Goals and Achievements – May, June & July 2011

Hello everyone! I hope you’re having a fabulous summer.

First off, I’m sorry for the lack of updates. Things have been really hectic on my end, and I haven’t been able to check email, reply to comments, or update this blog as often as I used to. But I haven’t forgotten about you! I’m going through a few major life changes at the moment, but I’m hoping to straighten everything out in the next few months so that things can get back on the usual schedule.

Now, I know many of you are eagerly anticipating an update on the Do Something Remarkable contest. As you probably know, the deadline for the contest was June 1st (see here for more details). I’m currently going through the list of participants and will email the three winners by Monday, July 25th (thanks everyone for being so patient with me). Once each winner has accepted his/her gift(s), I’ll announce the winners publicly. Thanks again for your overwhelming support!

For those of you who have emailed me in the last few months, expect a reply in the next couple of weeks. I’ll be going through all of my email and comments in the weeks to follow, so it may take some time to get to you. But I will! Stay tuned for that.

Now for the actual post…

I have good news, and I have bad news.

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What’s Your Biggest Blogging Business Challenge?

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you all had a happy and relaxing Easter. For those of you who don’t celebrate, I hope your Sunday was just as awesome (or even more so).

Photo by Mike Baird (flickr)

Today is a special day. No, not just because I watched the Authority Rules webinar and chatted with some amazing people on Twitter about it (though, the webinar was awesome; totally check it out!). It’s special because today I’m going to hand over the microphone.

Instead of the usual information-packed article, we’re going to talk about YOU.

If you’ve been a Cash Campfire subscriber for long, you would know that I love giving. I did it in the question/answer series before Cash Campfire’s very first birthday, I did it in my Wake Up Early with Enthusiasm Ultimate Guide, I’m doing it in the Remarkable Contest (you still have over a month left if you want to join in!), I gave a bucket load in the Complete Blog Networking Guide, and now I want to do it again.

I was literally overwhelmed with support from all of you after launching my first video. Not only were you guys great in the comment section, but you even reached out through email and on Twitter as well (thank you!!).

So, as a special thank you, today we’re going to put a little more focus on you (not that we haven’t already). The fact is, everyone struggles with something in their life, whether it is finding the time away from work to spend with family or getting rid of that encyclopedia monotone so that you can make your content more personal and engaging.

Today, I want to hear about your business struggles. Specifically, what problems do you have when building a business around your blog? Are you especially having trouble with anything in particular? Do you want to learn how to do something new? Is a certain obstacle holding you back? (more…)

How 4 Top Bloggers Used Networking to Accelerate Traffic and Kick Ass

In the last post, I wrote an extensive guide on how to use blog networking to build solid relationships and skyrocket your traffic. If you haven’t read it yet, I definitely recommend giving it a look (and read it through – it’s worth it).

Because we all know that networking is crucial if you want your business to see amazing growth (I talked about this in my massive networking guide, so I won’t get into it here). But how crucial is networking really?

Photo by Hamed Saber (flickr)

Well get ready to get inspired, because today I have for you four special guests experienced in the networking arena: Tristan from Blogging Bookshelf, Marlee from Metamorphoself, Jk from The Hustler’s Notebook, and Marcus from The Sales Lion. I talked about them briefly in my networking guide, but the fact of the matter is – these people are rocking the blogosphere. They all have large, growing audiences, and they’ve all agreed to share their secrets on how you can increase traffic, better engage with your audience, and build ongoing relationships with the people you interact with.

Are you ready?

I hope you enjoy these interviews. After reading, I encourage you to check each blogger out, read a few posts, and subscribe to the blog. They really write some amazing stuff.

Then when you’re done, get networking!

Here’s what we’re going to talk about.

• The meaning behind networking
• How each blogger managed to create such a tremendous following (including tactics not networking-related)
• The main benefits of maintaining a network
• What each blogger does to network now and which tasks are done more than others
• What bloggers hesitant about reaching out and expanding their network should do and why they should do it

Let’s begin. (more…)

The Complete Blog Networking Guide: Build Solid Relationships and Skyrocket Your Traffic

First, I just wanted to extend a special welcome to the Smart Passive Income visitors coming through here (hello!). If you like this post, feel free to subscribe to the blog so that you can receive more updates when awesome posts like this one are published.

For everyone else, here’s the surprise you’ve been waiting for (video is below). I hope you enjoy!

If you can’t see it, click here to view the post directly (for RSS and email subscribers). To check the video out on YouTube, click here.

In the video, I discuss my take on networking. I also talk about a trend I’ve noticed on other blogs and the major mistake most new bloggers make that ultimately doom their businesses to failure (and how to avoid it). But you have to watch the video if you want to know the awesome networking trend I’ve discovered (I don’t mention it anywhere else). Plus, you’ll have the pleasure of watching me utterly humiliate myself on cam!

Special Note: I recently got a new cam (Logitech 1080p Webcam Pro C910 – ref link), and the quality is seriously incredible! If you’re thinking about video blogging, I totally recommend checking it out! Watch the above video for an example.

Many of you may remember a few weeks ago when I talked about the power of networking and why getting personal is crucial for any online business (or offline, for that matter). Well, today I want to take that idea to a whole new level and break down the concept of networking piece-by-piece. After today, you’ll be a blog networking pro, and hopefully you’ll have learned a great deal on how to build solid relationships with other bloggers, reach thousands (and even millions) of potential readers, and skyrocket your subscriber count.

Because, honestly, networking is crucial if you want to get noticed – and get noticed quickly. You need networking to create a profitable, fulfilling business or blog.

Then on Wednesday you’ll get a glimpse of how top bloggers use networking to build a rapid audience and take their blogs to levels they never thought possible (yes, you’ll see interviews from my buddies Tristan of Blogging Bookshelf, Marcus of The Sales Lion, Marlee of Metamorphoself, and Jk of The Hustler’s Notebook).

Let’s dive in. (more…)

Niche Site Duel 03: Betta Care Monetization Strategy

I first started the Niche Site Duel about 5 months ago after hearing Pat Flynn’s successful story when building a niche site of his own. However, after the first few weeks, I ended up putting the project aside in order to pursue other goals – I just didn’t have a lot of time on my hands to dedicate 100% to the challenge. Now though, I’m ready to kick things up a notch, and my plans are to have Complete Betta Fish Care ranking well (on the first page of Google) by May 13th of next month.

But first, let’s look at how well the niche site is performing with only 4 published posts basically set on autopilot while the project was put on hold. To do that, we’ll take a trip through my Google Analytics account and then through the Market Samurai (ref link) rank tracker data. Once we’ve gotten a feel of how things are going, I’m going to talk about my monetization goals for the site and what I’ll be doing right now to boost income.

Betta Care Niche Site Results

It’s important to see where you stand at the present moment before you start making improvements to your site; this helps to better track growth, and it also gives you a clearer picture of what aspects of your site you need to work on most.

In this section, I’ll talk about where my niche site is standing right now and which areas I need to work on in order to increase overall results. (more…)

Goals and Achievements – April 2011

Happy Tuesday, everyone! It’s the first week of a new month, and we all know what that means; time for another goals and achievements post!

Yes, I know. You’ve all been waiting in anticipation. I’ll be honest with you though – this month wasn’t exactly my best month yet, but I did come to a lot of realizations that will potentially open a lot of new doors and opportunities for me (at least, I hope so). You see, I’m starting to realize what’s important… and what’s not so important in my life, and it’s really making a huge difference in the way I think and go about my daily tasks.

I’m still straightening everything out, but just know that this won’t be your ordinary goals and achievements post. This month, I’m going to try something new. And for that reason, I won’t be getting as detailed as I usually do in the goals section. But I’ll get to that in a second.

Photo by Julian Wylegly (flickr)

Lucky for you, I also have a surprise for you! Yep, another one. Am I not awesome?

Ahem. (Hint: This is your cue to say, “Yes, Christina. You’re very very awesome! No one could be as awesome as you are,” and try to butter me up with excessive compliments; you know, the things I like to hear. )

I won’t give anything away because, well, what good would the surprise be then? But I will say this: In the next few weeks, you’re going to be seeing some awesome things here on Cash Campfire – and Christina is going to be getting out of her comfort zone! The fun and lovable (and somewhat dramatic, while often annoying) Christina is breaking free at last, and you’ll all get front row seats to watch her stuttering, embarrassing show. Now don’t you feel special?

It might get pretty mortifying (at least, for me), so don’t say I didn’t warn you. But you’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?

Anyway, let’s talk goals. (more…)

Are All Marketers Evil? Why Building Links Can Save Your Business

Hi everyone. I have a special post here for you today, written by a close friend of mine. The question on whether or not you should backlink your content has been a raging debate for years now, especially now with Google’s algorithm change. I asked Brian to write this post because I think that it’s important to understand the other side of marketing and how marketing, the good kind, isn’t bad as some people say. In fact, it’s even necessary.

Give this article a read. You’ll be glad that you did.

This is a guest post by Brian, author of the blogs Residual Income Online with Chezfat and How to Live a Longer Life. If you think this post rocks, I encourage you to check him out.

Photo by Steve Keys (flickr)

Want to know a secret?

Your website or blog is your business.

Whether you make a few dollars a month on that site or thousands, it is still your business. Even if you don’t have it monetized, it is your PR campaign for your own brand; therefore it is your business.

Can you think of any businesses in the offline world that don’t do any marketing?

I can’t think of any. (more…)

Do Something Remarkable… and Win Some Extra Moola! (Contest Details Inside)

If you’ve been following me on Twitter or you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you would know that I extended the contest deadline up a few months (you can now kick butt until June 1, 2011 – more on this later).

Because I received so many questions about the Do Something Remarkable contest, I’ve decided to make a more in-depth guide on what you can expect and the requirements to join. Enjoy!

Update: We have the winners! Congratulations to Jonathan Figaro (1st place), Prerna Malik (2nd place), and Marcus Sheridan (3rd place).

Stay tuned for the next contest!

Photo by Paul (flickr)

As you know, this contest first started on January 10th when I wrote What Can You Do in a Year? for Cash Campfire’s first year anniversary (check it out – might be worth the read!). Since then, this contest has created quite a buzz. I hope that you’ll join us as we all strive to accomplish our goals and reach new milestones together.

I’ll get into the prizes and details in a minute, but for now I want to ask… (more…)