What I Learned as a Bestselling Author that Can Equip You for Blogging Success

This guest post is by Peter G. James Sinclair of selfdevelopmentmastermind.com.

When I was only 14 years of age I was handed a set of lyrics from an adult friend demanding that I should add a melody to bring the words to life musically. I’d never written a song in my life, but his belief in me allowed me to produce my first masterpiece.

This then led to hundreds of original lyrics over the next ten years that culminated in a number of professional recordings.

I learned the power of concise

The habit of writing lyrics for songs sharpened my talents for writing concisely about the subject matter of each song.

This then led to writing articles for magazines, journals, and newsletters, but I always knew that I had a book within me.

I learned the power of persistence

I wrote three books over time and submitted them to the publishing fraternity all over the country and even overseas.

I often laugh when people ask me for the names of literary agents or publishers. My response? “I know them all. They all rejected me.”

But then I decided to write book number four. I gave it to my finest critic—my wife—and she hated it.

That night I decided not go to bed until I had completed my next book. So with three, no now four rejected manuscripts beside me, I typed all night.

At four a.m. the very next morning I walked into my children’s bedrooms with a smile on my face, because I’d just completed a book that contained 20 letters written to my children on how to live a successful life.

By the way, my wife loved it, and within a few months I was the proud recipient of my first $100,000 check.

I learned to position myself for success

So, you might ask, how did you make that amount of money from the single sale of your first book?

Simple really. Here were the five steps that led to my very first bestseller:

1. I identified my market, or my niche, that purchased large quantities of books.
2. I read the books that were sold to this market.
3. I created a book following a similar vein as the other books purchased by the buyer.
4. I added my own unique twist to make me stand out from the crowd.
5. I self-published, hiring a typesetter, a printer, and a graphic designer to assist me. I learned it all on the job, as I had never done it before.

It all prepared me as I wholly committed to the world of the blog

As an author, I sold thousands of copies of my own books. I then went on to publish books for another three authors in both Australia and the UK, but at the end of last year I decided that I wanted to stop playing with the blog that I had been writing, just for the fun of it, and once and for all turn it into a successful blog.

I made this decision a little over six months ago, and in that time I:

• have received a mention in The New York Times
• hired a blogging coach
• have written guest articles for significant blogs in my industry and even in other industries
• have conducted written and Skype interviews with other bloggers
• have created my first online course called “Self Development Mastermind” that is presented in video, audio, and text format
• have released my Daily Motivational Memo, which combines one of my original quotes plus 100 original words that expand on that quote
• watched my subscription base increase by more than 1500% in that time frame.

Use these principles to create your own blogging success

Allow me now to share with you how you can use these same principles, that I learned from self-publishing my own books to building my blog, for your own blogging success.

A. Learn the power of concise

• Make it your goal to clearly communicate your message between 600 and 1000 words.
• Study the best and most influential bloggers in the world.
• Study the titles used by other bloggers in your niche that have attracted the most attention.
• Create a great title and even check out Google’s Keyword Tools, from time to time, to see what people are actually looking for.
• Make sure you break up your article into clearly broken down headings so that your readers can skim read before reading the entire piece.
• Use letters and numbers.
• Use bullet points.
• Use photos.
• Always conclude your articles with your personal signature that will lead people back to your blog.

B. Learn the power of persistence

• Knowledge will empower you in the area of persistence, so hire a blogging coach to teach you about blogging and about how to create online products and membership programs.
• Write some of your best material for other blogs. In fact, give your best away.
• Always reply to comments.
• When you get rejected either submit your article to another blog or publish it yourself.
• Write another article for those who reject you, and ultimately get accepted.
• Continue to ask for interviews, and although you may not get them all you will still get most of them.

C. Learn how to position yourself for success

• One of the keys is the development of relationships with other bloggers. Enjoy the process of meeting more and more amazing people from all around the globe.
• Communicate with others via Skype and email.
• Comment on other people’s blogs.
• Become more and more transparent as a writer.
• Send your readers to other blogs by mentioning them in relevant material that you write on your own blog.
• Become a giver—a giver of compliments, a giver of comments, and a giver of articles, a giver of high-value free ebooks, and a giver of a platform for others to benefit from.
• Promote other high-value products produced by others in the industry, as well as your own, to your readers—because this will add value to their lives.

So what other strategies can you use successfully to build your blog?

Peter G. James Sinclair is in the ‘heart to heart’ resuscitation business and inspires, motivates and equips others to be all that they’ve been created to become. Receive your free copy of his latest eBook Personal Success Blueprint at – http://www.selfdevelopmentmastermind.com and check out his latest motivational/inspirational parable called The Creator at http://www.motivationalmemo.com/the-creator/ – today!