This month I am running a series interviewing some top bloggers! I hope that you have been enjoying this series so far!
Today I am interviewing Danny Iny from Firepole Marketing. Danny made his way from a new unknown blogger to a well-known blogger in record time. There is much to learn from him and he has already shared so much on his blog!
Danny actually wanted more challenging questions than I originally gave him. He wanted to know what burning questions my readers have so I put the question out there to those subscribed to my newsletter and my facebook fans.
So Danny has answered your burning questions!
How do you deal with technical issues (WordPress, Plug ins, etc.)? Particularly when you don’t have someone to to ask about the issues.
Depends on the issue – some things I can figure out myself (WordPress really isn’t very complicated), but mostly, I’ll ask for help. And there is ALWAYS someone that you can get help from; peers that you can ask for advice and guidance, and experts who will be more than happy to fix whatever problem you’re dealing with for a small price. A lot of early-stage bloggers feel like they can’t invest any money in their blog, but sometimes it’s a choice between 20 hours of your own time or 2 hours of someone else’s time – in that situation, even if someone else’s time will cost the $40-$50/hour, it’s worth paying someone else to do it, so that you can focus on the more important tasks of content and promotion.
What are your top ways to promote your posts?
Well, the first step is to write really great content – stuff that people will want to share, and about which their friends will be appreciative of having been informed. The next step is to go out and tell people – when I write a post that I’m particularly proud of, and that I think someone’s audience would enjoy, I’ll reach out to them via email or Twitter, and ask them to spread the word. And finally, you can try to integrate promotion mechanisms into the post itself, whether that’s by running a contest, including a “pay with a tweet” handout, or any number of things.
How do you monetize your blog?
We make money by selling coaching and consulting services, and training programs. This is what we did from the beginning, though – we’re marketing coaches/consultants, and the blog was built as a marketing strategy to grow the business. I always worry about people who are blogging, and hope to “monetize” the blog – think about your business model first, and then build a blog around it, not the other way around.
How do you come up with great content?
By thinking about the audience and their needs, wants, and desires. If you know who they are and what they need, then it isn’t that hard to write stuff that people will appreciate. But if you start with a blank page and wonder “what should I write?”, you’re likely to get stuck. Start with the problem, then figure out what solution they need to learn, and then write about it.
Thank you for reading! I'm Stacy, the owner of this blog. You can learn more about me here.
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M. Tohami invites you to read… How to Find and Effectively Communicate Your Unique Value?
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Stacy Reply:
February 15th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Yes, thank you!
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HI Stacy & Danny! Agreed on all points.
first of all, I completely agree with outsourcing problems or issues on your blog. I am not the most technical… and though I’d like to improve to a degree, (That will come when I have time)… right now I don’t have the time to fiddle with headaches. I usually get Dev’s assistance instead.
As far as writing good content… well sometimes I’m up and sometimes I’m down… but I like the way Danny suggests starting with a problem and working from there.
There are some days I can think of really ‘good’ problems to write about… and other days I’m not so creating. I think though when you put yourself into the shoes of your readers and stay there for a while focusing on their deepest problems, content can just flow.
Wonderful interview.
Best
Jayne
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Danny @ Firepole Marketing Reply:
February 14th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Thank you, Jayne, I’m so glad to hear you say that. Yeah, I agree – if you start by putting yourself in your reader’s shoes, you’re most likely to write stuff that they’d appreciate – it’s really not brain surgery.
Stacy, thank you so much for having me – it’s an honor to be here.
Danny @ Firepole Marketing invites you to read… The Pick-up Artist and the Internet Marketer (VIDEO)
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Stacy Reply:
February 15th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Thank you very much for the interview, Danny! I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions!
Stacy
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Hi Stacy! I am really happy that you made this kind of post…I hope this can really help…
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Stacy Reply:
February 15th, 2012 at 3:28 pm
That’s the hope! Thanks for stopping by!
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What a wonderful interview made by Danny from Fire Pole Marketing. Giving us ideas on how to deal with technical issues, guidance and advice on how to promote a great post with dealing with people around us is very well appreciated.
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Stacy Reply:
February 21st, 2012 at 4:45 pm
I couldn’t agree more, Candice!
Stacy
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Hi, Stacy!
Now you got me interested into Firepole marketing and Danny’s success. If someone rapidly gets appreciation and makes it through, we can learn a lot from him.
Thanks for sharing!
EleonoraEOF invites you to read… Schwinn A40 Elliptical Trainer Review
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Stacy Reply:
February 21st, 2012 at 5:01 pm
There is a lot to learn from him, I get a lot out of being on his email list!
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Hi Stacy,
Awesome. Can’t say I ever heard of Danny before, my loss, well, until now. I have logged on and am enjoying the read at his site.
Thanks,
Joe
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Stacy Reply:
February 21st, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Joe,
His site is a great resource and I get a lot out of being on his email list too!
Stacy
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Great stuff it’s good to see another person blogging to benefit an existing business, this is the same as me.
Just checking out the blog now, looks awesome!
Dan@web design invites you to read… The 5 day Microsoft detox
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Hi Stacey and Dan,
Great Interview with Danny. Gave me some ideas about writing content and how to promote them.
~ Easther
Easther invites you to read… Speed Up Operating System, Protect Your Data And Enjoy Surfing
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:48 pm
That’s wonderful, Easther!
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Writing a killer a post and to inform the people about the contents through social media is one of the great and promoting step in blogging.
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Yes, it is!
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Hey Stacey,
Few days ago I downloaded Danny’s book “Engagement from Scratch” via Adrienne Smith’s blog and now this interview shows up. How cool is that?
The techie stuff shoudn’t be a big issue..There are a lot of how to tutorials and forums able to help you with this. If it takes too much time outsource the work using Fiverr, Odesk etc.
I agree with Danny..great content almost promotes itself..people love when you understand what they want and give it to them..thus they will share your content with you needing to do extra work. Some link building work however is welcome in the long run.
Thanks for the interview! Awesome.
All the best,
Radu
Radu invites you to read… Blog Content Ideas: 40 Simple Ways To Never Run Dry
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Stacy Reply:
March 7th, 2012 at 2:36 pm
Hi Radu,
That book is where I first heard about Danny too! What a great resource and unbelievable that he lets us download it for free!
Stacy
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[...] Interview with Danny Iny From Firepole Marketing (Grow With Stacy) [...]
[...] Interview with Danny Iny from Firepole Marketing [...]
The introduction paragraph grabbed my attention to read the post. I think some key questions are missing. I would be interested to know how Danny went from being an unknown blogger to a well-known blogger in record time. How he started, what strategies he implemented for driving traffic to his sites initially, how he built up the traffic etc. What time it took etc. Generally for all interviews, I believe more people will be interested to read interviews that includes these questions.
Dr.Spencer Jones
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