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One of the hardest parts of being a successful blogger is motivating yourself to write on a regular basis. I’ve found that the hardest part is often getting oneself in front of that blank word processing page. Once you can get to that point, it all gets easier. So basically, the easiest way to get starting blogging is to start blogging! Sounds like advice that is pretty self-evident, huh? Well it is, but starting is the most difficult part of being a successful blogger, at least for most people, yet many people do not actively realize that. Get in the habit of planting yourself in front of your word processing program at a set time, everyday, if possible.

Try to set up time blocks for blogging. During this time, you will dedicate you energy and focus solely to your blog. Sit down and crank out the words, and do your research (if applicable). Try to minimize your “micro” breaks. If you are going to blog for an hour, you would be much better off to blog in two half-hour segments than over four fifteen minutes segments. Personally, I’ve found that I’m typically the most productive when I’m working on my blog for 45 minutes at a time, as opposed to working in shorter time intervals.

So when is the best time to blog? It varies some from person to person. Ask yourself: Are you a night or morning person? The best time to blog is, of course, when you are mentally alert. Personally, during the weekdays, I’ve found it easiest to blog in the evening, immediately after work, for a number of reasons. It helps to already be in the mindset of working, and you can consider blogging as an extension of this. Also, if I were to attempt to blog for an hour or so in the morning, it would disrupt my schedule too much, as I like staying up a bit later. But maybe you are different. The most productive times can vary from person to person. The thing to remember is that successful bloggers have some sort of routine to keep themselves on-track. 

With easy access to so many distractions, including interesting blogs (hopefully the one you are reading), instant YouTube access (including MMA bouts!!), and other potential internet distractions, it becomes hard to focus without discipline. You will need the discipline to stick with the task at hand, and there are a number of things you can do to help reduce unnecessary distractions, including, reducing noise levels, including TV, radio, and interruptions.

Many people cite the fact that one of the greatest aspect of blogging is the fact that you can blog whenever you want! This sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, yes it does, but this freedom can manifest itself as an Achilles Heal for many bloggers. But freedom and discipline do not necessary have to be mutually exclusive.

This may seem contradictory to much that I have written above, but do blog outside your “normal” environment once in a while. The consequences of burnout are far worse than the occasional distraction here and there. Consider blogging in public places such as libraries and coffee shops, especially on the weekends. Despite the fact that there are far more distractions in public places, you will probably be better off in the long term if you blog outside your “normal” environment once in a while. If you spend too much time in solitude, there is an increased likelihood of boredom and you may drive yourself crazy, and you may quit blogging altogether. So, as you can see, there is a fine line between solitary confinement and environmental hyper-stimuli. The trick is to find that happy medium.

By RB

Well, it’s of course the start of another new year already. And like every new year, it’s a great time to start setting some goals that will help you achieve blogging success.

When you are thinking of goals, do not be afraid to make yourself a little uncomfortable. A little bit of discomfort is a natural by-product whenever you are pushing yourself, and this is what you want to do. Move out of the comfort zone!

The best way to figure out what your goals will be is to brain storm; create a list of personal goals that will make you a more successful blogger.

Here are the goals that I came up with for myself:

• I am going to make an effort to update The RB Post every day
• I am going to dedicate time every weekend towards marketing & web site optimization
• I am going to continue to adapt to changing internet technology
• I am going to achieve an Alexa traffic ranking of less that 100,000 by the end of 2008

What goals have you came up with?

 By RB

Some people are confused over what trackbacks are. Trackbacks, a type of linkback, are essentially a way for a blog to communicate with another, showing that it has been referenced in a post. 

For example, let’s say I had a blog that was all about beer, and I wanted to create a post on my blog which referenced a post someone else made about stout beers. I could utilize a trackback to let the other site know that I created a post regarding their post. The other site would know about this because the reference would appear in their comments section (assuming it passed moderation, if applicable). There’s not much to it really.

 By RB

No. Well, it depends on what your definition of ‘successful’ is–it could mean many things to different people. Is it to maintain an online journal as a fun hobby? Maybe you just blog because you want to vent your personal problems to others? Or perhaps you want influence peoples’ opinion in one way or another. But if you’re like me, one of the main reasons you are working on a blog is that you want some sort of supplemental income. Don’t get me wrong, blogging is something I enjoy, and all of the aforementioned reasons are not mutually exclusive of one another, but for this post I am going to consider the successful blogger one that makes money.

By my definition of successful, most bloggers are far from it. In fact, I believe that less than 5% of bloggers actually make enough blogging income where it can be considered significant, and less than 1% actually make enough where they can solely support themselves as a full-time blogger. Blogging takes time, discipline, and expertise (web know-how and topic related), and without one of those three key qualifiers, it will be impossible to be successful.

Good writing, blog design, and overall value is key to having a great blog, but none of that matters much if the blogger is not willing to put in the time. Countless blogs out there that have simply faded away because the blogger decided not to update them, and this could be for a variety of reasons, but I believe the most common one is lack of interest and dedication. This can be a good thing for the up-and-coming successful blogger, however, because this process naturally weeds out some of your competitors!

Becoming a blogger is not like becoming a doctor or engineer. For those professions, it is the education itself that primarily weeds out many people who would not be successful in their chosen careers, and the jobs secondarily. In other words, if you can handle the schooling and/or pass the boards, the chances are you have what it takes to be successful.

In contrast, the blogger has to prove him or herself in the occupation itself–the job serves to weed out most people. There is no mandatory formal education that one must go through, although, like with nearly anything in the realm of technology, you will need to keep up-to-date on the latest advancements. Is it harder to be a successful blogger than it is to be a physician or engineer? Maybe. It depends on your interest and natural aptitudes. There’s some doctors that could not handle blogging and vice versa.

Blogging can be compared to any other field in which no formal qualifications are necessary. Careers in acting, singing, comedy, and small business ownership are much the same way. How many of the 120,000 or so Screen Actors Guild members can you name? Only small percentage actually make it, and an even smaller amount make a great living, but those that do, do very, very well. Calculated risk-taking is essential for any entrepreneur to be successful.

Do you have what it takes?

By RB

I think that it makes far more sense to build up the content of your blog before you even consider monetization. Oftentimes, those of us who are building blogs to generate cash flow tend to get a little bit ahead of ourselves. We are so eager to start generating money that we immediately start putting up AdSense ads, etc, and get too ahead of ourselves. I think that this is a backwards strategy.

It’s a good idea to set up some sort of benchmark in terms of daily visitors, and make this your goal. My personal plan is to set a benchmark of 400 daily visitors; once I achieve this objective, I start adding ads. 400 visitors a day will probably result in negligible earnings, but at least that way I will have some content built up, and I am training myself to dedicate the time and effort which is absolutely necessary to even generate even a small amount of traffic, and later on I can expand it.

Furthermore, if you are working on your first blog, it’s a good idea to see if you even have the interest and dedication to build up a blog to the point where you have a descent amount of visitors. You don’t want to spend many hours optimizing ads just to find out later on that blogging is not for you!

by RB

Maybe you want to increase traffic to your blog, but don’t want to spend any money doing so? This is possible, although you will have to spend time.  

One easy but somewhat tedious way to advertise your blog is to routinely comment on other people’s blogs; ideally, you should go out of your way to comment on blogs which are similar in nature to your own, for the simple reason that those are the types of visitors who are most likely to visit your site. Try to be amongst the first people who comment on a post, as this will increase the likelihood that your commentary will be read.

Be sure to provide value to the blog that you are commenting on. Constructive commentary on blogs will eventually help you develop a reputation, and, overtime, out of curiosity, people will want to check out your blog to get further insights from you. This way, you are building up a relationship not only with the visitors of the blog you are commenting on, but also with your fellow bloggers, which could, eventually, lead to a link to your site or just the mention of it in one of their posts, which of course attracts visitors to your blog.

When commenting, be sure you are not spamming. Spamming is a good way to get yourself permanently booted from a site. Sometimes your handle (the name you are commenting with) will be the only reference to your site. Different blogs have different restrictions regarding how much you can “plug.” Start by reading other comments in the blog’s history and see what types of “plugs” are allowed. Check to see if there’s any commenting guidelines; in general, I think it’s best to use your handle as the only reference to your web site.

by RB

If you are a solo blogger, I recommend that you do not start out by creating a blog in which you must review some sort of physical object. The reason is simple: It is very time consuming to actually to out and physically examine the products within your niche that you are reviewing.

From a business standpoint, I think it would make more sense to start out with a blog (for example) that focuses on tutorials about how to operate a camera effectively. This would save time as one would not have to go out and play with different cameras, and the writer could share past experiences and techniques, simply off of knowledge already accumulated. Of course, the blogger would still have to spend time to learn new tricks and techniques, which would be necessary for a blog to be successful, but overall, it would be a more convenient model for the beginning solo blogger.

When you get to the point where you are making enough money where you can afford to hire someone, it would make sense to start dabbling into the realm of doing reviews on a physical object, if you so desire. And if you do choose to go this route, it is not impossible to be successful, although again it is harder. Sites like camcorderinfo.com have gotten to the point where camera manufactures will actually ship their camcorders to their business offices to get reviewed, but it takes a long time to get to this point.

by RB

Technorati Profile

In general, I believe it makes far more sense to be a specialist in a particular subject area than a generalist who provides less in-depth information on a vast assortment of topics.

If you’re like most bloggers, you are basically a solo practitioner. It is possible for one person to build up information on a specific topic relatively quickly, but very difficult for one person to build up thorough, quality information on many topics. If you provide quality information that is of value to the reader, there is a high likelihood that they will return to your blog, and if you’re lucky, bookmark it.

If you blog simply for fun and not for profit, the point is moot but if the objective of your site is to generate income, you typically want to have some sort of concentration. The typical web surfer is searching for information on a particular topic. This could be gadgets, an event in history, how to become a better blogger, or just about anything. It is possible for a solo blogger to have a site about a large topic, such as current events, but it will be impossible to blog about all the events; instead, in order to cover all the relevant issues, the site will be more similar to a link portal. Large blogs can afford to employ many bloggers and therefore have the ability to go in-depth on many issues, something that is very difficult for the individual to do in a reasonable amount of time.

On the other hand make sure your topic is not too small. Let’s say you have some strong interest in some celebrity. Could you foresee yourself getting tired of blogging about him or her for over a year (if not you may have some other issues )? Is that person’s life constantly changing to the point where it makes interesting reading? Will he or she even be worth talking about in a year? The answer to these questions could be yes or no, but it’s probably no. You would probably attract more readers by starting a site more similar to TMZ.com or PerezHilton.com. Those sites are not limited to the point where they cannot grow.

What are your thoughts?

by RB

If you’re like me you don’t want to spend the time, or don’t have the interest, to follow a variety of individual stocks in your portfolio. So where does that leave you? Both stock based mutual funds along with stock based index funds have been very popular options for people in such circumstances. I’d like to cast some light on each of those types and point out some key tidbits that every investor should be aware of. Also, I hope that by the time you are finished reading this, most of you will come to the conclusion that index funds make a lot of sense for the savvy investor.      

Mutual Funds

Okay, let’s start out with the run-down on mutual funds. I’m not a big fan of them but I still think everybody should be at least aware of them. They are actively managed funds that contain money from a variety of investors, spread out over many companies, just like index funds. Sometimes people feel more comfortable with the fact that a mutual fund offers professional management.  Of course, nothing is free and this professional management carries with it an expense ratio which is higher than what you would typically find with an index fund. The average typically hovers around 1.5% or so, and, over time, this can really take a big bite out of your earnings. You’ll have to decide if this is this is the price you want to pay for active management.

Index Funds

Index funds operate in much the same way as mutual funds in the sense that there are many companies that are owned within a single fund. In contrast to mutual funds, however, index funds simply mirror a particular index. The nice thing about index funds is that they have historically outperformed mutual funds, all without the added management fees. Again, inactive management can translate into more money in your pocket!

I chose to go with the “Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares,” which holds over 3,500 stocks, and has an average yearly return of 10.77% (as of 8/31/’07) since its inception in ‘92. (In the long term, the S & P (Standard and Poor’s) 500 index has appreciated at approximately 10 percent).  In July my fund went down about 3.41%; I’m not worried–in fact, I should probably buy more into it. If you can weather the downs the chances are that you will be up in the end. Another nice thing I like about this index is because I can usually just turn on the TV and instantly see how’s it’s performing. Why? Because it’s a mirror of the market as a whole and commentators on TV talk about the market all the time. I’ll touch upon this below when I get into the r-squared.

Analyzing the Risk

You’ve probably heard the terms large (blue chip), medium, and small cap. Each term corresponds to the size of the company (for instance large-cap funds contain huge companies). Large cap companies are generally thought to be a more stable investment than small cap, with the medium cap in between. If you’re a conservative investor, or are closer to retirement, large-cap funds are generally the best bet as they are more stable. On the flip side many younger investors like to pursue riskier (smaller cap) investments because the potential for payoff is greater, along with the available timeline for recovery. It all depends on your personal objectives and circumstances.

There are three primary stock styles to be aware of: value, blend, and growth. Growth stocks, simply put, are anticipated to have a strong growth rate. Of course, the flipside of growth stocks is that they are more shaky, and could therefore more likely to plunge in value. Value stocks are generally thought to be ‘bargains.’ They are bought when their price is at a low point, hoping that their price goes up. Blend stocks are simply a blend of growth and value stocks. Check the historical rates of return for the particular fund you are interested in. They are often reflected in 1, 3, 5, and 10-year intervals, in addition to performance since inception.

When you are looking at particular fund’s risk there are two terms that you may run across, specifically, the “r-squared,” and the “beta.” The r-squared is a range from 0-1, which corresponds to how closely it matches the market as a whole or a particular market index (1 being a perfect match). The beta compares changes in a fund’s share price to changes in the overall market/index. For example, if the market that is being used in comparison increased by 8% (so it then has a beta of 1.00), and the beta of the fund that you are checking out is 1.10, your fund is 10% more volatile than that particular market. A beta higher than 1.00 has the potential for greater payoff but at the same time is riskier. Because the beta is tied to market variations, when a fund’s r-squared is low, the beta figure becomes less important. As you could have probably guessed, both the r-squared and beta of the “Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares” is 1.

Money Saving Tips

You may run across some funds which have a purchase fee or a redemption fee. I think these terms are pretty self-explanatory. There are many funds out there that do not charge these fees so it is a good idea to avoid them!

Try to look for a fund which does not have a 12b-1 fee. This nondescript name (taken from the Investment Company Act of 1940) is supposed to cover the advertising costs of the fund.  It is taken right out of the fund’s assets. This fee often hovers around .25-.75%, depending upon whether or not it is a load-based fund. (Note any fund with a 12b-1 fee over .25% is a load fund.)

As a rule of thumb avoid investing in an index fund with an expense ratio (these are operating costs taken from your fund) of more than .21%. If you are paying more than that you are cheating yourself (shop around). Again, mutual funds have higher expense ratios and usually don’t beat the market. 

Go electronic. Since it costs investment management companies a lot of money to print out documents, they have created incentives to encourage their customers to select “e-delivery” or “e-service.” By receiving fund reports, confirmations, statements, and so forth through e-mail in formats such as pdf’s, you can often reduce fees. I saved a yearly charge of $20 because when I started my balance was under $10k, and balances below $10k were subject to that fee, unless the investor chose e-delivery. Regardless of what you decide, it is pretty easy to change your preferences online or by calling your investment management company’s customer service number.

There may be some other fees that are particular to IRA’s, ect., and they typically vary from investment company to investment company. Make sure you analyze the fee schedule closely so there are no surprises. If you have any questions, companies typically have a customer service number on their Web site and you can talk with a representative who can fill you in.

Choosing an Investment Company

There are so many different companies out there–it’s difficult for many investors to know where to begin. It’s a good idea to go with a well-established company with a sound reputation. Here’s some that are worth taking a look at: Vanguard, Fidelity Investments, Scottrade, Ameriprise, Merrill Lynch, T. Rowe Price, Charles Schwab, and the list goes on. To me, customer service is a very important. I want to be able to call in and have a knowledgeable person answer the phone quickly. Find out what’s important to you and do a little research. I’ve found that many trade financial magazines and journals seemed to be tied up in conflicts on interests (advertising contracts, ect.). Because of this, I tend to read blogs and ask friends and acquaintances what their experiences have been like with particular companies before making any decisions regarding who I’ll end up choosing.

by RB