It’s Monday afternoon and the start of a new week seems as good a time as many for yet another reality check on where my business stands as of today. It makes grim reading because ultimately, there is no business in terms of what I want to achieve from this blog and my positioning within the internet marketing niche.
Last week I identified 16 obstacles which stand between me and succeeding online and here I have outlined what I believe to be the three most crucial factors which are preventing me from being where I want to be. Today. Essentially, this is what I have in terms of a business at the moment:
1. I Have a Name Which is Not Recognised
I may be David Walker, the man who has successfully stayed out of a regular 9-5 job for the past three years by making a living exclusively online, but to the wider internet marketing community I am almost a complete unknown. I have some advantage over a complete newbie entering the market because I have about a decade’s worth of web development and internet marketing experience and that should save me some time now I have decided which direction to take. However, I still need to do something, perhaps be recognised for a product, which will announce me as some sort of authority figure in this area.
2. I Have a Blog Which Gets Limited Traffic
DavidWalker.tv has been up and running for just a week and unsurprisingly I have not been flooded with a deluge of visitors. At the moment I am getting just over 50 unique visitors per day and that is almost exclusively from what I have been able to leverage from my Twitter account, although I have identified ways I can improve my readership. Apart from the occasional Google search, I am not getting any search engine traffic at all but that is also because a) nobody knows who I am and b) nobody knows I am here.
3. I Have a Blog With Limited Content
Due to the blog being so new there is of course very little in the way of content published so far. Rather than take the easy option of republishing hundreds of PLR articles just for the sake of it, I want this blog to provide real value and document my own progress in building my online business. This quote I read the other day struck a chord with me and forms a solid basis for what I want to achieve at DavidWalker.tv:
“As a small businessperson, you have no greater leverage than the truth”
John Greenleaf Whittier
4. I Have a Mailing List With No Subscribers
As the old adage goes, “the money is in the list”, therefore I have a problem. While I have a mailing list all set up and ready to go, I am missing one vital ingredient: subscribers. However, this factor ties in with the previous three – when my blog content increases and provides more value so will my name become more recognised, my traffic will increase and therefore subscriber numbers will rocket.
Phew! Easier said than done, no doubt!
Very interesting article in which are company can relate. We are trying to get a hold and grasp of how to get readership of our blog. Your article has made us to stop and think on how we can think of a different approach. Thanks for sharing via twitter.
Much sucess!!
Div 2000
David,
you’ve done well identifying four factors holding back your online business. This is a subject which I’ve given considerable thought for the two years I’ve been online writing and marketing.
You’ve got 50 unique visitors a day, though? I think that’s great! I really do.
I want to “challenge” you in having a real focus for the blog . . . that’s so important. I have 2 blogs and I write to a few different websites. Just put my name into Google. and I’ve learned how each one is different. You’ve got a nice layout.
Maybe you can focus on “favorite hobbies” “thoughts on money” from your personal point of view. Those are topics which can rank well in search engines. I wrote a post on Hubpages about choosing a niche subject.
Some thoughts and I hope to stay in touch.
I also have a marketing blog http://www.marketingtips-marketinghelp.blogspot.com