Yay… It’s My 100th Post!

Today, I’ve reached a mini-milestone. This is the 100^th post of the Steve Scott Site. So to recognize the occasion, I want to go over a few things I’ve learned since I started this blog in January.

First, let’s cover…

…What I’ve Learned

#1- Blog on a Consistent Basis- I’ve now come to realize that I was a little spoiled with my past affiliate marketing experiences. While I’ve always worked hard, there were times when I could take a day off without feeling guilty.

This isn’t the case with blogging. I’ve learned that it’s extremely important to blog on a consistent basis. So I’ve made it a point to post every single day (and sometimes even twice a day). I haven’t missed a day since the middle of February and I plan to keep this streak going.

One of the main reasons I’ve been able to blog on a daily basis is through the use of a publishing schedule. I keep this file open on my laptop at all times. This makes it easy to develop posts throughout the week and ensure that I never miss a day.

The problem is I’ve come across a number of blogs that post two, three, or even four times a day. This can be a little discouraging because I feel like I haven’t scratched the surface on the content I’m providing to my readership. I hope to get to the point of publishing two to three times a day. But this probably won’t happen till I finish with my travels.

#2- The Value of Friendships- Again, I’ve come to discover that I’ve developed a number of bad habits with my past Internet Marketing experiences. For many years, I was able to quietly develop an online business without really interacting with other people.

Now as you probably know, there is a strong community aspect to developing a blog. If you’re not forming friendships and connecting to your audience, then you’re not really taking advantage of all the benefits that can be found with a blog.

I am extremely thankful to the people who read my posts on a regular basis. Without their constant support, I would have given up a long time ago. So with that said, I encourage you to check out all the sites listed in my “Top Commentators” list that’s shown on the right sidebar. These are people who have given me a lot of encouragement over the last few months. So please take a few minutes to take a look at their sites.

#3- Be Yourself- For a long time, I’ve had a very clear dividing line between my personal life and my ‘online identity.’ Sure, once in awhile I would mention something personal, but this was the exception, not the rule.

After writing 100 posts, I’ve learned that people respond the best to posts which come from the heart. There are a few posts on this site that took a lot of emotional effort to create. One discussed the difficulty I was having with a failed relationship. Another showed my twisted sense of humor. And there a few like this video which demonstrated some of the weirder things that always seem to happen to me.

The funny thing is none of these posts are particularly relevant to the overall theme of this site. Yet, they are all representative of what I’m like as a person. I feel that since the Internet is becoming increasingly crowded, it’s absolutely vital that you do the little things to stand out from the masses.

Now it hasn’t been all roses and sunshine with this site. In fact, if I’m completely honest with myself, there are a number of…

…Things I NEED to Improve

#1- Better Networking with Other Sites- While I just mentioned all the friendships I’ve formed with other sites, I feel like I could do a much better job with networking. If you pay close attention to the top blogs in every industry, you would see that each owner is a master at networking and forming friendships.

I know to move this site forward I have to be more proactive with regularly visiting sites and forming relationships with each owner. Furthermore, it’s important that I interact with my visitors and create the kind of content that they want to see.

Bottom line is you can’t have success without people. So I have to step out a little from my little personal bubble and make an effort to form lasting connections.

#2- Create a Strategy Plan- I’ve fallen into the trap of only paying attention to the day-to-day activities. As a result, I’ve haven’t created many long-term mechanisms that will turn this “hobby blog” into something that provides a real income.

The sad thing is I should know better. With my other businesses, I’ve always been good about following a set plan.

So in the next few months I’ll be creating certain sections of this site that will focus on generating long-term profits. The trick here is to do this in the way that won’t impede upon the free information that I like to give to my regular readers.

#3- Leverage the Power of Outsourcing- Like I mentioned before, I will be doing a lot of traveling in the next few months. In fact, I don’t think I’ll see my home again till the middle of autumn.

All this traveling provides a unique challenge. I want to grow this site, but I’m starting to realize that it’s extremely hard to increase readership when you have a limited time to dedicate to a blog.

But in the last week, I’ve started to use my outsourcers to help with a number of areas on this site. Specifically, I’m using them to work on a concept that I call “Passive Web Traffic.” The idea here is I give a set of instructions to my one of outsourcers and she follows this process to increase the number of visitors to this site. So far, it seems to be working pretty well. For instance, one of these small techniques helped double my traffic for a few days. (Here’s a screenshot of the results.)

My point is simple. There are a number of small processes that can generate incredible results. All I have to do is put my thinking cap on and utilize the efforts of some extremely gifted outsourcers.

What’s Next???

I would love to say that I’m going to accomplish a lot of things in the next month. Unfortunately that’s probably not going to happen.

For the most part, I’m going to build up my ‘street cred’ and use this blog to show a lot of my travels and experiences. But with that said, I hope the next hundred posts will give an honest demonstration of how it’s possible to live your dreams while still generating a steady income.

As of today, I’ve identified a few key areas to improve. My focus for the next couple of months will be on the ‘things to improve’ that I just mentioned. They should set the framework for many of the long-term goals I hope to achieve once I’m back into a “work mindset” in the fall.

Finally, I would like to extend you a hearty thanks for reading the posts on this site. You’re the reason that I’m able to blog on a consistent basis. So far, I’ve only earned a few dollars. What keeps me going is the knowledge that some of these articles are helping others move a little closer to their dreams.

So thanks for being a consistent reader and wish me luck on the next 100 posts!

Take Action. Get Results.