Get More Subscribers by Provoking People to Ask This Question

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Immediately after getting an idea for a content project, many content creators become preoccupied by the existing competition:

“It will be extremely difficult to stand out.”

If that sounds familiar, I’m hoping you’ll change your mind by the time you finish reading this post.

To start, think of the last time you heard a song you loved, but you didn’t know the singer or band performing it.

Who is this?

It could be music that plays during a television show or the closing credits of a movie.

It could make your ears perk up when you’re switching radio stations in your car.

You don’t just simply enjoy listening; you now have a mission:

Find out who performs this song.

And once you find out, you might also research:

• Which album the song is on


• Where the singer/band is from


• How many other albums they have

This could lead to:

• Listening to more songs by the artist


• Buying an album


• Looking up when they’re playing a concert near you

The same idea can be applied to your content.

The first time someone reads, listens, or views your content, they should feel curious about you.

They should ask this question …

Who created this?

Essentially, you want to make someone curious about:

1. Who you are


2. How you can help them

Generic content doesn’t stimulate curiosity.

But before you can uncover and harness the qualities that make you special, you have to start with something.

In the music example above, the artist had already produced other work for you to explore. They were putting in the time, experimenting, failing, and trying again … long before you had ever heard of them.

They were building their body of work so that they had more to offer you once you did finally discover them.

Build your body of work

The work you do when no one is watching is never a waste.

Even though you’ll probably be more reserved about what you reveal when you first start out, that early content is still an important part of your evolution.

Once you get comfortable publishing, you’ll learn to add the remarkable details that form connections with your audience members.

It could be your search for the perfect gluten-free cupcakes or a silly play on song lyrics — meaningful and fascinating angles (more on those on the blog tomorrow) that persuade someone to subscribe to your content.

Rethink competition by stimulating curiosity

“If every comedian in the world quits tomorrow, I’m not any funnier.”
– Jerry Seinfeld

Similarly, if every other content marketer in your niche quits tomorrow, you’re not automatically going to win more clients and customers.

If you don’t present the right kind of value to the people you want to attract, that scenario doesn’t give you any advantage.

Keep that in mind to:

• Overcome your hesitation to start


• Commit to your content project


• Produce a body of work that continually makes people curious about you

You have limitless ways to do that — there’s a new opportunity every time you publish.

Your most recent piece of content should be your only competition.

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The Automotive Efficiency of Running an Online Business

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We had made dinner reservations for 5:30 pm, because we really wanted to try this restaurant and it was the only time slot they had available. Yes, it was definitely on the earlier side of things, but we were also going with our three-year-old daughter, so we didn’t want to stay out that late anyhow. No big deal.

Punching the restaurant’s address into Google Maps earlier that afternoon, the estimated driving time with traffic would be about half an hour. This was a few hours prior to leaving and driving just before 5:30 pm would mean we’d be hitting the busiest part of rush hour too. Given this, we’d want to leave the house no later than 5 o’clock if we wanted to be on time.

That was the plan. And it was while formulating this plan that I remembered the car needed gas, something I had meant to do the day before. Again, no big deal. It just meant we’d have to leave the house a little earlier to accommodate the extra time at the gas station. Maybe we’d leave at 4:45 pm or so, just to be safe.

But I work from home and the way my mind works is always subject to inertia. Sometimes, it can be really hard to get started and focus on the task at hand. Other times, I’ll get into this intense sense of flow and nothing short of a freight train can stop me. As it turned out, I got into a pretty good flow around 4:30 pm.

And so, as is so often the case, my mind and my work got the better of me and I lost track of time. Not terribly, but we did leave the house at 5 o’clock on the dot and we did indeed make the dinner reservation, but we didn’t have time to stop for gas along the way. The “low fuel” light lit up on our way there and little did I realize that there really aren’t any gas stations near this restaurant.

I probably got more anxious than the situation warranted, but I wasn’t positive we were going to make it to the nearest gas station on the drive home. Thankfully, we did and it really was no big deal. At the end of the night, everything was fine. We had a great meal and we made it home, safe and sound.

You might be wondering what this story has to do with making money online. Well, consider the way you approach your online business the same way you think about the fuel tank in your car. You’ve probably noticed that in Formula One, NASCAR, and other professional racing circuits, the cars pull in for a pit stop rather frequently, mostly to refuel.

When you’re driving around with a tank full of fuel, whether that’s on the street or at the track, you’re carrying around a lot of extra weight. This slows you down and significantly hampers your fuel efficiency, but you don’t really have to worry about running out of gas.

The exact opposite is true if you drive around with a tank that’s almost empty. Your vehicle is lighter, so it can probably go faster, but your fuel pump is working harder and you have to deal with the anxiety of potentially running out of gas and finding yourself stranded in the middle of nowhere.

The way that you should think about how you handle your online business works in much the same way. If you burden yourself with hundreds of projects, thousands of objectives, and millions of things to do, there will always be progress to be made, but you won’t move as quickly and as efficiently as you’re capable of doing. You’re weighed down by all this extra stuff you’re carrying.

If you focus all your efforts and resources into a single objective within a single project, you may make the most progress on that one thing, but it could leave you stranded if that one thing doesn’t work out. You’ll always have the anxiety of running out of gas. And even if it does work out, you will have neglected all the other moving pieces that also require your attention. That’s not smart either.

Just as with your car, the optimal place to be is somewhere in the middle. You’re not wasting unnecessary time stopping at the gas station every few steps, nor are you weighing yourself down with too much of a load. It’s about balance. And that’s the best way forward.

Click Here To Download John Chow’s New eBook, and Live The Dot Com Lifestyle!

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Here's How to Earn and Keep the Loyalty of Your Customers

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Nobody will buy from you unless they trust you, but once they trust you they will buy again.

July 16, 2018

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Your business survives or thrives based on what you do with your marketing strategy. You see marketing every day when you log onto social media, look through email or consume content. This marketing, and your marketing, is essentially entrepreneurs asking for trust. Before someone invests their time and money there has to be some level of established trust.

It can take years to build the kind of trust that creates loyal customers who are also evangelists for your business and what you do. These types of customers bring in more business through word of mouth marketing. While you’ve worked hard to get to that level of trust, it can be lost in minutes. And, it’s very hard to build back trust once it’s lost.

There is a way to build a business that’s full of loyal customers who know, like and trust you. There are four ways to build and keep the kind of trust that leads to explosive growth in your business. Use these to create lifelong customers.

Related: 5 Strategies for How to Make Customers Trust Your Brand

Use real scarcity. Stay away from “adjustable” deadlines.

Businesses have promotions that run on deadlines and during certain times each year. You open the cart and give your customers a chance to buy during a specified period of time. One tactic that’s used to help customers understand why they should consider buying now is “scarcity” marketing.

The best days of a promotion tend to be the last day and moments of the sale. When you can show your customers this will be the last time to get a particular offer or price, it helps them to make a decision either way. There’s an ethical and smart way to do this, and then there’s the other way that we’ve seen far too often.

Don’t use false scarcity. If you announce dates and prices during a certain time, honor what you said. Don’t let customers slide in after the deadline or make secret deals just to get a few more sales. Be firm and you’ll keep trust. It creates loyal customers because they can trust your word. It also helps your customers understand the importance of making a buying decision every time you offer promotions.

Related: 6 Ways to Boost Sales With AdWords Expanded Text Ads

Don’t charge for what you should be offering for free.

One of the best ways to build trust and attract customers is through content. You produce blogs, videos, podcasts, newsletters and live training (in-person or online). You put a lot of effort into your free content because you understand that it’s an excellent way to generate leads and demonstrate your expertise.

Whatever effort you put into creating free content and your marketing should be double for what you’re selling. The premium products and services your customers pay for should be mind-blowing. If it’s not, you shouldn’t be charging for it. One way to lose trust quickly is for a customer to feel disappointed after seeing what they purchased.

It takes more work to get a customer but once you have them, it’s easier to get repeat business. You can expect that extra business when what the customer paid for is spectacular. Put in the time. Put in more time. Create amazing products and services. Go over and beyond to make sure what you sell is practical and will give your customer a tangible result. Don’t lose customer trust by marketing what you know is not your best work.

Related: A New Paradigm for Building Customer Trust

Think before you post. 

It’s not uncommon to ride the emotional roller coaster of entrepreneurship. When you get a win, you feel like climbing a mountain. When you’re going through a low, you want to sell your business and be done with the nightmare. In either case, be aware of what you post publicly. Social media is at our fingertips. In those moments, it’s easy to get carried away. 

You can post things you’ll regret later. Promising too much because you’re excited, or posting negatively because you’re down. Don’t do it. What you post in seconds can have an effect on your business for years. You can lose trust, customers, and potential customers. Think before you post no matter what your state is.

Related: The 7 Biggest Social Media Fails of 2017

Focus on real results for clients, not the next sale.

Our natural inclination is to focus on making more. We want the next sale, the next promotion, the next customer. It’s exciting to see the checkout cart ringing and to get those payment notifications on our phones. Many entrepreneurs get lost in chasing the next sale. They focus on what’s coming instead of delivering for their clients.

If you want to create raving fans and loyal customers for life, focus on getting results for those that invest with you. The next sale will come when potential customers see the real results your clients get. You build more trust when someone else is talking about what you helped them do versus you talking about what you did.

Building a business that gives you freedom and financial security happens when you step up and build trust through the consistent work you put in. Don’t lose trust over circumstances that are within your control. You can and will build loyal customers who bring in more business when you are real and live up to your hype. And you can.

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"The Cannabis Industry Will Be Bigger than the NFL"

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Michael 'Big Mike' Straumietis's big predictions on the future of weed.

July 16, 2018

7 min read

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your companies.

I first started growing cannabis way back in 1983. I was definitely “green” back then — in fact, I killed my entire first crop because I didn’t properly ventilate the grow space. But I dedicated myself to learning how to grow and ended up cultivating and transporting millions of dollars’ worth of illegal cannabis over the years.

In 1999, I founded Advanced Nutrients after I’d already started making my own cannabis-specific nutrient formulations. At that time, no other company was marketing hydroponic nutrients to cannabis growers — they were all saying their products were for tomatoes. I’m proud to say that Advanced Nutrients never hid what we were doing — we’ve always been loud and proud for cannabis. Today, we’re the No. 1 cannabis company in the world.

Now, I’m branching out and launching other ventures, like Lacturnus Labs, a $30-million-plus cannabis research and development facility in Los Angeles. Lacturnus will be the first facility of its kind in the US. I’ve also launched BigMike’s Blends, a  line of outcome-based pre-rolls. 

Related: Entrepreneurs See Opportunity Addressing Consumer Demand for Pesticide-Free Cannabis

What inspired you to get into the cannabis business?

Honestly, when I first started growing at 23 years old, it was simply a way to make money. At the time I was running my own lawn fertilizer company, and two of my friends proposed the idea of using my company shop as a grow house. I’ve had an entrepreneurial spirit ever since I can remember, so I was all in.

But as I continued to grow and learn about the history of cannabis and its incredible medical benefits--as well as consuming cannabis myself --I realized just how special this plant really is. Since then, it’s become my life’s passion to spread knowledge and dispel the stigma that’s been placed on cannabis over decades of propaganda and misguided policy. My mission is to make cannabis an acceptable and everyday part of healing humanity, and I will not rest until I do so.

Related: Poll: Pot More Morally Acceptable Than Porn

How are your offerings different from others in the market?

When it comes to cannabis cultivation, Advanced Nutrients is light years ahead of anyone else in the game.  I’ve grown my R & D team to include 25+ Ph.D. botanists, microbiologists, and organic chemists. The University of Mississippi conducted a study that found Advanced Nutrients produced 21 percent more yield than our competitors. They conducted that study using our second-generation products; we’re now on our eighth generation.

With BigMike’s Blends, I’ve taken all the knowledge and research we’ve acquired over the past two decades and focused it on making the best consumer product on the market. I mean, you can probably imagine the quality of the cannabis I consume. Well, BigMike’s Blends is the best of my private reserve that’s been formulated to deliver specific outcomes, like creativity, pain and anxiety relief, energy and focus. In the future, you’re going to see more cannabis products marketed this way, but BigMike’s Blends is on the forefront and will continue to innovate and separate ourselves from the competition.

What was one of the toughest challenges you faced in your business and how did you overcome it?

You know, I’ve faced so many challenges over the years, it’s hard for me to pick a single one: evading the DEA and the US Marshals back in my outlaw growing days; learning to fly a plane so I could scout new grow locations and keep an eye on my crops; standing up to one of the most feared and violent biker gangs in British Columbia -- I’ve gone through a lot in the past 35 years!

What trait do you depend on most when making decisions and why is that useful for you? 

I’ve developed a pretty good nose for detecting B.S., so trusting my gut is one factor. But I’m also a deep analytical thinker and a lifelong learner. I’ve spent literal millions in the pursuit of knowledge, and not just about cannabis -- I’ve taken courses, read books and joined elite mastermind groups to learn marketing, copywriting, sales, behavioral psychology, and everything in between. At the end of the day, though, I know that I’m not an expert at everything, so I surround myself with team members who I respect and trust, and I turn to them for input on decisions in areas that I’m not as versed in.

What’s the best advice you can give to people just starting off in the cannabis industry?

Have a plan, understand your market and the other players involved, and distinguish yourself from the competition. Also, don’t ever stop learning, get complacent, or feel like you know everything there is to know about your industry. This is true of any business.

For the cannabis industry, I can’t stress enough the importance of staying up to date with the latest trends and market projections. We’re in a young, rapidly developing industry that will only keep changing as it matures. I predict that by 2020, the cannabis industry will be bigger than the NFL and by 2030, it will be bigger than the wheat, corn, and soy industries combined. Between now and then, expect there to be some wild developments. Some of them will stick, some of them will fade away as quickly as they appeared.

How has your leadership style evolved?

It took me many years to learn that leadership is about creating a culture with specific values and a clear mission. At Advanced Nutrients, we have a culture wall with all our company’s values clearly stated and illustrated. I’ve found that once you get people oriented in the same direction and locked onto a common goal, everything else falls into place.

I do my best to embody the key culture traits we’ve established at Advanced Nutrients. They include taking risks, being original, taking 100 percent responsibility for everything I do, and when I fail, failing fast. We all make mistakes, and I firmly believe that what you do after you mess up --how you learn from your mistakes--is far more important than whatever the initial error was.

Is there a particular quote or saying that you use as personal motivation?

"There’s more of “you” in “you” than you could ever imagine."

"Never give up on anything that is worthwhile."

The first quote speaks to my belief that we human beings are capable of so much more than we typically think is possible. Most people, I feel, only tap into maybe five or 10 percent of their true potential. But if you dedicate yourself to constant improvement and consistent learning, your potential is truly limitless.

This idea goes hand in hand with the second quote, too. When I look back on my life and think of all the challenges and obstacles I faced, it would have been so easy to just give up. Hell, at one point in my life, I literally had all my possessions in five plastic trash bags. But I had a goal, a vision, and an unrelenting drive to pursue it at all costs. And I never would have reached the point I’m at now if I’d taken the easy way out and gave up.

Related: 9 Business Ideas for People Looking to Cash in on the Marijuana Boom

 

 

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I Used To Weigh 300 Pounds!

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On this episode of the Dot Com Lunch, I find out that Trent used to weigh 300 pounds! He went on a journey to find out the secrets to losing weight and living a healthy life. Along the way he founded Pureformance Nutrition and Elite Keto.

Click Here To Download John Chow’s New eBook, The Ultimate Online Profit Model!

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What Small Retailers Can Learn From the Industry's Push Towards AI and Big Data

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One size does not fit all.

July 15, 2018

6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Is brick-and-mortar dead? With a record 7,000 store closings and 662 bankruptcy filings last year, and 3,800 closings (and counting) so far in 2018, the fate of retail continues to look uncertain. Take a look at Amazon to see how ecommerce has changed the retail landscape as we know it, leaving no industry undisrupted. With just a click of a mouse, customers can purchase whatever they want, whenever they want it -- and have it shipped directly to their door.

Related: Here Are 6 Weird Ways You're Being Tracked in the Real World

While ecommerce offers unprecedented convenience, this is not the end of the road for brick-and-mortar. Customers still value in-store experiences. In fact, two out of three consumers think apparel brands should focus more on improving experiences both in-store and online, as opposed to focusing solely on their online presence.

Improved in-store services and experiences will keep brick-and-mortar stores afloat, but only if retailers look to new and innovative ways to re-engage with customers. Take, for example, Sephora. The beauty retailer is using AI to personalize the in-store shopping experience with its Color IQ technology. This tool uses machine learning to scan consumers' skin and provide them with personalized skincare and makeup recommendations based on their needs. Sephora's brick-and-mortar locations have produced more than 14 million Color IQ matches since its launch in 2012. This not only adds a touch of personalization to the user experience, but it also frees up time for employees to focus on other touchpoints within the customer journey. Employees can now place more emphasis on showing consumers how to use their Color IQ recommended products and promoting complimenting goods.

Related: Want to Open Your Own Store? Make Absolutely Sure You Nail This Crucial Aspect.

By taking notice of this industry shift, retailers large and small can use emerging technologies to enhance individual in-store experiences, increase inventory specialization, and -- most importantly -- benefit their supply chain and bottom line. Here's how:

Give everyone a personal shopper.

People enjoy seamless, tailored shopping experiences online and demand nothing less in-store. According to Cotton Inc., 54 percent of consumers want to buy clothes from brands that recommend items based on previous purchases. Online, retailers can do this with cookies, but brick-and-mortar stores can achieve the same results by using information readily available in a customer's transaction history.

AI lifts insights from customer transaction data, arming retailers with information to tailor in-store offerings on a customer-by-customer basis. For instance, analyzing customer receipts reveals which items shoppers buy most and which items are usually purchased together. Data on returns shows the items that are not performing well, and loyalty card data reveals how frequently customers are making purchases. With this information, retailers can provide customers with special offers, tailored specifically to their wants and needs, prompting more trips back to the store. Further, by storing these insights on the cloud, employees can access customer information to provide unique, in-person recommendations. This is extremely valuable for small retailers, given they may be limited to only a few brick-and-mortar locations. In this case, every touch point and customer interaction matters.

Related: From Online to Offline: How Brands Use Big Data to Figure Out Where Their Customers Will Shop

Stock only what is needed -- and wanted.

Why stock a store with items that won't sell? Last year, H&M (an Infor customer) left $4.3 billion in unsold inventory on the racks -- prompting a dire need for technology help. Using AI algorithms, it can identify the kinds of items that will perform well with customers in particular neighborhoods and which won't. This empowers retailers to make smart, data-driven inventory decisions tailored to individual store locations.

Take boutique clothing store Francesca's many New York City locations. While these stores are all in the same city, each neighborhood has its own individual style. If Francesca's used AI to analyze transaction data, it could tell if customers in SoHo preferred bolder styles and colors compared to shoppers in Midtown, who may gravitate toward more subdued, business wear. Taking these preferences into consideration, the store could strategically stock items that would perform best in each location -- avoiding inventory waste and unnecessary markdowns. This is especially beneficial for small retailers who need to manage margins while boosting revenue.

By stocking fewer, better performing items, retailers will also require less brick-and-mortar space. This creates further savings in rent and operational expenses. By thinking smart and compact, retailers can be more agile about exploring new markets and capitalize on the opportunity to place stores in ideal, high-traffic locations.

Related: The Do's and Don'ts for Opening and Operating a Successful Retail Store

Reap benefits in the supply chain.

In today's highly competitive retail environment, the supply chain is one of the easiest places to cut costs. Stocking stores with data-driven insights allows retailers to manufacture only what they really need and ship those items directly to the best location. Effective use of storage space is especially important for smaller stores with limited room. With a more accurate picture of which items sell well in certain areas, retailers will avoid shipping costs on low-performing items and conserve on inevitable returns. This supply chain optimization saves retailers money and reduces waste when manufacturing and distributing products.

Additionally, if retailers know that jeans, for instance, sell better in Texas and t-shirts sell better in New York, they can manufacture these items at locations closer to those stores. This helps merchandise arrive at its destination faster, for a lower price tag. While these changes happen behind the scenes, they can make a big impact on the bottom line, allowing small businesses to focus on adding value to the customer.

By investing in new technology to enhance in-store experiences, retailers can succeed at a time when every decision is make-or-break for many in the industry. As retailers are putting to the test, tools like AI, big data and cloud technology empower retailers with the insight needed to make smart decisions and increase in-store traffic.

Customers are now in the driver's seat, and retail is becoming an industry that increasingly values specialization. Physical retail stores hold immense value for customers, but only if they can provide tailored experiences that customers demand. Brick-and-mortar is not dead, but companies large and small must learn how to best use technology to outsmart today's biggest disruptors.

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Tips for Mastering Body Language and Confidence

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There are two things that can make or break you when it comes to achieving greatness: your body language and your confidence.

July 15, 2018

1 min read

This story originally appeared on Lewis Howes

There are two things that can make or break you when it comes to achieving greatness: your body language and your confidence. If you don’t have confidence, you’ll never be able to put yourself out there in the world. You need the confidence to try, and it’s confidence that will help you get back up after your failures.

Once you have the confidence to get out there, your next obstacle is your first impression. Your body language tells someone a lot about you. Sometimes, it may not be what you intended it to say. Having proper posture, giving people a big smile and treating everyone like an old friend will go a long way.

These are really important lessons, which is why I wanted to bring you a mashup from Chen Lizra, Jordan Harbinger and Vanessa Van Edwards. I’ve received such an overwhelming response on the past mashups I wanted to bring you another one.

Learn how you can master your body language and improve your confidence, on Episode 662.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play or TuneIn.

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Bong & Breakfasts? Prince Edward Island to Allow Cannabis Use in Hotels

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The picturesque site of Anne of Green Gables is poised to promote another kind of green.

July 15, 2018

2 min read

Brought to you by Marijuana Business Daily

Prince Edward Island is throwing the door open for cannabis tourism businesses by allowing recreational marijuana consumption in guest rooms.

The operator of a hotel may allow or prohibit the consumption of cannabis in rooms, whether the MJ is consumed by smoking or other means, a government spokesperson confirmed.

Related: How Canada's Marijuana Legalization Changes the Game

The move puts owners of hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts in a position to capitalize on cannabis tourism when legal sales kick off Oct. 17 across Canada.

“By granting business owners the authority to decide if adult recreational cannabis may be consumed in their rental units and/or any areas they may have designated on their property, it satisfies both the need to remove cannabis use from the public (where children or youth may be present) and to provide the flexibility for operators to accommodate year-round cannabis tourism,” said Shaman Ferraro, CEO and founder of Gocanna, a Charlottetown-based marijuana tourism company.

Businesses will still have to abide by the Smoke-free Places Act. Since most hospitality establishments already ban smoking outright, it’s not expected to be more than a niche market. Tourism is a major driver of PEI’s economy. The island – population 146,283 – hosted about 1.5 million visitors last year.

Related: Is Alaska Poised to Be the Best State for Pot?

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How to Apply and Optimize Your Algorithm When You're Ready to Run With AI

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Follow a tried-and-true implementation methodology of purposeful, simple and tested engineering, such as Lean AI, to unlock AI's true potential.

July 15, 2018

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Amazon’s recently launched SageMaker artificial intelligence service is an exciting new development, but the program doesn’t do it all. There’s a distinct gap between innovative AI technology that exists and AI solutions that will help drive business results in your specific case. Using products such as SageMaker is like having a brand-new Tesla Model S: It’s an awesome car, but it’s a giant electric paperweight if you don’t know how to drive.

We discussed "walking" with AI in a prior Entrepreneur article; now it’s time to hit the ground running. At Manifold, we work with clients using a method called “Lean AI.” Our method is inspired by many other popular processes, including human-centered design by IDEO, agile software development, the Lean Startup methodology and CRISP-DM. Lean AI has six steps: understand, engineer, model, acquire feedback, deploy and validate. Here, I’ll focus on three key pieces that any entrepreneur will need to follow to optimize AI.

Related: 10 Artificial Intelligence Trends to Watch in 2018

1. Engineer: Quit playing around

Because AI engineering is software engineering, you need to use good practices such as source control, code reviews and clean interfaces, among others. Many data scientists are guilty of “playing in the sandbox,” but you should always build as if you’re going to production.

At Manifold, one of the most important steps we’ve implemented involves using Docker to take advantage of containerized data science. The resulting developer flow is cleaner and more collaborative, and it's ultimately far more productive.

People have been engineering software far longer than they’ve been engineering AI solutions. Applying existing development and operations best practices to AI systems will make your processes as efficient as possible.

2. Model: Start small, and scale up

When incorporating AI into your business, the possibilities seem endless. Don’t let your imagination get the best of you -- even if you have big plans, you’ll want to start simple and scale up. Take the advice of Emmanuel Ameisen, the AI lead at Insight Data Science, a post-doctoral fellowship program connected with big Silicon Valley names like Facebook and Zillow: Efficient problem-solving happens at the most straightforward, basic level. Baseline models will consistently deliver superior end products, especially for the user.

We use explicit rules in our process to keep simplicity in mind, particularly when applied to supervised learning problems. We believe in nailing a few features first; you can always add more later. And we always begin with classification before regression -- dealing with a set number of values rather than a continuous values -- so we can learn from the more obvious class errors.

Related: Why Small Business Should Be Paying Attention to Artificial Intelligence

3. Acquire feedback: See what (many) humans think

At the end of the day, humans will have to interact with and make sense of your AI’s recommendations. Get your AI in front of users -- fast. They can tell when the AI is recommending reasonable things or the search results are relevant. In our research, we’ve found two major patterns: suspicion of AI and the need to post-process raw predictions.

AI models rarely gain immediate trust, especially among people who haven’t worked with machine learning before. Explainable AI is still a field in its infancy, but there are great packages already, like Tree SHAP, that explain the “whys” of an AI’s predictions so users feel more comfortable.

We’ve also found that an AI’s raw predictions are often insufficient on their own. It’s necessary to build a user interface that allows post-processing so users can go a little further to solve the business problem. One of our clients, a leading oil field services company, had many compressor units that were running in "stressed" situations. While raw AI predictions correctly predicted that these units were going to fail soon, that wasn't useful information to the maintenance techs. Rather, they wanted to find "normal" units that transitioned to "likely to fail."  

To solve the problem, we post-processed the time series of raw predictions and built a user interface that only alerted techs when a unit had significant changes in its failure probability. This resulted in fewer false alarms and a more useful AI with fewer inefficiencies. The takeaway for us has been that the user interface, or UI, is as important as the AI.

Related: Why AI Won't Replace (Great) Salespeople

AI can accelerate businesses to new levels of insight more quickly than we know. However, AI and machine learning are still in their relative infancy. Because of the newness, business owners and entrepreneurs might be intimidated by the technology, or they might try to run with it before they can walk or even crawl. Instead, follow a tried-and-true implementation methodology of purposeful, simple and tested engineering, such as Lean AI, to unlock AI’s true potential.

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How Businesses Can Use Mobile Marketing to Their Advantage (Infographic)

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Need to boost your marketing? Go mobile.

July 15, 2018

2 min read

The marketing industry isn’t the same as it was 10 years ago. And much of that is thanks to the rise of smartphones.

Today's marketing initiatives go far beyond print ads and desktop computers, and it’s more important than ever to have a mobile marketing campaign in place for your business. If you’re feeling stuck, there’s no need to worry. With a few quick tips and an understanding of how other businesses are using mobile marketing to their advantage, you’ll be well on your way to creating a stellar campaign.

Related: Teach Yourself Online Marketing With This Simple Technique

People spend 59 percent of their time on mobile, according to research compiled by App Geeks. But marketers spend 15 percent of their budgets on mobile and the remaining 85 percent on desktop. In addition, mobile ads have higher conversion rates. Overall, average smartphone conversion rates have gone up 64 percent compared to average desktop conversion rates.

Now that you know the importance of mobile marketing, it’s important to understand the different types. SMS marketing, app-based marketing, push notifications and email marketing are some of the most popular methods. When it comes to SMS, 79 percent of smartphone users say they rely on SMS opt-in to help them make purchasing decisions. In addition, push notifications drive nearly 10 times more users to make a purchase.

Related: 104 Facts You Didn't Know About Mobile Marketing (Infographic)

It’s clear there are plenty of mobile marketing opportunities. To take advantage of them and to learn more, check out App Geeks’ infographic below.

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More Productivity Tips for WordPress Bloggers

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It’s no secret that WordPress is the blogging platform choice for online marketing. WordPress is very easy to use and provides you with an all-in-one solution to get things up and running quickly. Once you purchase WordPress, you can install WordPress with a click of a button and start building your website. Head to the backend and use their easy interface to do the following:

• Install a theme


• Customize


• Install plug-ins


• Shift layouts

After, you can focus on promoting your blog while increasing your brand awareness. However, I believe your business is only as good as what you put in. If you put in 100% then you’re going to get 100% back. Anything less means you’re going to get the same in return, so stay productive and focused at all times. Many people will admit it’s very hard to stay focused and productive, especially when blogging is your full time business. You sometimes get side tracked with networking, marketing, and events. I want to take this time to discuss some WordPress productivity tips that I know will help you stay grounded and focused at all times. I have written extensively about it in the past and want to go through some of the basics again.

Let’s get started.

Always Schedule in Advance

As an online marketer and blogger you’re going to have to make sure your ready for the worst case scenario. Over the years, some things have become very clear to me and I’ll list them below.

First, your blog is ONLY as good as the content and value you write so it’s important you make sure you have a consistent publishing schedule. This means to make sure you have content ready and scheduled just in case the unfortunate happens. You want to make sure you have content that will be automatically published even if you are NOT around to do it yourself. WordPress has a built in interface that will allow you to upload posts and schedule when you want them to go live.

My point is this…

Make sure you are ready for the unfortunate so that you can keep publishing in a worst case scenario. If you are a sole blogger then take the right steps, but if you have a team, then it might NOT as difficult to maintain your content writing. The next step will help you make sure you have a solid posting schedule.

Write in Bulk

This is very important and with more content comes a better chance you have posts available when you need them. I’m not going to go deep into this factor but here are a few things you can do to make sure things go as smoothly as possible.

Dedicate a Day – Every day, I write about 3-4 posts and this is when I dedicate the entire day. It works great for me because other days, I’m busy with so many other things.

Hire Someone – If you have a budget, you can always hire someone who is an expert in your niche to write content for you. This doesn’t need to be every day, however, it can be on those weeks you know you have other commitments.

Ask Your Team – I’m a single blogger but I know some authority blogs have a team. These people all take turns writing content, which works out great because it takes the burden off one blogger to get the job done.

SEO Plug-ins

One of the hardest things before publishing content is SEO, however, you have cool plug-ins that’ll do MOST of the work for you. I use Yoast SEO and All-In-One SEO, which have proven to be very helpful right before I publish a post. For example, once I’m done writing, I can easily use the fields at the bottom to guide my SEO efforts. The plug-ins asks me for a focus keyword then ask me to base the following around the “target” keyword:

• Meta title


• Meta description


• Keywords

It’ll also check if I have the keywords in my title and URL, etc., which is perfect for indexing and rankings.

Click Here To Download John Chow’s New eBook, and Live The Dot Com Lifestyle!

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4 Ways to Maintain Concentration in Mentally Exhausting Jobs

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Here are some simple but valuable tips for staying as energetic as possible throughout your day.

July 14, 2018

4 min read

This story originally appeared on Personal Branding Blog

Some jobs are sprints, others are marathons. There are lots of roles, such as those in retail, hospitality and logistics, where you are likely to be bouncing between quiet, calm periods and busy, highly demanding periods several times in the same day. Others, such as marketing, copywriting and many office-based roles, are slow burning but taxing all the same.

Related: The 4 Most Common Workplace Worries and How to Overcome Them

Spending all day sitting at a desk doesn’t sound awfully tiring, but mental exhaustion is just as exacting as physical exertion. Here are some simple but valuable tips for staying as energetic as possible throughout your day.

1. Eat little and often

Snacking is often the bane of anybody who wants to keep in shape, yet spends their 9-to-5 sat at a desk. Despite the abundance of unhealthy snacks in the 21^st century, this doesn’t have to result in a diet loaded with additives. In fact, nutritionists have stated that this is not detrimental to your health when done right, and is just as good for your body as a solid three meals a day. Smaller boosts of energy spread out amongst your working hours can be just what you need to prevent your concentration from flagging -- just be sure it isn’t all sugar!

Related: 4 Important Social Skills You Need to Succeed at Work

2. Take mini breaks

This is not to suggest you should start dictating your own work schedule over your manager, but there’s no harm in letting your mind and body take a quick breather from the screen and having to hold that horribly stiff computer desk pose. There’s nothing tricky in this; simply walk away from your desk. Get yourself a tea or coffee, nip to the toilet, go and restock on pens from the stationary cupboard. Anything that allows you to defocus and stretch your legs for a few minutes is ideal. Deliberately loitering is, of course, not going to go down well, but a small and meaningful reason to disengage from your keyboard could be all you need to recharge for the next couple of hours.

3. Keep your desk clear

A cluttered work space is a cliché for creative types, and in my experience it’s true more often than not. Trying to cope with a disorderly desk, however, is preventing you from numerous benefits. When your physical working area is clear and organised, your work life can see fantastic improvements such as greater focus, more freedom to be adaptive and a good reputation with your managers. Demonstrating your ability to keep things organized and tidy is a great indicator that you’re serious about your work and you’ll keep things in check, which can always lead to better opportunities down the road.

4. Set daily goals

Having small checkpoints for your work can make it much easier to get through a long list, particularly when used to break a big task or project down to simpler, bite-sized tasks. In project managing roles, this is referred to as a work breakdown structure (WBS), and it is commonly employed to help keep everyone involved on-track and focused on their individual goals. When combined with small rewards for yourself (such as that coffee break or a harmless bit of chocolate), you can make the work day far less daunting and almost turn it into a game of sorts.

Related: Why Employer Branding Is So Important

There are lots of ways you can make the work day flow easier, and the things that will work best depend on the kind of person you are. Maybe music keeps you focused, or perhaps any noise whatsoever is the concentration killer. Be open and communicative with your management, and see what they can help you incorporate -- after all, they want you to work at your best, and you should too!

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SEO Tips to Dominate the Competition in Your Niche Market

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Search engine optimization is very tricky because each year Google is making changes to their algorithm. The old fashion techniques are no longer working as well, and bloggers are trying to find creative ways to rank their content. It essentially comes down to the following:

If you can rank your content higher than your competition, you’ll be able to drive a lot of traffic to your website. With the popularity of social media, this targeted traffic can double or even triple within a short time. With that said, I’ll be exploring 7 ways which bloggers can increase their rankings in 2017. I’ll visit what expert bloggers are saying about linking building, and what strategies they have been using to get an edge on their competition. Let’s get started.

1 – Focus on Web Analyzer tools

These are tools that provide you with a lot of interesting data. We are now in a time where you shouldn’t be wasting time building links that don’t add value. This means you should know who your competition and what they are doing to outrank you in the SERP’s. Many new web analyzer tools will provide you with loads of great information like:

• Who links to your competition


• The value of each link


• The referring domain


• The referring anchor text


• Current keyword rank in search engines


• And much more.

What all this information does is help you focus your attention on the data that matters. This will help you put your time, effort and skills where they matter most. But, it’s important you use only the best web analyzer tools so do your research online and start to research some of them.

2 – Optimize Your Website

It’s important to optimize your website for performance because other factors matter when it comes to ranking. There are now over 200 ranking factors and load time, mobile compatibility, clean design, and reduced clutter are all included. If your site is lacking in one of these areas, it can quickly pull down the rankings of your site as a result of it.

With a very high performing site, you are increasing the user experience, and this means a lot to search engines. This is especially true with mobile speed and responsiveness as well. Companies like Google are in business because they provide people with information in an organized fashion. Not only that, they provide people with the best information available online. The next time you are skimming through your website, look for ways you can optimize your blog it going forward by either changing the content font, color, and making it mobile compatible. You also want to test the current load speed which must fall below 3 seconds.

3 – SEO Traffic, Remarketing and Emails

With so much emphasis on ranking higher in the search results and getting as much free organic traffic to your site as possible, site owners should want to take as much opportunity of this high-quality traffic as possible. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by setting up a remarketing campaign through Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, or any other remarketing platform.

When moving forward with a remarketing campaign, it’s important to make sure you have ad creative for all sizes and ad spots possible. Digital Monopoly Perth has a great article on their site that shows all of the sizes and image formats that are currently being used for Google Adwords.

The best way to rebrand and remarket to an audience is to have your ad banners display your logo, site colors, and also a call to action that will remind them on why they were previously at your site in the first place.

At the same time, while we are talking about the importance and value of search traffic, it’s key to get these users on your mailing list as well. You can see a perfect example of how this is being used at TerritorySupply.com. This site ranks very well for a wide range of products they have listed on their site. While the average person is going to visit the search from a search they did in Google, it’s likely most of them won’t make a purchase the first time around. The best way to turn this organic visitor into a longterm visitor and potential customer, is to offer them a free 20% discount coupon and getting them onto their mailing list.

This is a tactic that is being used by millions of sites, but only a small portion of those sites are doing it correctly. Take advantage of what popup tools like OptinMonster have to offer, by creating different popups and call to actions based on the pages your audiences are visiting, and also where they are coming from. Remember, most SEO visitors to your website will leave and never come back after the first visit. It doesn’t have a lot to do with your content, but instead that there are simply too many sites and distractions out there already.

4 – On-Page SEO

Many bloggers spend too much time building external links but fail to optimize their own website. There is no point in building links with strategic anchor text if your website doesn’t have the same keywords in the title, description, and URL. You should spend a lot of time with on-page SEO and understand what keywords work best at ranking your website. Personally, I think you should be focusing on the title, URL, description, and body. In the body, you should include not only targeted keywords but some which are related to the main keyword you are trying to rank for.

It’s stated, 75% of your ranking has to do with on-page SEO so you should work very hard on optimizing your site, and content.

When it comes to On-Page SEO and ranking factors, there are always going to be debates and discussions on which methods work best. Fortunately, there are now more reports out than ever before, showcasing which factors are likely working best. You can see a preview of these ranking factors in the graphic below from SearchMetrics.com.

5 – SkyScraper Technique

For you to outrank your competition, you’ll have to get creative, and nothing is more creative than the skyscraper technique. It involves finding related content to yours which has been published and looking for broken backlinks within the content. When you locate them, you need to first figure out what you can do to replace this link. Since your searching on a relevant blog, you know you can write content which is better, and up to date. After, you simply contact the blog owner letting them know about your content, then asking them to link to it as a replacement.

Many blog owners don’t have a problem replacing low-quality content with higher quality content. If the link is broken, then you’ve increased your chance of securing that link. However, just make sure you focus on quality when writing content, and you find a blog which is related to your niche. The last thing you want to do is ask for a link for a non-relevant blog.

When it comes to using any type of SEO or ‘working strategies’, it’s important that you are still relying on new and working SEO methods, and not old ones. A good way to stay updated with these changing trends is to keep an eye on what your competition is doing, while also looking at the most recent infographics, case studies and SEO reports from different agencies, especially like the one below.

6 – YouTube Traffic

This platform has changed the way people interact online so make sure you make use of it. With the right type of videos, you can generate a lot of traffic to your blog within a short time. However, for you to benefit, you’ll have to start creating videos which are not hard at all. You can use affordable software, and many of the operating systems come built-in with a video recorder, camera, etc. Do some research on YouTube looking at what others have created in terms of video, and try to create something better. Here’s the trick,

Once you go live, you want to make sure you optimize your video by adding the right keywords in the title of the video, description, and you add a link to your blog. You can add links to your social media accounts too. Again, create high-quality videos offering a lot of great value, and you’ll increase your brand awareness within a short time.

7) Social Media Traffic

The biggest networks are Facebook, Twitter and Google+ so use them to build an audience. Imagine having 100,000 Twitter followers, and what this can do for your traffic when you share a valuable post with them. Top bloggers generate 5,000 visitors within minutes after sharing their recent content with their followers. You can also build your brand by taking advantage of Facebook Ads which is great to promote an event, brand, post or even take a survey. Social media is able to connect and engage readers quickly so don’t let this avenue slip out of your hands.

Here’s the great thing, to join these networks doesn’t cost any money, and all it takes to increase traffic is a retweet from a power blogger in your niche. It’s important to network with other bloggers within your niche because they’ll be more than happy to share your content with their followers. Whenever you decide to share your content on social media, it’s important to make sure you optimize your title and add keywords within the description before sharing. This helps build engagement too.

Getting the Most Out of Your SEO Efforts in 2018

As you can imagine, with more websites and blogs on the internet than ever before, it’s going to be tough to rank your site on the first page of Google — however, it still is possible. Bloggers, brands, and businesses that want to rank higher in Google, need to put in the time and effort to make sure each of the factors above are implemented and live on their sites asap.

Follow these SEO tips, implement them into your site, and then watch and see as your SEO and site traffic continue to improve.

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Want Your Own Chatbot? Don't Move Forward Without Taking These 3 Steps

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The buzz died down, but chatbots are still an amazing tool.

July 14, 2018

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

For years, tech enthusiasts, innovators and entrepreneurs have painted a bright future for chatbot technology. But the road to mass adoption hasn't been without its speed bumps.

Related: The Definitive Guide to Chatbots: These Bots Are Here to Serve

Facebook's massive Messenger bot rollout a few years ago left a lot to be desired, and we've seen myriad me-too companies flood the market with less-than-stellar technology. Still, when they're done well, chatbots can be amazingly innovative. For instance, Amazon's Alexa has the ability to give users personalized gift recommendations. And recently, Google unveiled a chatbot that was so lifelike it actually fooled testers into thinking they were speaking with a real human.

Thankfully, entrepreneurs don't have to get on Google or Amazon's level to drive business results with chatbots. But implementing them the wrong way will do more harm than good. That's why it's absolutely crucial to understand the pros and cons of chatbots before unleashing one on your customers.

The ups and downs of chatbots

Chatbots are fast, accurate and increasingly able to anticipate users’ needs. And thanks to machine learning, their messages can become even more personalized over time. At Hatchbuck, we use chatbots on our website and find they’re a quick way to capture more traffic with a lower barrier to entry. Using a chatbot, we’re able to both answer customer questions and capture more of the qualified traffic making it to the site.

Of course, chatbots aren’t useful for every business model. Humans are still necessary for more complicated service-related tasks. Some companies, for example, provide in-depth consultations that just can’t be accomplished with a simple template.

Chatbots can also struggle to hold people’s attention. According to BotAnalytics, approximately 40 percent of users don't get past the first text, while another quarter usually abandon ship after the second. When they do hold customers' attention, they sometimes get lost in a conversation due to their inability to understand human nuances, such as sarcasm.

Related: It's (Almost) Summertime, and Customers Are Distracted. Here Are 5 Ecommerce Trends You Need to Pay Attention to, to Keep Customers Listening.

Preparing for launch

For us, deciding to launch a chatbot wasn’t a frivolous decision. It was a process that took several months to execute. Here are the three steps we took to get there:

1. Define a purpose and choose a chatbot.

Chatbots come in two different flavors: rule-based and advanced. The rule-based variety are quicker to develop but also rudimentary in their capabilities because they can only respond to specific commands (think “Alexa, play Taylor Swift"). A pizza place that just needs to know customers' addresses and toppings choices can easily get away with using a rule-based bot.

Advanced bots, on the other hand, leverage machine learning to understand natural language and participate in more complicated conversations. As they collect more data, they become more sophisticated. EMarketer reports AI can manage about 65 percent of inquiries at first, but after awhile, the robot can manage up to 80 percent.

Regardless of what type of chatbot suits your business model, ensure that it actually serves a purpose. Take KLM Royal Dutch Airlines' chatbot as an example. BlueBot, as it's called, helps customers book tickets, alerts them to any gate changes and updates them on the status of their flights -- it handles more than 16,000 interactions a week.

Related: 5 Innovative Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Advancing Technology

2. Don't dupe customers into thinking your chatbot is a person.

As a startup, your chatbot likely won't be as advanced as Google's, but it should at least be able to understand the flow of the conversation. Accomplishing this natural language understanding isn’t an easy feat, but it shouldn’t be unleashed on your customers without it.

Furthermore, even if your bot somehow sounds as natural at Google's, I wouldn't recommend trying to fool customers into thinking it's a human. When visitors enter our site, we're sure to let them know right away that a bot has greeted them. And if the conversation requires it, don't hesitate to let a human representative take over. In fact, a joint survey by Drift, SurveyMonkey Audience, Salesforce and myclever found 43 percent of people still prefer to communicate with humans over bots. So though a chatbot can be helpful, it should not be treated as a total replacement for human interaction.

3. Give your bot a performance review.

Juniper Research found that chatbots are expected to save businesses $8 billion by 2022. This is because person-to-person interaction costs seven times as much as an automated response, according to a survey by ContactBabel.

To reap these cost-savings benefits, the bot needs to perform in three key areas: It should comprehend what a user is saying and respond without error; it should deliver meaningful, personalized information that keeps users engaged; and it should communicate this information as quickly as possible to facilitate a natural conversation. As you're evaluating the performance of your bot, make sure to measure it based on these key performance indicators.

Chatbots aren’t a one-size-fits-all tool. They require a deep understanding of how customers are communicating with your brand. But while they take some work and research to implement, using a chatbot has made a profound impact on our business.

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How to Make Money Promoting Survey and Quiz Affiliate Offers

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With so many different ways to make money on the internet, it’s important not to fall into the trap of shiny object syndrome. And by this, we mean jumping from one idea to another and trying to get rich overnight. Even if this can be successfully done, it will likely only bring minimal results and only last for a short period of time.

A much better way to make money online is to look at the long-term picture and create a website, or an ad campaign that will continue to provide value, incoming traffic, and revenue for years to come. With virtually an unlimited supply of traffic and advertiser money out there to benefit from, it’s simply a matter of choosing a niche market, then making the most of it.

One such example of an industry that is completely evergreen and will have a never-ending supply of traffic and revenue, is the online dating niche — much like the weight loss and financial markets, they just never seem to die out as more people come of age daily. However, this is an extremely saturated online market as well. If you are going to jump into this area, you need to put in the time and effort to know who your audience is and create the best ad campaigns possible, specifically targeted towards geographic and demographic interest and data.

With all of that in mind, today we are going to walk through the process of how to create a profitable dating and relationship blog. This is a perfect business model or marketing method for anyone to get started with online and affiliate marketing. Even better, this method also doesn’t require a lot of upfront money in the process and is ideal for anyone that would like to focus more on putting their free time and effort getting put to good use.

This process breaks down into the following three steps.

1. Know your audience and target demographic


2. Have a form of monetization (ie: affiliate2day)


3. Promote your site with SEO and social media

Be sure to follow along and consider your options with making money in the world of online dating and providing relationship advice to the millions of people who are searching for these types of resources daily.

The Target Audience and Demographic of Your Site

While it might seem like your audience and the demographics of your site would be anyone who is single and is looking for a relationship, you would be correct, but you would also be way too generic at the same time. Instead, if you want to make money and be able to rank above the competition, you will need to have a very niche specific site that not only caters to a specific gender but also provides them with exactly what they are looking for.

When looking at the type of content to create and how to target an audience, a perfect example of this can be seen in the how to be a good girlfriend article from YouQueen. Their site content is extremely focused, they know who their target audience, and it’s written in a way that provides detailed and actionable tips for anyone searching on the topic.

Some notable examples of top keywords and search phrases that people are searching for in reference to online dating or relationships, can be seen below. When doing any research on these keywords, be sure to look at the additional long tail keywords and other ways that you can spend this into more creative topics while giving the audience exactly what they want.

• how to date your best friend


• how to date yourself


• how to confirm a date


• how to go on a date in the kardashian game


• how to ask someone on a date


• how to go on a date


• how many dates before you become exclusive


• how to date a shy guy


• how to date a mormon girl


• how to write a dating profile

When creating the content for your site, it’s important to always focus on not just your end goal (which is likely to get users to sign up for a dating offer) but to also rank higher in the search results with the most targeted content possible. If you have a site that is strictly focused on kissing, you can cover every type of kissing/making out search phrase there is. You can see a few more examples of these keywords below.

Sticking with this same concept, you can use any of the most searched for phases at the beginning of this section, then plug them into Google and see more “related searches” like the ones above. For best results, create one super long article with all of these topics covered, or multiple articles (2,000+ words in length) and link each of them back to each other on your site.

How to Best Monetize Your Site Content

The great thing about creating dating tips or relationship blog, is that there are plenty of ways to monetize your content. At the most simple form, you can always through Google Adsense ads on your site and make a small portion of the revenue generated, or you can promote individual dating related offers or actual dating sites in themselves. In most cases, going with an affiliate offer to send leads to a dating site is probably the best option — since that is likely what your audience is interested in.

Also mentioned earlier, the online dating space is absolutely saturated with content, competitors, money, and advertising options — however, there is still plenty of room to compete and make money as well. There are many well-known brand name US dating sites, many of which you probably already know and maybe even use or promote. The same holds true for dating outside of the US. If you are only targeting the USA or just English-speaking countries, you are missing out big time! Take a look at this list of the world’s most single countries.

1. BRAZIL, 10%


2. KENYA, 15%


3. SOUTH AFRICA, 24%


4. RUSSIA, 25%


5. CANADA, 27%


6. U.S., 28%


7. ITALY, 29%


8. JAPAN, 31%


9. BRITAIN, 34%


10. SWEDEN, 47%

To make all of this easier to follow, we will use Affiliate2Day as our example affiliate program for monetization on a dating tips or relationship blog. Like many other affiliate networks or CPA-driven platforms, Affiliate2Day is a dating-specific network that offers compensation when someone joins one of their dating websites.

If you don’t already have an affiliate account with them, you can create one by clicking here.

Most of my site readers should already be familiar with the process of affiliate marketing and how to set up their first campaign. You simply join a program, grab your affiliate link, and post it to your site. For a program like Affiliate2Day, it would be best to place call-to-actions throughout the content on your site. If you were going to promote the dating offers through paid marketing and media buying, then using unique landing pages that cater to different demographic audiences and their interests would be best.

When attempting to make money with a dating and relationship blog, it’s important to keep your efforts focused on one common call to action. Either use a solution like Google Adsense, an individual product/service, or a specific dating website. Too many options can lead to site readers being overwhelmed and simply leaving your site. This can also be a headache for tracking site earnings as well.

In reference to making money with Affiliate2Day, affiliate partners have three monetization methods to choose from.

• Pay Per Sale: 25% of sales amount + $25 sign-up bonus


• Pay Per Lead: $6 to $8 per lead generated


• Pay Per First Order: $150 to $250 per first order

If you aren’t sure which monetization method is best for your site, I would recommend going with the “up to $8 per lead” option, as this will give the best results overall while also letting you know the type of data and leads you have flowing through your site. Higher quality sites and leads would likely benefit more from the “$250 per first order options. You can also contact your affiliate manager to change to a different payment structure at any given time.

Another way to make money with Affiliate2Day, is to refer other site owners and affiliate to their network, and then earn a 10% commission from each lead sent back to A2D.

Now that we have a content monetization method in mind, we can now move onto the content promotion part.

Attracting New Site Visitors with SEO and Social Media

Creating a website or a blog is extremely easy. Content creation is also very easy as well, and can even be outsourced if you don’t know what you are writing about. One of the most important factors when attempting to make money online with a website or a blog, is knowing how to get a consistent flow of new visitors to your website.

Two of the most common and effective ways to accomplish this or through the use of SEO and social media. As mentioned earlier, ranking at the top of Google for any type of generic term is nearly impossible. This is why you are going to have to get creative and unique with the type of content you create. We recommend you go after long tail keywords and make your content as specific as possible, not only so you can target your audience, but also make it more likely that they will take action when they get to your site.

However, there are better ways to approach this process. For example, using a tool like SEMRush, we can plug in any dating or relationship blog and see what keywords they are currently ranking for. We can also see their placement in Google, how many people search for that phrase monthly, the difficulty in ranking for that keyword, and also a direct link to the article that is ranking. Obviously, you don’t want to copy the content on these sites, but instead, study the long tail keywords that are ranking and getting traffic, which you might not have found otherwise. You can see an example of all of this below.

At the same time, if you are completely against the idea of waiting around for your site to organically rank in Google, you can also focus your efforts on social media. Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest are three of this hottest social platforms for building a following around relationships and advice — and Facebook Ads is ideal for targeting singles based on their interests and locations (think custom landing pages here).

No matter what method you choose, understand that it’s all about the time and effort that you put into your content, call to actions, and link building/promotion efforts. With more than a billion active sites on the internet, creating a site and content means nothing — it’s all about the value, delivery, and getting it in front of the right audiences.

Can You Really Still Make Money in the Online Dating Space?

Without a doubt. Just ask any of the top dating affiliate platforms on the internet today, and they will tell you they are paying out thousands of dollars per month to hundreds, if not thousands of their site partners — and best of all, affiliate marketing is paving the way. This means you can test different dating sites, content offers, and traffic sources, to see which work best for you.

As always, I can only provide you with so much information and details. To see real results, you need to actually put all of this into action. If you haven’t started a website or blog yet, follow this guide, and feel free to shoot me an email when you get started. I would love to hear about your online success!

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9 Daily Rituals to Boost Your Performance at Work (Infographic)

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In a rut? These daily rituals can help lift you up.

July 14, 2018

2 min read

Some rituals might seem like nonsense, but it turns out, they can be helpful when it comes to productivity and job performance. Studies have shown that rituals can help us take on tough challenges at work, boost productivity and even decrease anxiety. How do you know what type of ritual is right for you? Here are some ideas.

Related: 7 Steps to Peak Performance in Business and in Life

Instead of starting your day with a hot shower, try opting for a cold one. Cold water increases blood circulation and releases endorphins, which can boost a person’s mood and make them more productive. Another helpful ritual is shutting down distracting devices. For example, turn your smartphone on airplane mode for a few hours so you can hone your focus on a single task until its full completion.

Whether you’ve got a big deadline approaching or an upcoming presentation, if you’re feeling anxious, one ritual to help calm your nerves is counting your breaths. A quick daily mindfulness practice, such as counting your inhales and exhales for 10 minutes, can help relieve stress and get you in the right headspace for getting work done.

Related: 4 Ways to Decrease Stress and Maximize Performance

From journaling daily to doing five-minute desk exercises, check out Pound Place’s infographic below for nine daily rituals to boost performance at work.

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