posts
This blog is in the fediverse
I have setup the ActivityPub plugin to federate this blog with the fediverse. All posts will automatically be broadcast to @blair and all comments will (I hope!) be both on…
How to write in markdown and publish in Drip
If you are like me and write in markdown, you probably have a hard time going back to a rich text editor. All those buttons, all that time wasted! But…
The Website Blueprint
I’m in the process of redesigning my consulting website. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking about a redesign from the appearance point of view and start…
Got writer’s block? Try focusing on answering people’s questions
Anyone who writes words will experience writer’s block at one point or another. You’ll sit there, staring at a blank screen with a blinking cursor and you just don’t know…
Need to send subscribers back to a Drip Workflow repeatedly? Use this simple Rule
Have you ever needed to send subscribers back to a Workflow after they exit it? This is a common requirement when you use a Drip workflow to send emails rather…
Sending transactional emails in Drip
There are two main types of email, commercial and transactional. Commercial email is marketing and promotional email, and that includes sharing content from your website (e.g in a newsletter). Transactional…
2019 Year in Review
This is the first time that I’ve written an annual review. I have mixed feelings about their usefulness to people other than the author, but I do actually enjoy reading…
Growth experiments
There are a lot of smaller things that we can try in our business, yet we often find it completely overwhelming to get moving with them. We plan, re-plan and…
What is the bounce rate?”
The bounce rate is the percentage of people who visit only one page on your website in a single session. It is one of the most important metrics that you…
How I migrated from Drip to ConvertKit
There are affiliate links in this article. This means that if you click on the ConvertKit trial link and become a customer, I’ll get a small commission to help keep…
LTVConf 2017
Two weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of attending the Life Time Value Conference (LTVConf) in Brighton, UK. LTVConf is a conference for people who are tired of trading time…
How do I style the Drip confirmation link?
I recently received the following question from a reader: How do I style the confirmation link in the confirmation email? I’d like to style it as a CTA button. By…
Personalised call to actions in Drip emails
Most email newsletters that you’ll receive have the same call to action for all subscribers (or even no call to action at all), regardless of their status and position in…
Drip content snippets
Using a marketing automation tool like Drip means you are sending a lot of automated emails. These emails are in campaigns and workflows and will drip out over weeks and…
DYFConf
Last week I jumped on a short flight to Stockholm in Sweden, to attend Double Your Freelancing Conference EU (DYFConf). This was the first time Brennan Dunn, founder of Double…
Write more consistently. Use Trello to manage your editorial calendar
Building an audience through content marketing and email marketing is a great way to generate more leads and new customers online. Over time, you can educate your audience, showcase your…
Who are you blogging for?
Blogging is an incredibly powerful business tool that can really help you grow your business over the long term. But often, when preparing to write for our blog, we can…
Why you need a strategy before buying a new website
Have you ever gone to a web designer and told them you want a new website? And has the web designer obliged and started asking questions about the features you…
To blog or not to blog
This is the question a lot of creative entrepreneurs have. Everyone seems to be doing it but you’ve got a business to run. Do you have enough time to add…
Educate, don’t sell: An introduction to education based marketing
People don’t like being sold to. Good advertisers know this and create adverts that blend into the environment. Subtle enough to appear as if they are not trying to sell…
Focus on content over SEO or advertising
A lot of people focus on SEO (including keyword research, link building, competitor research), Adwords, Facebook advertising and a social media strategy to drive traffic to their website. These things…
Saving time with social media
Leveraging social media is one of the key methods to drive traffic and awareness of your website and business. And there are plenty of social networks to choose from –…
Multiple niche offerings – Do I create a second brand for a new offering?
If you have one niche offering for a defined market then you are likely to only need one website. But what happens if you have a second niche offering that…
Creating content that people like, trust and share
Writing content consistently is one of the best ways that you can increase your online profile and grow your business. Creating content that really helps your audience, will naturally be…
Letting your connections know about your website
There are a lot of methods to build traffic to your business website, such as SEO, content marketing and advertising. All of these take time and money before you will…
The best conference I’ve been to – Microconf
Last week, I attended Microconf in Barcelona – the best conference I have ever been to. Microconf bills itself as “the conference for self-funded startups”. This means that it is…
Blog for your potential clients, not your peers
Some business owners and entrepreneurs get into blogging because they think blogging in itself will make them a lot of money. The business is all about the blog. So you…
What is an online sales funnel?
You may be under the illusion that all you need is a website and it will magically start to get you more customers/clients for your business. An effective website is…
Build and launch a product in 10 days
Update 10 Oct 2015 – the product is live!! The product I created as part of this challenge, Developer to Author, is now complete and launched. It is currently available…
Leverage other websites to grow your own audience
A common misconception about websites is that if you have one, people will automatically find it. In truth, you need to put a lot of work into promoting your website…