My “State of the Blog” Address

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Today I’d like to give a quick a “state of the blog” address.  Similar to the speech that the President of the United States gives, we’re going to discuss a few things that are working, while make a firm commitment to improve what’s not working. (And unlike your average politician, I’ll probably follow through with my promises.)

Web Traffic Has Tripled in the Last Two Months

One of the things that surprised to me is how traffic to this site has tripled over the last few months.  They say you’re in the top 1% of all blogs when you break the 100,000 mark on Alexa.  Well, according to the most recent Alexa Ranking, we’re now under the 80,000 mark.

I think this result comes from two primary things:

1)      The assistance my brother Gene has been giving me with building traffic

2)      An improvement on the quality of my content

The good news for YOU is I’ll be breaking down the strategies I use for both.  (More on this later)

Finding a “Blogging Groove.”

Way back in the dark ages of February 2010, I wrote a post that discussed the idea of getting 10,000 hours experience to master a skill.  In the eight months since I wrote this piece, I feel like I’ve accumulated some of these man-hours by focusing on the content creation aspect of blogging.  I still have a ways to go when it comes to marketing, but there’s a lot you can glean from posting articles on a daily basis.

My big “a-ha” moment came when I started creating massive, 2000+ word articles.  It seems that content really is king.  I’ve learned that when you identify a major problem people have and give away tons of value you tend to get a loyal following.  Then if you keep churning out quality post after quality post, people will pay attention to what you have to say.

I’m not claiming to have guru knowledge about blogging, but I’m starting to see the positive results from consistent effort.

Okay, these are the two things that seem to working.  Now let’s get to the “sneak preview” part of this address…

Coming Soon: How to Escape “The Rat Race”

One of my biggest fears is to be perceived as a Tim Ferriss clone.  I think he has an excellent philosophy that’s full of useful ideas.  However, I was already making an online income LONG before I read his book.  The reason I bring this up is because nine months ago I made the promise to never create a “how to escape the 9 to 5 job” type of product.  I felt this type of information would be redundant since a lot of it is covered in Ferriss’s 4 Hour Work Week.

What changed my mind is the fact that this book doesn’t do a good job of what it takes to build a legitimate online business.  Ferriss is great at giving ideas.  But I honestly feel he does a crappy job of telling people how to market an Internet business.  Fortunately, that’s something I’m pretty good at.

Bottom line, I’ll be creating a book around the concept of “escaping the rat race.”  This free report won’t cover everything, but it will do a good job of covering the same steps I used to escape from the business world and build a passive income that lets me travel the world.

Here’s my vow… You WILL see this free report by December 1st, 2010 (How’s that for a promise?)

Coming Soon: How to Increase Traffic to Your Blog

Last week, I ran a poll asking you to pick my next weekly series.  It was a close race, but more people wanted to learn about blog traffic over email marketing.  In reality, the sample size is too small to get an accurate picture of what people want.  The thing that made me pick one over the other is blog traffic is a major area I’ll be addressing in the next year.  I’ll be discovering a lot of things which means you’ll be learning a lot through my weekly series.

Here’s another vow…You WILL see the first of this series on November 17th, 2010.   (This gives me a few weeks to collect my notes and finish off the Info Income Coaching Class.)

Don’t worry if you’re interested in email marketing.  I’m also focusing on this area in my other businesses.  So I’ll be creating a lot of content around this concept.

Coming Soon: My First Information Product for the Steve Scott Site

Once my Info Income Coaching Class is completed, I’m giving seven days for people to use the information then I’ll delete the entire course from this site.  So you really only have a few more weeks to use this material before it’s gone forever.

The good news is after removing these pages I’ll be hard at work to turn this course into a full-blown information product.  Now, you might be wondering how this material will be different from the free course.  Well, in the paid version I’ll provide:

  • At least 50% more content
  • A case study of MY information product complete with specific examples
  • Bonus reports and eBooks
  • Free consultation for your information product
  • Plus much, much more…

To be honest, I’ve only scratched the surface on the profitability of an eBook.  My little, eight-month trip through Europe has been partially funded by one information product.  Try to imagine what it would be like to have a whole network of eBooks, all making you money.  Pretty exciting, right?

You know I’m not one to hype something up.  So when I say this product is going to be good, you better believe it’s going to full of value you can use to build a successful eBook empire.

Here’s my final vow…You WILL see this information product on March 1st, 2011. (This will be tough, but I think I can do it.)

Coming Soon: The New Steve Scott Site

In a couple of other polls, I asked you to voice your opinions on the new design of this site.  Bottom line was most of you told me to keep the format as-is. This means with certain exceptions, I’ll be posting seven days a week and following the single column format that you currently see.

What will change is the style and appearance of the Steve Scott Site.  After studying the design of the top bloggers, I’ve learned that I’m wasting pieces of real estate.  The changes will focus on increasing readership and getting people to check out the most important pieces of my content.

Things may look different around here, but I’m hoping to make it look (dare I say) a little more professional.

November 8th, 2010

The above date is when I board a plane in Brussels, Belgium and hop across the pond to New Jersey…Home, sweet home.  Some people might get depressed about the end of a vacation.  Fortunately, I’m not one of them.  I’ve had a blast traveling across Europe for the last 7+ months, but it’s time to go home.  In fact, I think I’m actually more excited now than I was before leaving for Europe.

What makes me excited is now I get to act upon all the dreams I envisioned last January when I first started this blog.  In the last seven months I haven’t had much time to work while traveling.  Now I can make this site a major priority in my life.  That makes me a little excited at all that can be accomplished.

Well…this has been my “state of the blog” address.  Some things are going well.  And I hope to improve upon the good and eliminate the stuff that’s not working.

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who regularly reads my blog.  It’s your feedback and comments that make it worth writing each day, when I could be out doing tourist things.  Perhaps I’ve given you enough valuable content to make you want to come back for more.  I hope you’re looking forward to the changes that’ll happen in the next six months…

Take Action. Get Results.



38 thoughts on “My “State of the Blog” Address”

  1. Hi Steve,

    It seems even with little marketing but as long as we publish great content consistently, we should be able to attract decent amount of traffic.

    Your coming soon plans sound very exciting to me and i will be anticipating with eager. It ‘s really great to learn from somebody who has been there and know all the stuff well.

    Thanks for feeding us the information and have a great day.

    Lye

  3. Steve,

    You certainly have been very very consistent, and I believe you really deserve all the increase in traffic, and much more.

    Now what you have here is a MASSIVE list of upcoming plans! And I really envy you. At the same time, it’s a pleasure seeing the work you do, and it really is an inspiration that I look forward to almost every other day.

    You know what, sometimes I really wonder whether you are reading my mind, or whether I am reading yours…

    I’ve also been planning a series on how to escape the rat race, though, for me, instead of it being an information product, it would be a (hopefully not so) long journey as I make the escape myself. I’ve also got a site design revamp in progress, though things will be moving slow for me as I am still stuck in the rat race. But I’m trying to go steady and make progress little by little. Let’s see how fast I can get there.

    Keep up the good work! I look forward to all the promises you’ve made. I’m sure you will be able to achieve all of those. Wishing you good luck!

    Cheers!
    Mark

    • Mark,

      Thanks for all the kind words.

      I am sure the internet is big enough for two “escape from rat race” products. Site redesign is something that should be tweaked every so often I think. Hopefully I won’t play with mine for at least a year after I am done though.

      Have a great day. Thanks for the awesome comments!

  4. Hey Steve:

    Excitement is in the air. Why because State Of the Blog address created the excitement.
    Wow Some many new things coming up so close. So, keep the Steve Scott Site visitor’s
    informed of all the plans in writing, if you want all of us to know and participate, and contribute. I will do my share.

    I look forward to all the new thing I will be seeing you around

    Make it a good day for yourself.

    • Fran,

      Thanks! Now I just have to make or exceed all the deadlines I set for myself. I try to set reasonable goals, so I am sure I can do all this. I will certainly keep you informed of any future changes that are planned.

      Hopefully the site will continue to get better, and perhaps even a little more focused.

    • Germany was awesome. The whole trip has been great. Of course I have run into “hiccups” here and there over the trip but I have had a blast!

      I do feel I am definitely ready to get home, though. It will be nice to wake up in the same place everyday for a while.

      I have not wanted to overly “bore” people with my travel tales. But I have been thinking of discussing them for one post in the future

  6. Hi Steve,

    I know you will be glad to get home. I didn’t realize that you had been away from home so long. I look forward to hearing all about your experiences.

    You have a lot lined up and I can’t wait to see the unveiling of your new site.

    Take care,

    Evelyn

    • Thanks Evelyn,

      The trip has been wonderful, but nearly 8 months is a long time! You are absolutely right that I am ready to be back home for a while, even though that means more work, buying a car, finding a place to live etc etc.

  7. Hey Steve, driven as hell – helllllll yeah!

    I’m going to hold you accountable for the freebie on Dec. 1st – if you don’t get it out by then I’ll um, hrmm, I’ll think of something but yeah, you best 😛 (community pressure – that should help!)

    As for the info course – I have mixed feelings on you taking it down because where it makes sense to package it, would it be better, overall to take that as sort of the “platform” and then make the full package? So say you left that up there, what if to add the additional value you created a series of videos that showed exactly how you did it, maybe some audio recordings, perhaps a small “free consultation” for buyers and hell, if you could show like a “over the shoulder” process (using Gene as the subject) it would be like BAM – that’s an effin package of win. Thoughts?

    • I definitely will get it done by Dec 1. No need to “do something”.

      As for keeping the package up. Well The info is there. I am giving a lot of advance notice. If people want to make copies or anything, it is cool, I have no issues with that. That is the reason I am giving a heads up.

      I do have some plans to do some of the things you mentioned. I definitely will be doing some of the things you mentioned. I will be adding a lot of content to the package not just simply reformatting it and printing.

      My Brother will definitely be taking a part in things. He has been working with me for some of the traffic strategies and he will be helping with some of the lessons and parts of others for the next series. Some of it certainly “case study” type stuff I think.

      Free consultation is a definite thought. That is the type of thing I like to throw in to “spice up” and add value to any offer, so that is definitely on the table as an idea for any product sale in the future.

  8. Well done Steve getting into the top 1% of blogs. 8)

    I have also recently tripled my traffic, but from a much lower base. Google Analytics has me at over 3,000 visitors per month, and my Alexa rating has only just dropped into the 490,000 zone.

    I’m also trying for quality original content, but at a rate of one post per 3 days. Thu Nguyen was also posting every day like you, and her Alexa rating is 85,000, so it must be a good thing for traffic.

    Now I’ve found you, I shall be back, you seem to know what you are doing. 😆

    John

    PS. There is a typo in your post. I presume your new information product is going to be ready in 2011?

    • John,

      Thanks, I am quite happy with the way things have been going. Steadily increasing traffic is all one can ask for really!

      Yeah, I visit Thu’s site all the time, she is doing quite well and keeps a similar schedule to the one I do. from reading her blog daily I know it can be tough to keep up with daily posts as a reader -reading multiple blogs- Still it does good things for Ranking and it does good things for creating a nice padding of content in case people get interesting in a subject and want to know more (from you)

      The typo was pointed out in comments earlier. I got it fixed…thanks. I was going to invent a time machine and go post it 8 months ago, but decided parts for the time machine are too expensive, so I will just go with 2011

      Thanks for the comment and I hope to see you soon! 🙂

  9. Great to hear about all the new stuff Steve! I have to say, I read a lot of blogs, and this has become one of my favorites. I have learned a lot in the short time I have been a reader. I will say though, the one thing I REALLY want you to give me the secret to is how you are planning on going back in time to make the promised release of your information product, I think that will be tougher than you think. 😉

    Thanks again for creating an awesome resource!

    • Glad you are likely it, Sean. Hopefully it will get even better come December time-frame when I am back in the States and able to devote more time to the project. (Though I have been trying hard not to “slack” while traveling)

      As for the Past release of my Future book…Opps.. I didn’t mean to let the cat out of the bag on my other -time travel- project. Top secret and hush hush. Think I will go fix it for posterity sake. Don’t want to confuse anybody before I travel back and release it.

  10. Hi Steve,

    Wow! There’s so much to look forward to. I think you’re doing fantastic work here. I really love the way you teach us things.

    For example, with the Info Income Coaching Class, you give out homework. I love that you encourage us to go and make it happen for ourselves.

    Thanks for keeping us in the loop and here’s to exciting times ahead.

    • Thanks Jazz,

      Hope you enjoyed/are enjoying the info income, and that you will love the coming stuff. I definitely will keep everyone informed of the upcoming stuff. It helps me to maintain deadlines, and hopefully builds a little interest from everyone.

      I hope you are having a great weekend. Take it easy…

      Steve

  11. I’m a bit disappointed that you haven’t decided to do three weekly series at once covering all the topics you suggested – something for everyone. I take it that would have been too much to ask?

    I’m looking forward to all of the changes you have going on here. I’m actually listening to Tim Ferris’ book as an audiobook for the first time. It has been stimulating in a lot of ways, but I do agree that he does not cover things fully as I was expecting.

    Don’t work too hard now!

    • I know…I am Laaazzzzy

      Yeah, I liked his book a lot, it had after all put into words a lot of the lifestyle that I was living. He does wonders for showing the “dream” but doesn’t always give the greatest nuts-and-bolts explanations. Hopefully I can give a little bit of that.

      Everyone’s path to success will be a little different. It is often less a blueprint and more of an “example” but I hopefully can come up with some things that will be universally useful.

  12. Steve,

    Wow, sounds like a few things but very EXCITING events coming up! I’m looking forward to december and your new site revamp. Your plans to convert this site into an information product is something that I’m waiting for hmm.. love to see how you do it..

    I’ll be waiting 😉

    • Thanks Bryan,

      I am looking forward to some of the changes too. Hopefully there will be some nice improvements that people will enjoy. I will definetely do my best to throw some great content out there in the next couple of months.

      🙂

      I hope the rest of your weekend stays awesome!

  14. Hey Steve.
    Really interested to hear about your journey, man that’;s a long time on the road.
    Good luck in your travels and I’ll be listening in. 🙂

  15. Hey Steve,
    I am glad you increased your traffic but i have one tip(?) Alexa is not so accurate you can easily fake Alexa ranking and you should consult stats that show your visitors number etc and no estimates.
    Congratulations on the initiative to start your own product I hope it will be a success!
    I hope that the new theme will be cool and you wont put on a slow loading full of images template.

    • Very true. I understand the way(s) Alexa is not really an accurate rating. But it is the “best” at com paring to the general public. You can know “your” numbers, but not always the public at large. All Alexa really does is give, (flawed?) social proof and set a level for paid ads (which I do not have).

      I certainly don’t hold a lot of stock in the ratings, but it can be nice to see it go up and though it is inaccurate – I wouldn’t trust it to really tell if 70k is getting more traffic than 170k. As a rule of thumb once the argin gets much wider than that it is relatively on, even if the degree is wrong.

      In other words: a good guide but I do not live and die by the numbers

  16. OK, if there was a ballot right now for choosing the marketer of the year, I’ll definitely check Steve Scott.

    My, Steve, you have one heck of a plan and it’s infectious. From the last post I did on fear, well you know, I’m in the process of planning my game online but I know that from reading your archives way back, you are the master here. The funny thing is you don’t regard yourself that and you come across so down-to-earth, it’s absolutely wonderful.

    First, I’m going to rip your info income product course to PDFs. When you revamp the product, I’m absolutely going to compare. 🙂 Somehow, that panic button of ‘OMG, he’s going to take it down?!’

    Yes, I would do that. 😛

    Next, I’m looking forward to reading your new report in December. I will check out the other post and give you a name for it to help out.

    Last, wondering how the new design will come along.

    Lots of excitement and fun happening soon.

    Talk soon Steve!

    • Thu,

      I love and appreciate the excitement. I am actually pretty excited by all the things coming myself. Hopefully it all lives up to my hype. 😉

      I wanted to let everyone know it is coming down so that if they are interested in the material they can get at least the, “lite” version for free. -I do think there is a lot of good stuff in there-

      Hopefully it lives up to your -and my- expectations!

      Thanks for a wonderful comment that got me re-excited!! 🙂

  17. If you are even planning to be remotely like Tim Ferris, you are going to get a lot of haters.

    I don’t like Tim for the simple reason that he has tried to cash in by exploiting peoples emotions.

    I’m going to write a blog post regarding this one. Thanks for the idea!!!

    • Adarsh,

      I have some mixed emotions when it comes to Tim. I certainly agree he plays to peoples emotions. But I do not think he does it in totally bad way.

      His book is emtional. It can lift peoples spirits up. Like I said, I was doing this stuff before he came out with his book, and thought it taught me nothing… I thought it was interesting.

      HOWEVER… Like you poited out it is only emotional. He gives away very little in what is actually practical advice.

      If people want to read a well written book to get them a little bit “fired up” I think it is fine. But if they really want to grow and get better, he is not the place to do that.

      Like I said in the post, I certainly do not want to “be perceived” as a Ferriss clone, though. Nothing could be further from the truth.\\

      Thanks for dropping by and leaving an interesting comment.

      Let me know when you write the post. I would like to see it. 🙂

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