On September 4th, only one month ago, I began work to resurrect this blog. The blog had several posts, but no one was visiting it and it had no marketing direction.
In this post, I want to outline my original marketing plan for this blog and evaluate its execution to the plan.
Blog Design
The original plan was simple:
- Seed my blog with hundreds of helpful blog posts related to the topics of writing, self-publishing, book covers and marketing books. Have the site overflow with information.
- Pepper the blog with dozens of promotional advertisements for online video training courses and books. All material is related to writing, self-publishing, books covers and marketing books.
- Embed an email list sign up form on the site to gather visitor email for future marketing efforts.
- Buy traffic in order to drive thousands of writers to my blog site.
- Sit back and rake in the money.
Note: Prior to coming up with this plan, I had read warnings that website banner ads no longer work (visitors now see right past them). I ignored this warning and continued with my plan.
Blog Execution
One month after beginning implementation, I have completed all the previously specified steps except for step 5. Included in these steps is paying a company $215 to send writer traffic to my site.
Instead of raking in the money, I have received $0.00 in revenue. Not a single sale.
Even worse. After publishing 41 blog posts last month, I’m running out of things to post about.
New Blog Plan
It’s obvious I need to reevaluate my original simplified plan to incorporate some of the unforeseen nuances of marketing via a blog. Things to evaluate include:
- Is my blog too complex and hard to navigate?
- Are my blog posts boring?
- Is my site design uninteresting and offputting?
I’ll see you in the classroom,
—Brian
