Golden Gate National Recreation Area California USA
I do not subscribe to any blogs.
18 years ago – or 180 years in offline years – I subbed to a few blogs as a newbie because I did not know my blogging ass from my elbow.
Assault followed.
Nobody beat me up physically. But a reign of email terror attacked my inbox.
I received 2, 3….even 5 to 10 emails every single day from an individual blogger. I mean EVERY DAY. 24 hour intervals came and went. 5 more emails. 10 more emails. But from the same individual.
I soon unsubbed from everyone. I tired of the strategy. People cyber assaulted me. I gave bloggers my email address to get help. Bloggers turned around and forgot their promise. The once genuine promise became inauthentic.
Why?
Fear.
Each blogger feared not GETTING enough:
- traffic
- income
- referral traffic
- referral income
through blogging.
The fear in their mind motivated them to assault email subscribers with 2, 5 or 10 emails daily.
Remind yourself. We all harbor unconscious fears. Burying unconscious fears motivates us to do incredibly stupid, mindless stuff from time to time. No one is immune from this tendency until you become enlightened through many decades of vigilant mind training.
But no one needs to be enlightened to stop doing asinine things.
All it takes is reading this post, looking at your blogging strategy and saying to yourself:
“Whoops! I am making that mistake. I am bombarding readers with too many emails within a 24 hour time frame.”
Other forms of cyber assault:
- using your blog and social media primarily to sell stuff
- using email primarily to sell stuff
- using pop ups aggressively
- hiding the “X” on pop-ups
- signing people up for your email list without their consent
I could go on for 10 hours. The variations of online assault are limitless.
But we need to go beyond the error to find the correction.
How do you turn things around?
Be truly helpful.
Serve readers for free. No money. Nothing in return. Just help.
Remove expectations.
Look Closely at My Blog
Do you ever get the sense that I am desperately trying to squeeze anything out of you at Blogging From Paradise Dot Com?
I have deep confidence that my content convinces readers to buy my online course and my eBooks.
Knowing that my content earns me credibility, I need nothing from you, personally. Needing nothing from you personally, I do not:
- ask you to do stuff for me (rarely, if at all)
- beg you to do stuff for me
- manipulate you with BS tactics
- demand you to do things for me
- use pop-ups to SQUEEZE emails from as many readers as possible
- embed slow-loading ads that kill the user experience
My blog clearly reflects that I do not need you to give me anything. My design symbolizes one idea: take it or leave it.
Take my content and use it or leave it be. Either way, since I respect you and want to help you I ask nothing of you. I do not need to get anything from you to survive. I do not need to trick you, force you or worry about you taking some call to action because that fear does not sit in my mind.
My blog design puts the ball in your court.
When is the last time you experienced that online?
When is the last time a website owner let you choose?
Rare….eh?
It Is Your Mindset Not the Strategy
Calm, confident bloggers can and do use:
- pop-ups
- slow-loading ads
If you feel clear on it and if your readers never mind pop-ups and slow-loading ads, by all means, go for it.
However, using these two strategies combined with all the other typical UX killers typically symbolizes an addled mind terrified to lose:
- traffic
- income
- subs
- referral traffic
- referral income
For most of you, well…..I am not condemning you but employing these tactics symbolizes deep fears in your mind that annoy some or most readers which sends ’em heading for the cyber hills.
For others, this fear manifests as earning some income but always being afraid to lose it all. Is that a picnic? Is that fun? Do you enjoy suffering from the fear of loss?
I don’t think so.
The Solution
Help readers with free content.
Release expectations.
Let your content passively sell stuff for you.
Let the content do the work.
Develop posture.
Build confidence.
People are not jackasses. People read, trust then click through to a sales page to buy based on that trust without you baby-begging (stepping) them through the process.
I think that most of us are infected with unconscious fears causing us to treat people like idiots who cannot do the most basic things without us hanging over them, ordering them, demanding them, guiding them and begging them to do stuff for us.
Yes we want to make things easy for readers as far as the user experience. But do we want to victimize them? Do we want to manipulate them? Do we want to take away their power of choice? Do we want to keep the ball in our court and not their court?
Do you want to promise them content then assault them with pop-ups and slow loading ads before delivering the content? Is that fair to them? Is it respectful to try to GET a sub or GET money from them BEFORE delivering on your promise?
I think like my readers not a blogger hellbent on gaining subs and blogging income.
If you look at every single problem in your life – online and offline – it comes down to not loving others, not respecting others and not serving others with no expectations but using others to get something from them because you fear as if you are not enough and do not have enough.
Call it karma.
Or learn a bit about quantum physics.
When you feel afraid and try to use people to get something from them, you open a can of worms sooner than later.
It’s not their fault; people attempt to use you, complain about you, damage your reputation or leave your blog immediately because you tried to use them to get:
- attention
- traffic
- money
- referral traffic
- referral money
from them.
Enjoy a different reflection.
Help people.
Mentally release expectations.
Let your content sell your stuff.
Sleep well.
Feel at peace.
Oh yeah; as an added benefit, like-minded, relaxed, confident people will become your tribe.
Not bad, eh?
Your Turn
Do you need to get clearer on your blogging tactics?
Or do you use stuff like pop-ups from a relaxed, chill vibe?
Blogging Resources
