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Now that the birthday is over, we're officially heading into Year Three of World Domination. A few people said they were surprised that everything has happened so quickly. I regularly receive notes that say “I've been reading your blog for years.” It feels like several years to me too—but we've only just now crossed the second year point ...
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As I mentioned in last week's survey invitation, when you’re trying to build a business, blog, non-profit, or pretty much any venture, regularly checking in with your peeps is an important way to make sure you know who they are and what they want.
This is especially important when it comes to a) transition points in the growth of your community, or b) product development at any time. Surveys allow you to take the pulse of a large group of people in a short period of time -- and because of how sampling works, you don't actually need to hear from all of them to know what most of them are thinking. Read More
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This is the follow-up to last week's article on Product Launches. The series deals with the business side of blogging and social media – a topic that some will be interested in and others won't.
This article will look at site comments, scheduling, organizational structure, and taking control over where your paycheck comes from. My goal is not to provide a comprehensive overview of everything related to business and blogging, but rather a close look at a few specific topics.
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Every day I get emails from all kinds of fun people who are getting started on the journey of building an online community. Some of them want advice, and I'm happy to help wherever I can.
I always say to take my $0.02 for whatever it's worth, and ignore me if something works better for you. Also, I'm focusing here on online communities, but they share many of the same characteristics as offline ones.
In the 279 Days report, I wrote about the practical aspects of community building. We looked at RSS vs. email, how to create an e-book, and so on.
This post will look more closely at the underlying philosophy of a community. First of all, what makes a community? Definitions abound, but here's mine:
A community is a group of people united through a common struggle with the same stories.Let's look at the definition and related features in more detail. Read More
Hey everyone, I'm reporting live from Rarotonga in the South Pacific. It's a nice place! Details on Monday. But first, I have an important message from our sponsor.
(Yes, that would be me. There are no sponsors.)
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This is a more advanced look at how I've been able to build the AONC site into a diverse community over the past year.
I've already written 79 pages about this subject, so this follow-up is mostly for the 50,000 people who have read that report so far. What I want to do in this article is focus on using multiple spheres of influence to create widespread, perceived authority.
One of the most important parts of developing a following is answering the “reason why” question and proving yourself to be an authority on at least one thing other people care passionately about.
Read MoreIn 279 Days, I included links to many of the people I respect and have learned from since I started this site. I did this because I wanted to give credit where credit is due – and each of these folks deserve a lot of credit for helping me.
Here they are again, with a quick synopsis on why I think they are awesome. If you’re looking for people to learn from (I always am), I encourage you to check out their work.
Read MoreThanks so much to everyone who is downloading, reading, and sharing feedback about my new manifesto, 279 Days to Overnight Success.
Here's a new video update where I discuss the motivations behind the document. Why did I publish this now? Why do we do anything?
In my case, I want to a) help people create their own overnight success, and b) expand the network of people who are involved with AONC.
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Friends and readers, here is my second manifesto, 279 Days to Overnight Success.
It tells the story of this web site, but more importantly, it offers 11,000 words of free advice on how to create your own success with your own project. I offer this information freely, but please use it wisely.
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