Interview With Jeff Bullas on Blogging for Business

When the talk is about Blogging and Social Media, one name is prominent – Jeff Bullas.

I thought of starting with his achievements as a token of respect and love but whoa! Too many to mention.

He is ranked #8 on Forbes” The World’s Top 40 Social Marketing Talent” – 2014, published in the New York Times and a blogger with over 5 millions views from 200 countries. Excited? Pleased to have this blogging influencer who rose to the heights of name, fame and fortune defeating his unemployement and debt with his determined choice. Hear his story here.

Now, without any delay, let’s read his brilliant answers and blogging advice.

Question: What made you choose Internet marketing industry ONLY as your new career line?

Answer: The motivation to enter the digital marketing industry was unearthed when I discovered the power of social media. Its ability to build and reach a global audience from anywhere in the world was enticing and so I started the blog.

This democratisation of publishing and marketing was intoxicating. I felt compelled to start.

Question: When it comes to Internet marketing for a business, do you think a business can survive and even win using only Blogging as the marketing tool?

Answer: A blog should not be seen as a tool on its own but as your platform to start publishing and building an online content asset. It is your hub. As you build those content assets then you need to make that content move. That’s the marketing tactics. As you get traffic and attention then its time to convert that into leads and sales.

Question: Will you share a case study or an incidence where blogging didn’t work for your client and how you addressed that challenge? Are there niches where blogging can be more challenging than others?

Answer: Blogging is a long-term game. Many clients don’t realize the commitment that is required for it to become a source of revenue. This requires a change in mindset and many clients are not prepared to make that transition and commitment.

Blogging is best used when you have a business in the knowledge industry. But blogging has broad benefits across most niches.

Question: Would you share your 3-4 most important and useful tools to make blogging a big success?

Answer: Some of the top tools I use are:

Tweepi for growing my Twitter followers
Socialoomph for automating my content distribution on Twitter
Hootsuite for managing my social media marketing
Infusionsoft for managing my email marketing

Question: Have you ever faced some time where you didn’t feel like blogging? A lot of bloggers face such block or low time. How do you address such situation yourself?

Answer: Sometimes we all feel unmotivated. The best solution to that is to make sure you have rituals and habits that mean making sure you have a set time for writing. Then just strap yourself into your chair at the set time and just start writing.

Question: Jeff, what do you think is the one biggest reasons a blog fails?

Answer: The biggest reason for failing is lack of persistence. Many people give up too soon when they are on the cusp of success.

Question: As a prolific blogger yourself, how a regular day from Jeff’s life looks like?

Answer: It involves an early start where I write for a couple of hours. Then it is Skype calls with joint venture partners and clients from all around the world. Then it’s onto the tasks of email and other administrative jobs.

The afternoon is often reserved for creating products such as online courses and also marketing.

Question: I understand that mistakes are a part of experience. Do you recall some of your mistakes that you advise others shouldn’t make.

Answer: One of the biggest mistakes was not building an email list from day one. I also didn’t optimize my blog posts for search engines. The other mistake was not focusing on converting traffic into leads and sales just after starting. But my blog started as a passion project. So they were not mistakes but just an evolution in my blogging journey.

Question: What do you think what makes someone a great blogger?

Answer: I don’t know any successful blogger that is not passionate about their topic. A passionate purpose is essential. It should be a mission. My mission is “To educate and inspire people and businesses to win in a digital world”

Question: Would you like to share one of your habits that contributed to your blogging success?

Answer: The most important habit I committed to from the start was creating a habit to write every day at a set time. At first it was late at night. But I discovered that an early morning ritual was a better option.
It was my time with no interruptions.
So I got up at 4.30am for 5 days a week and wrote, published and marketed my blog till 9.00am. This commitment to myself allowed me to create a lot of content in a very short time.

Question: One message you would like to share with our bloggers and entrepreneurs?

Answer: You need to “Just start” and a mantra that I live and breathe is “Done is better than Perfect”.
If you don’t start nothing happens!

While concluding this interview post with huge Thanks to Jeff, I hope his answers made you look at blogging with a new and rich point of view. You can follow Jeff on twitter and subscribe to his blog and get his cool updates and resources from his blog.

Do have a look his best seller book “Blogging- The Smart Way” to get a self-help on Blogging today.

 

If you have any questions to ask, just ask in comments and you’d get a prompt answer.

 

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