10 Things I Learned About Blogging from Tyler Cruz
May 26, 2008 Posted by Paul PiotrowskiThis is a guest post written by Paul Piotrowski over at InspiredMoneyMaker.com who runs a Blog that focuses on teaching people how to make money doing what they love.
One very important self-improvement technique I learned in my 13+ year study of personal development is modeling successful people. When I began getting into Blogging back in April of 2006, I knew that in order to become successful in the Blogosphere I needed to learn from those who came before me and to apply what I learned to create my own success.
So over the last two years I have made it a regular practice to study and learn from some of the leading Bloggers on the Internet, such as Steve Pavlina, John Chow and Darren Rowse. However, one of the most important lessons I learned from being in business for over a decade is that you can often learn a lot more from people who are closer to your level of success, than those who are years ahead of you. Because of this, when I wanted to learn how to make money by Blogging, I didn’t just focus on the A-List Bloggers who were already ultra successful and making six-figure incomes from Blogging, I also began studying the soon to be six figure income Bloggers like Tyler Cruz who are just working on getting to the six-figure mark.
This is a listing of things I have learned from Tyler Cruz by following and studying his Blog.
(1) Distinguish Yourself in the Blogosphere With a Mascot and Blog Design.
Tyler’s mascot and Blog design stand out amongst so many other Blogs out there. Although I was already looking into getting a Mascot designed for my Blog; visiting Tyler’s site and seeing just how much more personable a Blog with a Mascot is, sealed the deal for me. My new Blog and Mascot design are in the works, and I can’t wait to unveil them to the world.
(2) It’s OK To Be A Bit Goofy.
You know those 1970’s educational movies they used to show in elementary school where the narrator speaks in a proper, monotone voice that makes you want to fall asleep? Well, if the tone of voice you write with in your Blog is like that, you’re going to put your readers to sleep.
When I first visited Tyler’s Blog, I instantly liked the mascot he had and some of the videos and pictures he posted clearly demonstrated that even though Blogging is a serious business with real income earning potential, it doesn’t mean you have to be a super serious Blogger. Just by reading some of Tyler’s posts, I can tell he – like myself – is a bit of a goof that doesn’t take life too seriously. It was great to see that I didn’t have to pretend to be someone else to succeed in the Blogging world.
(3) You Don’t Need to Have Twenty Thousand RSS Subscribers to Make Money Blogging.
With the A-List Bloggers posting their +$30,000/month earnings each month, it’s inspiring to dream of those kinds of numbers yourself, but when you’ve got 50 RSS subscribers growing by one or two per day and they have +25,000, the difference can be discouraging.
Reading Tyler’s Blog made it easier to believe in making at least some money Blogging, long before reaching tens of thousands of RSS readers. If you currently only have 50 RSS subscribers, just set a goal for 100, and then 250, and then 500, and then 1,000 etc. Don’t think that you have to wait until you reach 25,000 before you monetize your Blog either.
(4) Diversify Your Income.
There are a lot of ways to make money online, not just by Blogging. A lot of the things you learn about making money from Blogging can be applied to making money online in other ways, and vice versa. Tyler’s other income streams outside of his Blog remind me to keep my options open and look for other opportunities to help people make money doing what they love besides my Blog.
(5) Backup Your Stuff.
On a few occasions now, Tyler has written about server crashes, WordPress hackers and other things that can severely cripple your online business. I never really worried too much about stuff like that since I was just getting my Blog started, but after seeing what happened to Tyler, I realized that it can happen to anyone at any time, so it’s important to make sure you cover your butt with regular backups.
(7) John Chow Can Make You Look Like a Midget.
The first time I saw Tyler’s picture with John Chow, it looked like Tyler was really short. Obviously it’s not Tyler that’s short, but John that’s really tall. When I met John in person and got a picture with him, he also made me look like a midget. I think John Chow should change his identity from “Panda Killer” to “Midget Maker”.
(8) Leaderboard Banners Can Look Decent.
The Leaderboard banner on Tyler’s site is so well placed and fits in so nicely with the site design. It provides a great advertising opportunity and captures my attention every time I visit his site. It also doesn’t look like a horizontal banner that was just slapped up somewhere as an after thought.
(9) Paid Reviews Can Give You The Boost You Need
Having written dozens of paid reviews himself; Tyler has also invested in some paid reviews from popular Bloggers like John Chow to help promote his sites. If you’ve got some extra money laying around, getting a paid review can definitely give you the boost you need. Once my Blog re-design is done, I’ll definitely be thinking about getting some reviews done for my Blog as well.
(10) A Well Thought Out Competition Can Make You A Winner, Even If You Lose.
When Tyler ran his Tyler vs Gyutae competition, he ended up winning even when he lost. In fact, there were a lot of winners in the competition. Tyler won by getting a lot of back-links, Tyler’s voters each got 150 Entrecard credits and a plug, etc. A head to head competition like this can bring more life into both Blogs while also providing some good entertainment value for the readers.
Of course there are many other things I’ve learned from Tyler, but to learn those you might just have to pop by my blog or dig through his archives.
Those are the reasons why I kept returning here for more. Tyler changed the way I made money online and thanks to him, I’m more mature now.
The Tyler VS Gyutae competition is really a good linkbait and best competition I’ve seen so far. =)
Tyler Cruz rocks!
Well, no wonder Tyler’s blog is so popular, because he’s a real taskmaster.He always keeps us busy about his tips and thus helping us to improve ourselves…Thanks Tyler!!
From the first time I read this blog a few blogs ago, I just had to come back again and again.
Tyler is truly a person to learn from.
I think number 3 is very important but looked over.
Optimising what traffic you have is better than trying to get more traffic with un-optimized pages. Once the traffic comes you will already be ready to make more money.
That’s a pretty solid article. A bit too much flattery for my tastes, but I do like your last point about winning when you lose. I just hope that Tyler can turn things around and start posting some more good content like back in the good ol’ days 🙂
@Jim: Thanks. I’ve only recently started writing guest posts for other Blogs. It’s so weird, it takes me like 10x longer to write a post for someone else’s audience than it does for mine.
I feel an obligation to write something that will bring value to you guys, and there are some subtle differences between my audience and Tyler’s. I’m glad you you liked the article.
Tyler’s a bright kid, especially considering how young he is. A lot of kids in their early 20’s nowadays don’t even have the attention span to hold a job at McDonald’s for more than a week. And if they do, they never remember to put straws in the bag! 😐
OMG, someone ate #6!
Interesting post!
Great post! Love number 7, haha!
I like the #1 list.
Putting up a mascot on blog is a great idea. I only see few blogs doing adding a mascot design on their blogs. This really help blog stand out among the rest online.
Thank you Tyler for those things.. You eventually feed my mind and those things are irresistable to be done. They sounds good and effective. I will do and apply them at once.
Thanks!
(7) John Chow Can Make You Look Like a Midget.
Really True 😀
Branding yourself is extremely important when looking for repeat readers. You must give them a way to remember who you are. Excellent article you have written.
[…] wrote a guest post for MonkeyBlogger.com ( Stand Out by Being a Giver ) and one for TylerCruz.com ( 10 Things I Learned About Blogging from Tyler Cruz ). These are the first two guest posts I’ve ever done, and I must say they are a lot more […]
Some good information here, I agree with you on the mascot – it looks spot on.
I recently stumbled across your blog from one i read regularly and I’ll be sure to keep coming back on a daily basis to check any new information out.
Thanks
Some of those tips are really good.
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good luck