation.”

David Leiter

David Leiter is an American travel blogger and photographer who has done many famous hikes such as Everest Base Camp in Nepal and solo traveled to almost every country in Asia, Central America, and the Middle East.

“My number one tip for growing a travel blog is to write a LOT of content, consistently, with as much variety as possible to keep it interesting. 

That means covering all kinds of destinations and also writing different types of guides (hiking, safety, photography, budget tips, things to do, etc). This will give you a good portfolio and a strong foundation to start building followers and repeat visitors who enjoy your content.”

Jenna Nye

Jenna Nye is the CEO & Founder of On The Strip, a travel site and blog focusing on Las Vegas.

“Create posts that are a mix of timely and evergreen content. Evergreen content is great for long-term traffic generation.

Timely content can help drive traffic to your blog in surges. If your timely content is well-written and informative, it’s a great tool for conversion because it can prompt people to… 

• stay on your blog longer and read additional content;
• sign up for your newsletter; or 
• simply bookmark your blog to come back and read again later.”

Chris Atkins

Chris Atkins is the founder & owner of Central America Fishing. They are a boutique, luxury

outfitter that organizes sport fishing vacations to Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Guatemala, and Brazil. 

“We haven’t done any paid advertising in two years, so all of our clients come organically from our website. On our site, the blog is the main driver of organic traffic. 

The core of our website features pillar content like the accommodations and packages we offer, but the blog is designed to create content that answers commonly searched questions. In the travel industry, this can be related to the best seasons for the products you offer, expert tips, and in-depth guides that demonstrate you are the expert in your field. 

By creating quality content with that mindset, we attract not only new website visitors but also generate backlinks without any extra effort from our side.”

John Willis

John Willis is the founder of Convertfree. John is a senior software developer on a mission to pursue knowledge and skills to better aid his colleagues and the products they develop. While his professional background lies in software development, his true passion lies in the exploration of diverse cultures, breathtaking landscapes, and the thrill of embarking on new travel adventures. 

“The number one tip to grow your travel blog is to find a good balance between meeting what your readers want and staying true to yourself. It’s important to understand the interests and preferences of your target audience. However, it’s equally important to stay authentic to your voice and experiences. 

By striking this balance, you can build a loyal following of readers who appreciate your genuine perspective while also finding value in what you have to offer. To serve your readers genuinely, it is crucial to engage with their comments, suggestions, questions, and answers. 

When you focus on providing quality content and helping your readers by being your authentic self, you can strike a good balance.”

Allison Sicking

Allison Sicking is a travel blogger with a passion for Spanish and a love of Latin America travel. She created the travel blog Viva La Travelista after moving to Playa del Carmen, Mexico to empower others to travel safely and confidently in Spanish-speaking countries.

“My number one tip for growing a travel blog is to invest in a solid SEO strategy and continually create long-form quality content that outranks the competition. 

Travel can be a saturated niche, but there is still a lot of potential for growth if you take the time to invest in learning SEO and finding gaps in the competition. The essential components of a successful SEO strategy include: 

• Writing content that satisfies search intent
• Researching relevant keywords
• Optimizing your headers, blog post titles, and URLs
• Building backlinks 

Before writing a new blog post, it’s important to analyze the competition that is already ranking on the first page of Google search results for your target keyword. Take time to understand what gaps are missing and where you can provide additional value from personal experience. 

You’ll outrank the competition by writing the most thorough SEO-optimized blog post, drawing from personal experience, using original images, and answering all questions a reader might have about the particular topic. And once you understand how to get your content to rank on Google, doing it over and over again is the key to growing and scaling your travel blog.”

Anna Hamilton

Anna is the founder of Spain Inspired, where she shares insider tips and hidden gems to inspire visitors to take the road less traveled and explore Spain like a local. Now living in Valencia, Anna’s mission is to help fellow travelers experience the very best of this stunning country.

“My number one tip for growing a travel blog is to focus on creating content hubs. This refers to writing everything you think someone could be interested in knowing about a particular topic.

For travel bloggers, this will include things like where to stay, where to eat, and what to see and do in a particular place. Articles should be quite specific — that is, while you should have a general article on what to see in a certain city, you should also consider writing specific articles on each of those sights.

This has been shown to be great for helping your travel blog rank in Google, as it ensures your site is seen as an authority on that particular topic. This, in turn, will help more people find your site, giving you even more traffic.

It’s also helpful for attracting links to your site, as people are going to be more willing to link to your specific articles, which further helps in boosting your authority and helps to make your travel blog a success.”

Jeyn Dashner

Jeyn is the Founder and editor at Wander Fever. Jeyn has worked in the travel industry

for the past 13 years, both on the editorial side and the blogging side of things.

“My number one tip for growing my blog is to consistently create high-quality and engaging content. I believe that captivating my readers with unique and valuable information about the destinations I explore is essential. By sharing my personal experiences, insider tips, and captivating stories, I strive to inspire my audience to embark on their own adventures.

Other than the obvious tips like creating compelling content, being consistent, SEO, and maintaining a social media presence, it is important to harness the power of User Generated Content (UGC). I feel the best way for that has to be through guest posts and rewarding social media mentions by your readers. I also feel preparing a reliable content schedule is something simple and productive but widely overlooked.”

Jurga Rubinovaite

@FullSuitcase

Jurga Rubinovaite is the founder of Full Suitcase, a family travel blog featuring travel inspiration and experience-based tips for a big variety of destinations all over the world.

“My #1 tip for growing a travel blog is to provide really useful information that helps your readers to plan their trips. 

There are so many generic websites with travel guides that are written by freelancers who never set foot in a place they write about. So the only way to stand out and grow a personal travel blog is by being genuine, trustworthy, and truly helpful. 

Plus, interact with your readers, answer their questions, and they’ll become your biggest fans and will return to your blog every time they plan a new trip.”

Izzy Foxx

@wildlyanimals

Izzy Foxx is the author of Wildly Animals. Izzy combines my passion for travel with her love for wild animals to provide accurate information about their behavior and habitats. With her experience working closely with different wild animals, she offers a unique perspective on their symbiotic relationship with nature. 

“My most valuable tips for growing a travel blog are:

• Incorporate storytelling: Share personal anecdotes, travel mishaps, and unique experiences to make your blog more relatable and engaging. Storytelling adds depth to your content and helps your readers connect with your travel experiences on a deeper level.
• Utilize captivating visuals: Travel is a visual experience, so make sure to include high-quality photographs and videos in your blog posts. Visual content helps to engage readers, evoke emotions, and showcase the beauty of the destinations you’re writing about.
• Attend industry events and conferences: Participating in travel-related conferences, workshops, or networking events can provide valuable opportunities to learn from industry experts, network with fellow bloggers, and establish connections with potential partners or sponsors.”

Phillip Flippo

Phillip Flippo is a professional nature and wildlife photographer based out of Wasilla, Alaska. He writes about travel-related content for The Alaska Frontier and shares about the beauty of Alaska and why someone should make the trip to the Last Frontier.

“Our number one tip for growing our travel blog has been to be authentic and actually share real pictures. We do this with our website, as well as on our Facebook and Instagram pages. 

Our social media pages have 420,000+ followers, which also helps build our brand. This is where we can share our authentic pictures and videos, driving traffic to our website. 

I believe that being real with our audience is something that will have more value as AI-generated content starts to infiltrate the internet. People will want to see real people, sharing about the places they have been and not just read something that could have been generated by some kind of AI bot.”

Julie Roller Weeks

@AbileneKS

Julie Roller Weeks is the Director of the Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“Partner with your local (or any!) Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

We’re happy to host writers and share your posts and stories (links to your blog) with our audiences. It’s a wonderful partnership.

Visit Abilene, Kansas has hosted over 50 travel writers in the last seven years.”

Michelle Halpern

Michelle Halpern is the founder of the women’s travel blog, Live Like It’s the Weekend, where she shares destination guides and itineraries to beautiful places around the world, with a focus on California travel.

“There are seemingly endless strategies that go into growing a blog, but the #1 most important piece — especially from the beginning — is to get savvy with keyword research and seek out long-tail keywords that you’re able to rank for.

You could have the most amazing photography, writing skills, or knowledge about a topic, but if you aren’t targeting the right keywords to gain traction with Google, all of it could be rendered worthless. 

I learned the hard way starting out that blogging about topics just because you want to write about them won’t cut it if your goal is to turn your blog into a business. Each piece of content must be intentional, and finding low-competition keywords for which other newer sites are ranking is a great place to start building momentum.

There are some really helpful keyword research tools out there, ranging from free (like UberSuggest) to my personal favorite, Keysearch, which is moderately priced. Tools like Semrush are much more of a financial commitment but provide a full suite of SEO tools well beyond keyword research.”

Colleen Lanin

Colleen Lanin is the Founder and Editor of Travel Mamas, a top travel blog for parents and caregivers of kids from babies to teens and beyond.

“Since most blog traffic comes from web searches, it’s extremely important to gain a solid understanding of SEO (search engine optimization). There are lots of online articles and classes you can take to learn about SEO.

Another great source for blog optimization is The Blogging Millionaire Podcast and his handy RankIQ, an AI-powered SEO toolset. I suggest using this subscription along with one of the top-ranking SEO platforms: Semrush, Ahrefs, or MOZ. These provide more data but are less user-friendly, especially for beginners, than RankIQ.

Many people (myself included) learn best from in-person classes and interactions. As someone who taught blogging classes for five years, I recommend signing up for blogging classes at an extension program through a local university, at a nearby community college, or through a writing school in your community.

You will likely learn information not only about SEO but also about social media, writing, editing, photography, and more. Such classes did not exist when I first started blogging in 2009 but would have saved me a lot of mistakes and headaches.

In-person blogging conferences are also invaluable. I have been blogging for over 14 years and learn something new every single time I attend a conference such as TBEX (Travel Blog Exchange), the largest conference and community of travel bloggers in the world.”

Whether you’re just starting your travel blog or are ready to start growing a blog you’ve been working on for a while, these expert tips and best practices will help you gain exposure, attract readers, and keep them coming back for more. 

Not every tactic for growing a travel blog requires a lot of effort or expertise. Installing social media share buttons on your blog, for example, allows your readers to help you grow by sharing your articles with their social media connections. They’re easy to install and simple for your readers to use, helping you expand your reach and attract new readers effortlessly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do travel bloggers make money? 

While many travel bloggers make money, many others do not. Some travel bloggers don’t blog to make money but to share their passion and experiences with readers. 

Among travel bloggers who do make money, the amount of money they earn varies significantly. Some travel bloggers earn a few hundred dollars per month, while others earn a few thousand dollars per month. Some travel bloggers even make tens of thousands of dollars per month. 

You can also find hourly and freelance travel blogging jobs. According to Zip Recruiter, the average pay rate for a travel blogger in the United States is $35/hour as of June 2023. The average rate for beginner freelance travel writers is $0.05 to $0.08 cents per word, while experienced travel experts typically charge between $0.75 to $3.00 per word, according to ClearVoice. 

The amount of money you can make from travel blogging depends on many factors, such as: 

• How old your travel blog is
• How frequently your blog is updated
• Where your blog ranks for popular keywords 
• How many visitors visit your blog each month
• What monetization strategies you’ve implemented 

Is it worth starting a travel blog? 

Yes, starting a travel blog can be a fulfilling experience if you’re passionate about traveling. It can also potentially provide an income, depending on your goals, how much effort you put into growing your blog, and your readership. 

However, if you’re only starting a travel blog with the goal of making it your primary source of income, keep in mind that it will require consistent effort over time to grow your travel blog. 

Is travel blogging too saturated? 

Travel blogging is a popular niche, so there is tough competition for the top rankings for popular keywords. But that doesn’t mean you can’t build a successful travel blog. 

There are many passionate travelers in the world, exotic locations to explore, and travel tips and adventures to share. If you find a niche and consistently put effort into building and growing your blog over time, you can become one of the most trusted travel bloggers in the competitive travel industry. 

How do you make a living with a travel blog? 

To make money as a travel blogger, you need to monetize your blog. There are many possible travel blog monetization strategies, such as:

• Display advertising
• Sponsored posts
• Affiliate marketing
• Membership programs or subscription-based content
• Selling digital products, such as ebooks or printable travel itineraries
• Selling merchandise (known as “merch”) such as t-shirts and mugs with your blog logo 
• Creating and selling online courses
• Offering your expertise as a travel consultant
• Accepting donations or tips on your blog 

You’re not limited to one monetization strategy. In fact, you can implement all of them simultaneously. Experiment with a few to find what works for you, or implement as many monetization strategies as possible to maximize your revenue potential.

The post 31 Travel Bloggers & Blogging Pros Share Their Top Tips for Growing a Travel Blog appeared first on ShareThis.

The world is still discovering all the possible ways to use ChatGPT for everything from assistance with homework to software development. It’s been around long enough, however, for users to develop a myriad of ChatGPT prompts in marketing, content creation, and other fields. In this article, we’ll review some of the ideal use cases and ChatGPT prompts for writing and blogging. 

In this article: 

• What is a ChatGPT Prompt? 
• Can You Use ChatGPT for Writing and Blogging?
• Useful ChatGPT Prompts for Writing and Blogging
• Leverage ChatGPT to Create Better Content
• Frequently Asked Questions

What is a ChatGPT Prompt? 

A ChatGPT prompt is the content a user inputs into the chatbot to elicit a response. ChatGPT prompts may consist of: 

• A question 
• A set of instructions 
• A few sentences or short phrase

Essentially, a ChatGPT prompt is any text input into ChatGPT to initiate a conversation with the tool. 

Effective prompts elicit the right type of output and result in responses that are informative and in line with the user’s intent. 

Can ChatGPT Help with Writing and Blogging? 

Yes, you can use ChatGPT for writing and blogging, but not in the ways you may think. It’s possible to ask ChatGPT to write an entire article, and it will, but it’s not a great idea. That’s because it isn’t always correct, so the content, code, math problems, etc. it provides may be wrong or contain inaccuracies. 

You should also check any ChatGPT output for plagiarism. While ChatGPT isn’t designed to simply duplicate content from its training materials, it’s always a possibility. 

With these caveats in mind, ChatGPT can still be a valuable tool for writing and blogging that can help you write high-quality content in less time. 

Useful ChatGPT Prompts for Writing and Blogging

You should always fact-check, edit, and check for plagiarism in the content it produces, but it is a valuable tool that can help you with various writing and blogging tasks. Below, we’ll discuss a few of the best ways to streamline your writing process with the help of ChatGPT. 

Brainstorming Ideas for Blog or Article Topics  

Writers, and especially bloggers, need an ongoing stream of article topics, but it’s not always easy. ChatGPT can provide a plethora of ideas when you’re running short on creativity.  

To get ChatGPT’s help brainstorming topics, use a prompt such as: 

• Can you provide me with some blog article ideas about [topic]?
• Can you create a list of blog article ideas about [topic]?
• What are some intriguing article ideas pertaining to [topic]?
• If someone was looking for [product or service], what article topics would be useful for them in their research? 

Summarizing Content

If you need a short summary of an article you’ve written for a social media post or another purpose, ChatGPT is a valuable tool. Provide the text of the article in your prompt, and be sure to give the chatbot specific instructions on:

• Tone of voice: For instance, you can tell ChatGPT to summarize the content in the same tone that the article is written. 
• Word count: ChatGPT typically produces a few sentences to a few paragraphs in responses. However, if you give it a word count range, such as 200-300 words, ChatGPT will stay within those parameters. 
• Channel: You should also tell ChatGPT what channel you want to use it on. For instance, if you’re planning to use it for a social media post, tell ChatGPT to create a summary that’s suitable for social media — or even better a specific social media platform.    
• Target audience: Give ChatGPT guidance on the intended audience for the summary. For example, tell it to create a summary that’s informative for readers who are unfamiliar with the topic or readers who work in a particular field.  

You can include all of those details in your initial prompt or ask ChatGPT to revise its original summary based on the new instructions you provide. Here are a few prompt examples: 

• Can you provide a comprehensive summary of the given text?  
• I want to post about this article on [social platform] for my audience of [describe your target audience]. Can you summarize this article in 50 to 100 words in a conversational tone of voice that will appeal to the audience I described? 
• I want to share the article [above or below, wherever you provided the text] on [social platform]. Summarize the article in 100 words or less in a [desired tone of voice] tone of voice for [describe your audience].
• Can you revise the summary you provided above so that it’s in a [desired tone of voice] tone of voice? 

Generating Engaging Titles

Sometimes, coming up with a title that makes people want to read your article is the most challenging part of the process. ChatGPT can help. 

Provide the chatbot with the full text of your article and use prompts that contain enough detail to get your desired output. Use prompts such as: 

• This is an article I wrote on [topic]. Can you give me a list of engaging title ideas? (and include the text of your article)
• Give me [number] title ideas for the article above. The titles should include these keywords: [keywords].
• Can you suggest some titles for the article above? The title should be 8 to 12 words long, optimized for SEO, and contain powerful words to grab attention and evoke a strong response from readers.

Creating Lists

If you’re creating a list-style article or blog post and you’re short on ideas to include, ask ChatGPT to help with prompts such as: 

• I’m writing an article on [topic]. Can you give me a list of [desired list items]?
• Give me a list of [desired number] [desired list items]. 
• Create a list of the best [desired list item] for [use case]. 

Creating Content Outlines

A content outline is the general structure of an article that helps you cover the necessary information in a logical way. 

ChatGPT streamlines this process by creating content outlines automatically, so you can get started on your article draft right away. 

To get a quality content outline, however, you’ll need to provide detailed instructions in your prompt. For example, if you’re writing an article about how to determine the value of vintage typewriters, you might use a prompt such as: 

• Give me an outline for an article on determining the value of vintage typewriters. The article should be for someone new to collecting vintage typewriters but with a basic understanding of the rarest and most sought-after vintage typewriters. It should include things like the most valuable vintage brands, factors that make a vintage typewriter more or less valuable, and how to properly inspect a vintage typewriter. 
• Create an outline for an article about valuing vintage typewriters. The article should be for vintage typewriter collectors who have been collecting them for a short time but aren’t yet experts on vintage typewriters. The article should include things like factors that influence a vintage typewriter’s value, different kinds of features that make one more valuable, or certain types of damage that reduce the value of a vintage typewriter. The outline should include key points to discuss under each heading. 
• Create an outline for an article on determining the value of a vintage typewriter. The article should be for someone who is not a collector but has a vintage typewriter and is interested in knowing what it’s worth. The outline should include things like where to find an appraiser, how to assess a vintage typewriter yourself to estimate its value, and what characteristics make a vintage typewriter more or less valuable. Include key points to discuss under each heading. 

These prompts are longer than prompts for article summaries or title ideas because more information is necessary to guide ChatGPT in the right direction. If you ask it to create an outline for an article about valuing vintage typewriters, it may be too broad, short on detail, or miss important topics for the intended audience. 

Leverage ChatGPT to Create Better Content

ChatGPT should not replace you as a writer, but it can be the best personal assistant you could ever hope for. By leveraging ChatGPT to streamline processes like creating content outlines or coming up with interesting article titles, you can focus more on the quality of your content, which can help to improve your ranking in the search engine results pages (SERPs). 

Get more traction from your top-quality content by installing social media share buttons on your blog or website. With just a click, readers can share your engaging content with their social media connections, helping you reach a larger audience. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use ChatGPT to write blogs?

Yes, you can use ChatGPT to write blogs, but you shouldn’t have ChatGPT write entire articles for you — at least without carefully editing and fact-checking the content before you use or publish it. That’s because ChatGPT sometimes provides incorrect information, and it can even invent facts that are completely false.

What is prompting in ChatGPT?

Prompting is the process of getting ChatGPT to provide a response to a specific question or request. A prompt is the text entered in the form of a question, phrase, or a few sentences that elicits a response from the chatbot.

How do I get the best results from ChatGPT?

To get the best results from ChatGPT, you need to provide it with effective prompts. The best prompts are clear and detailed yet concise. 

Think about all the information a person would need to know to respond to your question or request. Providing the same types of information to ChatGPT will help it produce more useful responses. 

The post ChatGPT Prompts for Writing & Blogging appeared first on ShareThis.

ChatGPT is still a new technology, yet it’s already gaining widespread adoption for streamlining a variety of marketing tasks. To get the most out of ChatGPT, knowing how to use ChatGPT prompts for marketing is key. 

In this article, we will cover: 

• What are ChatGPT Prompts for Marketing? 
• Can You Use ChatGPT for Marketing? 
• How to Create Effective ChatGPT Prompts for Marketing
• Save More Time on Marketing Tasks
• Frequently Asked Questions

What are ChatGPT Prompts for Marketing?

ChatGPT prompts for marketing are the instructions you give to ChatGPT to elicit the information or response you’re looking for related to a marketing task or process. ChatGPT prompts for marketing may include: 

• Questions
• A set of instructions
• A few sentences or a short phrase
• Background information followed by any of the above

In other words, a ChatGPT prompt for marketing is an instruction, command, or query designed to “prompt” the chatbot to provide certain information. 

Can You Use ChatGPT for Marketing?

There are use cases for ChatGPT across many industries. It can even be used for programming. Marketing is a field that can leverage ChatGPT for many different tasks, such as: 

• Writing marketing copy
• Creating topic clusters for SEO 
• Coming up with frequently asked questions on a topic
• Writing answers to frequently asked questions
• Brainstorming content topics
• Brainstorming social media post ideas
• Writing social media content 
• Generating snappy headlines for marketing content
• Writing email subject lines that entice readers to click
• Writing video scripts
• Developing marketing plan ideas
• Identifying common customer pain points
• Generating calls to action for landing pages, articles, or social media posts
• …and much more

You’ll get the best results from ChatGPT for these and other tasks by creating effective prompts and always fact-checking, editing, and adding the human element to any content you ask the chatbot to produce. 

How to Create Effective ChatGPT Prompts for Marketing

If you want to create effective ChatGPT prompts for marketing — prompts that elicit relevant responses — follow these tips and best practices: 

Provide Context

Provide as much information as possible without unnecessary details. 

Context includes background information such as the reason for your request, location, time, industry, target audience, tone of voice, and other details to help the chatbot understand precisely what you’re looking for.   

Write Clear, Concise Prompts

While it’s helpful to provide essential background information, your request may get lost in the mix in excessively long prompts. 

Concise prompts that provide the necessary information, get to the point and make a clear request often produce the best results. 

Give ChatGPT Parameters

If you’re looking for social media posts within the character limits of Instagram or another platform, always give ChatGPT the parameters. Otherwise, you might end up with a 500-word response instead of one that you can realistically use how you intended. 

Likewise, if you’re asking ChatGPT to suggest some SEO titles and meta descriptions for a blog article you’re about to publish, tell the chatbot that its answers must be no more than 60 or 70 characters (for an SEO title) or 150 to 160 characters (for a meta description).

Give ChatGPT a Role

One strategy many ChatGPT users find helpful is to tell ChatGPT to play a certain role. 

For example, you could tell ChatGPT that it is a social media marketing expert and then ask it to suggest some attention-grabbing post ideas (with the appropriate context, such as your industry or the general topic you want to focus on).

This tip is particularly useful for getting responses from a specific perspective (such as common pain points or frequently asked questions from the perspective of a target persona). 

Provide Examples

Giving ChatGPT examples it can model its response helps to quickly get what you’re looking for. For instance, provide an example whitepaper and ask ChatGPT to create a whitepaper on a different topic but in the same style as your example. 

Refine Your Requests

You may not get a response that suits your needs the first time, but you can ask follow-up questions or provide additional context or parameters and ask ChatGPT to rework its previous response to suit those requirements. 

Talk to ChatGPT Like You’d Talk to a Coworker

ChatGPT is basically your personal marketing assistant, so you should talk to it the same way you’d talk to a human in that role. 

Think about how you’d explain a problem or a task so that your human assistant would understand what you need. Give those same instructions to ChatGPT as a prompt. If you’re looking for expert information, ask your question the same way you’d pose it to a human expert. 

Save More Time on Marketing Tasks

ChatGPT is a valuable tool that can help improve your efficiency for many marketing tasks and processes, but it’s not the only time-saving strategy for marketers. 

Social media share buttons are an effective way to expand your reach without a significant time investment. They’re easy to install on your blog or website, and they make it easy for your readers to share your content with their social media connections to help you reach a larger audience. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I prompt ChatGPT for marketing? 

To prompt ChatGPT for marketing, think of the chatbot as a human assistant and ask questions or explain tasks in the same way you would a human. You’ll get better results by following best practices such as: 

• Be clear and concise
• Avoid ambiguity
• Provide context and background information
• Provide examples for ChatGPT to follow
• Define parameters such as word count or character limits
• Give ChatGPT a role to elicit responses from a specific perspective
• Refine your requests by clarifying or providing more details or instructions 

Should marketers use ChatGPT? 

Marketers can use ChatGPT for many marketing-related tasks. It can be a valuable tool that saves marketers time and helps improve marketing campaigns. 

Marketers should always keep ChatGPT’s limitations in mind and edit, fact-check, and add a human touch to any content ChatGPT creates. 

What is the role of ChatGPT in marketing? 

ChatGPT is like a personal marketing assistant. It can help you with a variety of tasks such as: 

• Coming up with keyword ideas
• Topic clustering
• Coming up with frequently asked questions
• Brainstorming topics
• Creating social media posts
• Suggesting article titles and email subject lines
• Creating SEO titles and meta descriptions
• Summarizing market research 
• Creating customer survey questions
• Writing product descriptions

How to use ChatGPT for social media marketing? 

ChatGPT is a helpful tool for social media marketers. It can help with tasks including: 

• Brainstorming topics for social media posts
• Writing copy for social media posts
• Refining existing copy to be more attention-grabbing or altering the tone
• Suggesting video topics
• Writing video scripts
• Suggesting catchy titles and descriptions for videos
• Generating ideas for social media polls
• Creating social media bios
• Creating social media posts from long-form copy to repurpose content
• Developing customer personas 
• Creating calls to action for social media posts 
• Identifying relevant hashtags
• …and more

The post How to Use ChatGPT Prompts for Marketing appeared first on ShareThis.

Navigating their finances is something that many people find challenging, so there’s plenty of interest in sound financial advice, particularly in today’s uncertain economic climate. Starting a blog on any topic can be challenging, ,but blogging in the financial world is a bit trickier than it is in many other industries. There’s a plethora of niches, each with hundreds to thousands of potential blog post topics related to the central theme, and accuracy and credibility are paramount for financial bloggers. There are also regulations regarding providing “financial advice” to consumers and what can and cannot be said or what disclaimers need to be present to evade potential liability.

Google has also taken steps to elevate financial content that meets quality standards with its E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) search rater guidelines, which are designed to ensure that Google’s search ranking systems provide relevant and helpful information. In other words, if you don’t have or showcase the E-E-A-T factors, it will be much more difficult to generate organic search traffic from Google’s SERPs (search engine results pages).

With these types of concerns weighing on your mind, growing your finance blog might not appear at the top of your priority list. These considerations are certainly important and should never be ignored, but it doesn’t mean you should neglect building an audience for your blog. To be successful, you must balance meeting regulatory requirements, ensuring that your content meets the E-E-A-T criteria, and taking steps to build traffic to your blog. To help you identify the best, most effective strategies you can implement to grow your finance blog, we reached out to a panel of finance bloggers and blogging pros and asked them to answer this question:

“What’s your number 1 tip for growing a finance blog?”

Meet Our Panel of Finance Bloggers & Blogging Experts:

Keep reading to learn what our panel had to say about the top tactics you can use to start growing your finance blog today. 

Adrian Lawrence

Adrian Lawrence is the CFO of FD Capital Recruitment. He has 25 years of experience in the UK, including roles as Chief Financial Officer, MD, FD, and CEO. 

“If you’re looking to grow a finance blog, my number one tip would be to focus on creating content that is both informative and engaging. Financial topics can often be complex and dry, so it’s important to find ways to make your content more accessible and interesting for your readers. This could involve using relatable examples, infographics, or other visual aids to break down concepts, or writing in a more conversational style. Ultimately, you want to produce content that will help your readers better understand personal finance and empower them to make smart financial decisions. If you can do this effectively, your blog will soon become a go-to resource for all things money-related.”

Shawn Plummer

Shawn is the Founder and CEO of the financial and insurance agency blog, The Annuity Expert. As a licensed financial professional, Shawn has sold annuities and insurance for over a decade, trained Fortune 500 advisors, and built a platform to help retirees protect their futures.

“Find creative ways to cash in on trending topics. While finance blogs can really shine with evergreen content about investing, budgeting, and more, the content that tends to go viral creatively connects finance to major trends. Since finance and money affect nearly everything in life, it’s easy to connect the dots, like posting a Kim Kardashian wealth timeline or how to budget to save for the new iPhone 14.

Use trend-monitoring software like Hootsuite or Sprout Social to follow hashtags and user searches. Find the right keywords to draw in new users and grow organic traffic quickly!”

Jonathan Merry

Jonathan Merry is the co-founder of Crypto Monday, a small business that provides financial and crypto educational resources online.

“Write high-quality guest posts on other finance blogs within your niche. Guest posting is an effective strategy to widen your reach. Find websites that target similar audiences as you do. This turns what is otherwise competition into an opportunity to grow your website traffic and grow your following.

Guest posting is also one way to establish yourself as an authority. So, be sure to put great effort into producing excellent guest posts because these will make the first impression on your new readers.”

Colin Palfrey

Colin is the CMO of Crediful, a personal finance management company.

“My number #1 tip for growing a finance blog is never to sacrifice accuracy for the sake of SEO. There are lots of financial topics that are based on fearful queries and would likely give us lots of new visitors, but if you want to be an authority in the finance niche you must prioritize accuracy. Good research, unbiased reviews, and continuous updating of information will set your finance blog apart from the irresponsible content farms cashing in on people’s financial woes.”

Mark Stewart

Mark Stewart is the in-house Certified Public Accountant for Step By Step Business and an accomplished author and financial media specialist. 

“The key to growing a finance blog is to write about what’s relevant to your readers. You need to understand what information they’ll be looking for at any given time based on what’s happening in the finance world. You need to follow what kinds of topics are trending and cover those topics in a way that is relevant to your readers.”

Mark Chen

Mark Chen is the founder/CEO of BillSmart, a negotiation service. He has been able to grow his blog to over 200K unique visitors over 2 years by focusing on SEO fundamentals. In his free time, he enjoys photography and half marathons.

“My number one tip for growing your finance blog is to master keyword research to figure out what articles to write. With tools like Ahrefs, you can see what people search for as well as estimates of volume and how difficult it is to rank for those keywords.

It’s always important to know what people search for when you’re writing an article on a topic. When you’re starting out, you should go after lower competition keywords so you can start getting some traffic.

Over time, there’s no limit to how big your blog can grow.”

Karl Tippins

@KarlTippins

Karl Tippins is the Editor in Chief at Interest Rate. He is a finance writer with experience in writing about various aspects of the finance industry, from individual financial matters and planning to private equity and corporate finance.

“Collaborate with other relevant sources. If you want a higher retention rate, open a new source of information to make your content more credible, reach a larger audience, gain recognition, and share new ideas by collaborating with other credible sources that are experts in financial matters. Having them as relevant sources will make your blog more informative and credible, not to mention that their audience will likely read your content because of this collaboration.”

Darlene Gregory

Darlene Gregory is a certified financial advisor at Loan Advisor. They are among the top financial advisory firms on the market, and their platform allows clients to compare various loan and debt offers. 

“The world of financing is still filled with confusion. People are still confused about how and what to invest in. Therefore, having a finance blog that opens their eyes in various ways, gives them ideas on how things are done, and provides tips for their future can be successful. Keeping a blog that is informative and gives solutions to people’s common problems can be a successful way to blog and keep it in the public eye. Having a question and answer session where you invite readers to submit questions and then you answer them is the best way to keep your blog active, seek views, and grow its popularity.”

Janine Marsh

Janine is a Blogger at Thrifty Family.

“I think it’s so important to share your own journey with financial trouble when building your finance blog. Readers want to be able to relate to you and know that you’ve been through the same issues as them because this reduces their feelings of isolation and stress! On Thrifty Family, I talk about my £600 bailiff charge (which was actually what inspired me to work on this blog in the first place), and this story sparked a huge level of interest in the site.

Remind your audience that they are not alone and explain how you’ve been through the exact same things they have. This will help you cultivate a finance community who want to fight for the same things as you.”

Michael Diamond

Michael Diamond worked in finance for more than 30 years before retiring in 2020. He is still an active forex trader and blogger, dedicated to using his years of experience to pull back the curtain on the world of finance.

“Honest and distinct articles always eventually get eyeballs. The financial blogosphere is a bit of an echo-chamber. Everyone writes about the same SEO-driven topics, and no one wants to venture too far afield with their opinions. You have to go beyond to grow. That means finding fresh topics, daring to express dissenting opinions, and finding your niche. It’s certainly not easy, and something I struggle to do myself, but invariably it’s my unique articles or my uncommonly honest takes that drive the most traffic to my site.”

Jake Hill

Jake Hill is the CEO of DebtHammer, a top personal finance publication that aims to help people make better financial decisions.

“Finances are at the top of everyone’s list of worries right now, so blogs in this genre have the potential to generate plenty of interest. However, popularity also means stiff competition. To grow your finance blog, you must offer unique tips that your target audience won’t find elsewhere. It’s not enough to simply rehash financial advice that people have been hearing for years — today’s readers want fresh perspectives on how to grow their wealth and manage their debt.”

Sean Gilbert

Sean Gilbert BA (Hons) FPFS, is a Chartered Financial Planner. Sean Gilbert founded Select Wealth Managers after he had worked in the financial services industry, for companies such as Aviva and Prudential, for nearly a decade. He is also a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society.

“Keeping up with the times is an essential part of growing your finance blog. Sharing your personal anecdotes and advice in uncertain times can help your audience to have a better understanding of the current financial scope and how they can keep ahead of changing times. Your personal insight can add an element of personalization to your blog which increases the relatability of your business to customers.

I like to use my blog to discuss the current financial situation to educate and help consumers to be able to make more informed decisions when it comes to their money.”

Scott Nelson

Scott Nelson is the Founder and CEO of MoneyNerd Limited.

“I’ve found that combining written and video content has contributed massively to MoneyNerd’s success. Different platforms are going to have entirely different audiences, which means that there is only so much reach you can get with a finance blog that solely has written content.

When you incorporate graphics and video content into your blog along with the written material, you are able to accommodate more of your audience’s needs to easily understand the information you are sharing. People learn in different ways, and it’s important to work with your finance blog audience in helping them follow everything you’re talking about!”

Allan Stolc

Allan Stolc is the Founder and CEO of Bankly, a finance platform specializing in assisting local clients in finding the best and cheapest personal, car, and consolidation loans.

“Center your blog on finance-related topics applicable to people in your locality. While targeting a wider audience may help increase your following, it has little to no impact on the actual success of your brand if readers can’t apply them in real life. However, if you focus on

providing relevant financial content to people in your area, the engagement level will be off the chart. This will ultimately boost your conversion opportunities, which is a much better measurement for growth.

Your finance blog will make more sense and add value to those clients within your preferred geographic segmentation. You need to concentrate on prospects who really need your services instead of collecting passive viewers who are not even part of your target audience.”

Johannes Larsson

@mrjolar

Johannes is the Founder & CEO at Financer.com. He is a personal finance blogger who’s regularly educating his audience on different financial options and money management systems.

“The best piece of advice I can share is to always partner with the best affiliates that complement the information that you’re sharing. Our company is always carefully assessing who we’re partnering with and if their financial product is beneficial for our audience or not. 

Finance blogs that create stellar content with factual information always succeed in the financial industry. With the current short-form video content and TikTok videos going viral, I see a lack of fact-checked financial content being put on social media platforms. Therefore, a piece of content that gives proper research, citations, and proof of the statements wins the trust of the readers.

Our writer often takes help from outside expert sources as well through HARO and Terkel. The key is to add authority to your content, and if you’re quoting several certified experts on the topic, your audience will instantly get the answers from a credible source. The more convenient and understandable content we can create for the audience, the better it would be for growing our finance blog.”

Kari Lorz

Kari Lorz is a Certified Financial Education Instructor and founder at Money for the Mamas.

“My #1 tip for growing a finance blog is understanding what people WANT to learn about. You may want to write about budgeting with nickels but trust me, no one is searching on Google for that.

Don’t waste your time writing about what you think people should know; you won’t see any growth. Instead, meet people where they are now and provide the answers to what they want to know about. Your growth 100% depends on doing good keyword research! Everything else comes in a distant second.”

Ilias Tsigkogiannis

@EngSeekingFire

Ilias Tsigkogiannis is the founder of EngineerSeekingFIRE.com, where he provides personal finance and career advice to high-tech employees. He has 15+ years of professional experience in retail, consulting, and tech companies, including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. 

“The best way to build a blog with great potential for growth is to position it correctly. So, my number #1 tip for growing a finance blog is to focus on financial advice for a specific subset of people that you also belong to. For example, the White Coat Investor is a doctor, so he focuses his very popular blog on financial advice for doctors. I am an engineer, so my blog, EngineerSeekingFIRE.com, focuses on engineers. There are also various other examples of financial bloggers who focus on millennials or people close to retirement, etc.

There are three main reasons to focus your advice on a subset category that you also belong to instead of creating yet another generic finance blog:

1. Google’s E-E-A-T: The first “E” in E-E-A-T stands for Experience. It is much easier to prove Experience by showing that you know your content because your financial advice also applies to you. This is similar to financial advisors with Fiduciary duty. It is widely known that E-E-A-T is very important for the YMYL (Your Money Your Life) category, which includes finance, so this is a crucial factor to rank higher in Google.
2. You can transcribe your own research results into blog posts: All people have questions about how to improve their own financial situation. As a person interested in finance, you’ll have to do research for yourself. Then, all you have to do is to use the same problems that you are researching as a source for post ideas. This becomes much simpler than if you had to think about content ideas for a market category that you know little about.
3. You can differentiate your blog from all/most other blogs in the market: There is lots of generic financial advice on the internet. People can follow it and get good results. But, every person is different. Athletes have different financial needs than engineers, doctors, musicians, etc. If you belong in any of these categories, then my advice would be to search how many bloggers exist with targeted information for your group. My guess is that the number will be really low.”

Ryan Faber 

Ryan Faber is the founder of Copymatic, a cutting-edge AI-powered platform that guides businesses in creating compelling and engaging content.

“Blogs have the potential to engage up to 70% of consumers, which makes them an important part of the strategy for any digital marketer. My number one tip for growing a finance blog is to start producing blogs that target problem-solving situations when it comes to financing. 

With the recession, people are struggling with their budgeting and investment. Hence, they are looking for ways to systematize their finances in such a way that can lead to an organized life. This means researching and writing informative articles that offer unique perspectives, insights, and actionable advice on topics related to personal finance, investing, budgeting, saving, and other relevant subjects. 

To achieve this, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and news in the finance industry and to be knowledgeable about the topics you’re writing about. With problem-solving blogs, you can target 40 – 50% of people who are struggling with finances, which can boost the audience count for your blog. By doing so, you can build a loyal readership.”

Marius Grigoras

Marius Grigoras is the CEO of BHero.

“My number one tip for growing a finance blog would be to stay up to date on industry trends and keep your finger on the pulse of emerging technology. By understanding the latest developments in financial technology, such as blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi), you can provide valuable insights and analysis to your readers that will keep them coming back for more. 

Additionally, finding a niche within the finance world and establishing yourself as an expert in that area is crucial for building a dedicated audience. Finally, leveraging social media and building a strong network of like-minded individuals in the finance community can help you gain exposure and establish yourself as a credible voice in the space. With these tips, any finance blogger can grow their blog and establish themselves as a thought leader in their area of expertise.”

Jamie Irwin

@TutorCruncher

Jamie Irwin is a Digital Marketing Expert at TutorCruncher, a single platform to manage and grow your tutoring business.

“The best way to expand a financial blog is to use content idea generators. If you’re just starting out in the blogging industry, getting your first post up can seem like a lot of work. Yet, there are several easy measures you may take to guarantee the success of your site. 

A good place to start is by describing your ideal reader in as much detail as possible. When properly marketed, people can be the ideal customer base. After all, a lot of times, new innovations occur because someone needed to satisfy a personal need. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in a finance blog, you might as well start your own.”

Alex Contes

@reviewgrower

Alex Contes is the Co-Founder & SaaS Expert at ReviewGrower.

“Posting financial-related questions and answers is the best strategy for expanding a finance blog. If you’re really into money and want to share your knowledge, you may start a personal finance blog and answer readers’ money questions there. Publishing guest posts on related blogs is a fantastic method to increase your site’s visibility and readership. All you have to do is remember to put a link to your own site in every guest post you write. In particular, personal finance bloggers welcome guest posts. 

The market for advice on managing one’s own finances is vast and perennial. There is a plethora of options, and the level of competition is modest. Maintain a consistent publishing schedule to attract and retain readers. Budgeting knowledge and tips for cutting costs are two areas you could concentrate on. Repairing credit is another viable approach. People should be able to use the information on your site to make wiser financial choices.”

Tim Doman

Tim Doman is an investment analyst, ex-executive of a private equity investment fund, and the newly appointed CEO of Top Mobile Banks, the largest site dedicated to digital banking. 

“The number one tip for growing a finance blog is to focus on providing value to your readers. This means identifying your niche, becoming an expert in that area, and producing content that is informative, actionable, and engaging. By doing this, you can build a loyal readership that trusts and values your expertise, and that will help your blog grow over time.

In the world of finance, there is no shortage of information available to consumers. From news articles to financial advisors, people have many sources to turn to for guidance on managing their money. As a finance blogger, trying to compete with these sources by producing as much content as possible or trying to cover every topic under the sun can be tempting. However, this approach is unlikely to result in long-term success.

Instead, I believe that the key to growing a finance blog is to focus on providing value to your readers in a unique and compelling way. This means identifying your niche and becoming an expert in that area. Maybe you’re an expert in budgeting, retirement planning, or investing. Whatever your area of expertise, it’s essential to focus on producing content that is informative, actionable, and engaging.

One way to provide value to your readers is to focus on answering their questions. Start by identifying the most common questions people have about your area of expertise. Maybe people are wondering how to get started with investing or how to create a budget that works for them. Once you have identified these questions, create content that answers them clearly and concisely. Make sure to provide examples and step-by-step instructions that readers can follow.

Another way to provide value to your readers is to create timely and relevant content. Stay up-to-date on the latest trends and news in your area of expertise and produce content that helps readers understand how these developments may affect their financial situation. For example, if you’re an expert in investing, you might produce content that analyzes the stock market and offers advice on adjusting your portfolio accordingly.

Engaging with your readers and building a community around your blog is key. Encourage readers to leave comments and ask questions, and make sure to respond promptly and thoughtfully. Consider hosting events or webinars where readers can connect with you and other members of your community.”

Rebecca Hey

As the founder of Strategically content writing agency, Rebecca manages a team of 22 writers, editors, and SEOs. Together, they provide premium content to hundreds of companies worldwide. From tech to yoga topics, they’ve proudly delivered more than 8 million words of high-quality content for 300+ clients.

“My number 1 tip for growing a finance blog is to establish yourself as an expert in your industry by building out your blog as thoroughly as possible. This means writing detailed, informative, genuinely helpful articles on as many topics within your niche as you can think of.

Rather than trying to brainstorm your article ideas yourself, I recommend taking a look at what your top competitors are doing. If their websites are taking the first spots on Google, they’ve probably already got established blogs with hundreds of article titles that you can copy. You can use your own system for building out blog content, or if you want a method that’s guaranteed to work, research Hubspot’s pillar pages and topic clusters concept. This is a strategy you can use to categorize your articles into subtopics, making it easier for you to cover all topics thoroughly and establish a good internal linking system (also essential for SEO).

Essentially, the more topics you can cover on your website, the more ranking opportunities you have — and ranking for lots of articles gives you credibility, which further boosts your ranking on the SERPs.”

Milo Cruz

Milo Cruz is the Chief Marketing Officer at Freelance Writing Jobs.

“Social listening is vital to creating relevant and informative finance blog posts. Pay close attention to your prospects’ online conversations. 

On Twitter, for instance, you can leverage advanced search features to look for essential subjects relevant to your target audience. This will help you discover financial news from the feeds of influential companies worthy of turning into blog content.

You can also hunt trending topics on social media using advanced monitoring platforms like Semrush and Hootsuite. Doing so lets you get updated on what’s capturing your prospect’s attention and create a blog post about it. As long as you know how to feed your audience’s curiosity with the help of social media, growing your finance blog will be a fun game to play.”

Paul Kim

@paulk139

Paul Kim has been doing SEO for the past 11 years. Most recently, he grew two separate finance blogs from zero to 100k visitors per month in two years. Paul sold both of them last year, and now is working on growing the blog for Ocho, a new fintech startup based in Brooklyn.

“My number one tip for successfully growing a finance blog is that you must build in tiers of very small and specific niches. If you want to rank for more than just a small random group of keywords, you must categorize your content and deliberately publish around a very narrow niche of a niche. 

Finance is one of the most competitive, challenging niches in the world. Every keyword is eaten up by SEO giants like Investopedia, NerdWallet, and Bankrate. It takes longer to build authority and domain expertise, and there’s a higher risk of Google penalties since you’re publishing content that could affect people’s important financial decisions. To compete against the giants, you have to work 10x harder than you would in less competitive industries to dominate a smaller piece of the pie at first. 

Once you build domain expertise in one specific narrow niche, you can expand to the closest related niche from there. For example, at Ocho, we started by only publishing content around the solo 401k. For anyone who’s unfamiliar with what a solo 401k is, it’s a retirement plan built for self-employed individuals. After targeting every major keyword around the solo 401k, we expanded our topics to other retirement plans. After covering all major keywords for all retirement plans, we expanded to keywords targeting business activity like taxes and investing. 

This is the most consistent way to grow organic traffic to a finance blog. It takes more time and effort, but the reward is that the traffic you get can be worth much more than in other industries.”

Ilam Padmanabhan

Ilam Padmanabhan, Founder of IlamPadman.com, has 20 years of experience in the tech/financial services industry. 

“Create high-quality, consistent, and authentic content that provides value to your audience. While it sounds like a cliche, it really is the one true reason some blogs survive and thrive, and the rest disappear.

Additionally, optimize your content for search engines as your discoverability matters as much as your content quality. Finally, engage with your audience, and take them along in your journey.”

Grant Polachek

@squadhelp

Grant Polachek is the Head of Branding at Squadhelp.

“Interact with users and discuss relevant topics in finance communities. The finance industry has plenty of established names that people turn to for advice, such as Finance Monthly, Entrepreneur, or a finance-related subreddit on Reddit, to name a few. You can take this opportunity to go around these websites and engage with a prospective audience to establish your name and authority on the subject.

This approach is more helpful, organic, and genuine when growing your finance blog. Talking to like-minded people is an excellent way to promote your blog content to your target audience. You can also leverage these communities to expand your professional network in the industry and draw inspiration for your upcoming content to attract more people to your blog.”

Melanie Musson

@Clearsurance

Melanie Musson is a finance blogger with Clearsurance.com.

“Post content frequently. You can’t reach everyone in one post, but the more you post and the more you address the niche issue your audience searches for, the more your blog will grow.

To find the topics that would be best to blog about, you should research keywords and focus on ones that haven’t been covered as heavily as others. That way, you’ll increase your odds of people coming across your posts through a Google search.

Consistent posting builds the depth of your blog and helps you build your customer base and business success. Remember, sometimes it takes time to see results, so keep posting and improve your processes as you grow and learn.”

Joe Troyer

Joe Troyer CEO & Head of Growth of DigitalTriggers.

“My top tip for growing a finance blog is to promote advertising positions. Companies are eager to compensate bloggers for placing advertisements on their websites. For a fee, lend them space that would otherwise go unused. There are two ways to develop this source of income for your blog:

• Individually barter with businesses. Find companies in your niche and inquire about advertising opportunities on your website. It is more time-consuming and requires excellent negotiation abilities, but if executed well, it can yield the highest profit.
• Utilize a marketing network. Do you like a hands-off approach? Platforms such as Google AdSense, Mediavine, and AdThrive claim advertising space on your blog and bill advertisers. Simply embed their code on your website to be compensated for displaying advertisements.”

Brad Anderson

Brad Anderson is the Executive Director of FRUITION.

“My number one tip for growing a finance blog is to provide services. As a natural consequence of growing your following, more people will associate your name with the blog topics you cover. That is a terrific approach to establishing authority, which is something that people look for when employing individuals to perform a service. 

If you are in the B2B industry, as I am, consulting is a significant source of revenue. What type of consulting can you offer them if you have any knowledge and people are actually reading your content? Blogging is a high-revenue, low-commitment way to make money. Although operating a service-based business is time-intensive, it can be a rapid way to earn money online. By showing off your knowledge on your blog, you can charge more per hour and attract high-paying clients.”

These tips and best practices are among the most effective ways to grow a finance blog with staying power in a highly competitive industry. There’s no question that growing a finance blog takes time, but not every tactic has to be high effort. Install social media share buttons on your finance blog and let your readers do some of the promotion for you by sharing your content with their connections on social media.

The post 30 Finance Bloggers & Blogging Experts Share Their Top Tips for Growing a Finance Blog appeared first on ShareThis.

Starting a blog on any topic takes work, but growing an entertainment blog poses some unique challenges. For instance, it’s an incredibly broad niche that could encompass everything from celebrity gossip to movie reviews, news on the next big project a popular producer is taking on, and everything in between.

There are many things to consider when you’re trying to grow a blog in the world of entertainment, such as identifying the right keywords, social media promotion, using social listening to tap into trends and breaking news, creating unique images, and much more. While it may seem daunting to break into such a competitive niche, growing an entertainment blog is possible — even for brand-new bloggers — if you follow proven blogging tips and strategies.

To help you get started on the path to successful entertainment blogging, we reached out to a panel of entertainment bloggers and blogging experts and asked them to answer this question:

“What’s your number 1 tip for growing an entertainment blog?”

Meet Our Panel of Entertainment Bloggers & Blogging Experts: 

Keep reading to learn what our panel had to say about the most effective ways to start growing your entertainment blog today.

Chad Barnsdale

Chad Barnsdale is the founder of Unfinished Man, a popular men’s lifestyle website that he founded 10 years ago. With a decade of experience and an eye for style, he offers practical advice on everything from fashion to travel to grooming.

“My number one tip for taming that wild unicorn and growing your entertainment blog is to get weird with it. I’m talking about embracing the quirkiness, the strange, and the unexpected and using it to your advantage.

You see, in the vast digital landscape of the internet, there’s a lot of samey content out there. But if you want to stand out like a neon pink flamingo in a sea of boring grey pigeons, you gotta be willing to let your weird flag fly. Trust me, your audience will thank you.

Think of it like this: if you’re trying to catch a fish and you’re using the same old bait as everyone else, you’re not going to catch anything big. But if you use a strange, funky, off-the-wall bait, you’ll reel in something truly unique. And isn’t that what we all want? A unique and interesting catch.

So don’t be afraid to get creative and put yourself out there with your content. Take a chance and write about the bizarre, the strange, and the offbeat, and trust me, you’ll be reelin’ in the readers.”

William Hogsett

William Hogsett is the Chief Executive Officer at Seota Digital Marketing.

“My number one tip for growing a successful entertainment blog is to be quick to post any updates about people and events in your niche while using headlines that grab the reader’s attention, causing them to click on your article. It can be difficult to be the first to break any sort of entertainment news, so you can use shocking or outrageous headlines that may or may not be true but are based on things that actually did happen. You can also use questions as a headline, making readers naturally want to find out the answer to the question you posed.

Setting up a mailing list with exclusive emails is also a huge help when trying to grow your blog. Value-providing exclusive emails will make your readers feel like they’re in a special club with access to information that you don’t share with just anyone, which makes them more likely to read and engage with your blog.”

Harry Morton

Harry Morton is the Founder of Lower Street, a podcast production agency that operates remotely. 

“Collaborate with fellow creators. The reason why collaboration works incredibly well, especially if you can find a creator that mirrors your style, is because you can reach an audience that’s bound to be interested in your blog. Their audience will likely be similar to yours and find value in the information you share. This is a much more efficient way of reaching out to people rather than doing it blindly and targeting a large group of people that may either be a hit or miss.

More importantly, collaboration fuels creativity and helps you push beyond your own limitations — you could just end up with new ideas that you may not have even considered before through this new and budding partnership.”

Victor Karpenko

Victor Karpenko is the CEO and Founder of SeoProfy.

“My top tip for successful entertainment blog development is to get to the bottom of your target audience. Almost everything depends on it: the subject of articles, their size, design, and style, as well as the quantity, quality, and matter of visual content. 

Look for future visitors on forums and in thematic groups of social networks. Start chatting with them in discussions and comments. This way, you can find out the interests of the people you blog for. 

Use lots of images. Our company’s marketers regularly analyze successful blogs. Recent analytics have shown that visual content is increasingly essential in entertainment blog articles, with more visitors on those pages where the image-to-text ratio is approximately 2:1. This refers to the area occupied by text and pictures on the page. You can use high-quality images downloaded from paid or free stock photo sites. I recommend making unique images. Good-quality photos can be taken even on a smartphone. Plus, creating or editing short videos is easy if you’re purposefully blogging. 

Create diverse content to encourage visitors to return to your blog. You should post a variety of content. Don’t limit yourself to one type of content that’s easier and faster for you to create. You will see an increase in traffic if you post text, photos, and videos. Consider what type of content your target audience will be interested in. Additionally, it can be polls, tests, quizzes, and contests.” 

Jared Floyd

Jared Floyd is the Founder and Executive Producer at Ajax Creative.

“If you’re looking to take your entertainment blog to the next level, here is my number one tip: Create content that is engaging, informative, and entertaining. When readers come to your blog, they should be able to find something that captures their attention and interests them. Quality content is key when it comes to growing an entertainment blog.

Engaging content should keep your readers coming back for more. Focus on writing content that is enjoyable to read and share, such as reviews, interviews, and interesting news updates. The key is to make sure that your content is unique and provides helpful information.

When creating content, it’s important to ensure that the content is optimized for search engines (SEO). This means making sure that you are using keywords and phrases in your titles and content that people may search for. Doing this will help your blog show up in search engine results and attract more readers.

It’s also important to stay up-to-date on the latest entertainment news. Keep an eye on the entertainment industry and create content that covers the hottest topics and current trends. This will make your blog stand out from the crowd and keep your readers coming back for more. 

Remember to promote your blog. Utilize social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to spread the word about your content. Encourage readers to share your content and reach out to influencers who might be interested in featuring your work.”

Tory Gray

Tory is the Founder & CEO of the SEO consulting firm The Gray Dot Company.

“Your ultimate connection to blog growth is to build a strong subscriber list. When your followers receive updates for every post you release straight to your inbox, your content practically markets itself.

70% of users visit a website once and never return again, so creating a compelling call-to-action (CTA) that convinces people to subscribe during that first visit is critical. Use pop-ups with strong opt-in messages along with the promise of free content extras for subscribing. Since too-early pop-ups annoy users and those timed too late may miss a large portion of users, the sweet spot for most pop-ups is 5 seconds after pages load.

If you don’t want to use pop-ups to entice potential subscribers, play around with other CTA locations, like inline or after-post opt-ins, floating bars, or slide-ins.”

Michal Suski

Michal is the Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder at Surfer, a content intelligence platform that bootstrapped to $7 million ARR in four years. He manages a team of five product development experts. He also has 10 years of experience in SEO and has appeared at major conferences.

“Growing an entertainment blog can be challenging but with the right approach, it is achievable. My number one tip is to focus on optimizing both organic traffic sources (SEO) as well as paid sources (paid advertising).

When it comes to SEO, you need to make sure your website’s technical setup – such as page speed, mobile responsiveness, and structured data markup – is up-to-date so search engine spiders can easily crawl through your site’s pages and understand its content better. You also need to optimize titles, descriptions, and keywords on each page so they accurately describe what visitors will find when they land there. 

Finally, strive for quality links from other websites back pointing toward yours; this helps to establish trustworthiness in the eyes of search engines like Google or Bing, which ultimately helps boost rankings within their search engine results pages (SERPs).

When it comes to paid advertising, you should create campaigns targeting the right audiences and reach out to potential readers through different networks and channels. You need to ensure your ads are relevant and interesting enough for people to click on them – this can be achieved by testing different ad copy variations or images until you identify what works best. Once users land on your website, make sure there is a clear call to action encouraging them to read more articles or sign up for newsletters.

By optimizing organic traffic sources as well as paid sources, you will get one step closer towards achieving success with an entertainment blog.”

Brian Nagele

Brian Nagele is the CEO of Restaurant Clicks, a top entertainment publication in the hospitality industry.

“Match your blog topics to the latest trends in your niche. Entertainment content works best when it relates to trending topics currently circulating in the industry. These are the themes that readers are most likely to be discussing with their peers and inquiring about on the search engines. Your expert insight could prove helpful to people seeking explanations and unique perspectives. Of course, this would require you to be active within the social circles of your niche in order to stay on top of relevant issues. So it’s also a call to invest more heavily in continuous market research.”

Kacper Rafalski

Kacper Rafalski is a senior-level digital marketing strategist specializing in SEO, ASO, PPC, Demand Generation, and Digital Data Analytics. He is the Demand Generation Team Leader at Netguru.

“My number one tip is to look up unanswered topics that people are searching for on Quora or other question sites so you can create content that will capture their interest. This will help you generate more organic traffic as well as establish your credibility as an expert in the field. Using tools like AlsoAsked and AnswerThePublic can help you identify the topics people are asking about and provide you with fresh content ideas. Both of these tools are free and help a great deal when seeking topics to write about.”

Alexander Hollingsworth

@oyovausa

Alexander Hollingsworth is an SEO Marketing Associate at Oyova.

“My number one tip for growing an entertainment blog is to focus on creating high-quality, engaging content. In today’s digital landscape, content is king. So, you need to make sure that your blog is offering unique and valuable content that resonates with your audience.

To do this, you should start by researching your audience and identifying their interests and preferences. What topics are they passionate about? What content formats do they prefer? Once you have this information, you can start creating content that is tailored to their needs.

It’s also important to use SEO (search engine optimization) to help your content reach a wider audience. This means optimizing your blog for search engines by using keywords, meta tags, and other strategies that make it easier for people to find your content.

Another important tip is to build relationships with other bloggers, influencers, and media outlets in your industry. This can help you gain exposure and build your brand in the industry. You can do this by collaborating on content, guest posting on other blogs, or pitching your content to media outlets.

Finally, it’s important to engage with your audience and build a community around your blog. This means responding to comments, sharing your content on social media, and participating in industry events and conversations. This will help you build relationships with your audience and keep them coming back for more.”

Sam Chan

@pipiads

Sam Chan is the founder of PiPiADS.

“Bet on infographics for your entertainment blog to attract more audience and build authenticity to grow. Infographics are fun to look at and easy to understand in a short period and therefore are great to entice the target audience of an entertainment blog. Being versatile in formatting, infographics can also be repurposed for flyers, email marketing, videos, and other marketing materials. In addition, they are also shareable, with the potential to go viral.”

Adam Fard

Adam Fard is the Founder & Head Of Design of Adam Fard’s UX Agency.

“Choose a fascinating niche. Many kinds of blogs can and do earn money, but certain categories are far simpler to monetize than others. A blog with an obscure or unattractive subject might not attract enough readers to generate much revenue.”

Brad Anderson

Brad Anderson is the Executive Director of FRUITION.

“Consider using visual aids. If a blog makes use of images, it will be more interesting to its readers. Blog material is sometimes the sole concern of many bloggers. They rarely use visual content, even though it has been shown to increase click-through rates. 

Readers are favorably affected by the use of color schemes, blog themes, and videos. Although content is king, beauty is queen in the realm of blogging. 

To make your blog entries more engaging, you should include photographs that readers can relate to. To give your readers a taste of what they can expect from a particular blog post, you can insert an animated clip. It will pique the interest of your blog’s readers, and readership on your blog will increase as a result. So, if you want to stand out as a blogger, you need to use as many interesting features as you can. One method that has been shown to increase participation is the use of visual content.”

Joe Troyer

Joe Troyer is the CEO & Head of Growth of DigitalTriggers.

“Get experts to contribute. Join forces with other bloggers and authorities in your niche. Inquire if they would like to contribute a guest post to your website. It will generate interest in your blog and boost its visibility. It will give you access to credible sources that you can reference in your writing. 

One of the most effective methods to increase a blog’s visibility is through guest posts. It’s a great way to attract readers to your blog. With this strategy, you can attract a larger audience to your site. SEO-friendly guest posts are possible. The guest posts will consequently improve your blog’s position in the search engine results pages. 

In addition to what has already been said, guest posting can also boost your reputation in your field. Having a professional writer contribute to your blog will make it the talk of your audience in no time. It will facilitate communication with your mailing list. Thus, guest blogging is yet another approach to increasing a blog’s readership.”

Casey Jones

Casey Jones is the Founder & Head of Marketing at CJ&CO, an award-winning and top-rated digital marketing company that serves clients across the globe.

“Invest in youth-centered content for quick and long-lasting growth of your entertainment blog. It’s important to understand that Gen-Z is the current and future generation of digital consumers. So, you need to create content tailored to their needs. 

To stay relevant, create humanized content that is transparent, honest, and authentic. Plus, use an engaging tone that feels like a two-way conversation. Think about talking to them through your blog and tempting them to share their own views through comments and feedback. 

Also, include eye-catching visuals and bright colors in your entertainment blog because Gen-Z loves imaginative experiences. If you use these strategies, you’ll get more eyes on your entertainment blog and grow it at a good pace.” 

Aima Irfan

Aima Irfan is the Editor in Chief and Marketing Manager at InsideTechWorld.

“Go where your competitors won’t! To differentiate yourself from your competitors, go the extra mile. To grow your entertainment blog, lean into your strengths and discover innovative strategies to stand out from your competition. 

Provide readers with information they can learn from. There is no point in writing an article on ‘10 Ways to Save Money’ if your reader isn’t able to get anything out of it. 

Stop stuffing your blogs with useless and fancy words just to make them look appealing. There should be actionable steps and concrete evidence present in your blogs so readers can act upon them. Avoid repeating information. Add a new perspective to your old subjects. This way, you can write better than your competition and grow.”

Ryan Faber

Ryan Faber is the founder of Copymatic, a cutting-edge AI-powered platform that guides businesses in creating compelling and engaging content.

“My tip is to focus on converting video and audio blogs into written blogs. Users all around the globe use different devices, like laptops, desktop computers, mobile phones, etc. to read blogs. So, to make your blog responsive and accessible on all devices, you should convert video and audio content into written blogs. 

Also, you need to take into consideration the speed of the internet. Some might have slow internet speeds, and they can’t access videos and audio. After some time, they will lose interest, so make it easy to access by converting your content into written format. This way, you can also gain more active readers.”

Jessica Luna

Jessica Luna is a Marketing Analyst for Net Influencer. 

“My number one tip for growing an entertainment blog is to consistently produce high-quality content that resonates with your target audience. Here are some specific steps you can take to achieve this:

• Know your audience: Identify your target audience and understand their interests, preferences, and behaviors. Use this information to create content that appeals to their needs and desires.
• Stay up-to-date: Keep yourself informed and up-to-date with the latest trends, news, and developments in the entertainment industry. This will help you create timely and relevant content that resonates with your audience.
• Create engaging content: Develop content that is engaging, entertaining, and informative. Use multimedia such as images, videos, and infographics to make your content more visually appealing and shareable.
• Optimize your content for search engines: Use search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to ensure your content is discoverable by search engines and appears at the top of search results for relevant keywords.
• Promote your content: Share your content on social media platforms and other relevant websites to increase visibility and attract new readers. Use email marketing, paid advertising, and influencer marketing to expand your reach and attract more followers.
• Engage with your audience: Respond to comments and feedback from your audience, and use their feedback to improve your content and website. Build relationships with your readers to create a loyal and engaged community around your blog.

By consistently producing high-quality, engaging content that resonates with your audience, optimizing for search engines, and promoting your content, you can grow your entertainment blog and attract a loyal following.”

Serge Volokonskyi

Serge Volokonskyi is a Product Owner of LinkChecker.PRO. 

“Start promoting your blog as soon as you create high-quality content. What’s the point of having a great blog if nobody reads it? If you want to attract an audience, you must not only create excellent content but also promote it effectively.

Connect with other bloggers in your niche and explore opportunities for collaboration. You could guest post on each other’s blogs, share each other’s content on social media, or even team up to create joint projects.

Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are great for promoting blog content. Share your posts on these platforms, engage with your followers, and use relevant hashtags to reach a wider audience.

Build an email list. Encourage visitors to your blog to sign up for your email newsletter. This allows you to stay in touch with your audience and promote new blog content directly to their inbox.

If your content is valuable to readers, your site is SEO optimized, and you follow these guidelines, you are destined for success.”

Matthew Caiola

Matt Caiola is a Co-CEO of 5WPR, a leading PR agency.

“Practice blog etiquette. In the sphere of blogs, there can be unprofessionalism. People can write whatever they want, and trolling and mean comments are common. Some bloggers break rules when they are beginners and later realize that breaking rules went against civil behavior. Below are some rules of blogging etiquette that every blogger must follow.

• Think before you write. Today, if an ill-considered comment is published in a public forum, it can spark an immediate and heated response from other bloggers and readers. There are mean people on the internet, and every blogger will have their share of mean comments. The best thing is to be nice.
• Be discreet. A blog can be an online diary but when it is used for business purposes, a blogger cannot treat it as an invitation to share private thoughts and post indiscreet photos of oneself in questionable poses. Everything that goes in a blog is for public consumption, and that reflects on the individual professionalism of the blogger and the credibility of the organization. Readers will understandably assess the person behind the blog based on the posts published. Sometimes employers check out the blogs of job applicants to catch a glimpse of the person behind the professional resume.
• Be careful about the language used. Business blogs exist for business purposes. There is no place for hostile, blunt, rude, insensitive, obscene, abusive, and discriminatory language on a business blog. Offensive language in blogs can lead to legal claims and monetary fines. Bloggers might be tempted to use the power of blogs to gossip about or defame anyone, but nothing is worth legal claims.
• Avoid blogging anonymously. People might like to use anonymity to write in a defamatory, offensive, inappropriate, and irresponsible manner. There is no guarantee that anonymous blogging will protect bloggers from detection.
• Be careful about spelling, grammar, and punctuation. A blog should never have errors. An important goal of professional blogging is to attract and grow a loyal following of leaders who will turn regularly to a blog as an expert source of timely and useful information. It will be difficult for a blogger to establish their position as an influential one if their blog lacks professionalism.
• Do not repost without permission. It is never okay to copy somebody’s post without obtaining their permission. Not only is there the issue of duplicate content, but the readers will not check out the original post, which means copying also results in stealing traffic from another blogger. This can also lead to a blog getting shut down. Before reposting anybody’s content, it is better to send them an email to get their permission.
• Be gracious. Not everyone will agree with the content of a blog. There will be people who will disagree, and many of them will tell the blogger about it. Bloggers should learn to handle criticism and not resort to insults in their responses. Negative feedback on a blog and name-calling are common. A blogger should continue to be gracious to their readers and commentators.”

Abdullah Prem

Abdullah Prem is a Full-time Blogger, SEO, Digital Marketer, and Founder, CEO of Bloggersneed.

“The key to growing an entertainment blog is consistency. Posting content on a regular schedule helps to keep readers engaged and coming back for more. It is also important to use different types of content, such as videos, interviews, and written articles, to keep things interesting. 

Additionally, it is important to promote your content on social media platforms. For example, when I launched my entertainment blog, I made sure to post regularly and promote my content on Twitter and Instagram. This helped me to reach a larger audience and grow my blog.”

Milo Cruz

 Milo Cruz is the Chief Marketing Officer at Freelance Writing Jobs.

“You can grow your entertainment blog by creating valuable content and networking with bloggers relevant to the industry. Define your niche and create engaging content that speaks to your target readers. You can also leverage SEO techniques like keyword optimization and link building to optimize your blog for search engines

Moreover, offer unique content by networking with other entertainment bloggers, where you can initiate exclusive interviews or behind-the-scenes coverage. This differentiates your content from others in the same niche and ultimately helps your blog stand out. And, of course, be consistent with your content publishing and audience engagement to build a loyal following over time.”

Daniel Sand

Daniel Sand is the Co-founder & CEO at Wedio.

“Nail organic traffic with community-driven content. Growing an entertainment blog requires a strong focus on SEO and organic traffic.

Last year at Wedio, we were able to increase our organic traffic from less than 10,000 monthly readers to over 100,000 by focusing solely on SEO. Our secret? We turned to community-driven content.

We engaged our members to create content for us, including articles, videos, and photos. The reason this tactic was so effective is that Google now values expert knowledge over generic content. This shift occurred during the Helpful Content update in August 2022.

Instead of relying on content from one author, we involved hundreds of creators and produced both video and written content. This allowed us to present a collective perspective rather than a single point of view.

If you’re looking to grow your entertainment blog in 2023, my top recommendation is to focus on publishing community-driven content. No matter what area of the entertainment industry you represent, this approach can help you increase your organic traffic and drive greater success for your blog.”

Allan McNabb

Allan McNabb is the VP of Image Building Media, an internet marketing company based in Tampa, serving clients throughout the U.S.

“In my opinion, the number one tip for growing an entertainment blog is to be passionate about your topic. If you’re not passionate about the movies, TV shows, or music you’re writing about, it will show in your writing. Your readers will be able to tell if you’re just phoning it in, and they’ll likely move on to a different blog that covers their favorite topics with more enthusiasm.”

Susan Gagnon

@costumesheaven

Susan Gagnon is the Editor in Chief & Fashion Blogger at Costumes Heaven.

“An entertainment blog must use all marketing methods. Running an entertainment blog cannot be based on a single form of marketing. Entertainment is viewed through different mediums, so your blog must be accessible. Marketing across multiple platforms is the right thing to do.

Form a strategy and post your content accordingly. Incorporate interviews with celebrities, get them to write for the blog, or even start a podcast. This will significantly boost interaction. Also, audiences will be thoroughly invested. Moreover, make your blog SEO-friendly. This way, your blog will be the first result that comes up when people search for content.”

Nicole Bolton

Nicole Bolton is a fashion designer and the co-founder of Iconic Celebrity Outfits.

“If you want to grow your entertainment blog, make sure that you have a thorough understanding of plugins and themes. WordPress has a vast library of plugins and themes. This consists of two kinds: free and premium. In many cases, free plugins will be more than enough to get the job done, especially when starting out.

But as your website grows and demands increase, it is worth paying for more powerful tools. Through plugins, you can add additional features to your blog that can help extract data and even generate insights.”

Dan Troha

Dan Troha is an entrepreneur, blogger, gamer, marketer, former Jeopardy! contestant, and the founder of Trivia Bliss, the largest source of trivia questions on the internet.

“If you want to build an audience for your entertainment blog, my number one piece of advice is to always be aware of what’s happening in your industry. Being a former Jeopardy! competitor, I can attest to the industry’s propensity for rapid transformation and why you need to stay abreast.

Maintaining an up-to-date, entertaining, and useful blog is easier if you keep up with the current happenings in the entertainment industry, and combining it with increasing your content’s exposure on social media is a great way to gain traction.

Also, don’t be afraid to infuse some self-deprecating humor, a distinct point of view, and anecdotes into your writing to give it some much-needed character. After all, it’s always a good idea to have fun at your own expense, right? Yes, it actually is if you’re confident enough.

Here’s a perfect illustration of how keeping up with the newest trends and offering a fresh perspective can draw in new readers to your blog: I was writing a blog article about a big streaming hit show in the past for another website we were doing a backlink swap for. Since I contribute to and run trivia/entertainment sites, to increase our marketing cross-pollination, I wrote a piece critiquing this program and offering my thoughts on the influence it has had on the culture at large.

I was amazed at how quickly the piece got traction and was shared by many people when I promoted it on social media because it translated effectively.

This exercise showed me the value of being on top of things, especially in the fast-paced world of trending topics. Developing a distinct point of view when writing for also helped to expand the readership of my trivia/entertainment blog at the end of the day.”

Growing an entertainment blog will take consistent work over time, but that doesn’t mean it has to be difficult. Install social media share buttons so your visitors can share your content with their social networks with just one click, expanding your reach to a larger audience and bringing more visitors to your blog.

The post 27 Entertainment Bloggers & Blogging Experts Share Their Top Tips for Growing an Entertainment Blog appeared first on ShareThis.

Subliminal advertising shares specific messages in subtle ways through various forms of media, including logos or graphics, TV ads, or music. It may seem like a sneaky way to get a message across — and, in some ways, it is — but it often works, so companies use it. It could even be an effective marketing strategy for your business.

However, subliminal advertising has also received criticism due to ethical concerns. It can target inappropriate audiences, such as ads for alcohol or tobacco products that appeal to children and teens or ads for pharmaceuticals that imply an off-label use. Studies have shown that consumers generally consider the practice manipulative and unethical, and in highly regulated industries with stringent advertising requirements, these types of subliminal messages can get advertisers into legal trouble.

Still, despite many consumers being aware that subliminal advertising is widely used, 77% of respondents to one survey said they would continue watching a television show if they were aware that the commercials shown contained subliminal messaging. The key to using subliminal advertising effectively is to stay well within widely accepted ethical boundaries, avoid appealing to inappropriate audiences, and design your messaging in such a way that consumers don’t feel as though they’re being intentionally duped.

Continue reading to learn more about what subliminal advertising is and explore nine examples of subliminal advertising that works.

What is Subliminal Advertising?

Subliminal advertising is advertising that contains words, images, or sounds designed to convey a message to an audience that the conscious mind can’t observe. In other words, subliminal advertising is the use of visual and auditory stimuli to influence the subconscious mind and drive consumer behavior, all while the consumer isn’t consciously aware of the message that’s being conveyed.

Brand identity elements, such as a company’s logo or the company tagline, can even contain subliminal advertising. These elements are used consistently in order to create brand awareness and get consumers to associate certain images and feelings with your brand.

While it’s intentionally designed to be manipulative, ethical subliminal advertising isn’t used for malicious or inappropriate purposes. Instead, it should subtly convey a key yet harmless message to your audience’s subconscious minds. Done right, your audience has your intended message in their minds after being exposed to the advertisement, even if you didn’t convey that message directly to their conscious minds.

9 Successful Examples of Subliminal Advertising

The following are successful examples of how subliminal advertising can work for businesses and how even the largest companies use it in their marketing. 

1. Goodwill Logo

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

When you look at the Goodwill logo, you might first notice part of a smiling face, possibly alluding to the chain’s ability to make people in communities smile with access to low-cost donated items. Take a closer look, and you’ll see that the ‘g’ in ‘goodwill’ also doubles as a partial face. This simple tactic pulls the logo and brand concept together and has the power to evoke emotion from consumers.

2. Apple TV+

Apple TV+ offers exclusive programming for subscribers, and some of its shows and movies are said to have some hidden messages related to Apple products. A TiKTok video discusses one show in which one character hands another character an envelope with a Macbook inside, reminiscent of the famous moment Steve Jobs originally unveiled the Macbook by removing it from the same type of envelope. The clip is only a few seconds long, but it’s quite an Easter egg for Apple fans and something that could stick with consumers looking for an ultra-thin laptop.

3. Charlie Puth’s Music Video for “Light Switch”

In artist Charlie Puth’s “Light Switch” music video, there are a few seconds during which Puth’s character opens the Coinbase app on his phone to transfer cryptocurrency to an account. It’s subtle advertising that’s simultaneously in your face with the quick but up-close app screenshot, making it an excellent example of both product placement and subliminal advertising. 

4. Amazon’s Logo

Photo by Amazon via Wikimedia Commons

Amazon hides a couple of messages in its famous logo. First is the arrow reminiscent of a smile, perhaps giving a nod to happy Amazon customers. There’s also the less obvious element of the arrow moving from the A to the Z, denoting that Amazon has everything you need, from A to Z. 

5. Honey Nut Cheerios

In 2017, Honey Nut Cheerios removed its mascot, Buzz the Bee, from its cereal boxes, leaving behind a white outline of the famous bee. Its reason? It wanted to bring attention to the dying bee population, according to a press release. The marketing campaign hoped to encourage consumers to grow bee-friendly flowers by tying the important environmental cause into its product packaging.

6. Gillette’s Logo

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Gillette is well-known for its razors for men and women. Its logo has a smart, subliminal way of showing exactly what the brand does best with its sharp slash through both the ‘G’ and ‘i.’ 

7. NFL

In 2012, the NFL ran advertisements for its app, NFL Mobile. One advertisement follows a man as he transforms from an ordinary businessman to a sports-loving, popular guy after downloading the NFL Mobile app. Although comical in nature, the underlying message of the ad is that using the app could help you become more desirable overall.

8. Subway’s Logo

Photo by Subway via Wikimedia Commons

Subway is known for being one of the healthier fast food options in the industry, but it also puts together its sandwiches fast. The arrows pointing outward from the logo’s letters hint at this. They mimic a subway’s entrance and exit points to let customers know that Subway is the place to visit when they need food on the go.

9. Marlboro and Formula One

Museo y Circuito Fernando Alonso: 2010 Ferrari F10 of Fernando Alonso by Morio, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Tobacco company Marlboro advertised on Formula One race cars, but not in the more obvious way it might have on television or social media ads. Instead, it added barcodes replicating those you’d find on a pack of Marlboro cigarettes to trigger reminders of its well-known box design. Although the tobacco industry may have been banned from more overt forms of advertising in Formula One, this was an easy and acceptable way to skirt the issue with clever marketing. 

Subliminal Advertising is Just One Way to Grow Your Brand

Your company can also make subliminal advertising work for you by leaving subtle breadcrumbs for viewers in social media, TV, or print advertising. Still, this will be just one part of your overall marketing strategy. As your brand gains traction and your advertising and marketing efforts start to pay off, get more traction on social media by installing social media share buttons on your blog or website. Easy to install and free to use, share buttons allow your visitors to spread the word about your brand by sharing your content on social media with a simple click.

The post 9 Examples of Subliminal Advertising (and Why They Work) appeared first on ShareThis.

Could your marketing team use a few encouraging words as they build their marketing strategy or branch out into different forms of marketing, such as email marketing, social media marketing, or video marketing? Whether you’re looking for some classic quotes from famous wordsmiths or you want to introduce some powerful words from modern marketing thought leaders, these inspiring quotes might be just the motivator you need for an effective team.

To make it easier to find different kinds of inspiring marketing quotes, we’ve broken our selections down into the following categories:

• Marketing Strategy Quotes
• Content Marketing Quotes
• Customer-First Marketing Quotes
• Famous Marketing Quotes
• Funny Marketing Quotes

Marketing Strategy Quotes

Photo by Kindel Media via Pexels

1. “Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.”

– David Packard

The breakdown: Good marketers know that it’s not solely the marketing team that makes magic happen. Instead, several teams have their hands in a company’s marketing strategy, from designers to researchers to customer support specialists. The more diverse the expertise, the better.

2. “Instead of one-way interruption, web marketing is about delivering useful content at just the right moment that a buyer needs it.”

– David Meerman Scott

The breakdown: Marketing should never feel as though it’s worming its way into a customer’s buying journey. Instead, it should meet the customer exactly where they need it.

3. “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

– Simon Sinek

The breakdown: Customers generally want to know that there’s a meaning behind a product or service. Showcase the “why” in your marketing through connective storytelling.

4. “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”

– Peter F. Drucker

The breakdown: Effective marketing helps products and services sell without needing to be pushy because campaigns address customer needs and hit precise customer pain points.

5. “The best marketing strategy ever: CARE.”

– Gary Vaynerchuk

The breakdown: Vaynerchuk is known for his marketing strategy of truly connecting with customers rather than focusing on sales. This quote spotlights the need for caring about customers and their needs, which will, in turn, help sell.

6. “I don’t believe in tricky advertising, I don’t believe in cute advertising, I don’t believe in comic advertising. The people who perpetrate that kind of advertising never had to sell anything in their lives.”

– David Ogilvy

The breakdown: Confusing or misleading marketing doesn’t bode well for most companies. Customers want trust and transparency from the companies they buy from.

7. “Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.”

– Joe Chernov

The breakdown: An effective marketing strategy leaves customers feeling as though they made the right decision by purchasing your product or service.

8. “If your competitors start copying you, then you are doing something right!”

– Jay Baer

The breakdown: Companies often want to hop on trends that are working. If you notice competitors modeling their marketing efforts on your successful ones, then your company is doing something worth mimicking. 

9. “Market like the year you are in.”

– Gary Vaynerchuk

The breakdown: It’s important to tailor a marketing strategy to today’s customers. Some strategies that worked ten years ago are likely obsolete today, while others require an updated approach in order to achieve success.

10. “Marketing takes a day to learn.  Unfortunately, it takes a lifetime to master.”

– Phil Kotler

The breakdown: Marketing is always changing because customers and their needs are always evolving. Train your marketing teams to create fluid strategies that they can continue to adapt to meet customer needs.

11. “Starting and being consistent and not giving up is more important than being brilliant.”

– Mark Schaefer

The breakdown: Marketing teams may face several challenges as they develop a workable strategy. As long as they keep pushing through those challenges to figure out what works, they’ll succeed.

12. “Smart brands don’t just ride trend shifts. They start them.”

– Ann Handley

The breakdown: Remember what we said about trends and copycats? You don’t want to be the copycat. Trendsetters are the ones that have the biggest potential in growing their audiences and building a brand.

Content Marketing Quotes

Image by Diggity Marketing from Pixabay

13. “Content is king.”

– Bill Gates

The breakdown: This is easily one of the most well-known marketing quotes in today’s world of content at our fingertips, which was originally stated in an essay by Bill Gates. Content envelopes a broad spectrum, from social media to print magazines, and it’s all an integral part of a marketing plan. 

14. “Storytelling is by far the most underrated skill when it comes to business.”

– Gary Vaynerchuk

The breakdown: Telling compelling stories gives brands a voice and a more human-like personality. Businesses with unique storytelling skills can connect to customers on a new level by speaking directly to their needs.

15. “Content is the atomic particle of all digital marketing.”

– Rebecca Lieb

The breakdown: When you think about it, digital marketing stems from content in every form. Nailing down your content strategy will improve your digital marketing strategy.

16. “If great content is the hero, then banners are the villain.”

– Michael Brenner

The breakdown: Although banner ads still work, customers are more likely to respond to effective content than a banner ad on a website. 

17. “Content marketing is storytelling where your customer is the hero. Advertising is purely promotional, with your brand voice leading the way.”

– Michael Brenner

The breakdown: Your social media and banner ads stop when your budget stops. However, an informative piece of content remains on your site for as long as you want it to, which could continue to bring you customers without lifting a finger — or paying more money.

18. “Content is fire. Social media is gasoline.”

– Jay Baer

The breakdown: Social media allows you to share great content with your audience. Always remember to build a solid social media strategy to boost your content marketing.

19. “Behind every piece of bad content is an executive who asked for it.”

– Michael Brenner

The breakdown: Content marketing requires storytelling to thrive, and executives aren’t usually known for their storytelling skills. Who is? Excellent copywriters.

20. “Content is the reason search began in the first place.”

– Lee Odden

The breakdown: Think about it: You search to find content that answers your questions or fills a need. When your team creates content, make sure it focuses on search intent.

Customer-First Marketing Quotes

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

21. “Know thyself. Know the customer. Innovate.”

– Beth Comstock

The breakdown: The first step in marketing is to thoroughly understand what you’re marketing. Then, it’s knowing the ins and outs of your audience and learning to adjust your strategy to give customers what they need.

22. “Clients don’t care about the labor pains; they want to see the baby.”

– Tim Williams

The breakdown: The best marketing strategies aren’t forced and don’t reveal flaws in the system. Instead, they’re natural and have an ease about them, making it easier for customers to connect with your company.

23. “Don’t build links. Build relationships.”

– Rand Fishkin

The breakdown: Linkbuilding is something that’s frequently discussed among marketers, but building links won’t get you anywhere if you don’t first build connections with your audience.

24. “There are a lot of opportunities that you can discover by listening closely to what your customers are saying.”

– Joei Chan

The breakdown: Get feedback from customers frequently through various methods, such as surveys, social listening, and sentiment analysis. Their criticism and praise can mold the future of your company.

25. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

– Maya Angelou

The breakdown: Again, we see that storytelling is the key to winning over a customer. 

26. “The customer expects you to have knowledge of their stuff, not just your stuff.”

– Jeffrey Gitomer

The breakdown: Successful companies know what their customers want and need just as much as they know what their products or services can achieve.

27. “You don’t always have to create something new to feed the content machine. Try these instead: Share someone else’s content. Re-share your existing content. Repurpose your existing content.”

– Melanie Deziel

The breakdown: Marketing teams don’t always need to pump out new content to succeed. Repurposing content is a powerful act that can turn existing content into something new and just as useful.

28. “People want what’s best for them, and they can switch on a dime, because there’s always a new disruptor disrupting the last disruptor. So companies should just strive to keep changing and adapting to their customers’ needs.”

– Ben Chestnut

The breakdown: 64 percent of consumers say they’ve switched to a competitor following a poor customer experience, so it’s essential to focus on providing exceptional customer experiences at every touchpoint and meeting your customers’ most important needs.

29. “Our head of social media is the customer.”

– McDonald’s

The breakdown: Customers drive social media marketing because they’re the ones who share and engage with content. Market your content to them, and you’ll probably be successful.

30. “Our job is to connect to people, to interact with them in a way that leaves them better than we found them, more able to get where they’d like to go.”

– Seth Godin

The breakdown: Genuine connections are a priority when it comes to marketing. That’s why it’s important to develop your brand personality and connect with customers on a human-to-human level.

31. “Listen to your customers, not your competitors.”

– Joel Spolsky

The breakdown: Knowing what your competitors are doing is important, but they don’t contribute to your revenue; your customers, however, do. 

32. “Instead of marketing to the masses, be irresistible to a specific group of people.”

– Jeremy Gutsche

The breakdown: Research has shown that finding your niche group of customers and marketing to them usually has better results than trying to catch a broad group of people in your net.

33. “Your website isn’t the center of your universe. Your Facebook page isn’t the center of your universe. Your mobile app isn’t the center of your universe. The customer is the center of your universe.”

– Bruce Ernst

The breakdown: Each of these platforms can bring in customers, but those customers won’t stick around if you have a weak marketing strategy that fails to connect the dots for them.

34. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

– Bill Gates

The breakdown: There’s a lot to be said about the pivotal learning moments that come from failures. Use failures with customers as the driving force behind a shift in your marketing strategy.

35. “The best advertising you can have is a loyal customer spreading the word about how incredible your business is.”

– Shep Hyken

The breakdown: Never stop marketing to your customers in authentic ways. The more you connect with them and fill their needs, the more likely they’ll be to share what they love about your company with others.

Famous Marketing Quotes

Image by Firmbee from Pixabay

36. “Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.”

– Henry Ford

The breakdown: You can’t cut corners on an effective marketing strategy. Always make room in the budget for solid marketing.

37. “Deadlines are the greatest source of inspiration.”

– Mark Twain

The breakdown: Try not to be too hard on your team if the clock is ticking closer to crunch time. During these last moments, they might come up with the best ideas.

38. “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

– Henry Ford

The breakdown: Your team’s thoughts shape their progress. Be a source of motivation to encourage your marketing team to keep doing their best work.

39. “Don’t make excuses, make improvements.”

– Neil Patel

The breakdown: Mistakes and failures are going to happen in marketing. However, avoid making excuses about them. Simply dust yourself off and work to improve your strategy.

40. “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

– Steve Jobs

The breakdown: Jobs famously made this statement to indicate that taking risks is necessary in business. Without risks in marketing, you’ll never start trends or open the doors to inviting new, diverse audiences.

41. “Learn the rules like a pro so that you can break them like an artist.”

– Pablo Picasso

The breakdown: Learning marketing skills is a must, but knowing what to do with those skills to boost your marketing strategy is even more necessary.

Funny Marketing Quotes

Screenshot via JayKrish.com

42. “The consumer is not a moron; she is your wife. Do not insult her intelligence.”

– David Ogilvy

The breakdown: Marketers should always remember that customers are real people, just like people you know, love, and respect. Keep that in mind when tailoring your marketing strategy.

43. “The best way to engage honestly with the marketplace via Twitter is to never use the words ‘engage,’ ‘honestly’ or ‘marketplace.’”

– Jeffrey Zeldman

The breakdown: The point Zeldman makes here is that marketing should never feel like marketing. Instead, use stories and genuine conversation to build relationships and generate leads.

44. “Never let ads write checks your website can’t cash.”

– Avinash Kaushik

The breakdown: Be realistic in your marketing. If customers find out that what you advertise isn’t exactly what they’ll receive, they certainly won’t become repeat customers — and they could prevent other people from becoming customers.

45. “Content marketing is really like a first date. If all you do is talk about yourself, there won’t be a second date.”

– David Beebe

The breakdown: Continuous self-promotion alienates your audience. Market to your customers’ needs, not your own. 

46. “Customers are like teeth. Ignore them and they’ll go away.”

– Jerry Flanagan

The breakdown: A surefire way to lose customers is by not giving them what they need. 

47. “If you build it… you may still need Google AdWords.”

– Jennifer Mesenbrink

The breakdown: Even the best marketing strategy could be bolstered by the help of Google AdWords. Ads in the #1 position in Google search results see an average click-through rate of 7.94%.

48. “Before I do anything, I ask myself, ‘Would an idiot do that?’ And, if the answer is yes, I do not do that thing.”

– Dwight Schrute (character from The Office)

The breakdown: This quote may come from a TV character, but it has a firm place in marketing, where there’s no room for silly mistakes.

49. “The best place to hide a dead body is page two of Google.”

– Dharmesh Shah

The breakdown: Do you commonly scroll to see results on page two of Google? Probably not. There’s a good chance your customers won’t, either. Optimize content for that first-page spot.

50. “‘Hey, here’s a gourd!’ is not so different as, ‘Hey, here’s enterprise sales software!’ The language changes, but the humans are the same.”

– Chris Penn

The breakdown: Your customers won’t care what you’re selling if you don’t find a way to explain to them how it could serve them.

A marketing strategy is multi-faceted, requiring in-depth analysis of your ideal customer, their needs and primary pain points, and their behaviors, and applying those insights to a carefully thought-out strategy that includes content marketing, SEO, email marketing, social media marketing, paid advertising, and other methods to reach your target audience.

Given the complexity of developing and executing marketing campaigns, marketers welcome tools and techniques that save time and boost results. For an effortless way to spread brand awareness, install social media share buttons on your blog or website. Share buttons make it easy for your visitors to share your content and spread the word about your business — while also providing you with valuable insights that can inform your marketing strategy, such as the types of content your audience finds most engaging and is most likely to share.

The post 50 Inspiring Marketing Quotes to Motivate Your Marketing Team appeared first on ShareThis.

With more and more people turning to the web to research and shop for services and products, the idea of starting an online business has become appealing to many. This guide will walk you through the steps to start an online business and begin making money.

In this guide, you’ll learn everything from creating a winning online business idea to promoting your business and making it successful with customers. Follow the links below to visit a specific section.

• How to Find Winning Online Money-Making Ideas
• How to Structure Your Business
• How to Set Up Your Website
• How to Market Your Business

How to Find Winning Online Money-Making Ideas

Image by Adrian from Pixabay

1. Ask others what kind of businesses they want to see. Ask people you know to tell you what kind of online service might be helpful to them. Be sure to ask people from different walks of life and in various careers to get more diverse responses.

2. Notice current trends. What’s trending in the online business world right now? What kind of online services or brands do you see discussed on blogs, in magazines, or on social media? The trendiest business ideas could be good ones to use as inspiration for your online business idea.

3. Expand your hobby. Take a hobby you love and monetize it to create a small business that gets you excited to get out of bed each day. You’ll enjoy what you do while potentially helping others share your passion, too. As an example, Amazon began as a small online bookstore but is now a leader in global eCommerce. 

4. Come up with a solution to your own problem. Is there anything that you could use to make your life or job easier? Lead with that as you brainstorm online business ideas. What kind of product or service could you offer that could counter that problem?

5. Browse online job boards. Use online job boards as places to find other businesses that you could draw inspiration from. Browse the boards and research businesses you find. See what they’re doing and consider improving what they’re offering with your own online business.

6. Find a way to improve something in your own industry. Think about the industry you currently work in. What weaknesses does it have, and what problems could your own business potentially solve?

7. See what people are talking about on social media. Scroll through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to see what kinds of services and brands people are talking about and enjoying. If these brands are already making people happy, you could make money with a similar kind of business. 

8. Always carry a notebook. Keep a small notebook or a digital note in your phone handy at all times to jot down business ideas as they come to you. Your daily commute, your job, appointments, and events can all spark creative business ideas you’ll want to remember.

9. Browse lists of online business ideas. A list of online business ideas is a good place to start your research as you work to find the right business model fit. These lists generally include businesses that have proven successful for other entrepreneurs, so they have the potential to also work for you. Use them as inspiration to place your own spin on a product or service.

10. Try to improve a current product or service. Consider an online brand or service you use frequently. Is there anything you would do to improve it overall or make it better for a specific group of people? Consider using your ideas as the foundation for your online money-making opportunity.

How to Structure Your Business

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11. Sole proprietorship vs. LLC. If you plan to operate your business on your own, you’ll need to consider whether a sole proprietorship or LLC is the better choice. Sole proprietorship is the easiest formation, with many states requiring no more than a Doing Business As (DBA) name registration to start. However, an LLC offers financial protection for debts and liabilities accrued by your business. In other words, your personal assets are off the hook if your company goes into debt, provided you’ve followed all the rules and kept your business finances completely separate from your personal finances. An LLC also allows you to have one or multiple partners, whereas a sole proprietorship is for one person only.

12. When to form a corporation. You might also consider a corporation, which may give your business some extra tax deductions you can’t get with a sole proprietorship or LLC. However, corporations are more complex to form and have more yearly requirements for compliance. You’ll also pay more to form a corporation in most states. 

13. Write a business plan. A business plan allows you to outline your goals for your business. Your plan should include your mission statement, information about your products and services, information about your team, and your marketing plan. 

14. Bring in the right people. Decide whether you need to bring in others to help you grow your business. Whether it’s a partner to share most business tasks with or a few freelancers to help with miscellaneous tasks until you grow, spend time looking for the best fit for your new venture.

15. Apply for licenses. Determine if your business requires a license. You can do this by searching your state’s website for businesses. You should have all necessary licenses in place before operating.

16. Get insurance. Not all online businesses need insurance, but it usually can be a good form of protection, even when it’s not necessary. For instance, if your product accidentally harms someone, your insurance coverage can help you pay for damages and court costs. Most businesses can benefit from general liability insurance, at minimum.  

17. Learn your local laws. Check with your local business governing agency to ensure that your business is legal where you live. Your locality might also require licenses in addition to your state’s licensing requirements.

18. Organize your finances. Create a separate checking account for your business to keep business and personal funds separate. This makes it easier to review your accounting throughout the year and when it’s time to file taxes.

How to Set Up Your Website

Photo by picjumbo.com via Pexels

19. Get a domain name. Before you purchase a website, think about your domain name. It’s best to make your name something that’s easily memorable and relevant to your business. Check with your domain registrar to make sure the domain name with the extension you want to use, like .org or .com, is available.

20. Get website hosting. Many hosting companies offer domain registration, too, so you may be able to purchase a hosting plan and register your domain together to save money. Choose a hosting company that’s known for its fast and responsive services to give customers a positive experience. 

21. Choose an ecommerce platform, if necessary. If your business involves selling products from your website, you need an eCommerce platform, like Adobe Commerce or Shopify. Read our guides comparing Shopify and WordPress, Wix vs. Squarespace, and Wix vs. WordPress to learn more about each platform and find a suitable option.

22. Find the right theme. Platforms like Wix, Shopify, and Squarespace come with various themes to fit your business website. Other platforms, like WordPress, offer more customization for you to add a theme you love. Look for business-focused themes catering to your specific type of business to make your site easy to navigate.

23. Or, get help from a professional designer. A professional website designer can be an excellent investment if you have some money to spare as you set up your online business. After a consultation, your designer can create a tailor-made theme for your business. Find a designer on Fiverr, Upwork, or other freelance marketplaces, or use your social media network to find recommended designers.

24. Make navigation user-friendly. Limit your navigational menus to just a few options, especially if you have a multi-product company. When customers click a link to go to a page, you can use the sidebar for more options and filters to help them find what they need.

25. Let others know more about your company. Don’t forget to add an About and Contact page with information about your company and how to get in touch. A 2015 report from Huff Industrial Marketing and KoMarketing found that 52% of people want to see an About page on a business website. Another 64% also want a Contact page to be available.

26. Don’t forget a blog. Blogging is an excellent marketing strategy for online businesses. Set up a blog on your website, and keep it updated at least once a week with relevant content optimized for search engines. Blogs drive traffic to your site and help position your company as an industry leader through helpful and informative content. 

27. Make it SEO-friendly. Learn all you can about SEO to implement it into your blog and website pages. Read our guides on keywords, SERPs, SEO tools, and SEO tips to get started. 

28. Optimize it for mobile, too. With more and more online shoppers using their mobile devices to access websites and buy products and services, it’s crucial that your website is as mobile-friendly as it is computer-friendly. Learn strategies to make your website mobile-friendly.

29. Create a content plan. Will you keep your business content strictly blog-based, or do you want to branch into social media, YouTube, or even podcasting? Develop a plan for your content outreach to follow as you build your business. While it’s acceptable to start small by sticking to one avenue for a while, eventually spreading into other content areas can help you grow your business by marketing to new audiences.

30. Write necessary policies. Write necessary policies for your website, like a privacy policy and cookie policy. These policies provide transparency for your customers and may also be legally required for your website. 

31. Add social media links. Add follow buttons to your website to let your visitors know where to find you on social media. You can also add share buttons to your blog to make it easy for blog readers to share your content on their social media channels. 

32. Work on getting backlinks. Build backlinks to your site to improve your SEO and strengthen your site’s authority. Create helpful content that other sites will want to link to, like pillar pages filled with helpful statistics or summaries of new research in your industry. 

33. Test everything regularly. Your site requires regular updates of its themes, plugins, and hosting-related features, so be sure to check for updates weekly. Some website builders, like WordPress, let you enable automatic updates for convenience.

34. Track its performance. Use an analytics tool to track visitors, competitors, and your site’s overall performance. Remember to add a section about your analytics tool and how it stores and uses visitor data in your privacy policy.

How to Market Your Business 

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

35. Develop a marketing strategy. With your business idea solidified and your website ready to bring in visitors, it’s time to create a marketing plan that outlines who will be in control of your marketing and what strategies they’ll use. Figure out a budget before brainstorming the best ways to start marketing your business. Stick with just one or two marketing channels to start with, like social media and Google Ads. Then, branch into other marketing forms as your business grows. 

36. Write brand guidelines. Brand guidelines outline the expectations you have for anyone working with your business. It includes everything from design elements to key messaging that every team member — from designers to marketers and content writers — should use in your branding to ensure a cohesive brand across all platforms.

37. Ask for feedback. Make your customers feel like they’re a real part of your company by letting their voices be heard. Send out occasional surveys to followers on social media or newsletter subscribers to gather ideas for improvement. 

38. Use social media. Social media advertising can spread the word about your business across a platform quickly. Start small with a Facebook or Instagram ad campaign, testing and tweaking your ads until you create a winning recipe.

39. Ask for testimonials. Encourage customers to leave reviews of your business on social media or on your product pages. If you provide services to clients, reach out to them via email to ask for testimonials on a recent project. Get their approval to post their testimonial on your website. 

40. Offer promotions and sales. One of the best ways to pull new customers in and keep current customers happy is by offering enticing promotions. Send out information about upcoming or current sales via your email newsletter, post promotions on social media, or go live on Facebook or Instagram to let your audience know when a flash sale hits.

41. Place ads on Google. Google Ads display directly in Google search results above non-paid content. When someone searches your keywords, your advertisement shows at the top of the page, potentially bringing in new customers. Target keywords that are highly specific to your business to attract niche customers.

42. Network with others in your industry. Connect with like-minded business owners in your industry on LinkedIn, in online professional groups, or at networking events. This is an excellent way to generate leads for your business through recommendations from others.

43. Use your blog as a marketing tool. As you learn more about what your customers are looking for, keep crafting targeting blog content to appeal to potential customers who haven’t found you yet. Get some inspiration from these examples of six-figure businesses built on blogging.

44. Cross-promote your content. Talk about a recent blog topic you wrote about on your podcast, share your content across social media, or make a YouTube video about a recent press release or product launch. Make the most of the content you make by repurposing it to attract people on other platforms.

45. Utilize email and texting. Text and email marketing are extremely powerful in today’s business climate because they catch busy people where they are. Some of the best email marketing software also include SMS (text messaging) marketing to help you do both with one product. 

46. Add your business to directories. Online business directories used to be much more popular when the internet was still growing, but they still work. Directories like Yelp, Glassdoor, and the Better Business Bureau often come up in search results when people look for companies on these lists. Create profiles on each of them and encourage customers to leave reviews with their positive experiences. 

47. Work with influencers. Place some of your marketing budget on influencers in your industry to get your company in front of those influencers’ audiences. Influencers bring a sense of authenticity to the brands they work with by creating content that fits right into the usual content they post.

48. Get involved in online communities. Facebook and LinkedIn communities are ideal for indirect marketing. Get involved in communities that give you room to share your expertise with potential customers. For example, if you sell stock photography, you might join communities for book publishers or web designers, both of which may benefit from your photography expertise at specific stages of their creative processes. You can also join communities for photographers to grow your network.

49. Write articles on other sites. Reach out to other websites in your industry to ask about a guest post spot where you can share your knowledge on a relevant topic. This is a good way to get backlinks to your site while strengthening your authority in your niche.

50. Get help from a PR representative. As you grow your business, you might find that adding a PR representative to your team is a wise investment. They can reach out to influencers, create press releases, or find websites for guest posts to extend your company’s outreach.

If you’re interested in making money online but don’t know where to begin, these tips will help you get started by setting up your own business. Once you’ve built your business website and start creating content, install social media share buttons to make it easy for your visitors to help promote your new business.

The post How to Make Money Online for Beginners: 50 Tips & Best Practices to Get Started appeared first on ShareThis.

Passive income refers to money you make with little to no ongoing effort. Technically, there aren’t many truly passive ways to make income, but there are several ways to earn more with little work on your part, such as:

• Renting out your extra space
• Selling digital printables
• Writing ebooks
• Buying a car wash
• Investing in self-service storage units
• Flipping websites
• Affiliate marketing
• Membership-only websites
• …and many others

Of course, there are also many small business ideas that can help you earn some extra cash as a side hustle or even as a fresh career. The difference is that some small business ideas require ongoing effort on your part, so the income you earn isn’t passive. For instance, if you start a podcast and earn revenue from sponsorships, that’s technically not passive income as you don’t earn it unless you produce the episode.

How to Earn Passive Income: 50 Passive Income Ideas

Image by Nattanan Kanchanaprat from Pixabay

To help you discover the passive income idea that’s right for you, we’ve listed dozens of ways to earn passive income below. Whether you start a small business and earn non-passive income or you take the leap and pursue one of the passive income ideas below, the key is to choose something you’re passionate about. You’ll also want to have a solid marketing plan to promote your business and set it up for success.

The passive income ideas in this list may require some initial work or setup, but overall, they can offer a relatively steady form of income without you constantly having to work for it. 

To categorize the ideas, we’ve split this list into offline and online passive income ideas:

• Offline Passive Income Ideas
• Online Passive Income Ideas

Offline Passive Income Ideas

1. Invest your money: Investing money may sound overwhelming to you if you’ve never done it before. However, technology has made investing easier than ever, with some tools even investing your money in the best potential ways for you. Try apps like Robinhood or Stash to get started as a beginner. Or, work with an investment advisor who can help you set up and maintain your investments. 

Photo by Arina Krasnikova via Pexels

2. Get paid to review books: If you read a lot in your spare time, you could get paid to take a few minutes to leave a review for the books you read. The US Review of Books and Kirkus pay freelancers to review books.

3. Rent out extra parking spaces: Make money on unused parking spaces. Rent your garage, a street spot in front of your home, or extra spaces in the parking lot of a business you own. This can bring in additional money with no work on your part, becoming a truly passive form of income. Neighbor and SpotHero are just two of several marketplaces that help you list your spaces.

4. Rent out your home: List a vacation property on Airbnb or VRBO to bring in rental income when you aren’t using it. Alternatively, you could list a guesthouse or unused finished basement for people to rent short-term or long-term.

5. Rent stuff in your home: You can make money off various items in your home that you don’t always need, too, like baby gear, tools, or sporting goods. There are numerous marketplaces that allow you to list your extras, like Fat Llama and FriendWithA

6. Sign up for new bank or savings accounts: This idea is one to use only when you need a new bank or savings account rather than a consistent form of making money. However, it’s relatively quick and simple. Use Nerdwallet to find bank accounts with bonuses for new sign-ups. Banks usually have new offers each month ranging from $100-$300 in bonuses just for signing up and meeting additional requirements.

7. Refer customers to businesses: Earn money by referring ideal customers to businesses looking for leads. You can do this by asking local businesses if they have any referral bonuses. Or, some people earn a living making referral websites that generate leads to send to target businesses.

8. Create a business for someone else to manage: Start a business with the idea of selling it to someone else eventually or hiring someone to manage it. You’ll take most or all of the work off your hands while making money. 

9. Use a cash-back credit card for purchases: Use the credit card that earns the most cash back for all your purchases. As long as you’re diligent about paying it off each month, you’ll reap the benefits of the free cash without paying interest. For example, a credit card that gives you 5% cash back for all purchases could give you an easy $50 if you spend $1,000 on it each month.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko via Pexels

10. Subcontract services: Start a service-based business, like pet sitting, house cleaning, or after-school tutoring. Contract with workers who can adapt to various scheduling needs to ensure that all your customers get taken care of. Once you’ve established a healthy business and contractor crew, your work will become mostly hands-off. 

11. Rent extra outdoor space: Do you have acreage that goes to waste? If so, consider renting out your space for others to use for their tiny homes, campers, or photo shoots. Just be sure to check local regulations before doing so.

12. Buy a franchise store: Invest your money in a franchise store that you can oversee while others manage and work in-store. Check Franchise Direct for current opportunities.

13. Cook for others: If cooking is one of your favorite hobbies, join Traveling Spoon to become a host who cooks for others in your home. Or, start a catering business and hire employees to prepare and serve the food.

14. Start a garden: Gardens do take work to start and maintain, but they can also be a form of somewhat passive income once they become well established. Sell your foods at local farmers markets, to nearby supermarkets, or to your neighbors. You can also turn the fruits of your labor into other products that you can sell, such as dried herbs, canned jellies and pickles, spices and herb blends, and more.

Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay

15. Buy a car wash: In terms of passive businesses, a car wash absolutely fits the bill. After its initial setup, you won’t need to do much more than maintain its equipment.

16. Become a landlord: Invest in properties that don’t need a lot of work and rent them out to individuals, families, or businesses for a steady monthly income. 

17. Invest in companies: Put investment money into small local businesses with promising growth potential in exchange for a percentage of the company. You’ll continue to make additional money once you recoup your investment. 

18. Rent out your car: Let others use your car when you’re not using it, and charge an hourly or daily fee. You can also use a marketplace like HyreCar to rent your car to rideshare drivers who need a reliable vehicle to complete their work.

19. Own a storage facility: Storage units are excellent passive income businesses. Customers manage most of the business operations by caring for their own units while you can focus on collecting rent money and maintaining the quality of your units.

20. Use your car as a billboard: Advertise for companies on your car with decals and wraps. If you’re already a rideshare driver, you can use Nickelytics to make extra money each month by adding advertising to your car. Other companies like Wrapify allow anyone who meets its driving requirements to add advertisements to their vehicles for money.

Online Passive Income Ideas

21. Affiliate marketing: Affiliate marketing has become one of the most popular ways to make money online with a website. Add affiliate links to your blog posts and website pages to make money when someone orders something from those links. A successful affiliate marketing website can take some time and content-building to grow enough to earn consistent money, but once it does, it doesn’t take as much effort to maintain.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

22. Write ebooks: Write ebooks to sell with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. The service publishes and markets your book for you, and you keep a portion of the profits.

23. Flip websites: Buy websites that are already earning some money, add more content to make them even more successful, and sell them for a higher price. Flippa is one of the best marketplaces for this form of investing and selling.

24. Make money playing games: Plenty of people enjoy playing games via livestreams on Twitch, where others can follow them to watch them play. Depending on how many viewers you have per stream, you can earn hundreds of dollars per month for playing your favorite games.

25. Try peer-to-peer lending: With peer-to-peer lending, investors have relatively direct access to borrowers without a middleman financial institution standing in the way. As a result, you can keep more of the interest a borrower pays for your investment.

26. Sell stock photography: Sell photos or digital art with places like Shutterstock to earn continuous royalties when someone uses your photos as part of their subscription or buys them for a one-time fee.

27. License your music online: Music creators can sell the rights to their music from their own website or join a site like Bandcamp that helps artists sell their music to production studios and other creators. 

Photo by Karolina Grabowska via Pexels

28. Sell a course: Create instructional courses for Udemy or your own website. You can choose to sell a mix of different course lengths to appeal to more users. For example, offer one course that features a single section of a larger course for $25, while the full course might cost $250 or more. 

29. Sell printables: Open an Etsy shop to sell printable items, like planners, chore charts, worksheets, and calendars. Printables can be sold over and over again for continuous income without continuous work. 

30. Multi-level marketing: Multi-level marketing can be a good fit for some people, especially those who take time to market their business and those who get in on the ground floor of an up-and-coming MLM. As their business grows, they begin to have more sellers on their team, allowing them to earn money when sellers underneath them make money. Some of the most popular multi-level marketing companies include Avon, Young Living, and Rodan + Fields. However, be mindful of the income structure and the risks involved. Many people end up in debt after joining an MLM due to constant pressure to purchase more inventory to maintain a certain level in the hierarchy — and thus how much money they can earn from each sale. The Federal Trade Commission offers a useful guide to help you determine if an MLM is right for you.

31. Sell your designs on products: Create designs for others to add to products they want to buy, like t-shirts, bags, and mugs. CafePress and Zazzle are two examples of print-on-demand sites to use. 

32. Make digital greeting cards: Design digital greeting cards to sell on your website or on Etsy for others to buy. You might even offer a printing service for an additional fee.

33. Create a newsletter or job board: Start a premium newsletter or job board with exclusive opportunities for paying members only. Patreon makes it easy to start your own subscription service. You can even create various tiers for different options.

34. Sell website themes: Sell unique website themes for WordPress or other website creators or content management systems using an Etsy shop or a shop on your website. You might also offer a package for custom theme orders for a higher price.

35. Create software or an app: After the initial time investment of creating software or a mobile app, you can continue selling the final product for as long as you’d want to. However, be sure to make a plan for regular updates as needed.

Photo by ROMAN ODINTSOV via Pexels

36. Sell digital meal plans or recipes: Nutrition experts can make weekly or monthly meal plans and recipe collections to sell on their websites or a marketplace like Etsy. Canva has meal-planning templates you can use for inspiration for your meal plans’ designs.

37. Create a paywall for your website: Do you have premium content to share with your audience? Include it on your website behind a paywall so only paying customers can view it. Use a plugin or a membership management program like Pelcro to set it up.

38. Sell lesson plans or worksheets: Teachers can sell lesson plans and worksheets to other teachers or homeschooling families on Teachers Pay Teachers. Many educators offer sets of worksheets for as little as $1.00, but with frequent downloads, their profits can add up quickly. 

39. Make money shopping: Earn money for shopping online with Swagbucks, Ibotta, and other shopping apps. These apps partner with online retailers to pay shoppers a commission simply for using their links and making purchases.

40. Invest in cryptocurrency: Unlike traditional money, cryptocurrency isn’t directly influenced or affected by inflation. Therefore, it could be a wise investment if you’re looking for a way to grow your money over time. Robinhood can help you start investing as a beginner.

41. Sell written content: Whether you already earn a living as a freelance writer or enjoy writing as a hobby, this passive income idea can work well for you. Join a content platform, like Constant Content, that lets you sell content to buyers. If you allow non-exclusive rights to your work, multiple buyers can purchase the same piece of content from you. Or, you can start a blog or podcast on a site like Substack that’s supported by your subscribers.

42. Create a membership-based website: Similar to adding a paywall or starting a membership-only area of your site, you could create a membership-only site. For instance, create a site for your online courses that only members can access with a subscription, or make a paid forum for professionals in your industry.

43. Start a paid membership Facebook group: Some Facebook groups are also only for paying members, but you’ll need a membership management area off of Facebook for subscribers to sign up. Then, you can approve only paying members who join.

Image by ernesto from Pixabay

44. Invest in city scooters: If you’re looking for a truly unique opportunity to increase your income, invest in city scooters with Go X. Invest your money online to buy a scooter fleet at a Go X location and receive a portion of that location’s proceeds when people rent them. You might also consider starting your own scooter-sharing business.   

45. Join Amazon FBA: Do you have something you want to sell on Amazon? Consider signing up for Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA), which takes care of the packaging and shipping for you. You’ll send your items to an FBA center, and Amazon handles the rest, including returns by the customer. Selling in this fashion could allow you to keep more of your profits without worrying about overhead costs.

46. Let others share your internet: Download the Honeygain app to share your extra internet bandwidth with businesses that need more. Receive your payments via PayPal or in cryptocurrency. 

47. Run an online store: Sellvia makes the process of creating and managing an online store so easy that virtually anyone can do it. Set up your store, choose what you’d like to sell, and the Sellvia team fulfills your orders without you needing to stock anything.

48. Buy a successful blog: Look on Flippa or other website marketplaces for a blog that’s already earning lots of money each month. Buy one that stands out to you and continue building it to keep growing its income. 

49. Use money-making apps: While apps don’t tend to bring in a lot of extra money each month, they can bring in some easy, passive income. Try Swagbucks to earn money with surveys or games or Dosh to get cash back when you shop using your mobile device.

50. Run ads on your website: If you have a website, sign up for Google Ads to get ad placements on your website for extra income. Google Ads can even automatically place ads for you in optimized positions for the best chances of boosting your income.

From creating and selling apps or software to selling meal plans and recipe collections, affiliate marketing, selling digital greeting cards or designs for products, operating an automatic car wash, starting a cleaning business, renting out parking spaces or property, and more, there are many passive income opportunities for the entrepreneurial-minded to take advantage of.

Browse more online business ideas if you’re ready to begin a side hustle in addition to earning passive income. Whatever type of income-producing opportunity you pursue, promoting your business is the key to success. Installing social media share buttons on your blog or website is an easy way to start growing your audience and building brand awareness.

The post 50 Best Passive Income Ideas to Earn Money without Ongoing Effort appeared first on ShareThis.

If you’ve been thinking about starting a small business, there are lots of considerations, such as startup costs, locations, equipment, and more. The first step is determining what type of business is best suited for your skills and expertise. That’s why we’ve curated this list of dozens of small business ideas, such as:

• Caregiving
• Auto detailing
• Photography
• Operating a food truck
• Opening an arcade or other recreation center
• Social media management
• Online tutoring
• Flipping websites, furniture, and other items
• …and many others

Small businesses account for 99.9 percent of all businesses in the United States. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, more people than ever have started small businesses, with startups seeing exponential growth over previous years. In other words, there’s no better time to ride the wave of small business success than right now.

Browse this guide to find a small business idea that sparks your interest. We’ve broken the 50 best small business ideas down into the following categories:

• Offline Small Business Ideas
• Online Small Business Ideas
• Small Business Ideas for Specialists

Offline Small Business Ideas

Photo by Antoni Shkraba via Pexels

1. Caregiving: Care for the elderly in their homes or provide daycare or after-school care to children in your neighborhood. For either option, research your area’s licensure requirements, as some areas have specific steps to take to gain certification or licensure to become a registered caregiver. 

2. House or petsitting: Take care of pets while your neighbors work by visiting their homes to feed and walk them. Some homeowners also hire housesitters to keep an eye on their homes and belongings when they’re away. 

3. Craft sales: Make and sell crafts, like jewelry, home decor, or paintings. Set up a shop on Etsy to start selling quickly, or look for a local flea market or boutique that will let you sell to customers in person with little overhead. 

4. Music or art lessons: Provide art classes or music lessons to local kids or adults. You can also contract with community centers, schools, and libraries to host music or art programs and events. 

5. Furniture flipping: Flip old furniture or home decor pieces into upcycled items that you can sell for a profit. Search Goodwill or donation centers for low-priced pieces. Or browse Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, where people sometimes list items for free. 

6. Interior design: Provide interior design consultations and services to real estate agencies, renovation companies, homeowners, and businesses in your area. Start by offering a few quick projects to people you know to build a portfolio. 

7. Auto repair: Start an auto repair shop of your own or contract with others to provide your services when they have overflow work. 

8. House cleaning: According to Indeed, house cleaners earn an average of $40,515 yearly. With your own business, you could get steady work by having customers sign contracts for 6-month or annual services, potentially increasing your revenue. 

9. Taxi service: Compete with Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare companies by providing direct-to-consumer taxi services for your area. Advertise your service by asking bars, restaurants, and local businesses to post flyers or let their customers and employees know you’re available.  

10. Shop owner: Open up a coffee shop, apparel store, or another brick-and-mortar business in your area. Consider your interests and what you know a lot about, but also consider what type of shops your area needs.

11. Tour or welcome guide: Give visitors to your area guided tours of historical places or points of interest. You might also rent office space to set up a welcome center for visitors or people moving to the area. 

12. Property management: Research the legal requirements of becoming a property manager in your area to manage multiple homes or apartments for renters. Then, connect with a real estate agent well-versed in working with property managers to secure more homes or businesses for their portfolios.  

13. Event planning: Put your creativity to work helping others plan retirement parties, office gatherings, weddings, and other large events. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects an 18% growth in the event planning industry from 2021-2031.

14. Moving and packing services: Purchase a pickup or moving truck and hire a few helpers to assist you with a moving and packing company. Check with neighbors to get the word out about your availability for small, large, or long-distance moves. 

15. Massage therapy or wellness services: Massage therapists and wellness service providers can start their own practices or contract with spas or wellness clinics in their area to offer services flexibly without as much overhead. 

16. Catering: Start a home-based catering business that serves food to families and businesses for their events. You can also specialize in a specific niche, like wedding catering or corporate catering.  

17. Photography: Photographers can start their businesses with little investment other than a professional camera. Begin shooting in outdoor landscapes before purchasing a studio and props to offer a wider variety of shoots.  

18. Auto detailing: Use a garage or rented area to detail cars inside and out. Or, offer mobile services by driving your equipment to a customer’s home.  

19. Food truck: Food trucks are alternatives to traditional restaurants and fast food spots. They’re mobile, so you can bring your truck to local events or businesses. Plus, the startup costs can be exponentially lower for a food truck compared to a brick-and-mortar location.

20. Coworking space: Help others work productively by purchasing and maintaining a coworking space. You can charge monthly, quarterly, or annual contracts for businesses or solopreneurs to use your space for business. 

21. Arcade or entertainment spot: Areas with a lack of recreational activities could be ideal spots for an arcade or another type of entertainment venue, like a roller skating rink or escape room center.  

Online Small Business Ideas

Photo by Katerina Holmes via Pexels

22. Social media management: Social media managers can operate solely online, providing their services to multiple brands and businesses. Create standard packages for potential clients to choose from and/or offer custom packages tailored to meet your clients’ needs. Offer your services on retainer for a steady income flow.

23. Online tutoring: Several websites act as marketplaces to connect students who need tutoring with educators who can help them. For example, VIPKid pays teachers with at least two years of experience to work on their own schedule to help children learn English. Teachers and professionals can also join Outschool to create their own classes for learners of any school age.

24. Run an Etsy shop: Join Etsy as a shop owner to sell your own items with little operational costs. Etsy charges listing and transaction fees, but some sellers become eligible for a subscription to Etsy Plus to keep these costs down. 

25. Transcription or translation: Offer transcription or translation services to organizations like medical offices, media agencies, or law firms. This scalable business can eventually transform into an agency as you gain more clients and have room to hire employees.

26. Personal styling: Help others find the wardrobe pieces they need for special events, workwear, or casual lounging at home as a personal stylist. Companies like Stitch Fix look for independent contractor stylists, too, if you want a quick way to jump into the business before venturing on your own. 

27. Virtual assisting: Data shows that one million people globally worked as virtual assistants in 2021, a number that’s expected to more than double in the near future. Although virtual assistants are widely available, they’re still in demand by organizations using their breadth of skills for micro tasks like data entry, accounting, content writing, appointment setting, and more.  

28. Buying and selling websites: Purchase websites with promising growth, build them up with content and marketing tactics and prepare them to sell for a profit. Use a marketplace like Flippa to find domains to buy and sell them to other buyers. 

29. Course instruction: Create digital courses on subjects areas you have expertise in. Offer them on a site like Udemy for learners to purchase and work through on demand, or conduct live webinars on your website for paying viewers. 

30. App creation: Start a business making mobile apps for productivity, entertainment, etc. Consider participating in a mobile app development course or online bootcamp to learn more about the process.  

31. Graphic design: Graphic designers can sell their creations on a website of their own, online marketplaces like Etsy, or look for clients on freelancing marketplaces like Fiverr and Upwork.  

32. Digital marketing: With more than 85% of internet users using the internet for search for information at least monthly, digital marketing has a strong place in today’s economy. Digital marketers can work their way up to attractive salaries and prestigious positions. According to the BLS, marketing managers earn a median wage of $133,380. As a marketer with your own business and multiple clients, your earnings could stretch even higher. Sign up for a free digital marketing course to get started.  

33. Video editing: Edit and polish videos for organizations or individuals, like public relations firms or YouTube creators. LinkedIn is a good place to find companies looking for professional video editors for one-off and recurring projects.  

34. Blog and article writing or editing: Write content for businesses or online publications as part of their content marketing strategies. Many freelance writers search for clients that fit their niche and conduct cold outreach to let companies know about their writing services. Some write solely for publications, contacting editors with article idea pitches.

35. Blogging: Rather than write for other clients, bloggers start their own money-making blogs. Many bloggers have turned their blogs into full-time businesses by using multiple monetization techniques, like sponsored posts and affiliate marketing. 

36. Errand services: Start a business running errands for people in your city, such as shopping for groceries for an elderly couple or picking up prescriptions for people who are ill. You can charge by distance or service or offer subscriptions for a specific number of errands each month. 

37. Podcasting: Podcasting has become exponentially more popular over the last few years than it has in the past, with more than two million podcasts worldwide. Create a podcast alongside another business venture, making its content relevant to your industry. Eventually, it could become a solid income stream of its own, generating money through sponsorships, donations, and affiliate marketing. 

Small Business Ideas for Specialists

Photo by Antoni Shkraba via Pexels

38. Business consultant: Business consultants must know how businesses operate for success, so they typically have started or managed a business before. Take your experience into your new role as a business consultancy owner to work with multiple businesses simultaneously on their strategies. 

39. Tax preparation: If you’re a certified tax preparer, you can start a tax preparation business for individuals or businesses. Learn more about tax preparation credentials from the IRS.

40. Accounting or bookkeeping: Accountants earn a median salary of $77,250, while bookkeepers earn a median salary of $45,560. As a business owner of an accounting or bookkeeping firm, you can set your rates for each business or individual you work with. 

41. Travel consultant: Travel consultants can contract with travel agencies to access their marketing resources and clientele while having control over their own business venture.  

42. Handyperson services: Offer repair and renovation services to homeowners and businesses in your area. Be sure to look at local laws regarding this type of business, as handyperson businesses often need to hold a license and carry insurance.

43. Freelance medical billing or coding: Get certified in medical billing or coding through the AAPC or another certifying agency. Then, contact medical offices, individual doctors, or healthcare organizations to offer your services.

44. Home or business appraisal: Have you worked as a credentialed appraiser at an appraisal agency? Transition to your own appraisal business to control how it operates. Check with your local licensing laws to determine what you’ll need before you get started.

45. Landscaping: Landscapers complete several projects during the spring and summer but can also add more services for colder seasons, such as leaf blowing, sidewalk shoveling, and plant winter-proofing, to keep them in business all year.  

46. Fitness instruction: Start a fitness YouTube channel or contract with local gyms to provide fitness classes or personal training.  

47. Career coaching: People with backgrounds in career coaching, such as guidance counselors or human resources managers, can turn their expertise into a career coaching business. For example, you might help college students search for jobs and prepare for interviews.

48. Notary public: The National Notary Association explains the steps to becoming a notary in each state. Notaries can charge fees for their services, making it possible to turn it into a side business, at minimum. Salary.com reports the median national salary for notaries as $39.331.

49. Nutrition or meal consulting: Dieticians can assist others in making healthier nutritional choices each day or tailor a meal plan to their dietary needs. You might also consider offering meal prep services for clients as an add-on service or as a standalone business.  

50. Medical courier services: Medical couriers deliver equipment and laboratory supplies to hospitals and medical facilities. Getting certified in HIPAA regulations, biohazard containment, and bloodborne pathogen handling could help you gain clients.

Small businesses are the backbone of the country’s workforce, accounting for an overwhelming majority of United States businesses. The above ideas, from housesitting and petsitting businesses to coaching businesses, teaching arts or music classes online or in-person, catering, property management, and more, are just some of the many potential small businesses you can start as you transition into entrepreneurship. Here are 50 online small business ideas to also consider.

Whatever small business idea you choose, you’ll want to market your business online with a professional website and social media presence. Install social media share buttons on your blog or website to make it easy for your potential clients or customers to share your content with their like-minded friends and family members on their favorite social networks.

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