We ask this question all the time….
How can I get traffic/follower growth as a *new* blogger?
Usually the answers are disheartening and overwhelming…but today’s guest is here to present how he kickstarted a new blog with one. extreme. post.
- Before post -> traffic peaked at 13 views.
- After post -> 10,000+ views in a few days.
The idea is simple. Not easy, but simple.
Adam Fortuna (Minafi.com) is a brilliant, brilliant guy. Before diving head-first into personal finance, he was (is) a world-class developer, coder, product manager (I’ll plug his company, CodeSchool.com. It’s fantastic for those looking to learn to code. I’ve taken 3-7 or their courses).
In this episode, we chat:
- How he engineered a blog post for mega success, and took his traffic from a few dozen a day….to over 15,000 views in a weekend. Seriously, what he did is incredible.
- Cheap or free tools/resources for eliminating distractions while on your computer to focus on productivity.
- The importance of asking yourself questions (unbias questions, as Adam points out I’m bad at. Which is true by the way 🙂
He is quickly making a name for himself in the blogging community based on his financial independence guide, and he’s also a true gentleman and value-adding human being (he also help me set-up the official FinCon Slack channel. He volunteered!)
Key takeaways from today’s episode with Adam
1 – Seriously crafting the world’s best resource on [x]
Adam has a perfect example of a cornerstone piece of content: I.e. a huge, important, definitive post for your blog. Something world-class, unique, can’t be found anywhere else on the internet.
The main reason most bloggers never do this sort of post? It takes an incredible amount of work.
But frankly, let’s break it down: Every now and then, you need a massively successful post to drive blog growth.
Viral post, viral image on Pinterest, something that just really resonates with the community.
Even if you only produced 2 epic-sized-super-posts a YEAR, it could be huge for your blog and business.
Adam got a surge of traffic, email subs, etc…but he also made a strong case for his brand in the blog-o-sphere. (actually, he did this before he even hit publish. He had already spoken with 75+ people…)
Could you *literally* produce a mega-valuable piece of content that defines your blog/brand and goes niche-viral? What would that look like?
Not many people do this, because it’s hard as hell.
However, I’m creating a 3-day blueprint for a cornerstone piece of content. Grab it below.
[convertkit form=5089845]
2 – Declutter your computer for focus (especially toolbar/taskbar/desktop)
Clutter destroys focus. It’s science.
(that was typed in my best Will Ferrell anchorman voice)
I use Hazel personally to organize my files (mac only), clean up desktop and download folders, etc. Adam talks about Bartender for Mac.
I think this is key for productivity.
The less we can TEMPT ourselves to click-through to Facebook, Twitter, Slack, X, Y , Z….whatever we find ourselves opening on auto-pilot…the better.
(Do you ever find yourself opening a new tab and just hitting “f,” for Facebook? It’s insane how addicted we all are to various platforms.)
Also, I’ll throw out Facebook News Feed Eradicator. I haven’t seen a Facebook newsfeed in 2 years now 🙂 🙂 🙂
3 – Using Dev Tools to enhance your guest post pitches, sponsor pitches, etc 🙂
When pitching sponsorships, guest post outreach to other bloggers, etc….going the extra mile is crucial.
It helps you stand out from everyone else doing the same thing (and there are tons, probably), and we shared how to use Chrome Developer Tools for a tiny little hack.
The hack? Dig into your target’s website, and borrow their formatting for your pitch 🙂
It’s a tiny little thing, but just enough to make someone say “woah the spent time on this,” etc.
I made you a video showing how to do it 🙂
That’s it!
Also, it kind of feels like hacking. Tis Fun.
How is Adam doing? Please comment below and I’ll send a random commenter a DYEB T-shirt!
I’ll give a SUPER comfy dyeb tee to a random commenter. How’s Adam doing? How am I doing with this podcast? Let me know!
Show notes and referenced links
- An Interactive Guide to Early Retirement and Financial Independence – the super-mega-post! It’s so good lol.
- Perennial Seller – Ryan Holiday is a master author. Love his stuff.
- Yet Another Mail Merge – Google sheets add-in for mailmerging. Super handy.
- CloudApp – What I use for quick screen shots, quick videos, quick gifs, all hosted in the cloud. It. is. awesome.
- Skitch – same thing essentially.
- Feedly – RSS aggregator to read all your fave blogs
- ZenHabits – great minimalism blog
- Derek Sivers – One of my all-time favorite influencers, bloggers, philosophers. He’s amazing.
- Fiery Millennial – Gwen! FIRE blogger 🙂 🙂
8 Responses
That epic post was so incredibly awesome. A huge undertaking, but it was innovative and engaging. One of my favorite things I’ve seen in the PF community for a long time.
I’ll have to listen to this when I get home today. 🙂
Agreeeed. Hope you enjoy it 🙂
Thanks Dave! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Fantastic Podcast!!! So much to learn from as a blogger. Adam’s post is amazing! It was great to hear the backstory of how it was created. I liked the post so much I linked to it in a post of my own (it’s linked to my name here.) Keep up the good work guys. Thanks for creating this. Oh and I’d a happy to be a beta reader on your next project.
Kind words Jason, thank you! Adam’s awesome, and I’m sure he appreciates the backlink 🙂 🙂
Hi Pete,
I like the tip about formatting your guest post to match the website you are pitching to! I think it helps to go the extra mile, at least for those websites that are very popular and receive pitches all the time.
Thank you as always for sharing these helpful hacks!
It’s the silliest and smallest thing, but makes a big difference!
Thanks for reading Trinity 🙂
Same as trinity above- loved the tips for formatting. I am an organized individual who is more of a minimalist. Loved the focus on staying de-cluttered in blogging too.