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47 Ways Copyblogger Can Help You Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

written by Sonia Simone
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47 Ways Copyblogger Can Help You Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

2009 promises to be a year of profound change. Millions of people around the world are having a tough time, but periods of dramatic upheaval are also the best time to start or grow a business. Extraordinary times create extraordinary opportunities.

Now we can’t help you lose 20 pounds or learn to play the violin. But if you want to increase your income, spend more time with your family, finally launch your online business, monetize your blog, or just get in better touch with your inner entrepreneur, here are some of the best Copyblogger posts of 2008 to help you do exactly that.

Diversify

Try something new this year. Get outside your comfort zone. Move beyond what you’ve always done. This is the best possible time to create something remarkable and new.

If you’ve built a great content net, learn the fine art of harpooning. If harpooning is the only life you know, learn to weave a compelling content net. And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this post.

Be generous

Generosity is the secret key to success–and that’s more true than it’s ever been. Most people are retreating into a scarcity mindset. When you cultivate generosity, you’ll stand out among the crowd and put yourself in a position of power, confidence and profitability.

Create a free report with some of your most valuable content, and give it away–either for free or in exchange for permission to send an email autoresponder.

Write more guest posts.

Tweet pointers to ten times as many posts from other blogs as you do your own.

Think about what you can give away. Your generosity will come back to you in multiples.

Give it all you’ve got

Generosity goes hand in hand with audacity.

Make a commitment to put everything you’ve got into your content. Don’t hide or hold back. Whether your content is free or paid, throw yourself into it.

Holding your “good stuff” in reserve, whether it’s for a paid product or a bigger audience, is the key to writer’s block and poverty. When you give your very best, you’ll attract more and better ideas (and more and better customers).

Give it all away. Don’t worry, the well will refill.

Take care of your community

Money isn’t half as hard to earn as trust. Make sure everything you do supports your community, whether they’re on your blog, a forum, or an email list.

Always remember that the money isn’t really “in the list.” It’s in the relationship with that list.

When you nurture your relationship with your readers first, everything else gets much easier. You won’t be looking for ways to “monetize their eyeballs,” but for offers you can make that will help solve their problems. Different mindset, much better results.

Become a student of human nature

You can spend the rest of your life trying to figure out what makes people do the things they do. Not only is it endlessly interesting, it can make you lots of money.

If you haven’t picked up Cialdini’s Influence yet, put it on your January reading list.

Get systematic about content creation

If you only write when you feel like it, you’re going to sputter out pretty soon. Instead of frustrating yourself and your readers, develop a simple, user-friendly writing system.

The more you write, the more ideas will come. Keep writing.

Boost your conversion

Online newbies tend to chase traffic as the holy grail. But the real pros will tell you that it’s conversion you should be working on–in other words, how much of that traffic you can convert to loyal, happy customers.

Small improvements in conversion can yield tremendous benefits to your bank account. Here are some of the year’s best posts on how to convert strangers into raving fans:

Read deeply, not just widely

Reading makes you smarter. Reading deeply makes you a lot smarter.

Think about the most important books (or blogs, or websites) in your own field of expertise.

Now pencil some time in your 2009 calendar to truly make their ideas part of your own intellectual DNA.

Quit going it alone

Strike up friendships with bloggers and content producers inside your niche, or out of it. By expanding your relationships, you’ll find new readers and expand your content community–and your own thinking.

Trying to do it all yourself makes business ten times harder than it has to be. And great partnerships aren’t just more profitable, they’re more fun.

Don’t just exist. Live

This is the year you’re going to make it happen. The year you’re going to quit letting fear and narrow thinking hold you back.

You don’t know how much time you’ve got left. Start making the most of this day, this moment. You really can do it, you just have to start.

And above all, for 2009, keep the official Copyblogger mantra in mind:

More cowbell.

About the Author: Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and the founder of Remarkable Communication.

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Reader Comments (49)

  1. Happy new year!

    I’ve written down my new years resolutions at my blog, http://www.improvingtheweb.com

    Since I’ve only just started my blog, I will take your tips under consideration. I’m already planning to give away lot of things though, for example, more than 20 wordpress plugins are in development ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Yea more cowbell! Reading for deep content takes time and focus. We all probably needed this prodding.

    Thanks for all the post in this article they are definitely worth “more cowbell”.

  7. To start each day off right and get inspired, every morning I awaken and say “Carpe Diem” which means “seize the day,” but I think I’ll replace that with “more cowbell.”

    More cowbell, indeed!
    Shane
    twitter: shanearthur

  8. What you say about generosity is very true. People will equate you with “value” and when they need the service you’re providing you’ll be the first person to come to mind. As far as audacity, here’s a quote by Julia Cameron (The Artist’s Way):

    “Very often audacity, not talent makes one person an artist and another a shadow artist – hiding in the shadows, afraid to step out and expose the dream to the light, fearful that it will disintegrate to the touch.”

    Excellent resources, I’ll be coming back to these often. Thank you and happy New Year!

  10. Hi Sonia!,

    Thanks for your great post. So much to read and so little time!, I’ll definitely be coming back and reading all those great posts you have referred to in this article.

    And love the note about Generosity :). .

    Happy New Year!

    ps: @Marelisa – glad to see a fellow reader of artists way here ๐Ÿ™‚

  11. Very usefull stuff. Glad to have some great articles in one place. Especially im not long enogh with you to fully explore whole site. And now i have most valuable resources in one post. Thanks.Happy new year.

  13. Thanks for the list. That’s a lot of great advice for the new year. It seems that much of it is centered around relationships. It has become very important in the blogging world to work together. That’s a positive development. One hand washes the other works

  14. Thx for this great post, gives me lots of inspiration to start in this year. Just made a reminder to look at one of the articles at least once a day. Happy new year to all of you!

  18. I like these resolutions because they’re NOT asking me to lose twenty pounds or learn to play an instrument. At the very least they should be less painful to follow through on.

  19. Nice spin on the usual “end of year blog post” that comes up everywhere these days. Here you have an index for “how to use my blog” which is much more useful than many of the other blog posts I’ve read in the last week.

  21. Love it! Great ideas – generally, and specifically.

    I laughed at the “More Cowbell” suggestion at the end.

    Thanks for your excellent work, again.

  24. Sonia, I can’t tell you how much Copyblogger has helped me. It’s my number one go to for advice and ideas. No wonder it’s considered one of the top five most influential blogs.

  25. For 2009, for me, it’s ‘living’, rather than existing – that means, doing things because I enjoy them, not because they pay well.
    (Well, hopefully, the money will follow!)

  26. Demian, that is so lovely, thank you. Obviously all credit goes to Brian, but I try hard to keep the tradition of helpfulness and quality that he started here.

    Tstrump, damned straight, there isn’t all that much time, so here’s to living.

  27. I have starred this post and have returned to it several times. Thanks for helping me refine my writing and improving my blog.

  28. Nice collection Sonia! Thanks for sharing it. Should keep me out of trouble for awhile. It’s an ancient message we have to reinvent every day, “give and you shall receive”. Wishing you blessings in the New Year!

  30. This is definitely going into del.ic.ious under “blogging” and “personal growth”. There is so much good advice floating around the blogsphere that I don’t know where to start!

  31. Thanks for this great post Sonia.

    As a new blogger I am looking for good quality idea farms and this blog is one.

    I also have seen the bloggers I like the best so far are the ones who the most generous with content, links to other bloggers and resources. And this blog has that. Jack Humphery is another guy who goes over the top producing great content freely.

    And tonight I found a new area of generosity on your blog, that is your readers. I have have more hits from copyblogger than any other from just one comment I made I have had 9 direct hits to my blog.

    I have not made many comments in ratio to my blog posts but I think I need to be more generous in my comments and in my way support other bloggers. Maybe a 3 to 1 ratio, 3 comments on other blogs for each post I make on my blog.

    A good action plan for myself for 2009

  32. I’m loving this website. It’s great to see that you practice what you preach – there’s loads of information available free of charge. But it’s useful information – the type anybody would happily pay for.

    Thank you!

  33. Wow, Sonia … so many great resources here. I’ve bookmarked it for further reference.

    I’m pretty new to blogging, but really believe generosity and value are the key. I hadn’t heard the “cowbell” expression before, but it certainly creates a different mindset and perspective.

    Thanks for the great info!

    Debbie
    http://debbiefoster.net

  34. This is a great advice and I will definitely consider it when writing my articles.

    I always knew that before getting you have to give, and only if you create value you will get something valuable in return.

    I think your advide is timeless but often forgotten by most.

  37. Sonia

    I’m late on this one, but you put together a dazzling post. There is tons to read, impressive. I like how you structured the post. You just keep reading in wonder looking forward to what’s next. ๐Ÿ™‚ Happy New Year! All the best to you in 09.
    -Mig

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