Asking for Your Help
Asking is the beginning of receiving. Make sure you don't go to the ocean with a teaspoon. At least take a bucket so the kids won't laugh at you! ~ Jim Rohn
Last week at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association meeting the speaker, a professional writer, told us that a few times a year you have to ask your readers for help. This sounded strange at first, but then she explained why. If people are reading your blog they must be there for a reason. They are supporters. And, as supporters they want to know how to support you. Simple as that. So you have to tell them how.
After getting clear on my mission I realized I need to explain some things. Transparency, honesty, and truth are a big deal for me so that is what brings me to write this post. My blog is a means for me to express myself, first and foremost. But, it is also a writer’s platform. This is something I have been learning more and more about over the past few months. In order for a writer to be taken seriously they have to create a “platform.” A place for people to find them and build an audience. Publishers look for writers presence on the web. That is the way it is today. It means having a blog, website, mailing list, social media presence, etc. The goal is to attract more and more readers and build an audience. That means you! In order to do this I have to create something that people are interested in. That’s my job. Luckily, I love writing. (I have all these ideas and words running around in my head that must be set free!) Hopefully, my writing creates interest and value for you, the reader. That’s what I want to do. It is two-fold process.
Another angle is creating income. For years I have heard about people "monitizing" their blogs and I just didn’t get it. Blogging and making money just didn’t compute for me. But then I found Pat Flynn at Smart Passive Income and the lightbulb “ah ha” moment occurred. Listening to his podcasts opened my mind to the whole idea and added another dimension to building a platform. I’ve learned about affiliate marketing, building traffic, SEO, and so much more, and I am still learning everyday. I joined Adsense and became an Amazon Associate and started putting affiliate links on the pages. I didn’t want to have my blog filled with junk and spammy stuff, and that is not happening. I learned that I can choose what I want and create links where readers have choice. How it works? When I am writing a blog post I can put a link to a book or some other item at Amazon. If you click the link and then buy it, I get a small percentage. It’s very simple. There are also other affiliate programs, for example ZenniOptical. Most of you know I have several pairs of new glasses. I bought them at ZenniOptical online, cute styles and really inexpensive! So I decided to join their affiliate program. I have a link to them on my side bar, if you click there and buy a pair of glasses I get a percentage. This works with many, many products. The good news is that I will only promote or link to things that I personally use or endorse. And the even better news - you have complete control - there is nothing devious or subversive going on. If you want to follow a link it is completely up to you. If you are going to buy something on Amazon and use my link than I get a percentage. It’s as simple as that.
This business side of my bog is simple. I am building a writers platform to grow an audience for my book Becoming Zia and future books I plan to write. I want to sell my book(s) and I also want to create passive income through by blog. It is an online business. I like to call it the “laptop lifestyle”. Being a writer and actually making money
So now's the part where I ask for your help. Here are some things you can do to help me build my platform and create my laptop lifestyle!
COMMENT
Comment on blog posts. All you have to do is click the words "comments" at the bottom of the post. I love to hear from you. Give me your feedback or your view on the subject. Anything you want to say! Comments also help my blog get better rankings. The more activity the higher the rankings. The higher the ranking the more possibility of visitors. The more visitors the bigger the change of growing my audience.
FORWARD POSTS
At the bottom of the blog post is also a list of different social media icons. To share my post just click on the one you use (like Facebook or Twitter) and it will post it for you.
If you are an email subscriber to my blog, forward a post you particularly like to some of your friends. It’s simple to do, just click forward on the email and pick the email addresses and send!
USE AFFILIATE LINKS
If you are going to buy something on Amazon why not use my link! Just click the image above or at the right. Most everyone uses Amazon for purchases. The affiliate link can be used to purchase any product, not just the ones I linked to.
JOIN EMAIL LIST
This one is simple. Just click this link. You’ll get updates about the progress of my book and other info occasionally. My goal is to eventually have a bi-monthly “newsette" (that’s a small newsletter.) I am not a spammer and your email is safe with me.
“Like” posts. Just click the LIKE button.
“Comment” on posts. Write whatever is on your mind. It only takes a moment.
“Share” posts. Just click “share” and that's it! Great way to widen the circle.
Buy Becoming Zia
This one is easy. As soon s the book is published, you will be one of the first to know. You will be able to buy it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iBooks. It’ll be a simple download.
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In the spirt of living big,
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