Comments on: Revitalize Your Blogging By Leaving Your Comfort Zone

By: Pat B. Doyle

Pat B. Doyle — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 05:47:33 +0000

Steve, it was kind of funny how I got the idea. I was reading Caroline Middlebrook’s blog. She got a lot of traffic in a short time also. One of her commenters remarked that she should write a book about how she did it. But she replied that she didn’t want to. This gave me the idea, though. I figured there would be a demand for this type of knowledge.

I have a lot of other ideas too, but I decided to do this one first because I had just achieved a lot of growth with my blog and thought I better capitalize on it before it became old news. (The subject of traffic would not grow old, but it would be old news that my young blog got so much traffic.) Also, it was an easy one to do, because a lot of it was still fresh in my mind.

By: Steven Bradley

Steven Bradley — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 04:20:55 +0000

Pat I’m curious how you decided upon the topic for your first ebook. Did you have several ebooks in mind and just decided to tackle this one first or was there a specific reason for choosing Blog Traffic Jump Start?

By: Pat B. Doyle

Pat B. Doyle — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:51:59 +0000

Thanks, Kathleen!

By: Kathleen Gage

Kathleen Gage — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:59:41 +0000

As usual Pat you hit the nail on the head. Great points you make about product development. I have developed dozens of products. The first (with virtually anything) is the most challenging.

I like your point about how rewarding developing your own product is. It is one thing to sell for others and something completely different to create your own.

Another wonderful post as usual Pat. Great job.

Kathleen

By: Pat B. Doyle

Pat B. Doyle — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:29:56 +0000

Thanks, Robert. I’m glad you got some ideas from the book. Good idea – maybe I will create a video version.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:54:06 +0000

Good points Pat. It’s human nature to be uneasy getting out of your comfort zone but the worst case rarely happens and good things usually happen. I ready your book yesterday and already did a few things mentioned in it. Have you considered turning it into a video product? Camtasia videos seem easier and of higher perceived value to me but to each his or her own. Good luck with the book.

By: Lessons Learned From Leaving My Comfort Zone | Pat B. Doyle

Lessons Learned From Leaving My Comfort Zone | Pat B. Doyle — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:16:03 +0000

[...] I wrote a guest post for Steven Bradley of the Van Blog to post while he is on vacation. Check it out here: Revitalize Your Blogging By Leaving Your Comfort Zone. [...]

By: Pat B. Doyle

Pat B. Doyle — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:02:08 +0000

@John – I agree with you. Another good thing about creating your own product is that you can endorse it wholeheartedly. With someone else’s product, there might be aspects of the product that you are not happy with. With your own product, you are in total control of the quality.

@Steven – good points. Today is the first day, but sales are going well. I’m really glad I did it. Future products should be a lot easier, now that I have the first one done.

By: Steven Bradley

Steven Bradley — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:42:56 +0000

Thank for the post Pat. I’ve been thinking of writing an ebook or two myself so I’ll be interested to hear about your continued success with this one. I’m glad you pointed out it’s not too hard. That will help motivate me.

I think it’s ok to post some of what you’re writing in the book as blog posts. Maybe not all of the book, but a few blog posts can serve as a teaser for the book or even give you some data for market research. If you write about something that generates no comments or buzz then maybe it’s not a topic with a market. On the other hand a post that generates lots of comments and buzz becomes something you know will lead to interest in the book.

@John – I hear you. However I think there are still ways to compete even if your product isn’t unique. You might not be able to compete on price, but you can still compete on value. That won’t work with a product that has become a commodity since commodities are usually bought on price alone, but it will work with non-commodities.

You can of course still sell other people’s products as an affiliate or sell a service.

By: John

John — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:27:19 +0000

I think selling your own product is the only way to be successful in today's business climate, lest you have the resources of Madison Avenue. Someone else will always be able to buy a product cheaper than you (think WalMart), but if you build your own, you always have something unique to compete on.